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

Chapter 319: Debt

The days have been passing relatively well. As the war advances, Esther shows just how brilliant she is, making every battle decision — decisions that are clearly executed so flawlessly that all I have to do is obey.

Thanks to her, the soldiers have begun to trust my orders more, and since the orders seem to truly come from me, I end up taking all the credit. My three puppets handling the kingdom’s administration are doing a perfect job as well.

However, a problem has surfaced. Just as Esther warned, the beastmen are all stirred up and ready to join the war too, and because of that, Esther is planning to go deal with them personally.

But neither I nor Esther can agree on how this is supposed to work. After all, I don’t want her to go unless I go too, and she doesn’t want me to go because I’m forbidden from leaving the kingdom. So we decided that neither of us will go.

Instead, we’ll use "copies." I’ll create a third body to control, and Esther will use a spell and an artifact that creates a copy of herself that she can control. That way, both of us stay in the kingdom, but we’ll also solve this problem.

"E-Esther, we’re way too high up..." I say, looking at Esther’s clone flying far above. My dragon is back at the castle, and Esther decided to carry me all the way to the beastmen’s continent.

"I know. Just stay quiet and calm, Evelyn." She says it like my current discomfort is just something I have to power through, but the situation is really difficult for me, especially for my vision.

"E-Esther!! It’s hard having to control three bodies, you know? My vision and my memories are in this awful sync!! While my body at the castle is doing exercises and my body at the war front is leading troops, this body is flying!"

"Do you have any idea how three completely distinct memories disorient me? Especially these flying memories — for my other two bodies that are on solid ground, walking has become difficult because my sense of balance has been completely destroyed!!!"

"You’ll get used to it soon, Evelyn. This is better. Besides, it’s not that simple for me either, since I’m having to share my consciousness with this clone. But it’s better than both of us having to go all the way to those animals’ continent."

"Esther, how do you plan to solve this problem?" I try to change the subject to distract myself. I don’t understand how Esther could stop the beastmen — honestly, I don’t even know how the beastmen would manage to leave their continent in the first place.

"I have my methods. You just need to trust me. I have contacts infiltrated among them, and I know certain things that can help. I just need some time — likely two months at most, and then we can turn all our focus back to the war against the angels."

"Just be patient. We’ll reach someone important there in five hours. Until then, stay quiet in my arms, and stay quiet while I collect an old debt from someone." She speaks while I cling to her, feeling somewhat nauseous from the scrambled vision I have. The three perspectives are something extremely complex to deal with.

...

...

...

"A letter from Esther... is that damned woman still alive?" I’ve received a letter from Esther. It seems she wants to meddle in my affairs. What an irritating woman.

"From what I can see, she’s coming to me... I never expected she would care about this..." I examine the letter with some caution, realizing she’ll be arriving soon — very soon. A day at most. She didn’t even give me time to prepare.

I open my base status, which I usually make a habit of showing to my enemies. When Esther saw it in the past, she barely cared. Just displaying this general status is usually enough to make most people reconsider meeting me.

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Name = Ragnar

Race = Chaotic Fox

Title = Chief of the Bestial Continent

A man with a strong, muscular build, his skin has a slightly ashen tone like the coals of a fire, while his eyes are a dark red. He has fox ears and a tail in a very deep black shade, and his muscles make his high physical capabilities clear. He is tall and carries a wild aura, with hair as black as jet.

Personality = Cold, Direct, Controlling, Territorial, Stubborn

Weight = 93 kg

Age = 312 years

Birthday = ?

Height = 189 centimeters

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’I wonder how that woman is doing now. When I saw her, she was still quite young, but she showed no fear of my title.’ Esther is a girl to whom I owe a favor.

In the past, I went to the demon continent in secret to obtain something, but along the way I was mortally wounded by a damn nymph, and because of that I was on the brink of death at the shores of the demon continent.

But a demon girl found me. Apparently, she was one of the candidates for the throne at that time, and she saved me — in exchange for robbing everything I had and telling me I owed her a favor, one she would collect in the future. That girl turned out to be Esther, something I discovered later.

It seems the day has come for her to collect that favor, since she sent this letter. Normally, I would ignore it, but it’s true that I would have died if she hadn’t saved me back then. And despite the shameless robbery, my life is worth far more than the resentment.

"Father, why did you call me here!!" The door to my mansion’s main hall swings open as my daughter enters. She looks irritated.

"Lya, good that you came. It’s been some time—"

"Enough of this fake cordiality, old man." She speaks with anger and a tone that irritates me and makes me growl at her.

"Watch your mouth unless you want me to break every one of your teeth." I say in a reprimanding tone to this ungrateful brat. If she weren’t my daughter, I would never tolerate such disrespect. But since almost all my children are sons, Lya ends up having certain privileges.

"Ha! As if you could boss me around! Just tell me already why you called me. I’m busy taking care of my city. I don’t have time to waste running from one side to the other just to come see you."

"..."

"I called you here because an ’old friend’ is coming to see me. Her business is tied to the war that YOU wanted to enter, so you’re going to be involved in resolving this. After all, you’re the one trying to drag the entire continent into a conflict that wasn’t ours."

"...Don’t talk as if I’m doing something stupid, old man. Besides, many want war!! We can’t let angels, demons, and humans participate while we stay out! We’re not cowards! Imagine the image other races will have of us if we keep out of the fight!!"

"Stupid daughter! Lya, do you realize how idiotic it is to get involved in this? And you think a ruler should worry about appearances? Besides, the humans haven’t even directly entered yet — even those fools understand they shouldn’t meddle directly in the conflict between angels and demons."

"You’re just a cowardly old man!"

’Dumb brat.’ It’s not cowardice. I never wanted to join this — not because I lack interest, but because I know we’re the race at the greatest disadvantage. We are the race with the least talent for magic.

It means the combat dynamic between races ends up with humans and beastmen being evenly matched, and angels and demons evenly matched — which creates "fair" conflicts. But that changes when it’s beastmen or humans against angels and demons.

Both Angels and Demons have the highest affinity with Hikishin. They possess beings capable of destroying anything from kingdoms to entire continents. Meanwhile, I, the strongest beastman, can only destroy a city. And what’s worse is knowing that among the demons, there are at least 50 demons with as much power as I have.

That is to say, the strongest beastman isn’t even in the top 50 of demons, and it’s even worse against the angels, where I fall below the top 100. This shows that entering this war will only bring disadvantages to us beastmen.

But this idiotic daughter who has never encountered members of demon or angel royalty thinks she can easily jump into this war and come out with advantages.

Even though some informants tell me that the current demon queen is weak, that changes nothing when she’s still surrounded by powerful freaks. And the worst of all is Esther.

Even in the past, my instincts screamed that that girl was dangerous. And now? Now she must be even more monstrous than before.

"You’re far too hot-headed, Lya. It doesn’t matter. You’ll understand when you meet Esther... Just stay quiet and wait. This business involves you, but know that I won’t help you at all if you decide to drag our continent into this war."

"...Tsk. One day I’ll kill you, old man. You’re no longer someone worthy of commanding our continent."

"Do whatever you want, and think whatever you want. But if you’re so confident, you can challenge me right now. However, on the day you try to kill me, I will fight to kill you. And I don’t give second chances."

"..."

"Do whatever you want, cowardly old man." She stomps on the floor and storms out through the door, throwing my own words back at me with anger.

"IF YOU TRY TO LEAVE MY TERRITORY BEFORE I GIVE YOU PERMISSION, I’LL HUNT YOU DOWN MYSELF." I shout so that she doesn’t even think about leaving. This mess is her fault, and now she’s going to see it through to the end.

"Haaa... this brat infuriates me. She’d better not ruin everything..." I had hoped never to have to see that girl again. But if she’s coming, it’s better to be receptive so she leaves quickly.

"After this, our debt will be settled, Esther..." I burn her letter. Normally, I’m not welcoming, nor do I allow nobles from other kingdoms to simply show up here. But Esther’s case is a debt, so she’s a special guest — for now.