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Chapter 28
Redias Argenta was already widely known as the head family’s teacher.
“Good morning, Sir!”
“Oh, are you heading off to train?”
His easygoing personality was equally famous, as was the way he freely mingled with people regardless of their status or position.
And this was despite the fact that, as the current head of the family, Dielo Argenta’s uncle, he was practically an advisor to the knights.
He was someone worthy of respect, yet whenever people tried to keep their distance from him, he would approach them even more warmly.
That was because he wasn’t the lord.
And because he knew that the closer he became to people, the more genuine information he could obtain from them.
“Sir Redias, didn’t you go to the battlefield?”
That was why he heard news faster than the other Argentas.
Naturally, he had heard it from the people living on the fourth floor of the Argenta estate.
“The battlefield? I just came in to report.”
“No, I mean somewhere other than where you normally were. The place where the head of the family went himself.”
“…The head of the family?”
His ash-gray hair, still wet from washing after returning from the battlefield moments ago, swayed.
Was there really a battlefield so urgent that the head of the family himself had to move at a time like this?
Then, an unexpected piece of news dropped before his increasingly serious expression.
“Yes. Apparently, he went after Mirta.”
“There must already have been people pursuing him, though?”
The Argenta on the fourth floor answered.
“Yes, but apparently he said he would deal with it himself.”
Redias Argenta tilted his head slightly at those words.
He wasn’t someone who acted so impulsively.
As he wondered about it, another shocking statement reached his ears.
“Apparently, Madam went to the same place as well.”
“What?”
Krua Alloze.
No, the person who was now Krua Argenta.
He didn’t know when she would leave, but for now, she was unquestionably the lady of this household.
As a blood relative of the main Argenta family, Redias knew about the Fake Pero plan, and he fell into thought.
Dielo!
He remembered the woman with deep violet hair who had ridden toward him on horseback, shouting his name on the battlefield.
She had been an impressive person.
The way she had thrown herself into the battlefield without hesitation had made him wish that she really were the Duchess of Argenta, rather than the fake Pero created according to their plan—
“…It might be a good idea to send people to greet the two of them.”
As he said that, he tilted his head.
He was becoming increasingly curious about what kind of person Madam was to make the head of the family move so impulsively.
“I heard Mirta betrayed us.”
“What? Didn’t he sign a blood contract before leaving just recently?”
“That’s why the head of the family personally punished him.”
News of Mirta’s betrayal soon began circulating throughout the Argenta estate.
“The atmosphere is pretty unsettled.”
“I’ve never seen a traitor come out before.”
“Not until the previous Duke was still—”
“Shh. Keep your voice down.”
There were particularly many servants staying on the third floor and below who had loose lips.
But from the fourth floor upward, everything remained as quiet as before.
Without the slightest disturbance.
“It isn’t a serious wound.”
As soon as we returned, I insisted on looking at the wound that had already received first aid, but Dielo waved his hand dismissively.
“You still need to get it treated.”
Ignoring his protests, I grabbed his arm.
When I undid the buttons on his sleeve and rolled it up, a wound that was much longer and deeper than I had expected was revealed.
“…Good heavens.”
And he called that not a serious wound?
When I looked shocked, Dielo smiled awkwardly.
“It’s common on the battlefield.”
As he said that, he even brought over the first-aid kit himself.
Yet he had been so sensitive about my injuries.
“We should call a doctor.”
That wound looked far deeper than my bruises or blood congestion.
It didn’t seem like something that would heal easily.
“It’s fine.”
But Dielo shook his head.
“I don’t want to cause an unnecessary commotion.”
At his words, Pielle, who had been standing close to us, lowered his head and stepped backward.
“There would be no benefit in letting the people inside the castle know that I’m injured.”
Dielo’s gentle words suddenly snapped me back to reality.
Come to think of it, Mirta couldn’t possibly be the only traitor in the estate.
A traitor had appeared even on the fourth floor.
There had to be others who had yet to be weeded out.
As long as they remained, there was nothing good that could come from word of Dielo’s injury spreading.
“Then let me take care of it.”
I should repay the favor of having been treated, right?
With that, I took the bandages from his hand.
After carefully disinfecting the wound first, I wrapped the bandage around his arm.
Of course, I couldn’t do it as neatly as a doctor would have, but the treatment was completed in a reasonably presentable manner.
As Dielo watched me close the first-aid kit, he suddenly spoke.
“…I thought he would make a wiser choice.”
When I looked up at him, his eyes were lowered.
“Mirta?”
At my words, Dielo nodded slightly.
“Yes. He and I have known each other for a long time.”
For a moment, I wondered what I should say.
You can know what’s ten miles deep in the water, but not what’s inside a person’s heart?
Or should I ask if he thought people had a special face that screamed traitor?
But his face looked genuinely hurt, so I couldn’t bring myself to say either.
“…Did you think that someone who had known Dielo for so long wouldn’t betray you?”
“Yes.”
At that straightforward answer, I opened and closed my mouth.
Oh, you poor fool!
Apparently, there was going to be a lot I needed to teach him using this incident as an opportunity.
He was the strongest head of the family in history…
But since I’d chosen someone whose personality was far softer than I had expected as our hidden card—
I would have to teach him a little about how the world worked if we wanted our plan to proceed without a hitch.
“It seems there were other people who were planning to leave for Cartiel as well. Have you found out who they are?”
At my question, Dielo nodded.
“The informants will find out soon.”
Still, I was relieved that even Argenta’s intelligence department wasn’t made of soft, fluffy pudding.
Just as Pielle was Argenta’s sharp claws.
Moreover, according to the original novel, the head of Argenta’s intelligence department was thoroughly obsessed with the Argenta family.
He would weed out the traitors himself.
But it would be a problem if Dielo simply continued sitting around doing nothing like this.
Of course, his personality was perfect for making Duke Alloze lower his guard…
But it had to be an act.
If he was genuinely this soft, we had a problem!
“Let’s find out another way, too.”
In other words—
Project: Make Dielo Spicy!
Fortunately, I knew exactly what methods the original Krua had used in situations like this.
Dielo’s eyes widened at my words.
Now that Mirta and the Cartiel who had been leading him were dead, there was no one left for us to interrogate directly.
But there were certainly people who had intended to move together with Mirta.
The way to catch them was simple.
Spread a rumor.
“I heard Cartiel was planning to use the Argenta who fled.”
“That’s right. Apparently, they planned to extract information from Mirta and then kill him.”
“What vile bastards.”
…A rumor like that.
They had prepared to flee to Cartiel because Argenta was unstable, only to discover that Cartiel had never intended to let them live?
Then there was no doubt that some people would become anxious.
Argenta’s intelligence department couldn’t spread such nonsense without a direct order, so they had been using other troublesome procedures to identify the traitors.
Thanks to that, the moment I spread the rumor, they quickly captured the traitors.
“That’s quite an ingenious idea.”
While Dielo genuinely admired me, Argenta’s intelligence department brought two traitors before us.
Of course, they looked as though they’d been beaten up pretty badly somewhere along the way.
“They aren’t talking.”
The informant reported.
Apparently, he had asked whether there were any other traitors.
“Hmm.”
They were forced to kneel in front of the sofa where we sat.
Dielo looked thoughtful.
“…What should we do?”
The informant looked up at Dielo, the head of the family.
Dielo looked slightly troubled.
“Shall we deal with them ourselves?”
The informant asked.
Apparently, this wasn’t the first time they’d dealt with something like this.
Well, there was no way Dielo, with his personality, would order them to torture these people.
But if things continued like this, the head of the family might be underestimated.
I raised my hand to stop the informant.
“If you don’t mind, let me question them once. What do you think?”
I turned toward Dielo, and he tilted his head slightly.
“…Even if you threaten to kill them, they won’t talk easily.”
He spoke carefully.
He was right.
Even after the word kill was brought up, the captured traitors didn’t show the slightest sign of wavering.
“…”
I stared at them.
Inside Krua’s memories, there was a carefully organized collection of methods for dealing with people like this.
“There are many ways to make someone afraid besides killing them.”
At my words, not only the Argenta informants and Dielo, but even the captured traitors looked up at me.
“Watch carefully.”
I’ll teach you how to make someone talk without even having to draw a blade.
Dielo smiled faintly at my words.
“I’ll keep it in mind.”
“Keep it in—”
…There was no need to go that far, but I stopped myself.
Right.
Maybe he really did need to take this to heart.
It felt like I was darkening the only genuinely good person in this novel, but I couldn’t help it.
If this man continued living so softheartedly, he’d get stabbed in the back and die!
While every character in this novel seemed to have a screw loose somewhere, making the whole world taste like extra-spicy mala, this man wasn’t even spicy.
He was practically milk itself.
I knew exactly how devious and cruel Duke Alloze and Pentas Alloze were in the original novel.
At this rate, we’re doomed!
“Prepare two rooms. It would be good if we could separate them with a glass wall in the middle. Even if we don’t, make sure they’ll be able to hear each other.”
At my words, the informants exchanged glances.
