“Nier.”
Nier knocked on the door and entered the room. She looked at the empress lying on the bed with her blanket covering her. She bowed and asked: “What orders do you have, your majesty?”
“My son seems to have done something big again today. Nier, take a group of Valkyries and go check it out. If someone tries to get in his way, get rid of them.”
Nier looked at her majesty silently for a moment before asking with puzzlement: “His majesty?”
“That’s right, my son. It looks like he’s been making big moves recently. He’s changed. I’m happy yet hurt at the same time.”
“Your majesty, I…… I…… Could you ask someone else to go……?”
Nier looked at the empress. It was the first time she looked like she was in a dilemma as she continued, “I…… I do not wish to see his majesty.”
“What’s wrong, Nier? Could it be that you’re worried you can’t hold back your feelings for him when you see him? Nier, is there a problem with going to check on him as a Valkyrie?” The empress chuckled and turned around to look at Nier. She sternly said, “Alice is in charge of safety in the royal palace, and you’re the only one left I can trust. I didn’t ask you to stay by his side. I just asked you to check if there is anyone trying to hurt him and what exactly he’s trying to do.”
“…… Understood.”
Nier noticed the empress’s resolute gaze and thereby knew she had no way of objecting. She took in a deep breath: “As you command, your majesty.”
Right now, I was watching a horse carriage carry salt into a store that had been cleaned properly and said: “Prepare the salt properly, and package them properly. The other stores are pretty much ready to go. Next, I want you to distribute salt for free here and I want you to continue doing so for the next week.”
While Castell was crying that the price of salt increased due to the shortage, I saw a mountain of salt. Castell won’t have any salt in his storage for the meanwhile since I’m distributing salt like this, but this will bring the price of salt back down. As long as everyone has salt, they won’t go and buy salt. If no one is buying salt, there won’t be a market even for those privately trafficking salt.
The church definitely isn’t as stupid as I thought. They won’t store money in their own warehouse if they had money because it’d be discovered if an inspection was conducted. Hence, they’re definitely investing. And I’m confident they invested in salt this time.
I opened the royal capital’s map. The stores I bought were laid out around the church, so now I’ve got them surrounded inside the circumference of the stores I own.
Why doesn’t the church have money?
It’s because they exchanged their money for goods. Since they’ve exchanged it for goods, they wouldn’t let it sit there to rot. I don’t know why they went through a construction business, but since it’s got to do with the statues of god, there’s definitely something wrong with the statues. As there is a problem, that means they’re trying to privately import salt. Given that that is the case, I’m going to make the salt you have turn into useless goods!
You humiliated me so you can forget about doing business. Since you decided to try and make a killing by raising the price of goods, I’ll make you go bankrupt. The church’s cash flow is poor at the moment. I imagine that they’ll have better cash flow once they get the land back. They need to sell all the salt they have on hand soon.
Alright, let’s see you try.
Castell said the church was involved with Mera’s death, so they no longer have any reason to exist. As long as I’m alive, I’ll make sure the church is destroyed. I know that the church is spread out all over the place with many branches. It’s pointless for me to smash the church directly, so I’m going to make you kneel before me and confess to your sins. There’s nothing I won’t do to that end.
Nier looked at the market in front of her and was somewhat perplexed by what she saw. She felt like she had entered a foreign country. Seeing the different neon characters caused her to space out. It had only been two days since she last came here, yet it seemed as if a century had gone by. There wasn’t a big change in the market. However, the person before her wasn’t the guy that was always smiling.
Not long ago, she was scolded by him right at this corner. She didn’t have any reason to get angry. She didn’t swear loyalty to him, nor was she his subordinate. He liked to loathe himself and that was pointless to her. But why? Her heart ached after she was scolded that day. A strange feeling of anger rushed to her head, causing her to want to argue with him.
Why could she not keep her calm in his presence? Why did she feel hurt because of him? Her body, heart and sword were given to her by the empress. She was the empress’ proud Valkyrie. Why did she get angry and melancholic because of him? Why was she so hesitant when the empress said she wasn’t allowed to get close to him?
Why? Why was she like this? It was just one night, yet the pain she felt, felt like she had lost a world? Why was she hesitant to see him? Why was she so sad?
The Valkyrie behind her noticed her instructor frozen in place at the corner of the street. She hesitated for a moment and then called out to her: “Instructor?”
“Ah……” Nier jerked her body as she returned to reality. She then turned around and continued forward. She looked in the direction of the orphanage. She lowered her eyes slightly. The Valkyries behind her hadn’t noticed their instructor’s change. It was the same road, but the person who walked by her side was no longer the same. It had just been one night, yet both of their hearts had changed. After that night, the young man’s smile had completely disappeared, while his back started to make him appear dependable. That failure was like a cut covered in painful water, leaving behind a determined look on the young man’s face.
Perhaps he was suffering more than she was due to his failure to protect the orphanage. Because he couldn’t find out what he wanted, he felt he was even more hopeless. She didn’t know what he was thinking, but she could never forget the mortifying feeling of not having the ability to get revenge after seeing friends and family die before her eyes.
Her majesty had given her power, and had promised to help him. He just had to sit in the palace and wait for the good news, yet he insisted on going at it alone. While stupid and slow, he never retreated when he met with danger. Perhaps he was braver than she was.
“Your majesty!”
Nier came to her senses when she heard the Valkyries by her greet his majesty. She reacted surprised before quickly raising her head and looking ahead.
In front of her was a silhouette of someone she was familiar with. He was holding the hands of his maid. The two of them seemed to have bought something. The prince held the maid’s hand. His maid looked up and showed his majesty a smile brighter than the sun.
The two of them were friendly and interacted warmly as if the prince was holding his wife’s hand as they went for a leisure troll. It was a heart-warming scene that would make one jealous. Watching the two of them, Nier clenched her teeth and gripped her sword handle tightly.
I heard the Valkyries call out and turned around. I happened to see Nier who had her head down.
“Nier, does her majesty have business?”
“…… No.”
“Alright, I’m going to continue with my business then.”
Nier raised her head and looked at the prince. The person that should’ve been walking by his side should’ve been herself. However, seeing Luna walk by his side gave off a friendly and heart-warming feeling, making her feel that there was no room for her to get in between them. It was like the prince should have always been walking together with Luna, while she was but just a bodyguard.
She was a Valkyrie, the empress’s Valkyrie. Why did she walk up to his majesty and walk behind him when she saw that scene as if it was a habit? It was the same scene. That’s how it should be. Why was Luna standing in her place?
Nier looked at the prince’s back and loudly asked: “Your majesty, could I ask what it is you are doing?”
I turned around. My black eyes carried a trace of anger: “I’m going about my own business.”
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