Chapter 23
“What on earth are you trying to say...?!”
Silence.
Everyone present was dumbfounded by my incomprehensible behavior.
“‘What on earth are you trying to say...?!’ The daughter of Baron Webern asks a rather interesting question.”
I gave Iris-chan a sardonic smile.
No, I get it.
I understood how she felt all too well.
Iris's homeland was currently struggling with frequent monster attacks. No one had a stronger sense of urgency than she did.
But what she saw when she came to petition for help was a group of nobles who were completely failing to do their jobs.
It was no wonder she was frantic.
Under normal circumstances, she probably could have discussed things more calmly, but she'd lost her composure now.
But there was one problem.
To make things proceed exactly as the event dictated, I had no choice but to provoke her.
I had to say, “Perhaps I should make you my mistress,” to her, one second away from completely losing it.
By the way, as would be revealed later, Iris Webern was born to a concubine, leaving her in a weak position.
Her swordsmanship was the only thing keeping her position secure.
And yet she'd come all the way to Lyon to protect the people.
...In other words, Kuzutos had stepped squarely on Iris's land mines in two different ways.
Figures, Kuzutos.
It takes a special kind of talent to tap-dance on someone's land mines the first time you meet them.
He'd earned the final boss's personal assessment: ‘Ultos...? Oh, that scumbag.’
But if things continued like this, Iris would have the worst possible impression of me.
And what would happen if Iris grew up with that impression of me, then enrolled in the Academy of Magic, where the story takes place?
Naturally, she'd still think the absolute worst of me.
If I couldn't turn that impression around at the Academy of Magic, death awaited me.
Some might think I could just work hard after enrolling, but I wanted to take measures now if I could.
So how was I supposed to survive???
That's why I decided to do this.
“Webern.”
I threw my arms wide toward Iris.
“Something terrible is stirring. It's time to prepare—Webern. Beautiful sword raised in the frontier lands. Do not mistake friend for foe.”
That's right—
This was the secret plan I'd come up with.
—say something really, really cryptic.
It was the only thing I could do.
In other words, as things stood, I was just “that snide, arrogant heir to a ducal house she met once.”
That was bad.
So I decided to keep saying cryptic things.
That way, I could shed the image of “that snide, arrogant heir to a ducal house” and become “that strange heir to a ducal house who said snide things, but also said some cryptic stuff.”
That's what I thought.
Wasn't this perfect?
If I did this, later on,
“It was actually Mayor Gregorio who made me do all that... I was in that shady-looking place, but I only drank water!!! And by the way, the maid thing was a misunderstanding, too!!”
Maybe I could apologize to Iris.
Yeah. I could even expose Gregorio's misdeeds while I was at it.
I was more than willing to throw everyone who'd been there under the bus.
Once all this was over, I could spend as much time as I liked sucking up to the protagonist, Sieg-kun, and Iris.
Noble pride???? A noble's duty?????
Those words won't help you survive the brutal world of an 18+ game.
So don't ask me, “What are you trying to say?” I wouldn't know what to tell you.
Even I didn't really understand what I was trying to say.
“There is shadow because there is light, and wherever there is light, there is always shadow. That's right—everything is inevitable. Everything is merely two sides of the same coin.”
“U-Ultos-sama...?”
I could hear Liera's bewildered voice behind me, but I ignored it.
Ignore, ignore.
“What you see isn't always the truth. The same goes for monsters. Don't look at just one place—look at the whole picture. Evil lies where you least expect it.”
“...?! Y-You know something? Tell me more!”
Iris stared at me wide-eyed, clinging to my every word.
But—
“Who knows?”
I didn't answer her question.
“—Find the truth with your own two feet. The truth you seize with your own hands is the only truth that matters.”
I waved my hand.
Having finished saying things that sounded profound, I started walking back toward the illegal club I'd come from.
Leaving Iris, utterly bewildered, behind as she murmured, “W-What does that mean...? What on earth...?”
By the way, what I meant was:
Everything has a front and a back = I may look like a scumbag at first glance, but I've got good points too! The real villain is that scumbag mayor, who seems like a decent guy at first glance!
That was the message I was trying to get across.
I'd said a bunch of cryptic things, but they had absolutely no deeper meaning.
Before long—
The commotion at the entrance seemed to have died down completely.
After returning to the illegal club the mayor had put together—one that seemed designed solely to corrupt the youth—I was lounging on the sofa once again.
Liera was glued to my side.
“It seems the daughter of Baron Webern has gone home.”
“Looks that way.”
Having lost faith in the nobles she had been relying on, Iris would leave Lyon late tonight.
The moment was finally here.
And at long last, things seemed to be happening on our end, too.
“Huh? I’m suddenly getting kind of sleepy...” said the noble son right beside me, yawning.
“M-Me too...” One after another, the noble sons there began complaining of drowsiness.
The pleasure-seekers slumped in their chairs and began falling asleep.
“...So it’s begun,” I muttered.
Mayor Gregorio seemed eager to get things underway.
At last, the second half.
The battle segment was beginning.
Thinking about what was coming next, I closed my eyes as well.