F-Rank Puppeteer!! But I'll be Queen, and I'm not a narcissist!!!!! Chapter 186: Trip

Two days had passed. Eve, Syl’Vyr, Faye, and Clarissa were brought to the castle by the demon king’s troops; they also brought all the puppets I had built, which is useful because it ans I don’t have to remake the ones already finished.

Now we’re being moved to the area where we’ll be stationed for the war. All my puppets are being transported with the soldiers, while our nearby maidservants are being moved alongside my brothers’ nearby attendants in more suitable carriages.

And in the main carriage we’re riding in, it’s just , Laplace, and Lucien, and the atmosphere is stifling, absolutely suffocating. Lucien won’t stop staring at Laplace, who’s sitting beside .

anwhile, Laplace is trying to stay close to as if using as a shield against Lucien. She isn’t seeking protection—she genuinely seems to want to use as a shield in case of an ergency, which makes her look pathetic. Besides, she’s bigger than ; I’d make a terrible shield.

"S-so... L-Lucien... how will the command be handled?" I ask while looking at my storage ring. The three books I use so often to learn about leadership are inside.

"Why are you asking ?" he says with a closed-off expression, without his usual excited and "animated" tone.

"W-well, it’s just... I-I only started leading things recently. I’m not capable of handling so much, like organizing how we’ll use a hundred thousand soldiers, and... Laplace doesn’t seem suited to lead it..." Normally, Lucien ignores Laplace.

But not because he’s forgiven "her"—it’s because Laplace is still strong and still a candidate for the throne. But now that Laplace is a girl, Lucien can’t ignore the person he hates most while she’s in a weakened state.

"Let’s do it this way, then. I’ll command forty thousand, Laplace will command thirty thousand, and you’ll command the other thirty thousand." When he says that, I think about the numbers. I bite my lips. Thirty thousand? There’s no way I can lead that many people with my reputation for being weak.

"I don’t think I can... B-but I could lead ten thousand. A-and I can also turn corpses into soldiers... s-so we could increase the number of troops using the dead." When I say this, Lucien seems montarily irritated.

"Ten thousand... you said using corpses? What ratio?" His question surprises because he seems genuinely interested, but his interest feels more like passing the ti than really caring about how much I can do or how strong they’d be.

"Three to one." With three corpses, I can make one standard-quality puppet. Using fewer makes it more difficult and ti-consuming, and since it’s a war, it’s better to spend more to produce sothing good quickly.

"Fine... then I’ll command sixty thousand soldiers, Laplace commands thirty thousand, and you command ten thousand." Lucien keeps the largest share for himself, even though he could have split it forty-five thousand each.

’Seems he doesn’t trust Laplace much...’ Not that I do either. Laplace seems much more "fragile" now, and if she doesn’t lead well, it’ll just cause problems. And I don’t want trouble because of her.

’War is terrible... this will be the first ti I fight on a battlefield with so much death... b-but Esther wrote in the books that we should always see it as an opportunity...’ I think about that, trying to find the positive opportunity in it.

When I first appeared in this world, I wanted to beco an adventurer to accumulate materials and make lots of puppets. This war could do that for . I can use the dead to form a puppet army. It’s an opportunity because the puppets will remain with after the war.

’Opportunity... Opportunity... Opportunity... Opportunity... Opportunity... I just need to see it as an opportunity that will reward ... E-Esther will be proud when she sees I’ve ford my own army...’ I take a deep breath, trying to shift my focus, because thinking about using dead bodies bothers .

"Yes, Lucien, that division sounds great. Laplace doesn’t have any objections either, right?" I ask, staring at Laplace. She clearly doesn’t want to expose herself in a leadership role, but she knows Lucien won’t kill her over sothing so minor—and she shouldn’t provoke Lucien.

"It’s fine..." Laplace says, looking down. Her tail with the heart-shaped tip wraps around her own leg protectively. I should say her tail looks cute—it’s long and thin with a kind of cute heart-shaped tip. If it weren’t for that piece of shit Laplace, I’d love to look at it more.

"..." We fall silent again as I look out the window, watching the trees speed by absurdly fast, until a strange curiosity occurs to —one that’s also logical enough to make want to ask.

"Wait, Laplace, how are you going to feed yourself now?" I ask before my mind really thinks about the thod. But as I say it, I rember: succubi feed on vitality, drained from sexual acts with the opposite sex.

"..." Lucien gives an amused smile as if the question is a very good one, while Laplace stares at as if I’ve committed a terrible cri. She looks like she wants to kill right now.

’Ah, yes... of course, if the gender changed, then he now has to take vitality from n...’ Succubi need to take vitality from the opposite gender. They can take so vitality from beings of the sa gender, but not enough to survive for long unless that being has an enormous amount of vitality—like Grace, for example, or , since I have a lot of vitality.

Not that I’d help soone as repulsive as Laplace. The only person who might help Laplace at most would be Grace, who is genuinely good and sincere in her choices.

"Ah, yes, how could I forget that? You have succubus blood. Seems the tables have really turned, haven’t they?" Lucien says with a disturbing smile. He was so blinded by hatred he forgot Laplace’s race.

"..." Laplace doesn’t defend herself or deny it. There’s nothing to deny—it’s a racial trait. Just like dragons like need to hoard things, I decide to stop thinking about it and instead think about all the gold I’m accumulating.

’How much gold will the demon king pay ?’ I haven’t seen the mansion’s vault yet, but I know it’s full of gold for . Thinking about all that gold gives a certain peace of mind, just like thinking about the rewards Esther will give .

’I should write a letter to Esther... I’m sure she’ll be impressed! Our father praised ...’ The demon king even gave this mission, showing that the information I obtained from the last mission gave so degree of importance.

"Lucien, do you know what Esther likes?" I try to ask more casual questions just to make conversation. Lucien and Esther have participated in war missions together before, so he might know sothing useful.

’By the way, if Grace isn’t with either of them... then Grace must be either with Augustus or with Marie...’ I wonder who Grace chose to "attack" romantically.

"Esther... how should I know? That woman is strange. But if it’s about her race, I can say sothing, since I have so ’allies’ who are Ghouls." When Lucien says that, I understand he’s referring to the black market, since he has many contacts there and always goes to that shady place.

’Ghoul...’ I don’t know much about that race. I only know Esther is one because her mother is a Ghoul, but the ga never explained much about the throne candidates’ races, since their families didn’t appear, so their races were generally mysteries.

"If you could tell sothing, I’d be very grateful..."

"Ghouls like blood." That’s all he says. I wait for more, but he genuinely seems to have nothing else, which bothers a little.

"That’s it?" I ask, confused, hoping there’s more. Saying Ghouls like blood doesn’t help at all! I already knew Ghouls like blood!!!

"Yes, it’s not very complicated. Ghouls like blood and at, especially if it’s fresh. That goes for all Ghouls. Esther must like it too." He stops talking and looks out the window, starting to ignore after giving an answer that doesn’t help at all.

But I realize sothing from his answer—sothing I had sort of ignored. I knew Ghouls liked blood, but I was involuntarily separating Esther from Ghouls! But she’s still a Ghoul!

’It’s not... oh... that explains the biting...’ I kind of already knew this, but hearing soone else say it made understand it from a different perspective. So Esther’s biting now makes more sense instead of being sothing she did out of nowhere.

’It doesn’t make sense for an entire race to like the sa thing... so maybe the Ghoul race has so issue related to food?’ Sotis, during the ti I spent with Esther, she would give strange looks to my body and lick her lips.

’Well, I guess it doesn’t matter...’ I haven’t reached the point of intentionally trying to give my blood to Esther. Besides, it would be weird and bizarre. Just imagine! sending my blood along with letters! It would be bizarre. Obviously, I... wouldn’t do that... of course not!!

’Haaa... I hope this trip ends soon. It’s suffocating being here...’ It seems neither of them wants to talk, and I don’t want to talk anymore either, so all I can do is hope we arrive soon.

I take the mont to take one of the books from my storage ring to read. I’ll use this idle ti to rest, even though I’m sowhat angry about it.

Every ti I’m doing sothing long-term, the demon king ruins it! First my adventurer’s post, and now the things I was building! I had plans to expand the village and the camp! But now I can’t anymore!!