Chapter 171

As the Brittania Empire was preparing for war against the Pirates…

The overall internal situation of the traditional continental power, the Holy Empire, was not looking good at all.

A devastating defeat in a battle that was believed to be a guaranteed victory.

Consequently, the power of the Empire was severely damaged, and the authority of the Emperor and the Electors who led this effort was reduced to rubble.

Fortunately, they managed to avoid a complete rout by reaching a compromise with the Revolutionary Army, but even that was just the lesser of two evils.

The Empire’s internal state remained a complete wreck.

However…

Within this stumbling Holy Empire, there was one region that was uniquely peaceful.

That was the Kingdom of Roycen.

The Kingdom of Roycen had hardly engaged in any activities during the last war, except for Chancellor Senel personally participating.

Even though a few of Chancellor Senel’s Black Knights were destroyed in the battle, that was trivial and could easily be replaced with some time and resources.

Nonetheless, a defeat is a defeat.

Especially for Chancellor Senel, who had always been ready to brawl with the Kingdom of Frantz, the nobles and courtiers of Roycen surely thought that she wouldn’t simply sit idle…

But such was not the case.

Since returning from the war, Chancellor Senel had surprisingly been exuding a lively atmosphere, contrary to expectations.

Today, she was sitting on the terrace, leisurely enjoying tea.

At that moment, her face reflected not a hint of the vengeance or hatred from the past.

Some even suspected that she was trying hard to forget the shock of defeat, but there was absolutely no sense of that.

She genuinely seemed to be in great spirits, wearing a bright smile as she enjoyed her day, and that was indeed the case.

The sky was blue, and the birds were singing sweetly.

The gentle breeze was warm, and the well-tended garden offered a sense of peace.

With the world so beautiful, why get angry or annoyed?

Chancellor Senel’s perspective had completely changed compared to just a while ago.

And the reason lay in a secret she couldn’t share with anyone else.

The survival of her ‘sister,’ whom she had thought was dead.

With the source of her hatred completely vanished, it was only natural that everything would appear better.

Thus, today too, she tilted her cup of black tea while enjoying her leisurely reading.

Deep in her heart was the certainty that today would be another joyful and peaceful day.

Just at this moment…

“Eh?”

A familiar energy began to feel sudden.

With that, Senel’s gaze turned toward the sky.

Moments later…

A pure white something started to become visible through the blue sky.

A being sporting gigantic wings, radiating with white magical power all over.

Watching it land toward this palace in an instant, Senel felt a sense of joy… and questions beyond that.

“No… why suddenly here…”

Senel muttered unknowingly.

Right after, the massive chunk of magical power that fell in front of her began to transform into a human figure.

The very person she knew…

With silver hair and red eyes, it was that person.

However…

“Gah…”

“! Ah… Sister?”

As she returned to her true form, the figure staggered and collapsed to the ground.

Chancellor Senel’s real sister, Elios.

Senel quickly got up to support her sister’s body as she was about to fall.

Then…

“Wh-What is this…?”

The sight of her sister’s wounds, discovered just a moment too late.

As she gasped at her sister’s battered state, Senel immediately began unleashing her magical power.

The healing magic that was grounded in the vast magical power of a Grade 12 Grand Witch.

It was a form of witch’s magic, slightly different from an aura, but aside from the issue of its inefficient consumption, there were no significant problems.

As a result, her sister’s serious injuries swiftly began to heal.

After a short while, with color returning to her pale face, Elios slowly started to open her eyes.

“Ugh… Se… Senel?”

“Are… are you okay, Sister? I managed to heal most of the visible wounds… Is there anywhere else that hurts?”

“I think I’m… alright. For now…”

Despite her tired expression, it seemed her wounds had significantly healed.

Feeling relieved by that fact, Senel carefully supported Elios to the chair she had been sitting on.

“What on earth happened? It’s been a while since we heard you were doing fine as a Pirate, so how did you end up like this…?”

“It happened like this… I never imagined something like this would occur… ugh…”

“Ah… I’m sorry… You don’t have to force yourself to talk. Just rest for a bit, I’ll go make some stew.”

Though her sister’s injuries were being healed, Elios’ physical strength and magical power were at rock bottom.

Unable to continue the conversation, Senel headed straight for the kitchen.

Meanwhile…

After putting out the immediate fire and watching her sister disappear, she…

Elios quietly looked at the broken thing hanging around her neck.

A silver cross that was neatly sliced in half.

Not merely broken, but its inner power had also vanished, rendering it useless.

As she gazed at it, Elios let out a small sigh.

‘Now… I can’t go back… to that place…’

A single tear rolled down her cheek as she looked at the shattered cross.

*

Nelson’s story had finally come to an end.

And upon hearing this, I could only feel momentarily speechless.

Honestly, the only thing bubbling in my mind was one thought.

‘What the… hell is this?’

Even I, who knew the original content, couldn’t comprehend the story with common sense.

The fact that the deceased former Chancellor of the Kingdom of Frantz, was none other than Lemain.

Furthermore, the claim that the appearance and abilities we knew were not her true form was something I obviously couldn’t easily accept.

However… regardless of the reality of this story, I had no choice but to believe the words of that woman.

She wasn’t the type to lie like this, and above all, Nelson herself had guaranteed this truth on her honor.

For a person whose pride was everything to her to go this far, there was a high chance it was the truth.

The problem was… even if we assumed the story was true, I currently had no way to definitively determine its authenticity.

According to Nelson, right before their defeat, Lemain transformed into something white and fled.

Some kind of being, like a bird or a dragon.

I had no idea where she was headed, but roughly the direction was northeast.

Yet beyond that, there were no other clues to be found.

Ultimately, the remaining options were to either scour everywhere for her whereabouts, or wait until she returned on her own.

Personally, I was leaning towards option one, but it wouldn’t be easy to act as a Pirate and do that.

Especially considering that trying to find someone presumed dead officially would be even harder…

In that sense, the best course of action was indeed waiting until Lemain returned on her own.

Feeling some relief at the very existence of Lemain, I looked at Nelson, who was sitting helplessly, and asked in a cold voice.

“Then… now that we have discussed the secret, let’s talk about something else.”

“!…”

“Speak up, how should I deal with you?”

“…Didn’t I say? I don’t care what you do to me. Just spare the lives of my subordinates.”

“Very well. However, I will seize all your warships that participated in this war.”

“!…”

“Don’t like that? Tough luck. I’m trying to spare you, but if you don’t want that, I guess this will be the end for you…”

“…Understood… I’ll comply…”

“Good. Oh, and for a while, you’ll have to be our captive.”

“…What?”

“Didn’t you just say you would stake your honor to guarantee Lemain’s survival? At least until then, you should stay under our protection.”

“…You… what do you plan to do with me? Don’t tell me…”

“Since you said you didn’t care what happened to you, why are you acting up now? Oh, if you don’t like it, feel free to end it here and drown together with your subordinates.”

“…Gah…”

In the end, Nelson, having succumbed to my words.

After all, once she surrendered, she had no choice in the matter.

Honestly, if it were up to me, I would have preferred to sweep everything aside, but the news of Lemain being alive forced me to prioritize rationality over fury.

Therefore, what was immediately necessary was to minimize the casualties of our forces while maximizing our gains.

As the saying goes, even a rat will bite a cat when it’s desperate; if the battle continued to the end, our side’s losses would be considerable, and our gains wouldn’t be significant either.

To extract the maximum benefit, I needed to minimize our losses while seizing as many enemy warships as possible.

To do this, I had unfortunately decided to guarantee the survival of the Brittania Empire Army.

Of course, I’d make sure to have some fun with Nelson until the day Lemain returns.