Chapter 112 – Microwave Oven (2)

In fact, there was no known reason as to how the empire, which had greater technological power than the current kingdom and castle, collapsed.

There were two main guesses.
One is that the continent was devastated in the aftermath of the ‘dragon hunting’ carried out by the empire.
The dragons, which were a hotbed of magic, opposed the empire in order to survive and joined hands with the demon king’s army, so no matter how great magic engineering was, there was no way to withstand it.

The second is also related to the Demon King, and the country eventually began to decline after a long and fierce war comparable to the Great War.
It was most likely that both factors combined to cause the fall of the empire, but I wanted to present one more hypothesis here.

— The braised nose bridge from the eastern region of Vassene is excellent!
— Try the mint-flavored tea here. It looks like Marquis Elvin put a lot of effort into this party, haha!
— There, gentlemen! Would you like to have a beer? It’s so crazy to hear that coca leaves were picked and fermented!

Perhaps the warrior summoned to stop the demon lord was caught off guard by their strange eating habits and held his sword upside down.
Or maybe I just searched because it was worth it.
Later wizards shed tears of blood as all traces of the empire’s great magic disappeared, but it may have been better for it to disappear.
I just don’t want my eyes to see the legacy of a country that serves food like that at parties.

— Now then, let’s all toast to the birth of Marquis Elvin! Come on, let’s pour it!
— Let’s pour!!
— Let’s pour!!

I continued to watch Erzsebet standing among the nobles shouting terrible toasts.
Fortunately, the world’s general tastes were not too different from my expectations, and she also had a distressed expression.
This is something that even the magic tower and royal officials who tried to find out all kinds of secrets from Uzet were unable to accomplish.
I was already starting to worry about whether she would be able to achieve it.

“Lu, Louis… Some water…”
“I’ll get it to you right away.”

She staggered towards me after eating the saguaro on her pizza, saying it was a rare fruit grown in the South.
I beckoned to a passing waiter and he said that there was no water because the groundwater was so limescale that there was only carbonated water.

“Here, water.”
“Yes, thank you… Wow! Cough, Cough!”

Erzsebet is glaring at me with tears forming in her throat, probably because her throat is sore.

“They say that’s all there is.”
“Ha… Now I understand why everyone who went to Skandal was dead. Rather, Louis.”
“Yes?”
“How do you speak the imperial language so well?”
“It’s a secret.”

I didn’t even know that I was speaking in imperial language, but it seems like it sounded that way.
She gave me a slightly disapproving look since I didn’t even bother hiding my many secrets, but when a nobleman soon approached, she straightened her back and greeted me with a smile.

“Ah, Lady Erzsebet. “I’m sorry about earlier, I didn’t know where my Fenheim territory was.”
“It’s okay, Viscount Berkel. “Are there just one or two frontiers in this vast empire?”
“Thank you for your understanding, the Marquis will not be showing up today, so let him enjoy it a little longer. Now, here’s a sandwich with roasted eggplant. “They say it’s a dish the chef is confident in making.”
“Ugh… Yes, thank you…”

A squishy purple object is shyly sticking its head out between the wheat bread mixed with oatmeal.
When I picked it up, the water inside came out and soaked the bread.

“Haha, how do you feel? “Isn’t it wonderful?”
“Wow, yes… “The taste is very good.”

Viscount Berkel found me next to Erzsebet, who was moving her chin very slowly as if time had stopped.

“Ah, you are an escort. Wouldn’t you like to get one too?”
“Yeah, that’s right, Louis! Would you like to have one too!? “It’s very delicious!”
“…”

The princess is smiling.
But I tilted my head as if I couldn’t understand anything.
At first glance, he had an exotic appearance with black hair, and there were quite a few foreign mercenaries in Acetaria, so the Viscount didn’t suspect anything and just waved his hand away.

“Oh, I guess you don’t understand what I’m saying.”
“Well, that can’t be possible, Louis! Eat quickly! “I’ll give you my share, so hurry!!”
“… ?”
“That’s it, young lady. People from the outskirts don’t really understand this taste, so let’s enjoy it among ourselves. Now, come this way!”
“No! Louisuuuuu———!”

Seeing her enjoying her painful festival among the nobles of her empire made her smile.
In the end, as soon as Erzébet arrived at the hotel that day, she went into her room and vomited her stomach several times.

***

“Are you really okay?”
— Don’t talk to me and get out! My stomach keeps going… Ouch!
“Would you like to go out for a moment and buy some medicine? Or even purified water from a nearby temple…
— Boo, please… !

Leaving her behind her door, having an honest conversation with her toilet, I went out into the street where the cool night air flowed.
Although Uzet is not the capital of the empire, it is quite a large city, so the dazzling magic stone lanterns shine everywhere, creating a night-time atmosphere.

Women exposing their bodies behind red lights and merchants selling miscellaneous fish meat at the market.
Citizens gathered near the temple where they pray and the stadium where gladiatorial games are held.

If you look closely at the street, you will see several Academy students and guards running around the streets at night.
I thought I definitely wouldn’t be bored, but I decided to get some medicine first.
I purchased a medicine said to be good for digestion and purified water at a nearby pharmacy.
I even bought some cigarettes as a bonus and walked a little leisurely on the way back.

While passing by a salon where a nobles’ party was in full swing, carriages moving through the streets, and scholars devoted to magic research, I noticed a familiar figure behind me.
It was a large building whose location could be confirmed by just looking up from anywhere in the city——the rib leading to the Great Library of Uzet.

“Hmph, huh——.”

Her steps were so light that she felt like she was flying. She took her sandwich out of the paper bag in one hand and casually entered the library.
I heard that the books that can be read in the library are very limited due to the security level.
Since she loved studying so much, I didn’t even know she wanted to read it.

“Here you go.”
“Welcome, Baron Lev.”

However, when she saw that she naturally handed a piece of paper to the security guard in front of her door, she thought that the purpose was not simply to get in and out.
I followed carefully and first of all, I wrapped my arms around her waist.

“Baron Liv?”
“Kwaaaaah!? Sa, boss!?”

Her small scream echoed in the quiet library lobby.
As the guards quickly gathered, she waved her hands and said it was okay.

“You were surprised… !”
“What are you doing here?”
“Of course I came to read the book.”
“By this time? “What did you just show the guard?”
“Well, that’s…”

She trailed off, but she had already learned how to hear the truth from Liv a long time ago.
I placed my hand on her lower abdomen and gently rotated it, and immediately her face began to relax, like a cat caught by the scruff of its neck.
In the end, Liv must have been scared of her moaning in the library, so she hurriedly grabbed my hand and spoke into her ear.

“Ooh, let’s go over there first… ! I’ll tell you everything…”

A small cafe on one side of the library.
We ordered coffee there, turned on the soundproofing spell so that no one else could hear, and talked.

“Tell me. “Where did you leave your escort and come here at this hour?”
“He said he could play on his own. “There is no major danger within Ujet.”
“What is that paper?”
“Here you go…”

She hesitated for a moment and showed me the paper.
The warrior’s privilege of being able to freely use all languages ​​immediately interpreted its contents.

“This… !”
“It’s a permit. “You can access confidential information inside the library.”
“They said you can never go inside. “Where did you get it?”
“I didn’t get it, I made it.”
“How?”

Was it counterfeited with kickbacks on the black market somewhere?
If it was possible to enter through that, there is no way other wizards wouldn’t have tried it.
But the words came out of her mouth in a way I never expected.

“I made it.”
“Yes? “The Baron himself?”
“Of course, I found a copy and imitated it, but it is exactly the same as the original. “It is possible to enter and exit.”
“How on earth…”
“Well, this isn’t reality.”

One word that clearly states that it is not reality.
Liv smiled softly, yet confidently.

“In a virtual world that does not exist, my unique magic exerts the greatest power.”
“You came to Skandal aiming for this from the beginning.”
“It’s nothing like that, is it? “I took the test because the boss said he was coming here to escort the princess.”
“…”

A genius, she was truly a genius.
For Liv, who inherited the image magic that freely manipulates illusions, as well as the unique magic of the illusionist, Uzet’s library was like her own home.

“Of course, you can’t go all the way inside.”
“Why?”
“A level 1 security document requires the imperial emperor’s seal, not a permit like this. It is possible to forge it, but the imperial family will be contacted as soon as you present it, and of course, since no permission has been obtained, knights will come in within a few hours.”
“You don’t check the rest one by one.”
“There are thousands of people who enter the library every day. Fortunately, I came here at night when there were few people around. “It would be difficult if someone ran into me inside.”

As I sipped my coffee and gulped at her brilliant resourcefulness, Liv offered a suggestion.

“Boss, if you have time, can you help me?”
“Which one?”
“As you know, magic books are quite difficult to interpret, unlike regular books. “Even if I know the runes, it’s difficult for me to understand the meaning as quickly as you.”
“Therefore… “Let’s go in together?”
“Yes. Are you okay with us meeting at this time?”

Of course, there was no reason for me to hesitate when our Baron asked for help.
Just one thing she did was ask her a small favor.

“Can you spare a day in between?”
“Yes?”
“It’s evening. “I have something I want to give you.”
“Ah… !”

Although he didn’t say it out loud, Liv must have noticed it while he was at the cafeteria with Adela.
That the ring is only on her hand.

“Excluding today, there are only six days left, so we don’t have enough time…”

Her black hair, with a hint of dark purple in it, fell down in the lighting.
She answered softly while playing with her bangs.

“Yes… Whenever the boss wants…”

***

Caroline went into the temple’s confessional, where a late-night service was in full swing, and smoked her cigarette.
She then opened the door for one of her priests on the other side to hear her repentance, but she was immediately kicked out.

“Excuse me, Shindo. Smoking is prohibited here…”
“Go away.”
“If you do this, you will be in trouble. “I could call security.”
“So.”

If I were to be imprisoned by security, I would laugh and spit in my face, saying that it was also God’s arrangement.
As the sound of her priest’s footsteps faded away, Caroline gazed at the Greek symbol engraved on the closed door, puffing out thick smoke.

“I know what you want. “But why?”

In a dark room where no one answered, she asked the God who had revealed to her.

“I need to hear a reason. “Why was I chosen as your apostle, and why did I have to form a deep relationship with the store owner?”

She asked, crossing her legs and crossing her arms mischievously.

“I will never do what you want until you tell me.”

One sip, two sips, until the cigarette burns out.
She waited quietly.
However, there was no revelation.

The air purifying foliage plant did not fall and the door did not lock.
Rather, a buzz began outside as if security had arrived.

Even though I was a Heretic Questioner, was the God I believed in and followed my whole life really like this?

It was a time when Caroline’s feelings were in confusion.

— I will take care of the guests. Everyone else, please continue worship.
— Seo, saintess, it’s dangerous… !

The door opens.

“Hello?”

The imperial saint came in.