Chapter 115

When I arrived at Oeyne’s room, I wasn’t surprised to find her wearing her most formal clothing, walking around her forge panickedly. I would be panicked too if I was a blacksmith in a politically divisive situation, and a royal person came to my visit with a regiment that could be rightfully classified as a small, yet very competent, army.

It made failure a distinctly more dangerous situation, especially for someone like Oeyne with an already shaky political position. She was already enemies with the guilds, and while the school was willing to retain her services despite that, Oeyne was smart enough to realize that even her services weren’t good enough to resist the combined pressure of the guilds, and a princess that conveniently brought along an army while the school was being sieged from multiple locations.

So, when she realized I had once again sneaked into her workshop without even bothering to knock, her first response wasn’t anger or annoyance, but pure relief. “Caesar,” she yelled as she dashed forward frantically. “I don’t know what to do, they are here with an army and if I can’t repair-” she started, only to be cut off by a kiss.

“Calm down,” I murmured, keeping the kiss short, yet heated enough to steal her breath and distract her from her growing panic. “Flailing will not help you dealing with a royal or whomever they assigned to handle the communication with you.”

“But whatever they are bringing is surely a difficult weapon to repair. What if I can’t do it, even with your help? I can barely able to get a basement to myself using all the favors and connections during my career as an adventurer. There’s no way they will weigh heavier than the order of a princess with her own army waiting at the back. They’ll kick me out, then the guilds will be free to take their revenge-” she said, spiraling in panic. I could have slapped her, which was a recommended response to hysteria, but why would I do that, when I could use that as an excuse to steal another kiss.

“There’s no point of discussing that before we even see the weapon they want us to repair,” I said even as I caressed her cheek gently. “And I’m sure, between two of us, there’s no weapon we can’t repair.”

[+1 Speech]

“You’re right,” Oeyne murmured as she snuggled against my chest, enjoying the safety of my arms, while I enjoyed the sight of my improving skill. It had been getting annoying that my skills hadn’t improved in the presence of the headmistress no matter how challenging the situation —though, after her explanation about the nature of the System, it turned out to be obvious that she was intentionally preventing the connection between the target and the System, probably a side-effect of her attempts to protect the Divine Sparks in her possession from being absorbed by the system.

However, that was a thought for another time. I focused on the sexy blacksmith in front of me, using me as a source of comfort. “We need to focus on what we can affect. Such as, how are you going to present yourself to them,” I said.

She pulled back with a frown and gestured her body. “What do you mean. I’m dressed in my best clothes, prepared the best refreshments I could afford, and cleaned my workshop to perfection, with my best works on display,” she said, pointing at a wall that was previously empty, but now holding a range of impressively delicate magical weapons.

“It’s your best, and that’s the problem,” I said.

“What do you mean?” she asked, confused. “It’s going to be a royal visit, of course, I’m going to do my best.”

“Under more usual circumstances, that would have been true. You would only gain from displaying such an honest reaction. But things are different now. The crown princess already lost a lot of power, which meant that she would have no problem pushing your willingness to give to the limit, then more, uncaring of her own long-term reputation.”

“Are you sure?” Oeyne countered. “I have seen her retinue with my own eyes. Maybe her situation is much better than we expect, bringing such a large army with her.”

Oeyne’s deduction wasn’t bad, considering she was working from a faulty set of assumptions. She was a skilled adventurer, but she didn’t have my unique advantages and a ridiculous Perception stat to accurately assess the strength of her team. For Oeyne, it was just a large regiment of bodyguards, showing off her strength, not every single elite under her control.

“No, it’s literally everything she has left,” I said as I gave a general explanation of the status of her party without going too much into detail, careful to frame it as something I had learned from someone else. I liked Oeyne, but we weren’t at the point of sharing my secrets, yet.

“That changes things,” Oeyne murmured, her fear intensifying further. It was one thing to support a royal in a disadvantageous position, but it was completely different to support one that had lost any chance of making a comeback. “Should I reject her?”

“No,” I answered immediately. “She might have lost her power in terms of the wider empire, but that means very little considering the difficulties of different cities working together. For all intents of purposes, except the small area surrounding the Empire, we’re a loose connection of the city-states, and the princess has collected her power base here. As long as she can maintain a good relationship with the headmistress, she would be in a very important position in Silver Spires. You can’t anger her.”

“I don’t understand,” she murmured. “If she’s still important, I should still respect her, right.”

“In a way, but in a much lesser degree. We’re going to sell her the idea that you’re working closely with the headmistress’s agents, meaning she couldn’t just force you to work for her carelessly, or threaten you without risking the headmistress.”

“But I can’t lie about that!” she said angrily.

“Who said it would be a lie?” I countered, and upon her shocked state, I brought my magical pressure to the fore, much stronger than she had ever assumed I was capable. After our last meeting, I was free to flaunt my identity as an agent of the headmistress, and there was no point in wasting such an easy political asset.

Precision: 35 Perception: 37

Agility: 35 Manipulation: 40

Speed: 34 Intelligence: 44

Endurance: 34 Wisdom: 46

HP: 5370 / 5370 Mana: 6600 / 6600 ]

SKILLS

Master Melee [100/100]

Master Tantric [100/100]

Master Biomancy [100/100]

Master Elemental [100/100]

Master Arcana [100/100]

Master Subterfuge [98/100]

Expert Speech [71/75]

Advanced Craft [50/50]

PERKS

Mana Regeneration

Skill Share

Empowerment (1/1)

Teleportation

COMPANIONS

[Cornelia - Level 21/25]

[Helga - Level 17/21]