Chapter 108
The Alpha Reinforcements had a Special One, who were extremely rare, but didn’t have a battle alchemist. There were a lot of obstacles that battle alchemists had to face; if Davey didn’t have the original version of a golem made with the integration of ancient technology, he wouldn’t have thought to make the Megatron.
There was no way of knowing what complicated incidents had led alchemy to become that advanced in the very ancient civilizations, but alchemy now was still moving along the stages of progression. To be frank, the level of development was probably far superior in the past when they were desperate to survive than now.
-Every kind of development stems from the development of weapons.
It was ironic.
Davey and the others were sitting around and happily chattering amongst themselves like recess during school.
“Anyways, is there anything between you two?”
“True. There’s a rumor that Illyna…is in an arranged engagement with the youngest elder of the Red Tower, right? They’re not in a relationship, then.”
It seemed like Illyna had at least some feelings for Yulis since she wasn’t really denying it.
‘Winley’s love rival seems to be quite qualified, though her personality is a little off.’
Tsk tsk.
Lincy and the others were debating amongst themselves out of curiosity, but unfortunately, it wasn’t really a point of interest for children who liked fairy tales.
‘What should I say…?’
Davey had become acquainted with Illyna when she had come to punish him after he had run away and screwed her over at the Duchy of Felicity.
‘Hm, it’s pretty convincing.’
“We are friends who have shared a secret.” Illyna, however, answered with a calm face. She had no intention of giving some useless explanation, but Davey also felt that she was emphasizing the word, ‘friend’.
-For royalty like her, she would have to be careful even in finding friends.
Davey understood Illyna’s situation.
That was when a girl in an elaborate but neat white uniform approached Illyna with a bright smile. “Oh! Lady Illyna, there is no such thing as a platonic friendship between a man and a woman.”
“Lucia?” Illyna flinched upon figuring out who she was.
Lucia giggled happily. “I waited for a really long time. How long has it been?”
“Oh. Um…”
“All of this is a blessing from Lady Daphne, the first saintess.” Lucia was wearing a uniform that clearly looked like that of a Holy Empire’s priest, who should be serving Goddess Freyja, but she was speaking of that wicked (in Davey’s eyes) Saintess Daphne rather than Goddess Freyja.
Lincy who was sitting opposite Davey and chuckled at his shocked expression. She explained, “Lucia Shelman is a total fanatic of the first saintess. So, she memorizes the first saintess’ accomplishments and goes around spreading them. The problem is that she overdoes it a little…”
Davey stared at Lucia in bewilderment.
“Nice to meet you. My name is Lucia Shelman. You are Illyna’s partner, Sir Davey, right?”
“Ah… Yes.”
“Welcome. No time for this; You should also hear of the great achievements of Daphne, the first saintess…!” Already getting started and chattering on, Lucia seemed full of respect for Saintess Daphne. Lucia would never know what Saintess Daphne, the saintess she adored and respected so much, actually did in the Hall.
Lucia grabbed her partner, who looked fed up with it and was trying to run away. She then went on and on about Saintess Daphne’s achievements with no regard for Davey’s thoughts. “To describe her in one word, Lady Daphne is noble, good, and sacred enough to be called the reincarnation of God…”
‘That woman has a potty mouth and is a hot-tempered drunkard.’
* * *
Lucia Shelman was much more of a stalker than Davey had thought. He knew that all kinds of people existed, but it was the first time he had heard about Daphne no matter what he was doing. He thought, ‘I did see Illyna show an obsession over the traces of the Sword Lord, but this…’
-This isn’t just an obsession…
‘She’s an insane fanatic of the saintess!’
“According to the description left in the holy scriptures, Lady Daphne, the first saintess, was said to be brilliant from a young age. Boys and girls of the same age all followed her with their hearts, because they fell for her and her noble character.”
Davey wondered if Lucia knew that Daphne, the person she respected with all her heart, was actually the greatest bully of the block who had all the children under her command. She was said to have beat the guys she didn’t like with her little fists.
“Lady Daphne’s character is also well-known in the Holy Empire. It was said that even the most wicked of criminals would repent their sins after speaking with her. She wouldn’t be wrong if [Fxxk], [Shxt], [A shxxxx fxxking dumbaxx] were included in her benevolent way of speech.”
‘Daphne actually made criminals repent their sins with her fists rather than with benevolence and embrace.’
-Davey, no! She’s going to choke you if you tell her that!
Davey was itching to say what was on his mind as Lucia went on to say, “That’s not all! In serving Goddess Freyja, First Saintess Daphne never took a day off…”
“She said that she would get caught hiding in the corner because she was too lazy to partake in the regularly scheduled worship.” Davey looked a little guilty as he blurted out that fact.
“What?!” Lucia looked surprised and tilted her head in confusion.
-Oh no… Your mouth is the problem…
‘Well, it’s true! What do you want me to do about it? She said that she didn’t get in trouble because she gave some sort of excuse.’
Davey smiled awkwardly at Lucia and quickly added, “Ah, I meant someone else. Don’t worry about it.”
“Right? There’s no way the first saintess would hide during worship!”
Davey thought that Lucia had her head in the sand, but he said nothing.
-You are often quite impulsive when it comes to matters about the heroes of the Hall.
‘Hm, I don’t know.’ Davey had given it some thought, but he had no reason to hold onto it if Lucia was going to let it go with a misunderstanding.
Fed up with Lucia, who seemed like she was going to continue worshiping Saintess Daphne, Lucia’s partner quickly pulled her arm. He said apologetically, “Ahaha, sorry. You can’t stop her once she gets started. We’re going somewhere else. Come with me!”
“Kyah!! You should act with more elegance as a Holy Knight of the same religious order as the first saintess…”
“It is Goddess Freyja that I serve, not Saintess Daphne.”
Seeing Davey and the others go pale, Lucia’s partner grabbed her by the back of her neck. It was done with such familiarity that it looked like a common occurrence.
“Lucia’s partner always has a hard time just from being her partner alone.”
“Yeah.”
‘They say that there are no friends between opposite genders… Is this what double standards are?’
It probably didn’t mean that there were literally two standards…
-Double standards?
‘It means that [It’s romantic when I do it, but it’s an affair if others do the same].’
It probably meant that it was a common occurrence, since they were talking about it familiarly.
“Um, Lincy? The atmosphere of the knight order is a little disorderly…” Illyna, who looked like she was deep in thought, asked quietly.
“Ah, you’re talking about when you first came here with Davey, right? Well, it’s true that it’s rare for the Teachers to be that tense because of an outsider. Both Sio and the Teachers were acting over the top. You know that guy likes to take the lead.”
“Um… I don’t know if I should explain this…”
The twin sisters were hesitating about what to say and couldn’t speak their minds easily. That was when…
“It seems that someone disturbed Shandra, the transcendental being.” A pretty girl with red-orange-hair, who had only been watching from afar, slowly approached them and answered with a charming smile.
“Alyssa Patrick…” Illyna seemed like she was a little tired upon realizing who it was.
“Long time no see, Your Highness.”
“Don’t call me that here.”
Alyssa giggled elegantly like she was satisfied, then opened her mouth again. “The headquarters are thinking that there is a spy in the knight order creating conflict. Thanks to that, the atmosphere is in the gutters. Moreover, many knight members either died or were injured from an evil beast attack.”
“Alyssa! That should be kept a secret from trainees!”
“Oh, is it?” Alyssa smiled without being flustered and glanced at Davey. “But isn’t it funny that Lady Illyna and Sir Davey are the only ones who don’t know about this when you know about it as well? Isn’t that right, Prince Davey?”
Davey smiled. “Is that right?”
“Hehehe, I didn’t know that even Prince Davey would come here.”
“You know of me?”
“Oh, of course, since I am part of the Roaming Knights as well. Almost everyone in the east continent has heard of your name.” Alyssa spoke softly as she put on a pretty smile and walked toward Davey. She paled in comparison to Illyna’s beauty, but she was still stunning; it was just that the person she was being compared to was unbelievably beautiful. However, Davey felt a slight familiarity from her. It wasn’t a negative one, but it was difficult to describe in words.
“Well, is there something you want to tell me?” Davey asked Alyssa.
Alyssa then took a deep breath while staring at Davey silently, then confidently gave something to him from her chest pocket. “Please write something for me! It would be nice if it was my name…”
“What?”
Although it was for a moment, Davey was dumbfounded by Alyssa, who shouted with a flushed face, “I’m a fan! You are my idol, Prince Davey!”
* * *
It seemed that Alyssa Patrick was from a small noble family from the Pallan Empire, which was Illyna’s kingdom.
“The Patrick family, where Alyssa is from, is a part of the conservatives. So, she said that she grew up learning the etiquette of a woman and hearing that she had to act like a woman,” Illyna explained.
“What does that have to do with me being her idol?” Davey asked.
“Well, most people know that you used to be a weak and powerless prince in the Rowane Kingdom who would just be swept up in the kingdom’s events. But you are hugely successful in your business after becoming independent, and you are now developing the territory at a fast rate,” Illyna explained. With a smile, she added, “Your name is quite well-known in the central continent, too.”
Davey nodded uninterestedly at Illyna’s explanation while sitting at the table and shaking his leg. He muttered, “Maybe I should add a new function.”
“You’re going to add something again?”
“It’s greed, really. It would be nice if it’s detachable like custom parts.”
-If your dream is an electric chainsaw, I’m leaning toward a drill.
Davey’s eyes sparkled as he thought hard about the Megatron after hearing Perserque’s ideas. “A drill… Oh, that’s nice.”
“A drill? What is that?” Illyna asked with worry, feeling anxious after hearing Davey’s words.
However, Davey just told Illyna to watch without saying more.