Author: Hyougetsu	Original Source: Syosetu
Translator: Mab	English Source: Re:Library

The one who entered the room was a young woman dressed like a knight. She looked to be about the same age as Aylia. With long black hair and fair skin, she had a face that looked intelligent at first glance.
Although she was wearing armor, she wasn’t carrying a sword. She was unarmed.
Instead, she was clutching a thick tome under her arm.
A civil official, it seems.

The crest on her armor was one I’d never seen before. I could recognize all the crests of Miraldia’s seventeen cities at a glance, but this one was unfamiliar.
That meant it must be some kind of crest from Rolmund.
The woman looked at me and spoke first.

“It is a pleasure to meet you, Lord Veit the Black Wolf. Should I introduce myself?”

She gave off quite the enigmatic impression.

Since I, too, had absolutely no idea who she was, I nodded honestly.

“Might I ask your name?”

She replied with an air of confidence.

“I am Eleora Kastoniev Oligania Rolmund, Ranked Sixth Outside Princess of the Holy Rolmund Empire. If that’s a bit of a mouthful, just call me Eleora.”

She was a princess.
Is it even appropriate for a princess from another country to be here?
Is she the real deal?

As if she could see right through my thoughts, Eleora smiled.

“It’s truly fascinating that a high-ranking official of the Southern Federation and a princess of Rolmund should run into each other within the territory of the Northern Alliance. Don’t you agree, Lord Veit?”
“Heh… I suppose so.”

Somehow, she’s setting the pace here.
I’m not really good with assertive women who push like this.
What should I do? I suddenly really want to go home.
It’s also difficult to ask all sorts of questions about Rolmund right in front of the Princess of Rolmund.

It’s Governor Bercken who’s flustered.

“Princess Eleora, it’s dangerous here.”

But Eleora gave a wry smile.

“Is there any place safe for me? Don’t worry—there are plenty of others who can take my place.”

I don’t think there’s anyone who can replace the princess, but since she mentioned being ranked sixth earlier, maybe there are actually plenty of them.
Then, without flinching at the black werewolf, Eleora walked over to the conference room table.

“Is this the Diefurt family’s treasured sword, ‘Werewolf Slayer’?”

She looked back and forth between me and Bercken, then asked us,

“May I examine it here?”

Apparently, to me, the question was, “May I draw this sword in front of you?” and to Bercken, it was, “May I draw your treasured sword?”
Since the sword is now useless against werewolves, there’s no reason to refuse. Bercken is nodding, so I’ll nod too.
The only thing worrying me is that I haven’t apologized for breaking it yet.
Please, don’t find it out..

As I fretted inwardly, Eleora brushed aside the long scabbard of “Werewolf Slayer” and gazed at the blade.

“If I could just see the magical runes, I could replicate this back in my homeland…”

No, you can’t. Please don’t look at them under any circumstances.
Eleora let out a wry, self-deprecating laugh.

“I can’t very well go snooping around the family heirloom of a valued ally without permission.”

I smiled in relief, but Eleora kept her eyes fixed on me, not letting her guard down.

“That takes some guts. It seems even the legendary magic sword ‘Werewolf Slayer,’ spoken of in the legends of Rolmund, doesn’t scare you, Lord Veit.”

If the ‘Werewolf Slayer’ were still intact, it would be like a high-speed chainsaw to a werewolf. Even a woman’s strength could deal a fatal blow to me.
But now it’s just a broken, motionless chainsaw. It’s not all that scary.
Somehow, things are moving in a direction that makes it harder and harder to just say, “Sorry I broke the Werewolf Slayer…”
I decided to just laugh it off and brushed it aside.

“A valuable ally, am I?”
“But of course.”

Eleora carefully sheathed “Werewolf Slayer” and handed it to Bercken.

“How much do you know about the relationship between Rolmund and Miraldia, Lord Veit?”

Lord Veit knows next to nothing.
I’d better answer honestly.

“Unfortunately, I’m just an ignorant country bumpkin. I don’t know a thing.”

Eleora gave a wry smile.

“Fufu… Playing dumb, are we?”

No, I really don’t know.
Please, just lay it all out on me.

Eleora stroked the large tome in her hands as she approached me.

“Who would have thought that the slaves who fled across the Mountain Range three hundred years ago would build such a magnificent country?”

Slaves, huh… I see.
So the ancestors of the northerners were runaway slaves from Rolmund?
That means the members of the Senate are also descendants of runaway slaves.
Pretending to know everything, I replied.

“So I imagine you must be laughing when you heard they named themselves ‘The Senate,’ yes?”

At that, Eleora let out a scoff.

“Ah, you’re quite right. When I found out those runaway slaves were mimicking the Senate of the motherland in the land they’d fled to, I couldn’t stop laughing.”

I see. So the Senate imitated the system of the motherland.
But Eleora continued.

“Though the Senate of Rolmund has long since vanished, and now it’s an empire. This country’s Senate will likely meet the same fate.”

Damn, she’s scary.

Yes, her words are frightening, but it’s her eagerness to attack me ever since we met that puts me on edge. I can tell by the smell of her sweat.
Though I don’t see any weapons on her person…
Just then, Eleora repositioned the thick tome she was holding.
On the side of the book—the so-called “spine”—I spotted something familiar. A gun barrel.
No matter how I look at it, that’s a weapon.
Just before that gun barrel-like thing turned toward me, I stopped Eleora.

“Stop that. Do you want to die?”

Eleora froze her hand mid-motion and smiled wryly.

“I never imagined you’d even know about the ‘Magiarms Book.’ You really are one terrifying monster, aren’t you?”

So it was a weapon after all.
I didn’t smell gunpowder, but I felt a surge of mana just before. It seems it was a mana-powered firearm… and a concealed one at that.
This woman is truly terrifying.

Eleora placed the Magiarms Book on the table, showing that she was no longer holding anything.

“I just wanted to see if you were familiar with this weapon. Your reaction just now made that perfectly clear.”

That might be part of it, but if I hadn’t known, you were going to shoot me anyway, weren’t you?
I’ll complain a little.

“I don’t approve of you testing me. It’s short-sighted.”
“I appreciate the advice.”

She remains completely unfazed by my complaint.

There’s no way I can sit here with such a terrifying woman. I’m going back to my own country.

“Lord Bercken. I apologize for the rudeness of this sudden visit.”
“No, I will never forget the favor you did me by returning the ‘Werewolf Slayer.’”

Seeing Bercken bow his head with such a serious expression, I felt a pang of guilt.
But he continued:

“I had been praying that even a fragment of the blade or the scabbard would return to me. I shall enshrine this sword once more in the ancestral mausoleum.”

That’s good to hear. Just make sure you don’t go slashing any werewolves, okay? It’ll give away that it’s broken.
Well then, let me just convey my intentions before I take my leave.

“Since I’ve accomplished my objective, I’ll take our leave for tonight. Also, the Southern Federation has no intention of interfering with the North. We’d like to negotiate the way forward in the near future.”

Eleora nodded at my words.

“Understood. Rolmund has no intention of interfering with the Southern Federation either.”

I thought there was no way that was true, but I pretended to believe her.

“I have certainly received your intention, Your Imperial Highness. Then, we shall meet again at a formal audience.”
“Yes, let us hope so.”

I leaped out the window, keeping a watchful eye to make sure I wasn’t shot from behind.
What on earth is that woman?