Meeting With Her Highness Siesta (6)

We had lunch together with the kids, Nine came back in a daze-- I didn't think he'd become like this because of a mere frog. Was the sight too much to bear? Or was there something else to it I don't know.

Nataline shared her stories as an adventurer. She was apparently a resident that grew up in the orphanage and had visited various other dukedoms and Earldoms while doing escort quests. Her adventurer rank was C, an amazing achievement considering her age. No wonder her stats were so high. The hardest monster she had ever subjugated was a Griffon nymph.

Somewhere along the journey there was this large guild subjugation quest posted at Welch Earldom to destroy a nearby goblin's nest. Nataline was sent off as a scout and.. she got caught and well, impregnated..

She said it was fortunate, her suffering didn't last long and was no different from the worst one night stand she had ever experienced in her life. The main subjugation team came to rescue her the following day.

Then it was a few months later she realized she was pregnant. She returned to Erudite kingdom, to this orphanage specifically to wait until that day.

She has a strong will-- that's all I can say.

Gabriel-- since today was a Saturday, she came over to help out. On a normal school day, she would spend her free afternoon time here too, otherwise, she would come to the florist to play with Jennifer or visit some other person's home.

Her parents work a magic factory not too far away from here, in charge of maintaining the production line of a light shard producing company. Light shard is one of the main components used in the light bulbs in homes or basically anywhere.

Uh.. which was kinda surprising so.. we can deduce that industrialization is slowly making its way into society. I was wrong about the fact that this fantasy world hasn't started with industrialization?

Her Highness Siesta had her lunch at the study room, so we didn't really get to talk with her. But we did have a short chat via the messaging system. Looks like we're leaving after lunch.

Also, we'll be updating her on any news regarding the Regressor, her elder sister who is the princess knight and the situation of the heroes. In turn, she'll update us on any news regarding Liliath's brother Kyoshi and anything else that could benefit us in any way.

Though, the main point here is that we managed to build useful connections. Today has been fruitful, somewhat.

Tomorrow, Nine would have to accompany Jennifer-chan out for adventuring so we should return to rest up.

"Thank you for today."

"Yes, thank you for everything today."

It was half an hour after lunch was settled, after helping to wash the plates we said our thanks and were about to leave.

Siesta wanted to stay a little longer since she was sort of free for the time being, so we'll be taking our leave earlier.. however..

"I challenge you to a duel."

This just had to happen. The kids that saw this scene raised a cheer.

Who was this knight again? Richard Versberg I think. His stats were similar to the maid, with the exception of some of the missing ones like INT and DEX. Though, the maid is stronger than this guy..

"Um.. can I decline?" I wasn't sure if it's because I'm all lethargic after lunch or what but his seriousness wasn't really getting to me.

"You dare sully the honour of the royal family?! I will not permit you to refuse. Your identity is being questioned. What did you do to Her Highness?"

'Your Highness Siesta, your knight is causing a commotion, help--' and send.

"We merely had a short encounter a while back and thought to perhaps get to know each other better with this small gathering," Liliath explained in a soft tone.

"Silence. I wasn't talking to you, know your position."

'Can I kill him?'

'No.. just be patient.'

Bloodlust started seeping out from his body, my nerves jolted and sobered me up.

And then the four of us were forced out of the orphanage by the gang of knights. The kids were kept within the compound. It's like some yakuza show was about to happen and we were the victims in the movie or something.

We were sent out to the streets, passerbys becoming spectators.

Hah.. why did it have to come to this..

'Could you teach him a lesson?' was Siesta's response. Looks like she wants us to deal with it. It makes sense yeah.. since the knight won't believe her anyways.

"Draw your sword."

'I think you should come stop this. I can't fight.'

"Noel, here," Nine tossed the Azure blade to me, with its sheath and all.

You could hear the knights sneer at the crude manner of handling the sword. Well.. we're not all that good with swords so..

"Do I need this sword?" I muttered to myself.

Nine, Prune and Liliath were forced to be spectators, Liliath had a very 'nice' smile on her face. The knight closest to her could be seen shivering.

'Bare this for a bit you guys, sorry,' I typed in chat.

"Fend for your life, lest you die by my hands," He pulled out his sword from the scabbard.

Do I fight or cheat? I need to think of the second and third order consequences here. If I win then we'll get attention, he's probably a royal knight with some influence so he could drag me into the military-- let's talk about that when I'm strong enough to actually beat him. I know for a fact that I can't even use a sword.

"So we need to fight? What is this even about?"

"Your identity."

"My identity as an Irregular? Look, I don't know how to fight okay? Irregular or not irregular, it's just a name. I don't even know if I'm an Irregular kay?"

"You've been lying to Her Highness and using her all this while, I will not permit that any further. With my authority I shall pass you judgement."

"Oh gosh.."

I rolled my eyes and set my stats to combat mode. It's very easy when you can just think of it to make it happen.

I lowered my sword, widen my base of support and steadied my breathing. I think this is how you position yourself.. I think.

"Either one gives up or gets injured to the point when they can't continue anymore right?"

'Be careful'

'Kill him.'

'Culture issue, no way to run from this good luck Noel.'

The density of bloodlust was raised to the point where I could even see the mana forming a sort of mist around him.

"Oi, what's going on?!" Nataline's yell sounded the start of the 'battle'.

Richard charged forward.

Slow.

But that's because I was cheating.. and because I trained a lil bit in Bleu's domain..

Nah, all that was a lie. The reason why it's like this is because of the [Reincarnateed Otherworlder] title. It's the cheat title Bleu told me not to use cuz.. It's cheating.

I shouldn't keep it on for too long either, cause it's a worse version of protagonist correction. It's literally a 'hero-correction'.

I operated the autocasting widget in my mind and used the preset magic Liliath added to the list on a specified target: Magic steel sword, disintegrate.

I took a few steps back and removed the [Reincarnated Otherworlder] title from the column. The speed of the world returned to normal despite my AGI stat being close to a million.

He swung at nothing.

"Huh?"

For a moment he stood there dumbfounded.

"End of duel yet?"

Instead of a normal reply-- I mean, you lose when you lose your sword is like the rules of a duel right?-- I got a fist to my face.

And the impact almost broke my neck, ouch, and I was sent flying to the ground.

"NOEL?!" Nataline shouted… or was it Gabriel? I didn't know.

I'm surprised how Nine, Prune and Liliath kept their cool. Okay.. maybe not Liliath because her bloodlust is really starting to overpower Richard's. Do people not notice that? Or is it just because I'm too focused on her?

"You actually sullied the honor of us royal knights. You jest!!"

Okay.. maybe I should have kept the [Reincarnated Otherworld] title.. shit.

A foot came my way and hit my side when I tried to get up, sending me to the ground of one of the knights at the edge of the ring. That knight backed away to create some space-- Then came a fist, and ouch..

The problem wasn't that it hurt. It actually did but I mean.. a high DEF stat is the real deal. The problem was that his fist was too fast for me to catch.

Ah.. this reminds me of that time I got bullied by Gruan. That felt like it happened so long ago..

There was this throbbing pain inside me.

Now, to decide whether or not I kill him or break all his limbs..

No, no, no. Calm down Noel, you need to think about the second order and third order consequences… wait, is this Liliath's thought?

"UWAGGGHH?!!"

"What a grand show of knighthood. Do you not know the rules to a duel? How did it turn into such a disgusting bar brawl? What happened to your integrity? Dignity? Is this the example a royal knight should show to the people?"

Oh fuck. I think I've done it.

Liliaths' voice echoed in the surroundings as a deep.. heavy pressure dawned upon everyone.

I gulped.

"Noel," she turned to me with an expressionless face.

"Um.." I slowly stood up.

"Can I kill him?"

I turned to Richard who was being weighed down by gravity at 100 times the normal, her slender leg pressed against his back.. the armor was slowly being dented inwards.. ever-so-slowly..

"No please."

"But he hurt you."

"I was just thinking of not standing out.."

I didn't know what to say. Her expression only became worse.

"RICHARD!!" Siesta's angry yell echoed.

At that moment Liliath released all magic and took her feet off the convulsing knight.

"Your Highness, please deal with him 'appropriately'," Liliath said in a cold voice that seemed to etch itself into our souls.

Grabbing my wrist real tight, she pulled me away from the site of incidence. Prune and Nine followed behind.. at a distance.

The peanut gallery never got to see where we disappeared to because Liliath erected a very thick concealment barrier. That didn't however prevent some from shaking from fear.

Right. I should've taken into account Liliath's reaction and not just how the knights would view me after the duel..

And then at one of the alley, Liliath teleported us back to the florist.

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"Kneel."

"Um.."

This is not a play. I've never seen her tell me to do this before?! What's this..

I knelt on the floor of the apartment. Prune and Nine were outside.. they probably know enough to not try to stick their hands into the matter.

"Reflect on your actions."

"Right.."

"Don't 'right' me. How many times have you had people treat you in that manner? You're a demon lord, a respectable demon lord, it hurts my heart to see crushed under their ideals!" Liliath shouted.

I gulped.

I was scared, honestly. At the same time I knew there's no way out of this except biting the bullet and waiting until she's done with pouring out her feelings.

I got a pretty concrete 5 minute lecture on why as a demon lord, I should be more how should I put it.. Unforgiving? But that's really not me. I don't think I can become like that.. it'll cause more problems if I had that kind of attitude..

"Noel, it really hurts.. It hurts to see you hurt.." her sobs started to mix into her words.

"Sorry.." I've probably said it more than a couple of times already, initially Liliath was irked and then blew up at me about it.. but after saying it a few more times in succession, she probably just stopped trying.

The point was-- it wasn't that I was hurt. She was hurt.

"Can't we just kill them? Then we won't need to suffer so much.."

"But they have their own situations too don't they?"

"We have ours too, that isn't something to be ignored.."

"Yeah.."

It's pointless chatter.. rather, it's wrong to say that it's pointless. There is a point in letting Liliath bawl out her feelings.

"I'll do better next time Liliath."

I mustered up enough courage, though I was shaking, scared to approach her and pulled her into my embrace.

But then.. she gently pushed me back.

"Promise," was what she said, staring me square in the eye. She presented her pinky to me.

"Y-yea.. I promise.."

And with that, our pinky swear ritual was done. I wonder where she learnt this from?

Then she jumped into my bosom. I wrapped my arms around her.

Okay. Next time this happens, I'll just use the autocasting widget to send the knight to sleep by casting it a hundred times in succession in a span of a second. That should do the trick.

"Noel, I want to sleep with you tonight.." She said in a lull.

"Uh.. Okay.."

"Promise," she whispered into my ears seductively.

Yup, she's got me stuck on her web.

"Promise," I replied.