Sophia Demiurge

I looked at Urduja who was in front of me with squinted eyes as I tilted my head in confusion, or more precisely, suspicion, I mean, I had never seen Urduja as my ally or even my fellow hero after all, so my guard is always up against her.

"...How did you know that I was looking for them?"

Urduja's eyes widened a little as the left corner of her mouth lifted, forming a smirk, she then shrugged and replied, her tone is not that of a person being suspected by her daughter-in-law, I mean if she already sees me as one.

"Well, I never knew that you were looking for them, I am just old enough to see the prime and decline of the undead race... Oh, and if you are looking for them, I think the god of undead will give me a scolding if I were to help you find them, let's say that the clue I have given earlier is a bonus from your mother-in-law."

I did not stop squinting my eyes at her, though my earlier suspicion had been lifted now, it seemed like Urduja was really, really old, older than I imagined, also, aren't Wokung and Bakunawa similarly old heads given the fact that they met Urduja when she named the layers of the great forest and when she is yet to be so powerful like now.

I immediately threw such thoughts out of the window as I nodded.

"I see, reasonable enough."

Of course, I still have my doubts, after all, she is an earlier transmigrator than I am in this world, meaning that she has experienced a lot more things than me and even though I am quite sure that I am more intelligent than her, that doesn't mean that she is not more clever than me, those two are completely different things. Anyway, enough with the suspicion, I immediately asked [Guide] if he could specify the relic I was dealing with and if he could locate its exact position.

[Strictly speaking, you are only required to find the undead cores and even though Urduja is right, the god of the undead seems to not put any kind of importance on the other relics, maybe because he believes that you can create things better than them, but in any case, let us assume that the relic is a part of the core and it's in Heimdall... The most secure place there would be is the quarters of the Royal Family, the Royal Place.]

Did you use logical connectives instead of some abracadabra?

[No, I confirmed that it's in the palace, because that is the only place that can interrupt my scan, I mean, I am a unique skill given by a god, in despite that, I cannot penetrate through the walls of the royal palace, that gives me a major red flag.]

Wow (where did you learn "red flag"?), as an intellectual, that sounds like a conjecture of an unreliable boss, but it also makes sense, I mean to where else will they hide the (probably) most magical object in their possession other than the royal vault, right?

[That's what I said.]

Yeah sure.

Anyway, it is a good thing that I am invited to the royal palace huh, and I even can use this opportunity to "save" the royal palace and the royal family from the clutches of the devil king's subordinate, Hebi Tsukaiza so that I can make my demands higher and maybe a little bit more unreasonable.

I smirked a little as I nodded to myself and sighed, finally donning a serious expression.

"I see, through the process of elimination, it is most probably in the possession of the Royal Family, and if the head I have just smashed earlier is telling the truth, the Royal Family will be under the mercy of Hebi Tsukaiza and her unit."

Urduja nodded quite gravely as she replied.

"Yes, and the Royal Family is not specifically fond of me that I can just go there uninvited, so it is a good thing that you are invited there."

Urduja looked past my back and then lightly waved her hand as she mouthed "Sophia's Invitation", certainly a commanding gesture unbefitting of a Duchess, but I ignored it as the maid respectfully handed me the invitation, it had the seal of the royal family in it, a golden horn, as expected of the Kingdom's name, the content of the letter is as follows:

To Her Majesty, Sophia Demiurge I

     Greetings from your counterpart in Gjallarhorn, first of all, I would like to congratulate you on your engagement with Duchess Urduja's daughter, I wish you two a great wedding and a meaningful future as spouses, also I have heard of the audacity of my subordinates to attempt the invasion of your great forest and claim it as their own, please rest assured that I or anyone in the Royal Family do not have any hands on this matter whatsoever and even praises you of your pinpointed counterattack against them, truly your strategical acumen is a much coveted talent among royalties and nobles. In this regard, I am officially inviting you to a banquet to welcome your entourage on this state visit, and also to discuss official matters such as borders and diplomatic responsibilities in the plane that is dividing our two nations, also treat this as the royal family's way of apologizing to the incompetence of our men, it will happen a week after Urduja's Celebration of her birth, it will be held exclusively for royalties of Kamatayan and Gjallarhorn.

                                                                                                  The King of Gjallarhorn, Roselle Gjallarhorn VI

_Damn, so those two are just dispensables huh, and to think that they thought they are doing a good job by developing such defective equipment..._

I was quite taken aback by this letter that implies that the King officially abandons his influence in the Urdujan Territory, I mean, what kind of monarch will be willing to do that, I am sure not even Roselle is, it is just that, Urduja's influence is not just in terms of strength but culture and identity itself, they were deeply rooted that it will be like going against the people if the king showed hostility against her.

_And the only way to go against Urduja is to..._

I squinted my eyes as the urgency of going to the capital increased in my heart, I had to foil the plan of the King of Devils before Roselle thought of anything funny, the good thing is that that is the only thing that I had to worry about, I mean imagine if I only have "Undead Race's Relic" as a clue as I go to the capital, that would be disastrous.

A brick in the palace of Julius Caesar and a love letter from a random person to Cleopatra are both historical relics, I wouldn't know where to start.

_But if it is a part of a cracked core, then, it is most probably a gem or some kind of precious mineral..._

While I was playing around with the invitation, I started to contemplate the probable strategy Hebi might incorporate, but as expected, I know a little too less about her and I can only ask Urduja, which I will do later because I have to fulfill my promise with Momoiro, given that I have to go to the Capital of Gjallarhorn tomorrow.

_Normally, a diversion, considering her status, is a direct infiltration, but with me, she might take more time to plan it carefully, but I can make it in time._

"Well, I have to go do my things here first, I can't just leave Momoiro hanging like that, after that I will immediately dash towards Heimdall. Bakunawa."

I said in one breath, with the last word being spread in my hive mind and as I snapped my finger, a rip appeared in space and then a figure in silver hair suddenly appeared with a "Wargh!?" sound, she then proceeded to land on her face and tumble to face me directly below the floor, I also looked at Bakunawa as I smiled and waved at her.

"Space magic sure is cool, huh?"

Bakunawa kept staring at me for a few seconds before bulges of veins started to appear in her forehead and a sharp ice suddenly targeted my forehead, but of course, my ever-so-loyal subordinate had enough tact to make the ice weak enough to shatter upon impact.

"WHAT THE HELL WAS THAT!?"

Bakunawa shouted at me while standing up, well, it seemed like she was still afraid of being electrocuted because she did not come and strangle me and just grudgingly stomped her feet as she went to my side. Good thing she knew her limits.

[You made her fall face first.]

Ahem, in any case, I looked at her as the maid readied a piece of paper, a quill, and an ink in front of the table, because I don't have that great of a penmanship, I decided to use magic to answer the King, my answer was simple, it is me saying that I accept the invitation and me also saying that my excitement in meeting the stemmed monarch of the strongest Human Kingdom, I will be starting my travels tomorrow, I did not specify the time that I will be arriving because I will be using my top speed and not a carriage's to travel, I am sure that I will be arriving earlier than they have expected, so I have to make Bakunawa tell them in advance.

After sealing it with a candle addressing it in the manor of Urduja and signing the front of it, I gave it to Bakunawa, a smile is still smeared on my face while my subordinate is still looking at me with contempt.

"What should I do with this?"

Bakunawa asked me, her tone still angry, it seemed like I made her mad.

"Go to Heimdall and give this to the King, tell him that this is my response to her invitation, and read it immediately too."

Bakunawa looked at the letter for a long time before exhaling a large breath, it seemed to calm her down quite a lot as her eyes became less sharp, she then nodded and said: "Understood, I will depart immediately."

Urduja then suddenly interjected: "Do you need a carriage?"

It was Directed at Bakunawa, thus she is the one who replied, she shook her head as she said: "I am faster when I travel by feet, I can tell by your tone earlier that this is urgent, so..."

Bakunawa did not need to finish her sentence and started to go away. But, then I suddenly remembered, she is absent and intends to be absent for the entirety of the festival, so I have to ask.

"What are you doing in your room that is so important that you have to miss the festival of one of your peer's birthday?"

I just asked something out of curiosity, but the sudden snort of Urduja and the shudder of Bakunawa, something that struck me with a bad feeling, Bakunawa replied with "None of your business!" in a very defensive manner and Urduja left me without a word.

_Right... didn't they converse yesterday in the deep of night? I wonder what they talked about..._

I am quite curious and suspicious of the two, however, the situation at hand did not permit me to fulfill my curiosity, as I was thinking of finding my wife, the guest room I was in suddenly became quite noisy because of footsteps as I saw Eleanor and Momoiro coming towards me at the same time.

"Good timing Eleanor, I have something to ask you."

I have to get this matter over with first because not paying attention to this will most probably make me guilty, so I have to ask.

"Can the tour between Momoiro and I continue tonight? We have to depart tomorrow so I have to fulfill my promise before we go."

At my words, Momoiro's face brightened a little, it became red and all of her eyes looked down, embarrassed, Eleanor immediately gave an affirmative response, after this, I made an excuse that the next discussion would be a state secret and no one is allowed to hear it other than me, Momoiro immediately complied and went out of the vicinity, I also isolated the room for added protection.

"Eleanor, I have to ask you to start designing the "rifle" I have been talking about for a long time ago that will be the weapon of my dream soldiers, you can use the crossbow as the main reference and shall improve upon the designs, you can sneak in the library and steal some blank book to draw there."

Eleanor looked at me, confused but still nodded her head.

"Surely, I can do that, however, why are you suddenly rushing? I mean, we are already producing crossbows that are many times stronger in terms of range and overall power than the average military standard of Gjallarhorn, right?"

I also looked at Eleanor and sighed as I shook my head.

"Well, the same reason why you are opposed to creating magic metal coins as my currency."

I smiled a little as I saw Eleanor shudder, well it seemed like she was still not aware of Hebi Tsukaiza's appearance in the capital.

_The Devil finally made his move._

That is what she is thinking.