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I looked at the stiff-looking girl and smiled softly.

“So it’s you.”

"Yes?"

"Flora."

As I’d heard from Peter, she was a cute and lovable kid.

Brown hair tied in a ponytail.

She had bright eyes and a cute young face, but she had a very hard core.

She seemed to resemble her father.

It was fun. In various ways.

“How do you know my name…”

“For somebody with the rank of a count, it’s not difficult to find out your name. Besides, I have an acquaintance with your father.”

“R-, really?”

"Yes."

In fact, I wasn’t being completely truthful.

Peter had never mentioned his daughter\'s name.

Despite being from the dark world, he was meticulous about what he had to protect.

But I knew.

About Peter, and his daughter, Flora.

Of course I knew! Because these two were important nodes in the kingdom arc of the game.

Because I was the one to set them up that way.

“Take it.”

"What is this?"

“An advanced skill art. It’s a precious thing that even those training hard outside haven’t received yet.”

The skill book originally came from the ruins of a now-extinct aristocratic family, which I chanced upon during my days spent wandering.

I’d kept it inside the stigma and forgotten about it, but this time I took it out and rewrote it, pruning the unnecessary parts.

There was no specific name.

If I were to give it a name, I would call it – Seven Stars Bell (七星鍾).

You can think of it as pouring seven stars into a goblet.

It was quite advanced compared to its peers, so it could be said that it was a hard-to-find great art.

Because some truths I’d realized while learning the Six Peak Flowers technique had been merged into it.

“Why are you giving this to me?”

“Investment.”

The difference between whether or not you’ve learned an advanced-level technique is the difference between heaven and earth.

If you learn the cycle and manipulation of spiritual power from an early age, you will become stronger easily.

And the purer your divine power, the stronger your strength.

“Investment?”

“Think of it as me investing in your talent. It\'s not a problem for someone of my station to get you an admission into the academy."

All it’d take was some money.

My pockets were full, and if I could spend some gold to change the fate of a child who would one day be called the Sword Demon, it was a cheap price.

"Really!?"

“Count is a higher title than you probably imagine. It\'s not that difficult if I recommend you. Of course, after graduating from the academy, you’ll have to come under my control. It doesn\'t matter if you become a knight or a paladin."

If she could only become mine, how much would that be worth? One of the reasons for Carpe’s collapse in the future would be internal division.

The master of the sword Carpe revered, trying to destroy the kingdom with her own sword.

With the support of the empire, she slaughtered Carpe\'s paladins and knights, and blocked a Master at the end.

She ended up giving up her life blocking that Master, but Carpe also faced its end along with her.

The Sword Demon who’d become such a catastrophe desperately seeking revenge, was the little kid now sitting in front of me.

“Are you the highest in the Jervain family, Count?”

“Not yet, but I soon will be.”

“… I’d love to!”

“Good.”

“But I need to talk to Dad first. If I decide by myself… Dad would be sad.”

“You’re a really filial child. You’re right. Such an importation decision shouldn’t be taken by a child alone ignoring her parents. But I’ll tell you this. You deserve it.”

"Really?"

"Yeah. Rinney has confirmed your skills already. You may have lost to her now, but it’s not certain who’d win by the time you both graduate from the academy."

I inflamed her childish expectations and incited her incipient rivalry with Rinney.

It wasn’t particularly glorious to manipulate a little kid like this, but I had no choice.

You have to save people you can save.

“Even if your father refuses… I’m not going to turn away my niece\'s friend. Feel free to come here to play anytime, and if you want, you can take part in the training, too.”

"Really!? Then… can I bring my friends too?”

“As long as it doesn’t interfere with the troops’ training.”

… After watching Flora leave the office visibly excited, Rinney glanced at me with a worried face.

"Is this alright?"

"It’s fine. We need to go slow and take our time. Rinney, make sure you befriend that child. It’ll help a lot in the future.”

I had to make sure that kid fell into my orbit. Who knew when or how my plan might collapse if we left her alone.

“… I just don\'t understand why. Do I really need to? She’s just a civilian.”

“It’s necessary.”

“I don’t know what’s in your mind, Sir Count. You weren’t actually impressed with that kid, right?"

“You may be better than her now, but things might really be different in four years.”

“Is that…”

“My eyes don’t notice useless things. Just like you have far sight, I can see the potential of a person. You’ll have to work hard if you don’t want her to catch up.”

“Is it God’s grace?”

“Something like that.”

God\'s grace, bullshit. I didn’t have anything like that.

It was just more convenient to agree because I didn’t need to tack on additional explanations.

It was better to let her misunderstand it.

The moment I was about to leave –

Rinney tilted her head and said, as if wondering.

“But Bruns is useless.”

“…”

Troubled by the sudden attack, I had to furrow my brows for a moment before finally answering.

“Shut up. I’ve got a lot of work to do, so you can go.”

Rinney pouted her lips and quietly left the office.

“A little girl almost left me dumbstruck. It\'s all because of Bruns."

And just to note, he was so useless even a little girl could see it.

“When’s Cedric coming? I\'m not going to carry this guy anymore."

But instead of Cedric, somebody else arrived.

A woman with dark purple hair.

Beatrice.

“It’s become quite a bit noisier since I saw you last. There are children, too. Who are they?”

“My nephew and niece.”

“Oho, and here I thought you had children.”

“I do have a child.”

"Eh?"

Was it that surprising?

Her sullen face was quite pleasing to the eyes.

“But, what’s happened? I don’t think the extraction process is over already?”

“I wanted to see Vivi. Where is he?"

Beatrice often came to meet Vivi if she had a chance.

As a follower of the Whip God, she seemed to like magical beasts.

“He should be sleeping right now. He’s doing that a lot these days. He spends most of the day sleeping.”

He was sleeping a lot and steadily growing up.

Whenever he woke up, I felt like his body had grown a little, so in time he might grow to match his mother in size.

“You know, you always talk a lot when it comes to Vivi. It’s cute.”

“Shut up.”

“Huhu.”

“More importantly, has there been any progress?”

“Yes, it’s going smoothly. Here, I brought a sample with me.”

"Well?"

Truly.

The demonic energy was much fainter compared to the how the blood of the thunder wolf dragon had been originally.

The blood used to be a deep dark shade of red, but now a lot of the turbid energy had disappeared.

Another month or two should be sufficient to draw out the blood essence.

It was just a matter of time.

“How are the horns looking?”

“Great. You can make anything with them. Smelt them into gauntlets, or even armour. Or do you want to feed them to a carcass? It might work.”

“Is that even possible?”

“An alchemist’s pursuit isn’t that different from a paladin. Creating various artifacts is ultimately a study to make a stronger sword.”

“But it’s not sure to work?”

Beatrice\'s lips rose up at the corners.

“Life is a gamble.”

Meaning she might fail.

If she succeeded, my sword might be upgraded, but if she failed…

“Raising the level of the sword is the same as raising the level of its soul. The extinction of the soul is the extinction of the sword… Maybe it’ll shatter on the spot?”

The risk was huge.

But it was also a very attractive proposal.

“I have to think about it.”

“It’s not something you can just do if you want to. It\'s still in the research phase. It\'s just a hypothesis right now, but I was wondering if it’d be possible to upgrade the soul using dragon blood."

If the sword wasn’t made with a pure human soul, but also had the soul of a thunder wolf dragon mixed in it, the possibility might be higher.

“You’ll need a sample for research, then.”

“Yes, I wanted to get your permission while I’m here. Two birds with one stone.”

“How much do you plan to use?”

“I’m thinking of trying it out on a spare carcass… Two or three at least.”

Two or three bottles of dragon blood essence, in exchange for a single bottle of research results?

The expenses were quite high.

But it was such an attractive proposition.

I couldn\'t help but nod my head.

If it were anyone else, I might’ve told them to screw off, but Beatrice was the one suggesting it.

Because it was her, not some random alchemist I’d found on the streets.

"Is it okay?"

Even for her, dragon blood was not a material that could be found easily.

She too wouldn\'t want to miss an opportunity like this.

‘Just, one thing still bothers me.\'

Why kill Viole?

I couldn’t be sure.

I didn\'t know what her scheme was, but I couldn\'t refuse her.

If it was something that could raise the level of a sword, it wasn’t a waste of money by any metric.

‘If the Blue Thunderbolt Sword can become a vision sword, this much expense is nothing to speak of.\'

Although it was now only a spirit sword, it was already powerful.

If it became a vision sword, I’d be able to guarantee my life even in front of a Master.

“What else do you need?”

“A carcass. The higher the grade, the better. The more data, the better. Can you give me one?”

It wasn’t a difficult request.

Seeing me nod, Beatrice showed a bright smile.

“Beatrice.”

“I’m listening.”

“There are conditions.”

“What are they?”

“Move your lab here.”

“… Here? In this noisy place?”

“I’ll give you the basement.”

It’d only need to be soundproofed.

The front yard was indeed quite noisy, but the back yard didn’t have that much noise.

“Are you suspicious of me?”

"No, I\'m just trying to make you mine. After all, it’d be convenient to have you nearby and check these guys’ data.”

"Eh?"

It\'d be annoying if someone else took her in. So I extended my offer of recruitment.

Anyway, I had no choice but to build up my own force within the Carpe Kingdom. For that, I became an inquisitor-captain, and I was now even training these useless inquisitors.

One way or another, in the near future –

“This kingdom is going to explode.”

『Scenario Quest』

『Civil War of the Carpe Dynasty』

Progress – 28%

28% progress for the outbreak of civil war.

Each time Callius captured and killed the corrupt nobles, this number increased.

Considering that it’d been 20% before killing Artemion, the more you kill a noble of a high rank, the earlier the civil war will start.

It was getting more and more imminent the more Callius rampaged.

“Because I’m preparing too, bit by bit.”

But the threat right in front of him had to be given priority.

"Peter."

"Ah! Sir Count. Were you here?”

Peter was standing guard at the usual place. Callius smirked as he saw Peter’s loose and relaxed posture.

“Is it time for your lunch yet?”

“Yeah, almost… Count?”

“I haven’t eaten either. Shall we have lunch together? I’m feeling a bit peckish.”

“Me too. I’ll quickly go buy some lunch. Wait here just a minute!”

“No, you don’t have to.”

"Yes?"

“I came to see you today. Let’s go. I have a reservation at a restaurant.”

“To see me? Sir Count?”

"Why? Can\'t I?"

“Oh, no, I didn’t mean that.”

After a while.

Peter and Callius arrived at a restaurant frequented by the nobility.

“Looks expensive.”

Even after going inside, Peter was looking very uncomfortable, as if he thought he was sticking out in such a luxurious environment.

After choosing their food from the menu –

Callius went straight to the point.

“Hey, your daughter is a cute kid.”

"Eh?"

Peter, who’d been staring at the menu for a long time, couldn’t hide his puzzlement.

“Flora, wasn’t it? Like you said, she really has a passion for swordsmanship, and she’s smart to boot. She seems to have talent, too. Just like you said.”

“How, my daughter’s name…”

“I’m in charge of some children of my family, and they brought her to meet me after they became friends while playing. As we talked, I found out that she was your daughter.”

The foolish impression Peter had been showing so far calmly subsided.

Only his expression changed a little, but the atmosphere was completely different.

Callius continued to speak, despite the subtly creepy feeling.

“I told her to come and play often, so don’t worry. She’s a bud that will one day bloom into a great knight.”

"Is that so?"

Even though Callius was praising his daughter, the vigilance in Peter’s eyes didn’t go away. Rather, the more Callius praised her, the steelier his gaze became.

"That’s right. I\'m thinking of setting up a space for her in a corner of the house where she can train to her heart\'s content. And, well, the inquisitors are training right next door. She could learn a lot just by watching.”

“You don’t have to…”

“It’s a shame that the Royal Academy isn’t open to the public. Carpe hasn\'t come to its senses yet. It is the children, not the adults, who are the future of this country. Giving support to them is the cornerstone of the kingdom\'s revival… What do you think?”

“You spoke powerfully, Sir Count.”

Peter seemed to be thinking very deeply.

Callius lowered his gaze, away from the struggling form of Peter, and raised his knife and fork to cut the lamb steak.

It melted in his mouth after one bite.

The food was expensive.

But usually, although not every time, that’s because the taste is worth the money invested.

Callius thought the same as he looked at Peter in front of him.

‘How are you going to react?\'

Peter was just like this food in front of him.

If Callius paid the right price, would he be repaid with a commensurately great taste?

Would Peter maybe try to stab him, or grab him…

Callius didn\'t know.

So –

“Are you tired of it yet? Assassination, I mean.”

At that moment, Peter\'s hand holding the knife trembled.

Editor\'s Notes:

None for this chapter.