Arnold didn’t answer Liumiala’s question immediately. He fell into thought instead. His eyes gazed over the city of Toril, the capital city of the empire. Since the adventurer guild HQ was on a hill that was higher than most of the buildings, they could clearly see the entire city and the sea that stretched beyond the Empire’s walls.
The empire had three main cities along with six smaller cities all divided by large city walls. The capital city was home to major businesses, rich aristocrats’ residents, and the Imperial Palace itself.
Arnold could see the palace from where he sat. They were waiting for Elora on the second floor of the guild while having tea with cake.
‘There is a law in this empire that states that if a citizen does not get the needed help from any law enforcement then they are allowed to act with their own intentions in mind. Commoner and aristocrat alike. No charges would be brought upon the victim.’
Arnold’s case was the same. He could use this chance and say that none of the people of the Imperial Force or Court intervened when him and his family were being targeted by killers. Since the real Imperial Force knew nothing about these incidents, that made things easier for Arnold because he could make the situation flow in his desired path.
In order to add credibility to his case, he had to somehow convince the Royal Household that was ruled by cousins of the emperor. They were the highest office of the Imperial Court. The Imperial Court was the royal court of an empire.
It formed the basis for the general government of the country as well as providing for the needs of the sovereign and their relations. If the government of officials were to believe Arnold’s actions would be justified then even the emperor couldn’t say anything in protest.
‘I can tell the imperial court that an entire ducal household almost collapsed due to their negligence. This case is similar with the demon sighting. I can get away with a number of things just like I’m sapping the guild dry.’
Liumiala didn’t rush Arnold and allowed him to finish his thoughts. She was casually sipping on her warm beverage and humming.
The court nobles wouldn’t be able to touch Arnold because this was the right thing to do, after all. Even Arnold’s father and the emperor himself wouldn’t be able to refute this.
‘I can also kill that bastard, Jurius. But that would be going too far. I should find out his involvement with this incident. I can think about everything after that when I finish what they started.’
“Your task is to find out who were the ones who supported James Caervil in his endeavor to end our family,” Arnold began speaking, “Bring the names of all these people to me.”
“…What will you do once you know who they are?” Liumiala asked carefully.
“Kill them, of course,” Arnold answered without a second thought, “Their fate was sealed the moment they tried to mess with me.”
“You know what you’re saying, right? Killing a person. This will reflect badly once anyone finds out.”
“I’m not planning on hiding who I am. Plus, why would I care if it reflects badly on me? My name was already dragged through the mud when the rumors of me started long ago,”
Despite what everyone said or thought about Arnold, he had never killed anyone even before Liam transmigrated into him. He was sort of like a tragic villain whose name was infamous just because of a small lie. Of course, even if he did then Liam wouldn’t care or feel guilty because those crimes were never caused by him.
“I will take this opportunity and turn it into a chance for me to get revenge,” Liumiala’s smile deepened at Arnold’s words, “I dare anyone to try and stop me.”
“Sir, yes, sir!” Liumiala saluted, “This one shall help you achieve your revenge!”
Arnold nodded and leaned forward, “Now about what I ordered you to do before… Give me the names of James’ entire family.”
‘I’ll pay them a little visit.’
“Right. There are seven family members. One is a young child who I don’t need to name,” Liumiala began listing the names, “First is James’ father, Oliver Caervil. He is retired as the family head and is currently working as a merchant at a firm in the Colos city. Then there are the two daughters who are from the same mother. One is 15 years old while the other is 18 years old.”
“Hmm… Continue.” Arnold finished writing down the information. Liumiala nodded and continued.
“Next are the two wives… Well, one actually since one of them was a mistress.”
‘Hm? Why does this sound familiar?’
“Mistress, you say…”
“James apparently fell in love with one of his servants and the two eventually had a child together. Though the woman hasn’t been seen in the last two years for some reason. Her family reported a missing person’s case but the Caervils made them go quiet not long after. The woman is probably laying in a ditch somewhere.”
“So one of them killed her… My guess is the first wife. What was the maid’s name?”
“Celoria. She worked at the Caervil residence ever since James was made patriarch of the household.”
Celoria…
Celoria…
Arnold repeated the name as if to taste those words. He realized a moment later who this mysterious missing person was.
‘The mother of… Elizabeth… Wait, let me confirm this first.’
Arnold asked the question as if to squeeze the words out, “…What is the name of the last family member?”
“Elizabeth. Elizabeth Arya Ryse Caervil.”
Arnold slumped back on the chair as a wry smile was on his face.
“…As expected…”
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Elizabeth Arya Ryse Caervil. Or better known as The Wicked Witch of Dark Magic.
She was also known as:
‘Elizabeth… The Villainess and the soulmate of Arnold von Berkley. But died before the final arcs of the game... I never expected that she would be James Caervil's daughter...'
The two of them suddenly heard footsteps come from the stairs. Liumiala immediately hid the documents she was about to give Arnold.
‘Crap, Elora’s back.’
“Come here,” Arnold grabbed Liumiala’s hands and pulled her onto his lap.
“Uwaah!? What are you…!” Before she could even ask, Arnold connected his lips with hers while holding her tight. His hand grabbed one of her breasts while the other held onto her neck.
Liumiala couldn’t escape since Arnold’s strength was too much to handle.
“I-I’m done, sir Nova! We can collect the reward now! I didn’t want to go without you so I came to get you…”
Only kissing noises echoed in the quiet room. Elora stood there blankly with a receipt in her hand.
"Uwaah!? What are you…!" Before she could even ask, Arnold connected his lips with hers while one of his arms was around her lower back, holding her in place. He put his hand under her sweater and grabbed one of her breasts.
“You… you two were…” Elora pointed at the two of them, “Kissing…? On the lips?”
“Ah, I hadn’t seen her in quite a while so I wanted to make up for the time we missed.” Arnold clapped Liumiala on her buttocks which made her squeal cutely, “Right, my love?”
“….”
Liumiala mechanically nodded. Her hand was slowly reaching for her dagger.
“O-Oh! I-I see! T-T-That’s very wonderful! I’m so sorry for disturbing you two!” Elora shouted with a big smile on her face, “I will wait downstairs!”
Before Arnold could get a word in, Elora ran down the stairs with abnormal speeds.
Arnold could feel Liumiala’s glare at the back of his head, “You… You took my first kiss like it was nothing…”
“No wonder you sucked so much. Besides, what’s so special about a first kiss.” Arnold stood up without batting an eye.
Liumiala’s molars clenched.
“…You’re really trash…”
◇◇◇
‘This is troublesome…’ Arnold thought to himself as stood between Elora and Liumiala.
“….”
“….”
Elora was looking at Liumiala with dead eyes and an expressionless face. The only way one could tell that she wasn’t dead was how her chest heaved up and down.
“Hello! Are you the people who are here for the reward?” A receptionist arrived at the desk just at the right time.
Arnold cleared his throat to ease the tension, “Yes. We are the Misteltein party.”
The receptionist looked at the paper that Arnold put in her hands.
“This is quite a large sum of money. I do not know why the guild is required to give this much money but I am not allowed to pry,” She grabbed something on the floor. It was a magic bag, “This is the promised amount that the guild master of the branch in Lockinge city requested. Please confirm.”
“There’s no need for that. I trust that the guild won’t be making any mistakes anymore, right?”
“Y-Yes. Our guild master is grateful for your contribution in saving that village and pointing out a flaw in our system. Please excuse me.” She bowed before walking away.
“500 gold coins like he promised,” Arnold finished counting the coins, “Now our business with the guild is over.”
“Can we go to the Magic Tower now?” Elora asked with pleading eyes.
“….Hmm…” Arnold looked at Liumiala and noticed her looking at him seriously.
‘Flord said that he would have Elora’s stuff ready by the time we get to the empire. There’s no need for me to go with her to the Magic Tower to retrieve the items. Plus, it seems like Mia wants to talk to me about something.’
He scratched his head and smiled wryly, “You go on ahead. I’ll catch up to you in a bit.”
“….” Elora seemed displeased but she didn’t voice her thoughts, “…Fine.”
She didn’t say anything further and only left the guild.
“What the hell is going on with her…” Arnold muttered but decided to worry about that later, “It looks like you want to say something to me. What is it?”
The two of them stood on the stairs after exiting the Guild. Their business was supposed to be over already but it seemed like Liumiala wanted to say something.
“You probably already know this but the banquet is a three day event held in the Imperial Palace.”
“So?”
“Why don’t you accompany me there as my date? I will also introduce a few connections I made while I was stationed in the empire.”
Arnold rubbed his chin in thought, ‘I wanted to meet with Rein anyway so it shouldn’t be a problem.’
Arnold nodded, “Very well then. We’ll enjoy ourselves on the last day of the banquet before the cleansing of the aristocracy.”
“I’ll contact you tomorrow once I have all the names ready. Oh right, what do we do about the fake’s transformation magic?”
“I don’t really care what they do to the man. He’s expendable, right? What does it matter if they find out? They’ll face the consequences later anyway.” Arnold stared at her coldly.
“Geez, I was just asking. No need to get so worked up. But fine, I’ll find a way to capture the prince and let you know if I succeed.” Liumiala took out a cloak from her magic bag and put it on, “Why don’t you buy a suit for yourself in the meantime? Surely you don’t want to attend such a fancy party in the palace wearing clothes like this.”
“I get it. So go.”
Liumiala shrugged before jumping onto a rooftop and disappearing.
Arnold—now left alone to walk down the street that led to the Magic Tower—thought to himself.
‘Elizabeth Caervil who later changed her surname to Dragonborne...’
Elizabeth was one of the most famous villains of the game along with Arnold von Berkley and many others. She was the strongest dark magic user in this world which allowed her to use it to dominate any kind of specie.
That included ‘Lord’ rank monsters as well.
This made her the enemy of all the dragon lords on this continent. Perhaps even the world. Though Liam knew who she was and why she and Arnold were soulmates, he didn’t know how the two came to meet.
They lived worlds apart from each other that it would’ve been impossible to even meet. Arnold ruled his domain while Elizabeth became a fashion designer after graduating from the academy.
Although he didn’t fully understand her origin story, he knew the kind of person she would become.
‘And to prevent her from becoming an obstacle for me and anyone else, I have to bring her over to my side and use that power for myself.’
Someone with the ability to forcibly dominate a dragon or monster lord was bound to be a threat. Not only to the empire but the entire continent.
That was why Arnold wanted to make that power his. His goal wasn’t just to live peacefully but to also gather strong comrades to help him eliminate his death flags. Not everything could be handled by knowledge of the future alone.
Strength was necessary.
Elizabeth could be considered as strong if not stronger than Olivia in terms of taming abilities. While Olivia could in fact tame spirit beasts which were stronger than monster lords, she could only tame up to five. She could also only summon three of those five to fight for her at a time.
Whereas Elizabeth could dominate the minds of hundreds of monsters at once at her peak. What was important in taming battles was the fact that numbers equated to more power.
Olivia’s Neguard and other spirit beasts were also in danger of being dominated by Elizabeth’s dark magic. On another note, Elizabeth could also control and summon undead with her corrupted mana whereas Olivia only had her taming abilities and intelligence as strengths.
That was why Arnold placed Elizabeth higher in terms of strength.
Intelligence, charisma and the like weren’t useful when faced with raw power.
‘First it was Elora who could almost certainly rival the Archmage, now it’s Elizabeth. These characters are popping out of nowhere.’
Calling them characters was wrong, actually. They were real people because this was reality and not a game. If there were more people like Elora and Elizabeth then Arnold would like to make them allies.
The reason he was so surprised about Elora’s power was because she was never mentioned in the story. She was lost in the storyline along the way. There were bound to be more.
‘What about Lancelot… He’s a powerful powerhouse in the Theocracy and he could have valuable information to what other secrets the Theocracy has.’
The fact that the Theocracy could find the four grimoires to obtain [Single-Target Teleportation] meant that there were signs of players being present there.
Of course, Arnold didn’t know if he was right.
Perhaps they had coincidentally come across the four grimoires.
‘In any case, how do I bring Lancelot over to my side?’ Since Arnold wasn’t a demon accomplice like Flora, Lancelot shouldn’t hold a grudge against him, ‘Ah, but what about my demon lord factor? Shit, then I guess Lancelot being an ally is impossible. I’ll die by his hands even with that power.’
“Well, I guess I’ll rule that out then.”
He continued walking towards the Magic Tower while muttering to himself.