Chapter 119
Chapter 119
Part of the Plan (1)
“The seal~ belongs to the Imperial House~ This isn’t right~”
Canis, who had fallen into panic, began muttering to herself nonstop. I completely ignored her.
Once I showed that I was ignoring her, the others also started pretending not to notice Canis.
“We can’t use the name Holy Knight Order, so I’m going to create a position called Inquisitor. And Canis is that Inquisitor.”
“…….”
The group looked flustered by the sudden appointment. Watching them, I let out a faint chuckle.
“Nothing’s really changing. If you’re curious about anything, ask Winter.”
After saying that, I grabbed Canis by the back of the neck while she was burying her face into the royal decree and lifted her up.
“Um. Couldn’t you just not kill her?”
I casually nodded at Winter, who anxiously spoke up. Canis still couldn’t regain her senses as she continued muttering to herself.
“Hey. Get a hold of yourself.”
“Hehe~ A religion~ Father might kill me~”
Even after a long while, she still hadn’t come to her senses, so I shook her roughly. Only then did light finally return to her dazed eyes.
“Davi~ What is going on here?”
“Sit down.”
The bench where I had first come to this world and gotten beaten by Bereninche. Sitting there, I called Canis over.
Canis stared blankly at me before walking over with quick little steps and sitting beside me.
“The Fiendbeast this time and the Fiendbeast during the attack too. Don’t you think both were strange?”
At my words, Canis tilted her head. I slowly chose my words. Since I had decided to make use of her, I absolutely had to fix Canis’s opportunistic tendencies.
And I knew exactly how to turn Canis into a dependable and reassuring ally.
“An attack on Museion Academy, the Empire’s finest educational institution. Does that even make sense? This place has the Director, who’s a Penta-class magician, and even the Imperial Knight Order.”
“Hmm~ So?”
“It means there’s some kind of organization capable of easily breaching even Museion Island.”
Canis fell into deep thought. She pondered carefully, trying to grasp the intent behind my words.
“So~ What does that organization have to do with me?”
At Canis’s question, I smirked and brought up something she absolutely couldn’t ignore.
“Creating Chimera is a type of Ancient Magic. Come to think of it, the Ulbushis Family is said to be highly knowledgeable about Ancient Magic, right?”
Canis’s aura sharpened. She stared at me with narrowed eyes before eventually nodding.
“That’s true~ There’s a high chance of that too~ The Imperial House is obsessed with Chimera~ They’ll seize onto any excuse they can~”
“Right. If you step forward here, your family should remain safe.”
Perhaps she found my words persuasive, because Canis fell silent. No matter how great the Ulbushis Family was, being associated with Chimera would become troublesome.
“More importantly, you.”
I could feel Canis’s gaze beside my face. The blue beast that knew no anger. In the game, there had only been one exception where I didn’t have to kill her.
“You have business with me, don’t you? The reason you keep coming to the chapel even though you don’t want to join the Religious Order.”
“…….”
Canis said nothing more. She simply stared at me blankly.
“I’ll solve it for you.”
After saying that much, I stood up from my seat. In truth, Canis wasn’t absolutely necessary. Looking at her personality, she would obviously become more of a hassle.
Even so, the reason I was trying to bring Canis into the Religious Order was because among the great families, she was the only talent I could definitely recruit.
***
Canis watched Davide leave without the slightest hesitation.
—Question.
“Me too~”
Anger suddenly popped out and suspiciously spoke while looking at Davide. Canis also strongly agreed with Anger’s words.
Putting everything else aside, she simply couldn’t understand Davide’s intentions. Contrary to appearances, Canis was actually extremely good at objectively evaluating herself.
“There’s no way~ I was actually useful in any way~”
Whether it was the battle against the Fiendbeast in the Ulla Desert, the Giant’s Tomb, or even when they traveled together through the Poison Swamp.
Canis judged that Davide possessed more than enough ability to solve everything even without her. Which meant that, to Davide, Canis herself wasn’t such an extraordinary resource.
“How strange~”
Winter, who belonged to the same Religious Order, was truly an irreplaceable talent. Worden was a bit questionable, but he was someone Davide had personally selected.
Even Aro, whom she herself had introduced, was an incredibly rare shaman within the Empire.
“So he’s got some hidden agenda~”
—Heartless. Meaning. Heart.
Canis stroked Anger, who was baring his teeth and growling. He was a companion who had been with her ever since she could remember.
At the same time, he was also the bomb gripping Canis by the leash.
“Maybe~ something happened to the family~”
—Head of Family. Hate.
Canis had to calm the grumbling Anger. For some reason, Anger showed fierce hostility toward the head of the Ulbushis Family.
Fortunately, since he rarely left her body, they had not yet encountered one another, but if the head of the Ulbushis Family and Anger were ever to meet, things would likely become quite noisy.
“Hmm~”
Leaving the now-docile Anger alone for a moment, Canis examined the Imperial Princess’s royal decree in her hand.
As Davide had said, the elegantly written decree stated that she was being appointed to the Anti-Fiendbeast Unit.
“Hm?”
Just in case someone discovered it, Canis cast magic on the Imperial Princess’s decree. It was a spell that made it appear as an ordinary letter.
However, Canis’s magic failed. Even if it was not an easy spell, someone of Canis’s level would never make such a mistake, yet the decree showed no change.
“Huh~”
Then Canis blinked. The elegant handwriting remained the same, but the contents were now different from before.
The decree now instructed her to seek out the Vice-Commander of the Imperial 6th Knight Order immediately upon reading it.
“So they haven’t completely joined hands~”
This was a message the Imperial Princess had sent behind Davide’s back. There were two possibilities.
First, that the Imperial Princess did not completely trust Davide. But Canis doubted that was the case. Even if Davide was human trash destined for hell, Canis herself was hardly any better.
“How interesting~”
Canis immediately rose from her seat and headed toward the Imperial Knight Order’s garrison. The second possibility.
That the Imperial Princess had something she needed to do without Davide knowing. Unable to suppress her curiosity, Canis briskly made her way there.
“Student. This isn’t a place you can casually enter.”
The one who stopped Canis upon arriving at the Imperial Knight Order’s garrison was a knight managing the entrance.
“The Vice-Commander~ called for me~ If you ask her, you’ll know~”
At Canis’s words, the knight made a displeased expression. After briefly examining Canis’s appearance, the knight instructed his subordinate behind him to check.
“Senior. The Vice-Commander says to bring her in.”
Thus, for the first time in her life, Canis entered the Knight Order’s garrison. Guided by the knight, she headed toward the upper floors.
“This is the place. Please hand over all weapons in your possession.”
After hesitating for a moment, Canis handed over the gauntlets she was wearing and a small pouch.
The knight inspecting the contents of the pouch tilted his head. Inside were two Candela, which every knight was currently equipped with.
“Davi~ gave them to me~”
More accurately, she had secretly brought them along. Watching the knight nod, Canis knocked on the door.
—Come in.
The moment she opened the door and stepped inside, she smelled the sweet aroma of cookies contrasting against the cold air. Canis bowed politely toward Sheila, who was seated at her work desk.
“Hello~”
“Yes. Student Canis. Please, have a seat.”
With a gentle smile, Sheila welcomed Canis. At Sheila’s invitation, Canis quickly occupied one of the chairs.
Then she looked around the room. Overall, it was neat, but there were so few furnishings that it almost felt empty.
“Would you like some tea?”
“I’d gratefully accept.”
Even at the offer of tea, Canis answered immediately. Sheila chuckled softly and personally brewed the tea herself.
Soon, the Vice-Commander’s office was filled with the pleasant aroma of black tea.
“You came here because of the royal decree, correct?”
“Yes~ I came immediately, just as the decree instructed~”
Seated across from Canis, Sheila secretly admired her while watching her drink tea with refined and precise movements.
It was truly textbook-perfect etiquette.
“Shall we get straight to the point?”
“Yes~ That’s fine~”
The two quietly enjoyed their tea for a while before Sheila spoke first, and they looked back at one another.
Canis readily accepted Sheila’s suggestion.
“I assume Davide has already told you most of it.”
At Sheila’s words, Canis nodded. Seeing how casually she referred to Davide, Canis figured they had known each other for quite some time.
“Her Imperial Highness, the Imperial Princess wishes to completely eradicate the Fiendbeasts. Along with the ones behind their creation.”
“I see~”
“After discussing it with Student Davide, who stands at the center of this matter, we decided to recruit Student Canis.”
At the mention that they had discussed it together, Canis’s eyes gleamed. She roughly inferred the relationship between Davide and the Imperial Princess.
“Now that you’ve received Her Imperial Highness’s royal decree, Student Canis, you are effectively in the same boat as us.”
“That~ is true.”
“I’ll speak frankly. Her Imperial Highness suspects the Ulbushis Family.”
Canis swallowed dryly. The Imperial Princess rarely appeared in public, so very little about her was clearly known.
Only rumors spread about her being an extremely cold and decisive figure. According to the Vice-Commander’s words, it seemed Davide had effectively saved Canis.
“Student Davide personally proposed recruiting Student Canis. However, Her Imperial Highness cannot easily trust you.”
“I underst~and. The Imperial House and the Ulbushis Family~ have that kind of relationship~”
At Canis’s response, the Vice-Commander smiled faintly. Davide and Canis alike. The Academy truly was filled with talented individuals.
“But there’s no need to continue living only that way. The title of a great noble family close to the Imperial House.”
At the offer laid before her, Canis slowly curled the corners of her lips upward. From her perspective, it was an incredibly tempting proposition.
Currently, the Empire was divided between the Imperial faction and the other nobles. Most of the great families belonged to the latter side, maintaining the balance.
“More importantly, Student Davide said that Student Canis is someone absolutely necessary for Her Imperial Highness’s royal path.”
“Davi~ said that?”
It was difficult to believe so easily. To be honest, Canis did not fully trust Davide. And the same was true for Davide.
The sharp-minded Canis had already realized that Davide had some hidden motive.
“Well. Let’s stop here for now. We’ll discuss the finer details after some time has passed.”
“Yes~ Understood.”
Watching Canis readily nod, the Vice-Commander smiled softly and rose from her seat.
“Since our discussion seems finished, then I’ll see you after the festival ends. You may leave now.”
As Sheila spoke and began walking toward her work desk, she suddenly stopped. For some reason, Canis showed no sign of moving.
“Do you have something else to say?”
Sheila asked the blankly staring Canis.
“This is~ the first I’m hearing about a schedule~”
“Oh.”
Canis’s words briefly flustered Sheila. After shifting her eyes for a moment, Sheila slowly opened her mouth.
“It seems Student Davide forgot to tell you. Try going to find him.”
“Hmm~ Understood.”
Canis immediately stood up, gave a polite bow, and left the office. Sheila followed Canis’s departing figure with her eyes.
“How pitiful.”
Sheila’s voice echoed through the now-empty office. Clicking her tongue briefly, Sheila turned her attention back to the documents once more.