As I glared without flinching, the first queen consort wiped away the smile from her face.
“Soul Academy is one of the kingdom’s key institutions. It wouldn’t be strange for the royal palace to be in charge of disciplining those who cause trouble there, would it?”
“Delusional Queen Consort. Just because you believe something is right in your head doesn’t make it so, you know? If you’re going to play the justification game, the useless church comes first. This perverted trash is related to the Evil God.”
As I threw out the suggestion of passing him off to someone else, like Paybi, instead of handing Luca over to someone like her, the smile completely vanished from her face.
Hoo boy. That’s intense. She’s going to pull a sword any moment now.
<Do you have a reason not to hand Luca over?>
The grandfather’s question seemed to be prompted by my unusually firm stance.
‘Yes. This person is going to use Luca as a tool for her own goals.’
Kavaty Soladin is the kind of person who would sacrifice everything for what she desires.
It doesn’t matter to her what that means, or how it affects others.
What matters to her is whether what stands in front of her can help her kingdom. That’s all.
Knowing her madness, I couldn’t agree with her claim to punish Luca.
Yes, Luca betrayed the first queen consort’s expectations.
It’s obvious that she was furious because of that.
But does that mean Luca’s usefulness is at an end? I don’t think so.
Luca still has his followers all over the kingdom.
Those who overcame the trials he set for them. Those who, without knowing the dark side of Luca, still see him as their benefactor. Those who formed connections under him as their teacher.
Would those who had spent their lives showing gratitude to their teacher easily believe that Luca had been messing around?
No. Some may tremble with betrayal, but most will think Luca fell into a trap.
And to clear up the misunderstanding about their teacher, they’d gladly use the networks they’ve built.
Aside from them, Luca’s connections in the shadows can also be leveraged.
With the information that could spill from Luca and the power of the first queen consort, she could easily gain leverage to pressure a few nobles.
But more than that, the real issue is Yuden, who’s standing beside me.
Despite knowing the full story, Yuden still worries about Luca.
Though she’s pretending to be calm, I can tell she’s still concerned.
If Luca ends up in the queen consort’s hands, she’ll use him to shake up Yuden.
There’s no shortage of benefits the first queen consort can gain by obtaining Luca.
But she’s talking about punishing Luca? Making an example of him?
Nonsense. She’s not that kind of person. I’ve seen her mess around with Luca enough times. How am I supposed to trust anything she says?
‘It’s better to hand him over to the Church of the Lord. Not to her.’
<Then tell her to contact through the Arlen family later.>
Contact through the Arlen family? What does that even mean?
I didn’t quite understand what the grandfather was saying, but it was too late to ask as the first queen consort spoke first.
“Lady Arlen.”
Damn it. I don’t know. The grandfather is a seasoned political player, so his words must be right.
“Delusional Queen Consort, I’m sorry, but I’m far too tired to indulge in your nonsense. If you want to continue talking, can you do so through the Arlen family?”
Following the grandfather’s suggestion, the first queen consort paused and thought for a moment before flashing a smile.
“Are you planning to have the Arlen family secure Luca the professor’s whereabouts?”
“Maybe. Maybe not.”
I can’t leave that shady guy in the family, so I’ll probably dump him on the perverted apostle, but there’s no need to tell her that now.
Now, how should I deal with this? How will she try to pressure me for her desires?
“Hm. I understand for now.”
...Huh?
“After the situation settles, I’ll send a messenger through the Arlen family. Then we can have further discussions.”
The queen consort bowed politely, greeting me, Yuden, and Prette before leaving the clock tower and descending down the stairs.
As the uninvited guest left, silence fell, and I couldn’t hide my confusion.
What... What’s going on? Why is she giving up so easily?
The first queen consort is not someone who would back down so easily!
Startled by the unexpected turn of events, I blinked in surprise, while Yuden made a show of being impressed.
“I never imagined Lady Arlen would be so skilled. Truly unexpected.”
Huh? What? What did I do? I just did what grandfather told me to do!
“Isn’t ‘unexpected’ a bit of an insult? This whole scene is Lady Arlen’s plan, you know.”
...My plan?
What nonsense is this? Prette?
The only thing that went according to my plan today was Luca’s pathetic, useless face, wasn’t it?
Everything else was a complete mess. And now you’re saying it all went according to my plan?
“The apostle is right. Our young lady doesn’t not do things just because she doesn’t know. She doesn’t do it because she simply doesn’t want to!”
Hey, Kal. Is this supposed to be a compliment or an insult to me?
It’s worse to knowingly do nothing than to not know at all.
When I glared at Kal, he tilted his head, confused.
Does he not get it? Is he seriously thinking that was meant to be praise?
...Ah. Damn it. I don’t know anymore. I’m so tired. I feel like I’m going to collapse from running around all day.
Let’s take care of what we need to, and then rest.
I can deal with the complicated stuff later.
“Perverted apostle. Keep this useless trash.”
“I’ll gladly do so.”
“Old man lover. Stick around, too. I don’t know what might happen.”
“I was already planning to do that, whether you said it or not.”
After seeing Yuden nod, I tossed Luca aside and set foot on the clock tower’s stairs.
“Trickster fox, you made sure the barrier is intact, right?”
“The barrier is fine, despite how tired I am. After she came in, the barrier remained intact.”
Well, that’s true. The first queen consort came in, but no one else managed to enter the clock tower. Even though there was a commotion upstairs.
Is there something I don’t know about the first queen consort?
Ugh, this is making my head hurt even more. What’s the deal with the first queen consort? Is there some unknown factor here?
“Boss!”
The moment I stepped out of the clock tower, Karia rushed up to me.
“Are you alright? That crazy woman was just here!”
“Delusional Queen Consort? She just left after I told her to contact through the Arlen family.”
“I... I really don’t know if Lady Arlen is an idiot or if she’s doing this on purpose.”
After hearing my words, Karia let out a sigh of relief and bowed. I don’t know what I did, but seeing Karia react this way means I must have done something right.
Good job, Grandpa! You’re truly a master at surviving in the corrupt church and the dirty noble society! Amazing!
<...Instead of praising yourself, you should think about the meaning of your actions.>
‘If you keep that up, I won’t even thank you next time.’
<Then I won’t help you either.>
‘Sorry.’
I acknowledged my defeat silently and turned to see Karia, who had suddenly changed.
She had been her usual self just a moment ago, and now she looked like a maid from the academy. How did that happen in such a short time!?
Was that not Karia?
This chapt𝓮r is updat𝒆d by ƒreeωebnovel.ƈom.
Did Karia leave, and the academy maid came in?
“I’ll explain how things are going while we walk. Don’t talk, just listen. Since I already know what you think.”
It really is Karia. It’s amazing. It’s like magic.
“The situation is pretty good. Thanks to Sword Saint’s flashy killing of the dragon’s head, all attention shifted to that.”
After the barrier broke and everyone got up, Yuden handled things, so most of the credit for solving this event goes to her.
“The saint’s presence next to the Sword Saint helped, too. If people thought it was only the Sword Saint, there would have been suspicion, but with the saint’s help, everyone bought it.”
Except for a few who know the truth, no one doubts that Paybi represents the will of the Lord.
As a saint of the Church of the Lord, she’s earned her title with countless achievements.
So if Paybi and Yuden took down the followers of the Void, everyone would just nod in agreement.
If anyone raises doubts? They’d be labeled as heretics. And that’s the end of it.
The outcome was exactly as I wanted. Thanks to that, almost no one will suspect that I’m an apostle of the Lord.
“Right now, the saint is handling things with the Church’s people. Lady Partlan is checking on the safety of other noblewomen. Prince 3 is with Prince 2.”
“What about the foolish knight?”
“Prince 3 dragged him away by force. He’s probably just waiting for a chance to run.”
As I listened to my friends doing their parts, I looked around.
The academy students didn’t seem to realize that they had almost died a moment ago.
Some were dazed, like they had just woken from a dream.
Others were casually asking about the exams.
A few were wishing it had been postponed.
Some were running around trying to win the queen consort’s favor.
Some were lamenting that they didn’t get to see the Sword Saint.
And some were praising the saint.
There was no fear, no dread, no nightmare in their conversations. Everyone was simply going about their usual day.
Hmm. Well, that’s fine.
At least they’re not crying over someone’s sacrifice or trapped in nightmares.
It’s better they don’t know anything at all.
Nodding to myself, I stretched and opened the blue window.
Now then, let’s check what the great and magnificent Armadi has given me.
After defeating that trash Agra in such a humiliating way, I believe I must have received something significant.
The Lord of all the good gods, Armadi, always rewards me generously in these matters, right?
Getting ready to downgrade that pathetic, perverted Agra into a disgusting, petty mess, I opened the message and blinked at the text in front of me.
[Arthur Soladin’s affection has surpassed 70!]
[Arthur Soladin feels deep, deep gratitude toward you!]
Huh?
...
What did I even do?
I didn’t do anything!