Dungeon Defense (WN)

Chapter 384: Encounter of Two Heroes (12)

* * *

“The key to the city of Genova has been given to the Saintess.”

“I have certainly received the key to the city.”

Year 1512 and the 9th month of the continental calendar.

Saintess Jacqueline Longwy visited Genova to participate in the transfer of ownership ceremony. Genova was officially handed from the Habsburg Empire to the Temple of Athena. As the citizens of Genova witnessed this spectacle, they erupted in enthusiastic cheers of celebration.

“Hoorah! Praise the Saintess!”

“Glory to Goddess Athena!”

They had narrowly escaped their fate of becoming slaves thanks to the Saintess. At this point, if the Saintess were to declare that she was going to make melon juice by grinding a table, these people would probably cheer her on and say that she could. The Saintess smiled radiantly as she waved at the crowd which made the cheers become even more fervent. It seems they understand politics.

Once the city handover ceremony ended, we relocated to an office. Only the Saintess, Daisy, and I entered the room.

“What was with that unamusing ceremony? You should have informed me beforehand if you prepared something like that.”

Once we entered the office, the Saintess’ expression did a whole 180 as the smile she had on her face vanished without a trace. Rather than melon juice, it was more like she had chewed on a cockroach. They say that when a woman changes, it’s not her fault, but wouldn’t it be fine to consider this an exception and give the Saintess a guilty verdict? Honorable judge, this woman is a witch.

“Did you expect us to just seal a contract in some private place where no one could see? The whole point of this is to make a public display. Well, you did well for someone who did no preparations beforehand.”

“I thought I would finally get to rest after running all the way here for half a month, but then I was suddenly given a script! Count Palatine, you are terrible at handling people!”

I don’t understand why she’s upset. Didn’t I personally write the speech for her? Thanks to that moving speech, the hearts of the people of Geneva ended up in the Saintess’ hands. If anything, I should be hearing words of gratitude.

“Yes, yes.”

“Don’t just respond with a dry ‘yes’ when talking to someone! Don’t shrug your shoulders! Don’t sneer! Do you realize how much your body language can irritate someone!?”

“I do act appropriately in front of others. I only act like this in front of you. It’s like a form of special treatment, so you can be pleased about it.”

“If only you’d drop dead right this instant……!”

The 28-year-old Saintess Jacqueline Longwy, who was currently glaring at me while gnashing her teeth, stood as the self-proclaimed advocate tirelessly striving for the peace of the continent and its races.

I turned my gaze to Daisy. Daisy was, as usual, dressed neatly in her maid attire.

“Daisy.”

“Yes, Father.”

“I heard from the Saintess that you were of great help when recruiting mercenaries. It seems you have grown enough to at least handle a single person’s task.”

I placed my hand on Daisy’s head and gave it a light tap.

“Good work.”

“…….”

“For now, continue to attend to the Saintess. I am currently operating with the Military Affairs Minister. It would not be beneficial for you to be seen right now.”

“Yes. I understand……Father.”

Laura and Daisy have a complex relationship. Surprisingly, Daisy, who was the victim in all this, seemed rather unaffected by Laura. However, Laura is unable to hide her unease whenever she sees Daisy. I didn’t want to leave the two of them in the same location if possible.

I turned away.

“Now then. Shall we discuss our future plans?”

“……Huh? Oh. Sure.”

For some reason, the Saintess was looking at me somewhat blankly. I furrowed my brows. I was questioning her idiotic expression. In response, the Saintess narrowed her eyes and spoke.

“You’re surprisingly……kind to your daughter, huh?”

“Pfft!”

The unexpected statement made a laugh burst out from my lips.

“Kind? I am to Daisy? You must be joking, Saintess Longwy.”

“Just now, no matter how you look at it, you were like a stern father being strict with his daughter. You do not need to be embarrassed by this.”

It seemed the Saintess was misunderstanding something as she smiled and let out a giggle. Her expression was almost reminiscent of a kitten. It was like she was saying “I know what kind of person you are,” with her face. Just like all baby animals, Saintess Longwy’s intellect was also considerably lacking.

“I was wondering why Miss Daisy worked so hard despite being so young, but it seems there’s a reason for everything. Miss Daisy, is the Count Palatine a kind father?”

The Saintess smiled as she lowered herself to be on eye level with Daisy. She was completely treating her like a child. As most people already know, the second thing Daisy hates most in the world is being treated as a child.

“Yes, Father is always incredibly kind.”

“Oh dear. Oh my. It’s quite unexpected to see the Count Palatine, who’s comparable to the living embodiment of devilishness, spreading plagues and curses across the world, being so gentle towards his family…….”

“He does torture me all night if I do something wrong, but he is sufficiently kind.”

Saintess Longwy paused mid-laugh.

“Pardon?”

“It has already been four months since the last time I was tortured. I ended up disregarding the rights and interests of a single village while trying to halt the conflict between the villages within Custos. I made a mistake with the paperwork. That day, from early evening to morning, I had to sit on a triangular horse and wash my entire body with wax water.”

Ah, even I can’t stop Daisy when she’s like this. Honestly, I didn’t want to stop her either. Whether she intended to or not, the Saintess had insulted Daisy, so she naturally has to pay the price.

“Huh……? Pardon……?”

The Saintess turned to look at me. Is this true? This is a joke, right? The Saintess looked clearly perplexed as her eyes asked me these questions. I responded with a shrug.

“Due to Daisy mistakenly jotting down three things wrong, 750 village residents were almost affected adversely. Mistakes are not tolerated for those who end up responsible for countless lives. It’s not just a fitting punishment, it’s a relatively lenient one.”

“…….”

Daisy continued her explanation while the Saintess looked bewildered.

“Half a year ago, on the 16th day of the 3rd month, I made a mistake while interrogating a suspect. I was supposed to cut out his liver, but I ended up cutting out his lung instead. The suspect could only wheeze until his lung regenerated, which almost disrupted the interrogation process.”

“T-Torture?”

“Yes. On that day, Father administered a drug that amplified my senses a hundredfold. He then hung me against a rampart that was sparsely populated and known for its strong winds. Every time the wind touched my skin, I would feel a pain akin to death.”

I furrowed my brows. There was a severe error in what Daisy had just said. I felt the need to fix this error.

“You fool, that was the 17th day of the 3rd month.”

“No, I am certain it was the 16th.”

We glared at one another.

“Are you not referring to the day Valefor was tortured? It is the 17th then.”

“The 15th was the day you were attacked, Father. Since the torture started on that day, it happened the day after. No information was revealed on the 15th, while everything was revealed on the 17th. You are able to remember at least this much, can you not?”

I stroked my chin.

“……Hmm. I guess it was the 16th.”

“See? Your memory is incredibly poor, Father.”

Daisy let out a small, mocking snort.

“I sometimes suspect you are suffering from senile dementia. Are you sure I should not be attending to you even in the bathroom?”

“Shut it. It’s just that your memory is excessively good. My memory is not at a level that I would feel embarrassed about it.”

While the two of us were biting at each other’s throat, Saintess Longwy was watching us with an expression that looked as if her soul had left her body. The Saintess carefully opened her mouth.

“Uhm. You two……are a pair of adoptive father and adopted daughter, right?

“Yes.”

“That is the case, Saintess Longwy.”

The Saintess pressed her hand against her forehead.

“Do you two cherish each other……or do you hate each other……?”

“We despise each other.”

“We despise one another.”

“……? ……?”

The Saintess had a perplexed expression on her face, much like an 18th-century mathematician facing Fermat’s Last Theorem.

“So, you’re saying you don’t cherish each other or anything like that?”

“Correct.”

“That’s a bit different.”

If anyone dares to touch Daisy recklessly, I will rip out their jaw and shove it up their ass. I would then rip them into four pieces and put them on display for everyone to see. I’m not joking. It only ended with lashings last time since it was Laura who did it.

“Saintess Longwy, do you perhaps believe that a person must like another in order to cherish them?”

“Is that not a given……?”

What an utterly hopeless answer.

I shook my head in disappointment. I could hear Daisy let out a snort of laughter next to me.

“This is why young ladies who are ignorant of the world and raised in a temple all their lives won’t do. Do you realize how abruptly the relationships and psychology of people can shift? There is a saying, ‘Open enmity is better than false friendship,’ but I doubt Saintess Longwy would ever be able to comprehend the meaning behind these words. I struggle to understand why you go out of your way to burden yourself with the weight of your head on your neck.”

“Indeed. She may have a pretty face, but I question what she spent thirty years of her life learning to have ended up like this.”

“…….”

It seemed like Saintess Longwy had given up on thinking once Daisy and I hit her with consecutive jabs. 

The Saintess’ expression returned after a while. I felt an incredibly firm resolve from her.

“My apologies, Count Palatine.”

“What is it?”

“Could you change my exclusive maid?”

That night, I was incredibly busy trying to create a schedule that prevented Laura and Daisy’s paths from ever overlapping.

* * *

After the brutal death of the Grand Duke of Florence, the Kingdom of Sardinia behaved extremely passively.

The kingdom’s army never attempted a direct confrontation with us. Instead, they meticulously focused on targeting our supply lines whenever we showed an opening. It was a typical war of attrition.

According to rumors, this war of attrition was strongly advocated by Consul Elizabeth. She apparently argued that a direct confrontation with our imperial army would be suicidal. Along with the Duke of Milano, who had always been advocating for this kind of trench warfare, the forces of the Kingdom of Sardinia gathered together like hedgehogs.

Thanks to this, we were able to pillage the kingdom as much as we wanted.

“Burn it all down.”

Regardless of whether the civil militia holed themselves up in a fortress and defended it, they couldn’t drag their homes and possessions into the fortress. Whenever we found something of value that could generate income, we seized it without hesitation. Anything too massive to take away was simply set ablaze.

Areas that weren’t fortified, had little strategic importance, and were undeveloped, were utterly devastated. An inevitable storm of blood and fire swept through those places. The ‘Elizabeth Strategy’ demanded sacrifices from all regions except cities like Altoran.

Although Elizabeth’s strategy was efficient, it was coming at a terrifying cost. Finding themselves at the end that was being sacrificed, the peasants and their representatives vehemently criticized the royal army. In the end, Elizabeth had no choice but to lead her troops into battle.

An issue occurred here.

With an army of about twenty thousand soldiers, Elizabeth kept us in check. She only kept us in check and didn’t attack us. Her troops would fire arrows at us every now and then to prevent us from pillaging however we wanted.

During this, one of our detached forces unluckily fell into Elizabeth’s encirclement. This was probably a perfect opportunity for Elizabeth.

However.

“No casualties, Your Highness!”

For some reason, Elizabeth let our detached force escape. Elizabeth claimed that she let them go by ‘mistake’.

The people of Sardinia became enraged by this pitiful conduct.

***

TL Note: Thanks for reading the chapter. I’ve almost forgotten what this chapter is about at this point. My 6 day holiday is ending and the family reunion was…weird. I’m not exactly sure how I’m supposed to feel because my dad sounded like he’s already accepted his situation. His only goal now is to at least outlive my grandparents. In a way, that just makes it sadder? I don’t know how else to describe it.

I’ll see you guys in the next chapter I guess?