Chapter 164
The story continues off the page
The Dare in the Back Room
Two academy girls, one lethal measure, and your slate paying for it
Several days passed after the victory banquet.
Nothing noteworthy happened during that time.
Shabel did not come back and thrust a spear at me, nor did a horde of magical beasts attack.
Aither, Helena, and Elodie did return to the academy as their vacation drew to a close.
It was a shame, but I would see them again.
‘Peaceful days.’
It was incredibly peaceful.
If every day could be like today……
“These people, seriously……!”
It would be wonderful.
Aurora’s study.
Aurora sat across from me, reading a letter and muttering in an irritated tone.
A mountain of letters was piled up on the table.
Aurora was opening them one by one with a thoroughly annoyed expression.
They weren’t letters of support from readers to Aurora, the author.
They had all been sent to me.
They were recruitment offers from people who had realized I would soon become a free citizen.
“Where is it this time?”
“……House Velloa.”
“Do you know them?”
“Yes. The countess is also a member of our tea party.”
“They must be quite a famous family.”
“They are. They’re famous, wealthy, and very well-connected in aristocratic society.”
Aurora read the letter to the end, then let out an incredulous laugh.
“What does it say?”
“They say that if I don’t have a suitable place to stay after being emancipated, they can lend me the count’s country estate as a temporary residence. And their eldest daughter would like to have a conversation with you if the opportunity arises.”
“Is she pretty?”
“Yes. She is.”
“Oh.”
“Last year, there were even rumors that she had gotten engaged to three men at once after a ball.”
“Ah.”
Not three fathers, but three fiancés.
No matter how pretty she was, that was a no-go.
“She pretended not to be interested in front of me, then sent a letter like this behind my back.”
Aurora crumpled the letter and threw it aside.
“Hmm.”
I opened one of the letters as well and read it.
Aurora narrowed her eyes and gave me a wary look.
“Who sent that?”
“It says the Merken Trading Company. Do you know them?”
“It’s more than just knowing them. They’re one of the largest trading companies in the Empire.”
Aurora urged me on with her eyes, as though telling me to read the contents quickly.
I read the letter aloud.
“Hmm. It says that if I lend my name as a special adviser to the Merken Trading Company, they’ll guarantee my livelihood for life without requiring me to reside anywhere in particular.”
“Without requiring you to reside anywhere?”
“Yes.”
I continued reading.
“A mansion in the heart of the capital, three thousand gold coins a year, and personnel support as needed. I’ll also receive the highest-level treatment at every branch of the Merken Trading Company……”
“Whaaat?”
“There is a condition. They want to borrow my name as the trading company’s symbolic military force. They want me to accompany them on important trade routes or to negotiations when necessary.”
“……Are you interested?”
“Not particularly.”
It wasn’t as though I was an idiot.
With martial prowess like mine, I could make as much money as I wanted.
So why would I bother getting entangled with a trading company?
It didn’t particularly appeal to me.
We continued opening and checking the letters.
“House Rosenberg.”
“Izmil Trading Company.”
“The Imperial Academy.”
“Why them?”
“They want me to come as an instructor. This one might actually be tempting?”
If I went, I could be lovey-dovey with Elodie, right?
This one was on hold.
“This time it’s the Kingdom of Caldara.”
Those were the bastards who attacked the Empire during the Founding Festival.
Did these assholes have no shame?
I tossed it aside and opened the next letter.
“Where did that one come from?”
“The White Goat Dairy in Rix Village.”
“Rix Village? Where is that?”
Even Aurora, who knew practically every respectable family in the Empire, didn’t seem to know it.
She tilted her head.
“It was sent by the headman of a rural village.”
“The headman? I can’t believe this. Now even a village headman is sending you letters? It isn’t even a noble family anymore.”
Aurora let out an incredulous laugh.
“What does it say? Don’t tell me they’re offering you a mansion too?”
“They’ll give me fresh goat’s milk every day. And their second daughter recently lost her husband, so if I settle in the village, she’ll provide fresh milk not only in the morning but at night as well……”
“You mean goat’s milk, right?”
“I assume so?”
“You do, right?”
“It’s a dairy farm.”
“Right. It’s a dairy farm.”
Aurora nodded as though desperately trying to convince herself.
“The conditions themselves aren’t bad, though. My bones would become stronger.”
“……”
“Just kidding.”
We spent quite a while going through the letters.
Some were invitations from renowned houses whose names everyone would recognize, asking me to become a knight of their family.
Others were recruitment offers from enormous trading companies with influence across the Empire, promising me immense wealth.
Those without either family prestige or financial resources offered me their daughters.
‘This much attention is a little frightening.’
Was I really worth that much?
Could this actually be a hidden-camera prank being filmed by a group of people?
“Ugh.”
Aurora’s anger gauge had been steadily rising with every letter, until steam was practically coming out of her head.
Not figuratively, either.
Blue wisps shimmered around her.
‘That’s mana.’
Was Aurora, who had no innate talent for mana manipulation, awakening because of anger?
What was she, a Super Saiyan?
We were sorting through the letters we had finished reading when—
There was a knock at the door.
“Your Highness.”
“Hmm?”
“His Majesty is looking for the two of you.”
“Dad?”
A chamberlain conveyed the message that the Emperor wanted to see us.
“What for?”
“I wasn’t given any details, so I’m afraid I don’t know.”
“Hmm. All right, I’ll get ready right away.”
Aurora rose from the sofa.
“Why do you suppose Father is calling both of us?”
“Isn’t it obvious?”
It’s time for my emancipation.
***
Aurora and I were crossing the corridor leading to the audience chamber after being summoned by the Emperor.
The moment to cast off the shackles of slavery had finally arrived.
My body felt remarkably light as I walked.
Seeing me like that, Aurora chuckled.
“Are you really that happy?”
“Of course. I’ve spent my whole life working toward this one thing.”
There was no way to describe this feeling in words.
Only a slave could understand it.
‘Though I haven’t completed the quest yet.’
The quest to turn Aurora into a first-rate romance novelist.
The reward was an S-rank skill, no less.
It was a shame I hadn’t cleared the quest, but in the end, the skill was merely a tool for achieving freedom.
Once I was free, a useless skill like that wouldn’t matter in the slightest.
Before I knew it, we had arrived at the audience chamber.
The Imperial Guard knight standing by the door confirmed our identities and bowed his head toward the inside.
“Your Majesty, Her Highness Princess Aurora and the slave Leon have arrived.”
“Let them in.”
Soon, the enormous double doors swung open to either side.
As we entered the audience chamber, several people came into view.
The Emperor seated on the throne.
The Imperial Guards protecting him and a small number of his retainers.
Richard, commander of the Second Knight Order, and the Empress.
And—
‘Why is she here?’
The Hero, Shabel.
Someone with absolutely nothing to do with my emancipation was seated in the audience chamber.
I could understand why the others were here, but I couldn’t understand why Shabel was in the audience chamber.
Could it be that I hadn’t been summoned for emancipation?
I forced down my rising anxiety and paid my respects before the Emperor.
“The slave Leon has arrived in response to His Imperial Majesty’s summons.”
“Hmm.”
The Emperor gave a small nod.
“Why did you summon us?”
“It is nothing else. I summoned you to honor the promise I made to Leon.”
Kya~
There was no other reason he would call me here.
“Slave Leon.”
“Yes, Your Majesty.”
“You subjugated a Great Calamity to protect the Empire. That achievement is a feat worthy of being recorded in the Empire’s history. The fact that you are a slave shall not diminish the weight of that accomplishment.”
“I am deeply honored.”
“Therefore, to honor the promise I made to you after your great feat, I hereby declare your emancipation.”
For a moment, my breath stopped.
My heart pounded violently.
I hereby declare your emancipation.
How long had I wanted to hear those words?
The Emperor’s declaration echoed through my mind again and again.
‘It’s finally over……’
It felt as though the chains choking my neck had finally snapped.
An indescribable sense of liberation surged over me.
Surely I hadn’t misheard him?
This wasn’t a dream, was it?
I looked at Aurora standing beside me, but she too smiled at me as though she were just as happy as if this were her own affair.
I hadn’t misheard him.
I had truly become a free man. All my hardships had finally borne fruit.
Leon.
As of today, I was a free citizen—time to beeeegin my second life!
“However.”
I was going to……
What? However?
Why the sudden ‘however’?
“Now that you have become a free citizen and a subject of the Empire, you naturally have obligations to fulfill as well.”
“That’s true, but……”
An ominous premonition ran down my spine.
The heart that had seemed ready to burst from the joy of emancipation instantly turned cold.
“Two Great Calamities still remain in the Empire. Leon, I hereby issue you an imperial command: join the Hero Shabel and subjugate the remaining calamities.”
“What are you suddenly talking about……”
What was this?
I must have genuinely misheard him.
Subjugating calamities together with the Hero Shabel?
With her?
Me?
Why?
I had just been emancipated.
I was a fresh-off-the-press free citizen.
“What happens if I refuse?”
“You will be severely punished for defying an imperial command.”
“For example……?”
“You could become a slave of the Empire and serve for the rest of your life.”
“……you bastard.”
I barely managed to swallow the curse that almost escaped my lips.
No matter what, I couldn’t swear in the Emperor’s face.
I used every ounce of my willpower to calm myself.
“But Your Majesty, the Hero surely doesn’t need help from a slave like me. Isn’t that right, Hero?”
I sent the Hero a pleading look.
‘If you don’t help me, I’ll take down the calamity myself?’
Shabel stared down at me for a moment before speaking to the Emperor.
“I am a Hero. I will not be bound by personal feelings. If it means defeating the calamities and allowing everyone to live in peace, I will do whatever it takes.”
“The Hero says so herself.”
……Had she eaten something strange?
That was completely different from the attitude she had shown me a few days ago.
She had radiated such murderous intent merely because I had subjugated a calamity, and now she was saying she could go with me?
“Then it is settled. I ask you to subjugate the remaining calamities. If you succeed, I shall grant you anything within my power.”
“No……”
My mind went blank, as though I had just been struck in the back of the head.
What on earth was going on?
‘No. Let’s think positively.’
At least I was still being emancipated, right?
That was what mattered.
And I knew exactly how to deal with the calamities, so there shouldn’t be any major problem.
It would just be a little bothersome.
“Understood. I shall obey the imperial command and subjugate the calamities. Then, my emancipation……”
“Please wait a moment, Your Majesty.”
As expected, Shabel interrupted me.
What was she going to say this time……
“This man has previously defied an imperial command and assisted a witch in escaping. Although he has earned merit and been emancipated this time, allowing him to join the Hero Party without any restrictions would be dangerous.”
Her voice was filled with distrust as she said this.
If she trusted me that little, couldn’t she simply refuse to bring me along?
Why was she so determined to take me with her when she hated me more than anyone?
The incongruity was immense.
As I stood there flustered, unable to find the reason, Shabel cast me a sidelong glance. Then she pulled one corner of her mouth into a sly grin.
Could it be……?
“Until the remaining calamities have been subjugated, I ask that you entrust all authority over him to me.”
That crazy bitch.