Chapter 59
“……”
Only Chobi and Rondayman came down to the basement.
Through the window, the inside of the laboratory was visible.
The space protected by a barrier was densely filled with thick wooden vines tangled together.
It had grown even larger than when Rondayman first discovered it.
The brief tremor earlier seemed to have been caused by these trees growing and pushing against the ceiling.
‘This is no joke.’
Chobi was appalled.
Ever since handing over the laboratory to the Saintess, he had expected something to happen.
But he hadn’t imagined it would create an entire ecosystem resembling a jungle.
Rondayman glanced nervously at Chobi and stammered,
“D-Director. What on earth is this?”
“What do you mean what, this morning the Saint—.”
Chobi answered casually, then shut his mouth.
He shot Rondayman a sideways glance.
‘This guy was one of them too, wasn’t he.’
The Saintess Church or whatever it was called.
Ever since Hupperson joined it, whenever anything related to the Saintess happened, he would pester Chobi endlessly.
What did the Saintess do? What did she say? And so on.
He would fire off an endless barrage of questions until he finally shut up only after getting kicked in the shin.
If Rondayman found out this was the Saintess’s doing, he might act just like Hupperson.
Imagining an overreacting Rondayman, Chobi grimaced.
‘Ugh.’
It was already exhausting just thinking about it.
“This morning the Saint…?”
“…My research that concluded successfully.”
“I-I see.”
Rondayman swallowed.
What kind of research had he conducted to give birth to a lifeform that looked like it might bring about the end of the world?
Still, this was a research institute inside the Imperial Palace—was it really okay to have something like that here?
But Rondayman couldn’t voice that thought.
This quarter as well, most of the research achievements of the Imperial Palace laboratory had been filled by the Director.
How could he possibly nitpick the research of the superior who paid his salary?
Before that, he’d be lucky if he didn’t get killed for interfering.
“It’s hard to go into details.”
Chobi pressed a button beside the laboratory entrance.
All sorts of terrifying equipment emerged from the walls, cutting, burning, and sucking up the wooden vines.
They were so massive and dense that it took quite some time for the laboratory to return to its former state.
Chobi warned Rondayman.
“This is classified. No leaks. Tell the others the same.”
“Gasp, understood.”
If it reached Hupperson’s ears, he would definitely come pestering again.
Unaware of Chobi’s inner thoughts, Rondayman simply nodded.
“Phew, what should I do?”
“Pyu?”
Lying on my stomach on the bed reading the introductory manual, I spoke to Pyu.
“At this rate, I think I could protect not just luggage but even His Majesty.”
A sudden, well-founded confidence surged within me.
Last week.
The result of my beginner set conducted in Chobi’s underground laboratory—
“…All five bloomed?”
From the five flowerpots, small sprouts had emerged.
Hehe. Even combined, the two cotyledons weren’t bigger than my pinky fingernail,
but what mattered was that all five had sprouted.
I had been going to take them with me to grow them as a keepsake, but I had to go to the chapel for work.
So I left them in the lab briefly and went back in the afternoon to retrieve them—and they were completely gone.
“There were flowerpots? …Haha. I must have cleaned them up without realizing.”
I had seen how Chobi cleaned the underground lab.
It was radical—like using a gas torch just to catch a single mosquito.
So there was no way my flowerpots would have even been visible. Sob.
“Still, it might be a relief that they’re gone.”
When His Majesty had three, the academic world had gone into an uproar.
And my small and precious divine power had no less than five attributes.
If this becomes known, I won’t get dragged off somewhere as experimental material, right…?
Before that, the god Seikan might receive complaints from his creations.
If this were a game, people would be in an uproar demanding the administrator for breaking the balance. Obviously.
“Maybe that’s why God adjusted my divine power measurement…?”
I briefly suspected that Seikan had manipulated the measurement of the Idmanta measuring device.
But there’s no way Seikan would interfere so directly in my affairs.
He tossed me in here and hasn’t even spoken to me once…!
This is really—
“The big picture is insane….”
A sudden thought flashed through my mind, and I covered my mouth.
Did he leave me unattended only to move me with something like this later…?
Lord Seikan, I knew you were skilled with your hands,
but I didn’t realize you were such a master planner.
Just how far ahead did you foresee?
Thanks to you, I’ve seen His Majesty’s face, become rich, gained divine power, and am living well.
I’ll make sure we get through that Derachi or whatever war and make our His Majesty happy…!
“Oh, looks like the sun’s coming up.”
Seeing the sky gradually brighten outside the window, I got up.
After changing into outdoor clothes and stepping into the corridor, Dune, who had been standing night watch, looked startled.
“Saintess?”
“Sir Dune, good morning! You must have worked hard until dawn. Thanks to you, I slept well.”
“You flatter me. But… are you going out somewhere?”
“Yes. I have somewhere to go.”
Though it was early dawn, I walked confidently down the corridor.
Then, naturally handing a small potion to Dune as he followed behind me, I said,
“This is…?”
“It’s supposed to be good for your health. What was it again—it gets rid of fatigue, improves stamina, and strengthens the heart? I bought a few this time, so if it’s good, you should try one too, Sir Dune.”
“…Saintess.”
Dune’s voice sounded slightly moved.
Hehe… I bought a whole box, so I’m not sure of the exact price per bottle, but maybe about one gold coin each?
I really flexed on health this time.
But I don’t regret it!
I opened a potion identical to the one I gave Dune and downed it in one gulp.
‘My heart, our goal is longevity!’
“So?”
Charles found the man in his sixties seated before her to be an unwelcome guest.
He had an air of nobility about him, a lean build that suited his fine attire.
Though age had etched wrinkles into his face, he looked like someone who must have constantly heard how handsome he was in his youth.
He was the head of a trading company quite active in the Kingdom of Bonia, and a high-ranking figure from the great Zendal.
Marquis Randette.
The reason he sought Charles was due to an incident that had occurred about a month and a half ago.
“You say there was no damage. Are you here to protest Bonia’s maritime security just because a pirate ship passed through the same waters? Seriously?”
Charles’s tone carried her displeasure plainly.
There was no need to pretend to be a kind princess toward someone who wasn’t even a citizen of Bonia.
“To think a marquis of Zendal would request an audience with royalty for such a reason. It doesn’t make me feel very good—it makes Bonia look laughable.”
As Charles said, Marquis Randette’s stated reason for the meeting was extremely rude.
Ordinarily, such matters were handled by the navy’s civil complaints officer—yet he was bringing it directly to her, a royal.
Marquis Randette was well aware of that.
He also knew that in the Kingdom of Bonia, with its strong national pride, such rudeness was tantamount to suicide.
“That is not the only reason.”
Though he spoke with composure, Marquis Randette’s insides were burning.
Bonia’s royal soldiers stood guarding every corner of the reception room.
Princess Charles sat on the sofa, wearing a cynical smile.
Behind her stood a large-bodied guard knight wearing a wooden mask with only eye holes.
The four guards the marquis had brought felt shabby in comparison.
It felt like being thrown alone into enemy territory. He desperately wanted strong wine and a cigar.
But he had come this far.
His interests aligned with Grand Duke Derachi’s, and he had crossed a river from which there was no turning back.
This was something he had to do.
“Could you dismiss your people?”
“And why should I trust you?”
At Charles’s words, Marquis Randette dismissed all the guards he had brought.
He placed all the weapons and divine stones he carried onto the table in front of him.
“There will be nothing that threatens Your Highness’s safety.”
“……”
Charles looked at Marquis Randette, who held out both his palms toward her.
‘What scheme could possibly make him go this far?’
She had no interest in the man named Randette, but she did have interest in the fact that he was a marquis of Zendal.
When the scale tipped slightly toward curiosity rather than caution, Charles sent her people outside as well.
Except for one.
“I would prefer that only Your Highness and I know the contents of this conversation.”
He meant for her to dismiss Delkan, who stood behind her.
“Then we have nothing more to discuss.”
“…No. Let us speak with these numbers.”
As Charles began to rise, Marquis Randette stopped her.
He was seasoned in negotiations, but it was he who stood to lose if he wasted time arguing over dismissing one more pair of ears.
Charles asked first,
“So, what’s the real reason you came all this way using pirates as an excuse?”
“I would like to make a deal with the Kingdom of Bonia.”
“With your trading company?”
Was this a sales pitch?
Using such meetings as a pretext to bring up business was a common repertoire among businessmen.
Marquis Randette’s trading company wasn’t a bad size to deal with, but—
‘It’s not that kind of dull, predictable topic I want to hear.’
Lately, Charles had not been in the best of moods.
More precisely, ever since returning from the underground labyrinth.
Whatever she did felt like a waste of time and unsatisfying. The same now.
I’ll listen a bit more. If it’s still boring, I’ll leave.
Bored, Charles lightly examined her fingernails.
“I would appreciate that as well, but this is an entirely different matter. Something more fitting for the Kingdom of Bonia—”
“I don’t like being strung along.”
In other words, skip the flattery and get to the point.
Being treated this way by such a young princess made Marquis Randette click his tongue inwardly.
He didn’t like the situation, but he had no choice.
If he missed this chance, arranging another quiet meeting with the princess would be difficult.
Taking a monocle from his pocket, he wiped it with a soft cloth as he spoke.
“I would like to borrow the military forces of the Kingdom of Bonia.”
“…Does Zendal send its diplomats like this?”
“It is the Duchy of Derachi that wishes to borrow the troops.”
Charles narrowed her eyes.
The Duchy of Derachi was a country she knew well.
Though a newly established duchy, it was a vassal state of Zendal, which held considerable power on the continent of Auditria.
If they needed troops, they could request them from Zendal—so why the Kingdom of Bonia…?
Thinking that far, Charles let out a hollow laugh.
“You’re insane.”
“To obtain what one wants, must one not often act beyond sanity?”
“And you think Bonia would participate in such madness?”
“If what you desire aligns, perhaps it might be possible.”
At the marquis’s shameless tone, Charles frowned.
If it were her own affair, that would be one thing—but she had no desire to involve Bonia in a family conflict unrelated to them.
“Let’s pretend I didn’t hear that. Leave at once—”
“Allow me to state our proposal. Lend us your troops, and if matters conclude according to plan—”
Marquis Randette cut off Charles and began speaking, then paused briefly to take a breath.
He examined the monocle from various angles, as if checking whether it was properly cleaned.
Inside the joint where the chain was attached, a small purple gem was embedded.
A gem so small it was visible only upon close inspection.
The reason Marquis Randette appeared strangely confident while requesting cooperation in treason from a foreign nation was this divine stone he had received from the Grand Duke of Derachi.
If things went wrong, he could simply manipulate the memories of the princess and that guard knight.
The so-called agent had mentioned minor side effects, but said they were nothing to worry about.
Holding the monocle, Marquis Randette met Charles’s displeased gaze.
“We will ensure that the Saintess can be received by the Kingdom of Bonia.”
