A Gentleman Can Be Deceived Within Reason

Looking at the fawn, the amateur necromancer's eyes seemed to flicker with a ghostly blue light.

Alina suddenly realized, gave Oute a grateful look, and then instantly replaced Oute's words with her own. "Little Tal! Go get the surgery!"

"In this state, there's no way we can fight those faceless monsters that appear out of ghost stories!"

Seeing Talulah slowly nod, Alina smiled happily.

"Goodbye, Mr. Bohdrokasthim, Mr. Kal'tsit, Miss Amiya!"

She rose gracefully, bowed to the three people who couldn't see her, and then, "taking" Talulah's hand, instructed her, "Eat well, sleep well, and don't rush to find me!"

Then, she shrank behind Oute, forcing a cheerful and lively demeanor, and simply waved one hand, saying, "Goodbye."

But her voice was clearly choked with emotion.

She quickly disappeared behind Oute.

"Alina!"

Oute placed his hand on his shoulder and on Talulah's hand.

"Life and death are separate matters; she has now returned to the Interstice."

Can Alina really not stay in the present world?

The answer is no.

In the initial experiments, when W was used as a shell to house Alina's soul, the Sarkaz girl's energy consumption rate increased dramatically. Furthermore, Alina's ability to react to external stimuli was minimal and almost meaningless.

It was with this in mind that Alina pleaded with Oute not to tell the truth—at least not before Talulah asked the right question.

Putting everything else aside, Oute's "honest" persona has been successfully established.

"...I understand." Talulah straightened up.

Her expression was more resolute than ever. "I need your surgery, I need your help fighting the Imperial Guards, I need your help caring for the refugees in Chernobog, I need your help reorganizing the Reunion Movement —and you have already proactively helped me so much."

That's definitely a huge amount.

However, Oute is not worried that these initial investments will not yield sufficient returns.

The dragon girl stared into Amiya's eyes and said, "Then what do you need from me?"

Oute nodded to Amiya.

Amiya was somewhat surprised, but after seeing Oute's actions, she blinked her big eyes and waited for a while.

After confirming several times that Oute had not established a mental link, she was somewhat at a loss.

Doc Otter!?

Let me talk!?

Kal'tsit gently nudged her.

The little rabbit took a deep breath.

Cheer up, Amiya! You've led negotiations before!

Don't push all the work onto Doc Otter just because Doc Otter awake!

Even if Doc Otter empty, it's still not okay!

Amiya wore a similar expression to Oute's.

"Miss Victoria, Talulah."

A one-sided, exaggerated statement!

Just like a lobbyist!

The seemingly straightforward and Talulah actually began to consider the possibilities. "You do know a lot, but the lions have monopolized the throne for many years. The Yatrias bloodline's claim to the throne is already negligible; in terms of succession rights, they are not even as powerful as the Duke Caster."

"Frederick has another daughter whose fate is unknown. Even if they were to elect a puppet, the dukes could simply find a cat and pretend she's a lion."

"If Rhodes Island truly wants to use me to influence the situation in Victoria, their only option is to raise an army and start a war with this meager legitimacy."

The Dragon Girl shook her head. "Even if I owe you so much, it's still impossible."

Impossible in every sense—objectively and subjectively.

The little rabbit mimicked the image of Oute from her memory. "No, Miss Talulah. What we need is stability for Victoria, and for that, we need the key left by your father."

"... Theresis?"

The Sarkaz were brought to Laterano as mercenaries.

Whether or not one agrees with this matter was the most direct trigger for the Kazdel Civil War.

Since the end of the civil war, and into the near future, the core forces of Theresis and Sarkaz have been entrenched in the already paralyzed brain of the Victorian Empire. The empire's precarious state and the dukes' infighting have allowed them to systematically extract nourishment from the "Emperor."

Wait, who did this?

Chapter 209 A gentleman can be deceived by his principles

Leaving aside the minor question of "why Theresis was able to assemble the Shards in Laterano," and without delving into the culprit, the Kazdel government-in-exile aimed to eliminate Theresis's power and promote the normalization of Victoria...

This seems like a logical excuse.

Patriot suddenly realized something—this seemed to involve the Kazdel Civil War again?

Only then did the soldier belatedly realize. "... I must take my leave now."

We can't let you off the ship.

Sitting in the corner of the hospital bed, Oute loosened his grip on the fruit knife, the non-apple peel that could have formed a perfect spiral was instantly severed.

"Wendigo," he called out, "You can stay and listen in."

"Or rather, you should have stayed and listened in."

In line with the image Oute was trying to project, he said, "You don't owe the Sarkaz anything, but since things have come to this..."

It's the Lunar New Year, and people have already died; we've already come all this way.

"..."

Patriot glanced at Amiya discreetly. This action, due to the overemphasis on secrecy, became a mere "glance."

Although he led the Wendigo far away from Kazdel, as the last pure-blooded Wendigo, news of the civil war still reached his ears. The fact that Theresa's side used a "mining landship" as their base during that civil war was hardly a secret.

Soldiers are naturally quick-witted, but they rarely delve into the intricacies of politics as they do now.

Now that he'd seen the lord and his strategist here, this ship was most likely the one. If that were the case, then Rhodes Island's nominal leader... might not be a puppet, as he had previously suspected.

The Sarkaz are diverse, and there are more than just one or two groups that even the Bohdrokasthim themselves are unfamiliar with. Having already witnessed the amazing creature, Oute, Patriot had a flash of inspiration:

Perhaps, the quality of this "Castor" Cautus is comparable to that of the strategist "Liberi".

Leaving aside such special cases, even within the royal court, there exist species that resemble Liberi, like Banshee. So what's so strange about a Sarkaz who looks like Cautus?

For subtle reasons, the Patriot's thoughts veered off course into something strange.

"Whose request is this?"

Who gave the order?

Oute tilted his head back, and the apple peel slowly fell into his mouth.

He chewed for a while, and only after swallowing it all did he reply, "It's probably your responsibility."

A virtuous person can be deceived by reason.

"... clear."

Bohdrokasthim agreed as promised.

Talulah took the peeled apple in surprise, paused for a moment, and then said, "The key isn't with me. You should go look for Wei... I guess you've already looked."

Talulah certainly didn't waste her time in the Koschei territory. Although her mental state was terrible, she quickly grasped the crux of the matter—at least, according to this chain of logic, it was indeed the crux.

Moreover, even if the purposes are different, Kal'tsit's motivation for controlling the situation in Terra still boils down to expelling Theresis.

"It seems I'm the bargaining chip." She turned slightly, glanced at Oute, and then turned her gaze back to the true leader of Rhodes Island: "But I suspect you have a different story about... Mr. Wei Yenwu?"

"Miss Talulah, you guessed it..."

"No, don't answer me. I don't need to know the details of these matters." Dragon Girl glanced at Patriot and said, "I will help you get that key."

The first part of the sentence is almost a reminder to Bohdrokasthim: whatever Rhodes Island wants to do, if they want to extricate themselves, now is the time.

"But that's not enough, not enough to compensate for your sacrifices."

The topic then returned to Talulah herself and Rhodes Island.

This is what the politically naive little rabbit thought:

Just as Doc Otter analyzed, Miss Talulah herself is an upright and good person. From her perspective, since we have already paid the price beforehand, she will actively help us gain benefits.

Even if there's no reward, we will still do it.

She stated firmly, "In order to resettle the infected individuals in Chernobog, Rhodes Island Pharmaceuticals needs Lungmen to provide more and more suitable policies to support the development of the impoverished community. We hope to reach a new agreement through you, Miss Talulah!"

It seems that because Oute progressed through the map too quickly, Black Snake's understanding of the current situation in Lungmen is somewhat behind reality. Consequently, Talulah also somewhat bewildered.

"Slums? Lungmen's slums? What does that have to do with Rhodes Island?"

"Governor Wei contracted out the security work for the slums to us."

"When I last checked, he was still the governor of Yan, not Ursus." Talulah subtly expressed her disapproval of this decision.

But in the end, she agreed, saying, "I... will try my best, but I can't guarantee I'll be able to finish."

"Based on my understanding of Wei Yenwu, if you cannot secure sufficient benefits for him, even the involvement of his blood relatives in the negotiations will be futile..."