Chapter 322: Chapter 286: Stayover

I probably mentioned this a few times already, but the Kendride Margraviate was considered as one of the two top noble households in the empire, along with the Tristan Duchy.

The household had been acting as the empire’s chief gatekeeper for a long time, to the point that one could say that their authority was comparable to the Tristan Duchy.

Of course, they still couldn’t compare to the duchy when it came to industries and cultures, but there was a good reason why the sentence above still applied even despite of that.

No one on the entire continent could match the depth of their martial knowledge.

Considering that they had produced Caliban, the leader of the Guardians, and Iliya, the current Hero, it wasn’t hard to admit that it was indeed the case.

In fact, the official settings book wrote that the reason why Iliya had the best combat power among people her age wasn’t solely because of her talent, but also because of the majority of the skills she learned in Kendride Margraviate.

“Maybe because it’s cold here.”

Currently, that same Iliya had volunteered to act as my guide. We were riding in the same carriage together, as she said such a thing while shrugging her shoulders.

“This barren village is so cold, they probably feel like they’d freeze to death if they stay still. Since there’s nothing to play here, everyone just decides to fight each other instead. That explanation isn’t hard to follow, right?”

“…Yeah, it isn’t, but…”

I looked at the punk in front of me, barely managing to stop my cheeks from twitching.

“Don’t you think we’re sitting too close?”

Actually, saying ‘in front of me’ was a little misleading.

What actually happened here was that Iliya was sitting on the tip of my knees while swinging her legs. In short, she was terrifyingly close to me.

The carriage we rented was a big one. She could literally sit anywhere she liked, and yet, she seemed like she wouldn’t go anywhere else except in her current position.

“But, I’m cold.”

“…”

“It’ll warm our bodies up if we do this, no~?”

She said with a wink before she began to rub the back of her head against my chest.

“Maybe it’ll be better if I were to do this~?”

Not only that, she went even further by wrapping my arms around her waist.

A fragrant smell went up near my nose. From that, I could tell that she had put in some effort for in seducing me today.

“…”

While yes, it was true that this warmed my body up…

It was obvious that she didn’t do this solely to warm herself up. Her gestures… All of them were suggestive!

Instead of trying to raise each other’s body temperature, uh…

The way she stealthily caressed my thighs up… Yeah, what she was trying to do here was extremely obvious!

“Hey…”

“What? I’ve told you multiple times that I’d do this.”

I called out to her in a low voice, but she didn’t seem to care as she winked at me again.

Seeing that, a deep frown unknowingly appeared on my face.

Then, I called out to her in a more serious tone.

“…At least change your position.”

“Huh?”

“I won’t tell you to get off of me, just don’t do something embarrassing for others to see.”

“…”

Hearing my words, Iliya blinked blankly at me.

[What, did you actually give up?]

…I mean, I expected her to do this in one way or another anyway…

After all, this punk had been yapping about it for a while now.

To the point that it wouldn’t be right for me to tell her to stop.

Besides, I wasn’t stupid. I knew I’d have to reap what I sowed one day.

That possibility became even more so when the fact that I had touched one of the Devils had been spread wide among the women.

…It’s all because of that punk…

My thoughts wandered to a certain masked woman who dropped that nuke out of nowhere and disappeared. I let out a deep sigh.

“…”

Upon hearing what I said, Iliya seemed to be surprised as her eyes slightly widened. It seemed like she didn’t expect me to say such a thing.

“I’ll change it for you, then.”

“Alright, thank—”

I had to clench my mouth shut before I could finish my words.

Because Iliya, who was sitting with her back attached to me, turned her body around while keeping the same position.

Naturally, her face came right before my nose.

Our faces were so close that we could feel each other’s breaths, and see each other’s eye movements.

Her cute facial features caught my eye.

Then, her skin, beautiful, without any blemish.

Once again, I realized. Just like Eleanor, this punk possessed a great beauty.

“Your face doesn’t look so great.”

While I was lost in such thoughts, she stroked my face.

I could sense worry in her gestures.

But… Her breasts that were pressing against my chest took up more of my attention than that.

“Shall I moisturize you?”

“…”

Okay…

What am I supposed to say to that…?

As I thought so while keeping my mouth shut, Iliya smiled while bringing her face up towards mine.

Then, she kissed my forehead as if brushing past it with her lips.

“Haa—”

“…”

Her body trembled as she let out such a sound, full of pleasure, meanwhile, I had to endure this whole thing.

It’s okay.

I can stand this much.

But, when I thought so, she licked my face. From my forehead, tracing all the way down with her tongue.

“…Hm, hm—”

As if she was savoring me…

While letting out a series of satisfied moans, she was going down, drawing a line with her saliva.

Then, she stealthily licked the area near my earflap.

“…”

I twisted my body at the electrifying sensation, while she threw me a smirk, poking the bridge of my nose with the tip of her tongue.

She then pulled away, creating a thread of saliva that connected her face and mine.

“Want some more?”

“…”

“Or maybe you want me to lick somewhere else?”

After saying such words, she stroked my lower body with her hand once again.

“…Hey, stop—”

“Alright.”

“…”

Before I could actually finish my words, she already backed off on her own.

“…Just, what the hell are you doing?”

“I’m just trying to see where you’re drawing the line, Teach.”

“…How far would you have gone if I didn’t stop you?”

“All the way, of course.”

“…”

“Honestly, I don’t care if someone else sees what we’re doing. If anything, it’ll make me think that I’m having all of you to myself and—”

“Just stop…”

This woman…

Once she stopped hitting the brake, she’d go all the way in without any hesitation. Honestly, it was scary…

It was to the point where I felt that all the passion Eleanor had was transferred into Iliya, like, to compensate for Eleanor being all quiet for a while now.

“Too bad, then.”

“…What?”

“If you want me to, I could do it for you without any hesitation.”

“…?”

Before I could ask what she meant, Iliya already flung the carriage door open.

And as soon as she did that…

The sight of Margraviate knights spreading out outside came to my view.

Along with Margrave Kraut, whose face was expressing the transience of life, standing at the very front.

“…”

This woman…

Was she really…

Thinking of doing ‘that’ when her adoptive father was here?!

“Don’t worry. No one could see anything from the outside.”

“…”

“Although the margrave probably have heard about everything?”

“…”

“Of course, like I said, I don’t mind doing it in front of everyone if you want to—”

“…It’s been a long time since the last time I saw you.”

I tried my best to ignore the crazy remarks coming from the woman next to me while holding out my hand towards Kraut.

While yes, I wasn’t in the appropriate state to greet him, it was still better than to keep hearing out Iliya’s nonsense.

Kraut held my hand and accepted the handshake, with a face that suggested that he roughly understood the situation Iliya and I were in.

“…We’re going to have quite a lot to talk about.”

Kraut said in a brusque tone.

“Unpack your luggage for now. We’ll have the talk during dinner.”

“Alright, get some rest, Teach! Meet me in the evening!”

“…Okay.”

Iliya disappeared into the palace with Kraut after saying that.

“I will guide you to your accommodation. Follow me.”

I went in, following the person who said so.

But something felt a little…

Strange.

…Caliban.

[Hm?]

Does this village always feel so…threatening…?

The Kendride Margraviate that I remembered didn’t have this atmosphere.

Fun, and idyllic, filled friendly snowfield warriors with a strong comradeship, and love for alcohol.

That was the image of it that I got from the game. But…

“…”

“…”

Silence enveloped us.

I could feel it on my skin. Even though they weren’t completely hostile towards me, they weren’t friendly towards me at all either.

[It’s because of the position you’re in.]

Position?

[Basically, they understand that you’re in the position where you could get Iliya, but their hearts refuse to accept it. My sister is quite popular, so they’re feeling as if their idol is being taken away by you.]

…

[Hey, c’mon, be more proud of yourself. Try to rub it on their faces, it’ll be funny.]

Hell no.

●

There was one thing that Dowd had yet to realize. The fact that Iliya was a precious child in her territory, even more so than Eleanor was in hers.

Lady Tristan was only treated like that by her immediate family, but Iliya was different. She grew up receiving so much love from everyone in the Margraviate since she was a kid.

There were several reasons why she was treated like a lucky charm of the territory, but one of them was how she was friendly with everyone despite being the lineal blood relative of the Margrave.

“Russ—!”

“Milady—!”

Iliya greeted one of the servants whom she hadn’t met for a long time, immediately held the man’s waist and turned round and round. This particular servant was someone who had been serving her since she was a kid.

Seeing the great joy on her face, she looked like a granddaughter meeting her beloved grandfather for the first time in a long time.

“You haven’t aged at all!”

“You’ve become much more beautiful, Milady!”

It was only after the conversation, which was full of laughter, went on for a moment and the servant called Russ was swung around by Iliya for a while that he was finally able to tell her what brought him here.

“I’ve prepared all the items you told me to prepare, Milady.”

The servant called Russ then continued while clearing his throat.

“…Although, there were some items that made it a little awkward to report to you.”

“Is that so? Everything’s ready? Even the necessary location and force?”

“Of course, it’s you who asked for the favor after all, Milady!”

The questions and answers that were exchanged between them would make Dowd ask what the fuck she was planning to do that needed her to borrow a place and move so many people.

But unfortunately Dowd wasn’t here, and Russ just gave Iliya a series of satisfactory answers. By the time the conversation was over, her expression didn’t only look bright, she was almost beaming.

Unfortunately, good news wasn’t the only thing the servant was bringing with him.

“…However, Milady.”

“Hm? What’s wrong?”

“As you’ve expected, the moment you arrived, a guest came rushing here to stay for a moment.”

Russ said before handing her a paper with a list of names written down on it.

“All of the people you told me to beware of are here too.”

“…”

Of course.

There’s no way they wouldn’t come.

Iliya let out a chuckle while checking the list of names.

As if it was a matter of course, names of the Devil’s Vessels were clearly listed there.

“Alright…”

Iliya opened her eyes in a drowsy way.

She had been smiling so far, but her expression had changed a little now.

Her expression looked like a lioness seeing another wild animal that was lusting after their partner.

She fiddled with the hilt of the Holy Sword, wearing a triumphant expression that could only be worn by the only person in the whole continent who could beat the Devils.

“Bring it on, you punks.”

And so, she muttered her declaration of war.

Her conviction that she wouldn’t give ways to anyone.

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