Chapter 8
8
However, Simone quickly regained her composure.
'What does it matter?'
To him now, she was just a passing adventurer. He simply met Archduke Illestone before Abel due to a request.
He would complete the request, continue his journey, and join Abel, and now Simone would slip out of that adventure and continue her life without sacrifice.
Simone greeted him, as if she knew nothing.
"Hello, Ren. I'm Simone. Please take care of me."
"Leave it to me."
The Archduke watched their introductions with an uninterested expression and said, "I'll let you explain what this swordsman needs to do later. Let's get to the point first."
The quick-witted butler, Kelle, led Louisby out of the study, saying, "I will show Ren to the room where he will be staying tonight."
As soon as they left, Archduke Illestone signaled to Anna, who was waiting in front of the door.
"Yes, yes!"
Anna spread out a few sheets of paper in front of Simone.
"This is a compilation of the household's sleep records."
"Thank you."
Simone examined the documents in detail.
'The last ones to fall asleep are, as expected, the Archduke and Butler Kelle.'
Seeing how awake they were, she wondered if they were being too cautious.
Well, what can you do? It's the first time in 300 years that an outsider has stayed in their mansion.
Archduke Illestone waited for Simone to finish reviewing the sleep records and then asked quietly, "Can you really get rid of that tree by tomorrow?"
"Of course. I'm already prepared."
"Already prepared?"
Seeing the Archduke's incredulous expression, Simone confidently declared, "If that swordsman does his job well, the tree will be gone by tomorrow morning."
"And if you fail?"
"Then, of course, both the swordsman and I will become nutrients for the tree."
So, Simone was risking her life for this, even though it was someone else's problem. At that moment, Archduke Illestone's expression twisted indescribably.
"You're talking about dying..."
"Pardon?"
He stopped speaking and shook his head.
'Is it arrogance from confidence, or... does she not care about losing her life?'
It didn't really matter, but how could such a young mouth so easily speak of dying?
For him, who had brought a Necromancer into the mansion to save everyone, it was an incomprehensible act.
Regardless, Simone immediately spoke her mind.
"Then, I'll return to my room now. I'll see you tomorrow morning."
As soon as Simone returned to her room, she chuckled at the sight of Ren, who was already there.
"You've arrived?"
Ren, a pseudonym, whose true identity was Crown Prince Louisby of the Luan Empire. He casually sat comfortably in Simone's chair and waved his hand lightly.
"I thought you were late, so I was just sitting here. You're not upset, are you?"
The diligent demeanor he had shown in front of the Archduke was gone, and Louisby stretched wearily and smiled leisurely at Simone.
"I am upset."
Simone stopped in her tracks and stared at Louisby expressionlessly.
Louisby shrugged and raised both hands, getting up from the sofa.
'Right, this was Louisby's true personality.'
Crown Prince Louisby.
A man who had grown up remarkably upright under an emperor who had locked the gates of the imperial palace and shut himself in his room.
In the novel, he was called the empire's only hope born in a time of chaos.
But the real Louisby was not as saintly as the rumors suggested.
He always showed a righteous appearance to his father, the emperor, and to the nobles and the people, as if meeting their expectations, but he had revealed his true self to Abel's group from the beginning when they met outside the imperial palace.
"You're not hogging the request, are you? Are you the only adventurers? Share the request, before I kill you. You stingy psycho."
"Oh my god, and he says that with such a handsome face..."
Bianchi, a colleague who met him for the first time, sincerely expressed her dismay at Louisby's fierce personality, who was arguing with Abel over the guild request reward as soon as he appeared.
Honestly, there were hardly any normal people in Abel's group, but among them, Louisby was one of the people who got along best with Abel, who was the craziest of them all.
"Ha, Abel, if you go berserk one more time, I'm really going to kill you first. Hahaha!"
"...Louisby actually means it when he says things like that, so it's scary every time."
"Abel, at least pretend to listen. There's an aura of death all over Louisby. You'd think he was Simone."
"M-Me?"
Smiling brightly and speaking harshly in his unique, leisurely voice was Louisby's trademark.
So, when Louisby first showed his public image as the Crown Prince, his colleagues couldn't hide their bewildered expressions.
But one way or another, he was the most mature and laid-back of the group, and he was also the only one who could control Abel.
So, Simone was actually much more familiar with his current appearance than the polite demeanor he had shown in front of the Archduke.
"Is there a problem?"
Louisby asked, puzzled, when Simone remained silent for a long time. Simone shook her head.
"No. Nothing."
"Is that so? Then what should I do now?"
"Before I tell you, do you know how dangerous this is?"
Simone asked with a serious face. He was a skilled swordsman, but she had to confirm this first.
A mansion cursed for 300 years, where many people had died. It was a very dangerous place to set foot in simply to earn money.
This was something that could cost a normal human their life, even if Simone, as a Necromancer, was fine.
Did he know this fact?
Had the Illestone family properly explained the danger to Louisby?
This was important. In the early stages of the adventure, Louisby had excellent swordsmanship, but he didn't have any outstanding skills.
It was only later, when he traveled with Abel, that he showed his skills, such as wielding sword energy, but not now.
But Louisby had a reason to hide his identity and continue his journey.
Simone was asking: was it okay to risk his life in this place, which had nothing to do with his goals?
But Louisby answered without hesitation.
"Then would I have come to Illestone Mansion without being prepared?"
"...Haha! Wow."
How annoying.
She was worried for nothing.
Simone smiled.
"Then that's settled. Now, I'll tell you what you need to do tonight, Ren."
'It's a meeting that deviated from the plan, but it's actually a good thing.'
Louisby certainly had the skills to not disrupt this plan.
She didn't know why Louisby, who was supposed to join Abel on his adventure, had come to this mansion, but if he was confident, she could just lift the curse as planned and part ways.
Louisby said confidently, as if this request was nothing.
"I'll do my best."
Louisby's obnoxious tone was not great, but his confident appearance was very pleasing.
"What you have to do is simple."
Louisby looked at her relaxed smile. And he met her light brown eyes.
At that moment, sunlight streamed in through the large window.
'...Huh?'
Ren tilted his head. Was it his imagination? For a moment, her eyes seemed to turn red in the light.
What was her identity? Not Archduke Illestone's daughter, nor his adopted daughter, and not a noble either.
But she was living here with such good treatment.
Why was the aura emanating from her so threatening?
She was a woman with an unfamiliar beauty and mystery.
Simone, who was exuding such a suspicious aura, didn't notice the meaning of his gaze and pointed to the tree at the entrance outside the window with her thumb.
"If I get eaten, just cut it down."
"...Pardon?"
Eaten? Cut down? What? Louisby, who didn't understand, soon checked the direction Simone was pointing.
Then he widened his eyes in surprise.
"Are you saying you're going to be eaten by the tree?"
"Yes."
"And I'm going to cut it down?"
"Easy, right?"
What bizarre words!
Even though his expression was hidden by his cloak and hood, it was clear that Louisby was very dumbfounded.
Everyone in the Luan Empire knew that the tree blocking the entrance to the Illestone family ate people.
He knew that the Illestone family had put in a request to the Adventurer's Guild to get rid of this tree, and that was why he had accepted the request, but...
"Are you saying you're going to sacrifice your life to lift the curse?"
He didn't want to cooperate with a plan carried out in such a cruel way.
Why was Simone, who wasn't even a member of the Illestone family, staying in the mansion with such lavish treatment? Was it because she was someone to be sacrificed?
He couldn't tolerate it, and as the Crown Prince, he had to step in and investigate properly.
Simone recoiled, looking disgusted at Louisby's suddenly serious expression.
"What do you mean sacrifice my life?"
"...Then you're not?"
Here? Me?
Was she crazy to sacrifice her life for this? She was doing this to live! She was only going to do it because Simone's power could solve everything, and she would never have agreed if her life was even slightly in danger.
"I never said I was sacrificing it?"
Simone retorted sullenly, mimicking Louisby's tone, and turned her head to look at the tree.
"The swordsman just has to cut down that tree. You're the best in the Adventurer's Guild, so it shouldn't be difficult to cut down a tree like that, right?"
"Easy. ...But I still feel uneasy because I think it's dangerous."
Louisby's smile disappeared. His atmosphere changed slightly.
"If there's even a slight chance that the client will get hurt, I won't do it."
"...Wow."
This was a problem. The conversation kept going.
Now that he had decided to take the request, couldn't he just do it silently? ...But perhaps Louisby's nature wouldn't allow him to see a citizen of his country being sacrificed by a noble.
"If you cut down that tree so drastically, you'll cut down the person being eaten along with it," Simone said firmly.
"I won't get hurt. Probably."
Simone hadn't done it before, so she couldn't guarantee that it would go according to plan, but if Simone's power was properly activated, she would never get hurt.
