55. You must first attack the minion with taunt.
For a moment, my face changed with anxiety, and then, accompanied by the emergence of the script involving that “backed buyer”—Royal Member Louis the Ninety-Ninth—the content shattered the last bit of hope in my heart!
[Louis the Ninety-Ninth wants to buy the elf spy!]
Clearly, the elf had just stated that “there’s no ‘that kind of’ service in the contract,” yet Louis the Ninety-Ninth still intends to make the purchase! At this point, I am truly certain: his intention behind acquiring these “talented contractors” or “gifted children” is indeed ulterior! But the question is, what should I do now!?
Today, we accompanied the queen to investigate the actions of the Moon Fairy Elisse’s faction. Not only did we disguise our identities for the outing, but even Professor Moriarty’s patrol team couldn’t follow us for identity reasons. In such a situation, causing trouble recklessly would definitely add to the queen’s woes!
But the script of that elf girl on stage clearly stated she was here to find me! To pretend I didn’t see her and let her be taken away by Louis the Ninety-Ninth—who knows what kind of situation she would encounter, what treatment she would receive, and whether she could even find me…
No, thinking further, this elf is here to find me. Even if I impulsively saved her, how would I explain it to Kephiel and the queen afterward!? “This elf is here to find me, so I have to save her!” Such a justification would likely earn me two hard slaps from Kephiel and the queen’s sarcastic remark, “What trouble have you stirred up this time, O’Keefe?”
Sure enough… I should just play dead. If all else fails, I can try to track Louis the Ninety-Ninth’s movements later…
I made up my mind, but in the blink of an eye, I realized: just as I was lost in the script and my own thoughts, I had failed to notice that the queen and Kephiel seemed to have seen all my hesitation and anxiety.
“O’Keefe, what’s wrong with that elf on stage?”
I could understand Kephiel’s unease; after all, her strong aversion to this “talent market” stemmed from a deep-seated bias.
But the queen was also acting strangely!
“Ah… there’s really no helping it.”
I saw the queen looking at me, shaking her head with a sigh, and then… she began to raise the bid!
“I’m raising the price here~”
[Queen Louis the Fourth chooses to help O’Keefe buy the elf spy!]
The queen… actively chose to take a risk to help me, knowing I was hesitant!?
“Uh… thank you, Your Majesty.” In my surprise, I finally realized what was happening and hurriedly lowered my voice to express my gratitude. After all, such a somewhat reckless decision was completely at odds with the queen’s meticulous and cautious character!
“Don’t rush to thank me; let’s see how to resolve the trouble that arises from this first.”
With a low chuckle, the queen gestured toward Louis the Ninety-Ninth, “He’s coming soon.”
Only then did I realize: buying this elf spy was far from as simple as just calling out a high price!
“Huh? Raise… raise the price!?”
Not to mention the uproar around us, the gathered gazes forced us to lower our hats and disguise ourselves even more. Even the stage host, who was just a background character, suddenly became stammering, probably not expecting that today a guest would dare to compete with the long-time big buyer, Louis the Ninety-Ninth, for a person!
“Are… are you sure? Guest?”
“Sure~ If the money isn’t enough, I’ll just raise the base price again~”
Since the decision was made to take a risk, the queen wouldn’t concern herself with the details and immediately got into the spirit of things. This time, however, it was Louis the Ninety-Ninth who couldn’t sit still. A male voice, clearly threatening us, arrogantly carried over.
“Hey, you sitting over there, can’t you understand human speech? I want that elf.”
I didn’t even need to look at the script to know that if we continued to argue, conflict was inevitable. But the queen had already stepped in for me, breaking her usual demeanor. At this point, how could I let her back down? After all, I had Kephiel on one side and Her Majesty the Queen of the Great Yng Empire on the other—what was there to fear?
We exchanged glances, and it seemed the queen had shed her last reservations, her entire attitude shifting to something a bit… sardonic. Huh… I suppose this is one of the queen’s true natures.
“If you want her, then name your price. Is this a talent market item, or can it be predetermined?”
“You!”
At the sight, Louis the Ninety-Ninth suddenly became animated, a golden-haired man rising amidst his sycophants, his eyes fixed on us!
“Who do you think you are, not recognizing me!? Who gave you the courage to come and steal what I want!?”
The threat deepened once more, and at the same time, more scripts from Louis the Ninety-Ninth came rushing toward me!
【Louis the Fourth exposed the identity of the Great Yng Empire’s queen due to the conflict!】
【Louis the Ninety-Ninth, in anger over the conflict, sent someone to eliminate O’Keely!】
The death script had indeed appeared, but this time Kephiel was still holding my hand, so I was panicking for nothing. Instead, the queen, although I was very grateful for her stepping in when I hesitated, considering her identity, I thought it best for her to keep a low profile from now on. After all, this “Sir Knight” still had to protect her…
I signaled the queen to disguise herself, to avoid drawing attention, while on my end, it wouldn’t be difficult to attract Louis the Ninety-Ninth’s attention—or even his “hatred.” I just needed to glance at the script.
“Louis the Ninety-Ninth, one of the nobles in Lord Zerola’s territory. I’m not clear on the specifics of his family’s power, but he has been purchasing ‘contract workers’ from the talent market, right?”
Sure enough, my words dripped with sarcasm, and Louis the Ninety-Ninth immediately forgot all about the woman he had just been bidding against—the queen!
“Who the hell are you!? Hey! Why are you still standing there!? Grab him and teach him a lesson!”
“Who I am is none of your business, Louis the Ninety-Ninth. I’m just here to remind you that you seemed interested in an elf, but purchasing citizens from another country is a serious danger and illegal for the Great Yng Empire. As a noble, how could you act like an ignorant commoner?”
“What!”
Such words momentarily stunned Louis the Ninety-Ninth. After all, I wasn’t lying; if this fool really bought that Adelf person and did something strange with her, given Adelf’s temperament, it would be a miracle if he didn’t end up with his throat cut!
But…
Indeed, a side character is just a side character, and a villain is a villain; Louis the Ninety-Ninth completely failed to understand my threat.
“Royal law? Hmph, let me tell you! Here, in this territory, in the talent market, I, Louis the Ninety-Ninth, am the law! Who dares to steal what I want!? The power behind me is beyond your comprehension!”
He even sneered back at me, accompanied by the restless movements of his sycophants and the commotion among the onlookers in the room. The death script lunged at me once more!
“Those who don’t understand the rules should get lost! Otherwise… don’t blame my people for being rude!”
【O’Keely, while disguising for the queen, provoked Louis the Ninety-Ninth and was killed!】