Chapter 123 – Abel is my escort knight today~♡
Chapter 121
Cheeks swollen as if hit hard by something and a slightly embarrassed expression. And Elena, who is not seen today.
Those circumstances gave us a rough idea of what had happened.
“…Elfriede, what happened to that cheek?”
“Ah, you mean this?…Unfortunately, I got cavities.”
Of course it was a lie. There’s no way that something that was fine until yesterday suddenly got so badly cavities that your cheeks swelled.
“…Are you the duke?”
“…I guess I’m not good at lying.”
Elfriede smiled and spoke.
“It’s okay. Compared to usual, well… I’m glad it ended like this.”
“…Why did the duke do that?”
“It is a matter between parents and children. It’s none of your business.”
El Friede drew her line. She looks at her puffy cheeks, this as a friend I didn’t want to just pass over, but once she drew the line, I couldn’t argue more about this.
So I brought up a slightly different subject. Originally, I was going to talk about it during rest after receiving swordsmanship instruction, but seeing what the duke did to Elfriede made it unbearable.
“…Elfriede.”
“Why but?”
“Do you have any plans to inherit the title?”
“…What?”
Elfriede told my story with a suspicious look on her ears.
“Abel, what are you talking about…”
I told Elfriede the things I saw yesterday.
“Did you know that in Bonaparte City there is a trading of shift stones and slaves?”
“…What?”
I checked Elfriede’s expression after hearing my story. As expected…She didn’t seem to know at all.
If I knew in advance, I wouldn’t be the type to keep quiet.
“You know that I wiped out the mutant stone distribution gang in Athens, right?”
“…You know.”
“I found some guys with the same tattoos as the ones the guys I saw back then had tattoos on their hands. Here in the city of Bonaparte.”
From noble mtl dot com.
“Is that true!?”
“Yes. I tried chasing it, but as expected, they were distributing metamorphic stones. But that wasn’t the end.”
The slaves brought out by the gang who went in with a cart loaded with transformation stones.
“Slaves or commoners… I’m not sure, but they tied people up in shackles and dragged them somewhere.”
“That something like that was being done on our territory? But….”
Elfriede seemed to think she was doing something wrong. Like Estelle’s reaction, she said that her father, the Duke of Bathory, couldn’t have known about it. She must have thought that way.
“Perhaps the duke knew. There is no way that the happenings in Bonaparte City, directly managed by the Bathory family, did not reach the ears of the Duke.”
“Now… Are you saying that your father condoned them?”
“We will have to investigate further to find out if he was conniving or if he was directly involved.”
Elfriede’s face was quite shocked.
It deserves it. Who wouldn’t be confused to hear that my father not only condoned these unsavory things, but that he might have been directly involved?
She can’t help but feel confused no matter how bad the father-daughter relationship is.
“If you don’t want Elfriede to expel the current duke, we won’t dig too deep. I’ll only deal with the ones I find, and I’ll only save the people I need to save. But Elfriede took care of this situation…”
I looked at her puffy cheeks and said.
“…If you want to change anything, I can help you do that.”
“…… I… If my father was doing something like that, he can’t tolerate it. How could he do such a thing with his daughter, who is a warrior? Slaves are also slaves, but they are transformation stones. Knowing what dangerous things it could be used for…”
Elfriede clenched her fists and bit her fangs.
“If there is anything I can help with, I will help. So, please, reveal my father’s sin.”
It must have been a difficult decision for her, but Elfriede was also an upright person. Even if he is his own parent, he is the one who thinks he deserves to be punished for doing something wrong.
That was Elfriede.
I smiled, appreciating her decision.
“…I wanted that answer, Elfriede.”
#
I must have asked permission from Elfriede. Now, all she had to do was investigate properly and oust her duke, and one of her three siblings would ascend to the position of head of the family and succeed her duke.
I’ll have to find a connection with the duke while clearing up the gang, but how should I do that? As I was thinking about that, Elfride tapped her on the shoulder with a wooden stick.
“Abel, her shoulders are crooked.”
“Ah…Sorry.”
Stop thinking about something else. Feeling sorry for her, I looked at Elfriede. She felt my gaze and lifted her head slightly.
“Why is that?”
“Oh, no. Are you just correcting your posture today?”
“Be patient even if it is a little boring. Swordsmanship begins only when the posture is corrected.”
“Yes.”
I straightened up again and struck her sword from top to bottom. Elfriede, who had been watching that, quietly opened her mouth.
“Even if it isn’t.”
“Yes?”
Did you do it right this time?
But Elfriede came up behind me very casually, and she said, holding my arms and shoulders with her hands.
“Take her shoulders a little tighter back. Her arms stretched out in front of her.”
“…Eh, Elfriede?”
Wait this… I feel a strange feeling on my back as I hold her arm from behind her. The feeling is more vivid because she was wearing comfortable clothes for her training.
But Elfriede didn’t care at all, she said casually.
“Why is that?”
“Uh…”
Are you the only one who cares about me?
In an instant, I remembered the story Elfriede told me the other day. Elfriede, who told me that she couldn’t give up what she really wanted to get her hands on, and she told me to be prepared.
…Could that be it?
When I reacted as if I had noticed her intentions, Elfriede sighed and smiled lightly. And she whispered quietly so as not to reach Estelle, who sat and watched her drill.
“Abel, what are you paying attention to? Concentrate on your sword.”
The tone was slightly higher than the usual grave voice. Like an excited person. The response convinced me.
This woman is trying to seduce me. But do you think I’ll get over it that easily!!
“…Hmm!”
God protects the waters of the East Sea and Mount Baekdu until they dry up and wear away…
I chanted the national anthem in my heart and focused on the sword. However, I couldn’t help but be surprised by Elfriede’s next action.
“Come on, Abel. Isn’t there too much power in your hands? Relax a little bit.”
“!?”
Elfriede brought her hand over. She’s holding too much strength in her sword-handling, she says, adding advice.
It’s Elfrie that I’m struggling with, you…!
And there’s Estelle over there. What are you doing!?
“… Hero Elfriede.”
Just then, another voice came from behind. Estelle, who had been watching from afar, was obviously there.
…f*ck it, it’s f*cked up.
Estelle narrowed her eyes and looked at me and Elfriede, then sighed deeply. Then she grabbed my arm and yanked me away. Thanks to that, I got away from Elfriede and got closer to Estelle.
Seeing Estelle with a sullen expression on her face, Elfriede tilted her head slightly and said with a smile.
“Saint Estelle, it will be troublesome if you interfere with the map.”
“Is it necessary to stick around like that when teaching swordsmanship? Are you holding hands there?”
“It wasn’t holding hands, it was Abel’s grip on the sword was too strong and he was trying to free it.”
“…Then what did you attack from behind? You put that lump of fat on Abel’s back.”
…A lump of fat. Is it okay to say that you also have…?
Despite Estelle’s aggressive tone, Elfriede still kept her smile on her face.
“I would appreciate it if you covered her words. It wasn’t a push, but it corrected Abel’s posture. Abel learned combat without learning her basics, so it doesn’t seem easy to break her ingrained habits.”
After saying that, Elfriede added a word.
“If I had been by your side from the beginning, I would have taught you step by step from the basics.”
…The atmosphere is strange. Estelle and Elfriede, the air current flowing between them was unusual.
“…Because I also trained step by step, right?”
“You must have. But the saintess cannot teach Abel her swordsmanship. She must be taking these wrong stances because Abel has learned how to fight her battles, but she hasn’t learned swordsmanship.
“There are many cases where good results were produced because it was not standard.”
“Certainly, being unorthodox has the advantage of being an anomaly, but if you keep fighting like this, your body will quickly break down. No matter how much divine power and blessings there are. Doesn’t the saintess know too? Is there such a thing as a standard?”
…That was the theory. The reason why there is a standard posture for any exercise. It’s because it’s the easiest and safest way to avoid injury, and the way your body won’t get damaged.
Of course, their fight was meaningless. Because Elfriede’s actions had other intentions hidden.
Estelle trembled when she saw Elfriede refute with her thesis. And as she questioned, she said.
“…So you’re saying you’re going to stick around like that!?”
“Saint Celine was still. I don’t know why she reacts so sensitively.”
… Maybe it was because she wasn’t like this when Celine was around?
“It’s nice to correct her posture, but she shouldn’t be so attached to Abel! Abel is satisfied enough with my breasts!”
Why are you talking about her breasts all of a sudden!?
“…I don’t know about the others, but I can confidently tell you one thing.”
“Yes?”
“My breasts are unnecessarily large. To the extent that it gets in the way of swinging the sword.”
“What…What!!”
…What kind of cup?…No, I must be crazy. Come to your senses.
I came to my senses and put an end to the war of nerves between the two.
“You two should do that. First of all, Elfriede, please don’t do anything that will make Estelle uncomfortable. Estelle should stop saying rude things too.”
“…Whose side are you taking now, you stupid idiot.”
…So what?
“Well, let’s try.”
Seeing the look in Elfriede’s eyes as she answered that, I had a hunch. This woman didn’t give up.
In the end, even while I was receiving swordsmanship instruction, Estelle and Elfriede continued to bicker. Elfriede tries to stick to me and Estelle tries to stop it. There were literally no spears and shields.
…Stop it, b*tches.
#
After the swordsmanship instruction, I prepared to go out with Estelle again. I must have heard Elfriede’s decision, I had to finish the investigation of the place I saw yesterday.
“Then I’ll be back for a while.”
“Do I need help?”
“…Well.”
I don’t think there is anything in particular. Unlike me who thought so, Estelle said.
“It would be nice if you could help me. Instead, drop the clinging things and come.”
“…You are quick-witted, saintess.”
…Was the person the duke attached to watch over Elfriede here too?
“If that doesn’t work, it’s better for us to go on our own.”
“…Certainly.”
Elfriede nodded her head at Estelle’s words. It would be suspicious for Elfride to let go of the duke’s watch on her.
“Could you lend me one instead?”
“Do you need anything?”
Estelle held out her hand to Elfriede and said.
“Could you lend me your identity card? It would be nice if it was Princess Elena’s.”
“…Elena’s identity card? Why do you need that?”
“I have no intention of exploiting it. As I said before, there were people who were held as slaves, right? There must be a place where they do business, but if Duke Bathory is involved in this, he will let you in if you tell her the name of her princess.”
“…I see. Please wait.”
Elfriede moved her place for a while. Then she had something moving along with Elfriede’s movements.
“…That’s them.”
“To put surveillance on your daughter too, Duke Bathory is a very strange person.”
“Would you stick with us?
“I don’t think so. However…All the servants of the mansion can report our every move to the Duke.”
…A bit scary.
“Saintess, Abel.”
Elfriede came back pretty quickly. And she handed over Elena’s identity card, which she had deliberately hidden.
“You must bring it back. If it is lost, it is likely to be misused.”
“Yes, I will.”
After receiving Elena’s identity card from Elfriede, we left the mansion. I asked Estelle.
“Then why did you get Elena’s?”
“…Helena? Even Princess Elena is being called by name already.”
“…As I said before, we became a little closer because he healed me. So why did you need Elena’s identity card? If she needs a princess’s identity card, she borrowed it from Elfriede….”
“Because Princess Elena is less known. Hero Elfriede is already so famous that you know all about her looks. However, because of Princess Elena’s chronic illness, she only lives in her mansion, so nothing is known to the outside world.”
“Ah.”
Then…
“Is Estelle going to become a princess?”
“You have to act like that. So, Abel.”
“Yes?”
Estelle said with her eye smile and the characteristic cheeky smile that comes with the set.
“Abel is my escort knight today~♡”