Chapter: 522
Seeing the giant called Benedict fall, we wondered what had happened outside, but it didn’t take long to realize it was just our wild imaginations.
Benedict’s happy smile told us exactly why he had collapsed.
His daughter was so cute that he fainted? What’s going on in this guy’s head?
“Wow, to bring down the strongest man on the continent like this. Impressive, Employer.”
Ignoring Karia’s nonsense, I approached Benedict, poking his cheeks as if he were dreaming with his mouth moving.
“Stupid Papa.”
“Hu?!”
As soon as I spoke, Benedict opened his eyes, met my gaze, blinked a few times, then closed them again with a chuckle.
“Were you very tired? Dreaming of Lucy’s sweet voice, huh?”
“… Stupid Uncle. Did you hit your head and start dreaming like a troll? If so, could you please cry in glee? That way, you’ll know you’re hopeless faster.”
“Hmm? Lucy?”
Finally, after I spoke a bit aggressively, Benedict sat up.
This father only realizes reality when he gets scolded by his daughter.
What kind of dream is this guy having?
Is the fantasy Lucy saying “Papa, I love you!”?
Imagining Benedict chuckling in his dream made me feel a bit sorry for him.
“Hey, Benedict. What’s going on? Don’t you have more to do in your territory?”
“… Karia. If you’re here too, then this must definitely be reality.”
“What does that mean?”
“It’s nothing much. Most of the urgent tasks are done, so I was planning to leave the rest to some personnel from the main family.”
“No, what do you mean by that just now? You jerk.”
Ignoring Karia’s complaints, Benedict sat up, stared blankly at me, and then cleared his throat, turning his gaze to the others.
“I am Benedict Allen, the head of the Allen family.”
“I am Apostle Prete from the Arts Church.”
“I’m the seamstress, Nikis.”
Benedict politely greeted the seamstress but suddenly changed his expression when he faced Prete.
Just like when he was dueling Possell, his cold gaze made Prete shrink back.
“I’ve often heard stories about you, Apostle.”
“R-Really?”
“Yes, you’re the one who makes the accessory with my daughter’s drawing on it.”
Wow, I’ve never seen Prete so pressured before. That guy always held his head high against anyone. Benedict is indeed a monster.
“Thanks to that, my daughter’s face has become quite famous.”
“That wasn’t solely my doing. I sought the Young Lady’s permission first.”
“Hahaha, I’m not saying anything to you, Apostle. Thanks to the accessory, my daughter has become a symbol of good fortune, so how could I complain?”
Despite the gratitude, the sounds coming from Prete’s hand that Benedict was gripping shouldn’t be heard from a human.
“However, there’s one thing that worries me. The drawing on the accessory was so detailed that… what if there’s something sinister in the artist’s heart?”
“Absolutely not!”
Interrupting with a shout, Benedict leaned back slightly.
“Lord Benedict. Do you know what is something that an artist who seeks the path of art must never violate?”
“Well, what is it?”
“It’s purity! When one abandons personal desires and views art for the sake of art itself, only then can true beauty be pursued!”
“Uh, I see…”
“I don’t know why you’re worried! The Young Lady’s beauty could hardly be called anything less than the goddess’s reincarnation! But I, Prete! With everything I have at stake, I swear I have never felt even once towards the Young Lady!”
“Eh? What do you mean?”
“If you truly doubt my words, I’ll prove it right here! Gah?!”
I crept up behind Prete, who seemed ready to have a breakdown, and kicked him between the legs.
Even if he’s an apostle serving a god, he clearly hadn’t trained in that area, as Prete let out an exaggerated scream and fell flat on the ground.
“To not feel anything while looking at a cute girl like me? What a useless item you are, right?”
“Guh… Gack.”
“Well, things like that just get in the way, so I fixed it for you. How’s that? Grateful, right? Huh?”
While watching Prete crawl on the ground, Benedict, who had been baffled, hurried to my side.
“… Uh, Lucy. It’s true that the Apostle used inappropriate language first, but a Young Lady from a noble family shouldn’t use such words.”
“Shut up, Shoddy Papa.”
“Shoddy?”
“If we get down to it, isn’t it mostly your fault for not being able to take down that pervert? So why are you blaming me?”
“Uh, well…”
“Hurry up and apologize. If you don’t, I won’t speak to you, Papa.”
“I’m sorry! Lucy! This Papa was wrong!”
Having swiftly dealt with the two idiots, I wrinkled my nose and took a seat on the sofa.
“So why is stupid Papa making such a foolish face?”
“… A letter has arrived from the First Queen.”
The paper Benedict handed me contained a message similar to what Karia had mentioned.
[It’s coming out much more humble than I expected. This will make negotiations easy.]
‘Not that I really want anything in particular, though?’
[If there’s nothing, then you need to create something. Such opportunities don’t come easily.]
Grandpa told me to think about what I could gain, but I didn’t particularly want to.
I just want to finish my business quickly without being tied to that First Queen.
“The issues with the Allen family have been somewhat resolved. If Lucy wants, I was going to have you stand with me at the negotiation table. This Papa has done a lot for the kingdom, you know.”
Hmm. So Benedict came purely to help me with good intentions?
Suddenly, guilt surged up in me.
I thought Benedict was just coming to do his usual strange daughter obsession behavior.
He fainted the moment we locked eyes. Plus, he was stirring up trouble with that perverted apostle, so I just assumed he was being foolish again.
So, I took the opportunity to hit back at him, never expecting he was trying to come with goodwill.
“I don’t know the exact details, but if our precious daughter has something she wants, I’ll try to help as much as I’ve neglected until now. Looks like I’ve meddled again.”
Seeing him smile sheepishly made me sigh and then I sat down on his lap.
Benedict was so big that his thigh made a great chair for me.
“Lu-Lu-cy?”
“Even though you’re a shoddy and useless Papa, your intentions are admirable. This is a reward. Good?”
“Of course! So good! Just being with my daughter seems to melt away all my burdens!”
“Eww, that’s kind of gross.”
No matter what I said, Benedict wore a melting smile, grinning widely.
As I turned my head sharply to get away from Benedict and Karia’s proud gazes, my eyes met those of the perverted apostle sprawled on the floor.
“Th-thank you for the nice view… Kack!”
Throwing one of my shoes at the perverted apostle, I propped my chin up and kicked my legs.
Something I could request from the First Queen.
Material things honestly don’t matter much.
I could easily squeeze out money from the perverted apostle.
I didn’t need weapons or armor.
And most magical tools weren’t that meaningful anyway.
There might be some usable scrolls, but it’d be awkward to receive that as compensation for this job. Hmm.
What good stuff is there?
Oh, wait a minute.
Grandpa had said that rights or promises could also be requested. So…
“Hey, you there, with a face that looks ready to make that man run away.”
“… What? What’s wrong with my face?”
“Do you have a map of the Chicken Queen’s Forest?”
“The Chicken Queen? Forest? Ah, are you talking about the Fairy Forest?”
“Your understanding is slow. Why is your face getting more wrinkles while your brain wrinkles are decreasing?”
“How am I supposed to understand that? Sigh Fine, wait a moment. I’ll go get it.”
The map Karia handed over contained information about the Fairy Forest and the surrounding territories.
If this were indeed Baron Mel’s territory I knew, the scale of the Fairy Forest was beyond my expectations. It could even be called a small nation.
And in this forest, those sealed during the Age of Myth are still residing.
So many years have passed since then. What state are those still trapped inside the barrier in now? Have those lost in an eternal sleep grown weak? Or do they still possess the strength they had back then?
Has the dark energy that escaped from the battles of the Myth age faded? Or do they still retain that ancient power?
To strategize against the Fairy Forest, I need information on this.
If I don’t prepare for the worst, I won’t know what might happen.
‘Grandpa, is the foundation of the magic that sealed the Fairy Forest the barrier?’
[Why do you ask that?]
‘Please answer. It’s important.’
[I'm not the one who created the magic, so I can’t be precise, but it’s likely.]
‘So that means to awaken the Fairy Forest, I’d have to break this barrier, huh?’
[Yes. That would be the fastest and most accurate... Wait a second. What? Break the barrier?]
Hearing Grandpa’s horrified voice made me chuckle.
‘I received a revelation. From Lord Jushin.’
Good. Let’s see how far the royal family’s information network reaches.
My site has received a lot of DMCA notices, lol. From now on, I will update the MTL on https://darkmtl.com/.
The site is fast and lightweight because there are no ads yet. However, the theme is different from Cybor-TL, so take some time to familiarize yourself.
Support me by donating at least $10, and you'll have the right to request any novel from Novelpia (excluding 19+ content) using a newly developed tool.