Chapter 169 : I Thought You’d Come Out Like That
In the game FP, the compatibility between mages and warrior-type classes was a regular topic of community discussion. At low-level battles, there was no such thing as compatibility. It was because they had agreed that the winner was the one who shot the gun first, without having to assume various conditions.
Therefore, the core of the controversy was limited to cases where they had reached a certain high point. If they fought in a workshop, the mage would win every time; if the warrior was properly equipped, it would be strange for him to lose…
After a long debate, it was finally concluded that it was a battle of distance. If the distance was kept, it was a sure win for the mage. But the moment the distance was closed, the warrior-type became extremely advantageous.
The fight between me and the head of the Frederic family was in a similar context. Of course, I used aura with the tattoo of a spirit beast, exerted a magic-like ability with the divinity of the World Tree, and even controlled plants with the skills of a druid, so to be precise, I was a jack-of-all-trades.
In any case, insisting on a head-on battle against a knight who had reached the state of a domain was a suicidal act. And the head of the Frederic family was a knight who used his fast speed as an advantage.
It meant that he was specialized in closing the distance. So I had laid a trap from the beginning.
“To switch… there was no…”
“Is that so? Think carefully.”
I hadn’t come out as a fake from the first appearance. After all, I could have noticed the incongruity. The head of the Frederic family, who was holding his chest with a hole in it and thinking blankly, finally let out a hollow laugh.
“The chandelier…”
The moment the light of the light bulb blocked the head of the Frederic family’s vision. I covered the convention hall with the stems of the World Tree and hid my body. The experience of fighting the leader of the Guardians of the Dawn was helpful.
The evasion pattern of hiding in the holy blood when attacked while putting up a clone. In the end, I had succeeded in conquering it, but it was a very annoying opponent. In other words, it was an excellent tactic.
Unlike the leader, I had materialized a clone through the fraudulent wolf. It was a much more advanced trick than switching using steam. It was because I had created a shape using the stems of a plant and had covered it with a shell called an illusion.
In fact, my clone was so perfect that it had deceived the senses of the head of the Frederic family, a knight who had achieved a domain.
“You were unlucky.”
We had fought with our cards hidden from each other. And the opponent, who was confident of victory, had revealed his cards first. The victory and defeat were decided there.
The fact that I had realized through many battles in this world was that the one who saved his cards until the very end was the one who won. That was the reason why my aim could have been more fatal than I had thought.
“Even that is a skill.”
A real battle is different from a game. Because there is no next chance. If you were unlucky, that was your skill and your limit.
In the first place, a domain that deceives the opponent. It was an effect that was closer to the domain of a mage than to the domain of a warrior. Even if I hadn’t been his opponent, he wouldn’t have lasted long.
If he had given up his greed at this point, he would have remained as a family head who had greatly grown the family’s territory, but his greed was excessive. The vessel he was born with was small, and his ability also had clear limits.
He was not a person worthy of being the ruler of the city.
‘So he must have been overambitious, not even knowing that he was just a pawn playing on the royal family’s conspiracy.’
I took the body of the head of the Frederic family. I looked around and saw the family heads who had been watching the direction of the battle flinch and clench and unclench their fists repeatedly.
In the case of the family heads who had a grudge against Everton and Hudson, their lips were dry. The situation where it was revealed that I had received a request from Morheim. And from the circumstances, Morheim must have joined forces with Everton and Hudson.
They were worried that they would be the next target. It would have been different if I had suffered a great defeat against the head of the Frederic family, but it didn’t seem so, and in fact, it was so.
The flow of the battle itself was one-sided in my favor, and it didn’t take long for the outcome to be decided. They, who didn’t even have weapons, could not be my opponents.
“You don’t have to be so openly wary, I have no intention of meddling in matters that are not my request.”
I had not gotten involved in this board to judge who was right and who was wrong. It was just that my interests had overlapped with Morheim’s.
I had crossed the city and had killed one family head for the purpose of finding one person. That alone was far from the first plan. It was an unnecessary labor to cause friction with other noble families.
“So you guys don’t touch me and make things complicated. It has nothing to do with me how the tide of the war changes after this.”
It was not a service to support Lumiere’s justification. It was just that I had added a word in case they misunderstood. I had preached that I had no intention of leading the board of this city as I wanted and taking the benefits.
The people of this city were not well-versed in contractors, so it was not strange for them to have any misunderstanding. Now that I had defeated the head of the Frederic family, all that was left was to retrieve the spirit’s cocoon.
After that, it was up to the remaining people how the royal family would react. I refused to get involved in any more troublesome things before returning to Gellerg City.
“I’ll go first.”
For now, it seemed that they had believed that I had no intention of doing anything more. No, was it just a silent agreement to get out of my sight as soon as possible?
I took out the communication device from my pocket and connected to the designated channel.
“It’s me. I’ve achieved my goal, so I can leave now…”
“Stop.”
A solemn voice caught my steps as I was about to leave the convention hall.
Cheok! Cheok! Cheok!
A wide-open door. The sound of military boots, as if from one person, echoed in unison. When had such a large force infiltrated this far?
Knights were lined up on both sides of the long corridor. In the center of them was a man. It was an impression that was hard to forget once you saw it.
It wasn’t about his dignified appearance, such as his angular jawline, thick eyebrows, or well-groomed mustache. A golden crown was placed askew on his head.
A royal scepter held in one hand and a long, flowing red cape that reached his heels. That unique attire spoke of the man’s identity.
“Your Majesty!”
The king of Brahms had appeared.
***
‘……This is a problem.’
I hadn’t expected the king to appear at this point. The royal family had supported Frederic and his gang. It was obvious that they would ruin the meeting, so I had thought they would show a reaction only after building a more perfect justification.
‘It seems that Lumiere also didn’t receive any notice that the king would attend the meeting.’
The face of the head of the Lumiere family was filled with bewilderment.
‘What’s the purpose?’
It was unlikely that he had suddenly decided to fulfill his duty as a mediator. He was only a few steps away from achieving his desired goal. Was there any reason to overturn the board when he hadn’t even reaped the harvest yet?
From the royal family’s perspective, if the war ended like this, they would only suffer a loss.
“The head of the Frederic family?”
But all the worries were futile. A girl stepped forward before the king.
“He just died. He won’t be a problem anymore.”
The upper class of this city had a strict code of conduct. Since they were no different from medieval nobles, the family heads of Brahms were different from Gellerg City.
Even the family heads of each family of Brahms were careful with their words and showed their manners in front of the king. For a girl to stand in front of the king and talk was a far cry from the etiquette of the court.
And it was in front of each family head. No matter what their private relationship was, it was right to scold her for the sake of face.
“I don’t know who you are, but you did well. Hand him over.”
But the king was silent. Even after hearing the shocking words about the head of the family’s corpse.
“Your Majesty.”
In that chaotic situation, the head of the Lumiere family spoke.
“I did not receive any notice, for what reason have you come?”
“……”
“If you have come to your senses and are trying to fulfill your duty as a mediator, I will prepare a place. Although there was an unfortunate accident, the meeting has not been suspended.”
“……”
“But I would like you to reveal the reason for bringing your troops and for wanting the head of the Frederic family’s corpse.”
“……”
The king still did not open his mouth. He did not even look at the head of the Lumiere family who was talking to him. Instead, the girl answered.
“I’m going to make him into a doll.”
“……A doll?”
“Yes, a doll.”
It was a conversation that did not match. Even if you took the meaning literally, it was strange. To make a corpse into a doll. It was something that even a tyrant would not do.
The royal family had been building up their justification to achieve the goal of absolute monarchy by inciting Frederic. It was an outrageous statement that should not have been uttered even as a joke.
“Just wait a little. After Frederic, it’s your turn.”
And as if that wasn’t enough, she provoked all the family heads. …I was starting to get a feel for how this board was going.
“Let me ask you one thing.”
I knew the identity of that girl.
“Is that the order of the Mad House boss?”
A member of the Mad House. The Coordinator, Mirei.
“You know the boss?”
“Not really, but I heard something from Bianca.”
“Ah, so you were the person Bianca was waiting for.”
While the girl was nodding indifferently, the confused family heads finally decided on their attitude.
“You’re the one who killed the head of the Frederic family?”
“Yes.”
“Then I’ll tell you. Since you’ve saved me the trouble.”
The Mad House. It was impossible that the upper class of the city had not heard of their notoriety. They hardened their expressions and somehow managed to grab something that could be used as a weapon.
“The king of Brahms and the ten family heads. The boss told me to persuade them and bring them.”
“The way the city has been going so far is far from persuasion, isn’t it?”
“Because I didn’t persuade them.”
“……”
“You can’t trust people. Their words change every time, and you don’t know what they’re thinking.”
Mirei took out a small doll from her bosom and shook it.
“Dolls are different. They move as I control them. I think it’s better to make them into dolls and take them to the boss.”
“……I had the wrong premise from the beginning.”
I had judged the war that had broken out in this city as a power game between the royal family and each family, even if the means and methods were a bit dirty. Not just me, but everyone must have thought so.
It was a reasonable speculation that the royal family, which had brought in the Mad House, had instigated a specific family to achieve their long-cherished wish.
Common sense, rationality, reason, logic. It was wrong from the start to have considered such things.
“It wasn’t a conspiracy that was planned with consideration for the history of the city, the aspirations of each group, and the complex political positions.”
Even after facing the Mad House several times, I had underestimated their madness. The Mad House, a group of outlaws who acted to fulfill their own desires.
“Was the goal the mutual destruction of each family itself? To make the family heads into dolls in that chaotic gap.”
“Yes.”
The royal family had not hired the Mad House. The Mad House had used the royal family as a mere means. That’s why they had moved at this point, not aiming for after the meeting.
It was a golden opportunity to capture the seven family heads at once. The impact on the royal family and the noble families was none of Mirei’s business. She would have achieved her goal.
‘So that was the meaning of Bianca’s warning.’
She had told me to finish my business quickly and get out. She must have been warning me of Mirei’s intrusion. It was a golden piece of advice. Although it was a late realization.
“……Your Majesty.”
The head of the Lumiere family sighed. The Coordinator, Mirei, handles dolls. Dolls made from human bodies.
The king had not been able to answer the head of the Lumiere family’s question. Because he had long since been transformed into a doll controlled by Mirei.
“Even for the Mad House, you’ve caused too much trouble. I don’t think the persuasion your boss mentioned meant just bringing their bodies.”
The Mad House had recently been moving to expand their influence. In particular, I had been speculating that they were not just judging based on individual skills, but were also comprehensively judging the power of the group he led.
The mission to persuade the king and the ten family heads was probably for the Mad House to use the capabilities of a city.
“Is that so?”
Mirei’s rhetorical question was close to an attitude of ‘what’s the meaning of that?’.
“It’s a job he gave me. I can do whatever I want.”
“You’re impossible to talk to.”
The more I talked, the more I felt like I was falling into a swamp. The members of the Mad House were all like that. A disaster in the form of a person, who refused the understanding of an ordinary person.
“Okay, if your goal is the family heads here, I’ll leave.”
The fact that the conspiracy, which had been thought to have been planned by the royal family, was revealed to be a crazy plan of the Mad House was shocking, but it had nothing to do with me. It wasn’t a heartless act, but a fact.
If she wanted the head of the Frederic family’s corpse, I could hand it over. Since I had cut his life, the request was a success.
“No, stay here.”
Since our interests did not overlap, it would have been fine to just part ways like this.
“I like you. I’ll make you into a doll too.”
“……I thought you’d come out like that.”
I hadn’t expected to be able to leave unscathed after facing the Mad House.
(End of Chapter)