57. I just love the vibe of slave elves.
The queen’s command is here. To avoid exposing her identity due to excessive public appearances and entanglements in disputes, which could lead to dangerous rumors like “Why is there a queen in the royal city and another here!?” I can no longer allow Kephiel to pursue the matter of “Why is Louis the Ninety-Ninth’s ‘backer’ actually Uncle Zerola?” any further.
After persuading Kephiel, we immediately forced money into the hands of the flustered host, who had become withdrawn due to Kephiel’s presence, to avoid gossip. We then quickly took the elf on stage, relying on the script’s reminders to navigate through the crowd as discreetly as possible, and quietly returned home.
At this moment, within Uncle Zerola’s residence.
The elf girl I had forcibly taken from Louis the Ninety-Ninth did not immediately cling to my leg and say something like, “Big brother, I want to dedicate myself to you.” Instead, she stood tall, legs together, and with a sharp “pop,” saluted me with an extremely standard and loud military salute.
This posture was so clear that even without my prompting, Kephiel and the queen could understand each other’s identities.
“Thank you very much, Mr. O’Keefe! My identity is that of a special operative from the Kingdom of Prussia. I am here because… um…”
The elf girl in the black uniform twitched her long ears, her gaze drifting toward me.
Rescuing her was not troublesome; for me, the trouble only began now.
After a moment of hesitation, the elf girl continued, “I accidentally got separated from the main force and, out of necessity, thought to search for them more efficiently in this way…”
This elf was lying. In the script, she was indeed a spy from the Kingdom of Prussia, but… she absolutely did not end up at the “talent market” because she got lost from the main force; she simply wanted to use that place to more effectively connect with the noble circles of the Great Yng Empire.
As for her purpose, there was only one: to find me! And from the current situation, it seemed she didn’t even want to tell anyone else the reason for looking for me! Sigh… Really, these spy elves from the Kingdom of Prussia are too dangerous in every aspect.
“Ah… so you are a spy from the Kingdom of Prussia? Although I would love to say you should return on your own under the extradition treaty, the situation is a bit complicated now~”
The queen sighed, her current predicament making it difficult for her to handle this elf’s issue.
“What should we do…?”
So, I immediately spoke up; this was one of the few opportunities.
“Your Majesty, let me handle it.”
“Eh?”
The queen blinked in surprise, and a hint of mischief appeared in her expression as she looked at me. “Hehe, O’Keefe, so you like this kind of flavor? That’s fine~ After all, you bought it, so I’ll just pretend I didn’t see anything~”
“That’s not it! Please don’t say that in front of Kephiel… Ouch, Kephiel, don’t pinch my ear! Wait, don’t listen to the queen’s teasing!”
I just… absolutely could not ignore this “script” that clearly wanted me to get involved. Regardless of what this elf wanted to secretly discuss with me, or whether I would later decide to share the information with Kephiel, my instincts told me I had to listen.
The queen, giggling, pulled the still somewhat jealous Kephiel away, and as they closed the door, returning silence to the room where the elf could rest, I confirmed that there was nothing in the script about “the queen and Kephiel eavesdropping.” I turned to the elf and slowly spoke.
“Next time, don’t do this kind of thing in the Great Yng Empire. Have you thought about what would happen if you really got bought by that person and couldn’t escape? You can’t win the lottery every time you run into me.”
“…”
[The elf spy falls in love with…]
No! I instinctively didn’t want to finish this script! Don’t make me read it!
“Now, tell me, what does your Majesty, Queen Aidefu, want you to convey to me?”
The blush on the elf girl’s face quickly faded, replaced by the serious and solemn “professional attitude” of the elves in the Kingdom of Prussia. After saluting me again, she spoke.
“Her Majesty Aidefu has dispatched several secret agents. I am merely one of Lord Mel’s subordinates. We have come to find you to convey a private and secret reminder from Her Majesty Aidefu.”
I fell silent for a moment, as I already knew, due to the script, what this elf was about to say next.
“This concerns a traitor and dangerous individual that we
—
“Our intelligence indicates: Recently, Ludwig has been serving humans as a maid. Please be advised to avoid any contact with her. Ludwig is an extremely dangerous and powerful spirit. You may not understand, but… in her pursuit of power, she has no restrictions on her stance or means, and she has a notorious reputation even among the spirits of the Prulus Kingdom… Moreover, the power you possess may also attract her attention.”
“This is a message from Her Majesty, Adéle.”
[Ludwig, spirit race, age unknown, Ninth Rank Sword Saint. Personality…]
In the next moment, the script appeared alongside the spirit girl’s reminder to me. However… rather than being surprised by Adéle’s elaborate warning, I found myself more silent, especially after just having read Ludwig’s script.
“Sorry, I was just lost in thought for a moment.”
Forcing a smile, I spoke, “You stay here, contact your other members, and then return together. You don’t need to help me with anything; the matters concerning Ludwig will be handled by the Great Yng Empire on its own.”
Of course, that was a lie.
Because, for Kephiel’s script, and for the queen, the matters related to Ludwig… I now realized: I might have to handle them myself. The spirit’s earlier reminder did indeed portray Ludwig as a dangerous figure, but just now, I had seen more scripts related to Ludwig in my mind!
[Ludwig has received a command from Iris!]
[Ludwig is here to find Oquilid and Kephiel!]
[Ludwig is here to find Louis IV!]
Ludwig has come, but… there are no scripts indicating danger to us! Clearly, the command she received must be to eliminate me!
Is it because Kephiel is by my side that the death script cannot appear? How could that be? After all, she is a “Sword Saint”! So, only one possibility remains!
[Ludwig has ulterior motives.]
That’s right… this.
It seems that even if Kephiel misunderstands whether I was whispering something to the spirit in front of me, causing some romantic entanglement, I must keep this matter hidden for the sake of Kephiel and the queen’s safety until I understand it clearly.
—