Chapter 68 - 68 Nancy Cromwell
Nancy was riding on a trolley train with Steve. The destination was the steam locomotive station.
"It will be lonely leaving this territory."
"I'd be happy if you said that. If you said you were glad to leave the countryside, as the lord's son, I would feel guilty."
Nancy spoke her impressions while looking at the scenery she would see for the last time. The weather was clear, and one could see far. There was no wind, it was calm, and visibility was very good.
While conversing with Nancy, Steve wished for things to end without incident, but fate did not allow Steve to take the route of nothing happening.
On the way, when the trolley train stopped at the Third Village station, she offered to get off saying she wanted to go to the toilet.
Steve gave permission, and he also got off together.
"I won't allow you to go outside the station just for the toilet."
Steve warned Nancy, and she showed a somewhat dissatisfied expression.
"Understood. However, since we have the chance, could you permit me to stay a little while as a memory of this place?"
"That cannot be permitted. If you leave the station, you cannot leave this village for the rest of your life. If you do, I must kill you."
"Is it because there is an important secret in this village?"
Nancy's eyes and tone sharpened. Steve laughed at her with his nose.
"Hmph. What do you intend to do knowing that?"
"It's simple curiosity. If something that is the driving force behind domestic development is here, wouldn't you want to know?"
Hearing Nancy's words, Steve laughed further.
"Fufufu. To show your true colors is this. Only a very few people know that this is the driving force of domestic development. It might be recognized as a factory producing toys and daily necessities, but those contribute very little to domestic development. Since most results are published as research of the Royal Research Institute, it is strange for a commoner to know that."
Hearing those words, Nancy showed a face of "oops."
Seeing that, Steve told her to depart on the trolley train.
"Get out! There might be combat from now on, so before you get caught up in it."
"Understood."
The trolley train hurriedly departed. Nancy saw Steve's action and wondered, asking why he thought there would be combat.
"Even if I am a spy somewhere, why did you think there would be combat? I am a weak woman."
"Do you think an excuse like being weak would pass? Wearing oversized clothes and not wearing a skirt is to hide muscles, right? Even so, neck muscles and hands that have held swords cannot be fully hidden. You should be very strong. For example, more than the Knight of Sword."
"To think you noticed that much. When did you start being wary?"
"That was from the beginning. But, that was only to the extent that our territory always had such possibilities, so I tried baiting you with 'Knight of Sword', and you fell for it beautifully. This way I understood you came from the Empire."
"Ah!"
This time Nancy regretted it. She fell into Steve's rhetoric beautifully and revealed she was an imperial spy.
"See, that's why I said I'm not suited for espionage."
"I feel that way. If a more normal woman had come, I might not have noticed either."
"If I'm revealed this much, I'll confess, but I am Nancy Cromwell. Queen of Sword."
"You're quite honest."
"Well. I understood you are a very dangerous existence, so either I kill you or make you my captive, either way is fine."
Nancy said that and smiled showing white teeth.
She is the Queen of Sword belonging to the Empire's Sword Knights Order. Her rank is third in the knights order.
"I understand killing, but making me a captive I don't understand well. I have a fiancée, and I don't possess such frivolity to change my heart to you."
"That's the charm of an older sister."
"No, that's why I won't be confused by such things."
"It's a joke."
Nancy laughed at Steve who showed a sullen expression. The atmosphere didn't feel like they would fight to the death from now on.
"I investigated you before coming here. Then, I found out you haven't killed almost anyone. I thought you might think captives are more profitable, but since there's no action obsessed with money, I concluded you probably don't want to kill people. Rowan being killed is an exception among exceptions. Ah, Rowan is the name of the Knight of Sword."
Steve knew he was being analyzed and clicked his tongue internally. It was not a pleasant feeling.
"So, is the purpose to come investigate the secrets of this village?"
"Yes. But, I don't understand difficult things. Even if I look at industrial materials, I can't understand them. Even the steam locomotive I rode to come here, even if asked to look at it and report the mechanism, it would be impossible."
"Then why were you sent?"
"That's due to my characteristics and curiosity to see the person who killed Rowan. You are certainly strong compared to children of the same age, but you don't look like someone who would make Rowan fall behind."
Nancy threw out impressions gained by observing Steve until now. Steve certainly seemed without gaps, but still judged that Rowan shouldn't lose.
However, she thought there must be some element that makes Rowan lose, but hadn't reached finding it yet.
Steve had danger detection ability obtained from the Royal Guard Knights Commander and mannerisms that showed no gaps, but winning against Rowan was thanks to body strengthening, and Nancy who didn't know that hadn't reached the correct answer.
"I'm not that strong, you know. If I were now, I could twist your neck easily."
"That's true. But, I became very interested in you. I want to talk more."
"I'm honored if a beautiful woman says that. I'll answer anything as long as it doesn't touch on secrets."
"I'm happy. Then, tell me why you don't kill people."
Nancy decided to enjoy the conversation while wary of Steve. It was the same for Steve. Since Steve couldn't feel killing intent from Nancy, he decided to converse.
"Because I don't want to kill. In battles until now, I was overwhelmingly stronger. If I wanted to kill, I might have been able to kill everyone, but isn't that a massacre? Well, I did kill a bit letting anger take over, but there's no anger that requires killing tens of thousands. If I keep killing even then, isn't that a pleasure killing?"
"So that's your thinking. Normally one doesn't have magic power to bind tens of thousands with magic, but if one had it, maybe they would think that way. I didn't kill people enjoying it either. But, always the order is to defeat enemies."
"Because you're a soldier. I'm not belonging to the military, so there's no such order."
"Then, why did you kill Rowan?"
The smile disappeared from Nancy's face. Steve noticed that, but answered the truth without lying.
"Because my secret was known. Because if that gets transmitted to your Empire, it would be very bad. Just like taking the secret of this village outside."
"Oh, so Rowan approached your core."
"Yes. He was very strong. That's why, I too..."
Yes, Steve was pleased to obtain Rowan's magic, and showed him the effect of the SOP Magic. That's why, he couldn't let him live.
"Then, will you show it to me too?"
"I don't want to kill Nancy, so can you withdraw here?"
That was Steve's true feeling. It was a short time, but she was someone living within the territory, and the situation was different from meeting on the battlefield.
"Then, I'll make you my captive and take you back."
"That is---"
When he was about to say just with words, Steve felt the magic activation.
Receiving the magic released from Nancy, Steve knelt down with a thud.
"I'm a Charm Magic user. Any opponent will fall for me. If I take you to the Empire with this, the mission is complete. I'll move to the Empire at once with Teleportation Magic."
"Yes."
Steve looked at Nancy with eyes shining brightly. Those were the eyes of a boy in love.
"It's not that only killing is effective. I was sent here because of this Charm Magic. I thought it would be enough if I could bring back even one technician, but I caught an unexpected big fish."
The magic Nancy used was Charm. This was magic where the targeted opponent feels charm towards the caster. It was magic that made them unable to resist holding romantic feelings. Despite having sword skills, she hollowed out enemies with Charm Magic. That was Nancy's way of fighting. However, opponents who had been charmed until now, following orders to sacrifice their lives, were already not in this world.
By the way, Emmanuel was also charmed by her magic, and that's why she introduced her to Archibalt Territory without investigating her identity well.
"Then shall we go to the Empire together. Not like a steam locomotive journey, but for an instant."
Nancy spoke to Steve.
Then Steve replied.
"No. As I said first, you cannot leave this village."
"Eh!?"
Nancy was stunned. After all, Steve under the influence of Charm Magic said an opinion contrary to her will.
"Charm Magic, this is convenient. Making the opponent obey me peacefully. No, should I say admire me? For a lover, one can do anything. Even throwing away one's own life."
"That's not! The magic should have definitely taken hold."
The eyes Steve looked at Nancy with just now were completely in love. There is no way to break the spell from that state.
"No, no, that's not the case. I resisted it. So, I think I'll try using Charm Magic too."
"Then, with Charm Magic again!"
Nancy used Charm Magic again, but it had no effect on Steve.
Against Nancy anxious about no effect, Steve used Charm Magic. Just like with Steve, Nancy's knees buckled for a moment, but she recovered before touching the ground. And, with the eyes of a girl in love, she looked at Steve.
"Steve-sama, my rude attitude until now, I'm sorry. Please don't abandon me."
"I won't abandon Nancy. You still have things to tell me."
"Yes. Steve-sama. No, talking about love with my husband is from now on."
Saying that, Nancy came to embrace, but just as Nancy's body tried to embrace Steve, her figure disappeared.
"Eh? My husband disappeared."
"No, I released the Illusion Magic. What Nancy saw until now was the illusion I created. Right after resisting Charm Magic, I used magic too."
Steve resisted Nancy's Charm Magic, and immediately went on the counterattack.
He created his own charmed figure with Illusion Magic and showed it to Nancy. When he resisted, he didn't know the magic's effect, but Nancy without wariness chattered about her magic's effects.
Once he knew the magic's effect, he prompted her to use it again, and this time learned Charm Magic with SOP Magic. Thus, he immediately made Nancy his captive with the Charm Magic he could now use.
"As expected of my husband. I was not an opponent you could match."
"Then, tell me as much as you know about the Empire."
"Yes."
Thus, Nancy Cromwell, the number 3 of the Empire's Sword Knights Order, Queen of Sword, fell into Steve's hands.