“But still, hmm. For someone who survived by taking shelter under someone else’s protection like that to talk about how we’re in the same situation... hmm.”

As if the sight of me disgusted him beyond words, he looked at my face and said,

“Honestly, I find it more than a little revolting.”

And—

I just stared blankly at him.

‘What’s this?’

He was talking all kinds of shit about me, but none of it actually hurt.

Most of it was baseless nonsense anyway.

What bothered me was...

something else.

‘This guy... isn’t in a position where provoking me does him any good, though?’

For the time being, this guy was still stuck getting jerked around by Ariella’s orders.

And he knew perfectly well that Ariella and I were fairly close.

He also had to know that provoking me like this wasn’t going to benefit him in any way.

‘And yet he’s going out of his way to act like that...’

There were probably only two possible reasons.

One—

he was an idiot too stupid to understand the situation he was in.

“Do you know something?”

And the other—

“I disliked you from the moment I first saw you.”

he found a bastard like me so utterly repulsive that he couldn’t even think about what would happen to him afterward.

“At the time, I didn’t know why. I was just irritated, and all I could think was that I wanted to blow you apart first.”

He hadn’t been acting like this before.

I didn’t even need to think hard to know why his attitude had changed.

“Only now do I think I understand the reason.”

It was because

I had revealed that I was of human origin.

***

“So it seems what you were trying to do didn’t go very well.”

In the end, I gave up on talking with that Lirei...

No—

Jinlei—

and came back to Ariella’s side.

Even if I’d tried talking to him more, it wasn’t like a conversation could continue with a guy who didn’t even try to hide how much he hated me.

“More importantly, I started hearing him raise his voice partway through, and he was saying some rather unpleasant things.”

“...”

“Up until now, I had been keeping it within reason because he was someone the Grand Duke sent. But to speak not only of you, but even of me as well. From now on, I think I should be a bit more...”

“No.”

Ariella looked at Jinlei with open displeasure.

I shook my head as I looked at her and said,

“No. There’s no need for that. You can just leave him as he is.”

“...If that is what you want, then I can do that.”

Ariella frowned as she spoke.

“Then I’ll summon him and order him to answer your questions.”

As she said that, Ariella opened her mouth while looking toward Jinlei.

That was when—

“No, that’s fine too.”

I cut her off.

At that, she looked at me in confusion.

“Fine? Wasn’t there something you wanted to ask him?”

“Ah, yeah, there was.”

Well, sure.

That conversation definitely hadn’t gone especially well.

And I had picked up a few more minor questions too.

Still, for now...

“I pretty much already finished what I set out to do.”

“...In that conversation?”

“Yeah.”

Looking at Ariella, who seemed puzzled,

I flashed a grin.

“Well...”

[Guild Message]

“You’ll know soon enough.”

I started operating the hologram window that appeared in front of me.

***

After that, the battles continued.

Not every battle had an enemy as strong as that “rock-shooting Khan.”

In fact, in most cases, the places we targeted had simply been left unconquered because of harsh terrain.

Or else there weren’t any especially outstanding powerhouses, but the species occupying the territory as a whole was strong.

“Hmm, if they’re around this level, I think they’d be suitable to add to your bloodline.”

Jinlei had Ariella consume only the blood of carefully selected elites among them, then turned those into her thralls.

As a result, the new troops added to Ariella’s forces were being filled, one by one, with monsters too powerful to ignore.

Just like the Grand Duke’s support forces Jinlei led, they were all strong enough that even the weakest among them started at green mana.

But—

‘The numbers aren’t going up very fast.’

What the Grand Duke had said—that the riffraff wouldn’t be of any help—probably wasn’t a lie.

But trying to grow stronger while following that restriction meant Ariella’s forces simply weren’t increasing very quickly.

Even more so because the standards for who would become a thrall were stricter than the standards for who would merely have their blood consumed.

At this point, it almost felt like even that was just another method of controlling Ariella’s actions.

“...Hmm.”

Anyway, after several more battles like that, before moving on to the next destination, Jinlei stood there staring at the map for a long time with a frown on his face.

Then, soon after—

“I’m sorry, Countess.”

As if ashamed, he bowed his head to Ariella and said,

“I’m afraid it seems the next destination will take a little time to reach. It may be a tedious journey, but I ask that you bear with it...”

“A little time, you say. How long exactly?”

“Assuming nothing goes wrong and we move as quickly as possible... I believe it will still take around four days.”

At that—

“Four days?”

Ariella frowned and said,

“Most of the troops the Grand Duke assigned you seem quite capable. Their physical abilities are excellent, and they appear to have plenty of stamina as well. Honestly, I was impressed by the fact that they’ve been moving this quickly without rest.”

“You flatter me.”

“I was not trying to flatter you. I am saying I cannot understand why, with troops of this caliber, it would still take that long to reach the next destination.”

At those words, Jinlei scratched the back of his neck awkwardly and said,

“I don’t know whether the Countess is aware, but this country is rather large even compared to the rest of the world. Naturally, there are times when that means traveling long distances...”

“I know perfectly well such situations can exist without you having to explain that to me. But is the nearest destination really that far away?”

With a displeased look on her face, Ariella fixed Jinlei with a sharp stare and ordered,

“That map you were looking at. Bring it here.”

“...”

Jinlei handed over the map as though he had no choice.

The monsters who had newly become Ariella’s thralls received it and spread it out before her.

“...Just as I thought. My memory was not mistaken.”

Resting her chin on her hand as she looked at the map, Ariella let out a hollow laugh and said,

“There are red dots not far from here as well, are there not?”

“That is...”

“If Luor had not already shown me the map, I would not have noticed... You.”

Jinlei looked like he was about to say something, but Ariella continued without hiding her anger.

“You lied to me.”

“That is not—”

“I had intended to be understanding to a certain extent. You are neither my thrall nor a member of my bloodline, so it would be greedy of me to expect wholehearted loyalty from you. But!”

As though she didn’t want to hear a single excuse, Ariella pressed Jinlei sharply.

“The reason I went out of my way to travel through this land like this in order to build my strength was not for my own sake, but because the Grand Duke asked me to do so. In exchange, the Grand Duke promised to give me the best support possible for my growth. And yet that support... is trying to deceive me?”

“Countess, that’s not—”

“Turn the troops around! As for this matter, I will lodge a protest directly with the Grand Duke.”

She truly looked furious.

Cold sweat broke out on Jinlei’s face as he said,

“That isn’t it, Countess.”

“What do you mean, it isn’t? I disliked you from the start. I endured you until now only because you are one of the forces the Grand Duke lent me, but I can no longer overlook your rudeness.”

“Please calm yourself and hear me out.”

Jinlei hurriedly pointed at the map as he spoke.

“The place I had in mind as our next destination is here. As you pointed out, it is a bit farther away.”

“Yes. Even though there is another destination nearby, you deliberately chose that one.”

“The reason is this! That place is somewhat safer.”

At that, Ariella still frowned, but her voice grew slightly calmer.

“What do you mean by that?”

“As you know, we are in the process of occupying this land. However, because the Grand Duke wanted rapid conquest, there are still danger factors left scattered throughout. The place you pointed out as being close by is an area where that danger is especially high.”

“That makes no sense. Was dealing with those dangerous areas not supposed to be your mission?”

“It is. But please take a closer look at the place with that dot. Aren’t there a great many red dots clustered there?”

Just as he said.

Unlike the red dots scattered here and there across the map, the ones near that area were packed together unusually densely.

“That region is, technically speaking, considered part of our occupied territory, but as you can see, it is still a place where many danger factors remain. Since we don’t know what might happen there, I judged it better to deal with comparatively safer targets first and come back later.”

“And what exactly changes if we come later?”

“The targets will still be there, of course, but by then, our brothers in the surrounding area will be stabilizing the territory. If we come after some time has passed, then at the very least, the route to the targets will be safer.”

Hearing that, Ariella still seemed unhappy, but she calmed down somewhat.

Since there was at least a reason behind his choice, she was probably planning not to press him any further, no matter how little she liked him.

“So what you’re saying is...”

...But.

That was only how Ariella saw it.

“Mr. Jinlei’s position is that even if it takes a little longer, it’s better to pursue safe growth.”

“Huh? Ah. Yes.”

At my sudden remark, Jinlei blinked, then nodded awkwardly.

And—

hearing that, I gave him a slow, crooked smile.

For a moment, I just stared at his face.

“...?”

Jinlei looked at me with a puzzled expression.

Ignoring that look, I walked over to Ariella and sat down close beside her.

And then—

‘This is new for me... Ahem. Ahem.’

After mentally preparing myself a little,

I finally said,

“Master, Master!”

putting as much charm into it as I possibly could.

***

“Master, Master!”

The moment I forced every ounce of cutesiness I had into those words—

“Ugh...”

Ariella heard my voice and looked at my face like she’d just seen something utterly revolting.

Even when I had been playing the role of her knight back in that city, I’d kept my tone as flat as possible while speaking.

So this was probably the first time she’d heard a voice like this from me.

Well, sure. A grown-ass man in his twenties putting his full effort into acting cute.

Of course it wasn’t going to be pleasant to look at.

‘Still, even so, to make a face like you’re about to throw up right away...’

That stung a little.

Well, anyway.

“...My knight. What exactly are you doing all of a sudden? Had we not agreed that when we spoke privately, we would release [Mental Speech] and talk in Korean as usual?”

Just as she said, that was the method I normally used when talking with Ariella.

There was no risk of the content leaking out, and it let us speak comfortably like usual.

“If we do that, they won’t understand us anyway, so what is this bizarre...”

People probably assumed Ariella and I were quite close, seeing the two of us speak in a language only we understood.

But...

right now, things needed to be a little different.

“Your knight has a suggestion to make, Master.”

“...?”

Ignoring what Ariella had just said, I kept speaking to her.

And I did it while keeping [Mental Speech] active—

so that everyone else could hear the conversation too.

“...What exactly are you doing, Sir Knight?”

Ariella looked totally lost.

Without letting any sound out, I moved only my lips as I looked at her.

‘As friendly as possible.’

“...!”

At that, perhaps catching on to something, Ariella opened her mouth using [Mental Speech].

“...I see. So my knight has a proposal for me.”

Apparently my unfamiliar behavior was disgusting enough to her that she had to fight to keep from looking sick. Still forcing a smile, she said,

“I am suddenly very curious to hear what it is. Go on, then, and tell me—”

‘Friendlier. Use gestures too.’

“...H-haha. I’m suddenly dying to hear it. Come now, let me hear what you have to say...?”

Her hand trembling, Ariella touched my chin as she spoke.

Pretending to accept the touch naturally, I said,

“I looked at the map too, and in the end, weren’t most of those red dots in the dangerous area that man mentioned?”

“That’s... right.”

“And the dots in the other regions are spread out all over the place, to the point that if we deal with other targets first, we’ll have to go roaming all across this vast land, won’t we? If things continue like this, I’m afraid it will take far too long for you to reach the level you promised the Grand Duke. So—”

I moved in close beside Ariella, then looked at Jinlei while showing off as much familiarity as possible.

“Wouldn’t it be better to head for the place with all the red dots, even if it’s a ❖ Nоvеl𝚒ght ❖ (Exclusive on Nоvеl𝚒ght) little dangerous?”

“...Hm?”

“It may be very dangerous, sure, but dealing with that danger is...”

Grin.

“what they’re supposed to be doing in the first place, isn’t it?”

At those words, Jinlei’s eyes widened as though he had finally realized something.

“Y-you...!”

The hell, man?

Then why’d you start shit with me?