Chapter 38 – Crisis

Chapter 38 – Crisis

[Translator – Peptobismol]

Chapter 38 – Crisis

Finally, the cursed National Foundation Festival was just a day away.

This Foundation Festival was unlike any other festival, with royalty and nobles from other countries, as well as all sorts of merchants, gathering to participate in large numbers.

So, I too was forcibly getting dressed up since the crack of dawn.

I couldn’t help but wonder why I had to put so much effort into dressing up, but isn’t living and dying by pretense the essence of noble society?

After moving my half-closed eyes for a while, I suddenly came to my senses to find that the dressing was already done.

Merlin glanced at me once and nodded satisfactorily.

“Now you look like a noble.”

“What about Diana?”

“She finished a while ago. Go in and check.”

I moved in the direction Merlin pointed.

As I opened the door and stepped in, a girl covered in pink from head to toe was standing there.

With strong makeup, a tightly laced corset, a billowing dress, and even voluminous rolled-up hair.

If she spoke, she seemed like she might scrutinize with wide-open eyes and a clattering voice, the epitome of a fickle noble lady.

“What do you think, convincing, right?”

Merlin chuckled and burst into laughter.

At the sound of laughter filling the air, Diana’s cheeks flushed crimson.

A smile escaped my lips.

At this level, she seemed like a completely different person.

I marveled once again at the power of disguise artifacts.

“Her name is Odette Astoria. Just remember her as the mischievous daughter of a Count from the Kingdom. Keep it in mind. It might come in handy for small talk in unforeseen situations.”

Diana’s hands, clutching the frills, were trembling.

There was no room to offer comforting words.

Just swallowing the laughter about to burst out right now was torture enough.

“If you’re ready, let’s go downstairs. We don’t have time to dawdle.”

I walked down the stairs slowly with Diana.

It was difficult to manage my gaze with the frills swaying by my side with every step.

As we stepped out of the main door, a carriage waiting in line came into view.

It was a luxurious carriage adorned with white marble and golden engravings.

It clearly boasted, “I am a noble.”

“There’s only one carriage?”

“What more do you want? One carriage is enough for the two of you.”

“The two of us? Merlin, you aren’t accompanying us?”

“That’s right. I don’t particularly want to run into people from the Royal Family.”

People from the Royal Family?

Was there some sort of unpleasant history between Merlin and them?

“Do you know them?”

“A few. There’s no particular reason to pay attention to them, but it would be awkward to pretend not to know them, wouldn’t it?”

That makes sense.

When I nodded vaguely, the coachman descended from the carriage, approached me and cautiously delivered a message.

“Young Master, it is getting late. If you want to arrive at the designated time, we must depart now.”

“Let’s leave immediately. Dia... I mean, Odette. Follow me.”

“... ...”

Diana nodded with a flushed face.

As Diana and I boarded the carriage one by one, the carriage set off with the clattering sound of hooves.

And thus, the peculiar journey began.

****

The time inside the carriage was truly an ordeal.

It wasn’t because the carriage was rocking or because the seats were uncomfortable.

It was all because of Diana’s magnificent appearance sitting opposite me.

“... ...”

“... ...”

Her cat-like, uplifted eyes were quite charming.

But suppressing laughter every time I met that face was a different story.

An oppressive silence followed.

Throughout the journey, I barely managed to swallow the laughter that rose to my lips.

As we approached our destination, the carriage’s speed slowed abruptly.

Glancing out the window, I could see a long line of carriages stretching from the entrance.

“Why is the line so long...”

“It seems that there’s a security check since it is the National Foundation Festival.”

“A security check?”

“Yes, since it’s a festival directly hosted by the Royal Family, safety is paramount, isn’t it?”

I nodded in agreement.

If an accident were to occur there, all the blame would fall on the Royal Family.

‘It seems it will take a while.’

The pouring sunlight induced drowsiness.

Nodding off, our turn approached unnoticed.

The inspection didn’t take long.

A member of the Duke Winfred family.

And to top it off, the Chief Alchemist of the Imperial Palace.

With just that, my identity was practically guaranteed.

As we passed through the entrance, a fairly large garden appeared a little away from the forest.

A familiar face.

“...Luna Winfred.”

Luna Winfred.

She was dragging a sharply honed longsword along the ground, approaching Isabel.

Isabel asked with a scoff.

“Why are you here...?”

“Do you really have to ask? You’re quite annoying.”

“Wait, what’s with that black thing?”

“This?”

When Isabel asked, Luna’s lips twisted.

Luna raised the sword.

The sunlight poured down on the blade.

“What is it? It’s a sword.”

Luna grinned.

The eerie aura pricked Isabel’s skin.

At the same time, a realization struck her mind like lightning.

“Ha...”

That gaze, that momentum, that attitude.

It was clear.

Luna Winfred, she had come here to kill her.

“What gives you the right?”

A mocking laughter mixed with ridicule burst from Isabel’s lips.

At the same time, a resentful voice followed.

“If it weren’t for you...”

Isabel was stunned.

To think she would stoop so low as to use Kyle as bait.

She was overwhelmed by the terrible contradiction, and a dry heave gripped her as if she was seeing her own vile reflection in a mirror.

“...I would never have been fooled by such nonsense.”

A divine light emanated from Isabel’s body.

The thick radiance rippled like a halo, and soon enveloped her in a hemisphere.

Luna kept silent.

Her sunken eyes flashed ominously.

And then.

“Why are you so noisy?”

The sword swung.

“...”

Crack—

A massive line appeared in the air.

Countless lines intersected diagonally above it.

At that moment.

Zzziik—!!

A twisting sound tearing through space filled the air.

Simultaneously, beams of light shooting through the air created flashes as they collided with the sword strikes.

“What is this...”

Zzzeeiik—!!

The condensed aura surrounding Isabel began to split as if a crack had appeared in glass.

An overwhelming wave of mana surged between the fragmented spaces.

Kwong— The vibrating arches shook the ground.

Isabel barely managed to steady her staggering body.

“...Crazy bitch.”

An irritated curse escaped Isabel’s lips.

The heightened divine power dispersed without effect against a single sword strike.

This was dangerous.

A piercing warning echoed in Isabel’s mind.

Luna continued to advance, her unfocused eyes unyielding.

Seeing her relentless demeanor, Isabel swallowed deeply.

“Are you out of your mind?”

“Noisy.”

“No matter how much Kyle hates me, do you think he’ll tolerate your actions? By now, Kyle is probably eagerly waiting for me beyond that point.”

“...What?”

Luna’s eyes widened in surprise.

Isabel seized the opportunity to speak.

“Didn’t you know? Rudine Eckhart, that woman, invited Kyle to the Foundation Festival.”

“...”

“And I’m only here at Kyle’s request.”

Isabel sneered.

Then, she slowly shook the vial of Sacred Solvent she held like medicine.

“What can you do? Kyle still needs me. Now and in the future.”

“...”

“In such a situation, do you think you can kill me?”

Luna’s pupils undulated like waves.

Isabel’s voice was as sharp as a dagger.

“Can you handle that?”

[Translator – Peptobismol]