The Daughter of Evil - Volume 4 - Chapter 3.11

chapter 3, section 1-the inside story on the girl; scene 1
Praefacio of Blue, page 130-134

✥ Kyle Marlon ~The Country of Marlon, “Marlon Castle/Middle Tower Conference Room”~

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Perhaps when it came to splendor, Marlon Castle couldn’t hope to reach that of the former Lucifenian Palace. It was no match for the size of its gardens, and it fell behind in the magnificence of its decoration as well.

But as confined as our grounds were, when it came to the convenience of its practical use we had the advantage there, and above all else the dignified atmosphere that went through the whole castle was something that just didn’t exist in the Lucifenian Palace, with such shallow history to it.

For the last few days I had been taking on a daily routine of sorting through reports in the Middle Tower’s conference room.

The senior ministers serving in Marlon were all excellent men. Even though their king had been absent from his country they dutifully managed the place for me.

Maybe this place doesn’t need a king to begin with.

Rather, weren’t they able to operate more freely without their figurehead king? –Such a masochistic thought flitted through my mind.

In this country I knew how little I was worth. It was for that reason I needed to get results abroad. At least, I had become trapped by such thoughts a short while ago.

But somehow or another nowadays I had grown to care comparatively less about such things. Exhilaration, like a fog had cleared from my mind, and a sense of mourning at losing my objective, both dwelled inside my heart.

There was something in the most recent reports that concerned me.

It was a report of bizarre humanoid monsters causing harm to citizens in Marlon’s northern region, particularly around the Bloodpool area. Those monsters had white skin and partially rotted bodies, and, while largely unconfirmed, there were accounts that they crawled out of communal graves for those who had died of the Gula disease.

The Bloodpool region…Where Castle Hedgehog is…Where my mother is…

From the features given in the report, there was a high possibility that these monsters were dead soldiers. The apparitions that had been used to invade the Beelzenian Empire…They could only be summoned by Ney, who had in her possession the “Glass of Conchita”.

She had said that she was going to see Abyss I.R. in order to inquire again on how to use the Glass of Conchita. There was the question of where Ney had gone, seeing as how Abyss I.R. was dead and Ney herself was nowhere to be found in Marlon Castle, but it seemed now that she was with my mother in Hedgehog Castle.

Judging from her relationship with Abyss I.R., it was natural to think that Ney and my mother had joined forces.

And thinking of the worst possible scenario, there was also a chance that Elluka was working with them there.

But there’s one contradiction with this outbreak of dead soldiers.

While I was deep in thought about that contradiction, Arkatoir entered the conference room.

“My apologies for the interruption. Do you have any time to spare?”

“Ah, go ahead.”

Arkatoir cleared his throat and then started talking. “Relating to the gathering of soldiers, we currently have about four thousand assembled in Marlon Castle and the surrounding garrisons.”

“That’s less than you estimated.”

“Yeah…The soldiers to the north are occupied with countering the aforementioned dead soldiers…”

“I see. In that case that’s fine. We’ll just join up with them on-site.”

Arkatoir’s eyebrows shot up in surprise. “–! You mean to say that these soldiers will be departing for the Bloodpool region?”

“Yes…I’m worried about my mother.”

Arkatoir grew somewhat excited, starting to speak to me with words of praise, such as how impressed he was that I had foreseen the current situation. “I haven’t currently received any word that Castle Hedgehog is under attack, but perhaps the Empress Dowager being unable to return is due to being on guard against the dead soldiers. She might have bodyguards, but nonetheless we should help her as soon as we can.”

That’s right. How normal that he would think that way. Arkatoir had no idea that there was a possibility that the one who summoned the dead soldiers and the Empress Dowager of his own country were in cahoots with each other.

“I shall consult with our generals on a strategy with that in mind.”

“I’ll leave that to you. Does that conclude our business?”

“No…there is one more thing.” Arkatoir took in a breath and continued. “Keel Freezis has come to the Right Palace.”

“He’s a little earlier than planned.”

I had indeed made a promise to meet with Keel today. He had gotten exasperated, as I had not gone to visit him. He had somewhat forcefully secured an appointment with me through Arkatoir, knowing that I wouldn’t go strongly against the man.

“Can’t he wait until I’ve sorted out my work?”

“Yes, I told him that, but he insisted that he was very busy himself, and to meet with him right away…”

“And you didn’t have a rebuttal for him?”

“I’m very sorry…”

I thought that sort of interaction was very unlike Arkatoir. Even if he was up against Keel, with his personality it wouldn’t be out of place for him to flatly refuse an unreasonable demand like that. Him agreeing to set up the appointment in the first place seemed to indicate some timidity towards Keel on his part.

“Arkatoir, does Keel have some kind of hold over you?”

“No…That’s not it. I hardly know Keel Freezis to begin with.”

“Then why are you so obedient to him?”

“It’s not Keel so much as…well…sorry.”

Despite my best efforts I wasn’t able to pick up on what was going on. Even if I pressed him on it, in the end Arkatoir was unlikely to illuminate on his reasons.

“…Well, that’s alright. I’ve been ignoring his previous summons for me, after all. I’ll go see him.”

I put in order the documents scattered on my desk and left the conference room with Arkatoir.