Chapter 33
“Oh?”
“The information is quite specific. And if it’s in the east, that’s actually a place Rintvel would have to go the long way around to reach. There’s also a swamp.”
“Ah, I see what you mean.”
“Go on.”
The king even leaned forward to hear more of Charmaine’s words.
A bead of sweat trickled down Charmaine’s temple.
“I just thought… if I were to guess where we could strike unexpectedly, that seemed like the most reasonable spot…”
She hastily tacked on whatever came to mind.
“I see. Well, speculation is fair enough. In any case…”
Charmaine, regaining her composure, added again,
“And it seems like they’re preparing for the long term rather than the short term. They might even be in the process of selecting their first target.”
“So, you’re saying we should avoid becoming that target.”
“There’s no benefit to provoking them right now.”
“Given their past behavior, that’s a reasonable point.”
The matter of the sacrifice and the war Charmaine just mentioned, which would happen seven years later, were not directly related.
But rather than trying to stop a war that was sure to come all by herself, she thought it would be better to quietly tip off the king in advance.
And in fact, Rintvel had already been preparing for war with Elium from around this time.
“That’s why I’m saying we should use them to our advantage. Even if things change later, showing a friendly face now could also serve as a useful check against other nations besides Rintvel.”
The king slowly nodded, a troubled expression on his face.
As someone who had always been on the side doing the pressing-down, Charmaine found it hard to fully read the worry in his expression, even when trying to guess at his thoughts.
Then their eyes met.
“I didn’t know you knew Rintvel so well. Could it be that you…?”
The seriousness in his voice made Charmaine flinch.
Maybe she should have been more careful here after all.
But this was important—she couldn’t just pretend ignorance.
Nervously, Charmaine swallowed.
“Do you have… the eye of God that sees what others cannot? How do you know all this? Given what you’ve said just now—and before—it’s hard to believe you’re just making things up. Hearing words from your mouth that sound like they belong in a strategy meeting is certainly new.”
Charmaine quickly shook her head to make it clear that wasn’t the case.
“No, absolutely not.”
“Then?”
“Well… I mean…”
Charmaine’s eyes darted about, looking for an excuse.
“Yes?”
Suddenly, she stuck out her hand and pointed toward the door.
“…The Tower Master. Ah, the Tower Master told me everything.”
“Ahil Derf did?”
This time, Charmaine nodded so vigorously it was almost loud enough to hum.
“I see. Well, he is a man who knows everything. That explains it.”
“Yes, exactly. That’s it.”
Once the king dropped his suspicious gaze, Charmaine let out a breath of relief.
“So, what I was saying is…”
“Speak freely.”
The king gestured for her to go on.
“I think it might be a good idea to use this opportunity to focus not only on producing capable mages, but also on raising skilled swordsmen. The magic amplifiers aren’t certain yet, so we could start with something we can move forward on right away.”
She knew firsthand, having crossed swords with Keniz Sadinarr and his companions, that Elium certainly had talent.
But that talent was limited to just a handful of individuals.
The rest were so few in number that each person had to fight as if they were worth a hundred men.
Perhaps because of that, even the swordsmanship tournaments were small-scale affairs, from what she knew.
The king’s face hardened, and Charmaine grew tense as well.
“Do you actually know something? Is there something suspicious in your view?”
“I haven’t seen any signs of that yet,” the king murmured.
Charmaine shook her head.
“I just thought, while I was listening to the two of them earlier, that it seemed like an area that needed attention. And since there’s the Duke of Sadinarr and other talent in Elium…”
“Ah, yes, the Duke of Sadinarr is indeed an exceptional man.”
The king’s face relaxed.
“And perhaps enlarging the scale of the annual sword tournament would help boost morale.”
Having brought it up, Charmaine added further bits of advice, continuing to chat with the king for a while.
Most of the time, he simply accepted her reasoning as coming from the Tower Master and continued the discussion.
But then he asked,
“So, what caused this sudden change in you?”
“Hmm?”
“You’ve never really been interested in these matters before. Of course, I know you’ve contributed greatly to protecting Elium, but you always listened halfheartedly.”
“Ah… well…”
“And didn’t you usually just answer with ‘yes’ or ‘no’? Talking to you like this makes it feel like you’re a different person. Is it just because your tone has grown calmer?”
“Ah.”
Charmaine realized she’d been talking more than usual, forgetting to maintain her usual curt “Charmaine Pepe” act, simply because she’d gotten carried away.
“T-That was also the Tower Master.”
“He advised you?”
“Yes.”
“Well, it’s unusual. But a good direction, as far as I’m concerned.”
But something about the conversation struck her as odd.
The king seemed to be relying on Charmaine Pepe to an unusual degree.
Even when her answers might have given rise to further suspicion, he showed no sign of doubting her.
If she wasn’t mistaken, it seemed like he would believe whatever she said.
Even for a noble of marquis rank, it was remarkable to be able to influence the king’s thinking this much.
Whatever the reason, it was working to Charmaine’s advantage.
In any case, it was time to get to the real point—how to safely smuggle her disciples away.
“Ahem, I think that’s enough on that. Returning to the main topic—about that slave you mentioned…”
The moment their eyes met again, Charmaine felt her throat tighten and cleared it with another cough.
“What if we didn’t use them as a sacrifice and kept them alive instead? I mean, if they’re really discarded pawns from that side, there’s no need to kill them, is there?”
Taken another way, her words could be interpreted as suggesting that someone from Elium should still be sacrificed for the rite.
In truth, her intent was to accept the “slave” Lakan had mentioned in order to spare others—but now she was saying she wanted to keep that slave alive too.
It was an argument that, to most, would make no sense.
But Charmaine sincerely wanted to save her disciples, no matter what it took.
Even at the cost of herself.
She saw it as her duty.
Even if the king found it distasteful, perhaps he might reconsider if she explained how valuable they were.
They might have seemed like helpless children to her, but they were among the top talents in Rintvel—and surely in Elium as well.
Radi Pijerta and Felic Krason could greatly help in producing more swordsmen, while Eltain Shire was skilled in magic and could assist Ahil Derf in training mages.
Having experienced firsthand how useless honor was in the face of death, Charmaine put everything else aside—saving them came first.
She had dozens of ideas, and if she stayed up all night talking to the king, surely one of them would work.
Though she had returned to this time, her notorious reputation had already been cemented here.
It would not disappear, and eventually she would have to leave Elium once she returned to her original body—but her disciples still had a chance.
Unlike her, they hadn’t done anything to earn deep grudges before the war with Elium.
When the king didn’t answer right away, Charmaine added nervously,
“Of course, Rintvel must never find out.”
She finished speaking and waited anxiously for his reply.
While her mind was in turmoil, the king, who had been listening silently, gave a small smile.
She had expected him to look baffled or displeased, so she stared in confusion.
‘Why… is he smiling?’
He didn’t make her wait long.
“I had a feeling you’d say that.”
His tone was familiar, as if this wasn’t the first time.
“…”
Charmaine blinked, unsure if that meant he would reconsider—or if he meant, ‘It wouldn’t matter even if you said so.’
The king spoke again, his brows slightly lowered.
“I feel like I’m always burdening you.”
“What…?”
“You’ve said before that all the rites were your responsibility, but still—seeing your blood spilled every time doesn’t sit well with me.”
“…?”
Charmaine blinked again.
“I know that performing the rites is for Elium’s sake, but that doesn’t mean we can sacrifice lives. I’m sorry for making you be the one to say this decision out loud.”
Her mind raced.
That meant the king had guided her into making the statement she’d just made.
“No sacrificing lives,” he’d said.
Which meant that even in the past, they hadn’t used humans as sacrifices in the rites.
The rites to Salid’s god required either the blood of the fairyfolk or a human.
And it was true that, during the reign of Elium’s previous king, Lagos Mum Elium, humans had been used.
That much she knew for certain, having confirmed it multiple times.
Because once Rintvel conquered Elium, those rites would have become Rintvel’s responsibility.
