52. Useless at everything, first place in freeloading
With a few more circles of bite marks on my arm, even with tiger tooth impressions as the price, I inadvertently turned Letty, the big boss of the Rosia Empire, into… a temporary friend—she expressed her willingness to cooperate for the time being.
The content of the cooperation naturally targets the purpose of Professor Moriarty, Kefir’s mentor, whom I have already begun to suspect. However, given the current situation, we can’t just stay by Professor Moriarty’s side day and night to watch for any suspicious behavior ; after all, Kefir’s experimental project is still ongoing, and I can’t just play Sherlock Holmes while letting Kefir miss the opportunity to upgrade and seize treasures!
So, after Professor Moriarty notified us that the experimental equipment was ready, I decided to first do what needed to be done with Kephiel. Even if it meant dealing with the big bad villain threatening the protagonist, we had to follow the basic rules—like at least advancing the main storyline—Kephiel’s experimental project.
Thus, under the “generous donation” (as she claimed) from Letty, the Empress of Rosia, our group once again utilized that expensive teleportation array, accompanied by the nauseous feeling I always got from motion sickness, and after a bout of dizziness, we arrived in the Siberian region of the Rosia Empire.
“Ah~ We’ve arrived! Now you all owe this great empress several tens of thousands of universal circulation coins~”
“Huh~?”
I immediately felt all my nausea come rushing back.
“This costs money?!”
“Hmph, do you people from the Yinguo only think of magic as something you can get for free? The cost to teleport a single person is several thousand universal coins.”
Letty, who jumped out of the magic array, dusted off her skirt. “I can overlook it for that certain glutton on my side, since it’s her own money, but for you all… every additional person means more expenses~”
Sister Rasputin, the Russian, looked at us and let out a cold snicker, even giving me a “friendly” middle finger, until Letty pinched her backside, causing her to obediently shut her mouth. This time… indeed, the number of people traveling was a bit much. Not only was it the original team, but for safety’s sake, I had also asked Kephiel to bring Miss Nilu over under the pretext of “being able to prepare meals for us at any time.”
“Well~ if big brother agrees to transfer ownership of the Rosia Empire to me, I wouldn’t mind inviting one more~”
Before Letty’s proud words could finish, Kephiel had already pulled me away.
“Let’s go, diviner, and find a suitable experimental site.”
“Hey! Wait for me!”
Letty immediately shouted.
That great empress shouldn’t have stirred up trouble just now! Kephiel was nothing like me; she wasn’t going to fall for your tricks! Kephiel completely ignored Letty, pulling my arm and preparing to leave the room where the teleportation array was located .
As soon as we opened the door, the cold wind rushed in, and despite having prepared for it this time, we still shivered. The blizzard season in the Rosia Empire had passed, and outside, the scenery was clear, with just a bit of accumulated snow. However…
In stark contrast to the beautiful snowy landscape that would make it unsurprising for couples to kiss immediately, as soon as Kephiel opened the door, dozens of dark gun barrels were aimed at us! Upon closer inspection, we saw that outside, a number of Russians riding bears and huskies… no, I meant, wolves, were waiting with their guns drawn!
“That’s why I told you to wait, white-haired girl!”
Letty immediately ran over, waving her hand to disperse the Russians outside. “This great empress has already said that the Siberian region is a controlled area, and the endpoint of our teleportation array is at a specialized training academy for bear and wolf knights here in the snowy mountains.”
Wait, isn’t this Letty’s old lair!?
Letty waved her hand and spoke up.
“Attention, everyone!”
The strong Russian hunters who had just been aiming their rifles at us all lined up in front of us. Then, Letty stepped forward proudly, her boots crunching into the snow, turning to face me.
“Since you all need to conduct your experimental project, for the sake of efficiency, this great empress has prepared these qualified snowy mountain hunters for you. Every inch of land in the Rosia Empire is the property of this great empress, so from now on , you will conduct your project under their assistance and supervision~”
【Letty actually wanted to find an excuse to bring them along.】
This midget… how troublesome.
However, before I could say anything, it was clear that Kephiel was dissatisfied with Letty’s approach.
“I refuse. This is our experimental project, and it has nothing to do with you.”
As the true protagonist, Kephiel was certainly not afraid of anything, and naturally… she was even less afraid of this “golden-haired shorty” whom she was a bit jealous of.
“Ivan Letty, your reputation is quite enough, with all the strong-arming and plundering of others’ things.”
“Wh-What… Blet! That’s called requisition! Can the great emperor’s requisition be called robbery!?”
“Then please only requisition your own things, and don’t… reach your hands out.”
“Damn it… White-haired girl, this is my territory. When doing things on my territory, don’t be too arrogant!”
Kefir’s “cold” attitude was unfriendly, and Letty was even more uncooperative, ready to strike down a lightning bolt! As soon as I saw the script, I knew it was going to be trouble.
【Ivan Letty and Kefir have conflicting views, and before the project experiment even starts, they’re already fighting!】
Oh my ancestors! You two are too fierce, aren’t you!?
The script is like this; if not stopped, Kefir’s main storyline would be lost.
I hurried to Kefir’s side. Although Letty immediately glared at me, in this situation, I had no choice but to help Kefir. Who knows if Letty would suddenly pop up with some script and ruin everything for me? It’s not like I hadn’t spoken up for her before.
“Both of you, stop arguing! Let me propose a compromise!”
“The project experiment is a large-scale operation; let’s split into groups for the experiment. Kefir, Miss Nilu, and I will conduct a small test that we can complete as a trio. And… Emperor Letty, you and the professor will be in a group, along with Rasputin…”
The Russian sister raised her middle finger at me… this villain is so troublesome.
“In any case, this is how we’ll distribute it. The experiment will still be under your control, and we can proceed with peace of mind. What do you think?”
“…”
Letty’s little mouth pouted high, her lips moved, but in the end, she didn’t say anything to oppose it. She could only watch as Kefir became happy and then waved her hand to leave.
“Tch… I’ll let it go this time.”
No, no, no, I really appreciate your cooperation, Emperor. You just saved Kefir’s script.