Chapter 80
Intrusion (1)
“Winter, could you ring the bell for ?”
“……There’s no soundproofing here.”
“I don’t care about the stares of those insignificant bastards.”
Faced with such an absurdly extre remark, Winter felt slightly dizzy. He was far rougher and more reckless than her older brother.
But as soone too weak to defy or refuse him, Winter pulled out Silent Bell with a gloomy expression.
“Yeah. It’s a bit noisy.”
Davide, who loved the sound of that bell, did not stop Bereninche. People began filling the place in earnest, and naturally, the surroundings grew lively.
It wasn’t noise to the point of being unbearable, but noise nonetheless. There were certainly sounds that grated subtly on the ears.
—Ding.
The resonance of Silent Bell erased all of it completely. The vibration that cald both mind and body was sothing that deserved to be loved.
“What are you planning to use the money for?”
“Who knows.”
Davide casually threw out the question. He intended to uncover whatever Bereninche had been secretly preparing.
With an attitude that suggested it wouldn’t matter even if soone like knew, Bereninche responded half-heartedly. I thought she was quite the twisted one.
“Hmm.”
I sifted through the knowledge stored in my head. Background information I had naturally acquired through the ga. Among it were quite a number of traces related to Bereninche.
Most of the major incidents she had been involved in during the ga. I recalled one of them.
“You. You’re trying to go to the ‘Demonic Realm,’ aren’t you.”
“Huh?”
“Ulp! Cough! Cough! Kha—!”
At my words, my younger sister was visibly startled, which was rare for her. On top of that, Winter, who was beside , choked as well.
I patted Winter on the back as she coughed painfully, struggling to steady herself, then raised my head. I t Bereninche’s gaze as she stared straight at .
It was sharp, but there was no hostility. A flicker of distrust passed through it, only to be quickly replaced by curiosity and interest.
“Did the little sparrow notice? That guy does have an oddly sharp intuition.”
“Sparrow? Who are you talking about?”
The sudden nickna—sparrow. I had never heard it before, so I asked about it. The answer that ca back was ordinary.
“You know. The brown one.”
“……Worden?”
With the way she spoke as if I obviously knew, and calling him the brown one, Worden naturally ca to mind.
Worden, who couldn’t join us on this outing due to his schedule, was addressed familiarly by Bereninche.
“Ah, well. It was sothing like that.”
“Sparrow. Ha. It kind of suits him.”
Sparrow—a nickna that could easily be taken as rude. A tiny creature that couldn’t even compare in size. Yet I couldn’t shake the thought that it suited him surprisingly well.
Small, unremarkable, brown, and ordinary. In that sense, he wasn’t much different from a sparrow. It was quite a fitting sense of naming.
“Now that you’ve found out, I guess there’s no helping it. Yeah. I’m thinking of going to the Demonic Realm this vacation.”
“There will be a lot to prepare. I understand.”
“Then can you lend Winter? I like the sound of that bell.”
“No.”
At the playful request, I imdiately shook my head. The Demonic Realm was the main stage of the final episode.
The monsters that appeared there were powerful accordingly. Of course, since the hidden mastermind had not yet appeared, it wouldn’t be as dangerous as it had been in the ga.
“Winter is absolutely not allowed.”
Even so, if I took Winter in her current state, she would die without question. No matter if Bereninche was by her side, I judged it to be impossible.
“I can protect her well, you know?”
“Even so, no.”
Winter’s face turned pale. She knew well the reputation of the Demonic Realm. Located half along the Empire’s northwestern border, that place was literally hell.
“I-Is it the Demonic Realm that I’m thinking of?”
“Yes.”
A massive pit spanning 13 kiloters. Around it, the Imperial 1st Knight Order, the finest unit the Imperial House boasted, was always stationed.
The monsters that climbed up from within were no longer called monsters, but demons, and each one rivaled late-episode nad characters.
“Why are you trying to go there? The Imperial Knight Order has ford a line there.”
“For training purposes as well, and Father said there’s sothing he needs.”
I could roughly guess. She answered readily, but I did not press further. As long as she didn’t directly clash with a god, there was no way Bereninche would die.
—Creak.
Bereninche, whose senses were the sharpest, reacted to the anomaly first. Her head snapped toward the door.
My gaze, which had been watching her, followed. Two people wearing suspicious robes stood at the door.
“Who?”
At the rude act of opening the door without even knocking, I frowned. There should have been staff in the hallway. To think they let such ruffians through.
“You shouldn’t be able to just walk in.”
My words that slipped out were not pleasant either. The suspicious figures did not answer my question and casually stepped into the room.
Rather than anger, I felt dumbfounded by their behavior. Only then did Winter, noticing the sudden appearance of strangers, show a puzzled expression.
“What is the aning of this?”
This ti, a reaction ca from Bereninche. She clearly displayed her displeasure as she rebuked .
“And what about you?”
I felt wronged. The fault lay with the suspicious people who had suddenly barged into the room. Yet Bereninche voiced her dissatisfaction toward .
She clicked her tongue once and rose from her seat. Without thinking, I tried to stop her. Knowing my younger sister’s temperant, I thought she might just throw a punch imdiately.
“Let go.”
Bereninche brushed my hand away without roughness and stood before the suspicious figures.
One of them was as tall as Soloven, while the other was of moderate height. Judging by the gentle lines of the robes that concealed their figures, both were won.
Suddenly, Bereninche dropped to one knee.
I pressed my fingers lightly against the corner of my eyes. No matter how many tis I looked, that Bereninche was kneeling.
Damn.
There were not many people before whom soone like Bereninche would kneel. Two ca to mind imdiately. One of them was at the Duhein estate.
Having grasped that much, I too sprang to my feet and dropped to one knee. Winter, who had so sense of the situation, simply followed and knelt as well.
“Bereninche Duhein greets Her Imperial Highness, the Imperial Princess.”
“Davide greets Her Imperial Highness, the Imperial Princess.”
“W-Winter Seraphist greets Her Imperial Highness, the Imperial Princess.”
At the ntion of the Imperial Princess, Winter nearly scread but barely managed to hold it in by biting her tongue. The Imperial Princess, who had been silently observing the three of us paying our respects, began to move.
Only then did I hear the faint clink of armor that I hadn’t noticed before. The Imperial Princess sat down on the sofa where Bereninche and I had been sitting.
“That is enough.”
With that single remark, the invisible pressure that had been tightening around us vanished. The suspicious pair removed the hoods they had been tightly holding around themselves.
The Imperial Princess, with her fresh reddish-brown hair, and Sheila, with her neatly braided black hair, finally revealed their presence.
“Sit. I ca without notice, so I will not demand further courtesy.”
“Hello?”
At the Imperial Princess’s words, Bereninche took the seat next to Winter where I had been sitting. I made a face as if I had bitten into sothing foul and moved to the opposite side.
Seated beside the Imperial Princess, Sheila greeted warmly. I sat next to her and returned the greeting stiffly.
“Your Imperial Highness. What brings you to such a humble place?”
“I ca to purchase an item. Since I was here, I heard there was a familiar face, so I ca to see. Though I did not expect your younger sister to be present.”
I glanced at Bereninche, who was staring at intently. The way her eyes glead as she bored into was downright frightening.
At this rate, she might drill a hole through my head.
Even though she must know I had no intention of making a fool of her, she did not relax her gaze.
Seeing that, the Imperial Princess let out a faint laugh and lifted her glass. Sheila poured the whiskey Bereninche and I had been drinking into her glass.
“That is what we were drinking. We can bring a fresh—”
“That is fine. If you drank it, there is no poison.”
For soone of noble imperial blood, she lacked formality. Many viewed that aspect of her positively, but I felt sowhat conflicted about it.
“Student Davide, I didn’t expect you to be with Student Bereninche.”
Breaking the stifling atmosphere, Sheila spoke first. I discreetly glanced at the Imperial Princess. She drank her liquor while gazing at the stage with bored eyes.
“I also did not expect Your Imperial Highness and the Vice-Commander to visit this place.”
I shifted my gaze to the side. Frozen stiff, Winter shook her pupils incessantly, doing her utmost to comprehend the situation.
Beside her, Bereninche kept her mouth shut and quietly observed both the Imperial Princess’s side and . I struggled to respond to Sheila.
“May I ask what item you are looking for?”
“I heard a rumor that my Master’s item has been put up for auction.”
The Imperial Princess answered in a calm voice. Her expression was composed, but I knew her exterior and interior did not match.
Knowing what the existence of a Master ant to her, I sighed inwardly.
This is troubleso.
I only hoped that the item Bereninche wanted and the one the Imperial Princess desired were not the sa.
The worst-case scenario would be Bereninche, with her eyes flipped in fury, clashing with an ill-tempered Imperial Princess. That situation had to be prevented at all costs.
“I see.”
“There must be sothing you want as well.”
“I simply ca for the experience.”
“I hope you find sothing worthwhile.”
“Thank you.”
The Imperial Princess finished her words while glancing at Bereninche. Whether a fight broke out or not, she would lose nothing.
Thinking that way, the tightness in my chest eased. Perhaps amused by how visibly more relaxed I beca, Sheila smiled.
“This is delicious.”
Sheila handed a sweet dessert to the visibly uncomfortable Winter and personally poured whiskey for .
With the spirit of a Korean ingrained in , I hurriedly supported the glass with both hands. Watching my excessive courtesy with an odd expression, Sheila ford a round ice sphere and placed it into the glass.
“You, Davide.”
“Yes, Your Imperial Highness.”
“Your ‘Candela’ rendered great service. I did not realize it was such an item.”
Suddenly, the Imperial Princess ntioned the glass-bead bomb. At the unfamiliar term, Bereninche’s eyes glead.
To the Imperial Princess, Bereninche was not even in consideration. The glass-bead bomb, Candela, was classified information.
It was sold exclusively to the Imperial House and used in secret wars. The Imperial Princess did not bother hiding that fact from Bereninche.
“As a token of acknowledging that rit, I shall cover the entire amount you spend at this auction.”
She spoke proudly, but I was not pleased. Bereninche had already promised to cover the cost.
I glanced at Bereninche. Our eyes t exactly, and she grinned. With beads looped around her fingers, she gave them a shake.
What a jackpot.
They were the beads containing the powerful Water Spear she had once given to Winter. There were two beads on her fingers. She was saying she would pay with those instead.
No one knew better than I did how formidable Bereninche’s Water Spear was, so I nodded vigorously. One of those beads contained power comparable to Lightning Spike of Anaye at maximum output.
In terms of sheer power, it was even superior to Lightning Spike of Anaye. I had been sowhat coveting the bead Winter possessed, so I readily accepted the deal.
Not bad.
This ant the auction item would be free, and I would also gain two portable finishing moves. All I had to provide was a bit of labor and a bit of stress.
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