Opportunity in the Game Becomes Reality, Chapter 208
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Opportunity in the Game Becomes Reality, Chapter 208
48. Preparations for the Worst (2)
The next day.
The hostage exchange was carried out as planned.
Princess Coralheim and the Saintess Ibril were exchanged for one another.
At last, the arduous Saintess Ibril abduction incident was coming to an end.
"Your Highness the King!"
Perhaps she had been through great mental strain, Ibril ran to me with a moved expression and embraced me.
"You have worked hard."
"Not at all. I knew Your Highness the King would come to rescue me."
As a Saintess, it would be ordinary for her to trust the church's rescue over me, but thinking coldly, it was a matter difficult to resolve with the church's power alone.
And given what I had shown her so far, I could understand her well enough.
I was grateful that she trusted me and waited, but...
-Squeeze.
The strength of Ibril, who embraced me, was too strong.
As if she would never let go.
And it seemed Ibril was unusually feeling around my body was I imagining it?
"I am glad you are safe."
Arcia forcibly pulled Ibril's hand from my embrace and shook it.
Arcia seemed somehow angry, while Ibril wore a sullen expression as if asking why she was being interrupted.
It seemed Ibril's unusually forward behavior today was no delusion after all.
[Relationship: Love / Obedience]
[Status: Obsession / Gratitude]
And after viewing Ibril's information through the Myriad Mirror, I could only be taken aback.
The contents felt like they had turned far too extreme.
[Traits: Grey Saintess, Enhanced Combat Instincts, Cold-Hearted Situational Judgment]
Even the traits affecting her combat style and disposition were unsettling.
'What the hell is the Grey Saintess?'
Thanks to that, I had to glare at the back of Ieria's head as she retreated from view, as if fleeing.
What on earth had happened to her?
"You have worked hard, Saintess Ibril."
Today, instead of Blake and Selin, I had brought Saintess Sylvester and Holy Son Avis.
No matter how close my relationship with Ibril was, I still could not bring demon worshipers along.
Ibril offered a salute to the Saintess and Holy Son.
"I am only sorry for causing you seniors concern."
At her clean and proper etiquette, Saintess Sylvester and Holy Son Avis responded with smiles.
Their remaining term of office was now just one day.
Before barely managing to lay down their positions as Saintess and Holy Son, the successor had returned, so they rejoiced in Ibril's safe return with greater relief than anyone.
"What do you plan to do with them?"
Saintess Sylvester asked quietly with cold eyes.
By "them," she meant the already vanished Ieria faction who had abducted Ibril.
"They must be eliminated. I have no intention of ever forgiving them."
Was she satisfied with my answer?
A satisfied smile hung on her face, which had even carried killing intent.
"I have decided."
"Yes?"
At her sudden declaration of having decided something, I questioned it, and Saintess Sylvester presented me with an unexpected gift.
"I shall settle in the Duchy of Lawrence."
"Oh! Are you serious!?"
"Yes."
Many nations had been spreading honey to recruit her, who would step down and become a commoner.
After all, a Saintess's power did not simply vanish the moment she left her post.
I knew the Bringham Empire had also promised her and the Holy Son ducal positions, yet she was rejecting all those sweet offers to come to my duchy.
How could I not be pleased?
It meant the Saintess would become a subject following my commands...
Moreover, since the Sepia church was the only faith nearly everyone believed in and followed, the Saintess's settlement would give the people of the former Croysen Empire a sense of psychological stability.
It meant her mere existence would create a positive effect across the entire nation.
'I have plenty of guilty spots... but it doesn't matter.'
I extended my hand to her, asking her to take care of things, and Saintess Sylvester grasped my hand with a smile.
And so, the Saintess abduction incident was concluded.
All that remained now was the cleanup.
* * *
[Was the kidnapper of Saintess Ibril Prince Ieria Nelson after all? Grand Duke Adrian El Lawrence rescues the Saintess.]
[Messages of congratulations and support pour in from all nations. Saintess Ibril appears in an official setting.]
[Saintess Ibril: I apologize for causing so much concern. I extend my sincere gratitude to the church officials who worked hard in the search and to His Highness the Grand Duke of Lawrence, who rescued me even at the cost of his own reputation.]
[Saintess Ibril conveys her embarrassed respect and love toward the Grand Duke of Lawrence.]
The word "love" was brought up regarding the Knight, but it did not carry the nuance of romantic love between a man and a woman rather, it felt like the sort of greeting one would send to a parent or mentor.
Everyone who lost a Knight understood it that way.
-Oppa! I love you too!
└Me too!
-The Grand Duke of Lawrence's actions were extreme, but if it hadn't been for this method, Saintess Ibril probably wouldn't have been freed so easily.
└True
└This incident will probably make the Grand Duke of Lawrence's fanbase even bigger.
└Honestly, even from one man to another, he is impressive.
-Saintess Ibril seems to really look up to the Grand Duke of Lawrence.
└She has no choice. He made her a Saintess, and whenever a problem arises, he always goes out of his way to help. He's responsible.
No one suspected anything about my relationship with Ibril.
But lately, I've been breaking out in cold sweats because of that Ibril.
Whatever changed in her mindset, if she hadn't been showing signs of liking me before...
[I love you.]
"Puhuk!"
It was because she was now openly pushing at me.
Reading the message on the terminal without a thought, I spat out the tea I was drinking at what Ibril had sent.
"Is it that woman again?"
At that, Arcia, who served as my Guard and wife, showed signs of discomfort.
I soothed Arcia while rubbing my temples.
It's not as if I dislike the feeling of someone liking me.
But this isn't like Ibril.
And that made the worry swell up instead.
"Her personality completely changed because of the kidnapping incident. She was never this proactive before."
I couldn't tell whether Ibril's change was a good thing or a bad thing.
She would probably try to help me with anything I wished for.
Even if it was something that the church wouldn't approve of.
In a situation where things between Earth and Rondel were looking unstable, this was a strategically very useful card but for me, who thought of her as my younger sibling, my head was a mess.
In the first place, I didn't want to waste time on love or romantic entanglements.
There were too many other things to worry about.
I told Arcia not to pay it too much mind, then turned my gaze back to the terminal.
[Message received]
The reason I was looking at the terminal was because I was waiting for news.
Naturally, that news was not from Ibril, but from Selin.
[Coordinates 124.393.228]
The message contained the coordinates of a certain space.
They were the coordinates of the space where Ieria was hiding.
At that, I shot up from my seat.
Then Arcia, along with Blake, Bug, Gregory, and August who had been standing off to the side, began teleportation together with me.
A water cavern revealed itself, and I immediately used Spatial Teleportation Interference Magic so those bastards couldn't run.
"You've arrived?"
We moved along the path, and before long we reached a place with oxygen and open ground and a foul stench of blood came rushing in.
Our party could see Selin standing tall amidst the shredded corpses of various monsters and mermaids, and Ieria kneeling on the ground.
Selin greeted us, but my response was ice-cold.
"What is this supposed to be?"
"I-I'm sorry. I wanted to be helpful."
Apparently thinking her position was unstable, Selin had done something she wasn't asked to do to earn favor.
With this, doesn't it make everyone who'd prepared for battle with such gravity look like fools?
Arcia and Blake dismissed their Force Armors, saying it was boring, and Bug sent the two Master-class Vanga autonomous-type combat dolls obtained from clearing an Opportunity Quest back into subspace.
All the powerful enemies were already dead, and only Ieria, whose personal combat ability was nothing to speak of, had survived.
"I-I planned this from the start..."
Ieria's condition was abnormal too.
Daggers were driven through both shoulders and knees, leaving him unable to move an inch.
"That's right."
"You deceived me."
"When you deceive the enemy, it's called a 'successful operation.'"
I picked up one of the swords floating around Selin one of the Sword Aura blades and spoke.
"Haha, how foolish. You acted far too foolishly."
Ieria let out a self-deprecating laugh.
Even so, I held my sword to his throat without a single trace of guilt on my face.
"Do you have any last words?"
"If I say I want to live, will you let me live?"
It was a natural question for someone facing death.
"If you're worthy enough, perhaps."
At my hopeful reply, a small glimmer of hope flickered in Ieria's eyes as he asked if I really meant it.
"News about Earth is useless. I probably know more than you do."
At my firm words, Ieria's expression darkened slightly, but soon he brought up an unexpected piece of information, saying it wasn't as if there was nothing that could be of use.
"In this vast ocean, all sorts of things come through besides the sunken ships where Earthlings gathered."
"Is that so?"
"But there's a being that collects such things professionally."
When I showed interest, he swallowed dryly and continued.
"The Black Dragon."
A dragon appearing out of nowhere.
At that, I narrowed my eyes and twisted my expression, and flustered, Ieria insisted it was true and showed me a photo on his terminal.
Since this wasn't the Storm Sea, the artifact worked properly.
"I don't know its name. It's often spotted flying from west to east, and unlike typical dragons that rarely engage in outside activities, this one moves around quite actively."
Shia and I were quite shocked when we saw the photo rising as a hologram.
The reason was that it was the same dragon we had seen on Ophelia Island before.
Never expecting to see this dragon again, I asked Blake if he knew it.
"Oh, I've seen that one a few times too. But we're not acquainted."
Hearing Blake's additional response, it seemed Ieria's description of it as an actively moving dragon was indeed accurate.
But so what about this dragon?
What's the point?
"It's interesting, but is that all?"
At my question, Ieria shook his head as if to say it couldn't be all.
"I heard from a Kraken that if you bring that dragon something that piques its interest, it will grant you one favor. So I guessed that what piques that dragon's interest is probably something from Earth."
If a dragon grants you one request unconditionally, that alone becomes an incredible weapon.
Thanks to that, I let out an exclamation and reacted with amusement, and Ieria, thinking this was his last chance to live, spat out his words like a machine gun.
"The largest space in this world is the ocean. I will gather information from that ocean and offer it to you."
It's tempting.
And it makes sense.
I had intended to kill him, but I began to think he might be unexpectedly useful.
"What should we do?"
So I asked Blake, and he said it was my call and handed over the decision.
I thought for a long while.
And then I made my decision.
"Fine. Let's give it a try."
With my decision, his survival was decided, and the one who narrowly escaped death looked relieved yet resentful at the same time, his emotions clearly conflicted.
I decided to brand Ieria with a slave's mark imbued with the power of the 8th Circle.
It was a slave's mark that required the target's consent but was far more powerful in effect.
And I didn't stop there I added further threats.
"If you betray me, your family. You know what will happen, right?"
"O-Of course."
I really look like a complete villain.
Satisfied, I cleaned up the area.
Then, after healing Ieria, whose greatest weakness was his family, I moved on to the next schedule.
The very important next schedule was heading to Earth.
I plan to stop by the ducal palace briefly to pick up the Earthling Benjamin, and also bring Bug along for a certain experiment.