Book 10: Chapter 5: Parenting
As Cleo leaves the room, a guide emerges from a toy box in the corner of the room.
The guide in a hat approaches the girl.
"You've made so many mistakes without knowing how hard I've been working. Thanks to you, I've been able to absorb a certain amount of negative emotions, but you people are really useless!"
The guide was angry with Cleo and the head of the institute, but the girl lifted his hat and hugged her.
"What are you going to play with me today?"
The girl Cleo and his team had prepared to kill Liam was innocent.
She did not question the act of killing Liam, nor did she care about its right or wrong.
She just did it because she was told to.
Such a girl's playmate was her guide.
"Shall I tell you a story today?"
"Yes! I love Mr. Hat's stories."
"Then let me tell you my story of being tormented by the diabolical Liam. That was the time - when he was seeking negative feelings and putting people in misery himself. All I needed was a little fun."
The guide, a figure with a hat and arms and legs, makes a powerful statement.
"But! This man Liam is such a bad man who torments me! They take away my small pleasures and force a shitty feeling of gratitude on me! I just enjoy making people a little miserable, and Liam doesn't even allow it."
The girl had grown up so rapidly that only the bare minimum was installed and her judgment of right and wrong was very vague.
So, when she heard the guide's story, she was sad.
"Poor Mr. Hat."
The sympathetic guide can honestly say, "Why should I feel sorry for you? It's disgusting." he thought.
But the guide liked the girl who was unhappy and unaware of her situation.
(How strange, then, that the one that seems the most likely is a failure.)
A girl appeared among Liam's clones.
The guide thought she was a failure at first, but felt somewhat more comfortable with the female form than with helping clones that looked like Liam.
The girl is alive because of the guide's help.
"Hmmm, you will grow up to be a fine girl and kill Liam."
"Yes! I'll do my best!"
With the help of her guide, the girl grows up quickly.
A large fleet of Cleoist ships assembled near the main planet of Baron Glynn's family.
The flagships gather one after another, and when I board the [Argos], my boarding ship, in a small boat, I am ushered into the large conference room.
Although the superdreadnought battleship is uselessly large and of the several thousand-meter class, space is still limited.
In the large conference room prepared in the limited space of the ship, nobles were gathering for a standing buffet party.
Normally, we should have a meeting to do our best to win and increase our chances of winning as much as possible.
But as a scoundrel, I deserve a party.
I throw a lavish party in vain in order to nourish my energy before a big war - very evil-like.
"I'm getting used to being evil, aren't I?"
Baron Exner comes in with Kurt as I mutter this at the party.
"Liam!"
Kurt came to me with one hand raised, looking quite happy.
When he came toward me, we held each other's hands and talked with a smile on our faces.
"It's been a long time since we've seen each other like this. How is life in the army? How have you been?"
"I'm fine. Though I'm temporarily away from the military."
"You are as serious as ever. You are the heir to the Exner family. You should get out of the army and have a little fun before you take over the estate."
"I don't have time for games."
"That's just like you. If you want to go back to the army, call me. I'll use my contacts and tell them to give you preferential treatment."
"Liam is the same as ever."
We have kept in touch many times, but it has been a long time since we have seen each other like this.
After all, meeting in person is a great way to talk.
While we were talking, Baron Exner spoke to me when the time was right.
"I can't believe you're heading off to a big war."
Baron Exner was beyond stunned and even impressed by the party, the venue, and the luxury of my flagship.
Baron Exner and Kurt are both fellow vice lords, but they are not the type to act as flamboyantly as I do.
Compared to me, as a count, the baron's domain is very small.
I appreciate the villainous spirit of trying to squeeze the most out of such a fiefdom, but the problem is that they are satisfied with that.
They tend to be preoccupied with saving when they could be more opulent.
"You should have fun. More importantly, Kurt, will you be joining us on the baron's flagship?"
Once the discussion with Baron Exner begins, Kurt takes a step back and shows that he is not part of the conversation.
Since this is a discussion between the heads of the families, the heir must have stepped aside.
"I'm going to entrust you with a hundred ships from our fleet,he is still too inexperienced to be sent to the front lines. I'm going to let them observe from the rear."
"It's hard to sleep with the head of the family and the heir at the same time, in case of an emergency. Shall I have him join our reserve force?"
"Won't that inconvenience you?"
If you have a powerful battleship like mine, the head of the family and the heir may board together.
But most usually board separately.
It's to avoid two people dying at the same time.
"No problem. In fact, I've been entrusted with another one."
There are certain parents who adore their heirs and vice versa.
In some cases, the heir was sent to the front lines and the head of the family fell back.
It is my duty as the general-in-chief to send such people to the rear and let them enjoy the luxuries of life.
--Well, they are a kind of hostage.
If I take care of the important head of the family or the heir, if they cause problems, they will lose their lives.
Baron Exner seems a little hesitant, but he promises to leave Kurt in my care.
"I'll leave the matter in your hands, then."
I don't treat them coldly as hostages.
As long as they obey me, I'm going to give them the luxury of doing so.
.
Kurt left Liam and headed off to meet with the nobles who were being sent to the rear of the unit.
I would have liked to talk to him more, but Liam was busy being the general-in-chief.
Even at parties like this, there are nobles who come to greet the guests one after another, and it is part of his job to deal with them.
"He is as firm as ever."
Holding a glass of liquor and checking on Liam from a distance, Kurt looks around the party hall.
Why a party before the war? Many would ask such a question, and the soldiers would be appalled if they heard it.
Generals might understand a little.
However, even if they have military experience, they are still a group of nobles.
Parties are preferred to meetings, and talks are smoother.
Kurt's view was that they probably threw a lavish party to suit the nobles.
(I guess living in the military for so long makes you unfamiliar with such aristocratic affairs.)
The surrounding heads of families and heirs who were told that Liam would meet them face to face and send them to the rear units have expressions of anxiety wiped off their faces.
Many of them are anxious when they are sent to the rear after a clerical exchange.
As Kurt looked at the faces around him, he noticed a woman approaching him.
The woman with short hair is wearing a dress with a short skirt, but she is also showing signs of shyness.
When she comes to Kurt's side, she stops and greets him.
"I am Marion of the Viscountess Algren. You must be Lord Kurt?"
"Yes, I am. Speaking of Algren, are you related to the Count of the Algren Frontier, who is in charge of the border with the High Kingdoms?
"It's a branch of the family."
Seeing [Marion Sera Algren] smiling at him, Kurt remembers Liam's story.
(The traitor who slipped Liam the information?)
When I narrow my eyes in disgust, Marion detects the slight change.
"Don't be offended. The Count has already forgiven me. --No, though I am still undergoing my punishment."
Marion liked to dress up in men's clothes and would attend these parties in men's outfits.
However, Liam called her out and made her dress up in a cute outfit to attend the party.
Kurt wonders one thing.
"Shouldn't the Count of Algren have participated in this battle, neither the main family nor the branch families?"
"They are hostages, I think he wants to show that the main Algren family is always with the Count - and that he is always with the Count. It's a small price to pay if they can show that inside and outside by offering me to him."
Kurt sipped the drink he was holding as Marion shook her head yarningly.
He couldn't help but look at her fondly, the woman who had betrayed Liam.
"How could you betray Liam and be safe?"
"I've been humiliated, and I've been rubbed the wrong way. Liam-senpai is really rough with people."
Marion, frustrated at being forced to dress as a woman, gave a probing look around her when she said, "Liam is rubbing me the wrong way."
(What's up with that? More importantly, calling Liam a senpai--this guy is familiar.)
Kurt feels uncomfortable, but Marion bows and moves away.
Kurt's head bowed, and said, "Well, I'll leave you to it then. I've got a lot on my plate as well."
In a corner of the party hall, Baron Glynn was tucking into drinks and food.
"It's wonderful," Baron Glynn said. "The sake and the food are all things you can't find in our territory. Even in the capital city, you can seldom find such high quality food."
Theodore, watching the scene nearby, had his cheeks pulled back.
"Baron, have you forgotten your role?"
"I am not worried," he replied. "We're getting support from Liam, and we're cutting off the factions. What about you?"
When Theodore is asked to speak, she talks about her accomplishments.
"I've been assigned to accompany Liam on his flagship and keep an eye on things from his side," she said. "-Please be careful with the information you share with me."
"No problem."
Theodore tries not to let her irritation show on her face as she watches Baron Glynn, who is engrossed in drinking and cooking.
(A simple born-again baron is really useless, isn't he?)
Theodore, who has a complex because of his low status even though she was born into nobility, found the scene at the venue comical.
(He is too relaxed to party before the war. When His Highness Cleo ascends to the throne, I will eliminate these people and take my rightful place.)
She is ambitious that she will eventually become a respectable aristocrat herself.
After the party was over and we were dismissed, I went back to my room.
"Welcome back, sir."
"Why are you in my room?"
It was Elysia who had the three maid robots stand back and bow to me.
For some reason, she is dressed in a maid's uniform.
"Show a little happy reaction!"
"That's the costume of my maids. In the first place, it's your job to support me this time."
What is this woman doing?
Have you forgotten your role?
When I pulled back slightly, Elysia said, "Terrible!" and breaks down crying on the spot.
"Because you're marrying Lady Rosetta, and you haven't made it clear how you're treating me! It's kind of my job to be your companion on the battlefield, isn't it? So, this is how I greet you and accompany you at night--"
"We're just in time."
When I refused, Elysia revealed her disappointment.
She is crying, clinging to me.
"No one is here! You don't have a partner anywhere!"
"No!! I'm pre-married!"
As I was about to pull Elysia away from the yapping, my communicator rang.
"Who is it? --Kukri?"
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