Volume 2, Chapter 11 – Norton

However, as Fia observed Estelle more closely, she noticed some abnormalities.

Fia had been standing to Estelle’s left, so she could only see Estelle’s profile, which was fine. But when Estelle turned her back to Fia, Fia realized that Estelle actually only had half a wing. Furthermore, the right side of her dress did not have the same slit design as the left. Estelle clearly had no intention of extending a wing from her right side from the start.

Was it a vampire custom? But it didn’t look like Estelle was hiding the other half of her wing under her dress.

Even if Estelle had been injured in the battle to break out of the city and her wing had been severed, with the super-strong regenerative ability of a pure-blood that allowed them to recover even from a single finger, it should have grown back by now.

Just as Fia was wondering, several men on the edge of the crowd spat disdainfully. From their neat attire, it was clear they were nobles of a certain status.

“Tch, just some bastard picked up from who knows where, and she dares to call herself a noble. Now she’s forcing us to go back and die. I bet her bastard father is trapped in the city and she wants to go back and save him.”

“Poor Lord Count, spending so many years raising someone else’s daughter. He should have just focused on Lady Noreen. Lady Noreen is gentle and powerful, and she’s the Count’s own flesh and blood, countless times better than this defective product.”

“Exactly! If it weren’t for Lady Noreen’s sake, I would have ignored this defective product long ago. Now that Lady Noreen is gone, she dares to order us around. She should think about the huge gap between herself and Lady Noreen. A vampire who hasn’t even fully matured wants to command us nobles who have lived for one or two hundred years. How childish.”

“Neither Lady Noreen nor the Lord Count are here. For the sake of a few useless commoners, she doesn’t seek help from the surrounding nobles, but wants to proactively seek out the Darkborn, and she wants to take Young Master Norton with her to die. Courage without strategy, courage without strategy! The direct bloodline of the Oro family is going to be ruined by this defective product!”

Not only the young nobles but also the white-haired, stooped elderly nobles openly expressed their dissatisfaction and anger.

Their hearts are not united.

Fia thought to herself.

At least among the nobles.

Not all nobles were like Estelle, willing to risk danger to save common people. It was perfectly normal for dissenting voices to appear in an organization, not to mention, according to the nobles, Estelle was not the Count’s biological daughter. In the World Tree Continent, where bloodline legitimacy was emphasized, Estelle probably couldn’t get help from these people.

Estelle was definitely in for a tough time.

“—You bastards!”

Having heard the nobles’ ridicule just like Fia, the young soldier who had been leading the three of them strode over to the nobles, furiously grabbed the elderly noble’s collar, and lifted him up with one hand. His eyes were wide with anger, and the muscles on his arm bulged, as if he would punch him in the next second.

“The Third Miss is thinking for the sake of the people, yet you worms are trying to cause a split. Do you have any self-awareness as nobles?! I am ashamed of you! You are not worthy of being called nobles!”

“Eek!”

The noble lifted by the soldier showed a fearful expression, but after realizing the other party was merely a soldier, the elderly noble’s fear quickly turned into shame and anger. He raised a trembling hand and pointed angrily at the soldier’s face.

“A… a mere nobody dares to be disrespectful to a noble! Who do you think I am!”

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“Do you dare to repeat what you just said in front of the Third Miss!”

“Why wouldn’t I dare!” a young noble from the side came over to support him. “With only half a wing, what is she if not a bastard? Compared to Lady Noreen, she only brings shame to the Lord Count! It would be one thing if we all got along on a daily basis, but now she wants us to go back and die. As a noble, she has forgotten even the most basic common sense! Are the Darkborn something a few of us can handle!”

Seeing someone stand up, the other nobles immediately followed suit. They had long been dissatisfied with being ruled by a “half-breed.” The soldier’s transgression gave them an excuse, and they could now speak their minds freely.

“Hurry up and put down Lord Baron!”

“Since when can a nobody be rude to a noble? Did Estelle tell you this?”

“We must make an example of him! Otherwise, where would the dignity of the nobility be!”

Since the nobles did not lower their voices, in a short while, the nearby refugees had turned their gazes towards them. The soldier also realized that he had caused a great disaster in a moment of impulse and stiffly put down the elderly noble. If not for the voice from the stage covering them, this group of nobles would have already attracted everyone’s attention.

This is trouble.

Fia thought to herself.

This group of nobles was truly detestable. If she had encountered the same situation, she would have definitely hung them at the city gate for public display.

As Fia was thinking this, a young man with long, dark blue hair and lavish clothes appeared in her sight.

The man had been standing in the crowd from the beginning. When he noticed the commotion on Fia’s side, he pushed through the crowd—conveniently behind where the nobles couldn’t see.

Fia had seen this man before. He was the one she had seen on the hill, commanding the soldiers to build the wooden platform.

He must be a noble too, and a high-ranking one at that, Fia evaluated in her heart. After this young man appeared, the atmosphere suddenly changed. Some of the nobles closer to the crowd quickly shut up and quietly backed away, pretending it had nothing to do with them, drawing a clear line between themselves and the elderly noble.

However, just as Fia was about to wait and see how things developed, the young man, who should have been looking at the elderly noble, suddenly swept his gaze towards Fia. He first showed a moment of astonishment, then gave Fia a warm smile.

After doing all this, the young man walked up behind the elderly noble and gently tapped his shoulder.

The latter immediately frowned and turned around.

“Who—uh,” seeing the young man’s face, the elderly noble who was about to curse, his expression instantly froze, then gradually turned into an apologetic smile. “It’s… it’s Young Master Norton. Weren’t you inspecting the camp? How did you end up here…”

“I was just passing by and heard a commotion, so I came over. Baron Dutton, what are you doing?” Still maintaining a warm smile, the young man gestured towards the soldier with his chin. “Did he do something to displease you, Lord Baron?”

“…It was just a disagreement, we had a discussion. It’s nothing serious. Young Master Norton, don’t worry about it.” The smile on the elderly noble’s face grew wider. He began to turn his head to urge the soldier, “Hurry up and go. For Young Master Norton’s sake, I won’t hold it against you.”

“Tch.”

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Although he clicked his tongue loudly in dissatisfaction, the soldier still obeyed the elderly noble’s order and returned behind Fia. Things getting out of hand would be bad for both sides; both the elderly noble and the soldier knew this.

Effortlessly resolving the situation, Norton Oro, the fourth son of the House of Oro, turned around and smiled as he swept his gaze over the nobles.

“If there’s nothing else, everyone, please continue to listen to my sister’s speech. Tomorrow we return to the city, and we will have to rely heavily on all of you noble lords. My sister is not asking you to fight the Darkborn, but to rescue the people waiting for salvation in the city as much as possible. This is not an impossible task. We must all unite.”

“Ah, ah, I understand.”

“We will definitely assist Young Master Norton.”

“Not assist me, but assist my sister.”

Raising an eyebrow, Norton smiled gently and corrected the nobles’ words.

Then, with just a few simple words, Norton sent the nobles to do what they were supposed to do, and then gracefully came before Fia’s group of three.

With his shoulder-length dark blue hair, slim gray swordsman’s uniform, a golden sword hanging from his belt, and a tall build, the young man before her could be classified as handsome. The unique blood-red eyes of a pure-blooded vampire and the wings extending from his waist added a hint of non-human allure to him.

Unfortunately, it had no effect on me, Fia shrugged inwardly. If it were a proper princess like Liti, she might be interested in the Young Master Norton before her.

Thinking of this, Fia lowered her head to look at Liti, only to find that Liti also looked uninterested.

“You two are new faces. I apologize for letting you see such a joke, ladies. Forgive my impertinence, I am Norton Oro, the fourth son of the House of Oro. May I ask who you two elf ladies are?”

With his right hand on his waist, the slender Norton bowed to Fia and Liti. However, his gaze did not linger on them but instead sized up Anastasia at the side. Fia and Liti were both wearing dresses, while only Anastasia was in her emerald green elf attire, making their statuses clear at a glance.

A hint of surprise was added to Norton’s polite smile.

“Ooh… an impressive aura, at least the Fourth Tier. It seems these are two ladies of considerable status.”

“This is my servant, Anastasia. I am Dofilia Alexia Yushir. I have met your sister Estelle a few times.”

“Liti Alexia Yushir.”

“Alexia?” The surprise in his blood-red eyes deepened, and Norton’s eyebrows twitched imperceptibly. “The Eldest and Third Princesses of Silvar? Why have you two come in person without notice? As I recall, Eldest Princess, you have met me before. It seems that after so many years, not only have I forgotten your appearance, but you have also forgotten mine.”

“No… There’s a bit of a story behind it. I’ve lost my memory due to certain events, so I can’t remember what happened before.”

“Lost your memory?” As if thinking about something, Norton rolled his eyes and stroked his chin. “Could it be due to the war with the Milcandis Holy Kingdom? I heard from the refugees from the Holy Kingdom that before they left Aurora City, rumors of the elf princess’s death were already rampant. It turns out you’re alive and well, just with amnesia. Those fanatics are still the same as ever, always exaggerating.”

Fia gave a wry smile.

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“Just as you guessed, Norton, my amnesia is related to the Holy Kingdom. We just came from the Milcandis Holy Kingdom and wanted to pass through the Bart Duchy to return to Silvar. We happened to run into Estelle here, so we came to say hello.”

The latter half of the sentence was a prepared excuse.

“I see. My sister is busy right now and will have to entertain you two a little later. As you can see, Eldest Princess, our Oro territory has run into a bit of trouble. We can’t offer anything presentable. Please forgive us.”

“It’s no matter, we won’t be staying long.”

“Mm… shall we go to the tent and talk first?”

Gesturing with a “please” like a gentleman, Norton took the first step, heading towards the most luxurious tent in the settlement.

Passing through the crowd, the three of them arrived in front of a red tent. Perhaps for the reason of protecting the guests, a group of soldiers in metal armor had appeared behind Norton on the way, among them vampires with wings on their backs. Just from their movements as they walked, one could tell that these were all veteran soldiers with combat experience.

“This is where my sister discusses important matters. Because it is an important meeting place, no weapons are allowed inside. Miss Anastasia here, please hand over your weapon to my subordinates. After the discussion is over, we will return it to you.”

“You don’t trust us.”

Halting her move to enter the tent, Anastasia placed her right hand on the sword at her waist and narrowed her eyes.

A look of trouble and distress appeared on Norton’s handsome face.

“It’s not that I don’t trust you, but the timing is special. I am only my sister’s aide, not the one in charge here. If I make an exception for the two princesses, others will use the same reason to demand to bring weapons into the tent in the future. That will cause trouble for my sister. Please be considerate, Miss Anastasia.”

“Hmph, don’t try any tricks.”

With a cold snort of dissatisfaction, Anastasia unbuckled her sword and handed it to a soldier at the side.

The tension on Norton’s face relaxed slightly. He let out a quiet sigh of relief and took the initiative to lift the tent flap, gesturing for Fia’s group of three to enter.

In the center of the tent, which was brightly lit by numerous torches, was a long table made of many smaller tables pieced together. On it was a spread-out map of the Oro territory. The map had not been put away, indicating that Estelle had been discussing a counterattack here not long ago.

Fia placed her right hand lightly on Liti’s shoulder, signaling for her to walk behind, while she herself took the lead towards the tent.

Half a foot inside the entrance.

Then.

“Seize them!”

Norton’s sharp command came from Fia’s right side. Along with it, Norton’s hand reached for Fia’s shoulder.

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It was clearly a grappling posture. She was being treated as an enemy.

Although she didn’t know the reason, Fia’s answer was very simple.

If you’re going to be a disadvantage to me, then you’d better be prepared.

In the nick of time, she took a step back, dodging Norton’s outstretched hand. Then, she grabbed Norton’s wrist with her left hand, twisted her body, and used her shoulder to flip him over her head, slamming him hard onto the ground.

A dull thud of flesh hitting the earth.

Fia’s movements were not over. Before Norton could react, she squatted down and pressed her knee against his neck. Ignoring the cracking sound from his arms, she forcefully twisted them behind his back.

“Uggghhhhhh!!”

Norton immediately cried out in pain, but Fia was unmoved. She looked up at the soldiers who had surrounded her in a semicircle.

Because the fluid movements were completed in the blink of an eye, Norton’s soldiers had just drawn their weapons and had not yet had time to advance. Norton’s pained cries made them hesitate to take another step, each of them with a look of shock and uncertainty on their faces.

“Is this the hospitality of the House of Oro?” Fia applied a little more force to the arm she had twisted behind Norton, forcing him to submit. “Tell your men to back off, or I will make you all suffer.”

“Don’t… Don’t mind me! They are Darkborn disguised as elves! Kill them!”

Although his facial features were already contorted in pain, Norton clenched his teeth and squeezed out a command.

Hearing the word “Darkborn,” the previously hesitant soldiers gradually made their choice. One of them summoned his courage and charged at Fia. After this person, the others were also encouraged and charged together, with spells like [Fireball] and [Light Arrow] flying in between.

“Stubborn.”

“Your Highness, leave it to me.”

“No need, I can handle them myself. Let them give up all hope.”

[Telekinesis]

Condensing the spatial force into a giant’s arm, Fia made the spatial hand make a grasping motion. First, it crushed all the incoming spells, then it lifted the spatial hand and, from right to left, grabbed all the charging soldiers, suspending them high in the air.

In just the blink of an eye, Norton and his soldiers were held in Fia’s palm. If Fia wanted, she could increase the force at any time and make blood splatter from her hand.

Translator Note

heh-