I Already Know My Magic Power Is Ridiculously High! Now I Just Need a Cute Wife... - Episode 63

I got a little distracted.

Digging into the past of Barbato, whom I had already killed—was there any point in doing so now?

If a Star-Rank warrior were to lose their mind in rage, it would most likely be over a romantic affair.

One possibility was that the murdered servant and the marquis’s daughter had been lovers, and Barbato had witnessed it.

If that were the case, then was the appearance of the Mark of Chastity just a deception? I had no idea.

…Either way, it felt like a waste of time to dwell on it.

“It doesn’t matter in the slightest. The guy who got killed was probably just a cheating bastard. Given how violent male nobles can be, it’s not surprising if he got hacked to pieces in a fit of rage.”

“…That may be true—but.”

“?”

I glanced at Nephthys, who had his eyes lowered, and realized he shared my thoughts.

But he continued speaking.

“The strange part comes next. The day after, the engagement was annulled, and the marquis’s daughter returned to her estate in despair. In the end, the details of the incident were never fully revealed, and the case was buried in darkness. However, the following year—something happened in that marquis’s house.”

“Something happened?”

“…The marquis’s daughter was appointed head of the family.”

“What?”

I was honestly stunned by the unexpected development.

To put it bluntly, the future of a noblewoman who returns home after an annulled engagement is rarely bright.

Yet, she had climbed from rock bottom to become the family head in just a year? That had to be a joke.

“The Marquis of Hoberia then demanded retribution from the Naia royal family, citing the suffering inflicted upon them by Lord Barbato. They even sought permission for a Star-Rank warrior to be stationed within their domain.”

“What kind of ridiculous demand is that? Obviously, the royal family wouldn’t agree to such nonsense.”

The so-called retribution from the Hoberia Marquisate was nothing short of absurd.

Based on what I had heard, the blame should have fallen more on the marquis’s daughter, who had manifested the Mark of Chastity.

“…No, the Naia royal family accepted the demand and signed an agreement.”

“What? Why?”

“…I don’t know. The late Lady Valeria made the decision with only a few close advisors.”

There was no way the Naia royal family would agree so easily to the demands of a mere foreign marquisate.

That meant they either stood to gain something from it or were being coerced.

At that time, the previous queen was in power, and Naia was at its peak, dominating as a strong kingdom. It was hard to imagine they would have conceded anything to a foreign noble.

Yet, in the end, the marquisate had gotten what they wanted.

“I’ve never heard of such an agreement.”

“…That’s because it was made in secret. I was sworn to silence as well.”

Despite saying that, Nephthys was spilling all sorts of details.

Still, he didn’t seem to know the most crucial parts. It looked like Naia had handled things very carefully.

“It’s unsettling.”

Barbato’s broken engagement a decade ago, the agreement with the Hoberia Marquisate, and the princess’s assassination five years ago.

Each event was strange, but the second one gave me a particularly bad feeling.

Naia was seen as a powerful kingdom, but beneath the surface, something eerie seemed to be lurking.

But each of these events was fragmented, unclear. There was no way to see the bigger picture yet.

“…Shadows at your feet, a light in your hands, and a reckless tongue will bring disaster.”

“What’s that?”

“…An old saying. Nobility is like a shadow—no one can see through everything. Yet, despite that, people have no choice but to grope their way forward, guided only by the starlight.”

Nephthys’s words carried a cryptic weight.

The way he spoke made him seem like an elder imparting wisdom to a child.

“I don’t get it at all.”

“…Don’t worry about it. If it’s you, Lord Shalka, I’m sure you’ll find a way to light the darkness ahead.”
“…”

I had no idea what he was basing that on.

If anything, he should be the one lighting the way, not me—I thought as I glanced at the top of Nephthys’s head.

He was probably among the more capable bureaucrats in Naia.

If he weren’t an enemy, I might have wanted him as a subordinate.

At any rate, this had been an interesting conversation.

If I didn’t understand something, I could just keep gathering information.

And if anything became an obstacle, I would simply remove it.

I took a deep breath and brought the conversation back on track.

“Well, whatever. We’ve gone off-topic. So, the lesson here is that hoping for reconciliation is pointless?”

“…Not exactly. If you slowly build trust and compatibility through ‘Magical Synchronization,’ reconciliation isn’t completely impossible. The probability is…not zero.”

Nephthys spoke evasively, his eyes darting around.

It felt like I was sitting through a moral education lecture in elementary school.

Basically, even if someone hates you, if you work hard enough, there’s maybe a one percent chance they’ll come around.

I’d rather move on to the next option.

“So basically, it would take a long time? How long would it take for Luna?”

“…Most likely, not within her teenage years. Maybe not even in her twenties…”

So, Luna intended to wear her chastity belt until she was in her thirties.

“Is that why people doubt her suitability as queen?”

“…Yes.”

If she spent her prime years without resolving her trauma, then even if she overcame it by the time she was thirty, would she even be able to bear an heir?

It was unlikely that someone with deep-seated trauma would suddenly develop an interest in intimacy.

For a noblewoman past her prime, the only remaining path was to die honorably on the battlefield as a knight.

“I see. So that’s the problem the Naia royal family is facing.”

The longer this dragged on, the more Luna’s credibility as a future queen would be questioned.

And whenever she appeared at social gatherings, she would be scrutinized as a victim of assault.

She was an unfortunate princess in many ways.

If she weren’t my enemy, I might have wished her well.

…Now, it was time to ask the most important question.

“You’re trying to put Albert on the throne, right?”
“…Yes.”

“Then tell me—”

After everything I’d heard, the entire Naia invasion plan boiled down to this single question.

“Why did you have to target my grandfather?”

“…That is—”

It was strange from the start.

My grandfather was the strongest warrior of the Ortenos family, a war god.

Did Albert’s faction truly need to eliminate him?

Considering the losses Naia had suffered at his hands, they must have known how costly it would be.

Yet, despite that, they took the risk.

If there was a reason for that, then it was probably—

The door to the torture chamber suddenly creaked open.

“Lord Shalka! Excuse me!”

A soldier burst into the room in a hurry.

So much for getting the important details—I sighed.

I knew he didn’t mean to interrupt, but I couldn’t help feeling a bit annoyed.

“What is it?”

“Sir, a riot has broken out in the residential area of the fortress. There are multiple casualties.”

“…Can’t you handle it?”

“That’s the problem, sir. The ones at the center of the commotion are tax collectors from the Ortenatris Judiciary.”

The soldier hesitated, his face filled with frustration and unease.

“Tch, those damn pests caught the scent already.”

“Y-yes. The tax collectors are currently enforcing the ‘Special Taxation Law’ and carrying out punishments on the people.”

If there was a parasite in Ortenos, the Judiciary was one of them.

They had holed up safely when Naia invaded, but now that it was safe again, they were out looking for fresh prey.

“Nephthys, we’ll continue this later.”

“…Understood. I will wait.”

Leaving him with those words, I turned and left the torture chamber, reluctant but resigned.

It wouldn’t be fair to make the soldiers handle this mess alone.

“Damn leeches. If necessary, I’ll get rid of them myself…”

Muttering to myself, I made my way to the scene.