Chapter 213

76. The One Who Wears A Mask and The Wailing Girl.

The conversation did not last long. There was no point in waiting around unless Emilia, the fragile hostage, were to wake up.

Davey was relieved by Yuria’s genuine smile. He returned to the Pallan Empire quickly as he had left, then looked around the disorderly room. He wondered if Fire Chicken had caused trouble while he had been gone, but nothing seemed to be amiss as of yet.

The soldiers were all armed and tense, moving relentlessly. It appeared that there was some kind of fight going on.

Davey made sure to leave Fire Chicken in a secluded place away from the headquarters so that it didn’t cause any commotion.

“Fire Chicken.”

—S... Squawk?

Laying on top of the large haystack, Fire Chicken widened its eyes in slight puzzlement. It had, after all, just woken up from a nap on a warm day.

“Did you do something again?” Davey asked.

Quickly standing up, Fire Chicken stepped back and flapped its wings. It began to squawk and shake its head violently. Fire Chicken didn’t appear to be lying, since it had extinguished its flames, which should be burning with pride, and was headbutting Davey to force him to pet its head.

“No?”

—Squawk!!

“Alright, good job.” Davey pulled out a hunk of meat, which he had prepared on his way here, from his Pocket Plane.

Fire Chicken hastily grabbed the meat and backed away, thinking it had escaped any potential punishment successfully.

“Sir Davey, Fire Chicken is in extreme fear. Rinne, stating that this is not the right way to raise a child.”

“That’s right.”

Davey would be a nasty parent if he was raising a human child this way, but Fire Chicken was a Divine Beast; it would still be alive after his death.

Fully developed Divine Beasts outlived their parents and lived for six hundred years at the least, but could also live for infinity provided that certain conditions were met. If Fire Chicken, who would be left in this world after Davey’s death, had a violent personality, the future would not be too bright.

“It’s best to draw the line as clearly as possible.”

—That doesn’t sound any different than animals deciding their pecking order.

“How is it different?”

Even though he was doing it, Davey wasn’t too happy about it either.

“By the way, what's the commotion about?”

“Apparently, there was a report from the search party that they’ve found the Crown Prince’s body.”

At that moment, a girl smiled cutely and approached Davey. While walking over, she wrapped her robe around herself more tightly. She was ordinary, but her smile shone; however, unlike her usual simple and white robe, she was wearing an elegant and luxurious robe with a judge’s hat.

“Ah, they finally found it. What is that staff? There’s a holy stone in there, too.”

If a mana stone was made of a concentration of mana, a holy stone was a concentration of holy power. Well, they actually had the same foundation and only differed in how they were refined. However, Davey wasn’t going to cause trouble with the Holy Empire by being pedantic about this.

“Hehe, how do I look? Do l look like a proper Saintess candidate?”

The girl asked about looking like a proper Saintess candidate and not a Saintess. She was not being arrogant as she knew her place well. What a natural Saint.

“Well, you look elegant, I guess.”

“Hmph... You’re not as romantic as I expected you to be when talking to women.”

“I’m not falling for that. You’re someone who will be single forever, after all.”

“What?” The girl widened her eyes and tilted her head in puzzlement. “Forever single?”

“Did you not hear about that?”Nêww chapters will be fully updated at novelhall.com

“Well... I don’t think I have...” The girl murmured, clearly unaware of how old-fashioned the Holy Empire was.

Both the Pope and the Saintess, the highest authority of the two branches of power, could not get married. The reason was simple: any intimate relationship could cause them to be influenced by their partner.

In this case, the Holy Empire was intentionally keeping quiet rather than not feeling the need to tell the girl. Saintess candidate Alice had always known this fact, but Saintess candidate Lena was naive enough to have known nothing.

“Hm...”

“Well, that is a worry for the future. And it’s not like you have someone you want to marry right now,” Davey said.

“Anyway, I didn’t think that it would take this long to find the body. This is... I don’t know whether to feel bitter... Or perhaps it is a relief...”

“Illyna.” Sullivan approached Illyna, who was just staring at the coffin.

“Sullivan?”

“Illyna, I’m sorry, but I think we’re going to have to hold the national funeral here instead of the capital.”

Illyna widened her eyes and cried out, “What?! That cannot happen!”

“No, this has been decided by the next Crown Prince. Do not object.” Sullivan calmly put his hand on Illyna’s shoulder.

“Don’t touch me! Do you think this makes sense? Ha! Next Crown Prince?! Was that the reason you postponed it until you could find Big Brother’s body to simply confirm his death?!”

“I’m sorry.”

Illyna, who was furious, began crying out loud. She could no longer hold in her sorrow; normally, she would not show this kind of weakness.

When Davey silently patted her on the back, Illyna burrowed into his arms and sobbed. She did not realize who was beside her.

“We are going to cremate the body and have the funeral in about a week, since we need to prepare for it. Prince Davey, you have never met my Big Brother, but... Please attend for my younger sister’s sake.”

“...”

“Please, I am asking you.”

Even in this situation, Prince Sullivan was asking Davey for a favor without a change of expression. He looked at the sobbing Illyna, then simply turned away.

* * *

A week was neither a particularly short nor long time. During that period of time, Prince Sullivan resolved the issue regarding the lack of food exports towards the Heins Territory using his authority. He also sold a part of the leftover food supply that was going to be used to relieve the citizens of the Pallan Empire.

Sullivan looked like he didn’t take care to form friendly attachments, but he took care of business and promises made by the empire with great precision and clarity. Illyna had criticized him for being cold and harsh, but he did not budge.

The previous crown prince of the Pallan Empire didn't have the aptitude of a crown prince, but he was still a great person.

“Big Brother was too optimistic, saying that someday a war-free and peaceful world would come... He said that there would come a time where problems would be dealt with by diplomacy and cooperation rather than swords. I... I liked Big Brother for that,” Illyna mumbled monotonously as she stared at the Crown Prince’s body, which was laid upon a large wooden support.

Illyna looked exhausted from trying not to cry in public. Even so, she still looked ridiculously beautiful, just like a fragile princess.

“Big Brother knew better than anyone that there would be too many sacrifices needed in order for that kind of world to come. And he also knew that it would be impossible with his power. He knew that the only person who could make that happen was me,” Sullivan mumbled.

Illyna glared at Sullivan with resentment. “Do you...even know what sacrifice is?!”

Unfortunately, no one could hear Illyna; the only people who could hear were the two people standing right next to the body and a few others who had good hearing. It was true that a lot of people had come, since it was the national funeral of the Pallan Empire’s Crown Prince, but it wasn’t like everyone’s hearing was as sensitive as animals.

“Illyna.”

“Let go! I resent you, Sullivan. If you had helped Big Brother, even a little bit, when he was alive... He would not have gone that way!”

Sullivan smiled bitterly. “Right... I knew absolutely nothing. However, politics aren’t as easy as you think. Illyna, let me ask you a question. I held Big Brother’s national funeral here because of circumstances I cannot talk about. If we had the funeral in the capital, like you said...”

“...”

“Are you ready to take responsibility for any problems that may arise? I can only take so much of your childishness.”

The siblings glared at each other in hostility, making it seem like they were not related at all. Sullivan’s voice was cold and cutting.

Davey simply watched the siblings’ fight quietly, but he mentally spoke to Perserque.

‘It’s almost like a TV show. Perserque, do you have any popcorn?’

—Your personality is just amazing.

‘I know that you have some physical power now, but don't you intervene unnecessarily.’

—Then, are you just going to sit and watch? Still, you care for that child Illyna.

Unlike the two, Davey clicked his tongue at whatever that was left between them, and...

Bleep.

The offer that was presented on the status window.

[Take care of the last of the corruption. Purify the soul that entered the ring of reincarnation from corruption. If not, there is a high possibility that an abnormal phenomenon will occur in the ring of reincarnation in the future.]

“Tsk, acting like you are extending a helping hand when you are just threatening me...”

It was unclear whether Goddess Freyja was extending a helping hand to Illyna or Davey.

The trauma of someone passing away went on for longer than people imagined.