Chapter 30

When I gave the call to my men, she was the first to come running.

Freya the Widow.

A dignified, demure-looking woman who could easily be described as a 'lady', with her hair twisted into an unruly spiral.

Her ice-cold, graceful appearance is short-lived in my presence.

"Alas, Lord Rain!"

She blushed ecstatically at the sight of me, warmth seeping into her icy face.

"It's...Freya."

"That's right, I'm trembling with excitement that Lord Rain is calling my name!"

This wasn't just warmth, it was volcanic pressure.

"Miss Freya."

As if on cue, Aria stood in front of her, my ever-present companion.

There was a brief silence between them. In what felt like a chill in the air, Aria broke the silence.

"It's...good to see you again, Freya."

The smile softened somewhat, uncharacteristically for her.

"I'm glad to see you, too, Lady Aria─Alice, you've grown into a fine young lady."

"Yes, Alice even learned to laugh like a lady now, ahem, look at me, ohhhhhhh!"

"Ohhhhhhh!"

"...."

As Alice laughed like a lady, Freya covered her mouth with the back of her hand and laughed like a lady too. I could not help laughing.

"By the way, what a shame!"

Freya said after we laughed.

"To come to the duchy and not call for me right away-Even knowing how much I love Lord Rain!"

"...."

I didn't answer. To be honest, I didn't know what to say.

"As you said, your train ticket to the Breton Empire is ready."

With that, Golden Lord Robert reported. Beside him was Ergo, who had already changed into men's clothes.

And not just any men's clothes, but the black uniform of the SS, complete with a very high ranking insignia.

"A train ticket?!"

"Yes."

That was it.

"How dare you, to think that the train that carries our Lord Rain belongs to someone else! This is unacceptable, and I demand that my family immediately arrange for an express train worthy of Lord Rain to...."

"Freya."

I replied, interrupting her next sentence.

"As I said, I have no intention of drawing unnecessary attention to myself."

"Oh, ah, yes...."

As soon as Freya heard that, she lowered her voice in a panic and hung her head.

"There, that's a mistake...Lord Rain."

After bowing, she croaked in a voice like an ant crawling.

*

"A monster!"

"There's a monster wandering around here!"

As he walked up and down the street, he heard a voice pointing at him.

"Huh, a monster?"

The man's eyes widened at the words, and he spun around, realizing they were directed at him.

"Yeah, there's no place in this country for a monster like you!"

"Get lost, you unintelligent wolf!"

A street in broad daylight, with people coming and going. On that very street, a person with a "wolf's face" would not be tolerated, even if he had the same intelligence as a human and could communicate in the same language.

They look like monsters.

That's how most half-breeds were treated in the Empire of Bretona, a country of intelligent and cultured people.

Of course, there are ways to hide it, by pressing the hood down deep, or by using magic but the man did not do that.

So every time he went out, he always ran into the same trouble he was in now, but he didn't care.

"There you go, you subhuman."

The city guards stomped toward him.

"Can you prove that you are in this country legitimately?"

The man, Sandalfon, shrugged at the polite question.

"Credentials, I can prove all I want."

"Bring it out now."

"Oh, wait."

He shrugged, then fished it out of his immaculate suit and handed it over. He didn't need to cause unnecessary headaches everywhere he went.

"Even if you are eligible to stay, your behavior is in itself an act that violates imperial law. Use rags to hide your ugly and disgusting appearance."

"Hmm, is that so?"

Hearing the guard's words, the werewolf scratched at his mane.

After scratching, he lightly clenched his fist, then opened it, and with all his might-.

"...Excuse me."

He was about to swing but there was a shadow beside Sandalfon, grabbing his arm.

"What, are you part of the group?"

The guards in front of him asked nonchalantly, oblivious to the fact that their heads were about to be blown off.

The shadow gripping the werewolf's arm nodded silently.

"Yes."

"!"

Sandalfon's eyes widened as he realized the identity of the man beside him.

For the record, it was me.

"Then take your two-legged son of a bitch and get the hell out of here!"

"I will."

I didn't say anything else and turned away. As I backed away and walked away, Sandalfon caught up with me and asked.

"Why are you here?"

"I sent a telegram...but you didn't get it."

"Oh, that's right, I did get it, but I forgot the password so I didn't know what it was about, hahaha!"

Sandalfon scratched his head nonchalantly and laughed. Then, with a sudden burst of anger, he shouted.

"More than that, Chief, why did you let those bastards live? I could rip them to shreds right now and my fury wouldn't go away!"

"...It will happen."

I replied, squinting.

I looked up at the palace, towering above us, crystalline with cast iron and glass.

The Crystal Palace, as it's called, is made entirely of steel and glass, its interior glistening in the sunlight.

And it's not just the fact that it's made of steel and glass that makes it special.

"I can't believe you've come all this way."

"What you see is what you get."

"Well, just out of curiosity, do you know what events are held there?"

"Yes."

"Ah, you're the leader after all-."

Sandalfon's eyes narrowed as soon as he saw the look in my eyes, and his voice was one of disbelief.

"So I sent a telegram to everyone."

"!"

Except for the one person who received the telegram but didn't know the code and couldn't decipher the contents.

"To summon everyone, without exception."

"Well, no way. Right here, right now, everyone...."

"You're the last."

I replied and barely managed to keep the name-calling out of my throat.

It's a good thing he's still in Imperial territory. Well, I guess Aria came up with her own way back then. Maybe.

"Tear this heart apart right now...."

As soon as Sandalfon heard those words, he muttered in a trembling voice. His blood dripped down his lips.

"I want to rip out my heart to atone, right here, right now, in front of you!"

"...."

"Please, Leader, let me pay for my sins with my own hands!"

He was biting his lip so hard, and even his hands were dripping with blood from clenching his fists so tightly. Not blood, but chunks of flesh.

"Don't hurt yourself needlessly."

I added, dumbfounded.

"Instead—stand alone in the vanguard and accept the wounds everyone will suffer."

"!"

"That's enough atonement."

The blood stops flowing at those words. Frighteningly, the scars on his body had faded like a lie as if he had never been wounded in the first place.

"Hahaha, I guess I'll have to pay you back by dying!"

*

"It looks like the fair will be held safely on... schedule."

At that time, in a secret room in the capital of the Breton Empire the man known as the 'Queen's Rabbit', Oswald Rabbit, head of the Imperial Secret Intelligence Service, spoke.

"The cooperation of the Holy Kingdom and Duchy is going well, and the 'World's Fair' will be aptly named as scheduled."

"Not in any country, but in the heart of our own."

With her back to the pouring sunset, the girl, standing on the borderline of attitude and maturity, replied.

"You need not worry, Your Majesty, please have faith in your country."

"Faith is not important."

It was just a fair.

But not the dull, boring fair that everyone thinks it is.

"Only the truth matters."

Official name-the World's Military Exhibition.

There are no industrial products or arts and crafts to interest children at best.

Everything there is there to kill people and destroy countries.

The things that kill people and destroy countries are there to prove that they are better than others.

"The truth is that the sun of this nation does not falter in the face of the new weapons and new power of any nation."

"I believe in you and the truth of this nation, Your Majesty."

The continent will be greatly shaken by the power and results that each nation will boast and show off here.

New weapons, armaments, armies, and even the bloodshed of the mighty men and women who represent them will be unrivaled.

To secure their hegemony, the three nations are eager to demonstrate their power.

"...Watch me, Mother."

The girl with the sun whispered softly.

Nike Pendragon II.

She became the queen of this country, with the names Goddess of Victory and Dragons inscribed in her name.