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<Wasn’t This a Strategy Game? Episode 11>

“You will definitely need me.”

Ichigo, saying such things, didn’t seem to have much Divine Power, nor any Magical Power or other skills.

It would have been easy to ignore her, and I could have killed Eden right then and there, but for some reason, Asmun wanted to test her words.

“A revelation from the god….”

Asmun couldn’t help but smile faintly. He didn’t believe in gods, yet even if that were true, it was hard to accept.

If there was truly a god, would he agree with me becoming the Emperor of this Empire? Did he really care about my well-being?

Of course, regardless of whether he agreed or not, I would still become the Emperor. However, Eden’s existence was an unexpected variable. I had thoroughly investigated, but found no suspicious points.

Eden seemed to have been left at a small shrine in the countryside right after birth. It had only been a year since she entered the Great Temple to become a proper Priest and started her apprenticeship.

So she likely hadn’t had many opportunities to interact with the outside world, and even if she had, a staunch classist like Kiris wouldn’t assign any important tasks to an Apprentice Priest.

“I will stake my life on it.”

The determined look in her eyes as she made that dangerous pledge was resolute. It wasn’t a bold attitude as if she didn’t care what would happen to her life. It was a gaze full of certainty that her words were correct.

“……”

At that moment, Asmun was lost in thought, recalling the mysterious gray-brown eyes of Eden.

“Your Highness…!”

A desperate voice came from afar, accompanied by the sound of hooves. Something seemed to have gone wrong, and Asmun’s eyes snapped into sharp focus, suddenly alert.

Eden sighed deeply.

Three days had passed in the blink of an eye since the new Quest was assigned. However, Eden had let time slip by without making any attempts.

As she mindlessly gathered laundry, Eden recalled the Quest assigned to her.

Meeting Ibthan for tea time.

“……”

It felt like a daunting quest, one that made her think it would be better to be thrown in front of a monster one more time. The founding banquet was long over, and there was no way an Apprentice Priest like her would go to the Imperial Palace now.

Setting aside the tea time, just meeting Ibthan was a hurdle in itself.

With the appearance of the monsters at the founding banquet throwing the Empire into chaos, it was clear that Ibthan, who was in charge of monster extermination and serving as Chancellor, would be terribly busy. Of course, even if he weren’t busy, he wouldn’t meet with her.

“Ugh, how am I supposed to meet Ibthan?”

Overwhelmed by despair in this suffocating situation, Eden cradled her head and sank down. There was no way for her to meet Ibthan.

“…….”

No, there was actually a way to meet him. Eden bit her lip slightly.

‘But if I use that method already….’

While Eden was curled up lost in thoughts, she heard Rita’s voice calling her from afar.

“Eden!”

Upon hearing the urgent voice, Eden turned to see Rita running towards her.

“Don’t run, you’ll get hurt!”

Even though Eden warned her about the risky behavior, Rita hurried towards her.

“What’s going on?”

“Well, huh, Priest Mobrin is, huff, calling for you.”

“Priest Mobrin?”

“Yes, the 3rd Prince, huff, has come.”

Eden’s eyes lit up at the mention of the 3rd Prince.

“3rd Prince…?”

Asmun is here at the Great Temple?

Feeling her heart sink with the sudden news, Eden quickly calculated the dates and realized yesterday was the day Asmun was supposed to meet Count Leighton.

So, Asmun must have come to find out if what I said was true.

Once that thought crossed her mind, her heart raced uncontrollably. Though she knew she would soon meet Asmun, she hadn’t anticipated it would be so straightforward.

Rita finally calmed her breathing and grabbed Eden’s hand excitedly.

“He brought an antidote!”

With a voice that was a mixture of shock and joy, Eden’s expression turned stunned.

“Antidote?”

“Yes, they said that monster’s poison splashed on you that day!”

The unexpected news left Eden bewildered.

“Huh…?”

Knock, knock.

Standing nervously in front of Mobrin’s Chancellor’s Office, Eden knocked on the door. Shortly after, she heard some movement from inside, and then the door opened. The one who personally opened the door was Priest Mobrin himself.

“Eden.”

Eden bowed her head.

“Yes, Priest. You called for me….”

“Come in.”

As Priest Mobrin led the way, Eden took a small deep breath and stepped inside. Upon entering, she saw Asmun calmly seated at the reception table. Their eyes met.

“His Highness sought the antidote for the poison emitted by the monster that day, and thankfully, he personally came to share it with you.”

Poison emitted by a monster? Tannir didn’t emit anything.

Eden listened to Priest Mobrin’s explanation while looking at Asmun. Asmun gazed at her with an expression devoid of the menace or chill he had shown in the underground, appearing completely unbothered.

“The poison was quite strong.”

As Asmun calmly added this, Eden raised an eyebrow slightly. Priest Mobrin looked at Eden with a worried expression.

“Why didn’t you say you were hit by poison?”

Upon hearing that, Eden quickly changed her expression and looked at Mobrin.

“I was worried you’d be concerned. It wasn’t a major injury.”

This resulted in Mobrin’s face becoming perplexed.

“Injury? His Highness said the poison splashed in your mouth?”

“…….”

Eden hesitated and glanced at Asmun. He was calmly observing the situation as if he were watching how Eden would handle it.

That jerk.

“Yes, well, it’s an injury in my mouth. The palate, you see.”

Eden quickly recovered. Fortunately, Mobrin seemed to take it at face value, his expression still filled with concern.

“Oh dear. That must have hurt. They say it won’t heal without an antidote; if His Highness hadn’t brought it, it would have been a big deal.”

Eden nodded, looking touched, as if deeply agreeing with Mobrin’s words, then turned to Asmun.

“I had been struggling with the pain in my palate every time I spoke, so thank you very much.”

While Eden was bowing in gratitude, Asmun kept staring at her intently. Eden held his gaze without wavering.

While the story had begun to shift slightly in my favor, it was still very early in the game. Count Leighton siding with Kiris had not changed yet, and Asmun would certainly have verified that I was correct.

However, he had an unreadable expression, which made Eden’s heart race, tightening anxiously. Moreover, with Mobrin present, she couldn’t hastily bring up Count Leighton.

At that moment, someone knocked urgently at the door.

When Mobrin walked over to open the door, an Apprentice Priest was seen standing there, sweating.

“Priest Mobrin, it seems you need to come quickly!”

“What is it?”

“Priest Roman is urgently looking for you….”

At this, Mobrin’s face went awkward. He had a guest, and that guest was even a Prince, so it would feel disrespectful to either send them away or leave the room momentarily.

But Asmun neatly resolved his dilemma.

“Please go ahead. In the meantime, I will teach the Priest how to take the antidote.”

With those considerate words, Mobrin looked gratefully at Asmun.

“Then, excuse me for a moment.”

As Asmun nodded, Mobrin hurriedly left the Chancellor’s Office. Once the door closed, Eden walked straight up to Asmun.

“Hey, you can’t just come in suddenly without discussing it! I could have raised suspicion!”

Eden exclaimed, agitated, but Asmun remained unfazed.

“Suspicion? What are you talking about?”

“The antidote, of course. It was a good excuse, but if you had given me a heads up, I could have matched my story.”

The poison didn’t splash on her from Tannir, so she didn’t need any antidote. Asmun had managed to come up with a convincing excuse to bring her in without raising suspicion.

“Excuse?”

Asmun fixed his gaze on Eden while pulling something out from his pocket. Eden’s angry eyes were drawn to the glass vial that Asmun was holding. Inside the small vial, something with a mysterious color swayed.

“It’s true that the poison splashed on you, and without the antidote, you would soon die.”

The extreme word “die” made Eden’s eyes widen.

Did that really happen to me?

“…You’re kidding, right?”

“If you don’t believe me, you don’t have to take it.”

Asmun remained casual. Eden felt more hurried by his calmness.

“W-When did the poison splash on me?”

“When the monster’s head was severed, blood splattered on you, didn’t it?”

That was true. Eden clenched her fist, murmuring quietly in her mind.

‘Tannir info.’

Then, a translucent window appeared next to Asmun.

 

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