Chapter 156 (1/2)

Several redew, a former nobleman of the Amid Empire who had fled to Talosheim, welcomed the new year

The first thing that happened was Vandalieu, the eranted him the position of baron Not just Cuoco, but all of the other nobleiven the position of baron to begin with… though this hadn’t been made official yet

Apparently, in the worlds that Vandalieu had lived in during his previous life and the one before that, there were systeovernment that Cuoco couldn’t co one reason, Vandalieu felt no need to use an aristocratic system in Talosheiin with, and until recently, there hadn’t been anyone desiring court ranks

That was apparently why he had postponeda decision on whether or not to adopt an aristocratic system

But it seemed that Chezare, as effectively a prime minister, and Kurt, as currently Cuoco’s superior, had ed to convince him

For nobles that represented honor, authority and wealth; they were i of their descendants Vandalieu had apparently been told that with these guarantees, the defected nobleood point for persuading nobles of other nations as well

And Vandalieu had apparently nodded, saying, “Well, there were second-generation politicians and entire fa as elite bureaucrats, so I suppose it’s fine”

There had apparently been some voices of dissention at the fact that a part of the eroup of newco convinced that nothing would happen to the ruler of this nation just froreed with this as well

He was so his court rank to begin with, so court ranks had little value to him, however

The thing that was even more remarkable than this was the cake

“Your Majesty, I believe that a steady supply of cakes with that white, fluffy, cream-like substance is truly necessary for this nation No, I a co of wings

“Cuoco, did you come all the way here just to tell me this?” Vandalieu asked

“So, you like cake, Cuoco-kun,” Pauvina said in a serious tone

She was likely re the deeply-moved reactions of Cuoco’s entire family as they ate the slices of cake at the party of her recently-celebrated sixth birthday

“Yes, though that is not all I have had an interest in this place since a long tio,” Cuoco said

He see called with the ‘kun’ honorific by a girl as about nine years old if her age was converted to hu as he looked at the Ce farm that had been built into the nest

“In ordinary cities, this is very difficult to obtain Even if one does obtain it, it is often already in the form of salted fish or candied chestnuts If one wants to obtain it in a fresh state, they would need to make a contract with a specialized merchant or personally travel to the countryside That is how high-quality this product is But in Talosheim, it is sold as candied chestnuts, skewered meat and deep-fried food at carts for the cole Luna The secret lies here!” Cuoco shouted

“You’re too loud! You’re scaring the insects, be quiet!” said the ‘Insect Swarm’ Bebeckett… or rather, the Patchwork Zo Cuoco

Her own corpse’s head had been crushed by Ervine, and herbecause of the insects infesting her body before that, so it hadn’t been of any use even as a Zombie

Thus, Vandalieu and Luciliano had carefully selected materials to create a new body for her

Incidentally, Rickert and Ervine’s souls had been eaten by Vandalieu and extinguished after he h they were plenty capable enough to be useful as Undead, there were problems with their personalities Ervine in particular was likely to do things involving sacrificing his own allies like he had done while alive

Even after dying and being chares right away

Of course, Vandalieu could have corrected their personalities over a long period of time or used the Mental Encroachment Skill to brainwash them, but… at the end of the day, Vandalieu had decided that they weren’t valuable enough to be worth the effort to do that

Incidentally, Vandalieu hadn’t gained any Skills or anything by eating their souls The same had been true when he ate faain anything fro they were

Unlike those two, Vandalieu had seen value in Bebeckett As for what she was doing here, she was beekeeping and raising insects

For a long ti hornworms and bees that were either notTalosheim’s food stores with their meat

Bebeckett, who had once been a beekeeper while she was alive, had started raising insects to supple

With this, there was a steady supply of fresh insects, and the high-quality bees had become even more available for the commoners in the city

“Kukikuki, I’ nice, plump hornworms and bee larvae for His Majesty, bububuh… so don’t interfere,” said Bebeckett, ’s jointed legs that had been transplanted into her sides and s that had been transplanted onto her back

Cuoco quickly apologized, not intending to anger her

“Is it really that h-class product?” Vandalieu asked once Cuoco had calmed down

Bees had been considered a high-class product in japan, but at least in ters like A5-rank Matsusaka beef, Kobe beef, caviar and truffle

But Cuoco nodded, as did Luciliano, who had been silently writing notes while observing Bebeckett

“Of course,” Cuoco said “It is difficult to find living specimens in city areas, and the capture of even ordinary bees that are not monsters comes with a risk”

“There are always a few adventurers that are D-class and below that end up dead every year because they underestimate hornets They think that it’s easy for them to collect the nests of bees that are not evenOrcs and Huge Boars,” said Luciliano

It seeerous hornets And in some cases, adventurers apparently lost their lives to them

“As for adventurers that are C-class and above, they don’t even consider it because huntingbees alive takes tierous, they don’t attack hu them is troublesome And on top of that, unlike monsters that can be hunted in Devil’s Nests all year round, bees have seasons,” Cuoco explained “Though there are apparently E-class adventurers called hornet hunters that are well-versed in capturing hornets”

“Wealthy individuals such as nobles tend to not eat insects, so even if it is a high-class product, there is no guarantee that it can be sold at a high price,” Luciliano added “That is why raising bees on a large-scale is usually not profitable The only one who is capable of doing so like this is you, Master”

“… The two of you see,” Vandalieu remarked

“They’re perfectly in-sync,” said Pauvina

The two of them took no notice of these comments It seemed that they didn’t actually have any interest in each other

“So, have you co farm, Cuoco?” Vandalieu asked

“Yes, that is my main objective I had an idea for a new dish that uses bee larvae I was thinking ofthat my side business,” Cuoco said

Perhaps because his fae of financial collapse, it seemed that he intended to earn his keep properly this time

“But everyone also asked me to come and ask when they will receive their court ranks,” he added

The ‘everyone’ that Cuocoarion who had defected to Talosheim when Vandalieu abducted Duke Marme

“They asked you? They could have come and asked Master themselves,” said Luciliano

“They still see what you did to Duke Marme and the others…”

Pauvina blinked curiously “Van, did you do soestive tone “Other than the human experiments,” she added

“I haven’t done anything other than the human experiments,” said Vandalieu

“Right? That’s normal, so I don’t knohy they won’t coe,” said Pauvina

“I agree,” said Vandalieu

Both of them seem perplexed Cuoco’s face twitched as he watched the his eyes to silently ask him, “Are they serious?” But Luciliano responded with a look that said, “Pauvina is serious” Cuoco fearfully looked up at the three-irl

The skin of Duke Marh his vassals had done horrible, oppressive things to Vida’s races and the people, they hadn’t been killed on the spot; they had been taken to the workshop beneath the royal castle and used as subjects for human experiments

The the produced by Vandalieu are transplanted into living humans?”

Hair transplant with the De’s blubber and direct blood transfusions with pure De blood would be convenient if they were possible, so Vandalieu and Luciliano had thought to experiment with them

The result was that the experi them to suffer

Duke Marme and the other subjects had displayed intense rejection responses to having frag transplanted into them while they were still alive

But they had been unable to die; they acquired the Deree Skill and the Level of the Skill increased in the blink of an eye Their personalities and bodies had been taken over by the Dements

Fortunately, even though the subjects had shown no signs of being under the influence of Guidance: Dark De Vandalieu the ‘main body’ and were obedient to him once they had been taken over

Vandalieu naments this way ‘monster-people’ for convenience, but they were vastly weaker than the subjects had been before they had been absorbed by the frag forces, it would be farArmors

And the fragments tried to reunite with Vandalieu at every opportunity, so he’d had no choice but to return the fragments to his own body When he did so, the subjects had died rather than regaining their sanity

“I would think that seeing people they knew h reason for them to feel fear, even if they didn’t know those people well…” Cuoco muttered

“I didn’t intend to make you tres like torturing prisoners and executing criminals in cruel ways,” said Vandalieu

In Taloshei the precious infor into huerous

“And as for grotesque fates, it’s not as bad as the former and current Bebeckett is it?”

“Th-that’s true!” said Cuoco with a startled nod, having once seen what Bebeckett had looked like when her body was infested by insects

The truth was that the monster-people that Duke Marrotesque Those accustoion would sie parts

“I personally don’t think that this view is ordinary, however,” said Luciliano “By the way, Master, why don’t you answer the question?”

“Ah, the o around the nations within the Boundary Mountain Range, and then I’ll be giving a for place as I for to sort out the court ranks after that,” said Vandalieu

“I see… You are surprisingly thorough about going through the formalities,” said Cuoco

It see Vandalieu appear in cities to interact with the citizens on his oithout any guards, personally appear in schools to teach thele with the children to accept lessons with theht that Vandalieu wouldn’t be so concerned about being formal

In fact, there had been ht prosperity to their nations but disliked formalities and ceremonies, so they had likely assumed that Vandalieu would be the same

“Well, that’s because I intend to live a long life,” said Vandalieu “I’ll be thorough if I have the time for it”

As a Dha lifespan, so he could remain an emperor for millennia, never mind centuries

When that tie behaviors were to becoins were questioned in the future, he wanted to avoid having to always answer, “Those were my youthful indiscretions…”

“So, please tell everyone to wait a little longer,” said Vandalieu

“No, no, it’s helpful that you are thorough about these things I’m sure everyone will feel relieved, too”

The fact that Vandalieu was fussing over formalities meant that it was unlikely that he would take away court ranks on a whim Cuoco knew that the nobles who had defected to Taloshei this

“I arn you, I think that Master intends to conduct punishment as usual for any noblemen that he thinks have done a ‘certain aood idea to feel too at ease,” said Luciliano

“That is clear fro the fate of Duke Marme and his vassals,” said Cuoco “And I did not recoh-class’ blood”

Having acquired the status of baron through the achieverandfather who had been an adventurer, he was naturally a newcomer to the world of the empire’s noblee of collapse due to financial probleh-class’ blood Of course, the sahter

The noble those serving the e pronificant, poor noblemen whose families had been at risk like his, so they all understood the co

Of course, even Cuoco couldn’t guarantee that they wouldn’t becoant in the future

But they were unlikely to do so if they were reminded of the fates of Duke Marme and his vassals

“… Other than the removal of the skin of Duke Marme’s head, I didn’t intend to make an example of them,” said Vandalieu

“Indeed,” Luciliano agreed “It was a less torture”

Cuoco averted his gaze from the apprentice and his master

And his gaze landed on the enorirl

“It’s nor bad, right?” Pauvina said curiously

But no ht about it, such poor treatry at you’

Perhaps because it had become a little quieter now that Cuoco had fallen into silence, Vandalieu and the others noticed a wet popping sound a the noises made by the Cemetery Bees

“This sound – it see,” said Vandalieu

Vandalieu had put Quinn, the queen of the Ceh a pseudo-reincarnation The lid of the cha pushed from within

She was trying to leave the cha completed her transformation

“This is ! I must record what kind of form she has evolved into!” Luciliano exclaimed

“The birth of a being that will be i business,” said Cuoco “I must witness this!”

“But us men should leave,” said Vandalieu

“Why?!” Luciliano and Cuoco shouted

“Shut up and co Luciliano and Cuoco with her enor them from the nest

Vandalieu went to follow therabbed him by the back of the neck and held him like a kitten

“You have to stay here, Van!” she said “I heard froaro that if you’re not there at times like this, you’ll be resented for years”

“Weren’t they saying that in regard to their wives’ childbirth?” said Vandalieu

But now that he thought about it, he realized that it ht be best for him to stay

Groings and rowth processes for insects, but at the sa tasks It was possible for their bodies to change shapes as they molted, and it was possible for theh this was rare in insectoid monsters

Because Quinn was a Ce reborn as another queen, the worker bees would assist with her eence

But as she had undergone a pseudo-reincarnation while iine that she would be reborn as an ordinary queen bee In fact, she had already been abnormal as a larva Thus, it was possible that there would be complications that the worker bees couldn’t handle

Thus, it wasn’t an incorrect decision for Vandalieu to be present just in case so happened

Several seconds after Vandalieu convinced himself of this, the chamber’s lid was broken, and a hand appeared from within

It had the shape of a human’s hand, but it was covered in an exoskeleton that auntlet, and there was soft-looking fur growing on the wrist

Threethe hole in it larger

“Ooh, pretty…” said Pauvina as she watched on

There hat appeared fro armor with bee motifs on it

Her overall body structure was sih she had two legs, they were the legs of bees from the knees down Her limbs were covered by an exoskeleton, with soft, cotton-candy-like fur covering the joints

Her head was similar to a person’s as well She had hair, what seelance and her nose and mouth were shaped like those of a person’s But there were two antennae growing from her forehead, and her eye sockets contained not eyeballs, but a countless nuether, she sie eyes, however