Chapter : 41
“Bind his hands and feet with rope so the knights can take him away easily!”
“That’s a great idea!”
With the excited shouts of the people, his hands and feet were tied, and through his clouded vision, the cold face of the king suddenly appeared.
‘Pathetic. To be bound by mere commoners who cannot even wield a sword? And you call yourself the Mercenary King?’
“Y-Your Maj… e-e…”
‘Since they’ve discovered the cultivation of Braxapul, I’ll have to look for other clients.’
Your Majesty. Please grant me a loyal servant.
‘A sacrifice for the crown is a sacrifice for Benevra itself. May you be guided to a better place when you die.’
The king gave a benevolent smile, then disappeared, leaving Konrand behind.
“L-Lord Konrand!”
“Lord Konrand, where is His Majesty? Didn’t he say the royal family would protect us?”
The mercenaries dragged in by the knights cried out, but lost in hallucinations, Konrand wept, calling for the king.
No—it was just an illusion.
Merely a hallucination created by Braxapul!
Konrand curled up like a grub, covering his ears.
“I was chosen. I am His Majesty’s secret servant. I was chosen…”
In the quiet prison where even the mercenaries had collapsed from exhaustion, Konrand fell into the comfortable hypnosis he had built for himself.
Until the day he climbed the execution platform.
Marquis Syria, who quickly resolved the situation, invited Lulu and her companions to his castle.
Before entering, Lulu gathered the people and quietly dispelled the black magic from them.
“Oh, Lulu!”
“Eep.”
The people hugged her, squishing her cheeks.
Though Lulu looked like a squashed baby mushroom, her ruby-red eyes gleamed proudly.
‘Lulu did it! She protected everyone!’
At that moment—
“This was all thanks to Lulu—”
“Nooo!”
Lulu, standing on tiptoes in panic, pressed a finger to the woman’s lips.
“You mustn’t say the hero’s name.”
Yes.
A true hero never seeks praise.
Seeing the child’s serious eyes, the woman quickly covered her mouth.
“Oh my, sorry. You said it’s a secret, right?”
And so, having erased even the traces of black magic, Lulu’s group entered the castle.
“Hahaha! My thanks! Thanks to you, I was able to rid myself of those thorns in my side!”
The marquis greeted them with a booming laugh, personally leading them inside.
“Mmm, something smells yummy!”
Lulu twitched her nose.
Unusually serious, Chase spoke up.
“Something smells good? That means there’s food?”
“Mm-hm!”
They entered a hall as splendid as a banquet chamber, where a long table for sixteen was laden with greasy meats and sweet fruits.
“…Wow. I think I could die happily eating that.”
At Daisy’s mutter, Angela laughed.
“Don’t die yet. It wasn’t easy getting all this. Let’s sit.”
The meal began in a warm and cheerful atmosphere.
“This one.”
As usual, Chase pointed to the food he wanted, swallowing his saliva.
“You wanna eat this?”
“Yes. I want it.”
When Lulu held out a forkful of meat, he opened his mouth wide and his eyes sparkled as he chewed.
Meanwhile—
“Thanks to you appearing out of nowhere, I got rid of my troubles. I don’t know how to repay you.”
The marquis, laughing heartily, gestured to Angela and Velix.
“Eat, eat. These dishes were prepared by pestering my chef for a whole week.”
Of course, the marquis had no idea.
That the “commoners” he was generously feeding were in fact Princess Angela and Duke Velix.
“You used incredible magic. Are you from the Mage Tower?”
“No. I taught myself.”
“What?! Not from the Tower? I like you even more.”
“Why?”
“Well, you see…”
Perhaps because he thought they were commoners, the marquis spoke freely of things he would never dare say in front of nobles—especially since they were fellow northerners.
“Those Tower mages are all lunatics. Always Benevra this, Benevra that—fanatics, the lot of them.”
Fanatics.
Angela glanced at Velix at the word she liked.
‘Wasn’t Marquis Syria said to be a representative of the noble faction?’
Velix nodded.
‘Correct. I’ve heard he’s enemies with the crown over the Attrang Company issue. Seems to be true.’
That meant there was no need to hide their identities any longer.
“Marquis, do you not believe in Benevra?”
“Me?! Heavens no! Few in the north do! It’s those southerners… Oh! Y-Your Highness?!”
The marquis, in the middle of gnawing a chicken leg, choked and spat it out.
Angela had removed her wig with a gentle smile.
“Let’s speak seriously now.”
The marquis broke into a sweat, leaping to his feet and bowing deeply.
“P-Princess… If I’d known, I would have treated you with utmost respect from the start. Ha-ha! And about Benevra—forget what I said! Please strike my mouth instead!”
“It’s fine. I think the same as you.”
“Eh…?”
The marquis blinked, still holding his chicken leg as if to strike his mouth.
“The crown is not normal right now. I can’t tell you everything yet, but… I, too, am at odds with His Majesty.”
The marquis’s eyes turned serious.
“No way.”
“Yes. I…”
Angela paused, staring into his eyes.
Gulp.
The marquis inhaled, as if expecting some revelation.
But instead—
“I plan to run away and hide.”
“…Pardon?”
“I’ll run as far as I can, to where His Majesty cannot find me.”
“That’s not the direction I was expecting, but… Haha, I see!”
“Did you think I was going to claim the throne?”
Angela gave a faint smile, as though asking what he had expected.
In truth, she had no plans to oppose the king directly.
But—
“…We are investigating the Attrang Company’s buildings. If I find any contracts or documents tied to the crown, I will inform you. And should you ever wish, the Syria family will stand at your side, Princess.”
If one by one, houses like his began supporting her… who knew?
She might change the world for Lulu’s sake.
“Thank you.”
“No, I am the grateful one! By the way…”
Having calmed his startled heart, the marquis shifted the subject.
“Is it really all right, about Konrand and that black magic business?”
Lulu’s ears perked up immediately.
‘But Lulu was the one who dispelled it. Lulu is the hero!’
Sitting beside Angela, Lulu carefully wiped the sauce from her mouth with a napkin.
“Ahem.”
If her sister revealed the truth now, she might finally be praised by the marquis!
‘Sister! Lulu is ready!’
The baby dragon twisted her little legs in embarrassment, her round eyes shining as she looked at Angela.
“It wasn’t me.”
Of course, her sister denied it.
“Rather, there was a short white-haired archmage who came and dispelled it.”
“Oh-ho… White hair, you say…”
Of course, that’s Lulu!
Blushing, Lulu shook her twin tails of white hair.
“An old mage with such skill, I see.”
The marquis—so dense!
“Eh?!”
Startled, Lulu squeaked without realizing. The marquis finally glanced at her.
“Oh! Little lady. How do you do?”
“Ehh?!”
The short white-haired hero was right here!
“What’s wrong?”
“Look!”
Lulu bent her head, pointing frantically at her own hair, but the marquis only chuckled kindly.
“My, such a shy child.”
Ehh. Stupid marquis!
In the end, Marquis Syria never realized the archmage’s identity, even when parting from Lulu and her companions.
On the outskirts of the capital’s slums—
“All blessed believers, line up here! His Majesty Drishe, great king of the Lydia Kingdom and archbishop of Benevra, has come in person!”
A flag bearing two interlocked circles—the symbol of unity between crown and church—fluttered as a knight shouted.
The slum-dwellers fell to their knees, crying out.
“God’s representative!”
“Save us from our hunger!”
Crumbling wooden shacks.
Unpaved, rough dirt roads.
Children eating dirt with filthy hands.
In this most wretched of places appeared the most sacred and exalted of all figures.
The king and pope in one—Drishe.
“…It shames Us to only now see this. Such poverty, without even proper food, clothing, or shelter.”
The village chief, still kneeling, hurried to answer.
“No, O representative of God, great king of the kingdom. For you to bless lowly ones like us with your own presence is honor enough.”
In the Kingdom of Lydia—especially in the central regions under the crown’s direct influence—the Benevra faith was state religion and absolute.
Though in the distant north its influence was faint, wherever the king’s presence reached, the people became fervent believers.
