My Wife the Empress is Becoming Frightening

31. At least for him

Episode 31

The boss of Abrarum, the largest criminal organization in the empire and one of the best on the continent, Theo Clemenza was drinking poisoned wine, unable to sleep even though it was late at night.

“Whoa… … It’s going crazy.”

From the day Diarose collapsed, Theo Clemenza could not sleep without drinking. Living like that every day, it’s no wonder that the body becomes numb to alcohol.

I couldn’t fall asleep unless I drank to the point of losing my mind, so I searched for stronger alcohol, and after repeating it, I began to drink something that could not be called alcohol.

Nevertheless, Theo Clemenza’s spirit was intact. He was the one who was weekly from the beginning.

When I was young, there was a time when I felt proud of being strong against alcohol, but now I feel resentful of my body for not reacting too much to alcohol.

He took a long breath and murmured to himself.

“Where should I find more A-rankers…? … .”

To be precise, I would have to say that he was a former A-ranker. If you can make a living through adventure, there is no reason to become a servant of a criminal organization.

Besides, if you’re an A ranker, unless you’re a hukou with a fairly dull sense of money, you’ll be able to accumulate huge amounts of money if you decide to go around defeating monsters.

This meant that there was no reason to accept Abrarum’s offer unless he was expelled from the guild for committing a crime or retired due to injury or old age.

“That’s why I painstakingly gathered people with problems from all over the continent… … .”

The number itself is very small because they are top-level adventurers, but if you turn your eyes to all continents, you can find those with defects.

Thanks to such people who were gathered and invested boldly, Abrarum was able to equip itself with power beyond the level of a criminal organization.

Of course, even that was all a thing of the past.

“That damn monster… !”

Theo Clemenza thought that everything was messed up by the monster that the empress had secretly brought in to strengthen the imperial power.

Due to the downfall of Diarose, not only Abrarum, but the Empire’s underworld itself has greatly shrunk.

The reason why Abrarum, the strongest of the underworld forces, was the most important source of funds as the first target was simple. That monster had warned the entire underworld of the Empire.

If you run wild, you’ll end up like this.

“How much do you think I invested to keep it there!”

Theo Clemenza, pissed off by himself thinking to himself, threw down the glass he was drinking and shouted.

In fact, although losing the casino itself was painful, it was a loss that could be restored over time.

However, losing a large number of combatants who had been deployed to protect the source of funds and show off their power at once could not be solved even with Abrarum’s huge amount of money and time.

Thanks to this, even if he couldn’t win until the monster came, Abrarum’s power, which was evaluated as being able to compete head-to-head with the Imperial Knights with its own force, was greatly weakened.

When the strongest power weakens, it is only natural that the wild beasts who covet its position will crawl out.

Before long, bloody winds will blow in the dark side of the Empire. Theo Clemenza wasn’t sure if Abrarum would be able to survive in that bloody wind.

“What way… … .”

“there is. That is why I came.”

Theo Clemenza’s head, which had been weakly lowered, suddenly went up. A woman and a knight in black armor appeared in the room where she was clearly alone.

“… … Angelica Pax?”

“oh. It’s an honor, Boss of Abrarum. I am thrilled that you recognize me even though I have never met you.”

Angelica Pax’s gracefully leaning figure would have caught the attention of any man, but instead of looking at Theo Clemenza’s breasts, he pointed out the wide-open door and asked:

“There must have been escorts?”

“I killed him.”

Theo Clemenza, who saw her words and the blood that flowed into the room beyond the threshold, realized that there were only a handful of A-rankers left, two more.

I really wanted to cry, but crying is something I have to live with. After blowing away the alcohol in his body with his aura, he continued to ask questions.

“What are you guys? Why did you come here? Haven’t you heard of our Abrarum having a grudge against the Moonlight Troupe?”

Even if he was the boss, he didn’t know every detail unless it was a major incident, but it didn’t make sense that he wouldn’t have known if something happened with a place as big as the Moonlight Troupe.

In the first place, I didn’t even know that the Moonlight Troupe had this much power.

As expected, Angelica Pax did not come to work for the Moonlight Company. Strictly speaking, I didn’t come here as a dancer in a theater troupe.

“Not me, but haven’t you been in close contact with us? I know you bought the Miracle of Blue Green from us, too.”

“… … “You are one of them?”

They are said to be them, but even Theo Clemenza did not know their exact identity.

I couldn’t find out even with Abrarum’s information power, so I tried to ask the assassin blood relative Shika and the black snake, who have a twin with them, but the request itself was rejected because I couldn’t tell them all.

I didn’t even try to find out after that because I judged that it wasn’t usually dangerous if Shika and the black snake gave the same warning.

All of the transactions I’ve done so far have been in writing and through agents.

“yes. We are the ones to thank for supplying your organization with the blue-green miracle.”

“They say they are grateful? Don’t be funny! How much did I lose from that damn drug… !”

As if the Empress had waited for the Diarose to collapse, she began a massive crackdown on drugs, including the Miracle of Blue Green.

In the past, it was a crackdown that was there but not there, but this time it was different.

“The number of addicts has plummeted because of that seaweed or something!”

“Ah, it’s called Sunrise Pool, right? They say they came in large quantities from a place called Meyer Kingdom.”

It could be said that the damage that Abrarum had to bear right after Diarose was destroyed was astronomical thanks to the determination and robbing, including treatment and prevention of addiction.

However, Angelica Pax said in an attitude that she didn’t like that kind of thing.

“Your misfortune has become unfortunate, but fortunately, a special offer has arrived for you who have been going through a difficult time recently.”

“proposal?”

What kind of proposal is there for a subject who cut off the necks of former A-ranked escorts without a word?

“Shouldn’t this be called a threat?”

“You may think so, but we keep our promises. If you accept, I will promise you enough money to help Abrarum recover.”

Can you trust the words of those who cut off the necks of the guards as they come to visit? But whether that was true or not, Theo Clemenza had no choice.

“Tell me.”

“It’s a simple thing. All it takes is for Abrarum’s combatants to attack our Moonlight Theater Company’s performance in the Islands of Moreh.”

“Sounds crazy! Are you telling us to die!”

Countless people who fly and crawl in the empire will gather at the performance of a troupe comparable to that of the Moonlight Troupe. To raid a place like that?

“The Imperial Knights and Imperial Guards will be annihilated by the monsters raised by the Empress, even if it’s the second!”

“You don’t have to worry about that. Because this black knight came here to deal with him.”

At that moment, in line with Angelica Pax’s words, the black knight’s aura began to oppress Theo Clemenza.

The aura attacked him, as if he had a premonition of instant death, but soon after, Theo Clemenza, who was able to breathe again thanks to the aura taken away by the black knight, widened his eyes.

“You are… !”

Angelica Pax gave a beautiful smile to Theo Clemenza, who was breathing rapidly and glaring at her with red eyes.

“I heard that you were once a fairly famous warrior, so you should have been able to figure out your rank from what I just said, right? If you reject the offer, you will be killed by this one before the monsters raised by the Empress.”

It is an intimidation accompanied by a hero-level strongman who far exceeds the standard. Even the boss of an underworld organization could only nod his head in this situation.

“… … i get it. I accept the offer.”

That day he could understand.

Even if he hired people who were known as strong people by spending energy, increasing his strength, and collecting money by committing crimes, all of that was meaningless.

After all, the power of ordinary people cannot stand against the ‘real’.

—

[Are you okay?]

Angelica, who had escaped from Abrarum and walked side by side with the black knight through a field outside the island where there were no signs of people, tilted her head at his question and asked again.

“What?”

[This plan. You seem to have heard before that revenge against the empire was your desire?]

“Ah, what. You can’t help it. Even though I put you directly in it, it failed.”

It was a story about the plan to send the black knight to the imperial palace to assassinate the empress while reviving the mad magician of flame and terrorizing the system.

She did not participate in the plan at the time, so she only listened to the story, but as a result, the assassination failed, and it is said that only the excellent fighters of the organization were lost while breaking through the imperial palace guards and catching the imperial knights.

Looking at that, Angelica continued, thinking that she would not just laugh at Abrarum.

“If you think about it calmly, it is difficult to destroy the empire itself by killing the empress. There will be enormous chaos, but even if we wage war through the chaos, the empire is still too strong.”

Compared to its heyday, it has become miserably weak, but it is still an empire. Even if they succeeded in destroying them, it was meaningless if they had to sacrifice their country in return.

“That’s why this operation is necessary to reduce the power even more. Not aiming for the Empress as before, but to abduct the families of those with strong influence and use them.”

No matter how cold-hearted he was, he was powerless in front of his flesh and blood. Of course, there may be some who value the cause more than blood, but in most cases, if your family is in danger, you will have no choice but to follow.

“You’re saying we’re going to fill in the moat from the outside, right?”

[Well, you could say that.]

Speaking of her true intentions, it wasn’t a strategy she liked very much, but she had no choice but to deal with the gigantic beast called the Empire, and Angelica compromised.

“Rather than that, how about you? A monster said to be raised by the Empress. Can you win?”

[well. I can’t say anything without seeing it in person.]

After hearing the black knight’s answer, Angelina almost inadvertently asked, “Haven’t we met before?”

According to the words of the upper echelons of Parabellum, the organization they belonged to, it seemed that the binding force on him was gradually weakening.

Parabellum strengthens his binding power by adding a more powerful curse to the armor of a black knight, the cursed equipment controlling him, but in return, a certain amount of loss occurs in his memory each time.

In addition, the weaker the restraint, the higher the chance of regaining memories, so the Black Knight’s activity limit time, which was otherwise short, has become even shorter.

That is the reason why he is not fully involved in this operation. If they even regain their memories, the sword of a hero-level strongman will be aimed at them.

[hmm? Why do you do that?]

“no. it’s nothing.”

Even if it’s for revenge, it’s impossible not to feel guilty.

The more I got to know him, the more I felt guilty about the fact that he never forgot anything about himself even though he repeatedly suffered memory loss.

But Angelica knew. That you don’t have the strength to throw the dice yourself.

Swearing revenge for her mother who was raped by the previous emperor of the empire and her father who was burned to death, the only thing she can do for the black knight is to laugh.

[Is something good happening?]

“no. I am just laughing.”

At least for him, his real smile, not a fake laugh to deceive.