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“So you just snuck in and came back in one go, huh?”

Conra’s eyebrow twitched in a weird way. That twitching eyebrow gave his face a strange expression—not quite smiling, crying, or angry. It was as if it perfectly reflected the indescribable, subtle emotions the boy was feeling at that moment.

When morning came, the prince’s mansion was hit with directionless chaos and commotion. Overnight, the prince’s concubine had vanished without a trace, leaving behind only unusual signs of destruction. It was only natural that chaos would ensue.

Thankfully, since she wasn’t the prince’s official wife and her background before becoming his concubine was unclear, the commotion didn’t escalate beyond a certain point.

While out on the streets, Conra overheard people gossiping about the incident at the prince’s mansion. Suddenly, Sophia’s late-night outing from the previous night came to mind. He rushed back and questioned her about what had happened. After hearing the direct account of the events, he ended up in his current state.

“Uh, Master, didn’t you say the power dynamics among secular rulers are complicated and best left untouched?”

“Hmm, indeed I did.”

“But you just went ahead, jumped over the wall, and started swinging your sword?”

“No problem. It’s a demon, isn’t it?”

Sophia’s nonchalant attitude made Conra wonder if he was the weird one. But after seriously reflecting, he concluded that he was the normal one and Sophia was the abnormal one. Conra asked again.

“With all the noise about the succession to the throne, is it really okay to cause such a scene so openly?”

“Why not? I even took holy oil with me to clean up afterward.”

Sophia replied casually. Hearing her words, Conra caught a word he couldn’t just let slide. The boy cautiously asked his revered master.

“Wait, when you say you cleaned up with holy oil, does that mean you cremated a body inside the mansion?”

“That’s right.”

And then he exploded.

“You almost burned down the mansion!”

“Tsk, I know how to handle that. You’re worrying about unnecessary things.”

In reality, the room where the demon’s body was incinerated had burn marks on the floor and soot stains on the ceiling, but Sophia didn’t mention that. As long as no one complained, it was fine. In fact, she had secretly dealt with a demon lurking in the mansion, so one could argue she had done a good deed without anyone knowing.

While bantering with her disciple, Sophia reflected on the information she had obtained from the demon’s spirit last night.

The number of demons involved in the competition for the Iron Throne was larger than expected. Aside from the prince’s concubine, who was a demon, there were demons or at least demon worshippers among the retainers of the princes or their associates.

These demons didn’t discriminate by race or ethnicity. They had taken on various forms, including humans, elves, dwarves, and hobgoblins.

Sophia felt a headache coming on as she pondered how to completely eliminate them.

‘If I go out and assassinate them one by one, it’s inefficient. At some point, they’ll notice and either go into hiding or act out.’

Demons weren’t stupid. If they saw their numbers dwindling rapidly, they would surely take countermeasures.

‘The best option is to wipe them all out at once when they gather in one place.’

But they wouldn’t gather without a reason. The most opportune moment would be when the princes competing for the throne—the prince, the first prince, and the seventh prince—gathered with their supporters.

‘But how do we get them all in one place?’

With the factions divided due to the succession competition, members of each faction were reluctant to attend gatherings hosted by opposing factions. They feared being labeled as traitors.

Only those with high status and rank within their factions were relatively free from such suspicions. They attended banquets hosted by opposing factions to spy and disrupt internal cohesion, but that alone wasn’t enough.

After much deliberation, Sophia came to a decision.

“I need to meet the king.”

“Huh? Who?”

“The king who’s unconscious and bedridden. The current owner of the Rotaringia Iron Throne.”

At this sudden declaration, the boy’s mouth dropped open again.

+++++

Sophia’s bombshell didn’t just shock Conra. Cardinal Andrea also felt dizzy at Sophia’s sudden request. He stood still for a while, waiting for the darkness in his vision to clear, then sighed and began to move.

“Suddenly you want to see the king? What reason are you going to give?”

“Do I really need a reason? I’ll just jump over the wall and take a look.”

Sophia’s shameless reply made Cardinal Andrea rub the back of his neck with his fist.

“Stop talking nonsense. If you were going to do that, you wouldn’t have come to me. You’d have already gone and come back by now.”

Sophia clicked her tongue and twisted her mouth in displeasure.

“Tsk, you know me too well.”

“Enough. Well, since the king has been bedridden for so long, we can say the Church wants to check on his condition. We can even perform the last rites while we’re at it.”

“That’s exactly what I wanted.”

As Sophia cheered and smiled triumphantly, Cardinal Andrea swallowed a groan and suddenly asked.

“But why do you want to see the king?”

“It’s simple. If the unconscious king wakes up and leaves his sickbed, the factions will lose their reason to remain divided and will have to gather in one place, whether they like it or not. I plan to wipe out the demons then. It’ll also be a good opportunity for our trainees to gain some real combat experience.”

For a moment, Cardinal Andrea was too stunned to react. After a while, he asked again as if he hadn’t heard.

“But why do you want to see the king?”

“Are you getting senile? You’re younger than the Minister of Politics, yet you’re already showing signs of dementia?”

What followed was a storm of insults and humiliation, which eventually made him lose his temper.

The opportunity to meet the king came sooner than expected.

Although Cardinal Andrea was often bewildered by Sophia’s outrageous actions, he trusted her abilities and skills. When he suggested that Sophia might be able to wake the king and restore him to health, he immediately smiled and negotiated with the palace to arrange her visit.

The negotiation was simple. In exchange for allowing Sophia, a nun knight of the Church, to visit the bedridden king, Cardinal Andrea would meet with the first prince and offer his support.

After all, if the king woke up and left his sickbed, the succession competition would be over, so there was no harm in making such a promise.

For Sophia, it didn’t matter much. The important thing was that she had secured an opportunity to examine the owner of the Rotaringia Iron Throne.

The message came five days after Sophia made her request to Cardinal Andrea.

“Tsk, they’re taking their sweet time.”

Well, they probably thought their lord was as good as dead, so there was no need to hurry.

Sophia reviewed her plan again. If this plan failed, things would become very troublesome later. But ultimately, everything depended on the condition of the bedridden king.

Dressed in her paladin nun knight’s uniform for the first time in a while, she boarded the wagon sent by the palace. Her disciple, Conra, followed in a neat suit provided by the Church. Thanks to his revered master, the boy was about to experience everything from battles to palace tours. He clenched his fists nervously, his face stiff with tension.

“Don’t be so nervous. Kings and palaces aren’t as big a deal as you think.”

“Ugh… I can’t help it…”

“Where’s the boldness you showed when you first met me and said, ‘Prove it to me’?”

“Ah! We agreed not to bring that up again!”

Though Conra reacted strongly to Sophia’s joke, he soon realized his tension had eased. He looked at her with a mix of gratitude and curiosity, as if he had learned something new.

Soon, the sound of horses neighing echoed, and the wagon set off.

 

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