This Emperor Is Running a Marriage Scam - Chapter 243

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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Chapter 243

‘Damn it all!’
Ever since the incident with that potent laxative, Nelloa had done nothing but fall into Hailey’s traps while trying to track her down properly.
Once, following a pungent smell, she’d found meat roasting most appetizingly over a fire. Even suspecting Hailey might have laced it with something, Nelloa had swallowed hard and crept closer—only to slip and fall flat on her face in an instant.
Turned out Hailey had spread cooking oil all over the ground.
Fortunately her bones hadn’t broken, but her whole body was covered in bruises. Even riding a Monster, she’d let out involuntary groans every time her body jolted.
‘Just let me catch sight of her once! I swear I won’t let this go!’
Nelloa ground her teeth and sent smaller Monsters to follow the smell of campfires or cooking. Hailey had to be at the end of one of those trails.
But the Monsters that returned pointed in completely different directions.
When she checked, she found that Hailey had lit campfires at every fork in the passage, leaving meat and fish roasting on them before moving on.
At some spots, the food had burned so thoroughly that black smoke filled the entire passage. The Monsters could handle it fine, but for a human like Nelloa it was sheer torture.
Whenever she managed to get close before the food burned, she’d find slippery cooking oil pooled thickly across the ground, waiting for her.
‘So that’s it—she’s using the smell of food as bait and setting traps around it?’
It was infuriating, but there was no way around it. No matter how dark the passage, she just had to be more careful about where she stepped.
So then Hailey started dropping food scraps on her from above. A trap that exploited her focus on the ground.
On days like that, it took hours just to leave through the Outside the Gate, wash up, change clothes, and come back.
And today had nearly become a real disaster.
For some reason, a rich, savory smell of miso soup wafted through the air. When Nelloa went to investigate, she caught sight of Hailey in the distance, frantically fleeing on the back of a lizard-like creature. Above a campfire, a pot of miso soup bubbled away in considerable quantity.
‘Of course she’s set another trap.’
Nelloa held up her lamp and examined the ground. Sure enough, cooking oil stretched across the floor just ahead, but its width was only about thirty centimeters. Moreover, it ran horizontally, so she could avoid it with just one careful step.
She checked the ceiling next, and oddly, there was nothing there.
‘Looks like she panicked and fled before finishing setting up.’
Reassured, Nelloa approached the miso soup with one of her Monsters.
As she lifted the pot, a long piece of firewood that had been leaning against it at an angle lost its balance and tumbled down.
Crack!
Sparks flew and flames erupted around her.
In that instant, the fire spread left and right, and within seconds it had encircled her from behind.
“Eek!”
Startled, Nelloa dropped the pot. Miso soup splashed everywhere, splattering across her face and the backs of her hands.
“Ow, it’s hot!”
Nelloa hopped about frantically while scanning her surroundings. The flames formed a figure-eight pattern around the campfire. She’d been too focused on the miso soup smell to notice, but now that the fire was burning, the distinctive scent of Lamp Oil grew overwhelmingly strong.
‘She was using Cooking Oil before?’
Nelloa scrambled onto the Monster’s back and somehow managed to escape through the flames, but there was no avoiding the singed hair, blackened clothes, and burns scattered across her body.
.
.
.
“Argh! I’m so furious I could die because of that Hailey!”
When Nelloa came to Iturn and poured out the story of her misadventures, she continued screaming while tearing at her hair.
“I can’t take it anymore! I’m going to kill her right now!”
Iturn, who had listened to her complaints the whole time, let out a quiet chuckle.
-That’s amusing. But how exactly would you kill her?
“Well, that’s the problem. Those guards of hers are stronger than I expected.”
Nelloa fell silent for a moment, then sighed.
“Actually, if I think about it rationally, it seems like you’re the only one who can do it.”
-Since we’re already luring her this way, we just need to wait.
“But she just keeps digging traps like a rat and dodging all over the place before coming here. The thought of waiting for her to arrive makes me want to scream.”
Nelloa looked around. The place where Iturn was located had the most spacious area Inside the Gate.
“Besides, she only travels on small paths anyway. She won’t come here even if she does arrive.”
-So you don’t want to wait?
“That’s right.”
-Then let’s lure her to come faster.
“Huh? There’s a way to do that?”
-Yes. While we’re at it, should we do it now? Ah, the Emperor is also coming to the Northern Gate, so we could kill them both at once this way.
Iturn began to converse with the other heads in a language Nelloa couldn’t understand. It looked as though they were having some kind of council among themselves.
Soon Iturn let out a deliberate cough.
-When the Emperor and that woman are dead, you’ll become the Emperor of the Empire, yes?
“That’s right.”
-Then you’ll provide me with substantial support.
“Of course not. We’re not strangers, are we?”
-That’s exactly why I’m going to tell you what my ability really is.
“Your ability?”
-I can communicate with those who possess an Ability. That’s what I can do.
Nelloa narrowed her eyes at what seemed like old news being brought up again.
-I’m the thirteenth head, remember? The abilities you’ve seen from me aren’t just the thirteenth head’s powers.
Iturn spoke while looking at the heads around him.
-The twelfth head commands Monsters. The eleventh can issue direct orders to any Monster no matter where it is. The tenth can directly perceive what any designated Monster sees and hears.
“Wait!”
Nelloa’s eyes widened in surprise.
“You’re saying each head has its own separate ability?”
-Some heads share the same ability. The sixth through ninth heads sealed the Spirit King. The fourth and fifth heads can breathe fire.
All the heads nodded in unison.
Nelloa, counting on her fingers as she listened, turned to Iturn with a question.
“What about the remaining three heads? What are their abilities?”
-The first head lures entities from the Abyss to come here. The second swallows its target whole and casts them into the Dimension of Truth and Illusion.
“The Dimension of Truth and Illusion? What is that?”
-A very small pocket space inside my belly. It lets you see the target’s past as an illusion. Since I can see it too, I sometimes devour creatures from the Abyss just to peek at their pasts for entertainment. Hehehehe.
“If you go in, can you get back out?”
-Only if you could cut open my belly, I suppose?
Iturn paused briefly, then shook his head.
-Well, everything I’ve swallowed so far has just dried up and died in there. But that’s not the important part—it’s the third head’s role.
Having said that much, Iturn abruptly shoved the first head through the gate connecting to the Abyss Realm.
When the head emerged moments later, a spectral raven wreathed in vaporous smoke burst forth. The ghostly bird perched briefly atop Iturn’s head before streaking away like an arrow into the distance.
“Iturn, what did you just do?”
-Sent it on an errand. Just wait a moment.
Nelloa sank down onto the floor.
-Right, what happened with that woman Anna? Weren’t you supposed to rescue her?
“Oh, that turned out to be less complicated than I expected. When I found out later, I didn’t even need to open a Derivative Gate, which was honestly ridiculous.”
Nelloa began to speak, recalling events from a few days prior.
She had managed to rescue the imprisoned Anna by using up all the Derivative Gate Seeds she had barely managed to create.
She had expected the security to be formidable, and worried that Raven might be standing guard, making the operation extremely tense. But to her surprise, the guards were remarkably lax.
Only two Knights stood watch outside the detention area, and inside there was no one but Anna.
“So I explained the situation here and told her to follow my instructions.”
-And she agreed?
“Of course. It’s her only way to survive. That’s why I hid her in House of Roan’s territory before leaving.”
Nelloa laughed to herself.
“If Bloden dies here, all the Commanders return to the Abyss anyway, right? The rest is easy pickings.”
After that, once Anna and House of Roan immediately raised their forces to occupy the Imperial Palace, everything would fall into place like dominoes.
-If the plan works out, I’ll finally get to taste a feast fit for the gods. Hehehehe.
“What’s the point of saying that.”
It was then.
“Caw! Caaaaw!”
“Caw-caw!”
The sound of ravens crying loudly came from the distance.
All thirteen of Iturn’s heads turned in the same direction, and Nelloa rose to her feet, gazing toward the source of the noise.
The spectral raven that Iturn had sent was returning. Behind it, black lines continued to materialize, attacking Iturn’s ghostly bird.
“Kuoooooh!”
Iturn roared harshly. The air trembled, and the black lines that had been slashing through the void froze, their form becoming visible.
It was another spectral raven—identical to the one Iturn had sent.
“Caaaaw!”
The ghostly raven cried out loudly upon seeing Iturn and quickly fled, while the raven freed from the attack staggered and landed atop Iturn’s second head.
“Surely… that’s one of Bloden’s Commanders?”
Iturn chuckled.
-That’s right. I deliberately let it follow me. Those creatures had set up camp in front of the Northern Gate. Since this location’s been exposed now, they’ll push through soon enough.
No sooner had he finished speaking than Iturn’s third head swallowed the ghostly raven whole. It all happened in an instant, leaving Nelloa’s eyes wide open in shock.
“Ahem, ahem.”
The third head soon began to cough, and the thirteenth head turned to Nelloa with a question.
-What does Bloden call that woman?
“Either Hailey or Nuna, as far as I heard.”
Nelloa tilted her head, adding another thought.
“She could be called Adeline. Though I’ve never seen anyone actually call her that.”
-Very well, third head. Now show me what your ability is.
The third head opened its mouth as if it had been waiting for this moment.
“Hailey, Nuna, Adeline.”
Nelloa’s eyes widened in shock, her ears straining to believe what she heard. The voice and manner of speech from the third head were unmistakably Bloden.

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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