Chapter 138

When Mordred thrust his finger in Christopher’s right eye, it went far enough to reach his brain.

 One of the royal court mages that didn’t follow Mordred attempted to heal the king, but the brain was the one part of the body that healing magic could not restore.

 Far from regaining consciousness, Christopher developed a fever and fell in a critical state.

(My my, he did well for a fool.)

Lucia laughed eerily.

 Even trash like Mordred could easily change the entire course of history under the right conditions.

 That was the essence of spreading terror.

(Next will be the ones who left toward princess Lunaria’s location. I sure wonder if they succeeded.)

With the loss of the king, the kingdom‘s decision-taker, everyone in the castle was lost.

 Even such a mighty kingdom could easily fall into chaos with the loss of a single person.

 This was a human weakness that Lucia knew well.

 Under these circumstances, the Jormungand kingdom wouldn’t be able to go on the offensive against their enemies before a while.

 Moreover, with the continent’s current landscape, this one incident was going to have a massive impact.

 The once dominant Asgard empire had been defeated at last.

 Or, at least, that was how Kurats’ victory was perceive by the surrounding countries.

 Many countries, particularly the major powers of the continent which were likely to be Asgard’s next targets such as the kingdom of Pasibal, were ready to join the war depending on Jormungand’s next move.

 ――But that future was not to be.

 Had Christopher been still conscious and well, Jormungand would either have fully gone after Asgard or signed a peace treaty with terms that favored their side.

 But the fall of the king would give rise to a pointless standstill.

 None of the neighboring countries would have the nerve to expose themselves to the sparks between both countries during such times.

 Jormungand’s opportunity to beat the Asgard empire while they were down was taken away.

 This meant both countries would be stuck in a deadlock from then on.

 This was why Lucia had come to disrupt Jormungand: her goal was to maintain a balance between both of the major powers and keep their sterile conflict going.

(I wonder, will this be enough to reduce his majesty the demon lord’s foul mood?)

So far, everything had gone according to Lucia’s expectations. All that was left for her to do was to fulfill her other mission.

However…

(The duke of Tarantino said that Triestella was in Jormungand…  How come I couldn’t find any sign of her while I was in the castle…  Where in the world is she?  And what is she doing?!)

The duke of Tarantino had asked Lucia to look for a subordinate he had a very hard time getting in touch with.

Meanwhile, it was going to take some time for Kurats to return to the castle where all kinds of expectations and possibilities were intermingling with each-other.

After returning to the Strasbourg territory, Kurats checked on Felbell, set up some defensive measures, and reorganized the Strasbourg family’s former retainers.

Whether Kurats had driven away Asgard or not, Albert’s death had left a power vacuum in Strasbourg that could not be left unattended.

 Of course, this was a problem beyond what Kurats could deal with, and he was only staying on site to apply temporary measures until the kingdom would dispatch a new lord or even a deputy to take care of territory.

 Unfortunately, Christopher had fallen unconscious before he could issue any such order.

 Because of this, Kurats did not receive news from the capital until a few days after Lunaria left, at which point he learned about the king’s current state.

【”――Skuld, I’ll leave the army to you. If any enemy comes, do as you like with them.”】

【”Is it really acceptable to leave that to me?”】

【”If there is any problem because of that, I’ll take responsibility.  As for the administrative side of things, I’ll leave that to you, Boomer.”】

【”…Understood.”】

Boomer was an administrative official who once worked for Albert.

 Since Strasbourg’s fall, he had been actively cooperating with Kurats.

Considering he was a man born and raised in Strasbourg who had a beloved wife and daughter in the territory, Kurats deemed he had quite a good grasp on reality for collaborating with him so openly.

 Well, more precisely, that evaluation was actually from Bernst.

 Despite appearances, Albert had actually been very skilled at handling domestic affairs.

 As a result, Strasbourg was left with outstanding talents in its administration and its governing structure was hence left untouched.

 As long as Kurats allowed for it,  the territory’s domestic affairs would be handled with roughly no mistake to speak of.

【”Now then, I hope I’ll make it in time…”】

『Good grief, it’s pathetic that you still cannot use something as simple as  multiple teleportation to this day!』

【”That tedious stuff is a hassle, it’s just not for me…”】

It would have been fine had he been able to go on his own, but Felbell had wept her way into accompanying him.

 After hearing the news about her father, she wanted to at the very least offer him an apology as his daughter for putting a burden on him.

 Unfortunately, Kurats’ abilities did not allow him to teleport himself all the while carrying a foreign body with him, which, in this case, was Felbell.

【”We’ll be counting on you then, Frigga!”】

【”Leave it to me.  I’ll be moving at full speed, so do not be shaken off.”】

【”Don’t worry, I can keep a wind barrier around us.”】

【”Perfect then, I shall you have there by the end of the day.”】

The griffon was one of the fastest flying monsters in existence.  If it forced itself to fly continuously for a whole day without having to worry about losing energy, it was not impossible for it to reach the capital in less than a day with its speed.

【”Let’s go!”】

【”Huh?  N-no, please wait, I-AAAAAAAAAH!”】

Though they were protected by a wind barrier, Felbell was still surprised by the acceleration and the visibly fast rise of the griffon, which prompted her to hug Kurats from his back.

【”…The feeling of those heights pressing on my back is just the best.”】

Despite him having a lot of experience by now, there was a special romanticism to this action in Kurats’ male mind.

【”W-what are you saying all of a sudden?  You philanderer!”】

Felbell panicked and blushed.

 ――Whoosh!

 But Frigga, who was controlling the griffon, did not stay passive in response to their interaction.

【”Oopsie～～my hand slipped!”】

【”How did your hand slip into a barrel roll?!”】

【”This is an outside loop! And now, I’ll do a maneuver called: the falling leaaaaaf!”】

【”Uaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaah!”】

With Felbell’s high-pitched screamed as their trail, the trio and the griffon faded in the blue sky of the east.

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