——If the item is handed to the target within three minutes after the magic power is injected, and the target's level is lower than that of the person who activated the item, the mind control magic will be activated.
Although there were rumors that the Demon King was even stronger than Camisia, Grace knew that Ella's level was the lowest in the group, probably between level 20 and 30. If she cast the magic herself, there would be absolutely no possibility of failure.
[Now that I'm here, is this all I can do...?]
Grace felt as if she was walking on the road to death. Every step forward was extremely difficult. Perhaps even the steps of the prisoners on their way to the execution ground were not as heavy as hers.
Gamall's request and the guilt of betraying Ella mixed together, making Grace feel that her brain was in a mess. She didn't even respond to the greetings of the residents on the road, but simply drove her body towards the house where Ella was.
Not long after, Grace arrived at the house where Ella was.
"Ms. Ella, are you finished?"
The voice of the maid Loti in the room woke Grace from her trance. Grace knew that Ella, the next target, the person she didn't want to see was in the room.
"Yeah, it's all right now. Now I'll change back to, well, no, not the magic caster role."
Ella's words shocked Grace's whole body.
Has he changed back? A magic caster?
In the past, Grace would never pay attention to trivial matters, but now he was caught between anxiety and confusion. Not knowing what to do next, he chose to understand the trivial matters first. Then, in front of Grace's surprised eyes, which she herself did not expect, he pushed open the wooden door without authorization.
"Lord Ella, I have something to tell you."
Two girls were standing in the dim room of less than ten square meters. One was a human girl wearing black pleated clothes, and the other was a blue-haired elf girl who Grace was very familiar with but could not remember for the moment.
"G-Grace?"
The elven girl opened her mouth wide, looking so nervous that she didn't know what to say.
Subconsciously, Grace frowned and began to recall where this familiar feeling came from. However, it only took him less than five seconds to remember who the other person was, although it was incredible.
"Could it be that you are... His Majesty?"
Camisia had instructed not to call Ella "Your Majesty" while on the island, but Grace no longer cared about that.
“Ah…ah…”
"Yes, Mr. Grace. Miss Ella just said she wanted to try out some new clothes, so that's why she looks like this now."
"Is that so? Even the elf ears are part of the costume?"
Grace's gaze drifted between Ella's pointed ears and Lotte, who was unusually calm.
"Yes, Miss Ella has some plans that are inconvenient to disclose."
"Well……"
"If Mr. Grace has anything to tell Miss Ella, please wait outside for a moment. Miss Ella will need some time to change back into her normal clothes."
"No, that's not necessary. I'm here simply to hand over the item to Your Majesty for identification, as requested by a friend."
Grace took the opportunity to tell Gamal what he had said before coming here, and she couldn't help but clench her fists. Now that it has come to this, there is no turning back. If she fails, no matter what punishment she receives, she will deserve it. Not only that, she will also confess the existence of the Holy King Council, which will make her conscience feel better. Without her help, it is impossible for Baron Gamal and the other three to accomplish anything of real consequence. After all, the Holy King Council is just a product of children playing house.
"Now that things have come to this, Lord Gamar, this is the last time I will help you. Even if you succeed in establishing the Holy King Council, I will no longer assist you. Please forgive me."
"Props? Can you give them to Miss Ella later?"
"This... the person who asked me to do this said it was urgent. Although I know this is excessive, Your Majesty, please examine it now. Please!"
Grace did not let Ruthie go out. Firstly, she could not find a suitable excuse, and secondly, after controlling Ella, it should not be a problem for her to deal with Ruthie alone with her own strength.
Of course, this was Grace's own idea.
"Well……"
Ella hesitated for a moment and nodded reluctantly.
"Okay, I agree to your request, but you can't tell anyone about my cross-dressing."
"I see."
Whether the disguise was for future strategy or the Demon King felt it was too childish for a ruler to disguise himself casually, Grace had no intention of telling anyone.
"Then, give it to me."
Ella reached out her hand to Grace, who was kneeling on one knee. Her fair palm made Grace squint slightly.
Grace swallowed her saliva and tried hard to control her body from trembling with guilt. She slowly took out the pocket watch, injected a trace of magic power into it - perhaps she should have injected more, but Grace didn't want this to succeed, so she only injected a trace of magic power - and placed it in Ella's hand.
——If the pocket watch emits a blue light, it means that the control is successful.
Keeping this in mind, Grace stared at Ella's hand holding the pocket watch.
One second, two seconds.
The pocket watch did not respond.
Is it broken? A cold sweat began to appear on Grace's forehead.
Third second, fourth second.
This time, the pocket watch finally began to behave strangely, but the reaction was completely different from what Grace expected. The pocket watch began to flash an extremely unstable red light, and then.
Snapped.
Broken into several pieces.
Like Ella, Grace's breathing stopped instantly.
How could this be?
Grace yelled in her heart, but then she felt an indescribable sense of relief and comfort. No matter what the reason was, the broken pocket watch meant that the mission had failed, and she no longer had to do anything that went against her conscience.
"Could this be the will of God? Did they send the soldiers so that I could witness the mission's failure?"
Grace could only attribute the reason to a miracle. There was no doubt that Gamal would not hand over a broken prop to her. At the same time, Ella's level could not be higher than hers. Apart from a miracle, Grace could not think of a second possibility.
[As expected, even the gods wouldn't let me do such a thing. It's strange that such a gentle and wise king would let a villain like me get involved, right?]
Attributing the reason to the will of God, Grace, who let go of his guilt, felt unprecedented relief. As if he was worshiping God, he changed from kneeling on one knee to kneeling on both knees and bowed deeply to Ella.
"I will always be loyal to you, Your Majesty."
"Eh? Wait—now's not the time to talk about this, right? Your pocket watch is broken? Broken?"
"No, it's just an insignificant prop. You don't have to worry about it."
For the first time, Grace truly understood how the demons felt when facing the Demon King. They would worry about breaking a small pocket watch. It would be strange if such a ruler did not make people want to protect him. Grace was now certain that if Ella wanted to sit on the stone, even the stone would take the initiative to grind off its edges.
"Huh? Grace, are you sick?"
"Your Majesty, I have other things to attend to right now. I will explain everything to you once I have finished."
Without waiting for Ella to answer, Grace stood up and quickly left the room with an extremely relieved mood, like a suspect who learned that he was not guilty.
Looking at Grace's departing back, and then looking at the pocket watch in her hand that was broken into pieces, Ella asked subconsciously.
“So you didn’t notice…?”
"Although Grace-san's behavior is somewhat puzzling, it seems he hasn't noticed that you, Miss Ella, are now an elf."
Ruthie went forward and closed the door.
"But the pocket watch is broken... With your current strength, Miss Ella, could it be that you accidentally crushed it?"
"H-How is that possible? No matter what, it's not that exaggerated. I can still control the strength well."
"Is that so...Mr. Grace is such a strange person."
Only two confused girls were left in the room.
Chapter 72: Summons from the Elves
*创世纪6187年8月25日 上午10:13分 灾厄之枝
Two days have passed since Grace almost discovered his identity.
As autumn approaches, the Branch of Disaster is no longer as scorching as it was in the summer. Although the air is filled with heat, the wind blowing through the streets has begun to cool. The plants on the street are gradually turning yellow, and the wheat waves in the distance are also turning golden. Everything is telling that autumn is coming.
At the same time, there are many more young men walking on the street. They were born in the towns around the Branch of Disaster, but have to work outside to make a living. The dissipation of summer heat means that the autumn harvest is approaching. If they rely solely on their wives and children at home, the wheat will probably rot in the fields before it is harvested, so they have to go home to help.
Long-term habits have formed a custom among the demons. Whenever the autumn harvest is approaching, most nobles and merchants will give soldiers or workers a holiday. This is also the time for nobles and merchants to take a break. Instead of completing work and earning gold coins, they prefer to give themselves a moment of rest during this time. Whether it is a long talk with old friends or chatting with family, it is a comfortable time that makes people squint their eyes.
Of course, this only applies to ordinary towns. In the Branch of Disaster, the scene is completely different when the autumn harvest approaches. In order to prepare the food and tools needed for the harvest festival, the streets are crowded with people, merchants and farmers push each other, and people's conversations and hawking sounds mix together, forming an extremely lively scene. Due to too many pedestrians, carriages are also in a dilemma of being unable to move forward. Faced with this situation, even experienced coachmen are helpless.
Add to that the inherent wonders of the Branch of Doom—in the middle of every autumn month, tides several meters high will appear on the coast of the Branch of Doom. The grand scene is beyond the reach of any magic known to date, and it can bring great enjoyment to both the visual and auditory senses.
"But the Branch of Disaster doesn't have a very high seawall... Won't the tourists watching nearby get sucked in?"
Ella, who was lying on the wall of the royal city with her hands supporting her head, looked back at Camisia. Dozens of days had passed since the registration ceremony, and Camisia had much less official business.
Also looking at the people coming and going outside the royal city, Camisia, who was standing behind Ella, said respectfully.
"If we activate the defensive magic circle left by the previous Demon Lord before the tide arrives, the tide will not reach the city."
"A magic circle?... I remember Camisia mentioned this before when we were in the Western Demon Tribe. I didn't pay much attention to it then. Now that I think about it, wouldn't it be easier to set up a magic circle on the distant beach to prevent the tide from rushing into the city?"
"Princess, regarding this, I recall that the previous Demon King greatly enjoyed the sight of the tides, and so he didn't destroy them, but simply chose to set up a defensive magic circle—perhaps also to prevent attacks from sea monsters."
“Is that so…”
Ella could understand the previous Demon King's thoughts to some extent. If she were in his shoes, she would probably do the same thing as the previous Demon King.
The breeze from the seaside blew her golden hair into her mouth. Ella subconsciously brushed it away and continued speaking as if she were talking to herself.
"The elves are asking Angelini to return to the Elf Territory..."
"Princess, don't you like it?"
"No, I can't say I don't like it, but I just feel that the journey would be a bit boring without Angelina."
Yesterday afternoon, the elves' envoy found Angelini privately and asked her to return to Malborune in the Elf Territory. Shortly after the conversation ended, Angelini told others that she was going back to the Elf Territory.
According to the elf messenger, Angelina was summoned back because there were some things that were inconvenient to say now but had to be resolved.
Ella sighed somewhat distressedly.
“What on earth is going on…?”
"Angelina looked very happy then, so I guess I was happy too."
Seeing Ella's distress, Camisia comforted her.
"It's not that I can't understand. Angeline has always been treated as an alien by the elves. It's natural for her to feel happy when she suddenly finds out that she's needed by other elves. But it feels a bit strange to ask Angeline to go back only now."
"Princess, if you are worried, would you like to go to the Elven Territory Malbrune with Angeline? Of course, I and Lady Ruthie will definitely accompany you."
"Me too?"
"—Wow! Mitis, don't suddenly appear in front of others!"
Ella was startled by Mitis appearing upside down in front of her and almost fell to the ground.
Happy that the prank was successful, Mitis flapped its wings and landed handsomely inside the city wall.
"Well, surprises are fun, after all. Are you planning on going to the elf territory later, Ella?"
"The elven delegation is scheduled to depart after tomorrow's meeting. Angeline will also leave with them. I'd like to go with Angeline, but we're running out of time."
Her original plan was to continue the journey after the Autumn Harvest Festival, so she made some promises to others. For example, she could not start the journey without Eve until she left the City of Disaster Branches. She also made an agreement with the children in the nursing home that she would visit them again before the Harvest Festival, and so on. Of course, she could find excuses to break these promises, but Ella was not that kind of person.
"Then let's wait until this is over before setting off. A few days later won't be a problem. The envoys can't be very fast. If there are only a few of us, we will be able to catch up with them in no time."
Mitis waved her hand casually. The Elf Territory was located in the southwest of the Kingdoms, and the Kingdoms were just south of the Eastern Demon Tribe. Taking into account the chaotic situation in the Kingdoms, it would take an ordinary person at least half a year to reach the Elf Territory without using teleportation magic. The envoys might be faster, but it would still take two to three months.
“That’s all I can do…”
"Come to think of it, Angeline seemed so happy ever since she learned she was summoned by the clan. Hasn't she ever been valued before? With Angeline's abilities, she can definitely be considered a genius, right?"
Imitating Ella's movements of supporting her head with her hands and lying on the city wall, Mitis looked at Ella next to her curiously. She joined the team later and didn't know Angeline's past.
"Hey, doesn't Mitis find it strange? Angeline is an elf, but she uses a sickle as a weapon and can even perform berserk magic."
"Is it weird?"
It seemed that Mitis had no idea what was going on. Ella shook her head and began to explain.
"I'm starting to wonder if Mitis is the Mark of Original Sin. The elves excel at support magic and nature magic, and the only warrior class is the archer. Elves have no talent for close combat, and their physical fitness is at a significant disadvantage compared to other races at the same level, so there are almost no elves wielding large weapons."
"But didn't Angelini use it very well?"
"That's because Angeline is a special case. She knows neither support magic nor nature magic. She's not good at anything other than melee magic. She's completely unlike an elf, so she's been ridiculed by other elves since she was a child."
You'll Also Like
-
Use FGO to open the second dimension
Chapter 640 52 minute ago -
The North American Gourmet Demon Handbook
Chapter 220 52 minute ago -
It must be miHoYo's doing.
Chapter 108 52 minute ago -
Commander's Anime Harem
Chapter 212 52 minute ago -
I became a saint in the world of Liao Zhai, and flirted with monster girls
Chapter 156 52 minute ago -
ecstasy
Chapter 86 52 minute ago -
Tokyo: I unlocked their special achievements
Chapter 147 52 minute ago -
I, the Buddhist who raises leopards in the Conan world
Chapter 84 52 minute ago -
After reincarnation, attack as a female imp!
Chapter 120 52 minute ago -
Anime, starting from Re:Zero (Zero - Starting Life)
Chapter 167 52 minute ago