Chapter 21: Is it wrong to pick up cute flat blonde lolis in a fantasy… Yes, it is wrong.
"Onii-san, what do you mean? You want me to steal for you?" Felt asked Mordred with a curious expression.
"No." Mordred chuckled as he shook his head. He then looked at Reinhard. "Reinhard, do you remember what we talked about earlier today?"
Reinhard appeared to be in thought for a while before his expression froze. "This... It couldn't be her, could it?"
Mordred didn't reply and instead looked at Emilia "Emilia, can I have your insignia again for a moment?"
Emilia looked up at Mordred's pleading and sincere expression, slightly hesitating. As an enemy Royal Candidate Mordred surely wouldn't destroy her Royal Insignia after already giving it back to her, right? Although Emilia wanted to trust Mordred, this item was simply too precious for her.
"Emilia-sama, I don't believe that Mordred-sama would do something to your Royal Insignia. Right?" Reinhard said and then looked at Mordred.
"No, I only need it for a moment," Mordred lightly replied.
"Alright." Emilia nodded after a second. She wasn't sure of Mordred's intentions, but she still pulled out the badge from a pocket in her white robes and gave it to Mordred.
With insignia in hand, Mordred then turned to Felt.
"It can't be…" Old Man Rom muttered in realization. He himself knew well that Felt's origins were mysterious. Earlier Felt had already shown him the item she stole and he saw that the gem had a crimson luster to it when she held it in her hand, however, he didn't pay attention to it at the time.
"Oi, what is this about? Why are you looking at me so strangely?" Felt called out, her eyes traveling between Reinhard, Mordred and Rom. Although the gem of the insignia is supposed to glow in a candidate's hands, Felt thought that the small shine that she saw earlier was normal and that's why the item was precious. She didn't think that, as someone born in the slum, she could be a candidate for the throne.
"Felt, please hold it for a moment." Mordred presented the girl with the Royal Insignia.
Felt grunted, but she still took the insignia with a curious expression. The insignia with a small red shining gem passed hands. One second, two seconds, three seconds passed as Felt held it, yet the gem didn't stop glowing.
"Unbelievable," Reinhard muttered. He had already recalled a memory of a person that could match Felt's circumstances when Mordred mentioned the possibility. Indeed, that blonde girl could be the last missing member of the royal family!
At that moment Emilia also seemed to have a realization.
"Felt, what is your surname? How old are you?" Reinhard couldn't help himself as he stepped forward and questioned.
"I-I'm an orphan, I don't have anything fancy like a surname. My age is… Probably around fifteen, I guess. I don't know my birthday…" Felt replied absentmindedly as she watched the others' expressions.
"When Felt was still a lil' baby she was entrusted to me by a man with golden hair and crimson eyes just like hers. I have raised 'er as my granddaughter, but I don't know her origins," Old Man Rom suddenly spoke up as he was bent down to stare at the insignia.
Reinhard's light blue eyes flashed as it only confirmed his suspicions.
"Oi, what do you mean by that?..." Although Felt said that, she naturally had her suspicions and it showed on her face as she looked around.
Mordred smiled at Felt. "As you can guess, it appears that you're one of the Six Royal Candidates, Felt."
"Not only that, but it seems that-" Reinhard started, but then cut his words and coughed. "Anyway, we can talk about it later, but yes, there is no denying it - you are the Fifth and final Priestess Candidate, Felt-sama."
"Felt-sama? You're not joking?" Felt muttered in bewilderment.
"She's the Sixth Royal Candidate…" Emilia also muttered softly.
Mordred took back the insignia from Felt while chuckling. "You have the qualifications to fight in the Royal Election for the throne, Felt. However, how about you support me in my campaign and work for me instead?"
Felt's visage turned from confused to very curious.
Reinhard coughed. "Mordred-sama, you're really trying to recruit Felt-sama before she even forms her own faction?"
"Yes, I am." Mordred shamelessly admitted.
Reinhard smiled bitterly and said nothing, meanwhile Emilia pursed her lips.
"Fighting for the throne with the nobles, huh? Sounds really annoying. Onii-san, what kind of work do you want me to do?" Felt asked, looking at Mordred, all while causing Reinhard's expression to turn speechless at the same time.
"Fufu, how interesting." Elsa smiled in amusement.
Mordred faintly smiled at Felt. "Well, you have lived your entire life in the slums of the capital and are pretty well known, so for the most part I want you to be a pretty face that would represent the common folk and you won't need to do much. Apart from that, you would be my advisor when it comes to the common people. You'll give me suggestions from time to time and share your experience of living in the slums. You will have a chance to give a better life to the commoners and those who live in the slums."
"Hn…" Felt grunted as she seemed to enter a deep thought. After a long while she asked in a blunt tone, "You really want to help the commoners? You're not bullshitting me?"
Mordred laughed; Felt's language, harsh tone and her braced expression were quite unladylike. He said, "I have wandered around the capital and the slums, so I made some observations. I believe that there is a lot of wasted potential in the commoners and the inequality between nobles and non-nobles is quite harsh. It doesn't mean that I want to make everyone equal though. I want to give the commoners a chance to change their fate, learn magic, become a knight, earn a profession or at least get a job, but if they don't make good use of it, then it's their problem."
Felt grunted, her expression expressing agreement. She grumbled in an annoyed tone, "People in the slums often say 'live strong' and stuff like that, but most of them don't live strong at all. They don't even try to improve their lives and want stuff handed to them. These kinds of people deserve no pity."
"-What about the pay then?" she then asked as she looked at Mordred.
"Enough for you to live in luxury from now on and have no lack of food or anything. Either way, you'll have a better life from now on."
Old Man Rom sighed and interjected, "Enough ain't very specific, but I think it's a good offer, Felt. You ain't cut for a thug's life and I don't think dealing with nobles is your cup of tea either."
Seeing how Felt could leave the risky theft business and have a better life, the giant man was very happy with it.
"I know, Old Man," said Felt, still appearing in deep thought. She looked at Mordred. "I don't really get what I need to do, but I'll take your offer. You won't be stingy with me, right?"
Mordred smiled and patted Felt's messy hair. "As if I could be stingy with a cute girl like you."
"Oi, I'm not a kid!" Felt grumbled in annoyance as Mordred kept patting her head, her embarrassment apparent on her face.
Chomp!
Without hesitation, Felt turned and raised her head to chomp at Mordred's fingers with her large sharp teeth, but the latter had already retracted his hand and Felt only ended up chopping on air.
He then turned to Emilia and finally passed the insignia back to its rightful owner again. "Anyway, I'm giving it back. Thank you, Emilia."
"Thank you." Emilia put up a somewhat forced smile as she received her insignia back. She wanted to be grateful to Mordred for his help and also for saving her life earlier, but she felt that the situation was very strange and she couldn't help but suspect him.
Mordred, though, didn't need to be a genius to guess what Emilia was thinking judging by her current mixed expression. "This entire situation is very suspicious and it is clearly someone's scheme. I know that given what happened I seem to be the most suspicious person here, so I hope that you'll believe me when I say that it isn't me who was scheming against you, Emilia. I didn't send a thief or assassin after you either."
After having Mordred read her thoughts, Emilia appeared slightly startled and ashamed, especially due to seeing Mordred's gentle and pleading expression even though she felt that her suspicions were justified.
What Mordred said didn't seem to fully ease Emilia's worries though, so he looked at Reinhard. "Reinhard, I heard that you have all kinds of Divine Protections. You can detect if someone is lying, right?"
Reinhard nodded his head as at this point it shouldn't be much of a secret. "That's right. Although I also find the entire situation strange, I can tell that what Mordred-sama said is the truth, Emilia-sama."
"Em, I also don't think that Mordred-san is such a person," Emilia gently said and looked up at Mordred with a small smile. "Mordred-san, you helped me regain my Royal Insignia and even saved my life. I can't be ungrateful, if there's something I can do for you, you can ask for it."
"Now that you mentioned it, I literally saved your life, didn't I?" Mordred smiled.
"Yes, you've been a great help. So much that you saving my life isn't enough to describe it." Emilia smiled.
"Yeah, saving someone's life is no small matter. Your Royal Insignia is also priceless and I helped you to get it back. Of course you will do your best to repay me, right? No matter what it is."
"Yes. As long as it's something I can do, then I'll do it. Err, no, I'll do whatever I can. Because what you gave to me means just that much to me. " Emilia nodded and placed a hand on her chest, starting at Mordred with a serious expression, rendered him speechless.
"Ahhh... Then there is something that I want..." Mordred clasped his hands.
Silence descended in the ruined loot house as the sound of the clasped palms died down. Everyone was curious of what Mordred would request; only Mordred silently grinned as he recalled the anime and the novel; he really was Subaru's replacement in this world.
"My request is-"
"Yes…"
"Please don't call me Mordred-san, just Mordred is fine. I hope that we can still be friends even though we're both candidates for the throne, Emilia." He extended his hand toward Emilia. "This is my request."
After a moment's lag, Emilia's eyes widened, her expression was one of astonishment.
The room fell silent for a while again, while Mordred continued looking at Emilia silently and waiting for her response, quite embarrassed by the small show he put on.
"Ha. Hahaha." Emilia suddenly giggled softly. With her hand against her lips and her white cheeks flushed, the girl smiled as her silver hair swayed behind her. It was a pure genuine smile of happiness, incredibly charming and magical.
"Alright." She then took Mordred's hand as she smiled mischievously. Her fingers were slender, her palm was small, her hand was delicate and terribly warm, a hand that Mordred hadn't held for a whole year. "Alright. I also hope that we can keep being friends. Thank you, Mordred."
"-Thank you for your help," she added as she brushed off a small tear of happiness from her eye.
Mordred was still for a long while, before he faintly smiled. "It's nothing. I'm glad that you're safe. And I'm glad that this is finally over…"
It has been a whole year of resetting for him and it seemed like the first day was finally over. Although Mordred appeared quite suspicious with everything that he accomplished today, it seemed to be quite a good run.
"Fufu, what a strange man." Elsa commented as she chuckled, finally breaking the silence.
Reinhard coughed. "At any rate, I'm glad that no one got hurt." He then looked at Elsa. "It's also a surprise that the infamous Bowel Hunter really is a simple mercenary."
Elsa smiled charmingly. "The boy's offer simply interested me."
"Do you really plan to turn over a new leaf?" Reinhard asked.
"Who knows." She shrugged her shoulders, her meaningful smile being a clear indicator that she did not.
Reinhard let out a sigh.
Having already released Emilia's hand, Mordred looked at Reinhard. "The Bowel Hunter, or rather - Elsa, is now my attendant and is my responsibility. Reinhard, I hope you can give her a chance and don't pursue her."
"You're saying that because you already know that I'll relent?" Reinhard forced a smile.
"I believe you'll make a reasonable decision."
"Ahh, very well then. It is as you said, killing or capturing the Bowel Hunter today would do little good. Seeing how I'm not on duty, I won't pursue the matter. I will entrust her to you." Reinhard raised his hands in defeat.
"Thank you, Reinhard."
Reinhard nodded. "Anyway, you are really strong yourself, but you seem to value her quite a lot."
"I have a good eye for talent," Mordred lightly said, causing a chuckle to escape Elsa's lips.
"On that topic-" Reinhard glanced at Felt who seemed both nervous and excited, before returning his gaze to Mordred with a solemn expression. "Thank you for your help, Mordred-sama. I need to bring both you and Felt-sama for the testing and registration to officially confirm that you're Royal Candidates. And I also need to investigate Felt-sama's origins. As a Royal Guard I can't simply let you go, so I hope that you'll come with me to stay in the Astrea Manor for the time being."
Following that, Reinhard let out a very heavy breath of relief. The two final Royal Candidates were found today and the election could finally start soon. It was a huge and joyous event for the whole kingdom of Lugnica. Naturally, his promise to Mordred also resounded in his mind. Mordred was correct in everything, and Felt was also likely a missing member of the previous royal family.
"Then I suppose I have no choice. What happened to Subaru though?" Mordred asked.
"I left him in the hands of an official of the Astrea family, so I'm sure he's fine," Reinhard said and smiled. "I can offer Subaru a place in the Astrea Manor as a guest as well, if you wish. It is quite large, you see."
"Thank you, Reinhard." Mordred smiled. "I don't want to be rude, but I hope that you can get a room for Elsa as well."
"I owe you a lot for finding Felt-sama, so it isn't a problem. It can all be arranged," Reinhard said.
'A room in the Astrea Manor, huh? The prestigious family of Sword Saints, how interesting…' Elsa thought inwardly with a smile.
However, out loud she said: "I'm afraid I can't take this offer though."
Everyone looked at Elsa.
Elsa looked at Mordred and added, "Mordred, can we talk in private?"
"Sure." Mordred nodded and began to follow Elsa outside of the building.
"Be careful," Reinhard called out to Mordred before the latter left.
Mordred only nodded back and was soon outside.
After making sufficient distance and seeing Mordred not bring out a weapon, Elsa smiled and leaned toward him. She whispered, "About the wish I want from you. Me and my little sister are a part of an organization under a person who calls herself Mama. She's incredibly strong and we can't escape her clutches. I want you to at one point kill her and free my little sister from this fate, or at least protect my little sister from her."
Anyone who heard of Bowel Hunter's request at this moment would probably be completely shocked. What the crazy murderer wanted most was to give a new life to Meili! Mordred, however, naturally already knew about it, especially since he already held some negotiations with Elsa in the previous loops.
"-Can you do it?" Elsa added.
"Mama is the leader of your assassin organization, right?" Mordred asked.
"That's right. She's an infamous criminal and controls many people like me all over the country. If you managed to kill her, you would earn a great merit. Much greater than just from killing me," Elsa said with a smile.
Mordred hummed and nodded. "Okay, I'll do it. I'll protect your little sister and give her a better life. If there is a chance, I'll kill this Mama too."
'Mama' is an Archbishop of Sin while Elsa's 'little sister' is a Mabeast Tamer, so Mordred planned to kill the former and enlist the latter into his loyal army anyway.
Elsa closed her eyes for a long while after hearing Mordred's confident words and smelling no fear from him, before opening them. She smiled. "Wonderful. -Now, I would love to stay with you, Mordred, but I'm afraid that I need to leave for personal reasons. I need to bring my little sister out to safety first."
Mordred slightly squinted his eyes. After a moment's pause he said, "Sure. I can see that you might still go against me before your sister's safety is secured. I accept it for now, but simply leave me an opening. I will take care of everything and save your sister like I promised."
Mordred's words caused Elsa's face to flash with surprise. She smiled. "You're really interesting. Are you not worried that I would simply escape?"
Mordred faintly smiled, aware in his heart: 'I have a good understanding and grasp of Elsa's nature, especially thanks to the novel. She's twisted, but not random, insane or unreasonable. She's easily controllable.'
"No, I'm not," he said outwardly.
"Fufu." Elsa chuckled. She wrapped her arms around Mordred's back and pulled herself closer, her face closer toward him. She whispered charmingly, "How confident and cute. You have such a strange smell too, Mordred-kun."
Elsa slowly licked her lips.
Mordred lightly gulped as he looked at Elsa's face that was only centimeters away from him. He couldn't help but feel slightly hot. He could also feel her warm breath and her feminine scent, causing his heart to beat speed up and make his blood pump faster.
Standing on her toes, Elsa leaned forward and her lips slowly neared Mordred's. Mordred lightly gulped again, but he still remained stationary. Soon Elsa's rich cherry lips connected with Mordred's and the two shared a light thrill-filled kiss.
Elsa then pulled back and smiled charmingly.
Meanwhile Mordred still stared at the psycho murderer in surprise. 'Just what was that?'
"I wondered what it felt like," she said, as if answering Mordred's thoughts.
The physical pleasure of sharing a kiss with a beauty like Elsa was one thing, but the excitement, thrill and a sense of achievement that came from doing it with a crazy, infamous, inhuman murderer was another. He still felt overwhelmed and really turned on.
"Well, I will be going now, Mordred-kun," Elsa said with a smile as she let go of Mordred's arm and pulled back.
"Wait." Mordred called out as he collected himself. Elsa was obviously simply teasing him.
Elsa faintly looked at Mordred.
"Elsa, you originally came here to negotiate for the insignia. You brought some money with you, right?" Mordred asked.
Elsa smiled. "That I did. I received ten Holy Coins to purchase the insignia, not that I planned to spend them."
Given that there was no chance of Subaru purchasing the insignia in this world with his phone, it appeared that Roswaal only gave Elsa ten Holy Coins, and Mordred already knew about it.
After a moment Elsa continued with a smile, "Why are you asking, Mordred-sama? Could it be that my new employer is broke? Are you trying to scam your employee?"
Although Elsa said that, her tone and expression remained playful all throughout.
Mordred laughed and extended his hand toward Elsa. "Money will be the least of your concerns with me. I just need some for now."
Elsa smirked. She took out a money pouch and threw it to Mordred nonchalantly which the latter caught it with ease.
Mordred opened the pouch and pulled out a few coins to take a look, before storing them again. He said, "Thanks, I'm new in Lugnica. I'll turn this amount into a pile of gold soon."
Elsa only responded with a meaningful look for a moment. The two of them then talked a bit more for a while on how they could contact each other later, before the assassin broke into a sprint and disappeared by herself.
Mordred silently watched Elsa's leaving figure, understanding the situation clearly. Meili was Elsa's weakness, but unfortunately this weakness was likely in Roswaal's hands at this moment. Elsa might even still go against him if it meant protecting Meili! It complicated things and the plot had also deviated by a lot from the anime in this matter, but he felt that he would be able to deal with whatever was thrown at him in the future.
'If I was too scared of making changes just so that I don't cause a butterfly effect, then my knowledge of the future would be useless, right?' The King candidate thought as he walked back toward the loot house. This kind of situation also had a kind of thrill to it - just what would Roswaal do next?
***
(AN: I've been very busy today, so the chapter is a bit late {I had to do one more final edit before publishing}. Thanks for a lot of power stones yesterday, these are a lot! The next chapter might not be released tomorrow, but it should be on Wednesday.)
(Anyway, Elsa parading butt naked in the previous chapters isn't really my intention at fanservice stuff or anything. In fact, I wish that she would regenerate with clothes as it is just too awkward, but that's simply not how it works. The moment Mordred slices Elsa in any place, she would naturally not regenerate with her clothes, and he had to show off his strength to both Elsa and others.)
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