Chapter 21
The Guide and G'doire
MEANWHILE, THE SUCCESSION conflict in the G'doire Autocracy
was heating up. Who was suitable to become the next crown prince—and
therefore the next Autocrat? Competition didn't just flare between the
royals; nobles and commoners claimed the title of strongest as well.
Many used this chance to display their fighting prowess in an
attempt to rise to power, and clashes broke out in various places within the
Autocracy. Due to the recent war with the Empire, the scale of these
conflicts was small, but everyone in the nation knew the fighting would
only intensify. Thus, the Autocracy was in chaos.
While that chaos played out, G'doire swung his eight tentacles like
whips in the arena on the Autocracy's Capital Planet. His adversary, the
Guide, was still in his hat form.
"Ow! That hurts! Would you stop it?!"
As G'doire smacked the Guide, the hat dented, flew away, and
rolled on the ground, getting covered in sand. But G'doire was so furious
that the Guide's words didn't reach him.
"Isel was going to be my servant! It's all your fault! All your fault!"
The Guide's inadvertent development of Liam had led to Isel's
death, and G'doire couldn't stand that fact. His eight tentacles writhed as
his head turned red, steam pouring from his beak.
You loser! the Guide thought, looking up at G'doire. I thought you
could do it, since you act so confident, but your precious prodigy couldn't
even beat Liam! You called him the strongest?! You're a total letdown!
The Guide was furious himself, but he was aware that he couldn't
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defeat G'doire in his present state. Thus, the Guide behaved obsequiously,
trying to pacify him.
"G'doire, I understand how you feel, but—"
"You couldn't possibly understand how I feel! How long do you
think I watched over Isel? I gave him challenges he could just barely
overcome, and I grew more excited with each he managed to accomplish!
He even overcame challenges I thought would be impossible for him! I
raised him carefully, with more than a few miracles!" Indeed, G'doire
couldn't easily reproduce the multiple miracles that had produced Isel.
The Guide was getting a bad feeling about this. If he looked at
things another way, he'd given Liam some supposedly insurmountable
trials himself, and Liam was as strong as he was today because he'd
overcome them.
If I gave Liam trials he shouldn't have been able to overcome, yet he
beat them all, just what does that make him? He's way more of a problem
than Isel was, isn't he?!
Creating Isel had caused G'doire endless trouble, and Liam himself
had given the Guide endless trouble by overcoming so many of his traps.
Each time Liam overcame one of those insurmountable trials as if it took
no effort at all, he thanked the Guide for it. To the Guide, he was a being
of pure terror.
Is the only way to win never to involve myself with him again?
Just as the Guide was about to reach the right answer, G'doire's
tentacles pummeled him again, denting him further.
"Hyaaugh!" the Guide let out a strange scream, trembling.
"You're going to help me," G'doire commanded. "First, we'll
prepare another warrior to beat Liam. We'll give that warrior the greatest
of weapons!" Having lost Isel, all he could think about was revenge.
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The Guide undented and dusted himself off with his little hands. Do
you think I'd be having this much trouble if we could beat Liam with a
plan like that? The Guide had been considering fleeing somewhere far
away until Liam eventually died, but now that G'doire had his claws in
him he could no longer do that.
"I'll kill you, Liam! I swear it!" G'doire howled at the sky.
Fearfully, the Guide asked the one thing he'd been wondering about:
"But I thought you liked strong people like Liam?" He wanted to push the
problem of Liam onto G'doire and run away, but G'doire wasn't allowing
him to.
"He doesn't count, since I didn't rear him."
"That's not okay?" Apparently G'doire couldn't become attached to
strong people he hadn't made that way himself.
G'doire's tentacles reached out and lifted the Guide. "You're going
to help me. If you run, I'll chase you down and destroy you."
"Eep!"
The Guide's resentment of Liam was entirely his own creation, but
that obsession was now the very thing that prevented him from getting
away.
Why is this happening to me?! It's all Liam's fault! Damn you!
Damn you, Liam!
The Guide's desire for revenge had been renewed, and he and
G'doire plotted Liam's demise together.
***
Back on the Capital Planet, I finished my meeting with Prince Cleo
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and returned to my hotel. Waiting for me there was Rosetta, a huge smile
on her face.
"Welcome home, Darling!" She jumped on me, throwing her arms
around my neck and pressing herself to me.
I didn't give a crap about the huge boobs pressing against me or the
nice perfume she was wearing. This was mortifying. It just made me feel
itchy when people directed completely pure affection my way. "L-let go."
"Darling, listen to this!"
"I'll listen later. Right now, I'm going to my office, and I'll have no
visitors."
Guilt rose in me when Rosetta pulled away and hung her head sadly.
I wished she could restore the steel will she'd displayed in primary school.
I wanted her to recover her fierceness from those days. "I won't take long.
I'll hear what you have to say in thirty minutes, so get some tea ready and
wait for me."
Rosetta's expression immediately brightened. "I'll brew it right
away!"
She trotted off immediately. Was she going to make the tea herself?
You're going to be a duchess one day, you know. Should you really be
acting like that?!
As Rosetta ran off, her maid Ciel hurried to follow her.
Damn. I'd wanted to pick on Ciel a bit, but she'd rushed away.
Having watched this exchange, Amagi spoke up. "I will ensure no
one enters your office, Master."
"You can come in."
I headed to my office, where I found someone waiting for me. It was
Kukuri. He knelt before me, his subordinate Kunai—the one I'd named—
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beside him.
Kukuri waited for me to sit in my chair before giving me his report.
"Allow me to present my findings on the Autocracy. Marion's information
was not incorrect. Conflict has broken out across the Autocracy in the
course of deciding the next Autocrat."
I hadn't wanted to accept Marion's information at face value, so of
course I'd had Kukuri and his people investigate as well, but they'd come
up with the same intel.
"If we fought them now, we'd win," I mused. I was considering
ignoring the ceasefire and invading.
Then Kukuri said calmly, "You likely would, if you were only
fighting the Autocracy."
He seemed to think we had more to worry about than just the
Autocracy, so I assumed he had additional information.
I remained silent as he continued, "Following the Empire's war with
the Autocracy, several entities are looking to take advantage of its
weakened state. Among the Empire's neighbors, the movements of the
Parallel Federation are particularly blatant."
The Parallel Federation was a collection of independent intergalactic
nations that shared some common policies. They were similar to the
United Kingdom but had a presidential system of rulership. In other words,
they didn't have a noble class. They were also similar to the Rustwarr
Union, but less unified as a collective.
"I don't have any connections in the Parallel Federation."
It would be difficult to gather information there, since I didn't know
anyone from the federation personally. But there was very little chance
House Banfield would have any interactions with them.
"They are situated far from House Banfield's domain, so if a war
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broke out, it is unlikely you would be sent to fight," Kukuri explained.
"Especially since you just participated in the fighting against the G'doire
Autocracy."
Since I'd battled the Autocracy and distinguished myself in the war,
I'd likely get a pass in the next conflict. If I was told to fight, I planned to
refuse and simply offer funds and resources instead.
"Guess I'll be able to hole up at home for a bit," I said.
Now that my lengthy training period was finally over, I could do
whatever I wanted. I was getting pumped up about that, thinking my time
had finally come, when Amagi threw cold water on me.
"Indeed," she said. "It is finally time to return to our domain and
hold your wedding to Lady Rosetta."
"Huh...?"
"Now that your training is over, you are a full-fledged noble. Once
you marry Lady Rosetta you will ascend to the rank of duke. Your wish
will finally come true, Master."
I'd decided to marry Rosetta because I wanted to become a duke,
but now that the time had finally come, I wasn't sure how I felt about it.
To be more precise, I'd completely forgotten about that.
"R-right..." Yeah. I have to marry Rosetta.
I wanted the rank her family would bestow, but could I really marry
her as she was now? Would I be satisfied with the amiable Rosetta of
today, so different from the steel-willed Rosetta of the past? Regardless, if
I just tossed her aside my reputation in noble society would plummet. I'd
do myself worse damage than I'd done to Randy.
Amagi narrowed her eyes at my reaction. "You do not intend to
continue running away even now, do you? That will not be permitted."
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Kukuri and Kunai kept quiet, as if they wanted nothing to do with
this sensitive topic. Y-you guys! This is exactly when you should help your
master out!
But I couldn't defy Amagi either. "O-of course I don't! We'll get
married as soon as I go back. Right—when I go back!"
So much had happened during my training that I hadn't had the
chance to fool around at all, so I wanted to enjoy the single life a bit more.
I felt bad for Rosetta, but she'd just have to wait a few more years.
I'll come up with some excuse to stay on the Capital Planet and fool
around for that long.
As I was making that plan, Eulisia called me. I took the call to get
away from the awkward mood that had settled over the room and learned
that we had some unexpected visitors.
"Baron Exner and Lord Kurt are here, Lord Liam," said Eulisia.
"They want to meet with you. What would you like to do?"
Kurt and the baron?
***
I borrowed one of the hotel's reception rooms to meet with Baron
Exner and Kurt. The latter had finished his training and now served
officially in the military. Kurt was a tall, good-looking guy; he gave off a
clean impression, as always, but his expression was also dark today. As for
the baron, for some reason he got down on his hands and knees before me.
"Lord Liam, I am so sorry!"
As Baron Exner banged his head on the floor again and again in
apology, Kurt glared at his sister Ciel, who stood beside him. Ciel hung
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her head with tears in her eyes, as if she'd just been harshly scolded.
I wasn't sure how to react to Baron Exner's apology. "What's this
all about, Baron? Please take a seat for now."
Yet the baron refused to sit down on the sofa. "I cannot!" He
seemed truly panicked.
I turned to Kurt for an explanation, but he looked sincerely
apologetic as well. "I'm sorry, Liam."
"What happened? I won't know what you're apologizing for if you
won't tell me."
Kurt grimaced. Whatever had happened must have been pretty
serious.
"Ciel went behind your back to influence the composition of
Rosetta's security force."
"Uh...huh."
Ciel's shoulders twitched. She'd finally been discovered, eh? Er,
sorry, but I already knew about that. With everyone freaking out so much,
though, I couldn't exactly say that.
I mean, Ciel couldn't really do anything without it getting back to
me. She was a balm to my soul, in that she had the rebellious spirit Rosetta
lacked, whether or not she could actually accomplish anything with it. The
thing was, how had Kurt and Baron Exner found out about what she was
up to?
No. The bigger thing is...
"I understand that a mere apology cannot rectify the situation. I
swear to you that I will take full responsibility for this! It pains me to have
to ask, but...I humbly request that you allow Kurt to succeed my position.
I swear our family will pay reparations during Kurt's reign!"
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I didn't care about the baron stepping down as punishment or
whatever, but from how he was acting, I got the sense that he was going to
offer me his life as part of those reparations. I couldn't have that! Baron
Exner was one of my precious evil lord buddies!
Kurt glared at Ciel. "I can't believe you behaved so selfishly toward
a family that's done so much for us. Let me apologize as well, Liam. I'm
truly sorry. Ciel, you apologize too."
Ciel's eyes were red from crying, but she retained some of her
rebellious spirit. Good! That's what's great about you! I love that part of
you! Don't break, Ciel. Don't break on me now!
I was thoroughly relieved to see that Ciel's spirit hadn't yet broken,
but Kurt had seemingly already decided what her punishment would be.
"If you'll forgive her, Liam, I plan to disown her and send her
somewhere far away. If you won't forgive her, then...I leave her
punishment to you."
You're going to send her away?! Of all the women around me, none
is as soothing as Ciel! Chino's in a different category, and Ellen's my
student. N-no... Is there really no one else as good as Ciel?! I shuddered at
the terrifying personnel problem I was about to face.
"Kurt, are you really okay with that? She's your sister, isn't she?"
You love her, right? You'll beg me to give her a lighter sentence,
won't you? I was hoping for a beautiful display of the siblings' love.
It seemed Kurt was just too pissed this time around, though. "I think
her punishment should be that much harsher because she's my sister. It's
all right... I'll abide by what you decide. I won't begrudge you it."
Come on, fight a little harder! You should value your precious
sister's life a little more! What do I do? How can I get out of this?
As I started to panic, Rosetta—who'd been present and listening to
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the conversation—pleaded, "Darling, please allow me to ask you as well...
At least spare Ciel's life. I believe I bear responsibility for this too, since it
was my duty to teach her. I beg you, please give her one last chance!"
Rosetta was begging for Ciel's life, but I hadn't planned to take it in
the first place! What I wanted was for Ciel to remain by my side, but how
could I justify that? I didn't think I could satisfy Kurt or Baron Exner
without a proper reason.
I walked up to Baron Exner. "Baron...how much will it take?" I
asked.
"You mean reparations? I would have to discuss the matter with
you."
"No, that's not what I mean. I mean, how much will it take for you
to forgive Ciel?"
"Huh?" Baron Exner seemed unable to comprehend what I was
saying.
"I'll forgive her," I explained, "and our family will continue to
educate her properly. It would damage my reputation as well to throw her
out like this. So how much will it take for you to accept that solution? Five
thousand? Ten thousand?"
Of course, I was using "thousands" to indicate much larger numbers,
and the baron understood that. "Huh? No, we can't accept money! We
should be the ones paying you!"
Just shut up, accept it, and leave Ciel here!
"How about twenty thousand, then? Ah—and I have several
connections in the military, so why don't I ask them to look after Kurt for
me?"
Baron Exner shook his head again and again. "No, no, no, we can't
accept it. Please allow us to take Ciel back and properly apologize to you."
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"Ugh... Fine. I'll give you fifty thousand right now, and I'll ask the
army to look after Kurt. In fact, I'll demand it! I'll have him promoted two
ranks... You'll see!"
"Don't say something so scary!" Kurt cut in. Soldiers were
promoted two ranks upon death, so many of them thought such a
promotion was a bad omen.
"Fine, fine. Three ranks, then. Any more than that would be difficult
even for me."
"Where is this coming from, Liam?! You don't need to promote me!
It's our duty to bring Ciel back with us and take responsibility for what
she's done!"
Ciel was baffled too, so Rosetta admonished her, "Listen, Ciel.
Darling is kind, so he'll forgive what you've done. But banishment would
be a normal punishment in a situation like this. You should be aware that
your actions justify that penalty."
"Y-yes."
Ciel didn't really seem to accept that, but she had to agree with
anything Rosetta told her. If she had a true change of heart after this,
though, then I really would banish her. Please, hold onto that rebellious
spirit of yours.
"Is that acceptable, Baron?" I pressed him. "We'll call this matter
settled, then."
"If that's really what you prefer, Lord Liam." Baron Exner finally
accepted my proposal, though he seemed to have trouble understanding it.
I could finally relax, but just how had Ciel's actions come to light,
anyway? If someone was trying to take my fun from me, I wasn't going to
let them get away with it.
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***
Having moved to another room, the three members of House Exner
were finally able to breathe a sigh of relief, thanks to Liam's magnanimous
handling of the situation.
As Ciel cried, Baron Exner asked her, "Just what is it about Lord
Liam you don't like? I know he's young, but he's a sterling example of
nobility. What were you thinking, causing such a man trouble?"
Seated on a couch, Ciel clenched her fists in her lap. "I'm sorry..."
Father doesn't understand at all. He doesn't doubt Liam
whatsoever. He doesn't understand that he's a villain!
His outward appearance was so respectable that everyone held him
up as a noble among nobles, but Ciel knew what he was really like. Liam
had exposed his true nature to her himself.
He's the type to increase taxes just because he wants to see his
subjects suffer. Everyone who calls him a great ruler is being fooled!
Ciel's frustration must've shown on her face, because Baron Exner
heaved a sigh.
Watching the two of them silently, Kurt seemed to make up his
mind. "Father, since it's come to this, I'll get a sex change and serve
House Banfield in Ciel's place. It's just too rude to Liam to leave things as
they are."
Ciel's eyes snapped open at Kurt's sudden suggestion. What are you
even saying, Brother?! Father must be as shocked as... H-huh?
She had thought Kurt's statement would baffle their father, but he
didn't seem to have taken it seriously. He must've thought it was just
nonsense Kurt came up with out of panic, so he only responded with a
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casual objection: "You're engaged to Princess Cecilia, aren't you?"
"Err, well, umm..." Kurt struggled to respond.
Baron Exner smiled wryly. "I understand how desperate you must
be to make things up to Lord Liam, but you're my heir, a soldier of the
Empire, and a knight. You must focus on your own duties."
"Yes... You're right."
Taking in the pained smile on Kurt's face, Ciel saw through him.
No, Father! Brother was serious about that just now! He really wants to
have a sex change and switch places with me!
Having been at her beloved brother's side for so long, Ciel could tell
exactly what he was thinking.
Kurt turned to Ciel and looked at her more coldly than ever before.
"Ciel, you really must understand how fortunate you are. It's a true
privilege to learn at Liam's side."
Envy burned in Kurt's eyes. Ciel felt as if she could almost hear
more words come out of his mouth, like he was saying, I'm jealous of you.
Switch places with me!
Knowing she was probably right about Kurt's feelings, she sweated
with anxiety, her mouth flapping open and closed like a fish's. What
happened, Brother?! Why are you even more obsessed with him, after not
seeing him for years?! I thought your feelings would fade!
Kurt had hardly had any opportunities to see Liam since Count
Banfield had been sent off as magistrate. Ciel had thought the strange
fever afflicting Kurt would diminish, but she'd been wrong. Not only that,
but now her beloved brother was giving her a cold look full of envy.
He was so close to me, but now I feel like Brother's getting farther
and farther away.
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As Ciel sobbed, Baron Exner put a hand on the back of his neck. "In
any case, it seems you will be remaining with Count Banfield, Ciel. I'm
relieved to see that Lord Liam is so fond of you."
His next comment was tragically careless.
"Maybe he'll end up taking you as a concubine one day," he said
with a laugh.
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Beside the baron and out of his eyeline, Kurt looked stunned. Then
he seemed to realize the look on his face was odd. His expression grew
conflicted, like the masculine and feminine qualities inside him were
struggling for dominance.
At that point, Ciel cried even harder. Come back, Brother! It's not
too late! Don't become my sister!
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