26. I’ll Handle Her Deal

「Her Highness has told me all about you. I was informed that you wished to establish a formal business arrangement,」 Delfina began smoothly.

「Yeah.」

「I will start with this, then.」

Delfina snapped her fingers sharply. Two men—presumably her personal guards or subordinates—stepped into the room from outside, placed a heavy rectangular wooden box directly onto the table, and promptly withdrew.

「What’s this?」

「Two thousand five hundred silver coins. It is an advance payment.」

「An advance payment?」

「Please treat it as working capital for your procurement operations.」

「Well, I suppose I can just deliver the goods to you later, then.」

「Indeed. We are fully equipped to handle any volume, so please bring us whatever you can procure.」

「Got it.」

Two thousand five hundred coins. If the 50% discount coupon applied correctly to major supplier transactions, this sum would net me a massive stack of lottery tickets. Even at standard rates, it was a hefty payout. I would have preferred an even three thousand for clean math, but I couldn’t complain too much about free capital.

「I’ll gratefully put this to use. How should I go about delivering the goods to you?」

「I will dispatch one of my representatives here again tomorrow. Please treat that person as your designated point of contact.」

「Understood.」

At any rate, my plan for tomorrow was simple: head back out, mine as much Orikudite ore as humanly possible, and test just how much capital her trading network could swallow.

「By the way,」 Delfina suddenly shifted the topic, her tone carrying a subtle edge. 「That weapon at your waist… that is the legendary Eleanor, is it not?」

「Yeah? Oh, did Helene tell you about that too?」

「It is a remarkably well-crafted replica.」

My eyebrow twitched involuntarily.

「What’s that supposed to mean?」

「Exactly what my words imply.」

「Are you trying to imply that you think it’s a fake?」

「You are holding it bare-handed right now, are you not?」

「?」

「There has never been a single soul in the recorded history of the world whose mind was not completely dominated and shattered by Eleanor. Not a single person has ever resisted its spiritual corruption—not even King Rodotos or the Dragon King Olga were exceptions. Therefore, the simple fact that you are casually holding it without a care in the world is the absolute best proof that it is an imitation.」

I see. I had heard similar variations of that warning a few times before, but it really hammered home just how impossible my feat was viewed by outsiders. Well, it couldn’t be helped.

「Her Highness is still quite young, so I suppose she can be easily fooled,」 Delfina added smoothly.

That comment struck a nerve. It was one thing for people to be skeptical of the sword’s authenticity, but dragging Helene into it was different. Did she mean Helene was being deceived just because she was young and naive? Did she think Helene only trusted me out of simple-minded gullibility?

A sudden wave of irritation flared up in my chest. Guess it’s time to teach her a little lesson.

I unhooked Eleanor from my belt and held the naked blade straight out toward her.

「Do you want to hold it and see for yourself?」

「Oh? You are willing to let me touch it?」

Delfina shot me a challenging, confident look, clearly believing that the moment she touched it, my bluff would fall apart and I’d be exposed.

「Yeah, go ahead.」

Delfina reached out, took hold of Eleanor’s hilt, and stared down at the dark metal, inspecting the fine details closely.

「The craftsmanship is genuinely impressive up close, the intricate patterns—」

Instantly, Delfina’s sentence cut off. Her eyes dilated violently, going wide. Her entire body spasmed in a sharp convulsion, and a thick, suffocating wave of black miasma began leaking directly out of her skin. The setup looked identical to what had happened to poor Mari back in the cave.

「That was surprisingly fast,」 I muttered, watching the possession take hold. She had practically asked for it, and I was fine with letting her experience a bit of correction.

That much was expected, but something else manifested alongside her possession. As Delfina violently shook the blade, Tania suddenly materialized out of the dark energy. The ghost maid was still wearing her standard uniform, but her appearance twisted into that of a terrifying, wrathful vengeful spirit—identical to how she looked when I first encountered her prowling the dark halls of the mansion.

「Ah. Looks like Tania got dragged out into her scary mode again. I’ll have to apologize to her later.」

「Uaaaaaaaaaaaaa!」

Delfina let out a bloodcurdling, beastly scream, her eyes turning completely bloodshot as her humanity evaporated under the curse.

「So? Do you still think it’s a fake?」 I asked calmly, though there was no coherent answer coming. A low, wretched growl rattled deep from the back of her throat.

Did Eleanor possess her even deeper than she did with Mari? I recalled how Mari had still been crying out for help during her possession, her physical body hijacked while her surface consciousness remained vaguely trapped inside. I wondered what governed the depth of the corruption, making a mental note to interrogate Eleanor about the mechanics later.

While I was pondering, Delfina lunged forward, swinging Eleanor directly at me with unnatural speed. Simultaneously, Tania unleashed a barrage of chilling ice magic.

I hadn’t anticipated a coordinated vanguard-and-backline assault from a possessed merchant and a ghost. I easily ducked under the wild sword swing, but the following cluster of razor-sharp ice arrows obliterated the parlor’s interior, shattering the furniture and walls into splinters.

「Are you alright, Master?!」 Miu’s terrified voice echoed from the hallway outside.

「I’m fine! I’m stepping out for a bit to take care of something, so just clean up my room later!」

「Eeeeeh?! O-Okay!」

After reassuring Miu, I closed the distance, grabbed Delfina by the shoulders, and touched my Warp Feather to activate an instant transit.

In a blink, we materialized out in the open expanses of the mountain ox meadow at night. The vast, empty grasslands stretched out under the moonlight with zero structures around.

「I don’t think we have to worry about collateral damage out here.」

Whether it was due to the complete mental takeover or the sudden spatial jump, Delfina didn’t show an ounce of shock at the teleportation. Instead, she immediately pressed her attack, slashing wildly at me with the exact same unhinged ferocity.

Three minutes later, Delfina was lying flat out on the grass, completely unconscious. Her fine clothes were tattered to shreds, making her look like she had just survived a brutal physical assault. She looked like a victim of a violent crime, but in reality, I hadn’t actually laid a harmful finger on her using brute force—I had simply dodged her frantic swings, disarmed her, and casually knocked her out when she wouldn’t stop trying to murder me.

「Well, I suppose that should teach her a proper lesson.」

(You really are a terrible man, using me so casually as a disciplinary tool, Eleanor chimed in within my mind, sounding highly amused.)

「Did I offend you?」

(Not at all, it was thoroughly entertaining. Though as a reward, you’ll eventually have to let me properly possess someone else, you know.)

「I’ll think about it,」 I replied noncommittally.

「Is Tania alright?」 I asked, turning my attention to the ghost maid currently drifting lazily in the midnight air.

(I’m awfully tired…… May I take a break now?)

「Ah, sorry about all the trouble. Go ahead.」

(Uun, see you later……) Tania murmured sleepily before flickering out of existence and returning to the blade.

I crouched down beside Delfina’s unconscious form and gave her cheek a light tap.

「Hey, you alive? Wake up.」

Tap, tap.

「I’m pretty sure I held back most of my strength, you know. Come on, open your eyes.」

Tap, tap, tap.

「If you don’t wake up soon, I’m going to draw a bunch of silly graffiti all over your face.」

「U…… nn?」

Her eyelids fluttered open. She stared blankly up at the night sky with glassy, unfocused eyes for a few seconds before shifting her gaze toward me, and then finally looking down at her own ruined clothing.

The realization hit her instantly.

She let out a mortified shriek, clutching the remaining scraps of her severely torn clothes together in a desperate attempt to cover her skin as she scrambled backward across the dirt like a crab. Her face flushed bright red down to her neck, trembling with sheer humiliation.

……She suddenly looked weirdly defenseless.

「What… what on earth did you do to me?!」 she stammered, her voice shaking.

「Don’t you remember anything?」

「Remember? We were talking inside the… inside the house, and then I touched Eleanor, and… oh.」

Judging by the sudden wave of panic crossing her face, the memories of her brief, violent possession were rushing back.

「Yeah, I handed the sword to you. You honestly don’t remember anything past that point? Well, whatever. Eleanor possessed your body, so I just beat her back out of you.」

「And that’s why my clothes ended up like this……?!」

「That’s the short version of it.」

「……So that legendary cursed sword is actually real?」

「Do you want to hold it again to double-check?」

I offered the hilt of Eleanor out toward her. Delfina violently shook her head, crawling further away in terror.

「I never want to touch that thing again in my life! There’s still a lingering black shadow crawling around inside my head…… I never want to experience that nightmare twice!」

「Black shadow, huh.」 I mused. So a trace residue of Eleanor’s curse always lingered after a heavy possession.

「Something like that……」 Delfina mumbled, burying her face in her knees.

The outcome was cleaner than I expected, and I was thoroughly satisfied. Now that I had successfully convinced the premier merchant of the kingdom that Eleanor was the real deal, it was time to warp back to the mansion.

However, as I stood up, I noticed Delfina’s behavior turning remarkably strange.

She was clutching the hem of her tattered dress so tightly her knuckles were white, biting down hard on her lower lip as if desperately trying to suppress an overwhelming urge. Her face was flushing an even deeper, feverish red, and if you looked closely, her entire body was subtly squirming against the grass.

「Delfina? Are you alright?」

「──Ehh?」

Her response was sluggish, her breath coming out in short, ragged gasps.

(Ah. So that woman is hitting the threshold, Eleanor whispered in my head with a giggle.)

「What do you mean by ‘that threshold’?」

(Those who wield my power without proper resistance experience certain physical side effects. Which specific reaction manifests depends entirely on the individual’s constitution, though.)

「What’s the actual price for using a legendary magic sword, anyway?」

(Complete subjugation under my will, came the telepathic chuckle.)

「So, what’s Delfina’s specific side effect?」

(Estrus.)

「What?」

(Estrus.)

「Are you talking about that kind of estrus?」

(Is there any other kind? I haven’t kept an exact tally, but I’d estimate roughly half of the women who get possessed end up triggering this specific physiological reaction as the curse recedes.)

「Estrus……?」

I glanced back down at Delfina. Hearing that explanation made everything click into place.

Her head was tilted back slightly, her chest heaving as she panted heavily into the cool night air. Her eyes were glazed over with a dizzy, feverish heat, and she writhed against the ground as if fighting a burning internal agony. Sure enough, if you defined it clinically, it looked precisely like a severe state of heat.

(You’d better find her a man right away, Eleanor advised casually. If this specific side effect is left untreated, the sudden rush will cause every minor blood vessel in her body to rupture overnight, killing her by morning.)

「Hey.」

I stared down at the squirming merchant. This woman was actually going to die from side effects?

I certainly didn’t intend to let her die here. I might have needed to rough her up a bit to break her skepticism, but murder wasn’t on my agenda. Besides, looking at her current state, my instincts weren’t exactly screaming to push her away either.

「Does it have to be any man?」

(As long as someone satisfies the physiological drive before the morning, she’ll stabilize.)

「Got it.」

I sighed, walked over to the feverish Delfina, and gently pressed her back down onto the grass.

I tore away the remaining scraps of her tattered garments in one smooth motion.

And that night, out in the open wilderness, our business partnership evolved into something far more intimate.