Absolutely Do Not Touch Eldmia Egga

Chapter 698

There was not enough time to clear up all of Ashili’s misunderstandings right away.

I left the room, making a cliche excuse that I would explain everything later since Saint Deoni had announced the royal visit, and headed to the walls of Levien with the sect that had already finished preparing.

The reason they didn’t head straight to the castle gate was because they were pretending to fight without any meaning. From the perspective of the church, there was no need to treat the royal family or the imperial family stiffly, but that was only the position of the parties involved, and it was an issue that could be interpreted differently from the perspective of civilians or the Allied Forces.

Since this is the first meeting at an official event, there is no benefit in acting like we have an unnecessarily close relationship. After explaining the situation, the saintess looked at the imperial envoys approaching from afar with a cloud of dust and stroked her chin, expressing her doubts.

“What on earth did you do to be able to show up so early?”

The emergence of an empire that even the Demons cannot easily answer is a problem that naturally attracts attention. In a world without automobiles, it was by no means easy to shorten the time by land to two days.

There is a limit to how far the knights can run and how far the wizards can jump and move using teleportation, so it is curious that a group including a carriage arrived much faster than the royal family that started out at the same time. I have seen the great invention called the simple gate, so I am calm. If I did not know, I might have seriously considered the possibility that the empire found a Pegasus and flew it on a carriage.

I could have mentioned this to the saintess subtly, but it would have been rude to blatantly reveal the secrets of another country that I had revealed to save me, so I pretended not to know anything and just kept saying things like, “That’s what I mean,” for about ten minutes.

The imperial envoy, who had quickly approached, presented an unexpected sight.

“Anyway, those shameless kids”

“Sir, please be careful with your word choice.”

“Anyway, those shameless worms…”

“···ha·”

Although the saint sighed, from my perspective, it was a great effort to purify myself.

How could one not curse the Allied Forces when, as soon as the imperial flag was raised in the distance, the buglers in the camp blew their trumpets at the top of their lungs, and the road to the gates of Levien became three times wider than before?

Apart from the pitiful state of those who lived in a typical strong-weak-weak attitude, the chaos that unfolded here and there as they hurriedly made their way was quite amusing. Those who spilled the stew that would have been their food for the day, those who dried their boots on sticks like grilling fish over a campfire and then caught fire and made a scene with their bare feet, etc., were just plain comical.

But when the three imperial carriages arrived in front of us, even that commotion stopped as if it were a lie. And as I watched that scene, I was able to reconfirm how the empire was being received by other countries.

Even if their king came, they probably wouldn’t do that. It’s not just that the road was opened, but the whole area was so quiet that it seemed as if some kind of soundproofing magic had been cast. The only thing you can hear is the sound of carriages and horse hooves, and of course, the source of that sound is the royal delegation.

The reactions of the citizens who followed the soldiers in the camp and rushed into the city in a panic were not much different. Some were silently amazed, while others were afraid. The silence and calm that had been maintained without anyone forcing it until the moment when the delegation centered around the carriage decorated in white and gold entered Levien and stopped completely was broken when the doors of the two carriages in front and behind opened.

“Marquis of Bende···?”

The saintess, who was slowly moving to the conference room, expressed her doubts at the voice that came out through my mouth without me knowing.

“Do you know him?”

“Oh yes, I owe you a favor for a little while.”

It was a sight that gave me confidence that the delegation had narrowed the distance through the makeshift gate, but what was more concerning was the fact that not only Esmué but also the members of the delegation supporting her for this meeting were outstanding.

He even proved that he had come as an attendant by not simply getting out of the carriage but opening the door to the pure white carriage with the knights. Even though Esmueh had a high status, he had not expected to use a marquis or someone of that rank as an attendant, so Nana and the saintess could not help but be quite surprised.

“It’s surprising that he brought someone as high as a Marquis as a mere attendant, but personally, I was more surprised by the appearance of the Iron-Blooded Princess. I had imagined her to be much more… oppressive.”

Oh, the saintess was more surprised by something else.

Of course, since he had lived a life unrelated to politics before this incident, this reaction was understandable. However, Esmie was not everything in appearance, so at the moment when he was about to cautiously add something, the saint quickly shook his head and corrected himself.

“Well, now that I say it, I think it’s a hasty judgment. If I interpret that small figure as harboring a personality that matches his nickname, then it would be an object of fear.”

As expected, he was cautious, as expected from someone who might be responsible for the future of the Demon Lords. I nodded my head in agreement and quietly headed to the conference room with the saintess.

The conference room they arrived at was more chaotic than they had imagined, perhaps because of the sudden visit. The Allied Forces representatives were busy sweating, piled high with unidentifiable documents, and the servants were busy tidying up the seats where the royal and imperial representatives would sit. It seemed that the full-scale preparations were scheduled for tomorrow.

“I’m sorry to invite you here so suddenly when you must still be feeling a little tired. Please come over here and sit down.”

Among them, only Ragnis, who had been maintaining a relaxed attitude, immediately reacted to the appearance of the saintess and offered her a seat. Then, unlike Ragnis and the saintess who responded without any hesitation, the servants who had been moving busily as if they would go blind at any moment became sad as they felt, ‘Ah! The saintess was there too!’

“Since the royal family of Itisel hasn’t arrived yet anyway, we’ll just exchange a few greetings and leave, so I don’t have to be tired.”

“I feel relieved that you think so.”

Haha, hoho, even though it wasn’t quite that, I saw the servants who had found peace in the friendly conversation going back and forth and were concentrating on their work again, and I was preparing to sit next to the saintess, but for some reason, the saintess didn’t sit down.

“Please sit down, warrior.”

Then, without even giving me a chance to express my doubts, she suddenly offered me a seat next to Lagnis. At first, I thought it was because I was a human and it was better to be between the two, but even after I sat down, the saintess didn’t know how to sit down.

He just stood behind me, put his hands together humbly, and then whispered softly in my ear as I was about to panic.

“This is to inform you that the previous conflict with the Allied Forces was the will of the church, so please bear with it just this once, even if it is inconvenient.”

Is it true that one action is worth a hundred words?

Just by sitting and standing, I was amazed at the saint’s intelligence that cleared up all the questions about my actions up to this point, and at the same time, the conference room door opened.

Esmie, who appeared from behind the Marquis of Bende who opened the door, had not changed much since the last time she was seen, except that she had more jewelry. The number of pins that held her hair in place had increased, and she had earrings, necklaces, rings, and bracelets.

The fact that all those accessories were worn and blended in with the outfit to create an antique atmosphere was enough to surprise me, but what really surprised me was that all of them were not just decorations, but expensive magic tools.

“Isn’t this too grandiose when even the envoys of Itisel haven’t arrived yet?”

In particular, that necklace… the spell it contains is so unusual that I can’t even guess what its purpose is… I don’t think Esmue would have been given a suicide nuclear weapon, so I wonder if it contains a defensive spell to prevent a nuclear attack?

“Since there was a disruption in the schedule, I had to do this much to avoid being rude.”

This time, it was Lagnis who responded to Esmuye’s words, who was wearing a magical tool that was dizzying just by looking at it through the magic poem. Then, unlike Lagnis who naturally got up from his seat and greeted them, Esmuye, who got up half-heartedly and hurriedly and walked without even looking at the Allied Forces representatives who couldn’t even get into a proper posture due to the tension, lightly waved his hand.

“I am keeping my mouth shut. I am not the type of person to say anything about my shortcomings on such a topic, so don’t worry about it.”

It was a different look from when I saw him at the Imperial Academy. His businesslike smile was definitely consistent, but also colorful. When he exchanged greetings with Ragnis, he was kind, but when he glanced at the Allied Forces representatives, he was cool. It was enough to make me truly admire him.

“Eldmia Ega, a young wandering knight from the Eshunua Empire and the Itisel Kingdom, and a benefactor of the Yeowa Empire.”

Esmue’s steps, which made the representatives’ heads flinch with just a look, stopped next to me, who was sitting alone in the conference room.

Shouldn’t I stand? Unfortunately, I can’t do that now because I am a warrior representing not only the Demon Sect but also the Demon Clan after defeating the Demon King’s army. If you look at my status and position, even if I am the princess of the empire, I am not in a position to ask her to stand up and be polite.

Of course, Esmue could not have been unaware of that fact.

“You, who used to be like that, have now become a warrior and a dragon slayer who represents not only the Demon Church and the Demon Tribe, but also the will of the Demon Ephaga. However, our relationship was not that distant, so even if it is a difficult position, I would like you to treat me as a lady.”

That’s why Esmue didn’t force me to be polite, but instead extended his hand and asked me to greet him…

“If I may, I would also like to thank you for solving the half-lizard problem in Lovell.”

···all?

I got up naturally and moved to kiss the back of her hand according to etiquette, and a cold sweat formed on my back.