Chapter 354: Ivic (1)

"This reminds me of the old days," Sienna said, her lips set in a straight line as she turned to look at their surroundings.

Boarding a large vessel like this one and being sent off with such a grand display, almost like it was a celebration — this all reminded her of their past from three hundred years ago.

In fact, things weren't all that similar. At that time, when Sienna had just met Hamel, and they were setting sail for Helmuth together, the ship everyone had been riding on was much shabbier than the one they were on now.

Such a large fleet was being mobilized to subdue a single dark elf — Iris, but when the Hero Vermouth and his companions had set sail for Helmuth three hundred years ago, the ships that had left with them had numbered less than ten.

It couldn't be helped. At that time, no other ships in the port city were willing to set sail for Helmuth. After all, how could there be so many people with a death wish willing to take part in a journey where the most likely outcome would be them all dying horribly?

However, just by leading the vanguard, the Hero Vermouth managed to turn the tide of the war. Even back then, three hundred years ago, countless people were just waiting for someone to give them a push on the back or drag them forward, holding their hands.

"Let's head inside," Eugene suggested in a lowered voice.

Even after listening to himself speak in his magically altered voice several times now, he still couldn't get used to it. The fact that he had to be so careful with his mannerisms also made Eugene steam up inside. If it were possible, he would much rather lock himself in his room and not come out until they had reached the Solgarta Sea.

The fortunate thing was that the ship Eugene and the others were currently on had actually been set aside for the Lionhearts' exclusive use. There might be many other sailors and soldiers on board, but all of them looked to the Lionhearts — Carmen and Ciel, that is — for orders.

This was a consideration given by Ortus, who was serving as the commander of the subjugation force. In fact, Ortus would also have found it awkward to ride on the same ship as Carmen. While it was true that Ortus was the commander-in-chief, that didn't mean Ortus was in any position to give Carmen orders.

"What's so great about riding on the same ship as a royal?" Ciel said with a snort as she turned her head dismissively.

The flagship sailing at the head of the fleet had the emblem of Shimuin's royal family embroidered into its sails in a display of majesty and prestige. With dwarven hands shaping everything from its design to construction, this was Shimuin's strongest warship, the Laversia.

In addition to Ortus, two other members of Shimuin's royal family were currently riding that ship.

They were Scalia Animus, the Vice-Commander of the Violent Tide Knights, also known as the Princess Knight, and her half-brother, Jafar Animus.

"I can understand why Princess Scalia, as a member of the Violent Tide Knights, is coming along, but why did they bring a prince as well?" Eugene asked.

"To earn some prestige," Ciel replied in a tone that suggested the answer was obvious. "As you may already know, Princess Scalia had been held up as the mascot of the royal family. After all, this country so boastfully touts itself to be the Land of Knights."

Shimuin's royal family was obsessed with their country's nickname, the Land of Knights. The countless coliseums that existed within this kingdom, as well as the numerous policies that favored knights errant and mercenaries, were all designed to spread that nickname.

However, those alone weren't enough. In order to truly be called the Land of Knights, the royal family itself needed to be known for its knights. As a result, Princess Scalia had been carefully cultivated into a mascot that the royal family could use to appeal to the public.

—This princess puts too much effort into living up to the expectations of those around her. She trains diligently and goes without sleep, but her level of skill is honestly just average. It's not bad enough to be called terrible, but it's also not good enough to justify being called the Princess Knight.

That was what Noir, the Queen of the Night Demons, had said with a giggle after stealing control of Scalia's body.

It was an accurate assessment of the princess. Scalia had shown some talent for the sword from an early age, but even that wasn't exceptional enough to justify her receiving such unanimous acclaim.

Even so, the royal family had forcefully placed Princess Scalia in such a position. They had made her the Vice-Commander of the Violent Tide Knights, one of the knightly orders that were always brought up when discussing the question of who were the strongest knights on the continent.

"In fact, Princess Scalia is actually quite far down the line of succession for the throne. However, Prince Jafar is a different matter. He's third in line for the succession, giving him more than enough grounds to aim for the throne," Ciel explained, her brows furrowing as she talked about Prince Jafar.

While observing Eugene's expression, Ciel cleared her throat slightly and continued, "The crown might be within his reach, but it will still take a lot of effort for the third-in-line to ascend to the throne. Efforts such as hiding behind his sister while tagging along on a subjugation mission with a guaranteed chance of victory, or else... ahem, marriage to a young lady from a prestigious foreign clan."

Marriage? At this word, Eugene narrowed his eyes and turned to look at Ciel. It was already obvious why Ciel was bringing up this topic now, but Eugene wanted to hear the full details.

Ciel paused to clear her throat once more, "Ahem.... Well, as you should already be aware, the Lionheart clan's name holds an extreme significance that has nothing to do with the strength that the clan also possesses. Enough to attract the interest of a prince from the Land of Knights."

"But you definitely have no intention of accepting his interest," Eugene bluntly stated.

Ciel pouted, "You can be reeeeally cold at times, you know that? Like right now, for instance."

Sienna and Kristina were honestly concerned that Ciel might burst into tears once more, but fortunately, Ciel didn't tear up. Instead, she just furrowed her brow and kicked Eugene in the thigh.

"Definitely? Even though you said that you definitely don't see me in that way, you still act like you know everything about me," Ciel complained.

"When did I ever do that?" Eugene denied.

Ciel huffed, "Well, in any case, of course I don't! I have no interest in Prince Jafar whatsoever. He has sent me several letters asking me out for a cup of tea, but I've ignored them all."

"So that's why he's glaring at us like that?" Eugene grumbled in a low voice. "And don't you know that you should be more careful? Kicking someone right out in the open where other people can see you. Is it really okay if the noble White Rose gets caught doing something like that?"

"You're being so annoying," Ciel complained, even as she raised her head to look over with a puzzled expression.

Indeed, it was just as Eugene had said. A blatant gaze could be felt being directed at them from the flagship Laversia.

Two people could be seen standing at the aft of the ship. A man and a woman, both with red hair. The man had a beard that didn't really suit him and was wearing an equally ill-fitting suit of armor. This man was probably Prince Jafar.

As for the woman standing next to him, Eugene already knew who she was. It was Scalia Animus. When they met in Ruhr, she had black circles under her eyes due to suffering from insomnia, but her complexion looked better now than it had back then.

However, from the dullness of her eyes, she still didn't look all that healthy. Eugene recalled the sight of Scalia decapitating a corpse's head.

—I'm not attacking this princess; instead, I'm helping her. Even though she can't help her true nature....

Princess Scalia had slaughtered the mercenaries in the snowfield because she had been driven mad by the nightmares that Noir had shown her. To Scalia's eyes at that time, the mercenaries had looked like villains who deserved death.

However, the punishment that Scalia administered was still too severe. She had slaughtered them all while shouting about how she was delivering punishment on these dirty filths. That might have something to do with the "true nature" that Noir had spoken of.

"But why is Princess Scalia also glaring this way?" Eugene asked.

"Because she hates the Lionhearts," Ciel muttered with a snort. "Also, she hates me as well."

Eugene blinked, "Why?"

"Haven't I already said it?" Ciel smirked. "The Lionheart name possesses immense significance. Although Princess Scalia may be far from the throne... what if she had become engaged to Cyan, who has been confirmed as the next Patriarch? The princess herself may not have been able to ascend to the throne even with that, but for the royal family, it can't help but be a huge disappointment that her engagement to Cyan fell through."

There had been two people in the discussion for Cyan's potential fiance.

Shimuin's Princess Scalia and the Ruhr Kingdom's Princess Ayla. However, since Princess Ayla was currently only eleven years old, it had virtually been confirmed that Cyan was to be betrothed to Princess Scalia.

If they hadn't met Princess Scalia in the snowfield on their way to the Knight March, that is. And if they hadn't seen how she had been driven crazy from her nightmares and staged such a massacre.

"Who cares what she wants?" Ciel whispered. "Apart from what we saw with you back then, do you know just how much my brother and I were offended when she used her status as a princess to act so condescending towards us? That's why Cyan decided to change the target of his betrothal. In the first place, they weren't even officially engaged; they were just in the process of talks."

Eugene decided to move on, "And what's the reason she hates you?"

"Are you really asking because you don't know the answer already? You should be able to roughly tell just how famous I've become in Shimuin over the past year. They do call me the Undefeated White Rose, after all. On top of the fact that I'm higher in the rankings than Princess Scalia, there's the difference between our performance during our matches, and well...," Ciel hesitated for a moment, seeming a bit embarrassed at having to say this herself, but she soon got hold of her expression and finished with a smug smile, "our appearances."

Eugene just stayed silent.

"Go ahead and just try to refute it," Ciel challenged. "What do you think? Between me and Princess Scalia, who's prettier?"

"Do I really need to answer that?" Eugene questioned.

Ciel returned his question with another, "What if I really want to hear your answer, though?"

"You're... prettier, I guess," Eugene admitted with a deep sigh.

These words made Ciel happy enough that she felt like she was floating, but she did her best to hide any changes in her expression. Instead, she pretended to laugh arrogantly.

"Isn't the sea breeze kind of cold?" Sienna, who had been watching Ciel as if spectating a child's performance, suddenly spoke up.

Although the child's performance... had certainly been cute, Sienna felt she couldn't just allow Ciel to continue her solo act precisely because of that.

'After all, there's still a pecking order when it comes to these things[1]!'

Although Eugene had said he couldn't see her that way, was there really a tree in this world that wouldn't be felled after being chopped ten times? So what would happen if Sienna allowed the twenty-one-year-old, fresh-faced Ciel to actively use her current position to start chopping her way into Eugene's heart?!

Sienna was afraid of this possibility and believed there was a need to be wary of this young, hot-blooded ax-woman.

As such, Sienna subtly sent a glance towards Kristina, who was standing beside her.

That's right, she still had Kristina and Anise, and, in Sienna's opinion, these two were her firm allies — the two-in-one Saints who at times showed the craftiness of the elderly and at other times showed their youthful energy. So Sienna intended to join hands with the Saint and form a strong barrier that would block Ciel's ax swings.

However, Kristina's reaction was completely different from Sienna's expectations. She didn't seem to feel any wariness towards Ciel, instead showing a bright smile.

Those weren't the eyes of someone looking at a child showing off. Right now, Kristina was purely cheering for Ciel. Unable to guess the reason why that might be, Sienna tilted her head in confusion. Soon, she came to a fearful and terrifying conjecture. The twenty-three-year-old Kristina and the twenty-one-year-old Ciel must have joined hands already.

As for that snake-like Anise, who had survived until now by transforming into an angel after dying at the end of her natural lifespan three hundred years ago, she would always hide behind Kristina whenever Sienna was being teased for her advanced age. So, in the face of this alliance of twenty-year-olds, Sienna would surely be left completely isolated.

Whoosh!

Right at the moment when Sienna was about to vent her anger at being placed in such a position, someone dropped onto the deck with a gust of wind.

"Hmm," Carmen, who had been leaning against the railing, straightened herself and greeted the intruder by name, "Ivic."

This was the man who was known as the Mercenary King. Rising from his crouch, Ivic turned his head towards Carmen.

Eugene had quite an interest in Ivic. The reason for that was simple. It was because of Ivic's nickname as the Mercenary King.

'It reminds me of the past,' Eugene thought.

Three hundred years ago, before becoming Vermouth's comrade, Hamel was originally a mercenary. He wasn't just any mercenary, too, but an exceptionally famous mercenary. Even in that terrible era, he could still name a high price for his services, and he was proud of the fact that he always delivered a job well beyond what he had charged for.

Of course, he wasn't just famous in a good way. Before his manners had been cleaned up by Anise, Hamel really did have a filthy personality, and he was especially cruel when it came to dealing with the other mercenaries in the same industry as himself.

But that couldn't be helped. Hamel had suffered too many bad turns during his work as a mercenary. He had, of course, been betrayed many times, but when he was younger, there had even been times when the chastity of his ass had been in danger.

As such, even though Hamel was a mercenary, he hated other mercenaries.

'However, I was still very respected as a mercenary,' Eugene recalled smugly.

Although it might sound strange, Eugene, or rather Hamel, didn't feel much shame for praising himself like this.

Hamel was definitely a legendary mercenary. If you set aside his shitty personality and just looked at his achievements, no one could deny his status as a legendary mercenary.

From a mercenary who dominated the battlefield, he became the Hero's comrade, and he had even helped to slay three Demon Kings. If someone like that couldn't be called legendary or a king of mercenaries, then who the hell could?

'He should definitely respect Hamel,' Eugene thought as he examined Ivic.

When even the Patriarch of the prestigious Lionheart clan respected Hamel more than his own ancestor, there was no way that a man who was called the Mercenary King wouldn't revere Hamel.

'Though there's no way I can ask him that when I'm dressed like this...,' Eugene thought regretfully.

But first of all, why had Ivic come here? Eugene leaned over slightly to hide himself behind Ciel's back. Although his disguise as a woman was almost perfect, if it was a master at Ivic's level, he might be able to see through the flaws that remained in Eugene's form.

Ivic strode over to them. Carmen bit down on her cigar with an exasperated look and reached into a pocket of her coat. She stepped forward in front of the group as if to stop Ivic from approaching any closer.

It was Ivic who made the first move. He stretched out one hand as if to offer a handshake, and then, in the next instant, he had drawn his sword. The sword slash that curved upwards from his waist flew towards Carmen's throat.

Carmen responded without the slightest panic. Her casually outstretched hand parried the blade while her other hand shot at Ivic's Adam's apple.

Her attack didn't land. This was because the moment his blade had been parried, Ivic took a step back without hesitation.

"You're as good as ever, big sis," Ivic complimented.

Carmen sighed, "And you're as rude as ever, Ivic."

Ivic had a sly grin on his face. Looking at Ciel and Dezra, standing behind Carmen, he winked.

"It's been a while since we've last met, young ladies from the Lionheart clan. How have you been?" Ivic politely asked.

"Alright," Ciel casually responded.

Dezra was more polite, "It's been a long time, Sir Ivic."

Ivic turned to Carmen, "You're being a little too strict with them, big sis. After all, there shouldn't be any reason for you to bring these young ones along with us on such a dangerous mission."

"A lion will push its cubs off a cliff," Carmen said after resting her cigar between her fingers.

The moment she said this, Carmen flinched and turned to look in Eugene's direction. She recalled that she had said those same words to Eugene in the past, only to be pointed out that she was wrong.

"Ivic, do you know something? In fact, lions don't actually push their cubs off cliffs," Carmen declared proudly.

Ivic was taken aback. "What?"

"However, for a lion to grow into its full potential as a lion, it must overcome many hardships from a young age. So, to raise these two into excellent lions, I am deliberately subjecting them to hardship."

"Oh... as expected of you, big sis," Ivic said with an uncertain look as he nodded.

Carmen asked, "So then, Ivic, why have you come on to our ship? Judging from how you were posing earlier and showing off, are you just looking for some praise?"

Ivic attempted to deny this, "What on earth are you saying, big sis?"

"It would look a bit more impressive if you were at least wearing a cloak," Carmen critiqued.

"No... it feels like there's been some kind of misunderstanding, but I really wasn't trying to pose or show off to you, big sis," Ivic insisted.

"But you were definitely holding a pose to show off to someone, weren't you?" Carmen accused.

"I was actually trying to show off to my fans who have come to see us off," Ivic finally admitted. "As young lady Ciel may already be aware, if you want to make a living in this country as a fighter, your fanbase is just as important as your skills."

While sheathing his drawn sword back into its scabbard, Ivic muttered in a low voice, "The other reason why I've come here, big sis, is that I want to talk to you about Iris."

Carmen raised an eyebrow, "Is it something to do with the subjugation force? If so, is that really something that you should be discussing with me? The commander of the subjugation force is Lord Ortus."

"Haha.... I'm afraid that I don't really get along with Lord Ortus," Ivis glanced at Laversia in the distance before continuing to speak, "I also suspect that he might be scheming something. Especially since someone like me makes Lord Ortus uncomfortable in several different senses of the word."

Carmen pondered this for a moment, "Hm.... Alright, I'll accept that for now. Then let's go inside and have a talk. However, Ivic, what exactly can you tell me about Iris?"

"There are many things I can tell you about her," Ivic said with a grin before turning his head slightly to look behind Ciel. "By the way, who are those pretty young women?"

Pretty young women.

These words caused Eugene's cheeks to tremble unconsciously.

1. I had some difficulty translating the original Korean idiom. The original text translates literally to 'even when drinking cold water, you need to pay attention to hierarchy.' In Korean custom, being polite to your elders is extremely important, so this proverb conveys the lesson that you should give way to your elders, even when it comes to trivial things like who gets a drink first. The concept of a pecking order seemed like the best way to convey what Sienna is thinking here. ☜