The Daughter of Evil - Volume 3 - Chapter 2.22

Chapter 2, Section 2-The Signal Fire of a Counterattack; Scene 2
Praeludium of Red, page 115-120

♣ Yukina ~In the Beelzenian Empire, “Imperial Castle"~

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Starting with the Langley Unit, the dead soldiers that had thrown Beelzenia into chaos were exterminated by the efforts of the Beelzenian army.

Although they had been bewildered by such unidentifiable monsters at the start, after it was confirmed that the dead soldiers had low intelligence, couldn’t take any strategic action, and had on their own little more battle power that the average human, they ended up getting successfully exterminated by exceedingly simple divide and conquer tactics.

And…we had just now been delivered the news by Lily Mouchet that the previous emperor, who had been leading the dead soldiers–or at least who was thought to be the previous emperor–had been vanquished.

It seemed she had quit the Lucifenian army. I hadn’t heard the details on her reason for why that was, or why she would expressly kill the leader of the dead soldiers that were attacking a country that was her enemy.

Right now she was having an audience with the emperor. I came to the palace in her company, and while she was talking with him I was amusing myself by chatting with Gumillia in another room.

“What do you think about what’s been happening, Miss Gumillia?”

The scars that the dead soldiers left on the country were deep.

The main issue was that the dead soldiers had sprung forth from graveyards–from inside the country. A lot of innocent people had fallen victim to them, the military unable to function with its defensive capabilities.

“Do you think it was the work of that woman called Ney after all?”

Chartette must have told Gumillia earlier about how Ney had appeared in that graveyard.

“That could be it, if I were to guess from what I’ve heard about when you and Chartette met her…–This black tea is, delicious. You should have some too.”

“Ah, okay. Thank you very much.” At being invited to, I briefly savored a mouthful of tea that the maid had poured for me. “It’s very good.”

“Yes. I’m glad for that.” Gumillia smiled.

“…It feels like you’re somehow different today, Gumillia.”

“Haha, you think so?”

For some reason it seemed to me like she was engendering a much more mature aura than usual, but…was it just my imagination?

“But even if the summoning of these dead soldiers was Ney’s work, it’s hard to imagine, that it’s due to a spell. As far as I know, Ney does not have strong enough magical ability to be able to do such a thing.”

Ney and Gumillia both used to live in the Lucifenian palace. It was natural that they knew each other.

“You mean the glass that she was carrying, or the wine, was some kind of special object?” I asked.

Gumillia turned her gaze up, as though thinking about something. “There is that possibility.”

“Even so, being able to stir the dead like that…”

When I shuddered, Gumillia gently held my shoulders. She’d rarely do anything like that normally. Yes, Gumillia was a little bit different today.

“Indeed, it’s a frightening matter. But I’ve learned some interesting things, upon researching the dead soldiers.”

“Interesting things?”

In response to her words I unthinkingly leaned in with interest.

“All of the corpses that have become dead soldiers were people who died from a common illness.”

“A common illness…Like the Gula disease?”

Come to think of it I had been told that the bar owner’s son and the late emperor had both died from the Gula disease.

“Correct. The Gula disease–A sickness that causes its sufferers to fall into ‘Gluttony’.”

The glass. Dead soldiers. And now, “Gluttony”.

Ah, what could this mean?

A splendid hypothesis that put it all together neatly had come forward in my mind.

A hypothesis that was too grand–if I told a hundred people, all of them would probably laugh at it.

The wineglass that Ney had held back then.

Assuming that had indeed been a vessel of deadly sin, “The Glass of Conchita”.

This was all connected.

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If the vessels of deadly sin really existed, that is.

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“Lady Gumillia, His Majesty is calling you.”

As Gumillia got up from her seat at the servant’s call, Lily returned to the room.

“As I recall I told ya to get out of the country immediately if war broke out.”

“I’m glad you’re alright, Miss Lily.”

“Got sacked from the army, though.”

Lily quickly took a seat.

“Who’s commanding Retasan Fortress right now?”

“Phatipe’s daughter, newly arrived. I can’t speak for anyone else, but suddenly making a chick who was a maid up until this point into a general just because she’s the daughter of one of the Three Heroes? The country of Marlon’s got issues.”

Ney was Retasan Fortress’ new commander…in other words, there was a high possibility that those dead soldiers were at Marlon’s instigation after all.

The emperor had probably figured that out too, by now.

“Still, hearing about you quitting the Lucifenian army and immediately fleeing to Beelzenia…that was surprising,” I said.

Lily muttered, throwing her head back, “These people you’re with were originally natural-born Lucifenian soldiers, you know.”

She had no loyalty towards Marlon, the people who stole her country, in the first place, so this was ideal for her–I could tell that was what she meant.

“Well, I didn’t think I’d be welcomed with open arms, so I brought a peace offering.”

That was the former emperor’s head.

According to what Lily told me, after she escaped she dove into the heart of the horde of dead soldiers alone, and soundly trounced the emperor.

I might not have the right to speak for others, but she was a very reckless person.

After she had explained the whole thing, Lily let out a breath. She was probably still quite worn out. It was understandable.

“Would you like to have some tea?” I asked, and Lily shook her head.

“No thanks, got any coffee?”

“I’ll ask.”

I asked the maid who was always on standby at the door if she could bring us some coffee.

“…It seems she can’t bring us any coffee, Miss Lily.”

“Ah, well that’s alright. So, what are you going to do now, Yukina?”

“I’d been planning to stay in this country a little while, but…”

“Hmmmph, well, fine. Guess it’s no use holding you back.” Lily leisurely stood from her chair. “But from here on out, war is going to break out for real.”

“Really?”

After letting out another breath, Lily said, “Yeah. Seems the emperor’s made up his mind. He’s said he’s going to launch an invasion on Retasan in a day or two.”