“You bastard… aren’t you afraid of drawing attention!”
“Aoke.”
“I understand.”
Under Luc’s gaze, Aoke stepped forward, using his broad physique to shield Vlad and the Doppelganger.
“…It’s unnecessary. These things are nothing more than consumables; nobody cares. You’d better focus on watching—there are two more Doppelgangers on the lawn over there. Look at the one closer to us.”
The three of them looked in the direction he pointed. The Doppelganger that had been working with the gardener indeed put down its tools and walked toward them.
The one further away continued pruning the flower beds and trees without any movement.
“Thank you for your assistance, guest. I will collect her.” The approaching Doppelganger reached out to Vlad.
“I don’t know what happened to this Lady Sage… she suddenly stopped moving. But since you’re taking her away, that’s a huge help.”
Vlad smiled and handed the supported Doppelganger to her. After retrieving her colleague, she walked straight off the lawn, leaving in a set direction.
“See? That is the mechanism of these things.”
“I see it… but what exactly is your plan?”
Selene still couldn’t figure out what he was up to, so she asked through Mental Sense.
“Ask ‘Royal Highness.’ She looks like she already understands… I hope you really do?”
“You want to destroy large numbers of Doppelgangers in the nearby streets when we make our move.”
“Not only that.” Vlad flashed a frantic smile. “Once these things carry their rotten friends back, I’ll blow up the Magic Stone Base Station with a ‘boom’!”
This plan was so insane that Selene was left speechless for a moment.
Detonating a Magic Stone Base Station that stored a massive amount of Magic Stones—the result of such an action spoke for itself.
Even if the city’s designers had accounted for potential accidents and placed them far from main streets, the gathered Doppelgangers and Magic Stones at the station would undoubtedly amplify the explosion’s power.
Moreover, the city was currently at the peak of the festival.
The streets were bound to be several times more crowded than usual; it was likely even the streets near those base stations were packed with people—
“The streets will be in utter chaos, won’t they? I honestly feel like it doesn’t even matter if that group of humans Aoke is in contact with helps… doing something to this extent is nothing short of a terrorist attack. The Duke’s Guard will mobilize immediately.”
“We could never put all our hopes on those humans the pig contacted in the first place, which is why I arranged this move. As a High Demonkind, you aren’t actually afraid of fighting human soldiers, are you? Besides, with this design, we don’t even need to clash with them. Haven’t these humans been numbed by this hypocritical peace? When the guard finally appears, those cockroach-like humans on the street will only sink into greater chaos. By then, both we and you will be able to escape more easily…”
Vlad spoke freely about his plan. Seeing Luc in a thoughtful state, he turned his gaze toward her. “What do you say, ‘Royal Highness’?”
“…This is a significant departure from our initial plan. Furthermore, many of our compatriots are on the streets. The explosion will surely cause collateral damage to them.”
“Why are you still being so hypocritical at this point? Do you still consider those low-class fellows who mix with humans and shamelessly run to participate in human festivals as our compatriots? Besides, you were the one who changed the plan. Are you going to go back on your word now and return to the original scheme of acting at the Duke’s Farm on the final day?”
“No. I don’t mean that. I wish to leave this disgusting place immediately… even if it’s just a second sooner.”
Luc cast her resentful gaze toward the center of the crowd—where a girl stood, loved by all and surrounded like a star held up by the moon.
Seeing that face, so strikingly similar to the Duchess, wearing a smile overflowing with happiness, Luc felt an urge to vomit up the breakfast she had just eaten.
“Very well… it seems you won’t disappoint me yet. Now, we only have one last question to answer—what if that guy who crushed my lung appears again?”
“Yes… I’m worried as well. The methods that person showed against Vlad… even a Sage might not be able to replicate them. And we have absolutely no information about him.”
As those words were spoken, the three of them simultaneously looked toward Luc.
Luc knew this was indeed the greatest threat everyone was most concerned about but had to keep ignoring.
“You don’t need to worry about that,” she said confidently. “Just as you said—that person could easily kill us. And since he hasn’t interfered until now, it means he has tacitly approved of our actions.”
“Then why did he attack Vlad that day?”
“I think it’s because Vlad saw some things he wasn’t supposed to see… and after these past few days, I have a rough grasp of that person’s identity.”
“Can’t you tell us? If that person has no intention of becoming our enemy, maybe we can expect his assistance—”
“No. Because I cannot guarantee that our heads will remain on our necks after I say it—even within Mental Sense. Just carry out the plan as scheduled.”
“Then I shall take my leave, Royal Highness. I wish you fortune in battle.”
Leaving those words in the Mental Sense, Aoke walked toward the Housekeeper in the crowd.
After talking briefly with the Housekeeper, who wore a troubled expression, he successfully left the lawn.
“Then I’m off too, okay? You just listen for the sound of the explosion and wait for these humans to fall into a mess.”
Saying this, Vlad pretended to be pale and began coughing. His terminally ill appearance immediately drew the attention of other guests and servants.
Under the general concern for his health, the Housekeeper could only watch him leave unsteadily with a look of regret.
***
“Is this… this year’s float?”
Not only the guests, but even Milin was shocked by the massive object parked in front of her.
It was a black iron box about two or three stories high—calling it entirely black might not be accurate, as many clusters woven from gold-plated copper wire hung from its top like golden wheat stalks.
On those clusters, colorful flowers were strung as the primary decoration.
“The blue ones are ‘Sword-star Chrysanthemum,’ the light green ones are ‘Star-arrow Flower’… but there is even ‘Moon-soul White’? …And this red one is ‘Thousand-day Lotus’… she was never willing to use these two types before.”
Milin knew these flowers like the back of her hand—because they were all flowers her Mother had grown in the nursery.
Since she was a child, she had watched her Mother carefully tend to them with nostalgic eyes until they bloomed, then had people decorate the floats with them for every Crown Festival.
At those times, she would hop and skip while holding these flowers, scattering them into the crowd.
Whenever she did, her Mother would look at her with the gentlest eyes in the world and stroke her head.
I wonder how Mother is doing? And Teacher Vera…
“Could this be the ‘Steam Car’ invented by the Duke? Look at that big chimney on the front! I saw a few when I was wandering around the Court… but none were as big as this one!”
“The Duchess’s whimsical ideas are truly breathtaking.”
“They put it on display at the Expo—I saw it when I visited the venue yesterday. I originally thought it was still in the design phase… but can it actually run?”
“I wonder how much one costs…”
Milin couldn’t help but worry about them again.
But seeing the Northland nobles and guests accompanying her looking at the float with eyes full of wonder and anticipation, she patted her cheeks, forcing herself to cheer up.
“Ugh… these annoying paintings haven’t changed as usual.”
However, this float didn’t only have pleasant parts—at least for Milin.
She saw that the iron plating was also decorated with paintings made of colored lacquer.
The content of those paintings was what she had always hated most, yet what her Mother liked most: the adventure stories of the Hero Lian En Klauscher.
It wasn’t that she disliked the adventure stories of the Brave’s Party; she simply disliked the parts where that man appeared.