Overlord (WN)

A man appeared before Renner. Following behind him was Climb.

His blonde hair was pulled back and fixed, and his thin blue eyes glistened in the life. His skin was an unhealthy white, characteristic of those who got no sunlight. He was a man whose figure was like a snake.

He had unhealthy skin that would cause one to ask if he were in his forties.

His appearance was, in a word, impeccable. His tight-fitting clothes were made of some sort of rare animal hide — possibly some sort of magical beast — and stitched with goldwork. The embroidery around his collar and his front buttons was of exquisite workmanship, and the front buttons probably had tiny gemstones worked into them, given the way they caught and reflected the light.

His stand-up collar completely concealed his narrow neck. This was top-class apparel, which was undeniably suited to him. He was the very picture of a member of the Kingdom\'s Six Great Nobles.

The man entered the room and gracefully bowed.

"I have come in response to Renner-denka\'s summons."

"Yes. Thank you for coming all his way, Marquis Raeven. Please raise your head."

Renner replied while remaining seated.

Marquis Raeven had a cold smile on his face as he straightened up. His smile was very sinister, and it made people think he was quite creepy. Yet for some reason, it seemed perfectly suited to him. It did not displease others who looked upon him.

"Please, over here."

"Yes."

Marquis Raeven entered the room and moved closer to Renner.

"However, what would you need from me at this late hour? Although I feel happy to speak with Your Majesty at anytime you call."

"Thank you. There is nothing more reassuring than having the smartest person in the Kingdom, Marquis Raeven, say that."

"Thank you. However the smartest person in the Kingdom is not myself, but the person in front of me."

The two shared a deep smile. Then Renner shifted her gaze.

"Climb. You will be in the next room."

"Understood. Renner-sama."

Climb who was standing unmoving next to the door, he bowed and left the room. He moved to the next empty room.

"Now, Marquis Raeven. Please take a seat."

"If you would excuse me."

Marquis Raeven sat down on the chair Renner indicated. Renner poured a cup of water and placed it before Marquis Raeven.

"May I?"

"Please help yourself."

Marquis Raeven took it and brought it to his mouth.

"This is the juice of the Kutz (Kuttsu) fruit. Extremely delicious."

"Thank goodness. I had thought that you would prefer the juice of the Tsil (Tsiru) fruit."

"No no. At this age, the juice of the Tsil fruit is too sweet, and the taste stays in one\'s mouth. The Kutz fruit juice\'s tartness is just perfect."

"Is that so. Then I shall prepare the juice of the Kutz fruit for the next time."

"Thank you. However, allow me to prepare next time."

"That would be unfair for you. I have called you after all."

"No no. Having a gift received by a woman as beautiful as Your Majesty makes me happy as a man."

Then there was a period of nothingness. Marquis Raeven evaluated Renner with narrow eyes, and Renner was wondering where to start.

And the one who lit the fuse, was of course Renner.

"….I wish to borrow your intellect."

She wasted no time getting to the meat of the subject.Marquis Raeven\'s narrow eyes parted slightly, full of surprise. However, he recovered almost instantly and hid his consternation.

"My intellect, hm. Since it is Your Highness that asks… your servant fears he will not be able to live up to your expectations."

"I think you will do fine. After all, I doubt anyone is your equal in affairs of the court, Marquis Raeven."

"….Hou."

Marquis Raeven raised a voice of slight surprise.

Marquis Raeven knew that Renner was bad at human relations and deals. Thus she distanced herself from political battles.

Then what did the phrase "Affairs of the Court" refer to?

If it was about the secret political wars, where did she get such information from?

It was not from Climb. This was as the best among his soldiers monitored him. He had heard nothing of him meeting with nobles.

Then was this the work of Blue Rose. Probably not as well. While she was familiar with the leader Lakyus, but she was not the type to relate to nobles. She could not know the deep parts.

Was this my she had called the one known as the bat, who jumps between the two factions? Because he was a bat he might fly to her?

Marquis Raeven smiled leisurely. He knew too little, and thinking too hard on the matter would only lead to a strange conclusion. That much was obvious. He decided to hold off on his decision until he learned more.

"And what would you have your servant tell you?"

"This is about the ruler of the shadows of the Royal Faction, or the Earl Iselk who is skulking around the shadows. Could you do something about him?"

"…What?"

Given the look on Marquis Raeven\'s face, one might be forgiven for thinking a bomb had suddenly gone off in front of his face. Just about anyone who saw this would have been shocked, because Marquis Raeven was not normally an expressive man.

Renner seemed to think further explanation was in order. She ignored Marquis Raeven\'s shocked expression and calmly continued.

"…No, perhaps I should have asked one of the two members of the Royal Faction, but Marquis Blumrush has been secretly passing on information to the Empire, no? That would mean…"

"Please wait!"

Eyes widening, Marquis Raeven spoke in a hoarse voice.

"Marquis Blumrush…"

"You knew, right? After all, is that not why you tried to keep the good Marquis from learning too much?"

"……..!"

Marquis Raeven was at a loss for words, and looked at Renner.

Renner still kept her earlier peaceful expression, but wondered if she were wrong under her breath.

"You…"

Marquis Raeven was so overcome that he forgot to address her as "Your Highness"

Renner had been right about everything. Only Marquis Raeven knew that Marquis Blumrush, one of the six Great Nobles, a Great Noble of the Royal Faction, had betrayed the kingdom. They had kept quiet about his treason to keep the balance between the factions from breaking down.

Marquis Raeven had been desperately trying to keep this from the Noble Faction and had come up with all manner of schemes to keep the Empire from learning this. His efforts should have been flawless, until now.

Then how did Renner who remained cooped up here learn of that information. Were the locks on his information not strong enough?

"How did you find out…"

"Oh, I just listened to what everyone was saying. And I do talk with the maids from time to time."

How reliable were the maids\' words? It was true that the maids that worked here were the daughters of nobles. And that they knew what was going on in their houses. However, how much of the information that Renner heard was true? But that meant….

An unbelievable idea filled Marquis Raeven\'s mind.

However, what Renner was saying, talking from the maids from time to time, was the truth, and Marquis Raeven\'s exemplary brain understood.

The girl before him had sifted through a mountain of dross and picked out the diamonds in the rough, which she had fashioned into a jewelled necklace.

Therefore—

"—A monster."

He quietly intoned the word that most suited the woman known as Renner.

Renner should have heard that loud and clear, but all she did was smile, without rebuking Marquis Raeven for his rudeness. He abandoned the line of thought he had been following until just now.

She deserved his honesty. And his recollections of the past were correct.

"—Understood. I shall open myself up. However, I would like to speak to the real Renner-denka before that."

"What do you mean?"

Renner asked in a questioning, almost teasing manner.

"A long time ago, your servant once saw a girl. With incredible insight, that girl spoke words of invaluable wisdom. However, your servant took a long time before he understood the meaning and value of those words." Marquis Raeven\'s voice echoed through the silent room. "….However, when I saw that girl\'s eyes, my impressions were that to her, nothing had worth."

"Nothing had….worth?"

Renner quietly asked.

"Yes. She thought nothing of the world. She had empty eyes that scorned everything."

The mood in the room was vastly different from before, and a chill seemed to spread through the air. Marquis Raeven hunched his shoulders as if to protect himself.

"However, when I met her again, the girl\'s eyes had completely changed. I would like to, Your Majesty. I want to ask, was I completely fooled, or had things changed?"

Their eyes met. It looked as though a pair of serpents were writhing and struggling against each other.

And then, Renner\'s eyes lost their shine.

Marquis Raeven smiled coldly, as though he had seen something nostalgic.

"As I expected, Renner-denka. Your Highness\' eyes are just like the ones I recall from my memory. Were you merely pretending ever since then?"

"No, Marquis Raeven. I was not acting. I was satisfied."

"…Does Your Highness perhaps refer to your soldier, the man Climb…?"

"Oh yes. All this is thanks to my Climb."

"Oh. To think that that boy could actually change Your Highness… your servant thought of him as nothing but a — a child… what does he mean to Your Highness, if I might ask?"

"You mean Climb…?"

Renner\'s gaze trailed off, staring into the air. She was thinking about what words she could use to describe his value to her.

Renner Theiere Chardelon Ryle Vaiself.

If there was only one word to summarize her entire being, that would be "Golden". That word derived from her blinding beauty. However, very few people knew that she possessed a talent that far outstripped even her good looks.

The level of talent she had was enough to call her a genius of internal affairs.

Her talent could only be described as a gift from the heavens. Her deductions might seem to have come from flashes of inspiration, but the truth was that they were pieced together from countless scattered fragments of information, gathered by her extraordinary powers of observation.

In all likelihood, nobody on the continent could match up against her mental abilities.

If one were pressed to find an equal for her, then one would have to look beyond the human race. However, very few entities were on her level, even among these superhuman beings.

In Nazarick, only Demiurge, who possessed a fiendish intellect and was hypercompetent in every aspect of national administration, be it military, domestic and foreign affairs, could be considered on par with her.

Human beings often considered matters from their own perspectives. From that point of view, one could say that "strange" or "wondrous" people were merely labels applied by plebeians.

Basically Renner was a genius of that level.

However, she had one quirk. That was she could not understand the thoughts of people.

Why could people not immediately understand things that she could easily get. Without any people that could rival her, no one could grasp the intentions of her words. As a result, no one could understand her.

Perhaps it might be easier to describe this phenomenon as "the loneliness of genius".

Perhaps someone on her level might have been able to appreciate how gifted she truly was. If that were the case, the outcome would probably have been different.

However, there was nobody like that around.

In the end, when a little girl spoke of things that baffled those who heard them, the reaction to her was fear. Renner was very cute as a child and so she was not hated. Instead, she was cherished, to a certain extent. However, the fact that nobody could understand what she said had an extreme effect on her mental development. The girl\'s heart began to warp as time went by.

No, she was made to warp.

If not for that puppy of hers.

That was really a mess. On a certain rainy day, the girl picked up a puppy at death\'s door. Without that day, a demon lord might have been born. One that could not understand human emotions, and only saw numbers and worked to satisfy the majority.

The dying puppy looked at her, its master, with a strange expression in its eyes.

What a weighty gaze, she had thought.

The expression in its eyes was one of innocent reverence.

To her that could not understand human emotions, even she felt that it was heavy, and evoked emotions that everyone could understand—They were eyes that held a heart.

To her who could not understand human emotions, those eyes had disgust, surprise, joy, passion, and a human being.

Indeed, in those eyes, she saw a human being like herself. Of course, not in the meaning of intelligence. It was like a teacher passionately teaching idiots, it was like she was looking at a puppy.

The puppy which the girl had picked up became a boy, and then a man.

Whether he was a puppy, a boy or a man, those eyes peered through her with the same blinding purity.

However, it no longer bothered her.

Thanks to those eyes, she could speak to others like a normal person. She could coexist with the vulgar, inferior lifeforms around her.

"Climb… hm. If I could join with him… hm — and if I could chain Climb up and take care of him like a pet, and make sure he couldn\'t go anywhere, perhaps that might be better."

The air in the room froze. Even Marquis Raeven was shocked.

He had thought the most beautiful woman in the Kingdom would spout some childish fantasy. No, he should not have expected any such saccharine-sweet simpering from the true Princess Renner, but he had not expected her to go that far.

The words that Marquis Raeven heard were so far from what he thought. Thus he froze. However he immediately restarted. This was as he was sure she was not joking.

"Take care of him if you will. Nobody will object to Your Highness\'… no, it might still be difficult. Unless you had help."

"Indeed. It\'ll be quite hard to fulfil that dream while maintaining the facade of a proper princess… and there\'s no point in forcing him to look at me. I want to chain him down and take care of him like a dog, while he looks at me with those eyes of his…"

Few people enjoyed hearing about the sexual fetishes of others. Marquis Raeven could not help but want to stagger a few steps back after making contact with the soul of the woman called Renner.

"Like a dog… does that mean you do not love him, Your Highness?"

Renner turned an incredulous, scornful gaze on the Marquis.

"Of course I love him. I like the way he looks at me. And I love how he clings to me like a puppy. And now his way of asking for things has gotten strangely better….How boring."

"…A thousand apologies, but I find this topic very hard to follow."

"I do not need you to understand me. All you need to know is that I like him, and that I love him."

She\'s weird.

Marquis Raeven wanted to shake his head.

They had heard that the Princess had fallen in love with a common soldier, and had expected that it might blow up into a matter of national importance. Yet, what they had heard was far more ridiculous than they had expected.

"Well then, the problem of fetishes…"

"It is not a fetish. It is simply love."

Renner sounded like she was reproachfully interrupting Raeven\'s words, and he resisted the urge to shoot back.

A normal person would unconsciously rebut. However it was expected that a great noble who fought in secret conflicts could suppress that.

"Very well, love it is, then… right. Although under the present circumstances, the union of Your Highness with Climb… is a little—"

"Difficult. I fully understand that. It is almost impossible due to the situation. If all the influence were concentrated around myself, everything would be fine, but given the current situation, all methods are impossible."

Renner\'s muddy eyes chided herself. It was also an expression she would not show in front of Climb.

"If it is Your Majesty you could take the Kingdom."

"Impossible. I cannot understand the thoughts of humans other than Climb. Basically I cannot understand human emotions."

I see, Marquis Raeven said.

Basically to work together with Renner, he would have to tie himself together with Climb. Doing so would create an extremely strong ally.

Marquis Raeven felt gratitude for being called.

"Anyhow, how about an arranged marriage with my child?"

Marquis Raeven raised his hand as if to stop Renner.

"Arranging a marriage with my child, Your Majesty can have a child with Climb. The rights of my inheritance can go to child born between my son and the woman he loves. And, apologies but, Your Majesty can disguise herself as his or her parent."

"I see. You can gain blood with this fake marriage."

"Yes. This way Your Majesty can have a child with the man you love, and my house can gain royal blood even if fake. Both sides stand to gain here I believe."

"How wonderful. If the pedestal of the Royal Faction, you, asks, even father cannot dismiss it easily."

Was it? Marquis Raeven released the tension from his body.

How should it put it, should he raise the evaluation of Renner or lower it. What he could sat was that her figure as a normal girl was a complete farce.

It was known that women faked themselves in front of men. It was on the same level as if a person good at makeup disguised themselves.

"How old is your son?"

"He has turned five."

"Then he should be cute—"

"Just so!"

His narrow eyes opening wide, Marquis Raeven raised a loud voice. Renner\'s body shook at the sudden noise.

"Ah….*cough*. Excuse me."

"Ah, no…."

Renner and Marquis Raeven looked at each other, and then looked away.

"It seems we\'ve gotten off topic."

"Yes, but it was quite a rewarding digression."

Both of them thought this. They had both gained from it. Marquis Raeven gained Royal Blood, and Renner could marry the man she loved.

"True. However, there is a reason why I called you."

"I believe it was, to deal with Earl Iselk….right?"

"Yes. Just so."

Renner began to talk about Earl Iselk\'s shops. Marquis Raeven who was quietly listening nodded. When Renner passed him the papers, he nodded again.

I understand. It is not a rare story….but you want to destroy that brothel and save those trapped inside."

There was not much meaning to destroying the brothel, and this was nothing more than applying pressure. Despite doing this another brothel like this would pop up somewhere. Did she intend to destroy them one by one?

After Marquis Raeven thought that, he decided to work to fulfill Renner\'s wish.

Because he felt happy about the arranged marriage with his son, he wanted to fully pull her in as an ally.

"The problem is that the Earl is of the Royal Faction. This is not an act of loyalty to the King but for profits though."

"Then if father orders it, can we not solve this problem with his authority?"

"It is the opposite. The Earl does not have much authority, but his does have quite a number of soldiers. Adding on several connections, in total he has quite the say. Ostracising such a man will cause cracks in the faction. Thus it would be best to avoid crushing it from the front with authority."

"Basically?"

Renner curiously asked. To her who could not understand human emotions, she could not understand why the other nobles would not pull away from a liability like Earl Iselk who had no merits.

She was making a face as if saying there are only demerits.

Seeing that, Marquis Raeven felt something cold run down his back.

Renner did not understand human emotions. Even if one thought they had a friendly relationship, she herself did not think that. Basically, no matter how much one deepened their friendship, they could be thrown away after considering merits and demerits.

Loyalty, gratitude, friendship, love, debts. She could not understand such things.

Then there was only one way to tie down the woman known as Renner.

It was to secure Climb.

However, there was a problem. Attempts to pull in Climb would definitely be known by Renner, and if done poorly, one would make a dangerous enemy.

Marquis Raeven laughed.

However, because it was such a dangerous bomb, that it had worth being secured.

Anyway it would better to sell favours to Climb rather than Renner.

"….You are making quite the evil smile."

"Really. I am thinking of Earl Iselk\'s power after we dull it."

"Really?"

Renner smiled chidishlu. She fitted the word golden. It was a smile that made one think that.

However, from the current Marquis Raeven, it made him question what she was thinking.

"Now, instead of using authority to forcibly cut down that shop, it would be better to lead the Earl to cutting it himself."

"Is that possible?"

"Of course. He has borrowed from many, and there is some friendship in that. The Noble Faction, knowing this, would plan to steal the information. Also such a brothel is right on the boundaries of the law. Knowing that there is a relation, even if it fails, we will not be connected. If I say some things, the Earl will instead be grateful for its destruction."

"Then after cutting their relation, what will happen to the store?"

"We can destroy it. With the cover of destroying it before the information reaches those of the Noble Faction."

"With what methods? Will you be mobilising your troops?"

"No, we will use adventurers. We can gather and use troops, but we need some numbers for that. And using troops within the capital stands out. This would cause the information to leak. And it will be dangerous to use the cover that we are inspecting a person of the Noble Faction."

"Using adventurers that can face a thousand men each, the leaked information would decrease."

"Yes. Your Majesty does have good relationships with such adventurers after all."

Renner nodded.

"On top of them, I shall activate the adventurer party under myself."

"Shall they destroy it in turns?"

"No, it is dangerous if not destroyed quickly. Those from the Noble Faction might activate their soldiers and steal the info. Also this might destroy the public safety of the city."

Should there be weird information in the shop, it would become a dangerous problem. So they would attack immediately and steal the necessary information.

"The problem is that there is little time, but four shops."

"If Blue Rose splits and handles two, my subordinates can handle one. It seems we have one missing."

"It cannot be helped, shall we give up? Or hire other adventurers?"

"Hiring adventurers will be troublesome. I want to hire Workers who care for only money, but this is a job of utmost secrecy. I want to do this with Your Majesty\'s Blue Rose and my subordinates….If we had to ignore one, we should ignore the last and most evil one. I cannot think that there is important information there."

Renner pondered to herself for a few seconds.

"What is wrong?"

"Climb….does not wish for that….but it\'s dangerous…."

With that short whisper, one could easily understand what Renner was thinking.

"Climb-kun wants to save everyone? He is a child still."

Marquis Raeven made a wry smile.

In actuality, the chance of saving the people in that shop was low. First was the cost of using healing magic, and there would be people who did not heal despite that. And after saving them, the problem of what to do with them popped up.

Not understanding that, and simply wanting to save them, he could only be called a child.

"However that is what makes him Climb."

Renner smiled brightly. This was the first time Marquis Raeven recognised Renner as a beautiful woman. Currently, Renner\'s expression had no negative emotions. She was a woman that was simply proud of her man.

"Then is cannot be helped. I shall have Climb-kun stationed nearby to infiltrate the shop with whoever has finished."

"How about having him attack the shop with the other members?"

"That is not bad, but there is the possibility of wounds—"

"—That is fine. We shall let Climb be the lookout, and attack the last shop with whoever finished their attacks."

"However….Honestly, why do you want to destroy that shop? I believe you understand that there are not many merits to this?"

Marquis Raeven curiously asked Renner, but was responded to with laughter.

"Climb wishes for that."

"And so?"

"I shall act as the woman Climb believes is Renner."

"….If you are caught it will be bad you know? I do not believe he is that sort of person but…."

There was weight in Marquis Raeven\'s words since he had a wife and child. However, Renner did not understand that. She only took it at face value.

"Is that so? Well, I am controlling myself to the point that I feel locked up, but it is not all an act. I simply want to help Climb do whatever he wants."

"That would be fine but…."

Is it? While wondering about that, he did not fully understand it, Marquis Raeven forced himself to believe that love came in all shapes and forms.

"There is no time, so we should begin quickly. The information that I have come here should have spread. If we let this chance pass the security will become stricter."

"I have troubled you."

"Nonsense. For the fake wife of my child, this level of cooperation is nothing. While my adventurers move, I shall visit the Earl."

"How about we begin in one hour\'s time?"

"My adventurers are free, and have no problem. How about Your Majesty\'s side?"

"I have no problems here either. I have heard the plans of Blue Rose earlier."

"Shall we move?"

"We should. Climb and the leader of Blue Rose, Lakyus are next door. Can you explain to them?"

"Understood, Your Majesty."

---