Chapter 174
Chapter 174: Queen Glina
Translator: EndlessFantasy Translation Editor: EndlessFantasy Translation
From the very start, my search had been doomed to failure. This was because I had misconceptions about my target’s outer appearance and characteristics.
Glina.Caso, descendant of the Mist, and the future Queen of Sleuweir. She was currently fifteen years old, but if you went by her physical appearance, she didn’t seem that old at all.
She was about 1.4 meters tall, and her short golden hair was combed into a simple bobbed haircut. Her skinny limbs weren’t suitable for wielding swords or other weapons at all. From a first impression, it was easy to think that she was still only ten years old.
As for why her real age and perceived age were so different? It was due to that dark yellow demonic pupil under her right eyepatch. Thirteen years ago, when she had almost reached the point of death thanks to her enemies’ pursuit, the demonic blood in her awoke. Even though it saved her, she also became no longer completely human from that point on. The most obvious result of this was the fact that her rate of growth ended up slowing down.
Unlike Fimor.Caso who was unable to resist the bloodline, Glina who lived in the Underground World saw many fallen demonic descendants, so naturally she knew that there were no free lunches in this world. Using demonic power usually cost one’s soul as the price, so before such a tragedy befell her, she resolved herself to seal away her own demonic power.
“Magical Seal Armor Clint #1.”
That was the name of the magical armor mechanism that “Clint” never took off. While it appeared like a shabby piece of heavy armor on the outside, it was actually an exquisitely created magical mechanism shaped like a piece of armor, and the real Glina had always been hiding inside this armor while controlling the mechanism.
Not only was the armor a weapon, it even had various anti-magic items and chains inside that chained her up quite tightly. Not only was it impossible for her demonic powers to leak outside, even moving her body was extremely difficult. She had used both physical and magical seals on herself in order to completely suppress her own demonic powers.
And since she had decided to seal away her powers, Glina who was an expert engineer gave up on her past close-combat fighting style, and chose instead to use explosives, gunpowder, and Dwarven Firearms as her main weapons, causing the rise of the famously terrifying Clint the Explosive Demon.
As for her abnormally high sense of caution, not only was it a result of living in an environment of endless battles, even more of it came from her uncle’s assassins and spies sent out to find her.
Even now she was unable to completely accept that the person she trusted the most was actually someone out to assassinate her, and after she matured, the bother of her demonic power caused her to go into self-imposed exile.
This girl used her own method to put up a barrier between her heart and the world, and hid her soft real body within a rotten metal can. She used small openings and sensors in place of her eyes and ears; she used cold steel in place of the warmth of human contact. Perhaps she was still interacting with humans, but her soul was in self-imposed exile.
“As long as I don’t have any feelings for others, I won’t be hurt. As long as I don’t trust anyone, I won’t be betrayed. I’ve had enough already.”
I’m not the type to comment on other people’s way of life, but this eyepatch-wearing girl had clearly been through a lot.
Even now, looking at the girl who remained expressionless and silent despite being tied up so tightly, I didn’t even know how to deal with her.
“Since you came back here together with me, you must have had your own plans, don’t you plan on saying anything? Even though you knew that we were searching for you, why didn’t you come out and tell us?”
“I’m not Glina…”
“Hm?”
“I’m Clint, not Glina.”
Her single eye was filled with self-belief as she said so. She truly believed in this.
“…You reject your royal heritage so much? Do you feel that people will treat you differently due to your identity?”
“They’re already behaving differently.”
Turning around, I saw that the gentlemen behind me had their eyes popping out as they were all staring at her. The fact that Clint was actually a girl probably shocked the members of the Gentlemen Alliance she hung out with more than anyone else.
“Impossible, how could Clint be a little girl! Just yesterday we talked about so many male topics, he said he was one of the staunchest members of the blonde beautiful girls faction! How could he possibly be a flat-chested loli!”
“Yeah, we even showered together with no problems… By the way, has nobody ever stopped him from wearing armor in the shower?”
“Everyone got used to it, isn’t there a sentence saying that armor is a man’s true body!”
Upon hearing this sentence, the fact that every one of them nodded rendered me speechless… Even though I believed it as well, but it was still embarrassing to say it out loud.
“Yep, I even saw him wearing some large bear-print pajamas on top on his armor, I thought it was rather normal.”
“Yeah, and I even witnessed him drinking alcohol straight out of the barrel.”
Alright, Glina was beginning to chuckle proudly at the gentlemen’s shock.
“Ahaha, I’m a combat expert, a master of disguise, I’ve undergone assassin and anti-assassin training, and I’m an expert in male psychology; I even know how to make perverted jokes in sixteen different languages. My Clint #1 armor is absolutely perfect, not only can it imitate how normal people eat and drink, it can even enter showers, absorb water, and wash my body. I can hide inside it for more than one year without ever needing to come out. As for what I shouldn’t see, do you really think I want to see a bunch of stupid foolish men flashing off their muscles? I always turn off my sensors when faced with such blinding sights.”
This cold-faced loli’s laughs made me speechless, she was truly so proud of herself at her skills in concealing her identity, was there indeed a problem with the Mist bloondline after all? Just what was with everyone from this family?
But there was obviously no time to waste, so I went with the direct approach with her.
“Glina… Okay, I know that you don’t like that name, so I’ll keep calling you Clint. You’re also familiar with the current situation; I need your assistance. Your uncle should have been your mortal enemy, and now that he’s dead, it sort of counts as me having helped take revenge for you. Now, I’d like to request for your aid in stabilizing the situation, is that alright?”
“No.”
“…Why not, at least tell me the reason.”
“That guy has nothing to do with me. If it wasn’t for you guys, I wouldn’t even return.”
Glina had no intention of taking revenge in the first place. Having left home at two years old, and experiencing countless betrayals and impacts from her demonic blood awakening, the current her didn’t have any memories of her homeland anymore, nor did she have any memories about her parents.
Perhaps the deepest part related to her homeland in Glina’s memories were those of the shiny edges of assassins’ daggers. If a person had nothing but negative memories of her own homeland, it was only natural that she wouldn’t desire to return.
Perhaps the only person she viewed as a relative was the Lord of Iron City that raised her as his own son. After experiencing so much slaughter in battle and all those betrayals, she had no interest whatsoever in obtaining power.
But, even if Glina was the type that seemed like she had no desires, she still wasn’t difficult to deal with for me. Perhaps Glina was indeed difficult to deal with, but the Clint that I was familiar with was a piece of cake.
“Cough, I have the newest explosive formulas here that I deceived the Auland Empire into revealing, are you interested? They’re actually quite skilled in alchemy and engineering, it can be said that this formula doesn’t follow common sense at all, they actually thought of the method of using high pressure in place of high temperatures… Darn it, this explosive formula’s so complex, are there any experts that can help me research it?”
Hearing this, her ears and lips seemed to tremble slightly. She was slightly moved at this, but considering all the troubles that would come with promising to help me, she fell silent again.
“…While your Clint Armor isn’t bad at all, it’s still technology from several years ago. Don’t you want some engineers to help you upgrade and improve it? Such a tattered piece of armor is so unseemly, girls’ clothes should at the very least be clean if not pretty. Regardless of anything else, Sulfur Mountain City and Iron City are solid allies now, and your adopted father even has a seat at the alliance’s conference. We’ve treated you kindly, don’t you agree?”
This time, I definitely noticed how moved she was by the expression in her single eye.
“Every day you only need to appear for half a day, and act your part. You can do whatever you like during the rest of your time. If you promise to work with me, you can also have first dibs on using any new equipment, and you can also have the new alchemy explosive formula that Olivy researched.”
“…Does this include the Roland line of titan robots and Timlet’s new toys?”
I immediately nodded as I was overjoyed inside. I wasn’t afraid of any request she would make, I was worried that she wouldn’t have any requests. I was afraid that she wouldn’t speak up at all, but since she said something, that meant that she was definitely considering it.
“Sure, if you’re willing, you can become the test pilot at any time. Since you can control such a tiny armor mecha and make it seem like such a real person, I believe that there’s few out there who are above your piloting skills.”
“No, there’s nobody out there at all who can surpass me, I’m an expert!”
Her green eye was filled with confidence. Thanks to her countless accumulated experience, Glina would never believe that anybody out there had more experience piloting mechas than her.
“It’s a deal.”
When my large hand shook her small hand, there was a sudden notification from my system.
[*Ding!* Congratulations to my master for finding the final Mist descendant. The Roland Sacred Sword has now completed the first step in its evolution ahead of time. Please continue working hard for it to become stronger. System reminder: bastard, do you dare to tell Elisa that you always shower together with Clint?]
I broke out into a cold sweat upon hearing this. As one of the very few normal people (well, people I could talk to) in the Gentlemen Alliance, and also considering the professor’s juniors, I definitely used to always chat with or make Clint work for me, and seeing how he was trustworthy and strong, I always had him help me wash my back. If word of this got out, it would be quite troublesome for me.
“Um, since from a certain standpoint, we’re also related by blood, are you willing to become my adopted daughter? Relax, it won’t have anything to deal with your father, it’s just in name for political purposes.”
Alright, I lied here. While it was also for political purposes, I had more personal motivations. If it was an adoptive father washing together with his adopted daughter, that wouldn’t seem as bad for me.
“If you give me spending money at fixed periods, okay.”
Alright, judging by how her left eye was sparkling, she wasn’t talking about a small amount, but it was worth it!
“Deal.”
In the public square, the young princess put on the golden-purple crown, and the new Queen of the Sleuweir Kingdom was thus born. When she received the golden staff that represented royal power, her first proclamation already shocked the world.
“I, Glina the First, declare in my name as the Queen of Sleuweir Kingdom that the Sleuweir Kingdom shall be a solid ally of the East Mist Communal Country, and rebuild the former Mist Kingdom together. We shall also worship the Law Gods as our national church, and from now on, the Sleuweir Kingdom shall obey the tenet of ‘non-aggression,’ and never start any wars ourselves, however…”
The Queen that had just taken up her position lifted her golden royal staff and slammed it back down against the ground, with the echoing metallic sound filled with her thunderous anger.
“Our lands are currently being pillaged by the fires of war, our citizens are being slaughtered; the current situation isn’t one that we chose for ourselves, if we don’t want our country and our citizens to die off, then we have to battle!”
Glina paused here as her fair complexion revealed a sign of discomfort.
“In over two thousand years of history, the Mist family had never lowered its head to anyone. But, my uncle Fimor.Caso did such a vulgar, unsightly action for his own life’s safety and for the sake of power. How saddening. But I already investigated the cause for his rotten depravity, which all came from the demons’ machinations, the Evil Gods of Chaos and the Great Demons corrupted his resolute will that used to be so noble, turning a heroic prince on the battlefield into such an evil bastard that would stoop to anything.”
All the citizens in the public square were murmuring to themselves at this. The news about Fimor revealing his demonic form had already spread throughout all of Antuen, and his crimes were all being exposed in broad daylight for everyone to see, which was why I was able to take the reins of power so quickly.
“Everything was the demons’ plots! My Mist family has never ever surrendered to any invaders in the past, there have never been any precedents, nor shall there ever be any precedents! In my name as the Queen of Sleuweir, I declare Fimor’s surrender to be ineffective, and we are still currently at war! We are grateful to the neighboring countries’ support, but we ourselves are still the main forces that will resist invasion, we must evict the invaders from our own lands!”
This proclamation seemed quite normal, but it was actually quite important. Due to Fimor’s previous declaration of surrender, it basically turned the invaders into the new masters here, and the supporting armies became the new invaders. If we didn’t turn around this twisted relationship, then the political messiness would cause endless new dangers for us.
“Our Mist Family has never enjoyed battle, but we won’t shy from battle either! Since they chose to attack us, and perhaps we’re still currently as a disadvantage, but just like the past thousands of years, we shall be the final ones to stand victorious!”
Glina paused as she lifted her royal staff and spoke a proclamation that had been repeated endlessly throughout the ages.
“The will of the Mist shall never surrender!”
“The flag of the Mist shall never fall!”
The citizens below her in the public square all lifted up their fists, with their suppressed passion finally reigniting after a Mist descendant waved that familiar battle flag in front of them once more.
“The citizens of Mist shall never be slaves! We have not been defeated yet, our country has yet to perish! As long as that flag still hasn’t fallen, we shall rise again!”
At this moment, I was merely standing there silently on the platform. When Glina rose up her golden royal staff, I also lifted the Roland Sacred Sword, which was currently shining with a bright silver sheen.
“Wuuuu!”
With the battle horn sounding for the counterattack, the ancient Sacred Sword from epic stories transformed into a pillar of light that reached the skies.
Under its might, all the clouds in the sky were torn apart as the light revealed what was hidden behind the clouds.
A floating castle, and floating platoon were gliding among the clouds, and what stood out the most of all, was a tremendous Tornado Wind Elemental. At this time, the Tornado Lord had finally come through on his promise, and had the members of his tribe begin their attack on his mortal enemy.
“Knights, our reinforcements have finally arrived, and it’s time to take back our land that should rightfully be ours! Open the door, and charge after me!”
The Queen proceeded right away after jumping onto the Ice Lion King, and right behind her were the knight squads that were already prepared for this beforehand. Countless battle flags were unraveled as threatening cold steely lights emanated from their sharp pikes and spears.
Today was the inauguration ceremony for Glina the First, as well as the formal declaration of battle by Sleuweir.
“It’s finally time to take back everything that belongs to us.”