Chapter 233 - 198: Irenia’s Gift

Dark jokes never go out of style.

To offend a Combat Priest, a Technician Soldier, and an Imperial Knight all in a single sentence.

Besides Seventy-Six, with his belly full of black humor, you probably couldn’t find another soul in the entire Imperial Administrative Region with such audacious nerve.

’The God of All Machines is just the Emperor himself putting on an act?’

If the Judgment Court ever found out about such heretical ideas, they would, at the very least, tie him to a pyre and burn him with white phosphorus for three days and three nights.

’And... what’s this about growing four arms?’

’What are you trying to imply?’

Raphael, who had been peacefully immersed in compiling the Angel Holy Scripture, felt a vein throb on his forehead. He gripped the pen in his hand so tightly that it snapped on the spot.

"Seventy-Six! If you don’t take back that damn joke, I swear, when we get back to the Iberian World, I will personally hand you over to the Judgment Court!"

After the baptism of fire that was the Kemola Battle.

The members of the Vengeance Angel Squad had long since shed the initial awkwardness from when the team was first formed.

Seventy-Six’s dark jokes had grown increasingly boundless, so much so that if Manon and Matthias hadn’t been holding him back, Raphael would have drawn his sword to kill the bastard for blaspheming the Divine Emperor.

"Don’t hold me back! For the Divine Emperor—! I’m going to kill this bastard!"

Agate, on the other hand, finished his prayers and cast a cold glance from his Mechanical Eye at Seventy-Six joining the commotion. Without a word, he turned and went back to repairing the damage on the Punisher Ship.

Standing beside Reinhardt, Irenia watched the four of them roughhousing.

She found it hard to believe that these were the same Imperial Knights who had fought their way out of a heavy siege at Kemola just the day before yesterday.

But the scene reminded her of a winter of light, flurrying snow—the first time she visited Frostfire Fortress.

Back then, two young followers were raising hell in the small training camp.

That was also when she had learned Reinhardt’s name.

Irenia turned to look out the window. Sunlight fell upon her shoulders, the ends of her long, dark hair curled slightly, and her ink-black Wizard Robe shimmered with the faint blue light of Extraordinary Power.

’Father, compared to the world of Wizards, I really do prefer the world of humans...’

At that moment, the reflection of a Merchant Nobility vessel, fresh out of the Net Path, appeared in her emerald eyes. As if by Space Teleportation, it had materialized abruptly in the far orbit of Lelag World.

The colossal hull, bristling with gothic spires, was a marvel of the cosmos. It was so massive it blocked the light from distant stars, casting the Orbital Port in shadow.

On the ship, the grand crest of the Capet Family was especially prominent.

The vessel sent by the Fiery Sun Legion to establish contact seemed as insignificant as an ant by comparison, its flight slow and ponderous.

「An hour later.」

The Legion’s Think Tank contacted Raphael through means of Spiritual Energy, requesting that Reinhardt and Irenia come to the Fiery Sun Legion’s flagship.

...

「Flagship Fiery Sun.」

This colossal warship, rivaling the Capet Family’s merchant vessel in size, was moored in the low orbit of Lelag World, resembling a great Suspended City.

Its total length was over thirty kilometers.

Even the central bridge was the size of half a football field, housing numerous administrative departments, control consoles, command rooms, and weapon-dispatch systems...

Though the ship’s Ancient Witchcraft Technology and its related facilities were exceedingly advanced, the decorations and furnishings of the living quarters were distinctly retro.

The corridors, lined with crimson carpets, were flanked by classical columns and bas-reliefs glorifying the Emperor. The walls were neatly adorned with gothic paintings filled with National Church motifs.

Even the small room used to receive the Vengeance Angel Squad and the leader of the Capet Family’s trade convoy was furnished like a study from a noble house in the Holy City, steeped in history.

A lacquered wooden desk, a dyed cashmere rug, an exquisite porcelain tea set... there was even a quill pen resting on the desk.

At that moment, the trade convoy’s leader sat in a leather chair, steady as a mountain, holding a teacup. He took small sips, savoring the expensive valley red tea from the Radiant Holy City—a rare vintage that grew scarcer with every cup.

He paid no mind to the grim-faced Legion Think Tank and Imperial Knight standing a short distance away.

Not until Reinhardt and Irenia appeared in the Legion Commander’s private reception room.

The convoy leader quickly set down his tea and rose to greet them. "You must be the esteemed individual Lady Catherine mentioned. I am the captain of the *Explorer* and leader of this trade convoy. You may call me Barak."

As he spoke, he turned to Irenia with a warm smile. "Before I left, Lady Catherine mentioned you to me on more than one occasion."

"Since you are her friend, you are a friend of mine. If there is anything at all I can do for you, please do not hesitate to ask."

The convoy leader, of course, did not know Irenia personally.

But before making contact with the Fiery Sun Legion, he had received some information from Catherine—secret whispers of the Judgment Court and Cicero preparing to make a clandestine move against Grand Governor Sedon.

And the first target they intended to make an example of was the very same elite Vengeance Angel Squad he had heard rumors about.

To take an unidentified Wizard from Reinhardt’s custody at a time like this, especially under the watchful eyes of a Legion from the Cicero Faction, was a significant risk.

However, this was a decision Lady Catherine had made after weighing the pros and cons. He simply had to carry it out.

He privately speculated that this unidentified Wizard must be crucial to the plans of Cicero and the Judgment Court; otherwise, the family would never have sent him to handle the matter personally.

The most interesting part was that the Fiery Sun Legion’s Legion Commander never made an appearance. His ambiguous stance was inscrutable, suggesting he had no desire to get too involved in the high-level power struggles within the Administrative Region.

By taking the unidentified Wizard away in his capacity as a friend of Lady Catherine, he was also giving the other party an out, allowing both sides to step back gracefully.

After an exchange of insincere pleasantries, the Think Tank of the Fiery Sun Battle Group, though his brow was deeply furrowed, ultimately agreed to Barak’s request to take Irenia.

...

「Flagship Fiery Sun, Hangar Bay.」

This was the weapons bay used to deploy smaller, ship-borne craft. Irenia would accompany Barak aboard one of the Fiery Sun Legion’s vessels, return to the merchant ship, and then depart from Lelag World.

Before she left, Irenia, who was already on the boarding ramp, seemed to remember something. She turned back to Reinhardt, took out a fist-sized Metal Hourglass, and handed it to him. "Take this. I picked it up in the Tomb Treasure Vault. Consider it a personal parting gift."

Their eyes met.

Irenia broke into a radiant smile.

It was a gentle smile, like the small edelweiss flowers of her homeland, the Grillers Northern Icefield, which, despite the bone-chilling blizzards, would still grow strong through hardship and bloom in silence.

"And one more thing," she said. "Instead of Irenia, I’d much rather you call me Eliza."