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

Chapter 321: Avoiding Conflict

"...Esther... how good to see you again," Ragnar says to me with irony. He doesn’t look happy to see me again at all, and it’s obvious to both of us that neither of us wanted to see the other.

’This place reeks of wet dog... how disgusting.’

"I’ve come to collect the debt for your life. I saved you and now I want my compensation," I tell him directly, with no frills or beating around the bush. He owes me this for having already saved his miserable life, and I want to finish this quickly. He doesn’t deserve basic manners or etiquette.

"...As direct as in the past... and you seem even more unsettling than before... are you sure you aren’t the current demon queen?" He questions, raising an eyebrow.

And I can understand why. His instincts remain as sharp as in the past, and it’s true that currently, thanks to my constant use of my blessing, my power has grown immensely.

"I am not the queen. The queen is someone more suited to the position." My small, cute doll whose steps I dictate. She is perfect. I never liked being the center of attention, so Evelyn, as an obedient queen, gives me the power and takes the attention off me. Perfect for my more reserved lifestyle.

"...What do you want from me?" He also gets straight to the point. He obviously knows what it is, but I decide to make it very clear.

"I want you flea-bitten bastards to stay out of the war, or maybe I’ll need to decimate your continent." Evelyn doesn’t know it yet, but my power has already grown enough to destroy a continent with my blessing.

Since I was accumulating power for my global genocide, I ended up becoming quite strong. Now that genocide is no longer a goal, I still kept all the power I gained, and in the future, I will be even stronger.

"...You’re bluffing," he says, but his fox ears are on alert while his tail bristles aggressively.

"Do you want to pay to see if I’m bluffing? Do you think the Demon King or Queen is the only one with the power to destroy continents?" Saluvia is a good example; that woman could destroy a continent.

She may be "just" a doctor, but her seventh-layer blessing that allows her to control corpses, and the fact that she has the bodies of demon kings who possess their powers and active blessings, makes it clear she could indeed devastate continents if she tried.

Even more so because she has been helping me better control my blessing, and with that, it became clear how refined her power is.

"Watch your words, girl. Even if it meant losing, if you try to humiliate me and trample my pride, I wouldn’t mind going to war. Don’t mistake restraint for cowardice." He lets his Hikishin spread through the room as a threat.

"I know the difference well. Unlike the other flea-bags on this underdeveloped continent, you are smart. A rarity among those of your race who act like a pack of animals."

"And that’s why I saved you in the past, because you seemed like someone logical. So don’t think I’d waste time with someone like you when I alone can end all of this."

"..." He realizes I’m serious, and it’s the truth. I alone can destroy their race.

"...Why don’t you do it? You don’t seem like the type who holds back. In the past, I was certain you would be the type of woman who would decimate a race without reason, and now you seem to have the power for such a thing."

"So why come asking us not to go to war when you could force it?"

"...Because my foolish wife is too damn kind and doesn’t want me going around decimating races." My contract with Evelyn is a leash for both of us. I have to be careful with how many deaths I cause.

Killing an entire continent isn’t considered a global genocide, so it’s fine, but there are the angels. If I decimate two races, maybe that falls into the global genocide category. In other words, it’s not safe for me to simply wipe out the beastmen when we are already at war with the angels.

"I see... but this matter of the war isn’t just up to me. I don’t want to enter the war, but it was my foolish, rebellious daughter who incited the people to it, so you will need to settle things with her."

"She is here, and probably... she will challenge either you or Evelyn to a duel. The terms, I believe you can imagine. You know Lya; I’m sure you’ve already investigated her."

"If that bitch tries anything with my wife, I will torture her."

"Watch your mouth about my daughter, you whore." He rises from his throne.

"What are you going to do if I insult that bitch? Attack me? You can try. I just need a reason to kill you all. If I’m attacked first, my wife won’t be able to complain if I decimate you."

"The only thing keeping you alive is that thin moral thread of my wife, and when it snaps, I’ll do things my way."

"...Esther, with your power, you act like a child in an amusement park. This is why I hate it when young ones like you try to hold power... do what you want." He sits back on his throne, retreating.

"You know a monster like you gathers many enemies, don’t you? Are you sure you want this, Esther?" Ragnar asks as I stand up to leave and settle this war business with Lya.

"Me? What are you talking about, Ragnar? I’m just doing my best at my wife’s command."

"...You are a truly despicable person, putting all of this on the shoulders of the woman you claim to love."

"She is the queen. There’s not much I can do, is there?" If one day it becomes necessary, Evelyn and I can just abandon everything and go live happily and alone on some random island.

But I doubt that moment will come, because the stronger my power gets, the harder it becomes for an enemy of mine not to be killed "accidentally" by an unfortunate twist of fate.

My power is already capable of reaching an area of influence of a continent, meaning that my enemies within that area are already susceptible to being affected and killed by my blessing, which will always favor my victory.

’My victory...’ I wonder if my blessing is the reason Evelyn was able to defeat me and become queen. I wonder if, when my goal changed from genocide to obtaining total possession of Evelyn in the past, my blessing then stopped me and prevented me from getting the throne because Evelyn on the throne is easier to control and mold.

"Now, Ragnar, tomorrow I will speak with your daughter and settle this, but I hope you understand that she might end up dead."

"..."

"If you weren’t so much stronger than me, your head would already be rolling on the floor for that insulting warning," he says as I slam the hall door, ignoring his irritated and stupid remark.

"..." I start heading toward Evelyn while thinking about the beastmen’s style of conflict resolution. The chances of that furry slut asking Evelyn for a duel are high.

’But this...’ I think about Evelyn fighting. The fragile, weak, and pathetic Evelyn, who can’t even rank in the top 500 of the strongest demons, but who also can’t be killed by almost anyone.

’Considering the magic Evelyn currently has... the only true way to kill Evelyn is to destroy 100% of her puppets, all her soul backups, and destroy her true soul...’ It’s something almost impossible.

Moreover, Evelyn has something that most would never expect: a complete lack of need for defense. Evelyn doesn’t need to be strong; she just needs to be able to thrust that sword into the person.

The weapon she gained from the so-called Original Evelyn, the same weapon that could even kill me. If Evelyn can immobilize an opponent and impale them on that weapon, it’s the end.

’Beastmen are impulsive, savage, terrible at magic, and are extremely brutish...’ Evelyn easily wins even against Ragnar, not because she is stronger, but because she only needs a single, perfectly placed strike.

Besides the element of surprise, no one knows that Evelyn has a weapon that destroys both the magic and the soul of those struck by it, a weapon that apparently is bound to Evelyn’s soul.

Since I asked Evelyn to let me try to use it, and the weapon returned to her hand on its own. Even when I grabbed it, I couldn’t use its powers, and shortly after I took it, it simply wanted to go back to Evelyn.

So it’s a weapon exclusively for Evelyn that can’t simply be taken from her. Also, judging by the materials, I’m almost certain that that Katana regenerates if broken, though I can’t prove it without trying to break it.

And Evelyn didn’t let me try to break it, so it remains speculation, but what matters is that Evelyn can defeat Lya in a fight.

’Maybe...’ I believe maybe I should accept the duel if Lya wants it. By killing her, the beastmen won’t enter the war, and if they break the agreement, I can just decimate them in a way Evelyn couldn’t complain about.

"Haaa... Evelyn always gives me work." I have to waste time thinking and planning something that could easily be solved if I could just wipe out these flea-bitten animals.

’Ah, yes... those two traitors are here, aren’t they...’ The two puppets who betrayed Evelyn. Evelyn certainly doesn’t want me to destroy them, but I wonder if there’s anything I could do to make their lives worse for having abandoned my wife.

Even if that was useful in proving my point that living puppets aren’t 100% reliable for having too much autonomy.

’I’ll think more about this later! I must go see if my wife is comfortable.’