My wife is an immortal black snake.

Page 184

Their compensation is as follows:

1,10 years of tax exemption for trade at the Kawu border.

2. Open the Kau border now, immediately—otherwise, not only will the Ursus army not be able to break through this defense line that is only slightly harder than a hymen, their own people will puncture this membrane from the inside just to get Ursus's aid.

3. Casimir will have to pay a huge sum of reparations to Ursus after the war ends. Based on the assumption that each murdered Ursus merchant is worth 100 rubles, Casimir will need to pay over 3 rubles to each family of the Ursus victims. Of course, considering that Casimir is still at war with Colombia, this money can be paid in installments over ten years—but interest will be charged.

“I did the math, and in ten years, Kazimir will have to pay back more interest than the principal… But whatever, my husband’s personal toy will soon become the Grand Duchess of Kazimir. I can reduce the interest for her then, and it will also make the people of Kazimir have more faith in her rule—I think it’s a good deal.”

"As expected of you, the immortal old black serpent. I utterly admit defeat in the face of your cunning and treachery. But then again, how much support do our people have for the war right now?"

“Alas, thanks to my husband’s plan—even the seemingly calm and peace-loving Lady Kal’tsit supported a limited war against the refugees in Kazimierz, not to mention the ordinary people.”

"Where are the Sarkaz?"

"Mercenaries? Those mercenaries from the Kazdel region have been eager to try—this is the fourth clause. Kazimierz allows mercenaries from Kazdel to enter."

"I thought they would insist on refusing. My lord is indeed formidable."

"Impossible. They've already lost the people's trust. If they refuse again, their people will overthrow them and elect a new ruler—even if it's destined, they'll still want to hold on, won't they?"

Also, that's my husband.

Kosiche coldly watched His Majesty the Emperor, who was sitting comfortably on the sofa, rubbing his belly and drinking tea. When he saw His Majesty lovingly admiring his lower abdomen, Kosiche's eyes twitched.

She's jealous! She's envious! I was here first, and I did it the most times, so why did you, this nouveau riche, get shot just because you were lucky?

Was my posture wrong? Kosiché looked at His Majesty's lower abdomen with considerable envy. Finally, she sighed and decided to finish her work first before having a proper discussion with her husband about the current problem.

"Then there's the issue of civilian aid teams and humanitarian volunteers. My duchy can't provide that many necessities right now, but it can provide some former soldiers who are going to help the people of Kazimir for the greater good."

"My Imperial Guards can't demonstrate, and those army groups still dealing with remnants and rebuilding towns can't be sent out either. So Saint-Germain Castle can only provide necessities as aid—ah, Head Maid Monica? Could you get me a cup of hot milk? Sigh... I feel like the little heir in my belly is a naughty baby..."

“...Your Majesty, if you are not feeling well, you may return…” Kosich’s lips twitched, and his hand holding the wine glass trembled slightly.

"I just want to show off in front of you, so what?" Faced with Koschei's "well-intentioned" reminder, His Majesty the Emperor simply gave a mysterious smile and announced in front of Koschei that he did this to make her envious—yes, she did it on purpose.

"..." So what can Koschche do?

Although Kosiché wanted nothing more than to drag that bitch out and flush her down the drain... the child her beloved husband longed for was inside that bitch's belly...

Woo...

The thought that this was her home, and that this scoundrel emperor was probably in her house, in a room she had provided, whispering sweet nothings with her husband... Kosichelle felt incredibly wronged, very dissatisfied, and even somewhat...

...excited?

She quickly put down her wine glass, wondering if her life had changed so much in the past few days!

This shouldn't be happening! Why would I be excited about my husband being taken by someone else?!

This is so, so strange!

"—Lord Koschche? Would you like some warm milk?"

Seemingly noticing Lord Koschche's unusual behavior, Head Maid Monica smiled and brought over a plate. The glass filled with hot milk on the plate seemed to appear somewhat green to Koschche for some reason.

Her lips twitched. She glanced at the Emperor, who seemed to be enjoying his warm milk quite a bit in the distance, but in the end, she still...

"No, never mind. Sigh..."

"Yes."

She sighed, thinking that she should try to resolve her strange, seemingly twisted obsession through work...

... .....

While the Ursus Empire and Kazimir were engaged in a rapid wrangling over this [unexpected event]—

On the other side, in the eastern city of Kazimir, or more precisely, within the Great Knights' Territory of the Eastern City.

Mars and Lily found the place where Theresa's family business used to be. Although the dilapidated-looking mansion is still "for sale," they did find Theresa's former residence nonetheless.

After chewing on toothpicks and wandering around the area, they found their destination about 10 kilometers away from Theresa's ancestral home.

"I remember this should be the gathering place of those remnants of the army, and also the location of Theresa's father's grave, right?"

"I remember that most residents of mobile cities just dump the bodies and belongings in the funeral parlor and that's it, right?"

"Rich people can even waste land by having their bodies buried in countries where cremation is required. Sigh, let's go take a look."

This is a slum-like place on the outskirts of the Great Knight's territory, specifically designed to provide shelter for the homeless or impoverished. Naturally, these deserters aren't criminals, but having lost their knighthood or soldier status, they lack the money or ability to stay in the better urban areas, so they naturally end up in this godforsaken place.

This area had accumulated a large number of refugees from western cities due to previous war defeats. Under the watchful eyes of Mars and Lily, they didn't see any trace of any remaining soldiers.

“This doesn’t make sense. Logically speaking, those remnants should be easy to identify, right?” Mars said to Lily, completely bewildered. “But where are they now?”

"I'm not entirely sure, but if I remember correctly, in such chaotic times, those remaining soldiers who were still loyal to their dead generals probably camped near the cemetery to prevent anyone from digging up their generals' graves."

"If Theresa knew that refugees wanted to dump her father's grave, she would probably blow it up."

"Hard to say."

Lily shrugged, then led Mars through the slums, eventually arriving at what was supposed to be the grave of Theresa's father—in this mobile city where land was incredibly valuable, it was unheard of for a deserter general to have a place to go.

If they hadn't seen it with their own eyes, perhaps Mars and Lily wouldn't have believed it either. But after actually seeing the group of armed remnants guarding the cemetery so fiercely, they understood—those remnants had actually united and become the local tyrants.

"...But the problem is, why are there other refugees inside? I thought that when they were protecting their general's tomb, they would drive out anyone who wasn't one of them." Mars glanced at the situation inside the cemetery and, after discovering that many refugees had already set up tents and had a temporary place to stay with the help of the remaining soldiers, she blinked.

“Don’t say anything more. After all, they were once knights or soldiers—but then again, the policies of those idiots in the Kazimierz leadership are indeed unsatisfactory.” Faced with Mars’s astonishment, Lily simply sighed.

"Huh? Capitalists don't care what nationality they have afterward. If the Colombians hadn't used poison gas, they probably would have been the first to surrender, right?"

"Then the stubborn knights will insist on their own way, thinking that their Pegasus Silver Spear will work. I want to see if those knights can use the human centipede to fill the population when only 1 people remain in Kazimierz."

"...Lily, you're disgusting."

"Is it my fault? I only started thinking about it because Grovazel told me our boss has this weird fetish, right? Didn't your Snake Scale guy mention that?"

"...He said our current boss likes centaurs."

"...As expected."

They chatted and whispered amongst themselves, plotting something loudly, before finally stepping forward in front of the wary remnants of the army.

Before the remaining soldiers could say anything, Mars, without turning his head, indicated—

"Do you still want to see the Nowitzki family revive?"

Chapter 37

...

Mars and Lily were quickly led by the remnants to the closest place to Theresa's father's burial ground—it seemed to be the gravedigger's hut, or so it appeared, but in reality, it had been converted by the remnants into a temporary command center.

Even though these remnants were abandoned by their own army, and even though they were no longer led by their former generals, they still maintained military habits and managed their men in a military manner. They would salute those of higher rank, they would take turns standing guard according to their former positions, and the former staff officers would run around carrying large amounts of paper documents. Now, their commander was someone...

Major?

Lily paused for a moment before realizing that she hadn't misread it—the guy who commanded the armed force that might have over 5 people in the area was a major.

"I've heard you have information about the Nowitzki family." Major Kuranta, who had been hunched over his command table, looked up and scrutinized the two women with his bloodshot eyes and grimy face. "And I recognize you. Even from dozens of kilometers away, I can smell the capitalist stench emanating from you. So, tell me, how is the General's daughter doing now?"

It seems this major is quite averse to capital companies—but thinking about it, it makes sense; not many knights would have a favorable impression of capital companies.

With that thought in mind, Lily calmed herself down. She simply gestured for Mars to get ready, then swaggered forward a couple of steps.

"Theresa Nowitzki—she's our manager now, and she's doing quite well lately, making money hand over fist every day. Are you satisfied with that?"

The major was taken aback for a moment, but he was clearly relieved.

“It would be wonderful if Miss could have her own life,” he said, but he still harbored distrust towards Mars and Lily: “But we still won’t trust you—everyone is utterly disillusioned with the current knightly regime and capitalist corporations. A bunch of scoundrels who are either obsessed with trivial matters or blinded by money! Just three days ago, one of the knights in Kazimir even ordered his subordinates to join him in a suicide attack…”

"Suicide attack? I remember the Western Theater Command was filled with toxic fumes, where you couldn't even see where the enemy was. How did they commit suicide without a target?"

"They had the slave soldiers and their retinues covered with wet cotton cloths and moved toward the source of the humming machines coming from the poisonous smoke—and then? And then nothing happened. Half the town could have escaped, but after they were all wiped out, the Colombian army launched a full-scale attack—and now all the survivors are outside."

"Um, we're new here, can't you just tell us exactly how many people there are?"

Mars, looking completely bewildered, interjected, "You're saying all the survivors are outside, but there are people everywhere outside! Who knows what kind of refugees you're talking about? Can't you just say how many people have fled here?"

Her interruption was answered by the staff officer standing next to the major:

"271 people, including those critically injured who are on the verge of death and whom we cannot treat."

How many people live in that town?

"7 people."

...Um?

Fine.

Mars scratched his head, admitting that the stubborn, narrow-minded noble knight had indeed made a bad move.

Perhaps his initial idea was good—that as long as the Colombian gas troops were dispersed, the Western Theater would be fine; that as long as the people of our town were sacrificed, Casimir would be fine, blah blah blah—but the problem is, if you're going to die, can't you just go and die yourselves? To be precise, can't you just go and die yourselves, without thinking?

If it were a trade where the deaths of 7 people could truly alter the course of a massive battle involving hundreds of thousands—if such an exchange were possible, then it would be understandable. But given that it's clearly impossible, isn't this like throwing good money after bad—a one-way street? Sigh...

Are all those stubborn, perfectionist knights a bunch of muscle-bound guys? Surely not.

...They recalled the terrible choice that Theresa's father had faced: either live as deserters with his men, or obey orders to wage a battle he could not win, which would severely weaken Kazimierz and ultimately lead to its destruction or its vassalage.

Okay then.

Mars felt a headache coming on—while Lily sighed helplessly on the other side.

"In short, we have a better understanding of the situation," she said to the major. "So let's get straight to the point. Let's let those who are not involved go first—"

"All the remnants of the army will only gather under the name of a single family or a single general."

"...OK."

"So if someone reports us, it won't be our fault?" Lily took a step back. Next, it was Mars's turn to work.

When it was her turn to perform on stage, Mas simply took one step forward and took something out of her pocket—a personal item she had taken from Theresa's room as revenge after Theresa had torn off her clothes during their close sisterly relationship.

This is a photocopy of Theresa's family seal, along with a photocopy of her handwritten signature.

"...Theresa Nowitzki will return to Kazimir with the goal of becoming Grand Duchess of Kazimir." Mars recalled the mission he had received from Ursus and announced this to the group of remnants who had suddenly fallen silent and turned to look at him. "This is a golden opportunity. She will use her personal wealth, earned through her own efforts in Ursus, to purchase equipment, hire Sarkaz mercenaries, and eventually come in person—but if possible, she hopes that you, the remnants who were once her father's subordinates, will support her."

...

No one answered. Everyone stared intently at Mars and Lily. The distrust in the eyes of these remnants was to be expected, even after they had brought out items that represented Theresa's personal belongings.

To be precise, it wasn't that they didn't trust Theresa, but rather that it wasn't Theresa who uttered those words and made those vows...?

Well, there's nothing we can do about it then.

Mars shrugged, tossed the item onto the command table, then pulled a communicator from her pocket. After pressing the red button three times, she tossed the expensive Originium-based precision device in front of the major.

"I think you'd be better off having a proper talk with your princess. After all, we lowly servants are just messengers."

"..."

The major frowned and put the communicator in his pocket.

But before he could examine the communicator closely, he heard a familiar voice he hadn't heard in years:

"—Mass, if you don't give me a reason to interrupt my afternoon tea, I'm firing you when you get back!!!"

...

The communicator, deliberately set to speakerphone by Mars, carried Theresa's irritated voice. The major involuntarily covered his forehead, overjoyed by the sound.

Chapter 38

......

When Theresa stormed out of bed and, without even cleaning up the crumbs of dessert that had fallen on her chest, unleashed three furious roars into the suddenly ringing communicator, she vaguely realized something was wrong.

Why is there absolutely no sound from the other end? Instead, I can hear a man sobbing? No? Mars, Lily, you used such expensive equipment just to fool me?! Is it your thinking that's wrong, or am I the one with the problem? At least have some consideration for me, a naive young woman who was just forcibly taken advantage of by her boss a few days ago?!

Why don't you let me rest? —Huh?

I forgot, it seems you guys don't know this?

Theresa blinked, remained silent for a while, and then reached out to brush the breadcrumbs off her pajamas.

And then again... why is that man still sobbing?

"Mass? Lily? You're not going to try and fool me with a recording like this, are you?"

Is this really not a recording? Or did you, Mars and Lily, use all sorts of despicable means to make some man cry? You shameless sisters are truly—

"—Teresa? Is that you?"