Chapter 45

It only took a moment for the situation to get worse out of control.

For example.

“Your Majesty, please!”

“Please, have pity on us!”

“Have mercy on us!”

It took very little time for those eager cries to turn into ghastly screams.

Elisha turned her face away from the man who had been inciting the crowd until just now.

There were several people like that among the masses on the left and right at the beginning of the plain.

When the water birds had not returned, they incited the people to urge Elisha to leave the marks.

Now, after the water birds left the marks like this, they made the people beg for the water to come out.

The bad thing was that the instigators clearly knew what they were doing, but the perpetrators didn’t.

The commoners had no idea what they were doing wrong or how things were going wrong.

It was only natural that the people of the Duchy would think that they were merely appealing to the superior of Barossa, who was in the heavenly position, to explain their situation.

Would it be possible for them to accept things the way they are right now?

Would the immense heat radiated by thousands of people staring at Elisha be pure, or would it be seen as a sign of a riot accompanied by madness?

As time passed, the steps taken by those who wanted to see the miracle that might be performed soon became a tsunami.

Black waves rippled and rushed towards Elisha from the left and right.

When the people came to their senses, they were so surprised because they were already so close to the 2nd Empress.

“Ugh!”

The panicked people tried to stop their movements, but the force behind them was too strong.

The more they endured, the more they got entangled and the confusion only increased.

“Oh, no!”

Thompson was one of those in the front row of the crowd.

With his upper body leaning back, he pushed to the ground with the soles of his feet, trying hard not to move forward.

This was clearly intentional!

Had he been pushed naturally, he would have rolled straight to the ground.

Thompson’s body floated so high that the soles of his feet couldn’t touch the ground!

Thud!

As he fell with his face on the floor, he felt no pain.

He only thought that he was already dead, because he knew where he must have flown.

There was no way the knights would’ve left him alone!

But after a while, nothing happened.

As Thompson lifted his face from the ground, a small foot approached in front of him.

Elisha looked down at the man, who was lying flat on the floor while holding his breath, pretending to be dead.

“He’s not dead.”

“Should I kill him?”

As soon as the words were finished, the man stood up tremblingly and said.

“P-Please save me!”

“That’s more like it. I’ve paid so much attention to save you.”

She didn’t mean to pick up the man, but it was not wrong to help a victim who would have been used as bait and thrown away like him.

The man was surprised by Elisha’s answer and opened his eyes wide.

It was difficult for him to understand.

But Elisha didn’t feel the need to explain, so she simply waved her hand.

The man, who dared not ask more, saluted her on the floor again and again before he withdrew.

Elisha looked around.

The moment the man jumped out in front of Elisha, the hearts of the people, who realized that their actions were too excessive, turned cold.

At this rate, they did not know what punishment they would receive from the 2nd Empress, and their body trembled in fear.

Silence follows.

Contrary to her cool expression, Elisha was very satisfied with the current situation.

If her blood were oil, she would have burned more vigorously at this moment instead of sinking!

Duke Verdin thought that if he and the other nobles remained, the locals would not move easily as they were accustomed to being frightened, and when there was a riot, the Duke and nobles could also suffer damage, so they escaped first leaving only Elisha…

He must’ve thought that he had made a choice which put him in a completely advantageous position, but well…

Was it really like this?

At least, if Elisha hadn’t wished for it, he wouldn’t have been able to do his own thing so easily.

“They were the variables in my plan, and I’m so grateful that they disappeared.”

Just like how Duke Verdin was unsure how the thousands of people would behave in front of her, Elisha doubted whether Duke Verdin and other nobles would show up before the thousands of people.

She was also wary of the knights accompanying the nobles distorting the flow by acting excessively towards the local residents.

Similarly, the knights of the Duke family who remained with Jonathan were more likely to collide with her plans if they exert pressure on the people and restrain their actions.

“Your Majesty.”

Rohan approached her and called her quietly.

As she looked back, Rohan pointed to somewhere with his eyes.

Those who were inciting the people fainted in the hands of the knights.

“Will this prevent blood from being sprayed on Barossa’s first move?” Elisha murmured.

“Do you want to go back now?”

Rohan asked.

Elisha shook her head.

“Don’t we still have some time to wrap this up?”

The people were lying flat, unaware that the people who were encouraging them had disappeared.

“Besides, it is better to have a happy ending than to be scared like this, right?”

Elisha stepped forwards in the direction of the plain.

Horororong!

The one remaining hawk with its wings spread wide circled over Elisha’s head.

Hwiiik!

Elisha whistled, and the hawk soared out of its circle.

“Oh? Ohh?”

The people looked toward the direction where the bird went.

They opened my eyes wide, wondering what was going on, but they didn’t know what to say, so they just moved their eyes around.

Suddenly, the bird stopped flying when it was about to touch the sun in the sky.

It then began to descend with its beak facing the ground.

Swaeeegh!

Even though everyone knew that the bird that was falling with great speed wasn’t alive, there were astonished sounds coming from here and there.

Cwhaaak!

The bird crashed into the ground and made a loud noise.

Instead of being crushed, the water that had been firmly fixed was released and spilled onto the floor.

A flag stood in the middle of the damp, muddy ground.

The other flags were far away, somewhere on the plain, but this one was still a distance that the local residents could see with their own eyes.

Elisha moved her mana while looking at the flag standing alone in the plain, several tens of meters away from her.

Not her own mana.

She was using the power she put into Undine, through Undine.

Even if she didn’t know much about the sequel and had never summoned a lower spirit, she knew that this was not the power that an ordinary lower spirit could produce.

It was incomparable to the time when Ignis, the Fire Spirit King, belonged to her, but a presence that could not be said to be inferior to that enveloped Elisha.

It’s not like a small pocket that only accepts a certain amount and lets one take it out and use it…

Would it be more correct to say that one can put as much as they can in a very large pocket and take it out when they want to use it?

Undine should not be able to do that if she is only ‘ordinary’.

Then, what kind of existence is Undine?

Even in the midst of being puzzled, the mana that had soaked into the dry ground dug down and down.

As she did her best, a feeling of exaltation spread throughout her body.

Tuduk! Tuduk!

The sound of something being torn off echoed from the ground.

It was too clear to say that one had heard it wrong.

With the flag as the center, the ground slowly splitted apart. In the open ground, as if an invisible giant hand held it from side to side…

Clear water drops splashed.

One drop, two drops, three drops.

Then soon…

Swhaaaaaaa!

A stream of water pouring down like a fountain wetted the dry land.

There was only a 20-meter-long crack in the center of the flag, so it was not enough to wet all the sides…

“It’s water!”

“It’s really water!”

But it was enough to show the people of the Duchy.

They had been terrified, not knowing what kind of punishment they would receive, but to receive a gift like this…

The people with brightened faces bowed to Elisha over and over and wept.

“Thank you! Thank you!”

Sincere greetings from all directions tickled Elisha.

Elisha frowned.

This was because she didn’t know where to scratch this unknown itch and how to get rid of it.

Elisha, who had given up on saying anything, turned to the carriage and looked at Rohan.

Strange.

Rohan, who was always standing in a proper posture without any flaws, shook.

No, that’s not right.

Cough!

Elisha coughed.

Her body swayed.

Rohan’s brown eyes widened instantly.

In it, Elisha’s falling body was reflected.

Elisha’s body was grabbed by Rohan’s outstretched hand.

Red blood was sprinkled on the green robe that Vera had made for her.

“Y-Your Majesty!”

The astonished people shouted.

The Knights of the 1st Order drew their swords and blocked them from approaching.

Chaeng!

Those who stopped in front of the blue blade of the swords wept and fell to the ground again.

Cries were pouring down like rain on Elisha.

“It’s so noisy. Why do they… get scared so easily, smile to show their gratitude for not killing them, and weep even though it is the first time they saw me today? Such trivial things. Why are they so… foolish and frustrating?”

They became like that because of someone.

“Do you think they’re pathetic?”

Elisha closed her eyes instead of answering Rohan’s question.

She soon lost consciousness.

***

Elisha rubbed her face without realizing it when she felt something warm and soft in her arms.

“Mother! Are you alright?”

Elisha opened her eyes at the worried voice.

When she regained her consciousness, she was lying on the bed of the quarters assigned to her by the Duke.

Leon’s face was in her arms, his eyes swollen.

“I’m alright. You must have been very surprised.”

Elisha stroked Leon’s head as she spoke, and Leon grabbed her neck with both arms tightly.

As if trying to get her up.

“Your Majesty…”

Vera called Elisha.

She also had red eyes. But, more than that…

“What’s going on?”

It was clear that something was going on as her eyes were trembling and she was biting her lips.

Without waiting for an answer, Elisha got off the bed and stretched out her hand.

Knowing that she wouldn’t listen to what she said, Dorian, the maid, brought Elisha clothes that could be worn quickly.

As Elisha, dressed in clothes, opened the door and walked out, Vera led her out.

She went down to the central hall, passed the lion statue, and opened the main door, only to see the Duke and Rohan facing each other in the space.