Chapter 292: Volume 4 - Prolog - My Cursed Katana... Ellen!
Two weeks passed quickly.
Preparations for exploring the deepest part of the forest have been well prepared.
At this point, I need to use the remaining free time to relax for a while before getting busy with the noble war season. Before the noble war season begins, my family and I have a plan to find new allies outside the Aurora Kingdom nobility.
As one of the nobles who had been neutral, not tied to either the opposition nobles or the nobles who supported the royal family, it would be quite a challenge to do so.
Slurp...
While having this much free time, I had a small tea party attended by my twin sisters and Mio. This small tea party took place on a pleasantly warm spring afternoon.
After going through the bitterness of winter and cleaning the Main Mansion where we live with all the surprising things inside, now spring feels warm enough to make my body sweat.
Slurp...
At this small tea party, I suddenly got an ambiguous question from Alice and Alyssa.
"Onee-sama, on this forest exploration expedition. Will Onee-sama seduce the Elf girls into falling in love with Onee-sama… like usual?" Alice asked innocently while sipping her cup of tea.
"Lily-nee, I know what Lily-nee is going to do will affect our fighting strength in the war season between the nobles. However, Lily-nee must be careful of the cunningness of the Elves who can deceive you by their appearance and behavior. Don't tempt them to give seduction that makes Lily-nee fall in love with them!" exclaimed Alyssa who was wary of this before the expedition to explore the deepest part of the forest began.
I, who was asked this kind of question, drank a cup of tea quietly before answering it.
Slurp...
While watching Alice and Alyssa who were excited about this, I glanced at Momo and her cursed sword sister who had been reforged by Mio.
"I wouldn't do something as silly as that, you know," I replied as I put my cup of tea on the table.
"Besides... if I did something like that. You two would go on a rampage without caring about the damage you would do, wouldn't you?" I continued while observing Alice and Alyssa's facial expressions.
"Ugh, I-I'm not doing that," Alice argued with her eyes cast downward.
"L-Lily-nee... do you think I would do things that make me look like an uncivilized noble like that?" Alyssa retorted with her cheeks puffed out in annoyance.
The two rebuttals made me smile at the two of them and say, "I was just kidding. You two won't do something like that when those Elf girls form a contract with me, right?"
To ensure and make sure unwanted things not happens, I need to be careful from now on.
"Y-Yes... that's right," With their eyes cast down, I could see Alice and Alyssa answering insincerely.
I knew this would happen, sooner or later.
But I didn't know that it would happen so quickly in front of my eyes like this.
I took a deep breath to stay calm when facing something like this.
"There's no helping it if something happen, I just need to form a contract with their leader," I said as I took a cup of tea and drank it.
"Is that possible? Considering Lily-nee won't be satisfied if Lily-nee doesn't make them fall in love. Wouldn't it be much better to make the Elf girls fall in love so that it would be difficult to betray Lily-nee in the future? Wait a minute... if that happens, then my love competition to win Lily-nee's heart will be even tougher. Kuuhh!! This is making me annoyed!" Alyssa grumbled, seemingly thinking about something in her head.
Seeing Alyssa thinking hard like that, I felt worried when she arrived at the area where Elf lived.
Whether it was mass extermination or a display of high-level magical power, I was certain that both of these things would happen if my twin sisters were to leave my control.
On the other hand, Alice looked calm after hearing Alyssa who was panicking about something.
Slurp...
The cup of tea I was drinking was empty, making Mio pour more tea into it.
Pyuuuurr...
"Lily-sama, do you like the taste of this tea?" Mio asked as she poured the tea into a teacup with gentle and elegant manners.
"Yes, did you make any changes to the recipe to make it taste this fresh?"
"Yes, some merchants in the nearby town have been selling some fresh mint leaves that can be used to make refreshing tea like this. Marquess Rommel and Marchioness Amagi also enjoy the taste of refreshing tea like this during the day to enjoy their break after work."
"They're busy with the preparations that need to be done before the war season between the nobles begins, huh?" I replied while thinking about the fate of this family in the future.
The approaching season of war between the nobles made me a little hesitant to enter the forest and seek allies from the Elf race.
While I was going to the deepest part of the forest, were Father and Mother able to survive the diplomatic attacks from the two factions that were currently at odds?
I don't know what they're going to do, but leaving a few stealth slimes to monitor the situation inside the Main Mansion is a wise choice at this point.
"Yes, Lily-sama. They are busy preparing for the upcoming diplomatic from the royal family."
"Really? What will they do now? When the Royal Palace still busy dealing the movements of heretical sects inside the Aurora Kingdom?"
"I think… It has to do with Marquess Rommel's refusal to join any of the factions that will fight in the upcoming war between nobles. The noble families that remain neutral will be considered at a disadvantage in terms of combat power and diplomatic support when the war season is over."
"I'm sure my father already knows about this and has planned several things to deal with that one claim."
"I am sure that it was planned by Marquess Rommel, but it would be more comforting if the plan that Marquess Rommel was carrying out was well-planned and careful. Not too hasty in rejecting it outright."
"It can't be helped, it's my father's attitude that is too harsh towards the royal family at this time. What the royal family has done to my father has made my father take a step that makes him become someone who stands alone without doing anything strange... like the attempt to overthrow the royal family that is being carried out by the opposition noble alliance and the heretical sect," while saying this, I remembered the words that Aiko and Sirius had given me a few weeks ago.
A big plan with the death penalty is ready to pick up anyone who is tied to the movement of this heretical sect.
Several investigations conducted by Princess Anastasia have yielded results, but they are not enough to find the source of the poison that is eating away at the Aurora Kingdom itself.
I want to help her find the mastermind behind all this.
But it would be unpleasant for a Princess who was active in the front line of diplomacy. Some newspapers have published news about Princess Anastasia who was hunting down a cult inside the Royal Palace which made some opposition nobles and nobles who supported the royal family get the death penalty after having their wealth assets confiscated.
It was a bold move for Princess Anastasia, who was not used to stepping into her political role as a princess who worked from behind the scenes.
"Putting all that aside, what about the condition of the cursed sword you reforged, Mio?" I asked, glancing at the cursed sword sister Momo.
Unlike the shape of the sword that looked dull and covered in rust, now the cursed sword that I found a few weeks ago has changed into a cursed katana. An ideal shape where will make it a perfect backup weapon.
"It went well, Lily-sama. The cursed sword has been transformed into a cursed katana and gained some additional powerful materials in the reforging process," Mio replied with a confident smile.
"Yes, I do look stronger but I still have some shortcomings, Monarch of Holy Destruction," replied the cursed katana that I was talking about with Mio.
While flying together with Mio, I could see her much better than before. Her sharp blade which looked shiny began to give off the impression of a sharp katana that could cut anything that came into contact with her sharp blade.
"What are you talking about?" I said, glancing at her.
"Unlike Onee-chan who has a new name, I still haven't been given an official name by the Monarch of Holy Destruction!" exclaimed the cursed katana that was floating in front of me.
"Ah, that's right, I'm still thinking about this one. Especially with my limitations in finding a name that suits such a cute katana like you," I replied quickly.
"A-Aaahh!! I-I'm cute? Ehehe..." Like a girl who just got a compliment that made her happy, I seemed to be used to giving her this kind of compliment.
"My Monarch... it seems like you're used to doing this huh?" Momo whispered to me.
"H-Hey... at least help me find a suitable name for her," I replied in a whisper to Momo.
"Why should I help my Monarch into something like this?" Momo replied with a tone of voice that was teasing me about this.
"Isn't it my Monarch's duty to do something like this?" Momo continued.
"I know that, but giving a name... I have a hard time with this."
While thinking of a simple name like I did for Momo, I also thought of a simple name that could be used at any time.
"What about Ellen? Does it sound strange for a cursed katana like you?" I asked, directing my gaze to the cursed katana that was flying in front of me.
"E-Ellen?" she said, saying a name that suddenly coming my mind.
"That's quite a good name, my Monarch. Thank you very much for giving me this name!" said the cursed katana that had been named Ellen.
Like a cheerful girl who was feeling happy after getting her name from me, Ellen immediately flew around me.
Swiisshh!!
Swiisshh!!
"Hey, don't fly too fast. Your sharp blade is too dangerous flying fast like that!" I said to warn Ellen who was flying freely in the air after being happy with her new name.
Swoosh!!
Swoosh!!
Ignoring my previous words, Ellen continued to fly freely and quickly in the air until her sharp blade almost hit something.
"Ellen... Ellen... now my name is Ellen!!"
"Not a damn sword or a bastard sword... but Ellen!"
"Ehehe... I'm happy with the new name that shows my identity like this!"
Seeing her feeling happy like that, I could only take a deep breath and watch what Ellen was doing, before Ellen felt satisfied with her new name.