Bofuri (The Strongest Shield Of Tensura)

Chapter 149 - One Hundred And Forty Nine

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Eva’s mind raced at a thousand per second, already going through several predictions of the next event, should a battle break out right here.

She thought about the three clowns. Of the three of them, she could confidently say that she could take on either Footman or Tear without issue, maybe the both of them if she was ready to exchange her life in the process.

The real problem was Laplace, as if she remembered correctly, he was ranked as a special A, just like herself, though he was a Majin unlike her, meaning he probably had access to intrinsic skills and maybe, even a Unique Skill.

Other than Lady Sally, the only person she could reliably depend on was Alvaro, and even he would only be on par with either Tear or Footman, possibly slightly weaker.

The air was still dense with hostility as both groups stared down the other without giving ground.

It was clear that even though they had the advantage of numbers, the clowns clearly enjoyed the advantage of strength.

Of course that was assuming that Lady Sally wasn’t stronger than Laplace himself.

After all, Lady Sally was recognised as a Demon Lord by the other Demon Lords, and Eva knew just how powerful some of the Demon Lords were.

"I wonder what it is you really want to hear, Laplace." Lady Sally finally spoke, her voice unhurried with the hint of a smirk mixed in. "That Clayman was a fool who didn’t realize just how foolish he was? That he let himself be betrayed by people who obviously had no loyalty to him whatsoever? That he begged for his life like the pathetic creature that he was? He called out your names, you know? He called out ’her’ name."

Footman was already seething with rage if his growl was anything to go by.

Laplace laughed. "Hahaha, oh Sally. Ya don’t have to play the villain routine ya know? I already tried that trick."

Footman paused. "Is that what she was doing?"

"I don’t know, Laplace." Tear didn’t sound so sure, still on edge.

"Don’t worry about it." Laplace waved it off. "Now are ya gonna tell us? or are ya gonna leave us in suspense over here?"

Sally shrugged. "Whatever, I guess. If you really wanna know so badly. Clayman got challenged to a duel by Rimuru Tempest. That’s how he died."

"A duel?" Footman looked surprised as he repeated the words.

"And Clayman accepted?" Tear cocked her head to the side again, something Eva noted that the majin girl liked doing.

"So the orb of Domination didn’t work in the end huh?" Laplace sighed. "Damn fool never listened to advice."

Sally leaned back in her chair. "Eva."

Eva straightened immediately. "My Lady."

"Get our guests something to drink." Her eyes didn’t leave Laplace. "And something to eat while you’re at it. The good stuff."

Eva held the instruction for exactly one second. Then nodded and withdrew.

She caught Alvaro’s eye as she turned. He gave her the smallest of nods. He’d hold the room.

By the time Eva returned, the room had already shifted slightly in her absence.

She couldn’t pinpoint exactly what had changed. The same people in the same positions. But Kumara had settled, her growl reduced to a low idle rumble. Footman’s aura had pulled back marginally. Even Tear had stopped fidgeting quite so much.

Lady Sally seemed to have been in a conversation with Laplace that took a brief pause at her entrance.

She set the tray down in the center of the table quietly and took her position without interrupting.

Tear immediately reached for something without looking away from Sally. Footman followed a moment later with considerably more dignity. Laplace didn’t move toward the tray yet but his posture had shifted from hostile to something more like cautious attention.

Lady Sally picked up her own glass.

"While you three are here," she took a sip. "I need a point of contact with the Eastern Merchants."

Footman set his food down.

Laplace tilted his head slightly. Just slightly. "That’s an interesting request."

"Is it?" Sally looked unbothered. "You don’t find it suspicious that Clayman’s unusual decision making began after he started colluding with them."

The silence that followed was a specific kind of silence.

"Who even says colluding in this day and age?" Laplace recovered first. He always did. "Clayman must have kept good records."

"He kept excellent records. A perfectionist through and through." Sally agreed pleasantly. "Almost too detailed in some places. Very useful."

Footman reached for his drink. Eva noticed his hand was slightly tighter around it than necessary.

"Hmmm. Mysteries, mysteries one might say. Trying to sow discord again, Risa? What you’re saying... Hmmn." Laplace chuckled, although Eva could see his eye slowing turning red again.

Lady Sally had noticed it as well it seemed. It was true that something had happened when Clayman had started meeting with those merchants from the empire. He grew colder and far too cruel from before.

Those Eastern Merchants had done something. Eva swore then and there that she would make them pay, one way or another. Luckily for her, it seemed that Lady Sally was also going after them as well.

"I want to open a channel." Sally said. "Dhistav had existing trade relations with the East through Clayman. Those relations don’t disappear with him. But they do need to be reestablished through someone the Eastern Merchants already trust."

Laplace laughed quietly. "You really did your homework didn’t you."

"I had time."

Footman picked up something from the tray and ate it in one motion. His shoulders were twitching now. "And what exactly are you planning to do with these Eastern connections once you have them."

"Trade." Sally said.

"Just trade." Footman repeated flatly.

"To start."

Eva watched Laplace process that answer. His mask made reading him difficult.

"There’s an organization." Sally continued, her tone unchanged. "Connected to the Eastern Merchants. Goes by the name Cerberus."

Laplace burst out laughing. "Hahahaha." He shook his head slowly. "Alright. Alright, I’ll give ya that one."

"You’re something else, Risa." He was still smiling behind his mask. "Really something else."

Tear looked between them. "What’s Cerberus?"

"Nothing ya need to worry about right now." Laplace waved her off, composing himself. He reached for the tray finally, picking something up and examining it before eating it. "Fine. Say we make this introduction happen. Say we help you reestablish Dhistav’s eastern connections. What exactly do we get out of this arrangement?"

"Stability." Sally said. "A base that isn’t compromised. And someone who actually knows what she’s doing running the territory Clayman left behind."

Footman made a sound.

"Plus." Sally added, almost as an afterthought. "I imagine Yuuki would appreciate having Dhistav as a cooperative neighbor rather than an unpredictable one. Given everything."

The room went completely still.

Eva felt it immediately. The temperature didn’t change. Nobody moved. But something in the atmosphere dropped several degrees all at once.

Even Teare had stopped eating.

Laplace set his food down slowly. The easy manner he’d been carrying since Sally de-escalated the room was still there on the surface. But underneath it something had shifted.

"I see we’re dropping names now. How fun. It’s scary just how intuitive ya are ya know? Remind me a lot of the president." His voice was still light. Just barely.

Sally looked at him with an expression Eva couldn’t quite read.

"I look forward to speaking with him." she said simply. "When the time is right."

Nobody said anything for a long moment.

Eva stood at her position and watched Laplace stare at her Lady across the table with an expression she had never seen on him before.

[xxx]

"What do you think, Eva?"

"My Lady?" Eva blinked in surprise, not expecting the sudden question from Lady Sally.

It had been around eight minutes since the three clowns had left, and Sally had spent those minutes in deep thought, her chin resting on her knuckles.

"Laplace. Footman, and Tear." Sally continued, closing her eyes for a moment. "They were your companions as much as they were Clayman’s, right?"

Eva struggled to keep her composure, not trusting herself to speak at the moment.

Sally opened her eyes, and glanced at her for a moment, seemingly searching for something. Disappointedly she looked forward again.

"Do you hate me?"

Eva stilled, her eyes widening. "My Lady!"

"You may speak freely Eva." Sally leaned backwards on the chair, back to closing her eyes.

"Understood." Eva exhaled. "No, Lady Sally. I bear no hatred towards you."

"...I see." Sally kept her eyes closed. "Even though I’m partially responsible for Clayman’s death."

Eva felt a small pang in her chest. She had suspected so, in the end. As much as she tried to pretend otherwise, she did think about it a lot.

"During my evolution to an awakened Demon Lord, I went through Clayman’s memories." When Eva didn’t say anything, Sally continued. "He’s lived for a while, so I couldn’t read through most of them, but I did notice you in a few of them. Some eighty or so years ago."

"You cared for him, yes?" Sally opened one eye, turning it to her. "Took care of him."

Eva nodded. "As you say."

Clayman had been many things. Arrogant. Petty. Stubborn. Frustrating. But he had also been the one she had watched grow into a Demon Lord.

The creation Lady Kazalim was most proud of.

Sometimes, when she remembered those days, it became difficult to reconcile them with the man he eventually became.

"Why don’t you hate me?" Sally stood up from the chair, making her way past Eva and to the window.

Eva turned and followed her, standing directly behind her, as a maid should. From her spot, she could see the Dryads hard at work terraforming Dhistav.

The open lands looked much brighter than before. Add Adalman’s mist maze to the mix and the view was breathtaking.

Eva folded her hands together behind her back.

"At first, I wanted to."

The admission hung in the air.

"After Lord Clayman’s death... I searched for someone to blame." Her eyes remained fixed on the distant city below. "It was easier that way."

Sally said nothing.

"Lady Kazalim disappeared."

"Lord Clayman changed."

"The Empire manipulated him."

"The Eastern Merchants poisoned him."

Eva smiled faintly. "There were so many people I could point at."

Her smile faded. "But the more I thought about it... the less I could."

Sally remained silent.

"Lord Clayman made his own choices."

Eva lowered her eyes slightly.

"No one forced him to challenge Rimuru Tempest."

"No one forced him to manipulate the Orc Lord."

"No one forced him to continue down that path after everyone around him warned him to stop."

The maid exhaled quietly. "That’s why I can’t hate you."

Sally’s gaze shifted slightly toward her.

Eva smiled sadly. "Because if I blame you for his death... then I also have to ignore every mistake he made himself."

Silence followed.

The wind outside brushed gently against the window.

Below them, Dryads continued reshaping the land.

"There’s a chance that Kazalim has been resurrected." Sally finally decided to add, dropping the equivalent of a nuclear explosion so suddenly on Eva.

The words hit Eva harder than any attack ever had. For a moment, she simply stared. "...What?"

"Lady Kazalim...?" she repeated quietly.

"Clayman’s last meeting with Yuuki." Sally continued. "He all but confirmed it."

Eva’s heart was beating faster now.

For centuries Kazalim had been the center around which so many lives revolved.

The thought that she might still exist somewhere... Eva realized her hands had clenched behind her back.

Slowly she forced them to relax. "...I see."

Sally studied her for a moment. The young Demon Lord looked back out the window.

"If Kazalim is alive."

Eva waited.

"And if she eventually returns. There’s a reasonable chance she’ll be hostile towards me."

Silence.

Below them, a group of Dryads guided massive roots through freshly turned earth.

The movement seemed strangely distant.

Eva lowered her head slightly. "I understand."

"Do you?" Sally’s voice remained calm.

"Clayman is dead. Kazalim cared about him.

Regardless of whether his death was deserved. Regardless of whether he brought it upon himself. The fact remains that he died shortly after I arrived."

Sally turned toward her. "If Kazalim decides she wants someone to blame."

Blue eyes settled directly on Eva. "I imagine I’ll be high on the list."

Eva met her gaze. For several seconds neither spoke.

Then Sally asked quietly. "What will you do?"

Eva remained silent, rooted to her position behind the young Demon Lord.

"Take your time with that. I’ll be at the middle level. Don’t worry, I won’t stay at the top level any longer than I need to." While Eva was rooted, Sally headed towards the door.

Eva watched her charge leave the room, unable to think of doing anything.

The question had landed with surprising weight.

What she would choose.

Kazalim.

Or Sally.

The Lord she had once served.

Or the lord she served now.

Was there even a right answer? If there was, then the obvious one would be Lord Kazalim, AND YET, even though the thought exhilarated her, she couldn’t bring herself to acknowledge it.

She was one of, if not the eldest dark elf in all of Dhistav, next to Kazalim herself. A commoner back then, who had followed Kazalim into the depths of the unknown.

The answer should be really simple.

AND YET.

It could all return to normal. With Lord Kazalim’s powers, she would be able to restore Clayman after all. The harlequin alliance would be whole again.

AND YET.

Eva’s eyes widened, and she immediately ran through the open door, running down the halls.

AND YET.

She ran past Claudia, the dark elf chef leading a group of dark elves in the kitchen. She spared a glance before she was gone past them.

AND YET.

Not wanting to waste any more time, Eva jumped through an open window, falling down the hundred or so metres to the ground without even kicking up any dust whatsoever.

AND YET.

She took off, headed towards the side of the mountain where the royal castle rested upon, where the large gate that led to the capital city of Dhistav, Amrita.

Standing before the gate was her Lady, Demon Lord Sally.

"Lady Sally! Please wait!" She called out.

Sally turned to face her, a questioning look on her face.

Eva exhaled, taking her time to consider her words. When she finally spoke, her voice was steady.

"I would try to stop it."

Sally blinked once. "Stop what?"

"The conflict." Eva’s answer came immediately. "If Lady Kazalim returned and wished to speak, then I would encourage discussion."

"If she wished for answers, then I would help provide them."

"If she wished for reconciliation, then I would support it."

The maid lowered her gaze slightly. "But if she chose violence..."

The words became harder. Much harder.

"...then I would fulfill my duty."

Silence.

Sally watched her carefully. "You would fight Kazalim?"

Eva closed her eyes. For a brief moment she remembered another time.

Another era. A younger Clayman. Kazalim smiling. The old days. Days that would never return.

When she opened her eyes again, the hesitation was gone. "I pray it never comes to that."

Her voice remained calm.

"But I swore loyalty to the ruler of Dhistav." She bowed her head. "And that ruler is you."

"That’s not enough, Eva." Sally shook her head. "I need more than that."

Eva understood, and truly, while it broke her heart, she was prepared. She got down on one knee, her left knuckle on the ground, and lowered her head. "Then I, "No Face," The Heartless Harlequin, pledge my undying loyalty to you, Risa Shiromine."