Chapter 163: Kidnapping the Saintess (3)
In a mansion located in the noble district of the island.
The second prince of the empire, Aicliffe Rogasion, was doing his work as usual today.
He had no official duties from the Imperial Family, but for Aicliffe, managing his own faction was also an important task.
Behind Aicliffe, there was Eutenia.
Eutenia was reading the scriptures and occasionally glancing at Aicliffe’s letters.
Under Eutenia’s surveillance, Aicliffe checked the letters and soon found something and spoke to Eutenia.
“The Colt duke has sent me a message that he wants to meet me separately.”
“The Colt duke? That’s an unexpected proposal.”
The Colt ducal family was a family that ruled most of the Alterias region.
The soldiers of the ducal family, who grew up in the harsh environment of the north, were famous as strong soldiers in the empire.
In addition, the magic stone mine located in Alterias contributed greatly to the ducal family’s finances, and the current duke boasted a huge network of connections based on that.
Although the duke’s base was in the north, his influence in the island was not light.
He was one of the most respectful people among the nobles, along with the Obtos duke.
“As you all know, the Colt duke supports that Renglus guy.”
The only problem was that he already supported the third prince, Renglus.
The Colt duke was Renglus’s biggest supporter.
Renglus’s rise as a powerful heir to the throne was not without the influence of his maternal grandfather, the Colt duke.
And he suddenly invited Aicliffe, which was undoubtedly a suspicious situation.
He might not have set a trap for an official invitation, but he knew that there would be no pleasant conversation between them.
Eutenia, who heard Aicliffe’s story, looked thoughtful for a moment and then closed the scriptures she had opened and said.
“What do you think, Your Highness?”
“I’d rather not meet him if possible…”
“Is that so?”
Aicliffe’s attitude of avoiding the Colt duke was natural.
Meeting the duke would be a burden for him.
But Eutenia had a different thought from looking at Aicliffe.
She recalled what she had reported from the sect a few days ago.
‘Maybe this could be an opportunity.’
The sect could not openly participate in the imperial succession war.
Participating in the succession war, Aicliffe himself had to be the main pillar.
The sect had to reveal its power only minimally in the unseen places.
And by chance, Eutenia had a good idea.
It was a way to weaken the princes’ factions and take away the power of the holy land at the same time.
“Then, how about you send an invitation yourself this time, Your Highness?”
That’s why Eutenia suggested to Aicliffe to invite the duke.
At the suggestion of inviting the duke in reverse, Aicliffe looked at her with a puzzled expression.
He wondered if he had heard her wrong.
“Are you telling me to send an invitation to the Colt duke?”
“Yes. It would be difficult to call him right now, but how about inviting him to a party that we’ll have in a month or so…”
She was thinking of bringing the duke as Aicliffe said.
If possible, she wanted to throw a grand party at this mansion.
As Eutenia was about to tell Aicliffe her plan, she closed her mouth at the voice in her ear.
She looked up at the sky reflexively with the scriptures in her hand.
-“The false agent of God will seek you out.”
The voice that came to her ear was always the one that gave her revelations.
The great being clearly wanted to command her.
Eutenia completely shook off the thoughts in her head and focused on the next revelation from God.
-“The child of the dragon will offer himself as a sacrifice.”
-“Accept the sacrifice.”
-“Make him accompany the false saintess.”
The child of the dragon. And the false saintess.
The last command of the great being passed through Eutenia’s mind as she listened to the revelation.
Make a vessel worthy of him.
To make a splendid vessel that suited the great being, nothing was more necessary than pure dragon blood.
The revelation that came down this time seemed to be God’s arrangement for that.
As for the false saintess, it must have been the saintess of order that Pluto had secured this time.
“…I understand.”
If the great being had given her a revelation, Eutenia simply followed it.
Eutenia answered the call from heaven and leaned the scriptures against the window.
Maybe it was because Eutenia’s attitude suddenly changed as they were talking.
Aicliffe looked at her with a bewildered look and said to Eutenia.
“What’s wrong? Did something happen that I don’t know about?”
“I have something urgent to do, so I’ll have to leave for a while.”
“Something?”
“I received a command from the great one.”
He received a command from the great one.
It was not something that Aicliffe couldn’t understand.
He was also here because he heard God’s voice.
Aicliffe just nodded slowly at the news that God’s command had fallen.
“Don’t worry. Even if I leave for a while, nothing will disappear that I’ve done so far.”
“That’s what you need as an emperor. If even that is hard, it would be difficult to become an emperor.”
“Hmm, so I just have to invite the duke in a month?”
A month.
It was a long or short time depending on who you asked.
Some people couldn’t even cross half of the empire in that time, but for Eutenia who borrowed Perin’s power, it was a time when she could do many things.
A month would be enough for her to finish all the groundwork she wanted.
Eutenia finished calculating in her head and gave an answer back to Aicliffe.
“Let’s do that. By then, many things will be ready.”
It would be enough to cause a bloodbath in the empire.
***
“Yawn…”
On top of a floating island.
I was looking at the three characters reflected on the screen of my smartphone and yawning.
Pluto and Perin. And Eileen, who had recently joined the cult.
The three of them were chatting in a noisy manner.
The one who was causing the commotion was mostly Eileen.
-“Pluto! I’m sorry! Don’t send me away!”
Eileen was clinging to Pluto’s leg and crying and begging.
There was one reason why she was pleading so desperately.
It was because I had decided to send her away for a while because of the hidden quest that came a while ago.
The hidden quest that came this time gave [Dragon Blood] as a reward.
It was an opportunity to get the essential material for the top-tier character I was going to control.
“I didn’t want to send you away either… but the time of farewell will come someday.”
I recited a line that seemed like something I had seen in a drama, and stroked Eileen’s head with my finger.
Looking back, Eileen had given me a lot of benefits while she was staying here.
She organized the information about the holy land into documents that were easy for Roan to see, and also told me about the holy relic that was hidden in some secluded valley.
Thanks to that, I got another holy relic that I could use for making [Philosopher’s Stone].
But each character had their own role.
In this world, Eileen’s role was the exchange material for dragon blood.
It hurt my heart, but I couldn’t help it.
-“Don’t abandon me! I’m loyal to you, ancestor!”
Maybe she realized that she was being discarded.
Eileen was fiercely clinging to Pluto’s leg.
Pluto looked at her with an awkward expression.
He raised one hand hesitantly, then reached out and stroked Eileen’s head and said.
-“…I’m just pretending to send you away.”
-“Don’t even pretend!”
“…”
-“I’m sorry! Can I be a good vampire? Okay?”
No matter what Pluto said, Eileen was stubborn.
She showed that she didn’t want to leave this place.
Did her AI get messed up when she became a vampire?
She was a character who was obsessed with Pluto to an extreme degree.
As I watched Eileen spout nonsense, Perin, who was sitting on a tree, opened his mouth.
-“Good… vampire?”
Perin had an expression of disbelief.
He felt that the word vampire and the word good could never go together.
He knew that vampire was a negative word, but he wondered if it was enough to elicit such a reaction.
In reality, wouldn’t it be like a good mosquito?
A good mosquito. If it was a good mosquito, surely–.
“Does that make sense?”
It was a ridiculous story.
I decided to agree with Perin’s statement neatly.
The people who heard the story were different, though.
Pluto and Eileen glared at Perin with fierce eyes.
At some point, Pluto had Deathscythe in his hand.
-“Pluto is nice…”
Seeing the blue light of Deathscythe, Perin quickly corrected his answer.
Pluto nodded his head with a satisfied face.
-“As expected, Perin knows well.”
-“Yes.”
Was it because their conversation was over?
Eileen clung to Pluto again.
The size of the speech bubble above Eileen’s head was even bigger than before.
-“Pluto! Please don’t send me away!”
-“Eileen…”
-“I’ll do anything for you, Pluto! Cleaning, laundry, cooking, anything! So please don’t abandon me!”
-“Vampires don’t eat things like cooking…”
I smiled faintly as I watched the two characters have a funny conversation.
They were all characters I liked, no matter what they said.
The ancestor of vampires, the lazy angel, and the white rice cake floating in the sea with a stupid posture. All of them.
They were the driving force that made me enjoy this game.
If it weren’t for them, I wouldn’t have been spending money on the game every day.
Maybe I would have quit the game after a month of lightning strikes.
“I guess there are a lot of good kids. Just think of Eutenia…”
As I was about to talk about Eutenia, the first daughter of the sect.
The image of Eutenia sacrificing a whole village and holding a ritual of starvation passed through my mind.
From my point of view, she was a great character who gave me experience points, but I didn’t know what it would be like from other characters’ perspectives.
In the eyes of other characters, she might look like a crazy demon lord who walks around with shadows.
Maybe from the AI’s perspective, she would be described as an incomprehensible horror.
From that point of view, I might need to reconsider the expression of being good.
“Maybe not good? But whatever, as long as they’re nice to me.”
But what does that matter?
It wasn’t important to me whether she killed thousands or tens of thousands of characters or ruled over them.
To me, Eutenia was always the first apostle.
And she was always the first character who was faithful to her purpose.
Because of my meeting with Eutenia, our story continues.
I didn’t care what the game characters thought.
“Hopefully they’re all happy.”
