Chapter 66

"Hey, Second?"

"Huh? Oh, sure."

After sleeping until noon, having a slightly late lunch, and then relaxing with the tea Yuka had brewed for me after the meal, Winfield approached me with a slight nod and beckoned me over.

I glanced around the living room, but no one said anything. The guys who were so assertive this morning seemed to have changed their minds.

"..."

Most likely, the tall, beautiful gray-haired spirit standing quietly in front of me had done some groundwork. To be able to persuade those guys, she must truly be the best strategist in the spirit world.

This means I'll probably spend the afternoon with her today. Or is it him? I can't remember if they have a gender or not. I'll ask later. Thanks to her, my schedule for today has become much simpler.

"Here."

After a while, we arrived at a balcony with a view of Vanilla Lake, the highlight of this lakeside mansion. The scenery is indeed beautiful, and the cool autumn breeze feels great on my post-lunch, slightly warm body.

"What's this about?"

When I asked, Winfield tilted her head slightly as if thinking about where to start, then began to speak.

"Um, didn't you get something from Duchess Lucia Aischen? Like... a list of Castel Kingdom's enemies, or how to learn mind control magic?"

"---!!"

I shivered.

Did she talk about the letter from the duchess? No, she didn't. And she didn't say anything about my relationship with the duchess. Did she hear it from Yuka? Probably, but even so, how could she guess so accurately?

...Did she deduce all the way to the most secret matters in just a few hours, starting from zero?

"I'm not reading your mind."

My heart skipped a beat, as I had just been worrying about that possibility.

"I asked Master and the servants, like Sylvia, and then I deduced it. Was I right?"

Winfield smiled playfully and tilted her head, asking, "How about it?" Whether she's a man or a woman, I found her genuinely cute.

"...You were right. But 99 points. The letter from the duchess also included a list of trustworthy people."

"Oh, I see. I see..."

She looked a bit disappointed, probably wanting a perfect score. But in my opinion, deducing the method to learn mind control magic in just half a day is worth 120 points.

"So, what's the main topic?"

"Oh, right. I'm going to announce the priorities."

"Mine?"

"Yes. We should help the second prince... right?"

"Ah... Ah? If Castel Kingdom becomes a vassal state of the Marbel Empire, it would be bad, right?"

"Hmm, it will probably happen."

"Hmm?"

The conversation didn't seem to be going well.

"Castel Kingdom will be dominated by the Marbel Empire if things continue like this, right?"

"Yes."

"Isn't that bad?"

"I don't think it will be that bad, as long as we don't resist."

"I see."

So, if we don't resist, there won't be bloodshed.

"But the royal family will be killed, right?"

"They won't be killed by the empire, but if things continue like this, the first prince's faction will eliminate the second prince's faction. They'll secretly fight over who will govern after becoming a vassal state."

"Ah, I see."

The empire is trying to achieve a bloodless takeover using agents. They're more serious than I thought. The first prince's faction isn't serious, though.

"But the empire has a reputation for being warlike. They're surprisingly strategic."

"Probably, the empire is ruthless to countries that resist. That's why they're warlike, maybe. But we don't have enough information to say for sure."

I didn't expect a perfect answer, but it made sense. Smart people can be slow in their speech but are good at conversation. I'm impressed.

"Okay, I get it. So, it's about whether to help the second prince while keeping the kingdom independent or to help him as a vassal state of the empire?"

"Exactly. Personally, I prefer the kingdom to remain independent."

"Why?"

"Because the title matches will continue as usual."

"Ah, I see."

The title matches are held in the capital of Castel Kingdom, Winston. If Castel Kingdom becomes a vassal state of the Marbel Empire, the venue might change, and the rules might be altered. The title matches might even be canceled. To achieve my goal of being the world's undisputed number one, I need to participate in as many title matches as possible and win many titles. So, it would be a problem if the title matches were canceled.

"Okay, let's go with that direction."

Winfield moved her finger as if changing a setting and said, "Let's change it to that."

Huh? So, she was originally planning to make Castel Kingdom a vassal state? That means helping the kingdom remain independent while also helping Mine might be difficult...

"But it will be difficult, right?"

"Actually, it might be more difficult if things don't go well. But I believe you can do it, Second."

Again, she read my thoughts. But if a spirit with such an extraordinary intellect says it's okay, it must be okay.

"What do you mean by 'I can do it'?"

"Hmm... To be honest, I'm... really excited."

"Excited? Why suddenly?"

"I'm a spirit, but I'm really weak. I inherited half water and half earth from my parents, so my power is also half."

Angolmoa mentioned that I'm a half-baked failure, both water and earth.

"I'm quite rare. I'm a mixed spirit. I'm one of the few, and I'm particularly useless, which is why the Great King picked me up."

"So?"

"The Great King has a terrible personality, right? It's a way to spite others."

"Wow..."

Is his bad personality common knowledge? Is he that bad in the spirit world too? He must have no friends. And by picking me up, he's saying, "Look at this weak mixed spirit, I made him my steward!" Ugh... Ugh.

"Let's get back to the topic. I'm weak, the Great King's steward, and a strategist. I thought I wouldn't be able to respond to a summoning. But you summoned me today."

"I see. That's why you're excited."

"Yes, but that's not the only reason. You are also a reason."

"Me?"

"Yes... Hehe."

"What's with you?"

"Hehehehe!"

Winfield covered her mouth and laughed. Then, she opened her mouth, still giggling, and said,

"I've never had such a strong piece before."

A chill ran down my spine.

It was a casual statement, but the impact was immense.

--A piece. Winfield sees me as a "piece." This means the political struggle to come is like a game of shogi or chess to her.

What is this? She's a dangerous person. Should I really trust her...? I should think about it.

But.

I had the opposite feeling. I can trust Winfield.

Because, just like me, I see this world as a "game." No, I can't think of it any other way.

...I understand. I understand Winfield's feelings as if they were my own. You feel the same, don't you? You can't think of it as anything but a game, right? And you saw that in me. That's why you deliberately called me a piece in front of me. Am I right?

"Hahaha!"

My inner question was answered by Winfield's smile.

I couldn't help but laugh. I and Winfield are similar. It's so interesting and exciting. Right now, our feelings are in sync.

"Hehehe!"

"Haha, hahaha!"

We couldn't stop laughing.

---

After a while, we remembered we were in the middle of a conversation.

"Priorities, right?"

"Yes. First, mind control magic. Second, the second prince."

"Wait a minute. Let's share the method to learn mind control magic."

"Sure."

I took the letter from the duchess out of my inventory and briefly explained its contents.

"Um... The condition to learn it is to receive 300 attacks from a slave with assassination skills."

"Oh, then I can learn it today. Let's visit the second prince tomorrow afternoon."

"Wait, wait. Did you say today? And, isn't this contradictory? Slaves can't attack their masters. If we free Yuka, she won't be a slave anymore and can't fulfill the condition."

The only method I could think of was to have someone else subordinate a slave with assassination skills and have them attack me. However, slaves with assassination skills are rare. Even if we tried to teach a slave, one of the conditions is to kill a person, which I'm not comfortable with. That's why I had been putting off learning mind control magic, saying it was too troublesome.

What? You can learn it today? Seriously? Thanks to Winfield.

"Um, Master has a subordinate named Eve who can use assassination skills."

"Whoa, no need to say more! I get it!"

Regardless of how Winfield already knew about Yuka's subordinate's skills, we now knew an easy way to learn mind control magic.

"Yuka can use Katsura Puppetry to make Eve attack me, right?"

"Exactly, that's right."

Great. Among the puppetry skills, Katsura Puppetry can control a person like a puppet for a certain time. Using this skill, Yuka can control Eve, who will likely be treated as part of Yuka's equipment, allowing her to attack me regardless of the subordination contract. I came up with this solution, but what a loophole.

But, Winfield must have thought of this method the moment I revealed the learning conditions. ...Is she crazy?

"Let's go learn it then."

We left the balcony and headed to the servants' mansion.

Yuka sent a hurried message, "Please wait at the lakeside house!" but I replied, "I'll take a walk and check on the servants." The number of servants has increased, so as the master, I thought I should at least show my face once.

Walking with Winfield on the autumn path, I couldn't help but think that it's a bit much to walk so much in my own estate, but the scenery of the red leaves made me feel it was worth the purchase.

"Do spirits have genders?"

I asked out of curiosity while walking leisurely.

"Yes, we can choose freely. By the way, I'm a woman."

Really? You can choose freely? So, Angolmoa hasn't decided yet.

"By the way, I decided to be a woman just now."

"Hmm? Why?"

"Hehe, it's a secret."

Winfield smiled meaningfully and put her index finger to her lips.

I felt a bit flustered.

Thank you for reading.