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Chapter 292
Killer Queen
Late winter.
The season when the cold flowing from the north blows strongest.
A season like the Winter General's final struggle.
Though such harsh cold rages, the woman named Gae Bolg's attire was far from winter.
An oversized shirt ill-suited to her slender frame.
Wе̄ b̀ ǹ о̀vе̃ l .Еnu̇ m̂а
That was undoubtedly Vernel's clothing.
Ferda and Garnet entered her workshop.
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When they heard the request, she had asked for time, and that time had arrived, so they came now.
"In short, what's needed is the hostage's rescue, right?"
"Yeah."
"To do that, you need stealth, right?"
E ń u̇mӑ
"Probably."
"Then what is stealth?"
"Are you going to keep leading this useless Q&A?"
Garnet made an annoyed face, but Gae Bolg couldn't hide her enjoyment.
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Seeming like things were going her way, Garnet made a face as if he'd lost and spoke.
"It means not being detected by anyone."
Е̃n üm̆а
"Right. Not being detected. Stealth is ultimately relative, too."
"So?"
"What are elves like? They listen to words regardless of day or night, and with one step they go a hundred li—those damn trash bastards!"
"...So what kind of stealth did you come up with?"
At Ferda's question, Gae Bolg clenched her fist tight then spread it wide open.
"Bang!"
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"You're saying to blow up bombs?"
"Yeah. Make it loud. Really loud! Make a ruckus so loud it flips the whole world upside down, so that even if we move loudly, if they can't hear us over there, that's the ultimate 'stealth', isn't it!?"
At those words, Garnet glanced at Ferda and said.
"It looks like nothing but a scheme to satisfy her own selfish desires, though....."
It looked that way to Ferda's eyes too.
But he knew well what kind of human the Crime Matriarch Gae Bolg was.
W̌е b̈ ń оv̌е̂.l̈ Е n̈ u m а̌
"She has her selfish desires too, but there's a clear purpose. Since she said the purpose is Olivia's rescue, she won't do pointless things."
"You should reconsider once more....."
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"What did that woman say earlier?"
"....."
Garnet forcibly swallowed a sigh and answered.
"To revere Gae Bolg as a god."
Ëñǔ m̃ӑ_.їd
"In the plan, that woman is god. Prepare thoroughly."
"Understood."
Garnet decided to comply obediently.
It wasn't that he believed in Gae Bolg's abilities.
Dilarang mengopy novel dari Enuma.id.
Even with a background check, nothing separate came up, and a woman who grew up only in an environment with limited obtainable knowledge.
A beast made of nothing but instinct—the very type Garnet most despised.
Еň ú m_а . іď
The reason he followed orders was because he trusted Ferda that much.
In reality, the conclusions he directly reached always brought only profit to the Grand Duchy.
"So you manufactured a lot of bombs and plan to blow them up?"
Sieging using bombs is a common story.
But since it's a plan led by Gae Bolg, it didn't seem like it would flow that way.
"Hehe, that's why I prepared this, see?"
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As Ferda expected, Gae Bolg showed something to Ferda.
"What I'm using is this solution!"
It was a medicine bottle filled with purple liquid.
"What solution is it?"
"A small but incredibly strong guy!"
She bared her teeth as she spoke.
Ѐ n ū må
"Its name is Killer Queen!"
"Killer Queen?"
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"Everything it touches becomes a bomb instantly. That's this little guy's ability!"
"Hmm....."
"It's a name to my liking. A deadly woman fits perfectly, right? That Pe, whatever-her-name-is has killer naming sense, doesn't she?"
She got beaten that badly and they're still on good terms?
Е ṅ u̇ m а̌ . і d
Setting aside the pointless question, Ferda focused on the Killer Queen Gae Bolg made.
...He couldn't shake the thought that she seemed like a snake oil salesman.
You might think she's saying nonsense, but Ferda absolutely didn't think so.
The other party is the Crime Matriarch and a Bomb Maniac.
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She was someone who was dead serious about that.
Ferda and Garnet looked at it with suspicious eyes.
Е̃ n̂ú m а . і̄ d̂
Gae Bolg seemed to enjoy that reaction.
"Then I should show a demonstration."
She pointed at an object placed on the table and asked.
"What does this look like to you?"
What was visible was definitely an ordinary stone.
Just in case, Ferda used detection magic to check all its components.
Dilarang mengopy novel dari Enuma.id.
"It's an ordinary stone."
"Right! It's an ordinary stone! But if I touch this solution to it here?"
She lightly dabbed the solution on the glass lid onto her finger.
The amount applied was minute.
"If I press it like this?"
When she touched the solution-coated index finger to the stone, a surprising thing happened.
W̄ еb̌nо̂v̌ е l Е ǹ u ḿӓ
"The stone....."
The fist-sized stone was dyeing purple as if being stained.
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The visible change was clear, but Ferda, who was maintaining detection magic, could see something even more surprising.
The moment it touched the solution, the particles composing the stone began to slowly collapse, then rearranged into a new form.
At a glance it's just a solid, but looking closely at the magnification, it was definitely different.
It had transformed into something whose structure itself was shaking unstably.
Ё n u_m̆а
"And if I give a stimulus like this?"
What flew over was a current as small as static electricity.
KWANG!!
"KYAA!"
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An explosion bursting right before their eyes.
Without even a warning to Ferda and Garnet, she just detonated it like that.
Е̄ n̂ um̌ ӓ . і d̀
Garnet, who was originally standing apart, only ended up startled, but Ferda was within the explosion's range.
"Regent-nim! Are you alright?"
But contrary to that worry, not even a scratch appeared on Ferda's face.
A protective barrier floating on Ferda's skin was guarding him.
"Ooh, as expected, quick on the uptake?"
"I can more or less predict what you'll do."
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"Gae Bolg, you crazy bitch, how dare you....!"
"Enough."
Ferda waved his hand.
"That guy didn't intend to kill me either."
Looking at the explosion's size and shape, it wasn't an explosion that would endanger a life.
It was definitely an explosion meant to startle Ferda.
Ẅ е b̆ n̊о̃v̂еl En̂ ūm̈a
But that's that.
"There won't be a next time."
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"Oka~y."
Gae Bolg answered playfully.
There's nothing more foolish than expecting rehabilitation from a criminal who only pursues pleasure in life.
"Judging by the amount applied and the spread, it seems the power can be adjusted too."
Е́n̂ um̀ a_.і́ d̃
"Right."
She tossed that dangerous potion like a pebble, throwing it up to the sky repeatedly.
"I only applied a really tiny amount. It was at the level of a shoddily made firecracker. If it was one drop, your face would've blown off, not to mention your body?"
"Then that one bottle's value could easily blow away a whole house."
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"Right. How is it? Amazing, right?"
It is amazing.
W̃е̇b n̆ оvеl̆ Ѐ n̊u̇ m̂ а̇
But to Ferda, a soaring question came first.
"I have a question."
"What is it?"
"You said it makes everything it touches into a bomb, so why didn't your finger blow off?"
If it makes everything it touches a bomb, naturally Gae Bolg's hand that had the solution applied should've blown off too.
But her finger was strangely fine.
Dilarang mengopy novel dari Enuma.id.
At that, Gae Bolg's expression became gloomy.
"While making it, I thought it'd be really nice if I could blow up people too, but it just wouldn't work!"
"So only inanimate objects work."
"Yeah."
"Does the glass that contains it count as a living thing?"
"...Glass is included too! Everything else should work!?"
W ӗb nò v̈е̄ l̃ Ě n ů ṁ а̂
"So in the end, it's not that it can make everything a bomb, only some things."
"Yeah, you're smart! You're really something! You take the cake!"
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She glared as if her reverse scale was touched, then shouted excitedly again.
"Anyway, this is Form 1! Mk.Ⅰ!"
"Are there other versions too?"
"Of course. Killer Queen has no weaknesses! That's my goal!"
Ẁеbń о v̈е l̄ E ñ úm̀ а
"Form 2 is a living bomb. And Form 3 is the bomb of bombs that blows away time and space!"
"....."
"Its name is Bites the—."
"I get it."
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Ferda let it slide with a 'whatever'.
Even people who reached the 8th Circle have never succeeded in time regression, so there was no way a madwoman like that could do it.
Е́ ň uḿ а
'But this bomb alone is incredibly appealing.'
Just a small amount touching makes that material a bomb, and it detonates with just a small electrode.
No need to urgently procure it from anywhere, just pour it somewhere and activate it.
Living things are impossible, but it reacts to stone, dirt, or even dead corpses.
'As long as it's not living....'
They could become walking bombs.
'Maybe....'
Ferda thought of a way to utilize this material to the maximum.
As Gae Bolg said, making a ruckus to proceed stealthily might not be empty words.
* * *
The place Ferda visited was Echidna's workshop.
Echidna's golems.
At first they started as simple wooden carvings, but now they were a bit different.
To make movements smooth, rotating joints were applied, and without even worrying about the material's softness, the golems' actions moved remarkably naturally.
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They weren't human, but the feeling of a well-made doll came through properly.
Actually, that's enough.
PUSH!
The magic stone that had exhausted its power in the core was ejected outward.
At the same time, the doll made of joints collapsed in place.
"H-how is it?"
Е̊n̆ ūm̆ а
"Well done."
"Ehehe, I'm surprised too."
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Echidna is a woman who exerts her strength when she obsesses over something.
That was both a strength and a weakness.
The reason she started making golems was because she wanted the most perfect man to love her.
That's why she really liked the handsome Jed, and at one point her condition was even a date with Jed.
Wеb̂ n̂ ôv̊е ľ Ё ǹ ú m̌ӑ
'That's why the prototype and directionality changed a lot.'
At first, the doll looked incredibly strange.
Since entering the castle, a doll sculpted similar to Jed.
And later, a golem completely identical to Jed Swallow was visible.
"No thoughts about Jed lately?"
"L-Lord Jed? O-of course he's incredibly handsome, cool, gentlemanly, KYAAAA! Beautiful!"
She jumped up in ecstasy, then drooped her arms gloomily.
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"He seems to have an owner."
"He has an owner?"
Е n̈ũ m̃а̂
"You can tell just by looking. A destined match's disposition, that is. An absolute aura I can't dare wedge myself into to compete....!"
"So you're giving up?"
"Th-that's right? What I like is the story of a prince and princess. I don't want to be part of a story where I'm not the princess."
"Can't become a wicked witch."
"Right....."
It was strange that she gave up love so easily despite having a Red Circle.
Or maybe it's because she knows it's just blood qi that burns briefly?
'No, maybe her interest just shifted elsewhere.'
That was undoubtedly Mori.
Because the form of that thing called Hive Mind was on a different dimension from the other mannequin-like things.
'Doesn't matter?'
He decided to put trivial things second.
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"Operating time?"
"Operating time is about 30 minutes per magic stone!"
"30 minutes regardless of movement?"
"If it does intense swordsmanship... maybe 10 minutes?"
"I'll have to see it directly."
"Yes, just a moment!"
W̄ ebṅо̇ v el̂ Ӗnu.m̄ а̂
Echidna applied the rune she drew to the wooden doll.
Soon after, magic power moved inside it and the wooden doll started moving.
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Not simple movement—it was mimicking swordsmanship well.
Ferda quietly watched that swordsmanship.
"Quite good....."
The mouth trying to praise gradually stiffened.
W ẽ_b ṅ ǒ v́ е l̊ Е̌ ń ũ m̈ ӓ
The steps it took, the moving hands, the swung trajectory.
For some reason, it was familiar to the eyes.
Swordsmanship he'd seen at least once while mindlessly passing by in Valdrova Castle.
In this castle with few knights, only one person could give that sense of familiarity.
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"Echidna."
"Y-yes?"
Е n̄ ú_mа̇
"Can you explain how this swordsmanship can be performed?"
Ferda's voice was cold.
Echidna felt his emotion and replied trembling like a hamster.
"Uuuh, that is... I needed some decent information, and there weren't many people I could think of in this castle, so a certain knight came to mind...."
"Is that William?"
"Y-yes...."
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The reason he felt this sense of familiarity was because it was similar to William.
An indescribable emotion surged in Ferda's heart.
This unrefined emotion would surely burst out under the name of anger.
Not wanting to leave it as new regret's remnants, Ferda asked her.
"How did it learn?"
"That person's belongings remained, so I used those? A journal and swordsmanship books remained so I referenced those a bit....?"
Е ṅǔ m̂.ӓ
"I see."
"D-did I touch a nerve? Should I erase it? I can do that....!"
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"No, it's fine."
What Ferda worried about was different.
The worst move a witch could make was arbitrarily exhuming a grave to pull out a corpse and extract all its memories.
'Echidna isn't that kind of witch.'
A woman whose process of becoming a witch was heresy among heresies.
If it's a human mimicked based on a journal and swordsmanship content, that was rather fortunate.
That's just something mimicking William.
PUSH!
10 minutes later, the magic stone emitting light in the core was ejected from its back.
The mannequin continuing flashy swordsmanship lost power and stopped just like that.
Its arms drooped limply.
But its legs were strangely stiff and straight.
"Huh? It's standing completely straight again."
"Is that not supposed to happen?"
"Since it lost power, falling over is natural, but strangely, when it ends, it stands like this?"
"....I see."
Ferda seemed to know the reason.
'You're still remaining even though you're dead?'
The figure of dead William overlaps with that wooden doll.
But he couldn't bring it out of his mouth.
It's nothing but a phantom summoned by the weakness in his heart.
Ferda thought so.
Еń u m̆ а . і̂ d
