Chapter 158: The Capital (2)

The Lionheart family’s main estate was located on the outskirts of the capital Ceres. It took hours to go downtown in a carriage.

If Lavera had asked one of the Lionheart knights to accompany her, she would have used a carriage. But with Eugene accompanying her, things were different. After all, why would they bother to use a carriage when they had a warp gate they could employ? The warp gate in the main estate wasn’t usually activated other than for significant occasions. However, Eugene was currently respected enough to warrant the use of the warp gate for personal reasons.

“When you are talking about a prosthetic eye, are you talking about a specially-made artifact?” Mer actively asked.

Unlike usual, Mer wasn’t in the Cloak. Ever since she had come to the main estate, she had gone out to the Capital’s downtown several times, but she had never gone out with Eugene. Maybe because of that, Ancilla had made considerable efforts to dress up Mer from head to toe since daybreak.

“I have heard of prosthetic eyes that can be directly connected to people’s optic nerves, but I heard they are costly,” Lavera spoke as she stroked her right eyepatch. Instead of her maid uniform, she was wearing a formal dress today.

“Money shouldn't be a problem. You should buy it if you need it. It will be uncomfortable to live without an eye,” Eugene said matter-of-factly.

“As an apprentice maid, I’m receiving more salary than I deserve, but....”

“Of course, you can’t afford it with your salary. Can’t I just buy it for you?” Eugene tilted his head as if saying something obvious.

“I appreciate your gesture, but I’m fine, sir.”

“You don’t have to refuse.”

“I can’t use such prosthetic eyes,” Lavera explained, lifting her eyepatch slightly, and exposing burnt, cut marks around her eye. “The inside of my eye was seared with a hot iron, so I will never be able to see with my left eye, no matter how expensive of a prosthetic eye I use.”

“Errr....” Mer trembled after she saw Lavera’s wound inside her eyepatch. “...Then... umm... won’t it look good if you use a prosthetic eye made from a jewel?”

“Won’t it be good if you just don’t say anything?” Eugene advised.

Mer refuted, “I am being considerate of Miss Lavera in my own way.”

“Were you being considerate when you suggested a one-eyed elf to set a jewel in her eye?”

“I’m in despair at your lack of humanity to call the one-eyed elf as the one-eyed elf, Sir Eugene.”

“I didn’t say anything wrong.”

A very inconsiderate conversation was being exchanged back and forth between Eugene and Mer. Meanwhile, unable to say anything, Lavera, the subject of their conversation, just stayed quiet. Of course, she knew they were being considerate in their own ways while saying such stuff. However, what was she supposed to say when they talked about things like one eye or jewel eye?

“...I just like ordinary prosthetic eyes.” Lavera wasn’t going to interfere, but she felt their conversation would never finish if she didn’t.

“There are prosthetic eyes that can be used for self-defense.” Mer beamed.

“Do they shoot out death rays or something?” Eugene asked.

“Such eyes might exist.”

“I have seen it before...,” Eugene spoke without thinking much, but then he became conscious of Lavera’s presence and cleared his throat before continuing. “When I went to Nahama Desert. Some of the Assassins and Sand Shamans used prosthetic eyes engraved with magic formulas.”

“That’s the kind of prosthetic eye I was talking about.” Mer clapped as she chimed in. It wasn’t hard to see people who were missing a limb or had an arrow stuck in their eyes 300 years ago. Therefore, naturally, some crazy bastards used specially-made artifacts to make up for their missing body parts.

However, those specially-made artifacts had limits in the end. No matter how much ingenuity and best efforts the talented artisans, alchemists, and wizards used in trying to make prosthetic eyes with rare magic minerals, artificially created prosthetic eyes were ultimately overwhelmingly inferior to demoneyes.

Of course, demoneyes were also very rare. They could only be found among demonfolks, but not every demonfolk had them. Only a select few high-ranking demonfolks had demoneyes with ridiculous abilities. Those demoneyes were a symbol of power within the pureblood demonfolks. It was an inheritance that was passed down and consistently developed for generations and generations within the pureblood demonfolk families.

[I have heard that the Queen of Night Demons has the Demoneye of Fantasy. Is that true?]

Mer asked Eugene in her mind.

‘Yes, but her demoneye doesn’t have magnificent powers, unlike its name.’

[According to the records, the Queen of Night Demons had single-handedly killed 30 thousand Turas’ elite forces.]

‘Noir Giabella wasn’t the only high-ranking demonfolk who had the power to do so at the time.’

[She even drowned 30 thousand men in a plain that didn’t have a single drop of water. From what I read, the plain turned to a sea when her eye shone, and sea waves rushed over the armies....]

‘It’s true that 30 thousand people drowned, but the plain didn’t turn into a sea.’

[What’s the difference?]

‘Noir Giabella’s demoneye... umm... doesn’t turn illusion into reality. She just makes others feel that way. Those 30 thousand men had seen sea waves and drowned... but weren’t actually buried at sea.’

[Hmm.... So she shows powerful illusions, am I right?]

‘Yeah, Noir Giabella’s demoneye is called the Demoneye of Fantasy because she and the demoneye matched fantastically well, more like disgustingly well.’

Noir Giabella was the Queen of Night Demons. Among the numerous night demons, she was the most powerful. As such, she reigned over them. The dreams created by her were so exquisite that they were hard to distinguish from reality. She could interfere and break human minds in seconds, making her power incomparable to other demons.

Her Demoneye of Fantasy could make others dream even when awake. When one was caught by her demoneye, their reality changed into dreams.

[You said her demoneye doesn’t have magnificent powers, but when I listen to your story, I feel like the Demon King that the Queen serves can fight with God.]

‘I’m telling you, it’s not like that. She can bust her ass, but in the end, all she does is make illusions, not change reality. If you continue to get a grip on yourself, she can’t delude you. To be honest, I had more trouble dealing with Gavid Lindman’s Demoneye of Divine Glory and Iris’ Demoneye of Darkness, rather than Noir Giabella’s Demoneye of Fantasy.’

Noir Giabella had given the heroes’ party so much trouble in Helmuth, but no one in Eugene’s party fainted or went out of their minds.

[...Doesn’t that just mean you are the best in the end?]

‘I wasn’t the only one who was best. Anise had maintained her holy barrier, and Sienna had blocked all kinds of mental interference around the clock. That’s why we didn’t get deluded.’

[Lady Sienna is indeed the best.]

Mer sheepishly smiled as she nodded. While they conversed with their minds, Lavera naturally became alienated, but she didn’t mind much and only focused on walking.

She inevitably got used to being alienated.

The Kiehl Empire’s capital, Ceres, was the fanciest city Lavera had ever been to. The city was well managed: the roads were smoothly paved, the pedestrians used different roads from carriages, guards were deployed every few blocks, and people in the streets were dressed in fine clothes and were very relaxed.

It was an everyday scene in this place. Lavera and Eugene were walking in the central area of Ceres. Even if commoners worked for their entire lives, they could never own even a small room in this area.

Lavera had lived in Nahama in the past. Her owner was a merchant who had accumulated a fortune through trading. However, her owner didn’t live a morally correct life.

Due to its harsh environment, the gap between the rich and the poor was blatantly revealed in Nahama. Her owner enjoyed various pleasures in his large mansion, but outside his mansion, many old houses couldn’t even shield people from the desert’s cold night.

Her owner sometimes put a leash on Lavera and took a walk around the city. It was an ordinary event in Nahama. Nobles and wealthy merchants in Nahama often showed off their rare ‘pets.’ And Lavera happened to be the rarest of them all — an elf. She was a great pet who made her owner puff out his chest with pride.

As the owners’ ‘contests’ went on, the poor people talked in whispers and looked at Lavera with heinous intentions mixed with jealousy, hostility, and greed. She was used to people looking at her that way.

When her naughty, mischievous owner got bored during their stroll, he would furtively let go of Lavera’s leash and make her walk on her own. Every time he did that, Lavera walked, looking around carefully, hunching her shoulders as much as she could.

After she had spent a while like that, her owner would disappear, and people with wicked intentions would immediately approach Lavera.

Then Lavera had to run and hide from them, but in the end, she always got caught. There was nothing Lavera could do but scream. And as she screamed, her owner’s warriors would show up and save her. The stroll was never fun for Lavera, but when she thought of what would happen afterward, she preferred the stroll.

She shouldn’t feel pain in her left eye anymore, but somehow her left eye ached. Horrible memories came flooding back at her in waves, making her subconsciously flinch, but she soon caught her breath after looking around her peaceful surroundings.

This city was different from the city in Nahama. Although people might be staring at her, they didn’t look at her with heinous intentions. Lavera knew why — she was wearing a cloak that had the Lionheart family’s symbol on the back as she walked with Eugene and Mer.

“What’s wrong?” Eugene asked as he felt Lavera lose her footing.

“...An old memory crossed my mind,” Lavera hesitantly answered.

“I’m pretty sure it’s not a good memory. Don’t waste your time thinking about the past. Think about the lunch we are going to have instead.” Eugene looked outside the window.

“What are we having?” Lavera asked with a faint smile on her face.

“We are going to a restaurant that Sir Gerhard regularly visits. Their veal-course meal is really good!” Mer spoke with sparkling eyes. She had recommended the restaurant to Eugene and Lavera, and Ancilla had personally made a reservation for them. The restaurant was so famous that people had to make reservations a week in advance to be able to at least sit in the corner of the restaurant. However, this morning, the second mistress of the Lionheart family reserved the window seat with a great view using family influence.

“To be honest, I think dinners in the main estate are better,” Eugene grumbled.

The restaurant waiters continuously served them fancy dishes. The food was as good as it looked, but it wasn’t as good as the dishes served in the Lionhearts’ main estate.

“You eat very well for someone who says such stuff.” Mer sneered.

“Why would I leave any food on my plate when I have come this far to eat? I’m not saying the food is bad.”

“If you don’t like it, don’t eat more. Give it to Miss Lavera or me.”

“Why would I give my leftovers to someone else? I will just order one more.” Eugene grumbled again as he cut his big steak. Sitting across from Eugene, Lavera glanced forward as she cut her steak into little pieces.

Although Eugene had complained as if he wasn’t going to give Mer his steak, he was putting the pieces he had just cut on Mer’s plate. Beaming, Mer naturally ate the big steak pieces one by one.

“...You two look like a father and daughter,” Lavera quietly commented.

“Are you crazy?” Eugene swiftly turned to Lavera in shock.

“I actually think so too, Miss Lavera.” Mer grinned.

Eugene and Mer’s reactions were the polar opposite of each other. Still beaming, Mer put one piece of her steak on Lavera’s plate.

“I have never even gotten married before. Why would you treat me as somebody’s dad?” Eugene spoke, annoyed.

“Do you have a plan to get married, Master Eugene?” Lavera asked as she chewed on the steak piece from Mer.

“Nope.”

“There is a rumor going around among servants — you and White Tower Master share a ‘special bond’....” Lavera trailed off.

“Are you really crazy? Me? With White Tower Master? With THE Melkith El-Hayah?”

—Kiyaaaaahhhh!

Melkith’s weird scream came to Eugene’s mind, making him frown.

“Uh.... Isn’t there a big age gap between us? I have just turned 20 this year,” Eugene said haltingly.

“Hehe....” Mer quietly chuckled beside Eugene.

Scowling at Mer, Eugene continued, “White Tower Master is almost 70 now. If she had gotten married early, she would have a grandson my age.”

“Is a 50-year gap a lot?” Lavera innocently asked.

“...Yeah, you are an elf” Eugene groaned.

“I am aware White Tower Master is old from a human perspective, but won’t she live longer than ordinary humans as an Archiwizard? Among long-living beings, the age of 70 is considered pretty young.”

“Then I must be a baby in your eyes.”

“Not only does White Tower Master look young, but she also has a pure, young mind.” Lavera continued her insight on Melkith.

“It weirdly sounds like a compliment even though it means she can’t act her age.”

“Do you not want an older partner when you get married?” Lavera asked, prompting Mer to look at Eugene with sparkling eyes.

“...Well... maybe it is better if she is older than me... rather than being too young.”

“Are you considering another woman to be your partner besides White Tower Master?”

“You are weirdly very inquisitive about my marriage today. Did you secretly receive orders from my father or Nina?”

Without answering, Lavera stayed quiet.

Shaking his head, Eugene clicked his tongue. “Father is being silly. It hasn’t been long since I became an adult, so why is he worried about my marriage already?”

“Lady Ancilla is also worrying about marriage. She wants Sir Cyan to marry a princess from another kingdom. Do you like princesses too, Sir Eugene?” Mer interrupted.

With a disgusted face, Eugene answered, “What? Princess? No... I don’t have any plans to get married.”

“Still, you might get married if the person is older, on the same wavelength as you, and is your close friend, right?” Mer grinned, imagining the future where her name was Mer Lionheart instead of Mer Merdein.

Eugene had never imagined getting married. Why would he think about getting married when he had a ton of stuff to do right now?

‘

But... well....

’

Eugene groaned.

Since he had died in his past life without having any children, he did want to get married and have many children.

However, he was going to think about it after he finished the stuff that he hadn’t been able to complete in his past life. Although, it would be difficult to kill all demonfolks, he wanted to kill the Demon King of Incarceration, and the Demon King of Destruction...

Weirdly, the women whom Eugene was acquainted with came to his mind — Sienna Merdein, Ciel Lionheart, Kristina Rogeris, and Melkith El-Hayah.

Aside from those four women, there were several other women whom Eugene knew, but those four were the ones with whom he had gotten close.

Getting married to Sienna? Why would he get married to that violent girl? She always cursed at him whenever Hamel did something. The times when Sienna called him ‘son of a bitch’ and ‘motherfucker’ annoyedly flashed through Eugene’s mind. So, why would he meet, eat, and wake up with her every day?

‘

Wait,

hadn’t we already done that in Helmuth?’

Eugene thought.

—Hamel.

—You have truly come back to me.

Inside the World Tree, Sienna had hugged Eugene, smiling with teary eyes. When that moment came to Eugene’s mind, he couldn’t continue to think about Sienna anymore.

Then how about Ciel...? Wasn’t she still a kid? Were they able to get married in the first place? Well, it was possible since they were siblings who had totally different parents. Although Eugene was currently Gilead’s adopted son, Gilead would be more than willing to annul Eugene’s adoption for the sake of marriage. In fact, Gilead would prefer to be called ‘father-in-law’ rather than ‘uncle.’

‘Well, I think Lady Ancilla will want it too.’

It wasn’t a bad deal for the Lionheart family, but Eugene really couldn’t imagine being married to Ciel.

There was also Kristina Rogeris — the Saint of the Holy Empire. She looked like Anise and was connected to Anise, who became an angel for some reason.

However, getting married to the Saint was absolutely absurd. The Church of Light didn’t force its priests to remain single, but nuns and monks had to. The restriction also applied to the Saint. Eugene really couldn’t imagine Kristina as his wife, and Kristina also would have to be half out of her mind to get married to Eugene. Despite all that, Kristina had to renounce the Church of Light if Eugene and Kristina were to get married.

After that, things would get really bothersome and complicated. Eugene had met the Inquisitors at Black Lion Castle, but they were egoists, self-righteous, and know-it-alls. They would definitely hunt Kristina after she renounced the Church, calling her heretic and fallen.

‘...Lady Melkith is....’

—Kyaaah!

—Kiyaaah!

Eugene stopped thinking. Besides, what was the point of imagining all this? It wasn’t like anything like that had happened in reality.

“...I have requested the shop in Alcard Street to make my prosthetic eye. The street is at the west of Ceres.” Lavera calmly explained, pulling Eugene back to reality.

The street was close to the palace but far from the central district where all the rich people lived.

Still, the international warp gate was located nearby, making it a busy street for the many tourists visiting the Kiehl Empire. This street was also home to the adventurers and mercenary guilds. Since they had to travel a lot to do their quests, like killing monsters and adventuring in dungeons, it was more convenient to have an international warp gate close by.

With many people in those lines of work frequenting this street, various unique shops that couldn’t be found in the central district were located here — shops favored by mercenaries and adventurers rather than knights or nobles.

There were weapon shops that sold functional and practical weapons rather than decorative ones and alchemists who roamed the streets, quietly selling effective but suspicious looking potions.

Eugene’s group arrived at Alcard Street through the warp gate. The street looked uniquely different from the central district where Eugene’s group had just passed through. In fact, this was the ‘toughest’ street in the capital Ceres.

“I have never come here before.” Mer looked around, feeling her heart pounding with excitement.

The street wasn’t dangerous. Guards regularly patrolled this street too, but they usually didn’t meddle with fights among adventurers or mercenaries from the guilds. Rather than mediating, solving, and arresting them one by one, the guards knew that it was easier to let the guild members fight among themselves.

“Ah, there are so many annoying people.” Although he hadn’t bothered to look around, Eugene could sense people looking at his group from every direction. Eugene’s group did stand out, attracting attention — a one-eyed elf, a gray-haired man with golden eyes, wearing a Lionheart uniform, and a purple-haired girl in her cute formal dress.

“You must be really annoyed, too, since people always stare at you for being an elf. They don’t come and pick a quarrel, do they?” Eugene asked Lavera.

“I have come to this street for the second time, but nothing of the sort has happened so far.” Lavera shook her head.

“Which knight did you go out with last time?”

“Sir Nein from the White Lion Knights guarded me.”

“Hmm, stuff like this didn’t happen last time because that guy is big and looks intimidating.”

“It is true that the people in this street are belligerent, but they wouldn’t think lightly of the Lionhearts and come close....” Lavera stopped speaking as she turned her head.

A freckled man with bushy hair was furtively approaching their group, smiling servilely.

“Are you Sir Eugene Lionheart?” the man asked.

He was alone. Since Eugene just looked at him without saying anything, the man cleared his throat as he continued, “My name is Tepir. I am working as a reporter at Scarth Newspaper.”

“Which newspaper is that?” Eugene asked Mer.

“It is the shitty newspaper that publishes exaggerated, tabloid gossip.”

“Errrr....” Tepir groaned.

“It is more like a fiction novel publisher than a newspaper publisher. What was the article that I read? Oh, right. The mysterious serial killer roams the capital at dawn... but it turns out he is Marquess X’s illegitimate son?! Scarth is doing an exclusive interview with him! It scribbles this kind of stuff,” Mer spoke.

“Is there a serial killer roaming around the capital at dawn?” Eugene tilted his head in confusion.

“No, there isn’t. See? I told you. It publishes fiction novels, not newspapers.” Mer’s criticism had Tepir frowning noticeably.

Maintaining his composure with difficulty, Tepir asked, “...Could you give me a moment of your time?”

“I don’t do interviews,” Eugene answered shortly.

“Please, it won’t take long. I heard that the Lionheart family has recently experienced a humiliating and embarrassing problem....”

“You’ve got some guts. Are you saying that even though you know my surname is Lionheart?” Snorting, Eugene waved his hand. “Don’t bullshit me and get lost. You can keep fucking around if you want to write your articles with a pen in your mouth for the rest of your life.”

As if he hadn’t expected a young noble from a prestigious family to say such stuff, Tepir blinked, unable to say anything.

“Get lost,” Eugene told Tepir twice already. Tepir hesitated, but he stayed put. Clicking his tongue, Eugene flicked his finger in Tepir’s direction.

Pop!

With just a single finger, Eugene struck the middle of Tepir’s forehead. Screaming, Tepir collapsed on the floor.

“Some people just don’t listen. Oh, you can write this as your article, by the way. Eugene Lionheart from the Lionheart main family is an asshole and violent like a rabid dog. If people fucked around me, they might get their asses kicked. You got it, right?”

Ancilla was recently hellbent on oppressing the newspapers, so if Tepir really published an article like that, she would literally tear the Scarth Newspaper apart and set an example for other newspapers.

“Are you already making sure you wouldn’t receive any marriage offers?” Mer grinned.

“Be quiet.”

“I am right, aren’t I? You are advertising that you have a serious problem with your personality, so other noble ladies and princesses wouldn’t ask you to marry them, right?”

“My personality is fine. Of course, I act rude to rude bastards. For nice words to come around, nice words need to go around. ”

[If Lady Sienna says nice words to you, will you say nice words back to Lady Sienna?]

Mer asked in her mind.

‘That girl... she never said nice words....’

—I know you, Hamel.

—Even though your reincarnation changed your body, replaced your face, and even gave you a new name... you’re still the same Hamel I’ve always known.

[Why did you stop talking?]

“It’s hot today,” Eugene grumbled, passing Tepir, who was still collapsed on the road.

The spring breeze brushed against Eugene’s hair. The breeze was still cold because winter wasn’t over yet.