Chapter 135 (1/2)
Vandalieu blinked as Queen Donaneris, ruler of the city state of Arachne and Empusa that worshi+pped Zanalpadna, the evil God of carapaces and compound eyes, addressed him in a way that he had never heard before
“The Holy Son ill face a great trial?” he repeated
“Yes, the details can wait until all of the guests have been gathered –” Queen Donaneris began
“Darling! You can’t be out of bed; your wounds still haven’t fully healed!” Princess Kurnelia squealed as she rushed past Vandalieu with the speed of the wind, towards the noble Orc
“K-Kurnelia, I’ht There’s no problems; I don’t have to lie in bed anymore,” said the noble Orc in a voice that was deep, but with a tone that gave the i man
It seemed that he was indeed Prince Budarion, Princess Kurnelia’s fiancé, the one whose throne had been stolen froer brother
“You’re lying! Your voice sounds pained… and your face is pale…” Princess Kurnelia murmured
Vandalieu looked up at Prince Budarion, wondering if this was true The face of Prince Budarion, who had a noble-Orc-like height of around three meters, was… pale, probably
Vandalieu felt like he could ses, too
“Bufuh Princess, I can’t lie to you, can I…”
Ah, he’s a bit Orc-like
It was probably the ‘fuh’ noise Prince Budarion h he spoke human words, the structure of his nose was different, so not everything about his speech was perfect
Prince Budarion stroked Princess Kurnelia’s pink-blonde hair, his one reibo-ue has told me that the discussion that will take place now is an important one that will determine the fate of every race that lives in this land,” he said “With that being the case, I can’t not be present All of this was caused by s, after all”
TLN: This is a respectful term for mother-in-law
“Darling, that’s not true at all! It’s all the fault of Bugitas and that ht harder than anyone else to try to stop Bugitas, didn’t you!” Princess Kurnelia exclaimed
“No, all of this was caused by h ed not onlyZanalpadna, into war”
“Darling…”
“Kurnelia… Budarion-dono… could you please leave such conversations for when you are alone?” Queen Donaneris interjected
The two of them came back to their senses
“Our apologies!” they said to the Arachne and Eued from this, as well as to Vandalieu
“I’ Kasim,” said Eleanora
“Hentlemanly noble Orc…” Zadiris murmured
“If you told me there was actually a human inside him, I’d believe you,” said Basdia
“No, I can tell That prince has considerable skill If he was in good condition, he would rival aro said
“You’re right,” Borkus agreed “Considering his appearance and his nice guy…ish face, his sense of presence is no joke He’s probably at least Rank 10”
Everyone spoke their impressions as they arrived in the queen’s cha carried in by Arachne, seeing Prince Budarion and Princess Kurnelia’s intimacy
Perhaps Bugogan had left a strong impression on Zadiris and Basdia; they seemed to find it difficult to believe that Prince Budarion was a member of the same noble Orc race
“Prince Budarion does not ofu-sa He is a master of the Swordsmanshi+p skill that I cannot even be co proud at the fact that Vigaro and Borkus were ad the man (male?) ould become her brother in law
“I apologize forbeen instructed to take the princess away!” said Myuze, kneeling hastily
Incidentally, the chief e Bakota had positioned himself at the queen’s side at soe
“It is fine More importantly, Myuze, you should re to have no intention of repri Myuze
However, the queen’s order seemed to be unexpected for Myuze
“I should remain present?” she repeated
Myuze was a young E Ee, but she was not in a high social position She was in charge of defending one of the gates that faced the north, south, east and west in the walls that protected Zanalpadna, but that was all
Due to the nature of her job, her face ell-known to those from other nations ent back and forth on missions and armed merchant caravans that conducted trade, but she was not soure
And it wasn’t as if she had any particularly deep opinions, either There was Gizania to act as couests; Myuze couldn’t i here
“If you have no objections, you will remain here Naturally, Gizania, you will stay as well,” said Queen Donaneris
“Certainly!”
Myuze could not object after having been ordered to stay ainst the path of the ninja that she longed to follow
But as Myuze went to stand at the end of the row of important Eain
“Just stay where you are!” Queen Donaneris told her
“as you wish!+” Myuze hastily returned to Vandalieu’s side and fell silent
Eleanora, Zadiris and even the Arachne and Empusa in the cha what this was all about, but the queen offered no explanation
Fro ordered to stand, Vandalieu guessed that it had soardless of what it was Though he appeared to be composed, as he had no facial expression
“Now then… I have not told this to anyone save for a few, including Bakota, but I actually received a Divine Message from the evil God Zanalpadna,” the queen said
The conversation flew to a topic that wasn’t related to Myuze at all But the ireat that everyone’s attention shi+fted froe
“I interpreted the contents of the Divine Message to be, ‘Send your daughters to the north There, your daughter will meet the Holy Son who seeks a trial,’” said Queen Donaneris “I consulted those whoe to, and then dispatched a delegation towards the hters, Kurnelia and Gizania”
“Is that true?!” Princess Kurnelia exclaie Bakota didn’t oppose the suggestion of requesting reinforcements from Lizardmen that we’ve never interacted with before…”
“I see So, there was a reason like that for acceptingthat I was not worthy,” said Gizania
It seee hadn’t been revealed to Princess Kurnelia and Gizania Most of the people in the queen’s cha Prince Budarion, were surprised
“Queen Donaneris, why did you not tell us about the Divine Message?!” blurted out a large Eation
“Because telling you would have caused preconceptions,” Queen Donaneris replied “And there was also the chance that e was incorrect It was hter’yourself, Gaol And as for the Holy Son, I did not knohat race he would be or what form he would have There was the possibility that he would be a Lizardman… or rather, both Bakota and I expected that the Holy Son would be a Lizardman hero or chaive us,” she said, gently closing her eyes and lowering her head
The Empusa named Gaol, as well as the others who had seemed displeased at the fact that they had not been told about the Divine Message, hastily began to stop the queen
“Please raise your head! We understand your thoughts on the matter!”
As Vandalieu blinked and watched this scene unfold, he suddenly heard Princess Kurnelia’s voice in his mind
“Us Arachne and Empusa, especially those who are warriors by profession, feel dishonor when our loyalty is questioned The same applies for Gizanichan, so please be careful,” the voice said
Vandalieu noticed a transparent thread stuck to his neck It seeone out of her way to use Thread Telepathy to explain this to him
Of course, Gizania didn’t sees hidden from her This was likely related to the fact that Donaneris was not only her superior, but also her mother
“By the way, I understand that there was a Divine Message, but… what is it that you want fro for the Empusa to calm down “At first, our objective was to deal with the noble Orc eotiations and any possible war Now that I have learned the situation fro favorable relationshi+ps with each race that worshi+ps the Gods on Vida’s side, including the people of Zanalpadna, and defeating Bugitas and his subordinates, orshi+p a God that see’s army”
The reasons for defeating Bugitas weren’t just that Vandalieu sympathized with the Arachne or because Gizania’s muscular beauty onderful
Judging from the words of the noble Orc who had attacked Gizania, it could be assuitas and the God he worshi+pped, Ravovifard, didn’t think favorably of Vida and those orshi+pped her
If someone like that were to rule the lands south of theould happen in the future
As noble Orcs took about ten years to reach adulthood after they were born, they would not increase in number too substantially within a short period of time However, the Orcs, Kobolds and Goblins who performed manual labor or slave work in the e rate
And if they trusted in their numbers and closed in on the marshlands, Vandalieu didn’t think that Talosheim wouldn’t be able to win, but there would certainly be casualties
Even if they didn’t co, as the Holy Son of Vida, Vandalieu would be troubled if so were to happen to the sacred land in which Vida slumbered
That hy he would deal with the noble Orc eain eneral Chezare had insisted, “Your Majesty! You have no choice but to take part in the war yourself!”
Also, the Experience Points and the meat would be delicious as well
“But I have no idea what you mean by ‘trial,’” Vandalieu said
He had the feeling that the battle against the noble Orc eitas, who had repelled the Rank 10 Prince Budarion, was Rank 11 or higher Bugitas would certainly be a powerful foe, but Vandalieu couldn’t iine that he would be a more powerful enemy than the one that had been defeated last year, the Pure-breed Vath of her
If Vandalieu faced Bugitas, he would probably be victorious
Of course, he would probably have other high-Rank noble Orc subordinates, but even with those present, Vandalieu wouldn’t be defeated by thearo, Zadiris, Basdia, Eleanora, Bone Man and the others at his side
And if Vandalieu lacked fighting strength, he could always go back to Taloshei more
That hy he felt that Bugitas was too weak to be called a trial
“So, if you have any ideas as to what the trial ht be, I would like to hear them,” Vandalieu said
If the trial happened to be “teaching Zanalpadna the knowledge regarding true bushi+ and ninjas,” he would give up immediately
But upon being asked this, Queen Donaneris’s expression turned into a happy, yet troubled one
“No… I had thought that the Holy Son’s primary purpose would be to face this trial, so I intended to earnestly request that you join the war to take the eitas and the God Ravovifard that he worshi+ps,” she said
“… Your guess rong, but in a good way, my queen,” said Bakota
“Ah… what are we supposed to do about this aard atmosphere?” Kurt muttered
Both of them had complicated expressions on their faces
“Then isn’t this ‘trial’ a ested
“Basdia, isn’t it is?” asked Gizania, expressing her doubt in this ‘God’s ’ theory
“No, I think it’s probably possible,” Basdia said “I’ve seen a different God once before, and it sees just like anyone else”
She had actually met a God before Not only Gizania, but Princess Kurnelia and Bakota were surprised by her words as well
“You’ve seen a God before?!” Gizania exclaimed
“There’s a God like that?!” asked Princess Kurnelia
“Impossible! No, but if you’re a coe, then…?” Bakota murmured
Incidentally, the God that Basdia had seen before was Fidirg, the Dragon God of Five Sins He had kneeled on the ground and begged Vandalieu for his life the moment he appeared; it did indeed sees
“No, it is not necessarily aFroainst the noble Orc kingdoh to be expressed as a trial,” said Zadiris
“Gods aren’t omnipotent, after all And there are various deep aspects to Vandalieu-sama,” said Eleanora
I see, Vandalieu thought, almost completely convinced by their words