Isekai Adventure in the Dimensional Cube

Reiger hadn't expected that Yuri would come to his side first while he was planning to meet up with her.

The young lady and her maid were both unharmed, not even their clothes were ruffled, appearing calm and collected as if the attack on the Franzel household was just a game. Yuri's steps towards Reiger were even somewhat leisurely.

"It seems that worrying about you was unnecessary," Reiger commented.

Yuri glanced at the masked individuals, either lying in pools of blood or slumped in corners, and couldn't help but murmur.

Marilyn also glanced at the Hermit's Sword in Reiger's hand and, without a word, stood half a step behind Yuri, protecting her mistress.

"Why did you come here?" Reiger flicked the blood off the Hermit's Sword and said to Yuri, "This place is dangerous, you shouldn't have come out."

There was a tone of rebuke in Reiger's voice that he wasn't even aware of.

"It's fine, I have Marilyn with me." Yuri caught the note of reprimand and her lips curved in an almost imperceptible smile. "If I hadn't come out, no one would have been able to dispel the Tactical Level Magic Barrier shrouding the Franzel household. I had to come in order to put an end to this farce."

"A farce?" Reiger raised an eyebrow slightly at this description and asked, "Why do you say that?"

"Because nobody would believe that I could come to any harm in the royal capital of Yelruf," Yuri said flatly. "That includes the people who planned this attack."

Reiger whispered, "The Basoro Family?"

"Exactly," Yuri said with an ironic tone. "How blatant they were with the attack. If I really had been harmed, the Basoro Family would have been finished."

Nobody would believe that the Basoro Family could plan this attack and keep it under wraps.

Reiger could immediately figure out who had been used and who had planned the attack—how could others not come to the same conclusion?

Indeed, as Yuri had said, the attack was all too obvious. It was only the suddenness that had led to an uncontrollable chaos. Once the affair concluded, tracing the orchestrator would be a simple matter.

Without mentioning the servants who received money to cripple the Franzel family's magic defense system for the Basoro Family, they could all serve as living witnesses.

In such a situation, if Yuri, a national treasure-level magician of the Ginas Kingdom, were harmed, the royal wrath would be tremendous. The Basoro Family would provoke the rage of the entire kingdom, facing the severest of punishments.

A strategic magician is just that important. Any loss would mean significantly weakening a nation's military power and threat level. If the Basoro Family dared to commit such an act so brazenly, it would be tantamount to courting their own doom.

Even a Marquis's family, regardless of its foolishness, shouldn't be foolish to such an extent.

Therefore, to some perceptive individuals, this attack seemed very intriguing.

Reiger too quickly realized what Yuri meant.

"Are you suggesting that the Basoro Family attacked this place with an ulterior motive?" Reiger grasped the point.

"Precisely," Yuri nodded, her beautiful face showing disgust as she spoke, "The Basoro Family likely concocted this attack as a ploy to prevent me from leaving the capital and heading back to Franzel territory to annul the marriage contract with them."

This sounded somewhat illogical, yet Reiger still grasped the underlying complexities.

The Basoro Family's attack was not about harming Yuri but about creating a false impression of an "attack on Marquis Franzel."

An important Ginas Kingdom's strategic magician being brazenly attacked right in the heart of the royal capital, Yelruf, was bound to cause an uproar.

Yet, after the commotion, the kingdom would become anxious, fearing that Yuri could be attacked by villains and harmed again.

Consequently, as long as the Basoro Family meddled, with just a little manipulation, they could ensure the royal family and the kingdom's nobles would insist on keeping Yuri confined to the capital for her protection, preventing her from venturing out and risking danger.

That was the Basoro Family's goal.

"What's the point of that?" Reiger said somewhat incredulously. "Even if they keep you here and prevent you from returning to Franzel territory to cancel the marriage contract, can the Basoro Family really force you into marriage?"

Reiger truly didn't understand the point of such a strategy.

If Yuri didn't wish to marry, what would it matter if her father agreed to the engagement?

If Yuri refused to honor the marriage contract, could the Basoro Family really force her into marriage?

To coerce a strategic magician into marriage?

Did they really think she would meekly comply?

In thinking this way, Reiger had completely forgotten that this wasn't the modern world but rather a world akin to medieval Europe.

"They wouldn't dare force a marriage, of course. But once the engagement is seen as confirmed, the young miss might actually have to marry," Marilyn suddenly spoke, startling Reiger.

This too seemed to make little sense, yet it wasn't mere nonsense without reason.

In this world, nobles, while enjoying their privileges, are also under the scrutiny of the people; they must consider their noble status and face in everything they do.

Something like a marriage pledge might not seem so significant among the commoners, where there's no need to adhere to many formalities, but it's different in the world of nobility.

It's like the ancient world in a previous life, where the daughters of deep courtyards were often at the mercy of their parents' commands and matchmakers' words for marriage arrangements.

Yuri, thanks to her abilities and special status, wasn't like those daughters, unable to utter even a word of dissent, but in some ways, she indeed found herself powerless.

Otherwise, why would this young lady have once sarcastically referred to herself as a war tool without freedom?

Due to her position and the impact on the nation, Yuri was often restricted, like being unable to casually use Tactical Level Magic or strategy-level magic, being unable to step out of the country at will, not being able to go wherever she wanted—these were all manifestations of a lack of freedom.

The Basoro Family planned this attack, and if it truly had an impact, resulting in the royal family and the nobles collectively retaining Yuri to prevent her from leaving the capital, could Yuri really ignore the royal command and just leave?

The Franzel Family could be accused of insubordination in minutes and it wouldn't be surprising if the entire family were executed.

Therefore, if Yuri were confined to the capital, not permitted to leave, then the Basoro Family, through negotiations with Yuri's father, might indeed be able to enforce the marriage pledge in name.

At that point, just a bit of propaganda would lead the general public to believe that the two families were about to be in-laws.

In time, there would be numerous political, economic, military, and even civilian collaborations between Basolo and Franzel territories. Over time, it's entirely possible for the two regions to become inseparable.

If things took this turn, and Yuri didn't fulfill the marriage pledge, there could be unrest between the two territories, at the very least affecting interests, and at worst, it might even impact the livelihoods of the subjects.

And if the turmoil became too great, it could affect the entire Ginas Kingdom.

In such a case, the royal family might even have to command a marriage to avoid chaos and disturbance in the kingdom.

If so, Yuri, if she didn't want to marry, would only have the choice to abandon her status, her family, and even her homeland, leaving this land behind.

But would the kingdom allow a strategy-level magician to just leave?

Impossible.

If this strategy-level magician became a criminal later and used extremely harmful strategy-level magic against the Ginas Kingdom, what then?

And if this strategy-level magician was lured by an enemy nation, becoming an enemy and threatening national security, what then?

All these concerns would prompt the nation to become Yuri's enemy.

By then, the best outcome for Yuri would probably be to be secretly eliminated, and the worst, only one—worse than death.

This is the so-called butterfly effect.

For a person like Yuri, even doing something a bit more dramatic could elicit an extreme reaction from others.

The King could confine his own children for her sake, to give her face, but he may also decide to become an assassin for her lack of respect toward him.

The Basolo Family targeted this weakness, which is why they resorted to such a low tactic, relying on this method to detain Yuri, to buy time to create a fait accompli.

"There's such a thing?"

Reiger learned something new.

He had encountered this kind of political and business intrigue before, but the situation in his previous life was different from this world, meaning some of the experiences from his past didn't fully apply here.

Thus, he had not anticipated such maneuvers in this world, and it truly opened his eyes.

But he still had some unresolved questions.

"Even if the Basolo Family wants to avoid harming you, their attack on the Franzel Family is a fact. Aren't they afraid of being held accountable?"

Reiger was puzzled by this.

"Accountable? How?" Yuri shook her head and said, "The assailants of the Franzel Family were only slaves; not a single one belonged to the Basolo Family. Even if we're discussing these masked assassins, I'm afraid it's impossible to confirm their identities, confirm that they are assassins raised by the Basolo Family. The Basolo Family can completely disavow knowledge of these masked individuals, and as for the slaves, they can explain it away as a revolt, finding all sorts of ways to exonerate themselves."

Slave revolts were not uncommon in this world.

After all, who would want to be a slave for life?

Once subjected to inhumane treatment, once discontent with the reality of having their human rights stripped away, the slaves would revolt and resist.

As for the enslavement contracts, they could be dissolved entirely.

A contract is not absolute; it's merely a tool utilized by magicians, able to be cast by a magician, and thus able to be undone by a magician.

An attendant contract is better because it creates a stable relationship on equal terms and is very difficult to dissolve.

But unilateral, coercive contracts like enslavement—that's another matter.