Chapter 46
It was a place somewhat unsuited to be called a prison.
Mireune was locked in a room that felt like an old inn.
There were no iron bars, nor was there the pressure of guards.
“But that doesn”t mean I can let my guard down.'
She knew very well that the absence of those things meant she had to be even more tense.
Shouldn’t she have behaved well when they were treating her well?
“…If Black Mages appear, the Demon King appears soon after.”
But the Demon King’s Advent was an event far in the future.
First, the Academy had to take priority.
The Characters of 'Jupeobae' needed to gather at the Academy in earnest.
Of course, considering the current situation, a few Characters had unintentionally gone missing.
Still, perhaps the system was trying to maintain the flow of the novel somehow.
[ The story must be fixed. ]
Ever since the Saint died, that message had been continuously visible in the corner of her vision.
“I know it”s good for it to be fixed, but what am I supposed to do?'
In the first place, this was the time when the Empire was supposed to weaken to some extent.
Since the very first button was fastened wrong, she had no idea what to do at all.
She even heard that an Academy was being built in the Empire.
If that happens, does that mean there will be two Academies in this world?
“Maselin Academy and Bellos Academy… Isn”t it too obvious where everyone will go?'
Would it be better to stop the Academy Construction even now and attend the Imperial Academy once it’s completed?
But the Empire absolutely has to fall.
“Ah, seriously, what do I do!”
Feeling her thoughts getting complicated, Mireune first tried to open the window to ventilate the room.
“It has been a while, Crown Princess Mireune.”
Beyond the window.
“Te, Teo?”
Teo, floating in the air, spoke to Mireune.
“Yes, it is Teo. Have you been well?”
“Y-yeah… But what brings you here? You haven’t been answering my calls lately.”
Could there be some new hint?
Was this what the system meant by fixing the story?
Mireune’s thoughts were getting complicated in various ways.
“Yes, actually, I came here because I wanted to be clear about that.”
Teo calmly spat out what he wanted to say.
“I don’t think I can contact you anymore, Crown Princess Mireune, since it’s obvious that His Highness does not like it.”
That was a development Mireune had never even imagined.
“W-what?”
“Of course, I won’t take back the Communication Artifact I gave you, nor will I break it. I received a lot of comfort during my lonely times researching alone, after all.”
“…Teo, what on earth are you talking about right now?”
“I am saying I will cut off contact. It can’t be helped. You shouldn’t have gotten on His Highness’s bad side.”
Teo straightened his clothes and brushed off his shoulders with his hand.
“From now on, I plan to remain by His Highness’s side as his greatest aide. But I do not want to be held back by past ties right from the first step.”
“So you came here just to say that? To really cut off contact with me?”
“Yes, I learned that it is polite to face someone directly for matters like this, so I came to see you one last time.”
With those final words, he bowed his head to Mireune in greeting.
“…I-I see?”
“Yes, since there is no reason to converse any further… I will be taking my leave. It was enjoyable while it lasted.”
As soon as he spat out his last words, Teo disappeared from the spot as if he had never been there.
The spot where Teo had disappeared.
“D-did… Did I just get dumped? I didn’t even confess?”
Mireune stared blankly at the spot.
[ Jain Teo is no longer a Conquest Target. ]
“What?!”
She was faced with an unimaginable message.
Did that mean Teo had really completely gone over to the Crown Prince’s side?
“…What on earth is this? No, how then later… How am I supposed to handle this?”
A series of shocks occurred.
All of Mireune’s plans began to twist into a complicated mess.
+++++
Black Mages were scheduled to be active within the Empire.
Places not properly marked on the map were the hideouts of the Black Mages.
Their purpose wasn’t clearly revealed, but there was no particular need to be curious about it.
“Kill them all as soon as you find them. It would be good if you could interrogate them, but the most important thing is your safety.”
As soon as my words ended, I felt the Knights' momentum rise fiercely.
“Loyalty!!!”
The Knights knelt, their eyes burning with a will to kill the Black Mages.
I smiled in great satisfaction as I watched them.
“Hah, excellent. You are truly the swords and pillars of the Empire.”
“…!”
“Go, my Knights. Show those ignorant fools that the blade of the Empire has not rusted.”
“We receive your command!”
Leaving behind only the absolute minimum number of Troops, the Knights of the Imperial Palace left to hunt the Black Mages.
This applied not only to the Knights but to the staff-wielders as well.
All staff-wielders capable of using combat Magic above a certain level were attached to the Knights.
The Knights, along with the Staff-wielders, would actively seek out and kill the Black Mages.
“Since the staff-wielders have left to inform each Territory of this fact… the Lords will make their move soon enough.”
I didn’t even consider the thought that the Lords wouldn’t move.
They all knew the consequences of refusal well enough, so there was no need to emphasize it.
“The Northern Region is what worries me the most, though.”
Honestly, the Eastern Region was recovering at a very fast pace.
But the Northern Region was in a position where it had to maintain the front lines while also worrying about the Black Mages.
There were bound to be a lot of variables.
It would be one thing if they were on good terms.
Since they were all in a position where it was hard to mix, I understood, but I couldn’t help being worried.
“Of course, I know they”ll do well… but I should visit them as soon as possible.'
I’ll gather them all in one place, have them hunt demonic beasts together to build camaraderie.
Feeding them each a warm bowl of pork soup on a cold day to thaw their bodies should do the trick.
With those thoughts, I recalled the work I had been doing just before.
“The Mana Stone Train… Did they say it was tricky to build?”
I somehow managed to lay down the railways through the “Convenient Empire Status Window”.
The problem was the train running on top of them.
They could make it, but it would take a long time, I suppose.
All the artisans were putting their heads together.
But naturally, a train wasn’t something that could just be popped out in an instant.
There seemed to be several variables.
“At times like this, going by fantasy cliches… I just need to ask a dwarf.”
And naturally, this thought led to the Executioners.
I think there was a dwarf among the Executioners. I should put them to work right away.
Having reached that conclusion.
I moved my body to do what I really needed to do.
“If Black Mages are running rampant, it will inevitably be related to curses.”
Black Mages inherently had a pathetic, clingy side to them.
They didn’t die easily, and even if they really died, they had a tendency to resurrect somehow.
Plus, they had a talent for making the situation messy in the process.
To use an analogy, they were like a persistent weed that, no matter how often pulled, always finds a way to sprout anew, often in the most inconvenient places.
Waking someone up occurs at that awkward time when it’s too late to go back to sleep.
“What if those bastards have the power to strengthen existing curses?”
And what if the person they woke up happened to be holding a time bomb?
They might get angry and accidentally detonate the bomb right inside the house.
Therefore, what I needed to do now was defuse that bomb in advance.
“You were all gathered here. Did I keep you waiting?”
“No, Your Highness. It is fine.”
“…I am fine as well.”
As soon as I went to The Center of the Executioner’s Palace, the palace where the Executioners stayed, Rowena and Luminix welcomed me.
Luminix’s covenant was to remove her curse.
The only one who could do this at this point in time was the Saintess.
“What happens once the covenant is fulfilled? Is our relationship still valid after that?”
“Yes, it is. As long as the covenant is resolved.”
Luminix stared at me intently and tightly gripped her collar.
If she, who used to be a fairy, had been cursed into her current form.
And if that was why she felt humiliated when called a fairy.
Then it was safe to assume she had undergone something like a transformation.
“Let’s begin right away.”
There was no reason to delay.
Since I had even received a firm answer that she wouldn’t leave even if the covenant was fulfilled.
The possibility of Luminix heading straight to Maselin after being purified had completely vanished.
I immediately moved next to Rowena.
“Focus only on the Purification. If anything happens, I will definitely protect you, so there is no need to be anxious.”
“Yes, I will keep that in mind.”
I rested my gaze on Rowena’s black hair for a moment.
Then I fixed my eyes on Luminix’s body.
“I will begin.”
Rowena slightly narrowed the distance between herself and Luminix.
Leaving exactly an arm’s length of space, she slowly reached out both hands.
A posture showing both palms to the other person.
And in that state.
“Purification.”
The Purification Process began immediately.
Here, I realized just how overpowered the title of 'Saintess' was.
Rowena, who clearly had no confidence before becoming the Saintess.
Was now starting the Purification Process as if it were the most natural thing in the world.
“I didn”t know it would just happen right away without needing any special rituals.'
I thought there would have to be some kind of holy ritual.
But as if saying there was no need for such unnecessary procedures,
Rowena was performing a miracle with just her palms.
Fwoosh!
The Divine Light emerged from Rowena’s hands and enveloped Luminix’s body.
“Kyaaaaaaah!!!”
Luminix let out an ear-piercing scream, as if unbearable pain was washing over her.
Sizzle.
I could see purple smoke slowly rising from her body.
At the same time, her skin looked like it was about to melt off.
Because her body itself was a curse in the first place.
Perhaps the body made of the curse was disappearing during the Purification Process.
Luminix tightly hugged her own body and continued to scream.
“The process was complicated, but if one looks only at the result, is it a covenant that can be resolved very easily?”
I continued to observe the situation, preparing for any unforeseen circumstances.
“So… the Executioners destroy the Empire, go find Mireune, get a single Purification Process, and that”s it?'
The covenant that plagued the Empire ends this easily?
Of course, the process of making Rowena the Saintess instead of Mireune was difficult.
The covenant currently held the Empire’s highest Probability of Destruction.
If one of those five could be resolved like this, it was an unconditionally profitable deal.
But was my complacent thinking the problem?
[ A situation significantly different from the Original Story Flow has occurred. ]
Suddenly, a message popped up.
[ Someone other than Saintess Mireune is attempting to purify the curse. ]
[ Luminix’s curse begins to run wildly out of control. ]
[ The situation where Executioner Luminix’s covenant is not kept occurs to a limited extent. ]
[ The Fairy’s Wrath pours down upon you. ]
“Hah.”
As if to say it would never be resolved easily, Luminix’s body immediately began to grow larger.
I could see red eyes, not as if thrashing in pain, but driven mad by rage.
Is it telling me to subdue her with force if I want to keep using her as an imperial Executioner?
'Easy.'
It wasn’t something I couldn’t do.
Just as I was thinking that.
- Is it this time too? I don’t know what the problem is. Why is it always…
Suddenly, the Crown Prince’s Memory surfaced in my mind.
The Crown Prince in the memory was looking at Luminix.
But strangely, something was different.
; it wasn’t even from a past perspective.
“…Could it be?”
Amidst various assumptions coming to mind.
“Why did the Empire… leave me in a cursed state?”
Luminix, who had grown to the size of a small tower, looked down at me.
“Since you haven’t bitten your Master yet, I will cure you.”
I will personally manage your anger for you.