< Chapter 112 - Development >
Chapter 112 – Development
A week after Uther and Cordelia left.
Scarlett, walking down the hallway, looked out the window with complicated emotions.
‘Is this a real war?’
Yesterday afternoon the Emperor declared the start of civil war.
To be exact, it was a declaration to suppress the rebellious group of Prime Ministers, but this fight was not a one-sided suppression.
After losing the emperor in the system, the Chancellery did not waste time just sitting back and watching. They used various methods, including assassination and persuasion, to absorb the remaining regions of the empire, effectively taking control of the entire eastern part of the country.
‘It won’t be easy.’
Whether it was the power of the devil or the popularity of the prime minister who had been ruling the empire for a long time was higher than that of the young emperor, there were quite a few nobles who sided with the prime minister’s family.
Civil war.
war.
I couldn’t even tell how long it would last.
Moreover, it was terrifying to think about how much damage would occur, considering that the war was taking place within one’s own territory and not in foreign territory.
Scarlett closed her eyes for a moment and thought about her hometown.
A small town located in the eastern part of the empire.
It never occurred to me that that remote place would become a battlefield.
However, it was clear that they would suffer greatly from the dark side of war, such as conscription and exploitation.
“ha······.”
What is Scarlett herself doing here now?
It certainly seems to be a very important place historically, next to the emperor.
‘Oh, I don’t know. I’ll think about it later.’
Scarlett, who shook off all the negative thoughts by shaking off her hair, swallowed deeply and straightened her posture.
I looked at myself through the glass window, which was quite clear thanks to the black night sky.
“Hmm… Okay.”
Still pretty.
But I have a great body too.
Scarlett, her cheeks slightly flushed, took out a small comb from her waist pocket and tried to straighten her hair.
And then click again.
Scarlett took a deep breath as she picked up the comb.
Why am I standing in the hallway at this hour of the night?
As expected of a log master, it wasn’t intended to go and raid somewhere.
No, I guess they’re trying to get rid of this too.
‘Please come to my room tonight. I have something important to tell you.’
Lucas suddenly came up to me and said this as we were finishing dinner.
He was always an honest and handsome kid, but when he said those words, there was something… something that made him seem even cooler.
‘Seriously.’
A really important story.
That too must be conveyed.
What could it be?
It’s a situation where war is brewing.
No, so even more so now?
All sorts of delusions began to fill my head again.
‘Well, lightly, lightly.’
It’s a common occurrence for the Log Master to go into other people’s rooms.
‘But why did it have to be this room?’
What on earth are you trying to talk about by calling me?
“Phew.”
Scarlett took a breath again.
If you blush and get embarrassed because of something like this, aren’t you no different from a pink bomb?
“Okay, let’s go.”
Scarlett, her excitement calming down, crept down the hallway as quietly as a cat and arrived at Lucas’s door.
Take another deep breath.
And a light knock.
“Prince Lucas?”
Gulp.
It was when I swallowed dry saliva without realizing it. Lucas’s door, which had been tightly shut, opened, and Lucas, who today- no, somehow looked more handsome than when we had dinner, appeared.
“Miss Scarlett. You’re here.”
“Because you called.”
When I said this with a slightly haughty smile, Lucas spoke with a stiff face, as if he was nervous.
“Please come inside.”
Lucas’ room.
It wasn’t even my real room in the main house, just a guest room given to me by the Marquis of Buckingham, but my heart still felt strangely pounding.
That is, until I took a step into the room.
“Open.”
A woman sitting on Lucas’ bed.
“You were called here too?”
As Caesar spoke with a smirk, Scarlett turned to Lucas.
I looked at him, telling him to explain what was going on, but he either was dull in this area or just didn’t know what was going on, so instead of explaining anything, he just kept his face stiff and spoke.
“This is really important.”
‘What the heck is that?’
Why did you call me and Caesar together?
Scarlett frowned, but soon nodded.
At this point, I think I have a rough idea of what the situation is.
“Girl, I think I know what you were thinking.”
As I sat down roughly on the bed, Caesar giggled in an unpleasant way.
“Hey, you too? And I told you to call me unnie, right?”
“Yes, sister.”
Scarlett sighed as Caesar smiled again and said.
‘Yeah, it was my fault for expecting that.’
Since we’re not going to gather everyone in the middle of the night and say things like, “Let’s all be friends!”, there’s only one possibility left.
“Pink bomb.”
As Scarlett spoke, glaring at one side of the room, there was an immediate response.
As if a haze had been blowing, one side of the room became blurry and two people who had been hiding appeared.
“Ohhh, as expected from Scarlett. I told you she has good instincts.”
Cordelia complimented her with a wink, but Scarlett responded by raising her middle finger and then turned to look at Yuder and Kirara.
“I can tell since you sneaked in. Are you planning to leave the Emperor’s camp like this?”
Let’s get straight to the point. This time again, the reaction was as expected.
“What? Really?”
Kaiser opened his eyes wide in surprise.
“As expected of Miss Scarlett.”
Lucas is the one who admires innocently.
“Huh.”
Kirara, who doesn’t seem to care much, just hugs Cordelia’s waist.
And Uther and Cordelia also reacted as expected.
“Our Scarlett is smart.”
“Yes, you are right. If you were not going to disappear quietly, there would be no need to come sneaking up on me in the middle of the night like this.”
At Uther’s words, Scarlett continued, resting her chin on one hand.
“Surely… It would be ambiguous for you foreigners to be here in a real war situation.”
The Emperor and the Empress Dowager trusted them, as their lives had been saved twice thanks to Uther and Cordelia.
But that didn’t change the fact that Yuder and Cordelia were foreigners – nobles from the Kingdom of Cailun at that.
Will the Marquis of Buckingham entrust Uther and Cordelia with his soldiers?
There was no way that could happen.
Unless the situation was really dire, they wouldn’t even send them to the front lines.
‘And… there’s no reason to risk your life fighting in someone else’s civil war.’
The nature of the fight itself was different from the ones we had fought so far.
Even if the two claimed that the leadership of the Ministry of the Interior had been taken over by demon followers, most of the opponents they would fight from now on would be ordinary humans of the empire.
As the Guardians of the Holy Cross, they lacked even a justification to fight, so there was no longer any reason for the two of them – no, for the group including Lucas and Caesar to stay here.
“You are not from the Empire. I understand.”
“Then you’re leaving Scarlett, the imperial citizen, behind? I agree for now.”
Scarlett’s face crumpled even more as Caesar raised his hand and spoke.
Should I say that I’m angry even though I know it’s a joke and not serious?
“Hey, you know I’m joking, right? Yeah, sis.”
It’s only at times like this that I feel good.
Scarlett pushed away Caesar, who was laughing while hugging him, and continued speaking while looking at Uther again.
“I’ll listen to your destination and decide whether to follow it or not. Your purpose.”
It was a valid story.
That’s why Yuder also answered seriously.
“I plan to return to the northwestern tip of the empire – Asain Pass. It’s easier to connect with the wild lands there, and if the time comes, it’s easier to join forces with the kingdom to support the empire. Ultimately, I think I’ll join the masters who are active in the east… For now, my goal is as I said at the beginning. I’ll drive out the demon followers from the empire.”
There was no need to increase anxiety by talking about the grand summons.
At Uther’s words, Scarlett narrowed her eyes again and nodded.
“Okay, I’ll go too.”
“tooth.”
Although Caesar immediately let out a sigh of regret, Scarlett was satisfied. This was because Lucas was sighing in relief.
And here was another person breathing a sigh of relief.
“Oh, thank goodness. I brought a lot for Scarlett too.”
“My share?”
“Yeah, Scarlett’s share.”
Cordelia laughed out loud and explained one by one what had happened in the Jainan Canyon.
Lucas and Kai’sa’s eyes lit up a little when they heard that the small white snake wrapped around Kirara’s waist was Naggaroth, the serpent king, but otherwise they reacted exactly as expected.
“I see. So you’ve figured out where the fifth and final stone tablet is?”
“Oh, there was a writing that said that if you collect all five stone tablets, the path will open to where the Solari’s secret treasure is.”
Collecting four stone tablets will reveal the location of Champion Garius’s tomb, and adding the fifth stone tablet there will reveal the location of the Solari’s secret treasure.
It was a roundabout treasure hunt, but it was a story that made sense to Scarlett.
The Log Master’s secret was also hidden in a similar manner, and if it was the Sun God Solari’s secret, it would have been worth hiding in that way.
‘I’m still curious.’
What on earth could it be that they hid it in such a way?
“Where is it?”
“It’s close to the Shadow Forest. So, let’s go to Asain Pass, and Yuder and I will go there quickly.”
Lucas nodded without thinking at Cordelia’s words, but Kaisha and Scarlett did not.
“Wait a minute. Just the two of us?”
“Oh, you two.”
The two people’s gazes were extremely secretive. However, Cordelia spoke with a shameless face, as if reenacting the old saying, “The black ink is like a thorn in the flesh and the blue is like a thorn in the flesh.”
“Oh, because it’s efficient. Right, Yuder?”
“That’s not efficient.”
Uder also answered shamelessly.
“Huh. I see. It’s efficient.”
Cordelia flinched at Caesar’s attacking gaze, but somehow managed to maintain her expression.
Although I had some other thoughts, it was true that it was effective.
But that was just then.
Scarlett narrowed her eyes and smiled.
“Pink Bomb, isn’t it really efficient if only one of the two goes?”
“uh?”
“No, that’s right. Each of you possesses incredible fighting power as a Grand Sword Master and Grand Wizard, so is there really a need to stick together? The situation is already chaotic, so wouldn’t it be more efficient for you to each work in different places?”
“I see?”
It was Caesar who later agreed.
Lucas also nodded as if it made sense.
Uther and Cordelia.
Together, Eudellia.
Grand Sword Master and Grand Wizard.
We’re not going anywhere to fight, we’re just going to find the stone tablet, so is there really a need to move with such a huge force?
Cordelia was dumbfounded by the sharp remark.
That’s because no good excuse came to mind.
“That, uh······.”
What should I do?
Should I act like I used to?
You love me too much to be apart from me?
‘Well, it doesn’t seem like acting······.’
Because I couldn’t even imagine a situation where I would act apart from Yuder.
And it was the same with Uther.
“Oh, no. Cordelia and I must go together.”
“Uder declared, wrapping one arm around Cordelia’s waist.
Cordelia blushed in admiration at his confident attitude of not allowing any objections, while the rest of the group nodded their heads despite their lukewarm expressions.
“Well, actually, I can’t imagine you two going around separately.”
“Me too.”
As Kaisha and Lucas added a word each, Scarlett also pouted her lips and said.
“I had a feeling this would happen.”
And looking at the way he was going back, it seemed like he wouldn’t be able to force Kirara to stick around this time.
“Okay, so are we leaving right now?”
Either way, I had to get out of the Emperor’s camp – or more precisely, the Marquis of Buckingham’s mansion.
Uther nodded at Scarlett’s words and said.
“I’ve already made an escape route, so just pack your bags and come. It’ll only take about 10 minutes, right?”
“It’ll be fine. It’s not much of a burden.”
Scarlett shrugged and grabbed Kaisa’s arm, pulling her out of the room together.
And three days later in the evening.
The group left the Marquis of Buckingham’s mansion and moved to a point where they could see the Shadow Forest, and had another time of farewell.
“You study the dungeon book every day, right?”
“Yes, Master. Kirara will work hard.”
“Yeah, I believe in Kirara.”
“Hehehe.”
As Kirara swished her tail and looked at her with expectant eyes, Cordelia opened her arms. She hugged the small, delicate cat girl tightly, and then spoke to Scarlett and Kaisa.
“Don’t forget the two of you. I’ll go and check on you when I get back.”
“What is that saying now?”
“Hey, are we kids? We’re older than you.”
It was a reasonable agreement, but this was Pleiades, where there was no such thing as Confucianism.
Cordelia brushed aside the elders’ comments with excitement and approached Uther.
“Then, Prince Lucas, I will be going.”
“Yes, good luck.”
“You too. I’ll be taking good care of Scarlett, Kaisar, and Kirara.”
When Cordelia spoke nicely, Lucas nodded again.
“Yes, I will risk my life to protect you three.”
Cordelia smiled at the sight of him swearing his oath with style, even drawing his sword.
After all, Lucas looks the best in his current appearance.
A clear and pure boy.
It didn’t suit me to be a vengeful ghost or a corrupted mine.
“Then shall we go now?”
“let’s go.”
There were two Phantom Steeds, but this time only one was summoned.
“Then take care. I’ll be back soon.”
“I’ll meet you at Asain Pass.”
As Cordelia and Uther each said their goodbyes, the rest of the group waved their hands and saw them off.
A bright moonlit night.
Phantom Steed flying lightly and two people sitting tightly hugging each other.
Scarlett, who was watching Uther and Cordelia moving away under the white moonlight, looked back at Kaisa without thinking, and Kaisa smiled and said.
“Are you really going to have an accident this time?”
“What is an accident, an accident?”
“Anyway, I’ll hit you, right?”
“well.”
In fact, it’s more surprising that it hasn’t happened yet.
Scarlett shrugged her shoulders and took a deep breath.
Even though the devil’s followers are running wild and war is breaking out, those who want to do something are doing it.
‘Yeah, this time, hit me hard, Sago.’
The situation had not yet become a full-scale civil war.
But it was only a matter of time.
In a few days at the latest, a real war will begin in which countless people will kill each other.
‘It feels somehow hazy.’
How much time will those two be able to spend together like that?
Scarlett shook her head, pushing away her anxious thoughts and waving again at Uther and Cordelia, who were now so small they looked like dots.
‘Have a nice trip. I’ll listen to all your bragging, but don’t cause any trouble.’
Scarlett finished her thoughts with a giggle and turned around.
I smiled helplessly as I watched Kaisa, Kirara, and Lucas, who seemed oblivious in many ways.
&
< Chapter 112 - Development > End
