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Chapter 8
Your Majesty, Please Reward Me in Cash
Damian spoke urgently.
“Lady Violetta? Please step back!”
“Hold on, partner. We should solve this through conversation.”
Ignoring the spears pointed at me, I calmly walked toward the throne. The imperial guards shouted.
“Stop! One more step and we’ll cut you down!”
Without even blinking, I stared straight at the archbishop and spoke.
“Archbishop, you say I’m possessed by a demon?”
“That’s right! I can feel an evil presence in your eyes!”
“Hm, really? Because to me… your shoulders look much heavier.”
I grinned and pointed at the emperor’s neck.
“And Your Majesty. Haven’t your neck and shoulders been terribly stiff lately? You’ve also been suffering sleep paralysis every night, and you keep hearing whispers in your ears, don’t you?”
The emperor’s eyes widened. The centipede wrapped around his neck squirmed in alarm.
“H-how do you know that…?”
“Obviously. There’s a disgusting bug attached to your neck.”
“W-what? A bug?!”
Cassius shouted in panic.
“Y-you insolent bitch! How dare you speak nonsense about His Majesty’s sacred body! Kill her! Kill that crazy woman immediately!”
The imperial guards charged.
Just as Damian shouted, “No!” and tried to rush toward me, I kicked up the hem of my dress and pulled out the three-section baton strapped to my thigh with a sharp snap.
“Etiquette? Does etiquette put food on the table?”
I smacked away a guard’s spear with my baton and leaped forward. My target wasn’t the guards.
It was Archbishop Cassius standing beside the throne—
and the centipede connected to him around the emperor’s neck.
“Sir! Cover me!”
Leaving my back to Damian, I jumped onto the platform.
Damian froze for a moment before cursing under his breath.
“Damn it!”
Then he started blocking the guards with his bare hands.
“T-this… Guards! What are you doing?!”
Cassius staggered backward.
I stopped right in front of the emperor. Terrified, he shrank back into his throne.
“Your Majesty, this may sting a little. It’s part of the treatment.”
I raised the baton high.
I wasn’t aiming for the emperor’s head.
I was aiming for the centipede attached to the back of his neck.
“Get off him, you parasite!”
CRACK—!
My baton narrowly missed the emperor’s ear and smashed directly into the purple centipede’s head.
[SKREEEEEECH!]
The centipede let out a horrifying scream and fell from the emperor’s neck. At the same time, the emperor gasped violently and collapsed forward.
“Your Majesty!”
The entire audience chamber froze.
Everyone thought I had just attacked the emperor.
But then black smoke suddenly poured from the emperor’s mouth in violent coughs. Behind the throne, a giant centipede-shaped shadow with a crushed head began writhing across the floor.
“W-what is that?!”
“The shadows… they’re moving?”
Ordinary people couldn’t see the actual centipede, but they could now see the black demonic energy I had forced into physical form with my strike.
The creature writhed in pain as it tried to crawl back toward its master, Cassius.
“Where do you think you’re going?!”
I kicked off the throne’s armrest, jumped into the air, and stomped on the fleeing centipede.
Then I turned toward Cassius.
“Alright. Your turn now, huh?”
“Y-you… what are you?!”
Cassius’s face twisted.
Behind him, the giant shape of a demon opened its jaws threateningly.
But I casually tapped the baton against my palm and smiled.
“I already told you.”
I glanced down at Damian, who was below, panting as he subdued guards barehanded. His silver hair was disheveled, and his blue eyes were filled with worry—
and resignation, like he was thinking, What am I supposed to do with this troublemaker?
“I’m just a cleaner.”
I grabbed Cassius by the collar.
“Archbishop, if you’re supposed to be a servant of God, shouldn’t you avoid raising demons? Isn’t that against doctrine?”
“L-let go of me! I am the holy archbishop!”
“Holy? Don’t make me laugh.”
I pulled out the salt I had brought with me to the palace and threw it in his face.
“Eat salt, you fraud.”
“AAAAAGH!”
Mixed with my spiritual power and a bit of holy energy, the salt burned his skin like acid.
At that point, the situation completely reversed.
The emperor had regained his senses and was staring at me with clear eyes while gasping for breath.
Meanwhile, the mighty archbishop was screaming in terror with his collar clenched in my hand.
And Damian…
was pressing a hand against his forehead with a deep sigh.
He muttered in resignation.
“…Cleaning up the aftermath is my job again.”
The chaos in the imperial audience chamber wasn’t just some random disturbance.
It was the moment I smashed straight through the heart of the massive darkness consuming the empire.
“Ahem… Hm…”
Ludwig III slowly rose from his throne.
The dull, unfocused look in his eyes was gone now. Color had returned to his pale face.
It was only natural.
After all, thanks to my “physical therapy,” the giant parasite clinging to his neck had finally been removed.
The chamberlain cried out dramatically.
“Y-Your Majesty! Are you alright?!”
“That madwoman attacked Your Majesty! She should be executed immediately—!”
A foolish chamberlain who still didn’t understand the situation pointed at me.
The guards once again lowered their spears and tightened the encirclement.
Damian stepped in front of me protectively and bit his lip.
Then a low but dignified voice echoed through the chamber.
“Stop.”
It was the emperor.
“In your eyes, does it appear that this lady attacked me?”
The emperor rubbed his neck and looked coldly at the chamberlain.
“To my eyes, she shattered the terrible nightmare that has been strangling me for years.”
“Y-Your Majesty, but—”
“Stand down. And guards, arrest that criminal immediately.”
The emperor pointed toward Archbishop Cassius, who was sprawled on the floor groaning.
Half of Cassius’s face had been horribly burned by the salt and holy power.
“Y-Your Majesty! I’ve been wronged! That witch used dark magic—!”
“Silence, Cassius.”
Flames seemed to blaze in the emperor’s eyes.
“I finally remember what that ‘holy water’ you gave me every night really was… and the curses you whispered into my ears. You dared turn the emperor into a puppet?”
At the emperor’s command, the guards immediately turned on Cassius.
As they dragged him away, he screamed hysterically.
“Don’t think this is over! He will come! Once the Northern Rift opens, all of you will— mmph! Mmph!”
A guard shoved a gag into his mouth.
The North?
A rift?
I perked up my ears.
So the archbishop was only a mid-level boss, and the real mastermind was someone else.
Once the commotion settled down, the emperor descended from the throne and walked toward me.
Damian hurriedly tried to kneel, but the emperor stopped him with a wave of his hand.
Then he looked at me—
more specifically, at the baton in my hand—with amused eyes.
“You said you are the daughter of House Everhart?”
“Yes, Your Majesty. I am Violetta.”
I quickly hid the baton behind my back and bowed deeply.
The emperor burst into hearty laughter.
“Remarkable. A noble lady who subdues an archbishop with a club and swings an iron rod at the emperor’s head. Truly unprecedented in imperial history.”
“My deepest apologies. The treatment was rather urgent.”
“Treatment… yes. Very refreshing treatment indeed.”
The emperor nodded before asking seriously.
“You saved my life, so I wish to reward you greatly. What do you desire? Jewels? Territory? Shall I elevate House Everhart’s title?”
My eyes sparkled.
Finally.
Reward time.
I deliberately paused and glanced at Damian.
He was clearly sending me a look that said, Please don’t ask for anything weird.
But I ignored him and spoke confidently.
“Your Majesty, I want three things.”
“Three? Hahaha, quite greedy. Go ahead.”
I raised one finger at a time.
“First, my freedom. Please grant me complete independence and severance from Count Everhart’s family.”
I had no intention of returning to a house with a father who sold me off and a demon-possessed sister.
“Granted. That much is simple enough. Next?”
“Second, I want the position of a special imperial inspector directly under the crown.”
The attendants murmured among themselves.
An inspector was a position with enormous authority to investigate corruption among high nobles and officials.
“An inspector? You?”
“Yes. But I require full authority to investigate in my own way.”
I pulled the baton back out from behind me.
“I need the right to discipline anyone I judge to be evil with this club, regardless of their status. In other words, legal immunity.”
The emperor stared blankly for a moment before bursting into laughter again.
“Hahaha! Punishing evil with a club! I like that very much. It clears my heart. Very well!”
He straightened proudly.
“From this day onward, I appoint you as the Imperial Special Inspector for Anti-Demon Affairs!”
The emperor immediately unfastened the dagger at his waist and handed it to me.
It bore the imperial seal—
a symbol of authority that no noble in the empire could defy.
“Whoever opposes the bearer of this blade opposes the emperor himself. Use it as you wish.”
“Your grace is immeasurable.”
I accepted the dagger with a deep bow.
Now I had officially acquired a legal license for violence.
“And what is your third request?”
I cleared my throat for the most important—
and most realistic—
demand.
“Cash.”
“…Hm?”
“Please give my reward as a lump sum in cash. Gold coins. A lot of them.”
Silence filled the audience chamber once again.
The emperor and nobles had expected me to ask for honor or power, so my shamelessly materialistic request left them visibly stunned.
Beside me, I could see Damian covering his forehead and turning away.
But what could I do?
Justice is important, sure—
but financial healing comes first if you want motivation.
“…Ahem. I appreciate the honesty.”
The emperor gave a bitter smile and nodded.
“You saved my life, so I shall reward you properly. I will open the imperial treasury and grant you one hundred thousand gold coins.”
One hundred thousand gold coins!
It was enough money to live comfortably for the rest of my life.
I barely stopped my grin from reaching my ears as I bowed my head.
