Chapter 55

Chapter 55. Corpse Princess (2)

When the punitive army arrived at the settlement of the Blue Grassland Tribe, every tribesman had come outside and was prostrating themselves on the ground.

It was a declaration of complete surrender.

Naturally, they did not want to be massacred.

In this world, there were very few tribes, or even nations, capable of facing an army of ten thousand.

The King of Berber, who had personally joined the expedition, stepped forward and shouted.

“Bring me your chief and his family!”

The tribesmen immediately rushed away.

Soon, they dragged several blood-covered people forward.

Apparently, news that the punitive army was coming had already leaked.

Perhaps the royal family had deliberately allowed the information to spread.

Flop.

The chief was forcibly thrown to the ground by his own tribesmen.

He begged the King for mercy.

“Your Majesty! Please spare my family! I will do anything!”

“Anything? Then bring my daughter back to life right now.”

“...Your Majesty, please. Please!”

The furious King looked toward Ramita and me.

“Would you like to deal with them yourselves?”

I had nothing to do with this.

And because Ramita was a ghoul, she did not even possess the emotion called anger.

“Revenge should be carried out by the person who still feels sorrow.”

“I suppose so. Ramita no longer understands sorrow.”

With a complicated expression, the King personally drew his sword.

“Ramita, your father is sorry. I’ll take revenge for you...”

Slash.

The King swung his sword.

Blood stained the ground.

The heads of the Blue Grassland Tribe’s chief and his family began falling one after another.

He intends to kill the entire family.

This was the Berber Kingdom.

If I stood here preaching half-hearted humanitarian ideals, the only result would be everyone cursing me.

Beside me, Ramita watched the execution with an indifferent expression.

* * *

After that, the wedding preparations moved incredibly quickly.

The wedding was held publicly in Algiers Square and became a massive festival.

Musicians and dancers from across the kingdom were gathered.

Countless street stalls filled the roads.

The citizens of Algiers, who knew nothing about what had really happened to the princess, sincerely celebrated her marriage.

Even from where I stood, I could hear conversations among the citizens watching the wedding.

“Look at them. Both the princess and groom are beautiful people. They’re so tall too.”

“I thought we’d finally get a proper look at the princess, but how many layers of clothing is she wearing? She’s completely covered.”

“Maybe it’s a Northern Continent custom. Is that thing over her face a veil?”

Ramita’s appearance was obviously unnatural to anyone who saw her, so we had no choice but to cover everything.

If the citizens saw her yellow eyes and blue skin, they would probably run away screaming.

The final part of the wedding ceremony was a prayer to the God of Abundance.

The King of Berber asked me to lead it.

“You should offer the prayer. Surely a prayer from someone blessed by a god will be heard.”

“Is there anything in particular you want me to pray for?”

“Nothing more than peace for my people.”

A very noble-like answer.

Even as commercial development spread materialism throughout this world, nobles still placed great importance on honor.

Of course, there were nobles like Noah Westfalen who could not tell the difference between dignity and honor.

Anyway, I stood on the platform, turned toward the crowd, and began praying.

“...Therefore, I ask the God of Abundance to grant peace to the people of Berber. Please look upon them with compassion...”

The moment I finished praying, a ray of light descended from the sky.

Huh? Did I get another blessing?

Contrary to my expectation, however, the beam struck the King of Berber directly on the head.

His head immediately began glowing brightly.

Light spread in every direction.

Holy crap. His head is going to glow all day now.

At least the King had plenty of hair.

Just as I thought that,

[System Alert]

[You have received the temporary buff [Calm Mind] from Annapurna.

No similar skill registered in the system has been found.

The buff will be maintained.]

It was a temporary buff lasting one day.

It calmed the mind and made it easier to sleep at night.

Everyone touched by the light had probably received the temporary buff.

The King himself had likely received a permanent version of the same blessing.

The father who lost his daughter was comforted by a god. If the leader of my allied country can remain peaceful, that’s good for me too. Now I can return to Marcel with a light heart.

The festival would continue for several days, but I had to return to Marcel.

Its lord had already been absent for a long time.

When I was gone, the people became anxious.

Mostly because they feared the economy might collapse again.

So immediately after the wedding ended, we headed for the Benedikta waiting at the harbor.

My steps felt light.

I had secured enormous future profits from the sugar business.

I had also received most-favored treatment in trade.

Large cattle-feed beet fields and a major sugar factory would soon be built in Marcel.

Everything is good, except...

I looked back at Ramita.

She had been following me like glue.

“Hey, Ramita.”

“Is it mealtime?”

Ramita looked toward Raul.

“Gah! Wolf beastmen taste terrible!”

Raul jumped in fright and ran away.

“Ugh. Let’s just get on the ship.”

There was nothing I could do.

For now, I would keep her close to me.

I had no idea who she might eat if I left her alone.