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The night of the full moon, Davey felt like they were aiming for this very moment after learning that the full moon was tonight. Milpieu had told him that Abyss Princess Urd would not kill him right away since she had judged that he was not a threat to her at the moment. And Davey knew that it was the truth. After all, she had only ordered Milpieu to get to know him.
“It’s either she’s strong enough to act all relaxed and nonchalant even after hearing all of the things that I have done in this place, or…”
Or perhaps she was an idiot who could not even make a proper judgment even after being presented with all of those facts. However, Davey was leaning more toward the former than the latter.
Considering that Urd had the power to subdue three grandmaster-level mythical beasts—creatures that could overturn an entire continent even with just one of them—and force them to become subservient, she was extremely powerful. And if her power was intact, there was a high chance that she had grown considerably stronger over time.
“I think I will be in trouble if we clash now.”
Davey could tell that Urd’s basic hardware specs were overwhelming. That was on top of her combat sense, skills, and awakenings. With all of that in mind, he would be at a great disadvantage.
He ended up accepting Milpieu. She had made a vow that she would not let her identity as a vampire be known and a very suspicious promise that she would never do anything unnecessary to the humans here. It would not be too late to put restrictions on her for the most part.
However, he actually did not want to do it since the power of the Philosopher’s Stone could twist whatever curse or restriction he would place on her body, making it hard to guarantee if it would work well.
For Davey, he found it regrettable that he would just leave Milpieu alone and accept her proposal just like that.
“But I still find it strange.”
Even though she had obtained a physical body, Perserque still had not let go of her hobbies.
“Why? Why is the Abyss Princess, the woman named Urd, not actively using her powers?”
Her question was, in fact, the same as Davey’s question. In fact, given the current level of the people on the continent, even Davey, who was judged to have lower hardware specs than Urd, could easily shake and overturn the entire continent. This meant that Urd could shake the entire continent and do whatever she wanted to do, whenever she wanted to.
So, why the hell was she being so silent? It was a mystery that they still could not figure out.
Whether Milpieu was lying or not, Perserque would know. Nothing could get past her, after all. And thanks to Perserque, Davey was able to find out that the words Milpieu said were true to some extent.
“We can only assume that she has several restrictions placed upon her. Whether this is a trick or a plan, there’s no reason for her to waste time like this with such overwhelming hardware specs.”
Davey did not know how long she had been living in this world, but considering her knowledge and grasp on the flow of this world, he could assume that Urd had spent more time than what he initially thought. If that was truly the case, and she had really been in this world for a very long time, then there must have been a reason why she had been hiding and biding her time.
“This type of person, the one that I can’t figure out what’s going on in their heads, is the worst.”
Davey would rather they play a trick on him or just come out aggressively. All living things that followed the flow of causality would eventually show their purpose once someone overturned the flow of causality.
However, if the opponent had opted to behave inconsistently and committed incomprehensible movements, then it would not be easy to find out what they were thinking. If he could not find out what they were thinking, then he could not deal with them, let alone fight a proper psychological warfare.
“This is quite amazing. I never expected that the day would come when you have to think about another being’s behavior pattern.”
“I can’t read minds.”
Davey could only make inferences, but it was very dangerous to infer about the opponent’s plans recklessly, especially if he did not even have the basic data on them.
“And? The full moon has already risen that high in the sky. What do you think is going to happen? If that vampire named Milpieu deceived you and made you look the other way, then…”
“Rinne is watching over her, so it will be fine. There’s nothing that will feel more awful than that,” Davey murmured as he looked at the academy from the windows of the Lord’s Castle.
A strange sense of calm and quiet enveloped him as he looked at the four huge spires rising from within the academy.
The Lord’s Castle was usually quite active at this time of the day. But strangely enough, even the castle grounds were covered with silence. It was to the point that he could hear the insects’ cries so loudly in his ears.
A beat of silence passed between Davey and Perserque as a strange sense suddenly enveloped him.
“Something’s strange.” Davey immediately jumped up, his instincts screaming at him from the subtle coldness that suddenly started to prick at his skin. It had been quite a long time since he felt such a fierce reaction from his instincts.
“Davey?”
“I just felt something very strange. Wait a minute,” Davey said as he jumped out of the window and climbed the walls of the castle with familiar ease until he reached the top of the castle’s spire. Then, he squinted his eyes and looked around. “I can feel it. I feel like something’s about to happen…”
Just when those words left his mouth, a very faint yet familiar mana, moving from a distance, registered in his senses.
“Davey? Davey!” Perserque, who was behind him, cried loudly in surprise.
However, he had already left.
Davey hoped that this was not the case. However, he knew that the thread would follow wherever the needle went. There was only one person that the owner of this mana would follow.
***
A neat and antique, albeit not fancy, carriage carrying the symbol of the Lyndis Empire, the strongest powerhouse in the east, galloped along the road. Just one look at the carriage, and anyone could gauge the status of the person riding in it.
“Your Imperial Highness, we will soon reach Heins Territory.”
“Kathryn… Is this really alright?” Aeria looked both nervous and uneasy as she asked the grand duchess.
“Since ancient times, relationships between men and women often started with matters of the flesh. Prince Davey is an unconstrained person. I don’t think it’s possible to be with him using normal methods.”
“B-But for a woman to do something like this first…”
“Certainly, when it comes to matters regarding escorts, the men find it very rude when women make the first move.”
However, one had to take into consideration the type of guy that they were dealing with first.
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“Prince Davey is more like a free and wild mercenary than a noble. Forget all about those old-fashioned, elegant yet boring etiquettes. As a single woman, all you have to do is keep in mind your sole purpose, and that is to capture the opposite sex.”
Aeria remained uneasy even after hearing Kathryn’s advice, but she did not refute her words. She was fully aware that her current relationship with Davey was not like the ordinary ones. If she continued to wait like that, then she would not end up with the situation that she hoped for.
“First off, you have to remember that being too aggressive would bring about severe adverse effects. You have to know that the most important part here is to make a light fuss. Your Imperial Highness, you know about my husband, right? You should use the method that he used to seduce and chase after me.”
“If it’s the Grand Duchess’ husband, then…”
The Grand Duchess’ husband was rumored to be quite devoted to his wife. If one looked at his skills alone, then he could only be described as a low-ranking noble that could not even compare to Kathryn. However, Kathryn loved him deeply.
Of course, he was also known as someone who was severely henpecked. In fact, there was no one in the empire that did not know about the story of the Grand Duchess’ marriage and honeymoon phase.
However, the most important part was not about this. It was about another matter. The Grand Duchess’ husband was known for having a great talent for seducing women. He was aware of Kathryn Carabella’s free and unrestrained personality and had quickly understood that he would never be able to captivate her using the usual methods of romance that were known in the continent. So, he had judged that he needed another way.
“According to my husband, you have to balance that ticklish feeling. Your Imperial Highness, you have to take advantage of your weakness. It’s not good to grumble and complain unnecessarily. If you like them, then you can show off your good feelings for them. However, do not cross the line. You have to keep that ticklish and nervous atmosphere between you two…”
Creak…
The conversation between Kathryn and Aeria stopped when the carriage also came to a halt.
“Sir Belross, is something the matter?” Kathryn asked as she slowly walked out of the carriage, helping Aeria stabilize her posture.
“T-That…”
It was quite funny to see Belross, the Imperial Family’s Sword Master, and someone who could be considered among the ranks of the Lyndis Empire’s heroes, serving as a coachman for the Imperial Princess. However, Belross, who felt the same way as Kathryn toward the princess, had volunteered to become the coachman himself.
“Huh?”
Kathryn turned to look in front of them after hearing Sir Belross’ stuttering words and saw a girl blocking the path of their carriage. No, in fact, she looked to be in her mid-twenties and was a bit too mature to be called a girl.
The black-haired girl, dressed in a black mage’s robe, looked at them with a troubled expression on her face and asked, “I’m very sorry. I know that it’s very rude to block your carriage’s path, but I’m currently lost. Can you please help me?”
She spoke with a bright smile that was filled with charm on her face, mesmerizing the escort knights who turned to look at her.
Kathryn, on the other hand, felt a subtle yet strange sense.
‘Something… feels weird…’
Her instincts, honed by her long experience on the battlefield, were telling her that something was off. However, looking at it objectively, this was not that strange. It was not a rare occurrence to find mercenaries, wanderers, treasure hunters, or merchants getting lost in the forest.
“Of course. Kathryn, please help this person,” Aeria, who was gentle and kind down to her very core, extended a helping hand to the woman. It was as if she did not feel a strange sense of incompatibility from the unknown woman.
“Hoho. I’m very grateful.” The woman smiled gracefully as she approached them. “However, it’s getting dark. It seems like it would be difficult to go deeper into the forest.”
Kathryn pondered deeply after hearing the woman’s words. Just as she said, it would not be wise to go deeper into the forest since it was already getting dark.
On top of that, the knights needed to rest. There was a high chance that their carriage would overturn if they continued to venture forward. In fact, they could just use light stones. However, it would not be very beneficial to them in the long run, especially with how dark this forest was.
“I happened to come across a good place to camp around here. Would you like to go there?”
Aeria looked incredibly delighted by those words. “Is that true? I would be grateful if you could guide us to that place!”
“It’s not a problem. In fact, I’m the one that’s grateful. You look like you’re a pretty high-ranking noble, yet you listened to a low-class commoner like me,” the woman said as she guided the people to the nearby camping site.
“Grand Duchess? What’s the matter?” Sir Belross, who was acting as the coachman, asked.
However, Kathryn just shook her head, “It’s just…”
Perhaps it was an animal’s instincts or their beastly sense of crisis? All in all, it was very hard to explain what she was feeling. Kathryn could not help but doubt herself. Why was she wary of that wanderer?
Not long after, the carriage, led by the woman, entered the forest and soon arrived at the perfect camping site. Perhaps it was because Krias’ bright moonlight was being reflected by the blades of wild grass, but the surrounding area looked very bright.
“There is a stream nearby, and we can reach Heins Territory by daybreak. It seems appropriate for us to camp here.”
Aeria clapped her hands in delight after hearing Sword Master Belross’ words. “I see. Everyone must be exhausted. We should get as comfortable as we can and get some rest.”
Belross grinned. He looked like he was looking at his cute granddaughter when he looked at her. “Even though this old man is quite old, I’m still very healthy and strong, Your Imperial Highness.”
“No. You promised that you would stay with me for a very long time, Sir Belross.”
“I found this place after getting lost here. It seems like I was very lucky to find it. Have you eaten yet?”
The gazes of the knights, who were busy talking amongst themselves, immediately gathered to where the woman was the moment she took off the hood of her robe. The woman, with her long black hair hanging down her shoulders, was certainly stunning. She looked extremely attractive and beautiful.
“We have already finished our meals a long time ago.”
“Ah. Is that so? To be honest, I have been wandering around the forest for a few days now and I haven’t eaten anything yet…” The woman said as she rubbed her stomach.
“Oh my. We can’t let that happen. Sir Litta, please give her something to eat.”
At Aeria’s words, one of the knights took out some jerky and quickly handed it over to the woman. “Please have some.”
"Oh dear. Thank you. This looks like very delicious beef jerky," the woman said as she fiddled with the jerky in her hands.
Seeing that, Kathryn slowly rose from her seat.
"But…my body is a bit unusual. So, I can’t eat beef jerky. I have to eat something else."
"Get down!!!" Kathryn, who realized something, immediately screamed.
Bang!!!
But before she could even finish her words, a red light flashed briefly, which was immediately followed by the pungent scent of blood.