Episode 3
I sat in the carriage, thinking about what needed to be done in the future.
Since I had exited on my own, the Duchess Vaveloa would most likely call for a celebration and push for the marriage of Lennox and Sheria.
But maybe not. The Duchess might try to eliminate me completely in order to get rid of future complications.
‘Hmm. It’s a possible story.’
I nodded my head, recalling the things Melvinique had done.
So, before opening the stationery shop, it was necessary to select the best knight for my protection right away.
That’s why the first thing I chose to do in order to avoid death was to go meet Dominic, the best swordsmanship in the Empire and known as a hero.
Sitting in the somewhat shaky carriage, I vividly imagined Dominic, the hero bound to the sword.
The 17-year-old boy who saved the Empire, Dominic.
A long time ago, his heroic tales and epics covered the entire Empire.
Approximately a thousand years ago. Demons banished from the divine realm summoned evil spirits to conquer the human realm and the entire Empire fell into chaos.
At that time, a young knight suddenly appeared on the battlefield.
He discovered a way to seal the demons by sacrificing himself, which was by being sealed within a magic sword.
Thus, the Empire regained peace through Dominic’s sacrifice.
Of course, Dominic had to live within the sword for a thousand years. He longed for someone to summon him, for the seal that kept him imprisoned to be lifted.
‘In the original work, Lennox obtained Dominic and received even more praise.’
Dominic, a powerful and symbolic figure.
If things continued as they were, Dominic would become the true hero and guardian of the Empire, but…
‘Now, Dominic is mine.’
I hummed a tune.
‘If I summon Dominic, the strongest knight in the Empire who had strong power, there’s no way Hildegart can easily kill him.’
Whether or not the glorious future of a womanizer disappears doesn’t matter to me.
I have to survive first, isn’t that right?
While I was thinking that, the carriage I was on finally arrived at the slum area.
Looking at the atmosphere filled with shabbiness, I snickered inwardly.
Then, I tapped on the window of the carriage.
“I’ll get off here.”
“Excuse me?”
The coachman stopped the carriage at my words, but he seemed quite confused.
He stood in front of the window of the carriage, leaving his horse behind and whispered with an astonished face.
“Lady, are you really getting off here?”
“Yes.”
“But this is the slums, and it’s known as the most desolate cemetery…”
It wasn’t a place where a noble lady would visit late at night. However, snickering toward him, I looked out the window of the carriage.
The chilly air clinging to my cheeks, and even the weeds that messed up the dress.
“I came here perfectly.”
“Huh?”
This place, once abandoned due to the famous rumor that ghosts appear, was a communal cemetery in the slums. And if my memory is correct, the largest tombstone here should have Dominic’s magic sword inserted.
“I know that too.”
I answered him coolly and got off the carriage to the outside.
Looking at the coachman who was looking at me as if I was amazing, I winked slightly while passing by.
“The, the sun is already setting… You, you should be careful. There, there might be ghosts, be careful.”
The coachman expressed his concern even as he continued to drive away.
I saw the carriage getting further away and shrugged my shoulders while picking up the small luggage on the ground.
‘Wouldn’t there be any reason to be afraid of ghosts after I died and took possession of this body?’
If you think about it, I am also a ghost.
I held the luggage with both hands and walked into the communal cemetery.
With each step, the cold air seeped into the dress. But since I had already died once, the cold couldn’t affect me.
I leisurely looked around the situation and enjoyed the chilly scenery.
‘Where are you, hero Dominic?’
Maybe no one would have thought that the sword that sealed the hero would be inserted in the communal cemetery.
That’s why, in the original work, the protagonist Lennox, who was also Dominic’s contractor, found the sword late.
‘It took a long time for him to figure out how to summon the sword even after discovering its location.’
People think that great things should be obtained through difficulty. But sometimes, the simplest and easiest solution is the best.
In fact, there was nothing special about how to summon Dominic sealed within the sword.
‘You just need to draw the sword.’
Just draw the sword, but Lennox didn’t know how to summon Dominic after finding out the sword’s location, so he struggled for a long time.
Reading his short lament in the original work, I walked around the empty and chilly communal cemetery.
I walked several laps, and when my fingertips started to get cold, I finally stood in front of the largest tombstone.
‘I found it.’
In front of the tombstone carved out of a large stone, a longsword covered in moss was inserted.
I didn’t care about the moss and brought my hand to the hilt of the sword. Perhaps it was because of the mood, but it felt like a strange power was flowing into my hand.
And then, I drew the sword without any further thought. My wrist hurt a bit, but the sword eventually came out of the ground.
Soon, a bright white light began to dominate my field of vision.
As my vision was filled with the dominating light, everything in front of me turned white.
Since I couldn’t see anything, I closed my eyes tightly and reopened them. In front of the tombstone, a tall young man was silently standing as if suddenly appearing.
‘The summoning succeeded?’
I handed him the sword that I had held.
He received the sword with a puzzled face. The sword disappeared from his hand as if disintegrated.
“Who are you?”
I heard his voice, half-asleep, and confirmed that the summoning was successful.
The man in front of me exactly matched the appearance of Dominic described in the novel.
A handsome man with black hair and blue jewel-like eyes. His nose was unusually high and his hair looked soft, but because of his noble eyes, he gave off a rebellious vibe.
‘Just like the Dominic described in the original work.’
Confident that the man in front of me was Dominic, I spoke to him.
“I am Mell-Denique Vaveloa, you can just call me Mel. You are Dominic, the hero called the Heroic Sword, right?”
He had a puzzled expression on his face.
“You know me. What do you want from me, Mel?”
“Let’s make a contract.”
However, when Dominic heard the word ‘contract,’ he lost interest and sat down in front of the large cemetery.
“Making a contract… It’s really obvious and not fun at all. You’re obvious too. You’re trying to use me to fulfill your own greed, aren’t you?”
Dominic had a more cynical personality than I expected.
I shrugged my shoulders and said to him.
“That’s right.”
“… You readily agree to that?”
“Yes.”
Because it is for fulfilling my own greed.
Seeing my casual attitude, Dominic looked at me with a surprised face.
“… Okay. What is your wish? Depending on that, I will decide whether or not to make a contract with you, Mel.”
Dominic opened his mouth with an astonished face.
“I just want you to protect my life.”
I quickly answered. Protect me from Hildegarde!
“… Of course, I will risk my life to protect my contractor. What else? What should I give you?”
My contract condition is just that.
“There’s nothing else…”
“… Nothing else? Why? You said you want to fulfill your greed.”
He seemed perplexed.
But there really wasn’t anything else I wanted.
“There’s really nothing else. So, will you protect me?”
He looked at me with a bewildered face and asked.
“Why, you… Who do you want me to protect you from? Do you want to conquer the Empire and can’t say it?”
“No, I don’t need the Empire.”
A firm answer caused Dominic’s eyes to widen as he looked at me.
“Then… what do you want?”
I suddenly realized that I had something I wanted.
Come to think of it, I do have something I want.
“Actually, I’m quite ambitious and filled with ambition.”
I smiled brightly.
Seeing my smile, Dominic cynical laugh as if he knew I would say that.
Looking into his bewildered face, I delivered the words I said to the maid earlier.
“I’m going to be the owner of a stationery shop in front of the academy. Be the guardian knight who protects me and the stationery shop.”
Since I said it, I might as well want a great guardian knight.
I giggled.
Looking at my laughter, the seventeen-year-old Dominic vigorously nodded his head.
“Stationery shop…? Ah, now I get it.”
Oh, have you also lived for a long time and know what a stationery shop is?
I looked at him with hopeful eyes.
“I’m going to name the new empire I’m going to build ‘Stationery Shop’. Your naming sense is really off. Do you have any other name?”
What are you talking about?
Have you been confined to the sword for too long and gone crazy?
Just a stationery shop owner, that’s what I want!
Of course, it’s a dream to be the stationery shop owner who rules the children of the whole continent.
However, since Dominic had a main focus on martial arts, except for basic magic, he was pretty much useless in the commercial field.
So, even if I wished ‘Make me a great giant,’ it would be impossible through Dominic.
The only thing I want from him is to save my life!
I looked at him with a bright smile and replied.
“Yes.”
“… Is that it? Why? I thought you wanted to fulfill your greed?”
“No, I don’t need anything else.”
He seemed taken aback by my firm attitude.
“… That’s right. It’s really easy and comfortable for me. It’s quite regretful though…”
He looked puzzled and then stood up abruptly.
“Anyway, take care, Mel.”
Seeing his surprised face, I was also satisfied.
Now, shall I give him some information about the stationery shop?
“The building for the stationery shop is already prepared.”
I rummaged around in the clutch I was firmly holding with one of my hands, and handed over a small apron to him.
With a bewildered expression on his face, Dominic accepted the apron from me.
“Now, let’s start making the apron first.”
So, the sword Dominic seemed dazedly took the apron from me.
✧˚·̩̩̥͙˚̩̥̩̥·̩̩̥͙✧·̩̩̥͙˚̩̥̩̥˚·̩̩̥͙✧ 𝑔𝓇𝒶𝓋𝒾𝓉𝓎𝓃𝑜𝓋𝑒𝓁𝓈 ✧˚·̩̩̥͙˚̩̥̩̥·̩̩̥͙✧·̩̩̥͙˚̩̥̩̥˚·̩̩̥͙✧
