The Devil Does Not Need to Be Defeated

About ten minutes later, Shien left Lucy's room.

At that point, only Lucy, Lia, and Charl were left in the room.

Charl was still quietly awaiting behind Lia, simply watching Shien's departing back.

Lucy and Lia simply gazed at each other wordlessly. It was only a bit later when the silence was finally broken.

"You really did give him a lot of consideration and advantages there." Lia gloomily spoke, "The Kingdom worked to so hard to recruit him specifically because we want his taming abilities and the might of that black dragon of Ataru. Yet you ended up giving him so much freedom. Now, be it the royal family or the nobility will all probably be mad beyond words."

"… Perhaps." Lucy's expressions did not change as she spoke calmly, "If they have any objections, then they can come complain to me."

"Like they'd dare?" Lia spoke in an upset tone, "So what if it's a master tamer plus a nearly invincible king of demonic beasts? Can that really compare to you, the Treasure of the Kingdom?"

The words were rough but true.

As far as the Kingdom is concerned, Lucy is the real treasure here. A master tamer and a nearly invincible king of demonic beasts might be very tempting, but that depends on who they're being compared to.

If it's Lucy that they're being compared to, then they're pretty much nothing.

After all, not only does Lucy have potential comparable to her ancestor, she's also considered important by the gods as well as having the support of the people. When it comes to importance level, she far outclasses Shien.

Thus, the Kingdom would rather give up on Shien before they'd be willing to make Lucy angry.

After all, Lucy would need but a single statement to cause a popular uprising that no noble can handle. Even the royalty may end up being overthrown in such a case, that was how scary it is.

Having Lucy means having the world. That particular statement is the complete truth.

"I just don't understand why you're so desperate to keep him here?"

Lia finally brought out the question that she can't understand.

"…"

Lucy fell silent.

Lia continued speaking like she didn't notice that at all.

"He does indeed have talents that the royal family wants, but given your personality, you shouldn't be that desperate to recruit someone for the sake of the royal family and the Kingdom's advantages." Lia spoke plainly, "I hav heard that the neighboring Ragna Empire and several other nations have made signs of moves against us, but is that really enough of a reason for you to do this?"

That's right. The neighboring Ragna Empire and several other nations have already learned of Shien's existence, and they have all made signs of certain moves aimed at him.

The Kingdom values Shien so, so the other nations are likely no exceptions to that, right?

Be it for the sake of snatching this rare talent for themselves or to prevent the Kingdom from getting such a powerful force, all of them have more or less made some moves aimed at this.

Shien's importance now is completely different from what it was before. Even if he can't compare to Lucy, he has still been brought up to the national level.

The Kingdom wants him to be the second master tamer and tame mass quantities of demonic beasts like wyverns and continue supporting the military power of the Kingdom.

Other nations fear the Kingdom's wyvern force from the start. They've finally managed to hold on to the point where the master tamer who can tame wyverns is near his end due to age, so they obviously don't want to see a second master tamer appear. They'd want even less to see the Kingdom become a terrifying nation that can tame even dragons.

Add in the fact that other nations will also drool over this talent of Shien's, it's quite understandable that they'd start making moves aimed at him.

"The Ragna Empire especially. They finally dealt such a huge wound to us after so much effort ten years ago. This time, they're also overjoyed after seeing the National Knight Order getting nearly half of it wiped out and are basically ready to make trouble. So how could they possibly just sit back and watch as a master tamer capable of taming dragons join our Kingdom?"

As she said that, Lia's tone finally gave off a cold impression.

"They're definitely planing to do something."

Lia's words made Charl behind her show a tense expression.

Lucy on the other hand is still as calm as before.

"Were you worried about him being taken away by another country?"

Lia looked straight at Lucy.

Lucy continued her silence.

Until finally…

"I just had a kind of premonition, that's all." Lucy muttered like she was in a dream, "If I don't think of some way to keep him here, then he'll leave."

Lia wasn't able to speak for a moment.

That's not something that she can just pass off as some random words.

Lucy's premonition likely had something to do with the Goddess of Fate's blessing.

In that case, that premonition is very likely to come true.

But this also proved one other thing.

"You really acted so desperate in order to keep him from leaving?" Lia spoke in a disbelieving tone, "Just for a man like him?"

It's obvious that Lia never imagined that Shien was actually that important to Lucy's heart.

Never mind Lia, even Charl was visibly flabbergasted.

But how could they possibly understand?

"From a certain point of view, he has already become a part of my life that I can't let go of anymore."

Lucy thought of her time with Shien this past while. Her hands holding her tea up tightened a bit as she spoke the true words in her heart in a rare instance.

"At the very least, I no longer want to go back to the boring and unchanging days from before."

Lia and Charl likely won't understand the meaning behind those words.

It's because they don't know Lucy's true character at all. Nor do they know just how much pressure Lucy was under, or how much loneliness and solitude that she's been enduring in the past.

They knew even less just how panicked and irritated Lucy really was when she gained the premonition that Shien would leave.

Therefore, be it the Kingdom's advantages or the considerations of the royalty and nobility, none of that was within Lucy's consideration.

Lucy only had a single thought.

And that is to get Shien to stay.

Otherwise, she might not be able to see him anymore.

That's what Lucy is really afraid of.

"Lucy…"

Lia's gaze toward Lucy had changed.

A thought that came to her made her unable to hold back a question in her mind.

"Could it be that, that man, to you…"

Lia however was stopped by Lucy's gaze before she could finish those words.

"Elder Sister Lia. You know that I have no interest in the throne, so I won't become the queen in the future. This nation will be yours sooner or later." Lucy so stated, "I just hope that the royal family won't do anything stupid. I don't want to become your enemy."

Such words made Lia unconsciously take a deep breath.

Charl had comprehended something so her expression was one of utter shock.

It's because this is Lucy's warning to them.

Lucy was warning Lia and the other members of the royal family to not make any trouble for Shien because of her.

Otherwise, she won't mind doing something a bit overboard.

"… Is he already so important to you?"

Lia's expression was one of complete disbelief.

Lucy's own expression was still unchanged.

"You won't understand."

Those gloomy words echoed across the room.

"None of you will understand."

The lonely princess's sigh continued to echo.

None of her audience were able to understand the meaning of those words.

…

Around night, in the Latrard home.

In the dining room, Shien announced what had happened while scratching his head.

""""Y-you're going to be a noble…!?""""

Vivian, Diere, Lumia, and Melika all let out surprised gasps when they heard it.

"Well, it's just an honorary noble that's pretty much in name only." Shien dryly let out a laugh before hurriedly moving on, "I don't plan on taking any official post, so I'll probably continue to be an adventurer."

Of course, Shien's explanation couldn't stoop the girls' clamoring.

"Isn't this a bit too sudden?" Vivian chuckled, "Your achievements are more than enough to give you a title of nobility, but weren't you very against the thought of becoming a noble just a bit ago?"

"… Did something happen?" Diere seemed to have noticed something and stared quietly at Shien, "Something made you change you mind, right?"

When he heard Diere's words, for some reason, Shien suddenly got a guilty feeling like he was caught cheating.

… If he told Diere that he ended up agreeing because he saw how desperate Lucy was, then would that lead to him getting hatcheted?" (T/N: Chinese pop culture term for getting killed by a yandere. School Days/Higurashi reference I think?)

Just as Shien was feeling guilty, Lumia and Melika spoke up.

"I-in other words, Mister Shien is going to be an honorary viscount in a bit?" Lumia weakly asked.

"Then… Will Mister Shien be staying in the Capital? He'll have a house here after all!"

Lumia also stepped in and asked with a slightly impatient tone.

Unfortunately, Shien really hasn't considered that yet.

"Even if you ask me, I haven't decided yet either." Shien scratched his head and spoke resignedly, "Before this, I rather wanted to return to Lamdrion, but now, maybe I'll base myself here instead?"

It's not like Shien had any particular attachment to Lamdrion.

He had been there for less than a month after all, so why would he be attached to it?

He only wanted to go back because there were way too many troublesome thing here in the Capital. That and Vivian and company will probably return to Lamdrion at some point as well, so he was thinking of going back with them.

Now though, since he's already going to have a house her, it's a fairly natural development to instead make here his base of operations instead.

(It can't be that's the Princess's goal here, could it?)

Shien suddenly had such a premonition.

However, while Shien was considering that thought, Vivian's group of four had already exchanged a glance.

Diere and Melika fell silent, not giving a clue to their thoughts.

Lumia didn't think much of it. She was just amazed at the events.

It was just Vivian who gave Shien a smile.

"Truth be told, you staying here is good too." Vivian quietly spoke, "Lamdrion can't compare to the Capital after all. Although there are various factions and powers here, which can make things very complicated at times, there are also lots of opportunities here as well. For someone who wants to become stronger, there's nowhere that's better suited to helping one grow than the Capital, which is filled with the strong."

"Then what about you guys?" Shien spoke somewhat hesitantly, "Do you think that I should stay while letting you guys go back to Lamdrion on your own then?"

That's not a situation that Shien really wants though.

The reason for that is simple. After spending all this time together, and their relationships having advanced over that time, Shien really would miss Vivian and company if they were to seperate.

Diere especially. Shien has really somewhat fallen for that girl by now, so he really doesn't want to separate from her.

If there really is no other way, then Shien would still go back with Vivian and company.

Just then though…

"If you want to stay, then I'll keep you company."

Diere suddenly opened her mouth and made such a statement.

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