Chapter 298: This Is the End (6)

"You entrusted the territory to Cellu?"

"Yes."

Sieri hesitated and studied my reaction. The fact that she had sneaked out, or even the fact that she was a demon, terrified me less than the fact that she had entrusted the territory to Cellu. What the fuck did she do to the territory? Yuba and Robin probably covered for her, right? My hands trembled as I ordered the coachman to hurry up. The coachman loaded our luggage faster following my order.

It was time to return now that the war was over. The barracks disappeared without a trace over the ruins. James and Albus gave us a salute and disappeared into the distance toward the capital city. AA also came looking for me and shook hands with me. He planned to return on a carriage sent separately from Ahildern. AA looked back and forth between Sieri and me before speaking.

"Please be careful. I know Ms. Sieri is a good person, but I don't think this is a matter where I can take sides, so there is nothing I can do for you."

"I appreciate the thought. It would only be awkward for both of us if you got involved half-heartedly."

The mages, unable to stop me, had even gone to the hero, but AA firmly drew a line, saying, "This is not something for me to decide." Taking sides vaguely or getting involved ambiguously would have been bad for everyone, so it was fortunate that he drew a line. This way, the problem would end between me and the Archdeity Church.

"Ah, I'm screwed."

But what was more important was the territory. The fact that Cellu had taken charge of the territory hit us with a heavy weight. Even Eve bit her fingernails and rolled her eyes at the news that Cellu was in charge. Elsi sat on my lap and spoke.

"Why is it a problem that the big mermaid took charge of the territory? The big mermaid is also good-natured, so it is fine."

"Elsi. The affairs of the world aren't solved just by being good-natured."

"Hahaha..."

Soya laughed awkwardly. We had to hurry back to the territory. I gave Soya a slight glare before shoving Eve and Sieri into the carriage. Since five people had to squeeze into a carriage with a maximum capacity of three, we had to make good use of the space. First, Eve, who had large feet, and Sieri, who had large wings, entered the carriage, and the tall Soya sat next to Sieri. I placed the relatively light Elsi on top of Eve, and finally, I got in.

The coachman let out an exclamation of admiration at the fantastic space utilization happening behind him and spoke.

"Aigo. My Lord. Shall we depart then?"

"Yes. Did you request the delivery for the horses and the carriage?"

"Yes. I told the eastern territory stationmaster and had it delivered. He said it will take about fifteen days."

The disadvantage of using the carriage of Alio Festa was that we had to arrange for the horses when traveling to an unvisited location. I grabbed the lever while climbing on top of Sieri. Perhaps finding it a novel experience to have me straddle her, Sieri blushed and wrapped her hands around my waist. I smirked and spoke.

"I'll get going, then."

When I pulled the lever, we once again arrived at the corner of the mansion. Since I summoned the carriage here every time, a rectangular line had been drawn along with a "Do Not Enter" sign. Sieri looked around her surroundings with a bewildered face, and Eve let out a chuckle as she stepped out of the carriage.

"What. Is this your first time riding something like this?"

"Mermaid. It is bad for you to tease her when you haven't ridden it many times yourself either."

"There you go making me the bad guy again."

Soya held Sieri's hand and helped her out of the carriage. A servant who was wandering around the surroundings hurriedly ran over to give a greeting when I got out, only to scream upon seeing Sieri.

"It's a demon! A demoooon!"

Sieri's face contorted at those words, so I lightly struck the servant's head. With the sound of a forehead flick, the servant shut his mouth tightly and slumped down. I spoke to him as he groaned in pain.

"Calm down. Anyone can see that it's Sieri. Right?"

"...Pardon?"

It seemed my explanation was a bit lacking, so I raised my hand. The servant hastily nodded his head and spoke.

"Yes! Anyone can see that it is Sister Sieri! Aigo! Sister! Your horns look magnificent today as well!"

"Off you go, then, since you understand."

"...Husband. Isn't this just a transparent lie?"

Eve sighed at my response and spoke. I clicked my tongue and shrugged my shoulders. Even if my response seemed strange, there was no other method to soothe the public sentiment right now besides this. We hurried to find Cellu. Eve also didn't go to her room and followed me to the office. She must have been quite curious about what on earth Cellu had done.

"Cellu. We're here."

"Oh. You're here?"

Cellu was sitting in the office chair, smiling with a triumphant facial expression. Looking at her expression, I had a foreboding that she had caused some obnoxious, large-scale accident. Rosalyn Yuba was standing next to her with a slightly haggard face. As soon as she saw me, she bowed her head in apology and spoke.

"I am sorry. My Lord."

"Pardon?"

"Heh, Lucius. I looked into it. I heard that usually, if there is budget leftover every year, you do road preparations or tear down built houses and rebuild them? Because if it gets known that there is a lot of money left, the taxes will increase accordingly."

"Yes. That is true."

"But isn't that just a waste of money? So I thought of a method to use these funds with some efficiency."

"Which is what?"

Cellu swiftly lifted the paper she was holding and spoke. On the paper was a picture of a mermaid making a V-sign.

"I decided to build a statue. What do you think?"

"...A statue?"

Eve frowned as she stared at the picture. Rosalyn Yuba was at a loss as she spoke.

"I am sorry. My Lord. I should have stopped her, but, um... she even finished the budgeting while I looked away for a moment..."

"...You called people over to make this kind of statue?"

"Heh. Isn't it cool? It's a mermaid statue! It's a mermaid statue to widely spread Peta Lucius's aspect as a mermaid enthusiast."

"...It's not bad?"

Both Eve and Rosalyn Yuba stared at me with dumbfounded facial expressions. Cellu smirked and pressed her body close to the desk while looking at me. She was wearing a dress befitting a lord right now, and looking closely, her chair was also a wheelchair. I spoke.

"It's a useless budget anyway, so building one statue is fine. But are you only going to build a mermaid statue?"

"Huh?"

"Cellu, racial discrimination is bad. It's not like there are only mermaids in this city, so you shouldn't just erect a mermaid statue."

"Heuk... I-I am not a racist."

"Then let's add cat paws to this statue. Since we have Elsi."

"...That wouldn't be a mermaid, though."

"Are you saying Elsi is not a person of our territory?"

"N-No, it's not like that."

Eve let out a chuckle. After that, I pointed to the head of the mermaid painting and spoke.

"And why doesn't it have horns?"

"Huh? Why does it need horns?"

"Since horns grew on Sieri's head, we have to add horns too."

"...Sieri has horns on her head?"

Cellu stared at Eve. Eve nodded her head. Yuba asked me with a confused facial expression.

"Um... I'm sorry, but are you perhaps talking about that Lady Peta Sieri you brought to the last ball?"

"Yes."

At that, both Cellu and Yuba made even more puzzled facial expressions. Eve spoke to Cellu.

"Mom, I'll explain it to you a little later."

I continued to examine the paper before speaking.

"Also, since one of my wives has wings, I'll have to add wings too."

"Y-You're adding wings?"

"Are you discriminating based on race?"

"N-No, it's not like that..."

"And let's add a sword for Sir Hero... and put a mage's pointy hat for Soya. Also, since I am a half-elf, let's add pointy elf ears too... and finally... um..."

I drew human legs next to the mermaid's fins. Cellu freaked out and spoke.

"W-Why did you add legs."

"A lot of humans live in this territory, you know. Cellu. This all has an artistic meaning. Two human legs support the mermaid's body, and the mermaid's tail adds strength to support the human legs. It's a very important element that symbolizes humans and mermaids being beings that help each other and live in harmony."

"A mermaid with legs... that's so terrible."

At Cellu's remark, Eve let out a hollow laugh in disbelief and argued back.

"No, fuck, Mom. Then what does that make me?"

"You don't have a tail, though. Think about it, a mermaid with a tail on the front and legs on the rear, what even is that? How on earth can anyone imagine such a creature? It's too gross."

Eve couldn't understand Cellu's statement. She looked at the picture I completed, then frowned and stared back at me.

"Wow, this is a bit..."

I cleared my throat and spoke.

"Cellu. With the lord's authority, I'm going to change the statue to this shape. Do you understand?"

"N-No. I-I'd rather you revoke it."

"No. I'm also going to carve the name [Cellu] as the builder right below the statue in huge letters."

"Heuk..."

Cellu's pale face turned even whiter. Eve giggled as she teased Cellu.

"Must be nice for you, Mom. My husband is even making such a huge statue for you."

"...This is too terrible."

This much should be enough. I briefly glanced at Cellu's drooping tail before holding her hand again and speaking.

"Cellu. If you cause a strange accident in the territory one more time, I'm really going to build this. Got it?"

"I-I got it."

And just like that, Cellu's amusing rebellion was suppressed. Looking at the contents of the handover, it seemed she had processed everything else very neatly. As expected of smart mermaids, do they say teaching them one thing helps them learn ten? I smiled in satisfaction and patted her head. As soon as Cellu finished the handover with me, she took off the dress she was wearing and tossed it aside carelessly. Yuba spoke with a disappointed face.

"Oh my, it suited you well, too."

"Mermaids don't wear things like clothes."

Just like that, the territory was flowing along smoothly. The news of Sieri's demonification secretly spread throughout the entire territory, eventually degrading into a rumor that I had gone crazy. From a dramatic rumor that I had gone mad after Sieri died and caught a demon that looked like her to rape, to a persuasive rumor that I had summoned a demon into Sieri because I got tired of ordinary play, my image was being utterly destroyed in various ways.

I was surprised to find that there was a bottom beneath the bottom, and I had to struggle to prove to Sieri's parents, who came running hastily after hearing the news, that I wasn't the one who had corrupted her. Amidst this commotion, Sieri gradually began to adapt to territory life again. She looked uncomfortable because of her long horns and wings, but in her own way, she was trying hard to regain her original appearance.

A month passed like that. A letter stamped with a red brand was delivered from the Archdeity Church Headquarters.

It contained a message stating that they would excommunicate me if I didn't kill Sieri. High Priest or Sieri. I had finally reached a crossroads of choice.