Chapter 148

EPISODE 148 – ENTRANCE TO THE ROYAL CAPITAL (2)

“You ran away again, again, and again!”

“Owww! U-unnie, it’s not like that!”

Cordelia cried as Adelia mercilessly pulled her cheeks, but it was hopeless .

“What do you mean by it’s not! I told you to contact me regularly, but you only did it once! And then you contact me when you’ve arrived at the royal capital, huh?”

“Ahhh! It hurts! It really hurts!”

“Good! It should hurt! Be hurt more! Be hurt more!”

Tears welled up in Cordelia’s eyes as Adelia twisted her cheeks even more, and Jude thought .

‘Indeed, they’re sisters . ’

Given that they were doing the same thing .

“Helf! Heilp!”

“What do you mean by help? Are you saying that you did not do anything wrong?”

“I wash wrong! I was wrooong!”

Adelia glared at her and kept pulling her cheeks, and Cordelia continued to cry while Jude thought again .

‘I’m envious . ’

Cordelia’s cheeks were really soft . He wanted to pull it too .

That mysterious and pleasant feeling when he pulled her cheeks .

I feel like I’m being healed .

“You always run away from home!”

“Sob, sob . I was wrong . ”

“I want to pull it too . ”

Jude’s thoughts went out of his mouth without him realizing it, and he was embarrassed at that moment, but fortunately, no one seemed to have heard him .

Cordelia would have been able to tell what he was thinking by just looking at his eyes, but she was busy crying now .

In any case, Jude snapped out of his thoughts after being embarrassed and he slightly coughed .

In order to get Adelia’s attention .

‘Why do I feel like I’m jumping into the fire?’

“Ahem, ahem . Ehem, ehem, ehem . ”

Please look over here . Please release Cordelia .

When he coughed harder, Adelia who was still pulling Cordelia’s cheeks looked at Jude, and Jude said in the calmest tone possible .

“That…sister-in-law . ”

He chose his words well .

Its effect was magical .

Adelia’s eyes that were filled with a strong will to smack Jude after she was done with Cordelia, were then filled with shame, shyness and a little affection .

‘It’s working! Help me!’

Jude noticed Cordelia’s desperate eyes, so he continued his words in a hurry .

“There are a lot of people watching . Let’s go somewhere else…”

“ . ”

At the moment Adelia spoke, her powerful magic changed the surrounding area .

‘Light refraction magic . ’

As its name implied, it was a powerful spell that refracted the light from the surrounding areas in order to create an invisible area .

“This should work, right?”

She was caught off guard by the word ‘sister-in-law,’ but that wasn’t enough for her to change her mind .

They were at the south gate of the royal capital, so she used a spell that was said to be non-lethal, though using such a powerful magic wasn’t normal .

“Uh…you can continue . ”

“Hey!”

What do you mean by continue? Aren’t you going to help me?!

If you look at it, you’re an accomplice too!

Jude opened his mouth again after her single cry, and Adelia waited for Jude’s words with a face willing to hear what he was going to say .

“First of all, we did not run away . There was a reason why we couldn’t contact you . ”

“What? Is it the Guardians of the Holy Cross again?”

“Yes . ”

“Really?”

“It’s true . ”

“What happened?”

“That is…”

Jude narrowed his distance from Adelia a bit before he delivered a made-up story .

‘Because she’ll restrict our activities if we talk about getting attacked by the Devil’s Hand . ’

The probability that they would be confined to one place in order to be protected was high, just like what Count Hræsvelgr did .

Thus, Jude made up a story that they had spent more time than they had expected in exploring an ancient temple with the Guardians of the Holy Cross .

“What ancient temple?”

“The temple of Aerith, the goddess of life . Isn’t that right, Cordelia?”

“Yesh, yesh, hish right . ”

Her pronunciation was a bit weird because her cheeks were still being pulled, but Cordelia enthusiastically replied . Adelia narrowed her eyes but she soon released Cordelia .

“Hwuah!”

Having regained her freedom after some difficulty, Cordelia covered her sore cheeks as she ran and hid behind Jude .

“What? Are you hiding?”

“I-I object to violence . I object to violence . ”

When Cordelia timidly spoke, Adelia snorted and took a step forward . Cordelia then flinched and quickly hid her head behind Jude’s back .

‘So cute . ’

Jude really wanted to watch the cute sisters’ quarrel more, but now was not the time .

“Si-sister-in-law . ”

“I warned you in advance, so you’re at fault too, okay?”

“No, I mean, we didn’t run away from home…”

“But you should have contacted us . Do you know how worried our fathers were? Lord Gaël was also very worried . Of course, I did too . ”

Jude and Cordelia were clearly strong .

Adelia had witnessed firsthand their activities in the wild lands so she knew it better than anyone .

But that didn’t mean she wasn’t worried .

There were many people in this world who were stronger than Jude and Cordelia .

‘No, that’s not the problem . ’

Their strength wasn’t important .

Even if they were the strongest in the world, she couldn’t help but worry if she suddenly lost contact with them .

Maybe something happened . Maybe they got hurt somewhere .

Why did we lose contact with them?

‘Because we’re family . ’

Adelia was Cordelia’s real sister . Jude was her brother-in-law .

“I’m sorry . ”

Being more honest and sincere was better than excusing themselves .

Jude bowed his head and asked for forgiveness, and Cordelia bowed her head too .

“We were wrong . ”

I’m sorry for not contacting you .

Adelia sighed at the sight of Jude and Cordelia bowing their heads together, and asked again after having calmed down a bit .

“Were you two injured?”

“No . ”

“We’re both healthy and not hurt . Unnie, what about you?”

“What? Me? I’m always healthy . ”

Adelia replied with a shrug, and she had a small smile on her face .

Because one way or another, she was glad to see the two again .

“But don’t you have a carriage or horse? Don’t tell me… you walked to the royal capital?”

“Eh? Uh… That is…”

Cordelia’s words slightly slurred at Adelia’s question, and she became hesitant and worried if she should talk about it or not . She eventually opened her mouth .

“I rode on Jude . ”

“What?”

“No…that is…Jude carried me on his back… and then he ran?”

The more she explained it, the weirder she felt, but it was the truth after all .

‘I don’t want to lie anymore . ’

But sincerity didn’t always work .

Adelia frowned and seemingly didn’t understand it so she said as she gestured with her chin .

“Try it out . ”

“Huh?”

“Show me how you got here . ”

But her mood was unusual .

Cordelia thought that her sister was trying to not be violent, so she couldn’t help but obey her .

“Umm, like this?”

She then jumped on the back of Jude who reflexively adjusted Cordelia’s position .

Their actions were so natural that anyone could tell they had done it countless times .

Adelia blankly stared at the two before she burst in an angry voice .

“Hey! Cordelia! Hey!”

You really came here on piggyback? You stuck close to him? Aren’t you ashamed?!

“Eek!”

Adelia approached her with a face looking like a goblin, and the terrified Cordelia covered her cheeks first with her hands, but it was futile . There were a lot of places that the other could pull besides her cheeks .

“Hey you! You!”

“Ah! It hurts! It hurts!”

Adelia pulled her ear and didn’t care if Cordelia cried or not from the pain as she continued to shout .

“You cheeky girl! You know what you did? You’re an unmarried girl!”

“Hey, he’s my fiancé! We’re engaged!”

“You’re engaged but not married, right? This unnie told you not to cross the line, right?”

“Owww! It hurts! It hurts!”

“It will hurt from being pulled!”

She was right . It was the first time Cordelia’s ear was pulled, so it definitely would hurt .

“Jude! Help me!”

“Jude, come here too! Come here and give me your ears! You’re Lord Gaël’s younger brother, so you’re also my younger brother now!”

As Adelia stretched out her hand, Jude reflexively retreated and was troubled .

How do we overcome this crisis?

‘Should I say that we haven’t crossed the line yet?’

He clearly didn’t know the extent of the ‘line’ Adelia was talking about, but he really didn’t do anything except for getting a lap pillow, hugging her at times, and giving her a piggyback ride .

‘D-did we cross it?’

Up to what extent is the line Adelia is talking about?

Jude broke out in cold sweat as Adelia signaled to him with her finger to come quickly, while Cordelia struggled and cried .

“Unnie too! Unnie did it too with brother-in-law Gaël! Mmmph!”

“Y-you’re going too far with your words!”

“Mmmph! Mmph! Mmph!”

Adelia quickly covered Cordelia’s mouth while her other hand continued pulling the ear, but Cordelia kept shouting .

“Mmmmph! Mmph!”

“W-we’re also engaged just like you, but Lord Gaël and I are adults, okay? You two are still children!”

“Mmmmph!”

That’s not fair!

Unnie, are you saying that it’s okay if you do it but it’s not if others do it!

Jude thought that this was enough at that point, so he tried to intervene again .

“Si-sister-in-law . ”

“Huh? What is it!”

“You’ve refracted the light but…we can still be heard, right?”

Adelia was startled by Jude’s comment, and she looked around and bit her lips .

Because while she couldn’t see anything in particular, she could hear the sound of people murmuring .

“Uuuuh . ”

Adelia’s face and even her neck turned red, and she quickly spoke in a hushed voice .

“B-be quiet . You understand?”

“Mmmph . ”

Cordelia nodded in affirmation, so Adelia slowly withdrew her hands .

“Haa, that’s good . Let’s first move and finish our talk later . Because of you, I had to take a half-day today . ”

“Half-day?”

“Half-day off . I took a half day off . ”

Cordelia’s eyes widened in surprise at Adelia’s explanation .

If you want to rest, then you should take the day off . But what do you mean by half a day off?

“Unnie, is the Royal Guard Magic Corps a black company?”

“What is this kid saying? Stop being weird and quickly fix your appearance . Your hair is a mess . ”

Having said that, Adelia straightened her clothes and appearance first .

‘Come to think of it, that’s the uniform of the Royal Guard Magic Corps . ’

Adelia whom Jude had seen wearing a dress or equestrian uniform was now wearing the blue uniform of the Royal Guard Magic Corps .

Her upper and lower clothes were reminiscent of the blue beret and military uniform on Earth .

It had a fantasy feel but was still realistic as instead of a skirt, she wore pants and black combat shoes .

‘Her hair is tied in a ponytail too . ’

She had previously let her hair loose .

‘Cordelia looks good in a ponytail too, right?’

Should I ask her to do it later?

While Jude was lost in his silly thoughts, Cordelia fixed her disheveled clothes and hair before seeing Adelia looking at her .

“Are you done?”

“Yes . ”

“How are you done? Your hair is still in a mess . I’ll give you a hair tie, so just tie it up like mine . ”

“Okay . ”

Cordelia meekly received the hair tie and skillfully tied her hair together, and Jude recorded Cordelia’s appearance in his memory palace .

“Thank you, sister-in-law . ”

Adelia suddenly tilted her head as she wondered what he was thanking her for before she walked to Jude .

“By the way, Jude . ”

“Yes, sister-in-law . ”

“You’ve suddenly…grew taller?”

Jude was originally around 175 cm, but he now seemed to have grown to around 180 cm .

“Ah, that is…the result of training . ”

“That’s interesting . ”

There’s a martial art that lets you grow taller .

Adelia was interested in it, but she didn’t ask any further . Moving was more of a priority for now .

“If you’re done, let’s go . ”

“Umm, wait a second . ”

With her hair all tied up, Cordelia turned to Jude instead of following Adelia .

‘Does it suit me?’

She couldn’t ask him out loud because Adelia was next to her, but she could talk to him with her eyes .

Jude immediately nodded at Cordelia’s shy question .

‘It looks really good on you . You’re so pretty . ’

‘Hmph . You’re flattering me again . ’

But Cordelia smiled as if she wasn’t offended .

And as for the other person watching the two .

“I’m somehow upset . I want to see Lord Gaël . ”

Adelia muttered small before she pulled Cordelia’s wrist in order to not waste time .

“Come on, it’s really time to go . We don’t have that much time . ”

“Okay, unnie . But where are we going?”

Did you book a hotel room? Where do you usually stay?

Adelia smiled at Cordelia’s question and then said with a fairly confident expression .

“My mansion . ”

***

The heart of the Sälen Kingdom was definitely the royal capital, and it was also the place in the kingdom with the highest population .

For this reason, the current royal capital which was nearing its 300th founding anniversary had become a place where habitable land was scarce .

‘It’s because of the city walls . ’

The residential area could be increased, but the walls that had already been built did not allow it .

Inside and outside of the walls .

The inner residential area and the outer residential area .

‘And nobles usually have big mansions . ’

They also had to have a garden even if it was small .

“This year, a mansion was finally given to me . ”

It had already been several years since she became one of the commanders of the Royal Guard Magic Corps, but Adelia was constantly pushed back in the order of distribution of mansions due to her young age .

“I bade farewell to the dormitory . ”

The dormitory attached to the headquarters of the Royal Guard Magic Corps was naturally much easier to commute to and from work, but a dormitory room was incomparable to a mansion .

“What do you think? Isn’t it nice?”

Cordelia immediately nodded after Adelia puffed out her chest and pointed to a pretty 2-storey mansion with a small garden .

“Yes, it’s pretty . It’s cute and picturesque . ”

The pretty mansion was actually big by modern standards, but Cordelia had lived for more than a decade as the second daughter of Count Chase .

Compared to the large mansion of their family, the mansion in front of her was small and picturesque .

“I’ll give you two rooms on the second floor . ”

When the overly excited Adelia entered her mansion, a young maid greeted the group .

“I am Becky who serves Lady Adelia . ”

Cordelia blushed at the greeting of a pretty black-haired girl who looked like a doll . She greeted back and it was Becky who blushed this time .

‘It’s heartwarming . ’

Jude thought in admiration before he followed Adelia to the guest rooms on the second floor .

The rooms with a single bed each were small, but he didn’t think that they were uncomfortable to stay in .

“Then I’ll be going back . See you later in the evening . I’ve booked a restaurant for us . ”

“Okay, I look forward to it . ”

“Yeah, just wait and don’t overeat on snacks . ”

“Yes, unnie . ”

They had quarreled when they met at the south gate, but they had gone back to being close sisters now .

Adelia hurriedly left the mansion after a hug, and Jude grabbed Cordelia’s wrist as soon as Adelia left .

“Why?”

“Because we have to talk about our plans . ”

There was no time to waste as they only had a little more than a month left before the founding celebration .

“Okay, shall we talk in my room?”

“Eh, it’s fine to do it in my room . ”

“Let’s do it in my room . ”

Cordelia insisted as she took Jude’s hand and led him to her room .

“Should I leave the door open in case Becky misunderstands?”

“I don’t think she’ll misunderstand us . She’s just monitoring us, so let’s just talk with magic . ”

Jude quickly spoke as he sat opposite Cordelia with a small table in between them before he tore the scroll .

[So, what do you want to talk about?]

[The first thing we have to do when we arrive at the royal capital . ]

[Something other than getting close to Princess Daphne?]

[Yes . The first thing we must do . ]

[What is it? You didn’t tell me about this last time . ]

[I only thought about it today . Specifically, while I was running with you on my back . ]

[Okay, so what is it?]

At Cordelia’s question, Jude took a deep breath and put his hands on the table as he said .

[As you know, the Minister of Defense and the Devil’s Hand have been preparing for this operation to annihilate the royalty for quite some time . ]

[And?]

[One of the evidences is the control of the underworld . The Black Moon, the largest thief guild in the royal capital, is no different to a limb of the Minister of Defense . ]

Cordelia nodded at Jude’s words .

In the original, the Minister of Defense manipulated the underworld of the royal capital to turn the founding celebration into a mess .

[They not only caused various acts of terror but also blocked roads to make it difficult for the knights and soldiers to move . ]

[So? Are we going to destroy the Black Moon?]

[No, that’s impossible . We only have a month left . Assassinating the top leaders is a bit tricky since the Black Moon is not the only one under the command of the Minister of Defense . ]

[Then, what should we do?]

It was impossible for Jude to have brought up this story if he didn’t have a solution .

As Cordelia looked at him with anticipation, Jude smiled and continued .

[It’s simple . Let’s build an organization too . ]

[Wait, build an organization? Against the Black Moon?]

[Yes . ]

Cordelia frowned at Jude’s answer .

Because it seemed to be more difficult than destroying the Black Moon .

But Jude clearly said that it was simple .

If so, he must have had a solution to simplify such a difficult task .

[Explain it a bit more . ]

[In fact, we do not need to build a complete organization . Our purpose is to prevent the Black Moon from interfering with the founding celebration a month later . We just need enough forces to hold them back . ]

[Where are we going to get those forces?]

[From the other thief guilds in the royal capital . ]

The royal capital was big, so there were several thief guilds in it .

Obviously, there was no organization that was comparable to that of the Black Moon since it was supported by the Minister of Defense, but when all the other organizations were combined, it would be simple to hold back the Black Moon .

[The more I ask, the more questions I have… How would you make the other organizations work together?]

Through the power of money?

We did bring a lot of things here .

But Jude shook his head at Cordelia’s words .

[I don’t want to belittle their job, but our opponents are thieves who specialize in running away with money . Money alone can’t control them . ]

[Then?]

[We need charisma . A romance that can even tickle the hearts of jaded thieves . ]

Having said that, Jude looked at Cordelia who blinked her eyes . She soon smiled and said .

[Rogue Master . ]

[The legendary thief . The king of thieves . ]

A phantom thief who could get whatever they wanted .

A legendary person who shook not only the Sälen Kingdom and the Argon Empire, but also the entire continent .

[If the Rogue Master says so, the thieves will move . No, maybe even the Black Moon will have a lot of traitors . ]

Because the Rogue Master was such a person .

Because such a person was like a god to the thieves .

[But the Rogue Master is in the Argon Empire now . No, it’s before she became the Rogue Master . ]

Her words were a bit strange, but it was true .

Because the soon-to-be Rogue Master was still in training .

She was Scarlet who would become one of the Four Great Swordsmen in the future .

A prospect who would succeed the Rogue Master title .

She was quite a good thief now, but she wasn’t the Rogue Master yet .

Because she had still yet to get the Rogue Master’s treasure that proved that she was a Rogue Master .

[So that’s better for us . A new Rogue Master can appear for the time being . ]

[A new Rogue Master?]

[Yes, a new Rogue Master . ]

Jude replied with a smile and stood up before he dramatically spoke .

[No one knows where the tomb of the Rogue Master is . Except for us . ]

The Rogue Master’s tomb was hidden in the royal capital .

[Rarely does anyone know all the various legends of the Rogue Master . But there is one person here who knows it all . ]

It was time for JudeWiki to shine .

Cordelia knew then .

What Jude was planning .

The appearance of a new Rogue Master .

The birth of a new Rogue Master .

[Wow!]

[Do you understand now?]

[Yes! I understand now!]

[Then, I look forward to your cooperation . ]

[Huh?]

[Please do your best . ]

Because the new Rogue Master will be you, Cordelia .

Jude grinned as he took out a black butterfly mask from his arms and put it on the face of the stunned Cordelia .