novelLouise Merdin, Heed the Calling (4)
| ← Ch.384 | Ch.386 → |
The moment the members entered the Kingdom of Beifeka, they received a grand welcome. The royal knights of Beifeka showed up and greeted them, and then they escorted them into the palace.
"We will escort you safely to the palace. I'm Commander Olkas Taylor."
"Nice to meet you, Commander Taylor. I'm Louise Merdin."
It was Louise who greeted them on behalf of the members. Olkas Taylor didn't even take a look at the Astray Knights led by Evan.
"Such a beauty! I can't believe that you dressed up as a man before!"
"I hope my appearance doesn't matter for this mission, does it, Commander Taylor?"
"Haha, of course not. I just admire your beauty. Who are your companions?"
Louise pointed at her members and Evan's party, who were behind them. She explained to Olkas Taylor, who was looking around Louise and Save's party.
"They are my party members and the dungeon knights led by my Master. They will take the leading role in recapturing Merdin, so please treat them with respect."
"Oh, so they are the members that defeated the Four Heavenly Kings of the Demon tribe! I've heard about them a lot. It will be a great help in recapturing Merdin if you are the one leading them. Hahaha."
"If my Master helps, things will end well. At least, we won't need help from the Beifeka Kingdom."
"Hahaha..."
Louise ignored Olkas Taylor, who tried his best to exclude Evan from the topic and spoke about what she wanted. Shine grumbled at this behavior.
"He would know how much our Master is acknowledged in Sherden."
"If he didn't, then the vice-minister of Foreign Affairs wouldn't come to me. He's just trying to ignore the fact that he already knows."
Beifeka wanted to benefit from recapturing Merdin and leveraging Louise to their will. It was very inconvenient for them that Evan, the leading authority of another country, was involved. And despite all that, they couldn't stand firmly on their ground because, like it was shown in the conversation with the vice-minister, they knew very well that it was impossible to recapture Merdin without Evan. Things grew complicated once Evan got involved, but things wouldn't work out without him. It was due to this dilemma that Beifeka was treating Evan neutrally.
"They will ignore me as much as they can and look for an opportunity to minimize our achievements. Well, that doesn't even matter to me at all."
"You've said that you are trying to make things look superficially like it is Louise spearheading the operation..."
"All will go well with Louise's current acting skills."
Even if there were times that her actions weren't purely acting, and that was terrifying, Evan planned on putting it aside as much as he could.
"An escort. I'm not pleased."
Meanwhile, Belois wrinkled up at the sight of the royal guards getting into a formation guarding the party's sides. She knew that such escort was just mere words, and the real purpose was to observe them. Evan consoled Belois.
"Who cares? It's not that we have other things to do. Let's just dance to their music for now."
"I hate them peeking."
"You are just too beautiful, that's all."
"...Shall we show them our relationship?"
Belois licked her lips while bluntly staring at Evan's. It was a dangerous moment before something intense was about to happen! Evan prayed that they would arrive in the palace before she went all out. The royal guards were more alerted by Evan, who became nervous, but thankfully, Belois didn't lose her control.
"Come, Luden. No, I shall call you Louise from now on."
Louise received the welcome from the King when she arrived at the palace right before dusk.
"You still have your looks from your childhood. I was completely fooled at that time, but I can see it now. You've grown as a fine lady. My son, don't you agree?"
"Yeah...yes. You are absolutely stunning, Luden...no, Louise."
"I'm very grateful, Your Highness and prince."
Unlike the statement by the vice-minister to Evan that Louise needed to undergo a procedure to prove that she was the descendant of Merdin, the King gave Louise a warm welcome as if nothing of the kind was needed. Well, it wasn't weird for her to already have met the King since Merdin was the second dungeon city. But it was strange for the prince of Beifeka to show up with the King to greet Louise.
'A strong move, Your Majesty...'
With such a sight, Evan realized that the King planned on changing his capital. It was obvious that the King wanted to have his son, the next in line to the throne, marry her as he was letting him meet with Louise face to face. What was the meaning of having the crown prince and no other prince marry Louise? A conclusion came out that the King would have no problem changing his capital to Merdin once it was recaptured.
'Although Merdin was treated as an abandoned land during the early times in appearances of dungeon cities, its importance was proven as huge amounts of resources were traded along with a mass number of people gathering, which all led Merdin to be the best place for trading. Although the King wasn't able to easily butt in the city with the Merdin Marquis's power becoming too strong, he wanted to have his influence spread since there's a gap now...'
It wasn't easy for the royal family to take over a fully functioning dungeon city. But in the case of Merdin being taken over by the Demon tribe? And when all the bloodline died out except a girl? There wouldn't be any problem if they accepted her as part of their family and changed their capital.
"I see that people call you Louise now. Your name suits your absolute beauty."
"You've grown confident and well, my prince."
Moreover, judging by the fact that the prince's eyes were glowing at Louise, he didn't seem to dislike her appearance. Well, that was obvious. Luden was known to be the second most handsome person after Evan during her time of disguising as a male. After giving up her disguise, her charm was completed as she fiercely leveled up in the dungeon to the point that she was on the same level as other girls in the Senior group.
"Forgive my doubts before. There's no need for any proof. You are the true descendant of Merdin!"
The King of Beifeka nodded and spoke as if he made a great decision, but Louise spoke firmly in spite of bowing down.
"I'm honored, Your Majesty. But I'd like to prove myself officially before any doubts arise since it's hard for people who haven't seen me to recognize me as the descendant of Merdin."
"...Truly, a fine answer. All right, as you wish."
The King nodded with a slightly tensed expression as he felt the confident aura from Louise. Evan smiled lightly while observing the situation from behind.
'Good, you are doing great. '
"Then, a ceremony of proving the descendant of Merdin will now begin! The person who claims to be one, come forth!"
"Yes."
There were several ways for Louise to prove herself. There was a magic tool that differentiated truth from lie, a tool that proved lineage, and a tool that vaguely points out the user's origin, which was more like the lesser version of status check in the game. Louise had all the important nobles in the kingdom gather around and used all the tools so that they couldn't find any reasons to go against her.
"Ooooooh!"
"She is indeed Luden Merdin herself. What a miracle!"
"Ohhh, what a beauty..."
"I heard a rumor about her getting engaged with the crown prince."
"Ahem, does anyone know anything about the beautiful ladies standing behind her?"
A lot of people gathered around Louise, who just became a superstar of the royal family. The King announced a grand party in celebration for Beifeka for finding the Merdin descendant. Of course, Louise wouldn't let that slip by.
"Your Highness, considering that there are people who are suffering in Merdin even during this moment, I won't be able to enjoy the celebration."
"Ah, ahem..."
Despite her words, she had frequently been participating in the parties held in Sherden, but as a noble, she was perfectly controlling her expressions.
"I'd like to head straight for Merdin right now. Since the time has come, I don't want any delays. Please be considerate of my anticipation."
"Ha, a brave request expected from the descendant of Merdin."
"I've heard that you were putting your life at risk even before you came to my kingdom. It was to gain the strength to recapture Merdin when you went to Sherden!"
"Whoooa!"
Good speeches were heard by the nobles of Beifeka! They were all pre-arranged by Evan through Maybell. Beifeka was a merchant kingdom, and Maybell being the representative of the Brotherhood Corporation, which was known as the best trading organization in all countries, had many connections with the nobles of Beifeka!
"Ahem, but Louise. It will take some considerable amount of time until an army that will aid you in recapturing Merdin gets assembled. I'm aware of your haste but do know that one needs to be patient even if things are pressured on time."
"My sincerest apologies for the interruption, Your Majesty."
Louise's eyes shined bright like obsidian.
"I believe a report was made through my Master. The recapturing of Merdin will be done by just my Master and me."
"Master?"
"Does Lady Louise have a master?"
"Evan D. Sherden! The man that made Sherden the best dungeon city in the world is the master of Lady Louise!"
'Very appropriate! These guys are doing a good job!'
"Louise! Are you saying that instead of the elite soldiers of this kingdom, you are borrowing the strength of a noble from another country?!"
The King shouted in anger. He definitely was informed by the vice-minister on all the details, and yet he was putting up an act. It was even obvious at this very moment that he was trying his best not to make eye contact with Evan. But even if the acting skill of the King were superb, he couldn't win over Louise, who took the main role in the scenario where even the Four Heavenly Kings were fooled!
"He is the person that accepted me when I lost everything. And he is more trustworthy than my own family. Your Highness, I'd like to mention once again that I don't need an army. Rather, one soldier who can witness how things turn out and return to the kingdom is enough."
"Louise...!"
"Here is my proof."
Louise stood up. With all the key figures of Beifeka nobles watching her, she hit her chest with a fist and saluted in the Astray Knight's manner.
"I will prove that I have the right to inherit Merdin. With the help of my Master, I do not need any more support."
"Evan D. Sherden is a person from the Silk Line. I am well aware of his abilities but borrowing the strength from a foreign country and not from Beifeka in recapturing Merdin, which is part of our Kingdom, is..."
"My sincerest apologies, but I believe that a non-aggression treaty has been signed. The non-aggression treaty includes Merdin. My Master told me that he would only aid in recapturing Merdin, and then he will no longer intervene. Just like how he accepted me unconditionally in the past."
It was a meaningless clash of stances. There were a lot of those among the outsiders that understood the implications in their conversation. A King tried his best to claim some shares of Merdin, and Louise tried to reclaim Merdin with the help of her Master. Nobody dared intervene with their stances as nobles.
"If I die or fail."
Louise continued.
"Please recapture Merdin with Beifeka's forces. The barrier will have been destroyed, and the enemies weakened, so there won't be much difficulty."
She was trying to tell them to give up intervening, and the only time they were allowed to butt in was when she died.
"Ahem..."
The King was troubled by her words, but he didn't have any other alternatives in reality. He already knew the terms suggested by Evan. And despite the circumstance, the reason why the King acted in such a way was that he thought of a possibility where Evan couldn't do anything if he got an assurance from Louise, whom he takes lightly, while all the nobles were witnesses. Such an expectation was possible since the King didn't know that Louise wasn't an easy person and Evan, not the quiet type.
"If you insist...all right. But that doesn't mean you are going alone by yourself. I can't afford to lose you even if you fail in recapturing, so I will dispatch my royal knights to protect you. And I will have an army standby near Merdin for an emergency."
"I'd like to humbly reject the royal knights, Your Highness. But I will not oppose dispatching an army."
Louise gave a complete rejection where nobody could oppose. The King became angry at that point, but before he opened his mouth, Evan stared at him and pressured him with an invisible strength.
"Ah, grgh..."
Or maybe, the strength was noticed by the King.
"Ah, all right. I can't go against your will..."
"Then, I will go straight ahead with the expedition."
Despite the King's sincere request for her to stay the night (based on the prince's glowing eyes, the King probably planned her to spend the time with the prince), Louise stepped out from the palace.
"Good, let's head out."
"Can I ride on Gnar now, Oppa?"
"Sure, you can."
Evan spoke while looking around his members and Louise's party, who were looking at him with enthusiasm.
"Then, we shall commence our operation of recapturing Merdin."
| ← Ch. 384 | Ch. 386 → |