Chapter 196 : Family Reunion (3)
Family Reunion (3)
"Father?"
To be honest, even Louis couldn't believe this situation.
He was on the verge of wanting to smack Rio on the head for suddenly introducing him as her husband.
Of course, Rio had given a prior warning before.
She once said that if she ever met her real family, the thing she wanted to do most was introduce the young master.
Then she'd boast that she would definitely get their permission for marriage, which always left him dizzy.
But he hadn't paid it much attention.
How could one randomly reunite with birth parents whose whereabouts were unknown in the world, anyway?
"Father. This is my husband. Do you like him?"
Yet, it actually happened. Something Louis could not have anticipated had come to pass.
"Husband...?"
King Woodrock, too, tilted his head, trying to make sense of the situation.
Despite having lost one arm, he somehow maintained an air of calm.
"No... That's not what's important right now..."
"Congratulate us! We're married!"
"W-wait a minute!"
The king tried to return to the main point, but Rio had no interest in that.
All she wanted was to fulfill her wish of openly presenting the person she loved before her family.
"Let's leave that for later—for now, about the Blood Sword Technique..."
"Father! Don't we make a good couple? Right?"
"Oh, please!"
Rio didn't even pretend to listen to the king.
It might have seemed like a disrespectful daughter ignoring her father, but considering that he had abandoned his child, it was arguably justified treatment.
"I'll hear your introduction of the husband later."
"No. I'll do it now."
"...."
In the end, the king just stared in stunned silence, feeling a headache rising.
He never imagined his own child—practically a part of himself—could be this impossible to talk to.
"Excuse me, father."
Louis spoke up to the king.
"She actually listens to me very well. So depending on the situation, I can give her orders on your behalf."
"What?"
His daughter refused to obey the king's commands but listened to that man's orders?
Maybe it made sense if it was her beloved husband, but in another sense, it was displeasing.
It felt as though that man was overshadowing him.
"You expect me to believe that?"
"If you can't believe it, I'll just stay quiet."
As Louis closed his mouth, Rio spoke up.
"Father. From the very moment I first met the young master, to when we started living together, I'll explain everything."
"A-all of it?"
"Yep. If I count just the things we went through between, it's over a thousand episodes."
"A thousand?!"
Was she really going to explain all that? Right here?
"Maybe it's better to explain later—"
"First of all, the young master was born a noble in a region called the Seifert domain."
"Enough..."
"His parents were falsely accused and killed by bandits... And we, driven by the schemes of trash nobles, were dragged into the 7th Legion..."
"I said enough..."
"In that 7th Legion, I was almost violated by the trash soldiers, but the young master saved me over and over. I've never forgotten that, even now—"
"I said STOP!!"
Unable to bear Rio's endless explanation, the king shouted, but Rio paid no heed and continued.
Even though Louis knew every single part of what she said, it made his head spin to hear the whole saga laid out.
He could understand why the king felt dizzy.
Even so, Rio wouldn't stop talking.
It was as if she was possessed by an illness that would kill her if she couldn't finish this explanation.
Her eyes, unfocused, looked like those of a fanatic.
"The young master and I even defeated Orbel, that trash Crown Prince; infiltrated the academy posing as students; and then..."
"Kyaaaaah!!"
Just when would this explanation finally end?
The king felt a pain as if suffering eternal torment, but he doubted she'd even reached the halfway point.
"Yugwang. I'm sleepy."
"You shouldn't doze off in front of the enemy, young Mas—yawn..."
Even Yugwang and Kaid, who had been brimming with hostility just moments ago, found their eyelids growing heavy as Rio's tale droned on.
The most exasperated of all, the king ultimately pleaded to Louis.
"Can't you please shut her up!?"
"I could, but what would I get in return?"
"So you're going to ignore the order of a king?"
Can one really be so disrespectful to a royal of the land?
"Order? Go on, say whatever you want."
When Louis revealed the insignia of the special task force engraved on the back of his hand, the king recoiled in shock.
At the same time, he saw the same mark engraved on the back of Rio's hand.
"S-special task force?"
"Okay, Rio. Why not tell your father about all our happy memories?"
"Really? Okay!"
With direct permission from the young master, Rio erupted with joy and, like a runaway foal, started talking even faster.
In that instant, the king felt blood trickling from his ears.
"The squad leader and I were at the elves' village..."
"Uwaaagh...!"
"There, the Holy Nation's White Knights appeared..."
"Stop!"
"Even the World Tree came under us, and it was the Imperial Court's perfect victory. That made the young master so happy he embraced me! Isn't that romantic?"
While observing the king's suffering, Rio continued on, now reaching the elves' forest and the Holy Nation episodes.
Her summary seemed like a compilation, but suddenly things started to unravel.
'I embraced her? What's she talking about?'
At that time, Louis had never embraced Rio. She was obviously exaggerating and making things up.
"And do you know what happened that night? When all the lights were out and everyone was asleep, the young master came to my room."
That never happened.
"He lay down on the bed where I was sleeping—naked—and said this..."
Again, never happened.
"'Tonight, I want to stay together with you...' and so we fell asleep together."
I said, it never happened!
"And the next morning, there were not two but three people on the bed."
What? Three?
"The young master and I, unable to resist temptation, at midnight..."
"Hey, eNOUGH!!"
"Got physical..."
"Shut it!!"
Finally, Louis smacked Rio on the head to stop the nonsense.
Though a bump rose on her scalp, instead of being hurt, Rio glared at him with a bizarre intensity.
"Young master, why are you stopping me all of a sudden?"
"I said you could tell what actually happened, not to make up lies."
"How is that a lie? We're going to have a child soon."
What nonsense is this?
"We're not even married—"
"We will be soon! So it's practically the same as if it's already happened."
Aha.
So it counts if you've seen it coming, and it's as good as actually happened.
Right. That makes sense.
"... Like hell it does!"
"Kyaah!"
Once more, Rio let out a cute scream as she received another smack and passed out.
The king looked truly saved by the end of Rio's hellish monologue, but the real problem was just beginning.
"Anyway, she's under my control, so keep that in mind. If you want to make use of her, you'll definitely have to get my permission."
"Ngh..."
Given that the other party belonged to the special task force, the king had no choice but to comply.
The special task force was known as the Imperial Court's strongest force—no one in Woodrock could stand against them.
"Wait, special task force?"
At that moment, the king noticed something odd.
Why were two people from the special task force entering along with those from the East Continent?
And if the special task force heard everything just now, wouldn't that all be relayed straight to the Imperial Court?
"Don't tell me..."
Thinking about the reason for Louis' presence here, the king trembled. He locked eyes with Louis, who was wearing a chilling smile.
"Hey, Your Majesty the King. Do you really need this thing called the Blood Sword Technique so badly?"
"Y-yes, I do."
"What are you planning to use it for?"
"That's..."
"Figured you wouldn't want to say. Just thinking about who you really are makes the answer obvious."
Feeling a terrible sense of danger, the king summoned a spirit with his remaining arm.
Through the spirit, he ordered a connected soldier.
"The special task force is here. Hurry, send reinforcements this way—"
[Your Majesty... It's over for us.]
[Kyaaaah!!]
[M-my body is turning to powder... aaagh!!]
Suddenly, screams echoed out from the connected soldiers through the communication.
Then, the voice of the likely culprit leaked through.
[Trying to play knight after deserting from the 7th Legion, are you!]
[Kill them all! I'll finish and go back to the young master's side! That bastard Rio is definitely up to something weird alongside him!]
[Hey, Pram, calm down...]
[DIEEE!!]
With the shriek of a girl, the communication was cut. Louis, realizing who the girl was, sighed at her antics.
"Hey... are you there?"
Driven into a corner, the king suddenly shouted to the empty space behind him.
"Goramon!! If you're there, please answer!!"
Surely, the Great Devil, currently invisibly observing, must be around. But no matter how much he called, there was no response.
"Goramon... Where did you disappear to?"
"Who do you keep looking for since earlier?"
Just as Louis, intending to approach the frightened king, took a step forward—
Peeeee—!
A golden bird abruptly flew in and landed on Louis' shoulder.
It was a spirit used for communication, and the gold color was unique to those belonging to the Imperial Court.
For such a spirit to fly straight to Louis, a special task force member, meant something urgent had happened.
"What's going on?"
[Are you the special task force commander? We're in big trouble right now!]
The voice of Rubik, a White Knight who protected the Imperial Court, emerged from the spirit.
In the past, he had despised Louis for being a 7th Legion soldier, but now he depended on Louis more than anyone.
[Right now, the entire Imperial Castle is sealed off with a barrier; we can't get in!]
"A barrier?"
[The Imperial Court's Magic Tower mages have been deployed and tried everything under the sun...]
Apparently, a barrier had sprung up around the Imperial Castle, cutting it off so that no one could enter.
Swords, magic, spells from the knights and mages—they had already tried all of those.
[Currently, only the Princess and His Majesty are inside the castle.]
"That can't be!"
That meant the castle of the Imperial Court was practically empty.
It was absurd, but all of this was due to the barrier.
[When the barrier went up, we were automatically transferred outside the castle. Could you please help from your side?]
If that was true, Louis had to stop what he was doing and run to the capital right now.
"It's fine."
But he spoke reassuringly.
"I've already sent someone."
****
"Guh..."
Struck by Orbel's sudden attack in the Imperial Castle gardens, the Emperor coughed up blood and fell to his knees.
"So, this so-called supernatural power is more troublesome than I thought."
Orbel looked like he had come seeking revenge, but within, another entity was in control.
"The aura resembles the Chaos Dragon I fought long ago."
The Great Devil Hartmon, now possessing Orbel's body, twisted his mouth at the unpleasant memory.
After the defeat to the Chaos Dragon long ago, he had lost his true power—a searing embarrassment.
"But compared to that, you're pathetically weak."
"Ugh!!"
Just standing there, hartmon radiated intense heat.
The Emperor tried to block that heat by shaping his telekinesis outward in a defensive barrier.
Using his supernatural power as a shield, he tried to resist, but his limbs felt as if they were burning.
"What is your goal?!"
"For my future plans, your royal family is an obstacle. So I decided it was better to eliminate you in advance."
"Plans?"
"It will be much easier to activate the demon realm if you disappear."
"What—!"
As the Emperor tried to protest, Estelle, who had collapsed, was seized by Hartmon.
"Your ability is the most troublesome. Mind's Eye, was it?"
"Ugh...!"
"Even now, the Chaos Dragon's power impedes us."
"No!"
Hartmon attempted to pierce Estelle's chest with a hand wreathed in flame.
"One down."
Silence fell in the next moment—not the sound of flesh tearing, but the ringing clang of a fist colliding with steel.
"Good thing I wasn't late."
Suddenly, Silia stood blocking that fist using Bloodline.
-------------= Clacky's Corner -------------=
Does this mean Silia can go head-to-head with a Great Devil?
【「(°ヘ°)?】