“It seems that it was Noacurio’s army that appeared in Terra Kaine. But that doesn’t seem right. The Noacurio Army has no record of operating holy beasts, nor does it have any plans to do so.”
A room in the site, which was once used as an operation command center.
On a map of the country hanging on the wall, Everis drew an arrow with something like fluorescent chalk (apparently, it could be erased later with magic).
From the ruins of Wesala, where Noacurio’s army was stationed, to Terra Kaine.
Marquis Edfeldt had called in the Noacurio army. But most of the army arrived only after René had escaped.
In effect, René was forced to retreat because of a mysterious old woman who appeared leading the holy beasts. The Holy Beasts seem to be working in tandem with Noacurio’s army…
“Then what was that all about?”
“Unfortunately, I don’t know. I don’t know everything about this world. Even the Demon Army has spies in the five major countries, but I didn’t get any information. It is possible that they were secretly preparing for it, or … it was too much of a side event for them to catch. As for the Holy Beasts themselves, well, we just have to take countermeasures. I think it would be a good idea to find out why they brought something like that out. If the Holy Kingdom of Diletta is involved, it would be troublesome. Especially for the Princess, who herself is undead and her soldiers are essentially undead at the moment.”
Every word of it was true.
Even a single punch or scratch from a holy beast was filled with holy energy. In addition, their bodies were like a collection of holy energy. It was a natural enemy of the undead.
If they were covered with an equally or more powerful evil spirit, they could defend themselves, but all the holy beasts René had seen were so powerful that there was no way she could give all her soldiers the same level of protection.
“The old woman was unpleasant; I should have risked a little to kill her. She seemed to have no real power, just the discomfort.”
“I don’t know. The summoned beasts wouldn’t disappear when you killed them if she wasn’t the summoner, so it might have been pointless. Well, whatever the case may be, we are sure to clash with the army of holy beasts again.”
Countermeasures needed to be taken. And it was bad if they didn’t find out why those things came out.
There was a brain to analyze the information.
Then, next, they needed an information collector.
“I need a spy.”
＊ ＊ ＊
” What are you going to do to me!? Zombie food!? Skeleton material!? S*ave!? Ornament!? Or even make me into a plaything for that witch over there!?”
“… You’re an energetic prisoner of war. By the way, for me, an ant!”
“Woah! I knew it!!”
The caterpillar-looking Tracy, his whole body bound with chains of curse power, was rolled into an empty room.
Tracy was screaming and thrashing about, making high-pitched screams for a man.
Seeing this, René said stingingly.
“You can stop now because it’s maddening, that performance… technique…”
The rapid-fire stopped.
Tracy turned serious for a moment, then mischievously stuck out his tongue.
“Hehe. Did you find out? I was thinking this is what an unlikable prisoner of war looks like… I was told that acting out escalated real feelings works on someone who reads your mind.”
“I don’t see as much urgency in your tone of voice. You’re relatively calm and … scared but having a bit of fun …, aren’t you?”
René was an undead who could be anything because of the Evil God’s Divine Protection Cheat, but her core was the top-level spiritual body, the Undead Abyss Spirit. It was an Evil Spirit that fed on the emotions of grief and despair, and its ability to read emotions was extremely accurate.
René saw through Tracy’s inner self, which was subtly different from the outer demeanor.
“A beautiful girl or a beautiful boy who looks like a beautiful girl is an accessory that brightens our life. No matter how bad the situation is, you have to be thankful for wonderful encounters. You are soooo cute, René-sama.”
Being told straight out that she was “cute” made René a little shocked.
It was not a romantic feeling, but something that was missing from her heart.
It was a compliment that her mother always told her, but she wondered how many people in this world would say “cute” to the face of a terrifying named monster that had destroyed a whole country.
Incidentally, since René was not in battle, she was in her Revenant form (in other words, the same form as an ordinary human), but even if she had been in the form of Dullahan or Lich, she had a feeling that Tracy would have said the same thing.
It sounded like a snappy pick-up artist, but there was no ulterior motive apparent in the emotions Tracy was expressing, nor did it seem to be flattery.
“… It’s a line that’s totally from a pick-up artist, and it’s weird to hear someone say it with absolutely no degrading feelings.”
“Because I don’t want to be a handful for a pretty girl, I just want to be the same way.”
The girlish middle-aged man stated proudly.
“So we use him.”
“Tracy has a network of adventurers in the country, and he’s a good communicator, so he can get information out of anyone. As a Thief, he can also use his covert activities to break into important facilities and investigate.”
“Uh… I have a bad feeling about this, even though it’s supposed to be a compliment. Was I that famous?”
“Sort of. I had a chance to find out. “
“Perhaps that’s Iris-chan’s memory?”
“Ye…”
As René was about to confirm this, she realized that something was wrong.
The only people who knew that René had possessed Iris were the three members of the “Dragon’s Throat” who were killed by René. There was no way Tracy could have known.
No.
What if he had scraped up traces of René’s activities and deduced them with uncommon insight?
“Nyaha, go figure?”
Tracy looked subtly smug.
“Postscript. You’re smart, too. Anyway, I think we could get a ton of very useful information from this Tracy Revenant.”
“Stop, please!”
Tracy immediately raised his voice at René’s suggestion.
“Oh, that’s serious impatience.”
“I’m serious! I don’t want to die yet! I want to look in the mirror every morning and every night and be thrilled by my own cuteness! I don’t want to be an undead!”
“But you still have time to be impatient.”
“Please, I’ll do what you say while I’m alive, just don’t kill me! You see, a Revenant is disposable! You’d be better off without it!”
–Here it was.
Tracy mentioned something that was exactly what René was planning to do.
Revenants can be turned into faithful undead with their appearance and abilities (and even magical powers if they can be revenanted with their souls) intact, but the downside was that they deteriorate and become “just fresh zombies” in a matter of days.
Tracy’s brilliance was not so much his physical abilities as his abilities as a spy. It was very regrettable to use him as a Revenant and discard him. If possible, it would be preferable to use him in a reusable way.
Or perhaps Tracy’s slightly relaxed attitude was also because he was aware of his own usefulness to René.
It could be said that the point of this conversation was almost decided from the beginning.
“Of course it’s better to stay alive, but I’m afraid you might get away through the cracks, or end up a double agent. There’s … a way to tie you down.”
Saying this deliberately, René snapped her fingers.
“Come in, Mialanze.”
Mialanze, who had been waiting outside the room, entered quietly.
The cat-eared maid with amber eyes had a shiny leather collar around her neck that seemed to stick to her.
“Can I give him this collar? I don’t think Mialanze needs it anymore.”
“Uh… is that a ‘S*ave Collar’?”
Tracy groaned.
It seemed that Mialanze was permanently forbidden by this collar to ‘run away’ or ‘attack those around her’.
In other words, it can be used in that way.
Mialanze took off the collar and presented it to René.
Everis’ eyes widened at the sight of the collar.
“Look closely and you’ll see that this isn’t a copy made by a human being, but an original made by me. Wow, I miss it! I don’t want to look at it too much! At the time, I thought it was a masterpiece, but now I see that it is not well made in many ways. I only made 20 of them, so I figured there were no more originals left.”
“… The creator of the S*ave Collar? Who are you, witch?”
“You never know. A witch who has become a legend because of rumors is a second-rate witch. The first-rate witches are unknown. I’ve lived my whole life hiding in the dark. It’s easier to work that way. I’m not well known to the world, but I’m proud to say that I’m the best in my day in terms of magic and technology.”
Tracy wondered, but Everis was very proud of her work.
“Oh, this is Everis’ work, isn’t it? So I guess it’s proven to be effective.”
“Right. I don’t remember putting the bell on.”
“Well, let’s put it to use.”
Tracy’s cheeks flushed as the collar was put on, and he muttered in embarrassment and annoyance.
“Ahh, … I’m collared, and from now on I can’t disobey the Princess no matter what terrible commands she gives me…”
According to René’s emotional interpretation, Tracy was both disgusted and excited.
“……Is he a pe*vert?”
“He is a pe*vert.”
René’s question was met with full affirmation from Mialanze.
“But if we put a collar on him, the question is how to make sure he can’t do anything. I’m afraid he might be able to escape by taking advantage of an opening in a command…”
Or rather, Tracy would do it. He would definitely do it.
Even if he couldn’t escape, Tracy would only need to ask someone for help while undercover in a human city. Even if he was blocked from escaping and forbidden from asking for help, he would most likely manage to exploit a loophole in his orders.
Then Everis pulled a thick stack of paper out of a void that looked like it had an attack power of about 50.
“There is a template for making a contract with a demon or a genie. They are basically wicked and want to make your wishes come true, so when you ask them to do something, make a contract that binds them to the exact interpretation of the words. I think we can read this out loud on the command machine and restrict his actions.”
“Wait! Let me read it first! There’s definitely something in there that shouldn’t apply to humans!?”
“You’ve noticed it well. I’m so proud of you.”
“Woah! There was something after all!!”
Tracy twisted around and stretched her head, as if to show it.
Anyone who disrespected the contract would perish.
Whether on 21st century Earth or in a medieval or early modern fantasy world, it was the same absolute order of things. When magic was involved, the quality was even worse because the person could die physically, without even room for a trial.
Perhaps, René thought, rather than a fable that teaches children about good and evil, the world needs a cautionary darkness fairy tale like “The honest grandpa who checked the written contract lived a happy life, while the mean and nasty grandpa who did not read the written contract was torn to death by the contract of the Majin.” The dark fairy tale of a moralistic type might be necessary in this world.
“Also, if he were to wear a collar, it would be very noticeable, wouldn’t it? I’ll quickly finish an inconspicuous accessory with the same functionality and make him wear that. I’m sure I can make it with the materials I have on hand.”
“If someone sees the collar and says, ‘I’ll take it off’, that’s the end of it, isn’t it? Please make it then.”
“Okay, I’ll put it on your tab.”
“There’s no room for escape…”
Tracy fell flat on his face in a disgusted and groggy tone.
He had not given up on escaping, in case you were wondering, but he seemed to despair at Everis’s quick and efficient arrangement of things.
“Sweet and light despair, like a fruitcake.”
“Wow, I’ve been tasted. But I’m glad you like that analogy, because it’s adorable.”
“You’re such a happy-go-lucky fellow.”
Anyway, with this, René succeeded in recruiting a talented intelligence officer.
In addition to being competent, Tracy has the great advantage of being human. He would not be caught in the detection of the anti-undead and become suspicious, nor would he be damaged by holy energy barriers.
She … and or rather he … will be a great help to René as her eyes and ears.
“Then you don’t need this collar, do you? Please give it back to me.”
Mialanze’s amber eyes sparkled as she put her hand on the bell collar that René was still holding.
“You don’t need it anymore, do you? Besides, isn’t it an abominable shackle for you?”
“But I would be very grateful and happy if the Princess would allow me to wear it.”
“… A pe*vert?”
“I am not a pe*vert.”
There was a rumbling, cat-like sound coming from her throat.
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