107 – engagement – 2

***

I finished four requests in one day.

If you keep going like this, you’ll fill up your points much faster than planned.

“Oh! Welcome! Sage!”

When I arrived at the entrance of the palace, the Lily Knights welcomed me. When I greeted them roughly and went inside, I found a huge carriage that I couldn’t normally see where the carriages of the distinguished guests were waiting.

The pattern on the large and beautiful carriage, comparable to that of a royal carriage, is a sharp sword.

Knowing whose pattern it was, I couldn’t help but question it.

“Lacey. What are you doing here?”

I am a woman in a white uniform standing leaning against a carriage.

Lacey Tralman, a high noble of the kingdom and one of the seekers of the eight stars in the game.

It was Lacey Trallman, the head of the Marquis Trallman family.

“Did I come to a place where I couldn’t come?”

“It’s not like that. Isn’t it a good place to come? Aren’t you busy cleaning up your family?”

The Marquis of Tralman is a family with a large estate at the eastern end of the kingdom, and even in the game, she does not leave the estate at all.

No wonder.

It hasn’t been a few years since he overtook his brother, who was the next successor, and became the head of the family, and the vassals who still followed them still remained in and around the territory, so he would be busy checking and subduing them. How could he go back and forth like this?

Even in the game, it was quite rare to see her leave the territory unless she became a party member.

“We made a promise to each other.”

Shaking her black hair, she strode towards me. Is it Kira similar to me?

The height of the gaze is correct.

“It’s not like that.”

It’s a thing of the past.

At the end of the main story, there was a time when a chained quest was conducted to obtain an achievement in the realm of the Marquis Trallman.

At that time, he became a friend and business partner with Lacey, and he made a promise to her.

If you help me once, let me help you as a human being.

By clearing the quest in the Trallman Territory, Lacey owed me one thing.

And, after a while, when I had to win another achievement, the warrior party was busy and asked her for help.

At the time, she was busy managing the estate, but she obediently kept her promise.

Afterwards, Lacey asked for help in resolving a problem in her estate, so I went and helped while collecting achievements.

It’s already been quite a while since we started helping each other in this way.

“A wise man among the nobles. There are many people who hold grudges against you. I have stopped them all. Since I helped you this time, keep your promise.”

“Wow! Friends can’t do that much? Wow. It’s disappointing.”

I used the clown’s skill, ‘Exaggerated Crying’, to bring tears to my eyes, but it didn’t work for Lacey.

“Stop acting. You don’t know about my eyes, do you?”

“Tsk.”

It was probably my 23rd deal with Lacey.

A doppelganger appeared in her manor.

A top-notch monster that steals the appearance of a person when it encounters it, and steals that person’s place with perfect acting.

The doppelganger who tried to steal Lacey’s form almost caused chaos in the Trallman estate, and she eventually asked me for help.

I had a debt to repay her, so I went to her at the request, and at that time, Lacey got a skill while catching her doppelganger, and that’s a skill I also have. It was the ‘Eye of Truth’.

A skill that can see through all kinds of ‘acting’ as a reward that can be obtained when defeating a doppelganger alone.

She had a lot of enemies, so when I laid the board, she caught her doppelganger and acquired that skill.

Anyway, if you mention that, I have nothing more to say.

“Okay. So? Help me with what?”

Anyway, a promise is a promise, so keep it.

When I nodded, Lacey spoke in a serious tone as well.

“Betrothed to me.”

As soon as they entered the large carriage, Lacey explained the situation.

“As you know, the Marquis of Trallmann is a family with a precious hand. In that situation, I’m not even engaged, let alone married, so that’s an issue.”

This is why when you have to throw it away, you have to throw it away.

It’s like this when you go over favorably to eat the forces that followed your competitors.

“Why don’t you just kill them all?”

“If that happened, there would have been an uproar. Among them, there are aristocrats who have been loyal to the Trallman family for a long time, as well as many cousins of other counts and barons. There are already those who try to intervene in the estate using the fact that I overtook my brother to become a marquis. There are many, but…”

Are you going to rush in and try to bite the marquis family?

“Tsk. So, I usually date a little bit.”

“I don’t think you’re going to say anything… Anyway, the vassals will continue to make it an issue if I don’t continue to be engaged or married. Maybe they’ll try to oust me from the position of head of the family through a family meeting and bring in a collateral. “

“Even if you’re engaged, you’ll be able to pick up any number of faults. For example, problems with children.”

“If engagement buys you time, you can get everything done before you even mention the matter.”

I lifted one of the chocolates in the basket. As one of the specialties of the Trallman Territory, it is a fairly expensive luxury item that accounts for a large portion of the territory’s income.

Willie, the factory owner who makes this chocolate, was their brother’s subordinate, right?

And now he’s the head of the passionate opposition to Lacey.

There are more than 10 of these people I know of.

It’s really hard to eat, but it’s a meat that is incredibly beneficial to eat.

It’s understandable to some extent that he’s trying to hug him somehow…

“Then why don’t we just get married this time? There are a lot of nice people. You don’t even like me, so why don’t you go with me…”

“Of course I want to, but there is no man who is in my eyes.”

“So you proposed an engagement to me? Ha. Being handsome is a sin.”

Seriously, why am I so guilty?

While I was blaming myself for a while, Lacey spoke very seriously.

“I like you as a friend, respect you and trust you, but… I’m sorry.”

“…what?”

“I like beastly men. So let’s just stay friends.”

I didn’t even confess, but it was tea.

no. than that You like animals?

I will respect your taste, but Fury, who has a lot of money and power to the point of being suspicious, is a no-go from me.

“Uh, um. Could you introduce me? You said you like animals, right? I wonder if there’s a beastman you like among the beastmen I know.”

“Su-in? Suddenly, what…”

Lacey was silent for a moment, then shook her head.

“Anyway, right now, my vassals want my partner to be someone who can think of the stability and future of the territory. In other words.”

A gloved finger was pointed at me.

“You’re perfect for now. Sure, in a year or so I’ll have full control of the house after I’ve absorbed Willy’s forces, his chocolate factory, and cut out all who will never be on my side, but I need your help right now.”

“Hmm…”

I checked the achievement window.

Among the achievements I haven’t achieved at present is ‘marriage’, but that’s not something I can do right now, and it’s not something I can do with him.

No matter how much it is, it’s a bit like marrying a business partner, even a furry.

“Actually, I wanted to propose a divorce after a year of sham marriage… but it seemed like it went too far.”

“but…”

“Because it is possible to cancel a strategic engagement at any time. There is little burden.”

“Certainly not a bad suggestion…”

If you had asked me to marry you, I would have told you to quit.

Because I don’t really have anything to do with him.

In addition, as Lacey said, political engagements are easily seen even among nobles and are easily broken.

As far as I know, there are cases where engagements are broken in one day.

“So? Do you want to? It’s not urgent yet, so I’ll give you time to think.”

Taking out her notebook and checking her schedule, she calmly showed the date.

“Make up your mind by this time.”

The date she chose was the day after Lucille’s birthday.

“…Yes? What?”

The next day after Lacey passed away.

It was the day of Lucille’s class, so after watching her magic, I told her about yesterday’s affair with Lacey.

Lucille, who had been listening silently, tilted her head and asked again as if she did not understand.

“You’re engaged to Marquis Lacey Trahlman? Why?”

“Do you want to hear the real reason or the fake reason?”

The truth is an extremely political engagement to appease the marquis’ vassals, buy time, and absorb those who will be absorbed into power in the meantime.

But I can’t say it openly, can I?

That’s why I made the superficial reason after discussing it with Lacey.

“…I want to hear both of them.”

“I worked with him a lot, so we met eyes and we became like each other.”

While on a quest together, their feelings for each other deepened and eventually got engaged.

Although I am not a noble, I am a member of the warrior party that captured the demon king, and I have a high status within the continent.

So, I will go in and get married in the form of a son-in-law. He was planning to convince his retainers in this way.

“…then the real reason?”

“Lacy hasn’t completely taken control of the family yet. It means she hasn’t completely made the other candidates for head of the family, the vassals who followed her brother Craig, and the subordinate nobles completely her own.”

“Um… is it for political reasons?”

“Yes. He wants to strengthen his position by being engaged to me, and to attract those who have not yet come under him. Since some of Lacey’s enemies have received my help, he will be able to attract them as well.”

“It’s really purely political.”

“Yes. I owe him something, so I’m paying it off. You know what happened to Sasdin this time?”

“That kind of thing could have been solved enough in our royal family!! It’s because the Marquis suddenly stepped forward while preparing!”

“Don’t get too excited. And engagements tend to break easily.”

“…There are engagements that don’t break.”

Pursuing her lips, Lucille grumbled as if pouting, no really pouting.

I stroked her hair like that. The red hair full of fingers feels good.

“That said, it’s an obvious business relationship between us.”

“…Aren’t they even friends?”

“In a broad sense, they are friends.”

I think of you as friends even if we just have a drink together.

Lucille stared at me and sighed as the ground cleared.

“Then you’re saying that Master has no feelings for Marquis Lacey? But Marquis Lacey is a very beautiful person. He’s talented…”

“I’m more of a person who looks inside rather than the outside. And he said he doesn’t like me. It’s not his taste.”

“My eyes are swollen.”

“Uh, um, that… Please respect my taste.”

You say you like beastly men, what can I say?

“If the Marquis doesn’t cancel the engagement? What if the engagement continues?”

“It’s not going to happen, and if it does, it’s a breach of contract.”

If you were really going to get engaged, you should have said it from the beginning.

Of course I would have refused.

Saying it’s a fake engagement and then trying to make it real is a breach of contract, and you’re saying you’ll become enemies with me.

Lacey isn’t stupid enough to not know that.

But I guess Lucille still didn’t like it.

I held her lips tight with my fingers because she didn’t want to let her protruding lips go in.

“Aww!!”

“It’s not a duck. Don’t stick your lips out like that. A person who will be the queen of a country doesn’t do that.”

“Eup! Eup! Puha. Can you just grab the lips of the person who will become the queen of a country like this?”

“It’s a great counterattack, but I’m fine. To begin with, I’m a savage and I won’t be polite to anyone except those I can acknowledge. Anyway, keep using magic.”

“Yes…”

With her shoulders drooping, Lucille cast a few more spells. Somehow the power is weak, but at this level, I think I will be able to learn the ultimate skill sooner or later.

oh I feel comfortable because things seem to be going easily.

I hope it will continue to pass like this in the future.

“This is enough for magic, so let’s practice dancing tomorrow.”

“Yes. By the way, Master. Are you sure you’re okay? Hey… Cardinal Veronica… and the hero… And there.”

“I don’t know if I will or not yet?”

“Aren’t you thinking positively?”

“That’s right, but I’m going to tell Veronica first. You still have quite a bit of time, don’t you?”

“when?”

“Because he’s busy breaking devil worshipers’ heads… sooner or later?”

And the warrior party is not part-time job.

Other than that, there are a few annoying people, but this won’t be a big problem either.

nothing will happen

***

“…What?”

-Kwajik!!

A young child’s heart is pulled out and a mace is stuck in the head of a devil worshiper who begs for his life.

The devil worshiper, whose head had been blown apart, collapsed and splattered blood, but the nun in the black robe who removed him with a single blow asked back without even wiping the blood that splattered on her face.

“who.”

“…..”

“with who.”

“I…”

“What are you doing?”

The spy in the royal palace reported again while stuttering in white.

The beauty who quietly listened to it.

Veronica, the heretic inquisitor and cardinal of the church, looked around.

All the demon worshipers here have been eliminated, and all that remains is their headquarters.

“…Clean up all these scumbag devil worshipers in two days.”

The holy power rising from behind her is strengthened.

The nuns of the nuns respectfully bowed their heads to her trying to do her best.

“I’m going to the capital.”

“Two days… wouldn’t it be too tight… heh, hee! Oh, I see!”

Even for Veronica, two days. The nun, holding sharp combat claws, spoke to her, but when she saw her expression, she lowered her head in fright.

————