NOVEL NEXT chapter 33
33 – First Date (4)
The man’s unconscious muttering seemed to have reached the man’s ears.
“Hmm? Who are you to know me?”
IrLP took the guy’s question instead.
“The head of the four major dukes. There is no noble who doesn’t know the Chester family’s duchess.”
“hahahaha, it’s good to hear, Captain Justiha!”
The man laughed out loud like a good friend. I was able to guess the whole thing after listening to the explanation of Ir Elfi.
‘This makes no sense.’
He was unmistakably a character in the original story and a strong supporter of Zeke Harun.
The identity of the man is the 2nd Bartlante Chester.
In the Irelpi raid, she was the NPC who helped Siegharun the most to decapitate her.
‘Even so, I would have thought that when I was young, I would look like a taiyaki with my ancestors.’
The chronology of the original work is the point where a considerable amount of time has passed since the fall of the empire. Therefore, his appearance was also that of an elderly middle-aged man.
On the other hand, his current appearance is enough to believe that the original Bartlante Chester of the mental world has popped out of nowhere.
Then Bartlante turned to me.
“But my experience is short, so I don’t know the name of the gentleman next to me. Could you introduce me?”
“This is the Marquis of Nephi Alteon. He was awarded the title relatively recently.”
I bowed my head as a greeting. Then Bartlante, happily oblivious, extends his hand.
“Huh? I’ve heard rumors. Recently, His Majesty’s favored subject! Shamefully, I’m an ugly boy who dares to inherit the name of my predecessor. Please take good care of me.”
“Ah… Yes. I am. Thank you very much.”
Bartlante’s hands were huge. Even if it’s just a light handshake, I feel a lot of pressure.
That moment.
A strange reaction appeared to me while shaking hands.
Jurruk.
“… Huh?”
The man was greatly taken aback by my behavior and apologized.
“Marquis Alteon? I-I’m sorry! I often hear that I’m not good at controlling my power… But it’s strange. I’ve never had anything like this…”
“No, Little Duke. This is not because of that…”
I wiped my eyes with my sleeve, trying to dissuade the greatly flustered Bartlante.
Incessantly flowing tears cover my face. A mixed feeling of sadness and longing surged in his chest.
At that time, Mirren, who was staring at me with mysterious golden eyes, quietly added:
“These are not Nephi’s tears.”
“Mirren? That means…”
“Yes, it must be the other side’s feelings.”
It was as she said.
Perhaps, unconsciously, uncontrollable emotions raged at the same appearance as his predecessor.
I had to wipe my tears with my sleeve three times before I could finally calm down and face him.
“It looked ugly. Don’t mind it, it’s not the Duke’s fault.”
Listening to my words, Bartlante scratched the top of his head with a puzzled expression.
“Hmm… I don’t know why, but I’ll figure it out first. I unintentionally interrupted the three of you outing.”
“As Neffy said, it’s not the Duke’s fault. Never mind.”
“If that’s the case, then I understand. I’ll let you in, so enjoy yourself. Captain Justiha will see you again at the imperial palace soon.”
“Take a look, Little Duke.”
Bartlante greeted us briefly and then turned and disappeared.
I didn’t waste too much time, but somehow it felt like a storm had raged.
She asked only after her back was completely covered by Bartlante.
“Neffi. Why did you do that all of a sudden?”
“… They looked alike. No, they were at the same level that you could believe in reincarnation.”
It was an answer with the subject omitted, but Ir Elfi understood it perfectly.
“Rumor has it that it resembles the portrait of the first Duke of Chester… But is it that much the same?”
“Yeah. There’s nothing different from Netion Peace’s memory.”
To say it resembles a portrait is a painting from 500 years ago. No wonder she doesn’t realize it.
To think that Taiyaki of the predecessor inherited the name of the founding contributor, and eventually subdued Illelpi, who destroyed the empire.
What kind of a joke of fate is this?
‘Well, now that Mirren is awake, that kind of future won’t come forever.’
I deliberately cheered up the atmosphere by shouting brightly.
“Don’t be so mean, let’s go get something to eat! Does Mirren want anything to eat? Her brother will go and rob the palace.”
“Hmm. I do have something I want to eat.”
Mirren smiles dubiously.
“I’ll make you eat anything.”
“Then… I’d like to have dinner at Nefi’s mansion.”
“Huh? My house?”
I was a little bewildered by the unexpected designation.
“Can’t you?”
“I can’t! Let’s go now.”
It’s rare for me to eat at a mansion because I usually skip three meals a day, but I know that the chef’s skills are top-notch.
In hindsight, Mirren’s choice can be seen as extremely reasonable.
“Whoops, I’m looking forward to tonight.”
For a moment, we wondered about the meaning of Mirren’s dark monologue, and we looked for a carriage to go home.
On the way home from sitting in the carriage, I blankly watch the evening scenery of Eldrian pass by. In the meantime, a question came to me out of nowhere.
‘Then why did the Duke of Chester, who rules the frontier, come to the Islands? I heard that Chester supported the system in the Great Commonwealth, but…’
It’s hard to guess what Batlante’s intentions are. I couldn’t even recognize her even though it was a character in her original story, so I wonder if it’s a puzzle.
Even knowledge of the future of the already twisted original is not helpful.
After all, in order to collect information, you have no choice but to run on your feet.
‘Something like a socialite… Should I really go out?’
I really hate it.
Should we be close by forcibly concocting meaningless stories?
Isn’t it that the villainous young lady who often appears in romance novels is arguing with you?
Then, twisting the end of the villainous young lady and filming a romance?
I then shook my head.
‘No, this is going too far.’
With the mindset of a hikikomori that was deeply cut into the body, we were able to safely arrive at the mansion.
◇
“It’s really good!”
Miren expresses exclamations lively.
The dishes that came one after another were fragrant and delicious.
Ir Elfi, who could only feel her sweetness, would not know the difference between jjambab and high-grade steak, but Mirren was different.
At her cute compliment, the chef didn’t know what to do and smiled happily.
“It’s because I only ate grass at the residence of Marquis Justiha, so I really like it. Wouldn’t you like to live with my brother?”
“Say something that makes sense, Neffi!”
“Or… Does Ir Elfi cook there too? If so, hey, I understand she’s still this thin…”
“Keck! Keck, Keck! Coke, Coke!”
“”Mirren?!””
I quickly approached Mirren, who was coughing loudly, and helped her swallow lukewarm water.
Fortunately, it worked, Mirren was able to calm down and stabilize her breathing.
“Ugh…”
Mirren looked at Ir Elfi resentfully with her watery round eyes.
“Well, maybe I can just live with Nefi.”
“Mi, Mirren?! What do you mean by that!”
Illelfi is appalled and pursues Mirren. However, Mirren’s eyes were still full of complaints about her Elfie.
“Woo-wook, I won’t tell you. I think I’ll keep thinking about it.”
Mirren expressed disgust. At this, I am filled with anger.
“Your Elf b*tch!!! What the hell did you feed Mirren!”
“The only thing I’ve tried to do is make Mi-eum myself sometimes!”
“I tried to keep him alive, but someone is trying to poison him. Damn you!”
No, someone should notice.
This woman sits down on her own route to become a annihilator.
Someone tried to stop it and rolled while being sliced by a sword.
Are you trying to destroy the world’s kitchen instead of an empire?
“Ha, that’s it. Let’s move on to the sound topic. What was the talk at the theater today? You said that His Majesty’s escort might not be yours now.”
“I see.”
Ir Elfi nodded her head calmly.
“Battlante Chester. You saw it earlier? He’s a candidate to replace me as the new leader of Nelfrugia.”
“It’s sudden. I don’t know why.”
“No. Rather, it’s justified. It’s like I’ve made a series of big mistakes.”
“A mistake?”
Even if the strongest person in the world makes a mistake, how big is it?
She talked about her situation quietly and quietly.
“Starting with a scandal, the vice-captain’s attempted murder of the imperial family, and the crisis of the system. It all happened under my command. And in the end, I was seduced by the enemies and left the position completely empty.”
She said that when I was tracking down Charles, I was forcibly transferred out of the system through a disposable portal in the imperial palace.
In other words, the head of the knights who were supposed to protect the emperor and the system had left the front line.
At that time, the helper who appeared like luck was the Duke of Chester.
She said that the emperor was frightened, thinking that even the other dukes harbored resentment, but he sighed in relief.
“So, sooner or later, I will also attend a hearing by right of no confidence.”
“By the way, who exercises the right of no confidence?”
“They say Bartlante Chester did it himself. I think it makes sense.”
IrLP is consistent with a marked attitude. I couldn’t understand how she looked like that.
“I don’t know much, but I do know that in an aristocratic society, few things are as important as honor. Aren’t you too docile?”
“Even if my rumors go bad, my family’s business doesn’t have a big impact. In the first place, my relationship was narrow. More than anything, now that Mirren has awakened, I don’t have any reason to look after Her Majesty.”
In the tone of the elf, the transcendence came out.
‘Is it a burnout?’
Certainly, considering the actions of Illelpi’s uncharacteristic worker bugs so far, it’s understandable.
Maybe you want to fill the gap of 8 years with your younger brother.
“That’s right. Well, since I’ve been unemployed, it’s boring, but it’s comfortable.”
“Can you please stop treating me the same way?”
“Niee…”
I answered in a dry voice and turned my head. Clearly hot, she clears her temper and moves her utensils.
‘Hmm, if I were the emperor, I’d protect Irelpi somehow.’
It is to receive the security service of the strongest person in the world. It is reasonable to keep the position of leader by mobilizing power or financial resources.
It’s not like Battlente Chester’s ability, but the ILP was too strong to be used as a comparison target.
It was Mirren’s cheerful thank you that brought me back to reality after I had been looking into the future in many ways.
“Enjoy your meal, brother Nefi.”
“I think you’d better eat a little more…”
“I’m already full.”
Mirren stood up from her seat looking really satisfied. Then she covered her mouth and she held back her yawn with an exaggerated gesture.
“Ha-am~. I’m really sleepy, maybe because I’ve been walking around a lot today.”
“Okay, let’s go home.”
Mirren shook her head at Ir Elfi’s kind invitation.
“I’m so sleepy, I want to go to sleep right now. Brother Nefi, is it all right?”
“Of course! You can use it wherever you want in the mansion.”
Mirren replied as if she had been waiting.
“Then go to Nefi’s brother’s room.”
“Yes, sleeping together is good…”
“What do you mean by Mirren? At fourteen you’re already a lady!”
As I was nodding calmly with a hesitant face, IrLP’s powerful tackle pierced my ear.
Mirren spoke in an incoherent manner, still feeling drowsy.
“Then, Elfi-nee should sleep with you.”
“What?”
“Mirren…?”
“Elfi’s sister’s mission was originally to watch Nefi’s older brother… Yes, this is her sister’s mission.”
I thought I was losing my soul at Mirren’s gibberish.
‘In the same bed with Iruelpi?’
Is this correct?
No matter how much Mirren asks, this isn’t a big deal…
When I was arguing in my heart, the first to make a decision was Illelpi.
“Whew, yes. Then.”
“Huh? Ir Elfi?”
“Huh? Elfi sister?”
‘No. Mirena, why are you surprised…?’
Miren’s focus was again blurred by my doubtful eyes.
I think it was because of her mood.
“What are you doing?”
Irelfi gestured casually.
“Huh?”
“Mirren is sleepy. She has to go to bed. She has to take a bath.”
“Uh, uh, yes, yes… Yes.”
Consistently acting like an idiot compared to the acting power of an Irelpi who behaves normally. I was confused by her uncharacteristically calm demeanor.
‘What is it? What’s going on?’
I had no choice but to make my way to the bedroom, following the creaking steps of a broken machine.
When I finished using the bathroom and changed into comfortable clothes, Ir Elfi and Mirren were already tidying up my hair in the bedroom.
Looking at the two sisters’ dazzling appearances, I became hardened like a stone in an instant.
Each of IrLP’s movements as she gently brushed Mirren’s hair was full of mana that charmed people. I forgot the situation and endlessly looked across the Irlp.
“If you don’t comb properly, your hair will become curly?”
“Yeah… Ok.”
“…”
Her warmth shimmered around her in her gentle and calm words and actions.
The lightly damp hair flows with the luster of the moon’s firearms, creating a dreamy impression.
It wasn’t until after Mirren finished tidying her hair that Ir Elfi recognized me standing tall near her door.
“Ah, Nefi. You’re here quickly.”
“Is that so…?”
After answering stupidly without my knowledge, I clicked my lips in an unnatural tone.
“Me. I. That. Just. Here. I will sleep on the sofa. It’s spacious. It’s comfortable.”
As soon as he finished talking, he dived into the sofa as if running away. Lie down straight away looking at the back of the sofa.
“Ha ha.”
Irfi saw me like that and knocked on her bed.
“Neffi.”
“Why?”
“Look here.”
“Mmm.”
When I turn my head, what I see are two sisters sitting on a spacious bed.
The feeling that Elfi is getting tired of Mirren’s eyes as her second child has been conveyed.
She said.
“Just to be considerate, don’t do it there. Come here. Why is the landlord so sloppy?”
“No, I’m really comfortable with this…”
“I don’t say it twice.”
Resolute momentum of IrLP. It is more like a declaration that contains unspoken pressure that is difficult to counter.
I obeyed with a softly crawling voice.
“… Ok.”
After a while, except for the light of about one candle, darkness came to the room.
We lay side by side under the covers with Mirren between us.
Still, sleep was just a preference for me. I wondered if I would be able to fall asleep with my beating heart.
Awesome. Awesome.
As I vaguely closed and opened my eyes, ELR spoke to me in whispers.
“Neffi.”
“Huh?”
“Thank you for today. Mirren seems to be satisfied too.”
Elfi gently caressed Mirren’s hair with the tips of her fingernails.
“Ugh…”
Light, regular breathing suggested that Mirren had boarded a train with her dreamland as her destination.
Since many incidents happened in just one day, I must have been tired.
“That I enjoyed more.”
“I’m glad.”
Illelpy laughed at the food.
Certainly she shows off her pleasant face more often than she used to.
It was a positive change.
Suddenly she turned her head towards her.
A lake that reflects the stars embroidered in the clear night sky like a mirror existed right next to it.
She whispered softly.
“Neffi.”
“Yes.”
“Can’t you sleep?”
“A little bit.”
“Is that so?”
“How are you?”
“I don’t know.”
She ended her conversation vaguely and was silent.
A point at which the silent darkness weighs down the body for a long time.
Elfi’s whisper squeezed her lips.
“Neffi.”
“Yes.”
“It’s the first time I’ve slept next to someone since growing up.”
“Maybe me too.”
“I see.”
Elfi pulled the corner of her mouth gently.
A distance where skin can touch even a little toss and turn. Her situation facing her in her bed was so surreal that she felt strange.
I want to read the mind of Irlp, who is not disturbed even in such a yard.
I wonder if he doesn’t even care about me.
Around the time when her strange emotions filled up like a puddle around her chest.
She called my name.
“Neffi.”
“Yes.”
“Can I hold your hand?”
She muffled her excitement.
◇
Meanwhile, the central plaza of Eldrian had just reached midnight. A man staggered down the street, drunk to commemorate a successful day’s business.
“Eherai~ Drunk~ Drunk with moonlight.”
A bandit, a bandit.
Maybe it was because I drank too much. Yaoui suddenly attacked, and the man hurriedly entered a narrow alleyway.
Someone finishes the vigilance of Bolsera Yoritori Saju and lowers his pants halfway.
Her man’s urine hit the wall in a parabolic arc and splattered here and there.
“Ugh… Huh?”
I thought there was no one there, but there is something that looks like a human figure.
Even though I deliberately entered a narrow and dark street corner that even vagrants wouldn’t enter!
In-young collapsed, leaning against the wall as her back.
It seems that she wasn’t even witnessed until she urinated… She probably fell asleep while drinking until her nose was crooked.
The man lifted his pants up to his waist and approached In-young.
“Ibosch. It’s cold weather, but I’m freezing to death while doing this here.”
“…”
“Hey, this is one, how much do you have to drink in this weather and in a place like this…”
The man was in a good mood today. Not only did the business go well, but the alcohol was also generous, and the drunkenness rose happily.
So she decided to do a bigger favor than she usually had in mind.
“I’ll move you to a warm place.”
Moan.
It was the most regretful experience of her man’s life.
“What’s so hard… Hmm? What’s this soggy thing and it’s soggy…”
Just in time, a light came on in the house next door to her, and the light accidentally reached the place where her man was.
“Hee, hee hee hee hee!?”
The man threw away the person he was supporting and ran without looking back.
It was embarrassing. It was scary. I was terribly afraid.
Her man’s hands were smeared with fragments of human intestines, and the thick, muddy blood smelled rotten all the way down to his shoulder blades.
“Oh… b*tch, b*tch, b*tch…!”
The morning of the second day.
The central plaza trembled in fear at the body of a man whose head had been decapitated and his whole body had been dismembered.
May a woman testify.
It is said that the identity of her body was a pickpocket who stole stolen goods from the central square.
At the time, the woman’s testimony turned out to be true, centered around the witnesses in the central square. What drove a wedge into the authenticity of her corpse was the reaction of a man brought in by the guards.
He was another pickpocket who barely survived being assaulted by his victims.
He committed suicide a few days after seeing the mutilated headless body.