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Chapter 91
The shopping district of Tuna Territory was crowded with tourists from all over the Empire. There were all kinds of people gathered there, but most of their conversations centered around the Spes family’s new villa.
The villa, which was said to have been bestowed by the Emperor, had the best view in all of Tuna Territory. Sightings of the Fourth Prince and the Spes Duke’s daughter were popping up everywhere, along with testimonies that they had been the ones who defeated the monster that attacked the territory.
The mercenary Perry left a noisy restaurant he frequented, fiddling with his sword sheath.
“This is bad. We’re nowhere near the numbers we need.”
“It would be stranger if suitable candidates were common.”
The person who answered was a woman named Maria, her hood pulled low over her brown cloak.
She was so thin and frail that she looked as though she might snap if someone merely poked her, causing passersby to glance at her from time to time.
“What exactly is a suitable candidate? If you tell me, I can help you look. Two people should be better than one.”
“Even if I told you, you wouldn’t be able to find them.”
Maria’s gaze briefly lingered on a speck of light caught on a tree branch before moving on.
“We only managed to bring back two people this month. One of them turned out to be enrolled in the academy, so we got an earful.”
“The problem was that the kid’s father came looking for him.”
Perry continued grumbling at Maria’s indifferent reply.
“Who knew he’d come all the way here? They said it would be fine as long as they weren’t nobles, and now they’re changing their tune.”
Maria swept her dry eyes across their surroundings and asked,
“Where are we going today?”
“Should we head toward the capital? There are at least more travelers there.”
“Whatever you want…”
Just then, Maria stopped walking and stared at something.
There stood Ring, carrying a large amount of luggage in both hands.
Ring examined the plump fruits one by one before spotting a specialty of Tuna Territory.
“This is called a waterberry, right?”
“Since you don’t know what a waterberry is, I take it you’re visiting?”
“Give me twenty.”
The owner put the fruit into a bag and handed it to Ring.
After paying, Ring divided the heavy luggage between his two hands and struggled under the weight.
Maria stopped Perry.
“Perry. He’s a suitable candidate. And a fairly high-grade one at that.”
Perry turned around excitedly and grinned.
“What? We found one this close? What a stroke of luck.”
“Judging by his clothes, he seems to work at a noble’s villa…”
“It’s fine. He’s not a noble.”
Perry licked his lips and followed behind Ring with a swagger.
Eluana, Kazhar, and Thing gathered in the reception room of the villa.
A map spread across the large table showed the area around the iron mine in meticulous detail. It had been prepared by members of Edelweiss.
Kazhar pointed to the map.
“I think we should send half of the Spes knights to Root Territory. Just having the knights moving around the territory should draw attention there.”
“And we’ll move while that’s happening?”
“Exactly. We’ll have the rest of the personnel wait here, then enter the iron mine.”
“So Kazhar, me, Thing, and Rain will go inside?”
There were only two stealth artifacts prepared, so only four people could enter.
“If you’re going, that would be the most efficient group.”
They were only going inside to determine the mine’s internal structure, the number of people stationed there, and the location of the children, so there shouldn’t be anything particularly dangerous.
Even so, a strange tension had settled over the room.
Thing, who had been staring at the map the entire time, spoke.
“Look at how many layers of patrols they’ve set up. You can tell at a glance that these guys have a lot of secrets. I can practically smell something rotten. People who give off that kind of smell fall into three categories: criminals, particularly vicious criminals, and criminals who have given up on being human.”
Eluana gave Thing an order.
“Select some of the Spes knights and send them to Root Territory. Just in case, tell them to push forward if the signal flare goes up.”
“Yes, ma’am. I’ll pass that along.”
Thing went outside, and Eluana checked the map again.
“What do these circles mean?”
Kazhar answered.
“They mark the locations where knights guarding the iron mine were spotted. Unlike the soldiers who patrol designated areas, the knights move around without any pattern. We need to be careful of them.”
After finishing his explanation, Kazhar looked at Eluana’s profile as she studied the map.
“Hey.”
Eluana turned her head.
Kazhar looked hesitant, as though he were about to say something difficult.
“There’s something I need to tell you before we enter the iron mine.”
“What is it?”
“We’re only going in to inspect the inside, so there shouldn’t be any major problems. But if we determine that there’s a risk, there may be some physical contact.”
“Contact?”
“I mean, getting close to you or touching you.”
“…Why are you bringing that up now?”
She wondered why he was suddenly asking for permission.
Hadn’t he carried her over his shoulder and run around with her before?
And it wasn’t as though that was all he had done. He had even struck the back of her neck with the edge of his hand without mercy.
“It’s because of the contract I made with the Duke. I’m not allowed to have physical contact with you beyond escorting you. I need your permission beforehand.”
“You made a contract like that? Father really is something.”
In a way, it was interference.
Yet the Spes Duke’s meddling didn’t bother her.
Perhaps that was because she now thought of him as her father.
Eluana cleared her throat softly before continuing.
“So I just need to give verbal permission?”
Kazhar nodded lightly.
Eluana thought carefully about the kinds of “contact” she might need to permit.
“Hmm. You have permission to pull me toward you, carry me, carry me on your back, or throw me over your shoulder. All of that is fine.”
That should cover the kinds of contact that might happen in an emergency.
“What happens if there’s contact that I didn’t permit?”
“I signed a magical contract, so my heart would stop.”
Eluana’s eyes widened at Kazhar’s matter-of-fact answer.
“Why is it so extreme? Just in case, I’ll permit all physical contact during emergencies. That should solve the problem, right?”
“…Yes.”
There was the condition that it only applied during emergencies, but wasn’t she trusting him a little too much?
Kazhar felt vaguely uncomfortable and stared at the map for no particular reason.
Just then, the door opened and Rain entered.
He immediately handed them two potion bottles filled with black liquid.
“Drink.”
Eluana stared suspiciously at the liquid inside the bottle.
It looked more like poison than an antidote.
“I thought you said the earring would prevent any effects.”
“We don’t know what you ingested, so this is just to make sure your body is in good condition.”
Kazhar picked up a potion first.
As someone who had experience with it, he swallowed the potion in one gulp.
“It doesn’t taste good, but it should be good for you.”
Eluana reluctantly brought the bottle to her lips.
It was only a single mouthful, but her entire face twisted in agony.
“Ugh.”
It wasn’t merely bitter.
It was sour, sweet, salty, and spicy all at once.
Eluana hurriedly reached for the tin case on the table.
She took out a candy and put it in her mouth, but it did absolutely nothing to relieve her suffering.
From now on, I’m never eating anything in a suspicious place.
It was a taste that made her firmly swear to herself.
Suddenly, Eluana became curious about what kind of medicine Shavia had prepared.
“What kind of medicine did I take?”
Rain shook his head.
“We can’t know now that it’s already been detoxified. The Marquis Pegimul family manufactures a very wide variety of medicines.”
“If she made me eat something, she must have been confused when nothing happened.”
“More importantly, what do you think of Fotio Vallon Pegimul? I haven’t been able to get a clear read on Young Master Pegimul.”
Eluana recalled Fotio’s languid-looking eyes and the way he spoke as though his mind had drifted off to another world.
Fotio Vallon Pegimul is probably…
“Someone who tries hard to look pathetic.”
“That’s a fresh perspective.”
“He doesn’t seem like a bad person. It’s surprising, considering he’s a member of the Pegimul family.”
Rain revised his assessment of Fotio in his head and said,
“But, friend, don’t you think you should wait at the villa?”
“Hm?”
“You’ve already done enough by naturally bringing the knights this far. You should think about what might happen. It could be dangerous.”
“Will I really be safer if I just sit around in the villa?”
“You’d certainly be safer than walking mountain paths with us.”
Eluana shook her head.
“I want to see a little more of the world.”
“The world?”
“Aden, where I lived, was a peaceful place. Until I met Prince Regis, I thought the whole world was like that. But there are a lot of bad people out there, and there are plenty of people who are so terrible that I don’t even want to call them human.”
She had realized that if she wanted to protect Louis and herself, she couldn’t remain trapped in a small, peaceful world.
“That’s why. If I don’t see the world properly, I won’t be able to govern Spes Territory properly. I might end up like the ruler who supposedly said, ‘If they don’t have bread, they can eat cake.’”
Rain seemed to become dazed for a moment.
Eluana’s answer had been completely beyond his expectations.
Feeling awkward for some reason, Rain rubbed the back of his neck.
“You’ll make a good duke.”
Kazhar agreed with Eluana as well.
“I also think it’s best to start by doing whatever we can, as much as we can.”
“If even His Highness says that, there’s no way I can stop her.”
Just as Rain gave up trying to persuade her, Thing came back inside.
“What are you trying to stop?”
“Rain thinks I should stay at the villa.”
Thing immediately moved right next to Eluana.
“Did Weed Head just object to my lady’s decision?”
Rain bristled.
“Who are you calling Weed Head?!”
“You! You! You look like a weed covered in aphids, and you dare oppose our lady’s wishes? How insolent! Any weed blocking our lady’s path should be pulled out!”
“It’s because it’s dangerous! You’re supposed to be her guard. Don’t you have any sense of danger?”
“If you had only as much aura as a rat dropping, then you should be worried. I’m confident I can protect our lady. What are you going to do if you’re a guard but weaker than His Highness the Prince? You’ve got only a rat-dropping amount of aura, and you call yourself a guard!”
“Stop saying ‘rat dropping’! My value doesn’t come from swordsmanship!”
“It doesn’t?”
“It comes from being the head of Edelweiss!”
Rain shouted proudly, then immediately realized his mistake.
That was supposed to be a secret.
“That idiot.”
Kazhar covered his face with his hand.
Rain, having revealed his own secret, became flustered and stammered.
Thing’s mouth hung half open.
“So all those people who have been bringing information to the knights were members of Edelweiss?”
He had assumed they were simply under the Prince’s command.
Eluana, who had been watching the situation unfold, tilted her head slightly.
Judging by how surprised Thing was, it seemed to be a fairly famous organization.
Kazhar explained.
“It’s one of the Empire’s three major intelligence organizations. ‘Edelweiss,’ ‘Deep Night,’ and ‘Clear.’”
“Deep Night is those guys. What about Clear?”
“Their identity is somewhat vague. They seem to keep a certain distance from things. I’ve heard they protect the slums, but I don’t know if that’s actually true. They’re selective about the jobs they accept, so their activities don’t stand out much.”
“I see.”
“Rain being the head of Edelweiss is a secret.”
“I’ll keep it a secret.”
The gazes of all three naturally turned toward Thing.
“Got it. I’ll keep it a secret. It’s not like I’d tell someone else’s secret. I’m actually pretty tight-lipped. You can call me Tight-Lipped Thing.”
For some reason, that didn’t inspire much confidence.
They were about to make him swear again when they sensed someone else approaching.
“It’s Anne, my lady.”
“Come in.”
With Eluana’s permission, Anne opened the door.
“Ring hasn’t returned from shopping. Shall I send someone to look for him?”
