"Clementine, why are you in such a hurry to leave? My MP isn't enough to teleport to other towns. Can't we just rest here for a day?" Bel, still holding the blunt knife, caught up to Iri, who had already turned to leave, voicing her opinion.
"Didn't you see that they don't welcome us? Hehe, these humans, aren't they essentially the same as those Beastmen? Compared to them, I actually find those straightforward Beastmen more lovable. Let's go, stop complaining." Iri gave the Dragon Queen a meaningful look, clearly directing her words at her.
Tsk... This is your last chance to cling to Nazarick. It just depends on whether you can wake up.
Upon hearing Iri's words, Draudillon's face instantly soured. No! She couldn't just let her go! She absolutely couldn't let her go!
Although she still harbored doubts about her identity, the Dragon Kingdom's current state could not withstand another invasion like the Beast Kingdom. What's more... they might be even harder to deal with than the Beast Kingdom.
"Please wait! Clementine!" The Dragon Queen cried out anxiously. Oh! Oh! Even honorifics came out. It seems this Dragon Queen isn't stupid after all. It wasn't in vain that she gave her so many hints. If she couldn't even grasp this, then she shouldn't be a king. Of course... that Big Cat is an exception.
The soldiers and Adventurers looked at their Queen in disbelief, wondering why she would want to salvage this unreasonable person. After all, they didn't know Iri's identity; they only knew that this person was an Adventurer their Queen had paid to hire.
"Does Her Majesty the Queen have any further instructions?" Iri stopped, without turning back. In fact, Iri already had a triumphant, scheming expression on her face.
"Clementine, please forgive the rudeness of my subordinates. To let the benefactor who saved my country leave like this would damage the Dragon Kingdom's reputation. So... Clementine, please give me an opportunity to apologize and express my gratitude to you." The Dragon Queen said respectfully to Iri. The maid beside the Dragon Queen also bowed respectfully to Iri, just like her Queen.
Hmph! Plan accomplished... Iri was quite pleased. Just like that... under the extremely confused gazes of the guards and Adventurers, Iri swaggered back and re-entered the city.
Next was celebration time. After all, the people inside the city didn't know what had just happened outside the city. They only knew that the Beastman troops had retreated, wouldn't return for a short time, and the Dragon Kingdom had won.
Everyone breathed a sigh of relief. The common people shouted the Dragon Queen's name and spontaneously began to celebrate. Was this also a way to indirectly boost the Dragon Queen's popularity?
Well! Let the common people celebrate properly. After all, after receiving the news that the first three cities had been captured, the common people were also very nervous and afraid that it would be their turn next. Now that the crisis was resolved, it was indeed worth celebrating.
However, facing this spectacle, the Dragon Queen looked rather awkward, with a look of helplessness on her face. She simply waved to the common people who were shouting her name.
Draudillon's heart was extremely conflicted right now. The one who saved her country was not Theocracy, but the Ainz Ooal Gown Magic Kingdom, which had appeared out of nowhere, and the one who came was the Princess of this inexplicable country.
More importantly, after saving this country, the Princess immediately became disappointed with it, and even explicitly stated that the Beastmen, who should have been the evil side, were more "lovable" than humans. Coupled with the Princess's previous attitude towards the Beastman King and generals, it was clearly sending a very ominous signal.
She... or the country she represented, leaned more towards the Beastman side! Draudillon had noticed a very crucial detail. In all the previous conversations, when the Princess mentioned the human side, she said, 'You humans!'
This way, however, what she and her attendant said just now was 'these humans,' a phrasing that felt inappropriate even if it was meant to draw a line.
However, upon closer thought, she had said before the battle that the reason the Ainz Ooal Gown Magic Kingdom extended a helping hand was for 'ideals and friendship.'
This indicates... it's very likely that the Ainz Ooal Gown Magic Kingdom is also a multi-racial country like the Dragon Kingdom. The Princess had explicitly stated, even before revealing her identity, that she would not allow herself to do anything to purge her own people, as it was against her father's ideals.
From this point, it could basically be confirmed. However, what the Princess said just now was, 'They, humans...' This means that perhaps... the Princess and her attendant are not even human... but a different race!
This could explain why she possessed such powerful combat ability, and also why she handled the Lion King in that manner. So, she wasn't a divine being, but a different race!
But then there's an even stranger and contradictory matter: what Aunt Conna said earlier, that the Princess might be one of the Six Great Gods. But aren't the Six Great Gods all human?
Hmm... thinking about it that way, what Aunt Conna said was indeed just speculation!
No... now is not the time to consider these things! The top priority now is to stabilize this Princess and find out the origins of the Ainz Ooal Gown Magic Kingdom! Ignoring that declaration earlier was truly the biggest mistake! Otherwise, things wouldn't be so passive now!
Draudillon furtively glanced at Clementine, who was walking beside her. She saw her casually looking around, and when her gaze met with the joyful crowd, she would politely nod and smile in return.
She also noticed that the eye patch, which had been moved up earlier, was now back in its original position, covering her left eye. It seemed her True Magic Eye couldn't be used for extended periods.
Otherwise, her insincere apology just now would surely have been exposed! The True Magic Eye... a very troublesome ability. She must be extremely careful of her ability when interacting with her from now on!
Before long, Draudillon led Clementine to her temporary residence in Norman City. Speaking of a temporary residence... it was actually just the best inn in Norman City. The Dragon Kingdom's finances didn't have spare money to build any temporary residences in other cities. She just hoped this Princess wouldn't mind!
"I apologize, Clementine, we can only prepare such a place for your rest," Draudillon said humbly to Clementine.
"It's fine, isn't this quite good? It's much better than where I stayed in the Slane Theocracy." Clementine didn't seem to mind much. Fortunately... Draudillon breathed a sigh of relief.
"Hmm... it's also better than my room," Clementine's attendant said, still holding the blunt knife she had been instructed to find earlier.
"Bel, why are you still holding that knife?" Clementine glanced at her, asking in confusion.
"Didn't you, Clementine, tell me to find it... and you didn't tell me where to put it away," the attendant said with a wronged expression.
"Alright! Return it to where you got it. If you borrowed it, remember to thank the person. Oh, and on your way back, please buy me some delicious fruit." Clementine said, casually tossing her a gold coin. She said 'buy fruit'... yet there was clearly a large plate of fruit already laid out in the inn room.
"Oh! I'll go right away!" However, the attendant seemed to not notice the fruit on the table at all, or perhaps she had noticed but hadn't reacted to anything being amiss, and just ran out. This was clearly an excuse to send her away, wasn't it?
Just after the attendant ran out, Clementine finally sighed and slowly said,
"That child was sent by the Slane Theocracy to monitor me."
"Eh??" Draudillon was a little confused. What did that mean?
"Well! There's a reason for it, but please rest assured, Your Majesty the Queen, I am not from the Slane Theocracy." Clementine waved her hand, seemingly reluctant to explain the reason.
She had come with a letter from the Bishop of Theocracy earlier, which was indeed genuine and not a fake. Now she was saying that the attendant who ran out was sent by the Slane Theocracy to monitor her, and had nothing to do with her... The reasons behind this were hard to imagine.
"Let's not talk about this for now. While that child isn't here, let's talk about the main business, Your Majesty the Queen," Clementine said.
"..." Draudillon nodded. She said it was the main business, but there were so many things before her. Which one was the main business she was referring to?
"So, as I said before, the reason I came uninvited was 'ideals and friendship.' I suppose Your Majesty the Queen can guess that the ideals of the Ainz Ooal Gown Magic Kingdom are consistent with those of your Dragon Kingdom, right?" Clementine asked.
"At least... in terms of racial coexistence, they are consistent," Draudillon replied. The only consistency she could think of was this one.
"Hehe! Your Majesty the Queen is quite clever. It could be considered consistent... or not," Clementine said something very strange.
"Clementine... what do you mean by that?" Draudillon was very confused.
"Let me ask you instead, does your Dragon Kingdom's racial coexistence include Beastmen?" Clementine asked.
"..." Draudillon didn't answer. This question no longer needed an answer.
"The Ainz Ooal Gown Magic Kingdom includes them, you know. No matter what race, as long as they show us friendliness and obedience, we will accept them," Clementine said.
"Let... let my people coexist with those man-eating alien race, I... I can't do it." Draudillon noticed her voice was trembling. She was afraid.
Of course, she wasn't afraid of the concept of coexistence that Clementine spoke of, but rather another word she used in her speech just now: obedience...
Yes, this might be the true purpose of the Ainz Ooal Gown Magic Kingdom! They want the Dragon Kingdom to obey them! To submit to their feet.
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