For now, I called Noelle aside.
It wasn’t anything special.
The reason was simply that we had become sisters, and it was time for an honest conversation.
Yeah. That was the only reason.
“This damn bitch, how dare she pull me into this? Does she want to turn me into a minstrel? Or what, should I become a dancer?”
I grabbed Noelle by the collar as she followed.
“You’re the one who sold me out and then what?!”
She conveniently forgot what she had done.
‘What should I do with this bitch?’
‘I don’t like petty fights, but if she’s going to act like this, it’ll be troublesome for me.’
“Don’t you remember that you were the first to mock me? Huh?”
“Did you forget what you did?”
‘She was the one who confessed to the hero and got rejected, and now she’s trying to blame me for it?’
“Shut up!”
I drove her down to the ground.
But she suddenly got up.
“Do you still think I’m the same as I was before?”
“If you don’t agree with me, you just won’t listen.”
Noelle really needed to be put in her place.
“No, you’re just selfish. I’m telling you again, if you think I’m the same as I was in the past, you’re mistaken. No matter how much you’re my sister, I won’t forgive you!”
“Alright, that’s it. You’ve really done it now, haven’t you?”
Well met.
Noah, who became a woman, must think very little of me right now.
But despite how I look, I’ve been working on my physical training every single day.
“So what? Do you want to hit me? Even if you’re weaker than before? If it comes down to pure strength, I’ll win. I can make your pretty face look ugly. Do you want to try a battle of strength?”
‘A battle of strength, huh?’
‘Should I try it?’
‘No, I’m not planning to lose, but this place will become a battlefield.’
In that case, I’ll make sure to keep her under control.
Let’s establish a new hierarchy here.
“So you’re acting like that? You’ve really met your match.”
“Pfft. So, what do you want to pull out now?”
At the moment Noelle smirked, I used sword magic.
And then, I created a dark mana sword that gave off an ominous vibe.
“Come at me.”
“No, that’s not it, damn. You’re trying to turn me into dust?! Damn. You’re acting like a Four Heavenly King now, huh?”
‘Four Heavenly King? That’s too much.’
But it doesn’t matter.
Once I catch Pector, this power won’t be the Four Heavenly King’s—it’ll be mine.
Besides…
“Right now, I’m Olivia, and we’re complete strangers.”
“You only call yourself Olivia when it’s convenient, right?”
‘What, is she trying to manipulate me as a sister?’
“I’m Olivia now.”
“I’ve even prepared a meteor strike.”
“Of course, it’s just a distraction.”
“We even have a meteor strike as part of the service.”
“Damn, a meteor in a sister fight is too much!”
Right now, I could strike her right on the head.
My sister, who knows my personality well, pointed at the sword I was holding.
“Unnie, we can cooperate. So, let’s put that ominous thing away first, okay?”
Yeah, sure.
It’s ominous. It definitely looks ominous.
But when she’s scared, that’s when I need to establish the hierarchy.
“Oh? You think my power is ominous?”
“Damn. I said, don’t go overboard. What do you want?”
She catches on quickly.
I didn’t call her over just to beat her.
“If we’re going to do this, the hero is the biggest problem.”
“That idiot has no skill to fight against the Four Heavenly Kings.”
“Eugene, you better manage him properly. Don’t let him get involved in combat if possible. Honestly, he could be a hindrance.”
“Huh? Isn’t it better to earn merit this time?”
“That’s something the Duke will take care of later. Anyway, that idiot will be a hindrance.”
***
Later, we can just mix in the story that the hero fought alongside us.
As I always say, even if you don’t like it, the hero’s name has to be mentioned. It’s for the sake of maintaining face with the allied kingdom and humanity.
This is also to prepare for the next generation of heroes.
If, after this battle, there’s another showdown between the Demon King and humanity, the hero will appear.
But if the perception of the hero is ruined because of Eugene…
It will be troublesome.
In other words, if we don’t fix the perception of the hero that Eugene’s actions have damaged…
- The Demon King has been resurrected.
- The hero is useless, this is bad.
The hero will be discarded immediately.
“Usually, demons can still fight heroes, so why bother?”
“Right. Even if the hero is useless, he can still deal with Berna’s army.”
“That’s not the problem.”
“After the failure of Eldakrad, they’ve been planning a revenge war for decades. Not a single variable should be allowed. If news gets out that there’s a hero, Berna, who has the mindset of ‘just corrupt the army again,’ might intervene.”
Even if she’s a crazy woman for Eldakrad, as a subordinate of the Demon King, she has instincts.
The hatred for the hero.
The need to kill him.
Anyway, since the hero holds the holy sword, he must be eliminated.
They are fundamentally opposed, so it’s simple.
“Ah, that’s true.”
“So, we can’t let that guy go.”
“If it’s that Eugene, he’ll probably be behind the scenes, flirting with elves and corrupted holy maidens.”
“Yeah. It wouldn’t be bad to bring the women from the Crown’s court along as well.”
“Unnie, but you’re the Empress, right? Aren’t you in contact with the Emperor?”
“Is that even a question right now?”
“Didn’t it seem like you already exchanged letters with Ashtar?”
“Who’s fault is that?”
I slightly pushed the sword forward.
“No, put the sword away!”
“I’m reminding you again, did you get it?”
“Got it.”
Good. I’m glad.
A sister who knows me like a dog, but when it comes to humanity, she won’t stay quiet.
“Don’t even think about doing something weird.”
“I won’t! I know your personality, why would I do that?”
‘Why’s she suddenly criticizing my personality?’
“Where else can you find a good woman like me?”
“What’s wrong with my personality?”
“She became Olivia and got even worse.”
“Should I show her how bad my personality really is?”
“Do you really want me to show you how bad it is?”
“Okay, okay, I’m sorry! Just… put that sword down.”
It’ll be a hassle if Eugene messes things up during the expedition.
It’s better to lock things down with Noelle now.
“But does the hero listen to you?”
“Oh, he listens well. Don’t worry. I’ll handle it properly.”
“Yeah. It’s good that the hero listens.”
***
In the Holy Kingdom, as Ashtar was preparing its expeditionary force, Ashtar’s envoy entered the Holy Kingdom and delivered a letter from the head of the family.
Upon receiving the letter, Pope Glacia shook her head.
“Saint Berna, no, Bernaoa? She didn’t die with Eldakrad in the Holy War, but… she fell into corruption?”
“Yes.”
She had received a report from the Cardinal first, but seeing the letter from Ashtar directly made her uneasy.
Of all things, Bernaoa had been Berna.
I had hoped it was just a coincidence, but it seemed like I was right.
“This is a headache. Of all things, the Saint of the Holy Kingdom has fallen. And it’s been revealed by Ashtar, the one who supports the baseless Imperial Goddess cult.”
The Pope slowly read through the document sent by Ashtar’s head of the family.
No matter how many times she read it, nothing changed.
“What should we do about this?”
“Hm.”
At the Cardinal’s question, Glacia tapped her temple with her fingers.
This situation was taking a strange turn.
It wasn’t that she was questioning it, but perhaps this might actually help the Holy Kingdom.
“Ashtar is requesting support from the clergy to attack the whore who spread her legs for the Demon King.”
The whore, of course, was Berna.
The fact that a head of a noble family, especially from Ashtar, was using such vulgar language showed that they were deeply enraged.
The one who killed his father was now clear, so his anger was understandable.
“Do you mean the priests? This is outrageous! Are they asking us to send our priests like we are their vassals? A mere noble family treating us like a colony?”
The Holy Kingdom was different from other countries.
It was a country founded by those who believed in the Goddess, gathering under the Pope.
It couldn’t be compared to other countries ruled by emperors and kings.
Yet, here was a mere noble head of a family, not even an emperor, showing such disrespect.
“Nothing is wrong about that.”
“Excuse me?”
Nothing wrong, except that we are not a vassal state.
“Saint Berna betrayed our God and served the Demon King. This is truly disgraceful for our Holy Kingdom. If we had known about this earlier, we would have requested military support from Ashtar instead.”
The corruption of Berna had come from Eldakrad’s failure to prevent her kidnapping.
In the end, both Ashtar and the Holy Kingdom would have to work together.
Besides that, the Hero Party’s performance had been alarming.
Since the mage Noah disappeared, the Hero Party had lost every battle, including the one at the Berta Fortress, which they had handed over to Pector.
In fact, it was the Imperial Saint who had defeated Pector, which had spoken volumes.
If that Saint were to join the hunt for Berna, there might be hope.
Either way, supporting the Hero Party was something Ashtar was doing, so there was no need to be overly concerned about it.
***
“What’s going on, suddenly attacking the Demon King’s territory?”
“Apparently, Berna desecrated the tombs.”
“Ah.”
Eldakrad’s tombs were considered sacred by the Ashtar family.
Even Ashtar’s people revered Eldakrad.
The fact that the corrupted Saint Berna had attacked such a sacred place made Ashtar understandably furious.
There was no choice now.
The Demon King’s army had to be confronted; the headquarters of the Goddess cult couldn’t remain silent.
“We’ll prepare the priests as requested and also send knightly escorts to protect them.”
That should be sufficient.
“Yes, Your Holiness.”
At the Pope’s command, high-ranking priests and a knight order from the Holy Kingdom were dispatched to Ashtar.
***
Eltia Kingdom
The Eltia Kingdom, which had become a battleground due to direct clashes with the Demon King’s army, received a secret letter from Ashtar’s head of the family.
The King summoned the nobles as soon as the sun rose.
“A letter has arrived.” From Ashtar.
“No matter how small our country is compared to the Empire, it’s unacceptable that a mere noble family sends a letter to His Majesty.”
The nobles were not fond of Ashtar.
When the nobles of the kingdom had sent their able-bodied men to fight, even working the fields for supplies, the Empire’s nobles had been sitting idle.
Simply put, they didn’t like Ashtar.
However, Princess Levia thought differently.
“Even though the Empire sent an envoy without following the proper procedures, it’s hard to criticize a great nation for doing so. But we must consider the official relationship between Ashtar and our kingdom.”
Ashtar had been providing military support and supplies for the kingdom, so their relationship was still valuable.
“Hmm. There has been a relationship since the Eldakrad era. Moreover, the contents of this letter are, frankly, dire.”
The King of Eltia couldn’t simply ignore this letter.
It spoke of the necessity of joining forces to defeat the Four Heavenly Kings and that Ashtar would only ask for supplies.
“What does this mean?”
“The fallen Saint Berna, no, Bernaoa, was involved.”
At these words, the nobles gasped.
“Bernaoa? Wasn’t she the Saint who died with Eldakrad in the Demon King’s realm? How could this happen?”
“That Berna, the one who fell to the Demon King, corrupted half of Eldakrad’s army and slaughtered them in the Demon King’s realm.”
Eldakrad had been famous even in the kingdom.
So much so that Ashtar had even published a fairy tale based on Eldakrad’s battle with the Demon King’s army.
To think there was betrayal behind the death of Eldakrad.
The fallen Saint Berna, who was originally from the kingdom, now bore some responsibility.
“Are you saying that the kingdom is to blame for not stopping Berna’s corruption? Shouldn’t Eldakrad have been responsible for preventing that?”
“Whatever the cause, the fact remains that the Saint has fallen. If she was corrupted, she should have taken her own life in shame. Instead, she shamelessly lived on by turning to evil.”
At this point, they couldn’t pretend they didn’t know what was happening.
“What is Ashtar asking for?”
“They don’t want military support since they’re rebuilding their fortresses, but they’ve asked for supplies—armor, weapons, and medical supplies. What do you think, Princess? Should we support them?”
“That makes sense.”
Given the supplies Ashtar had provided, the kingdom should help.
This was particularly crucial for the war against the Four Heavenly Kings.
For the kingdom, now was the time to breathe and regroup, but Ashtar’s participation was directly tied to their safety.
“I see. So you’re suggesting we give them everything Ashtar is asking for?”
“Noah has already returned with the Demon King’s forces. Now, anyone who can capture the Four Heavenly Kings must act. The hero has already failed, giving up Berta Fortress. If Ashtar steps in, it wouldn’t be bad. Besides, Bernaoa is originally from the kingdom, so there’s more than enough reason to help.”
‘Is that really the only reason?’
The nobles knew what kind of person the princess was.
“Didn’t you love Noah, Princess? Shouldn’t you think about us too? Our nobles aren’t blessed with fertile lands like those of the Empire.”
“The kingdom has lost many men and mages in the fight with the Demon King.”
The kingdom had suffered heavily in the battle against the Demon King.
It wasn’t like the Empire’s suffering, and they couldn’t stay silent about supplies.
“The corrupted army may even come to our kingdom. If Ashtar handles it first, we can buy ourselves some time.”
That’s true.
“Exactly.”
“Once this matter is over, we can request that Ashtar send a group of mages to bless us.”
The nobles found no reason to reject the princess’s words.
The kingdom accepted Ashtar’s request and sent armor, weapons, and supplies.