Chapter 74
The setting of this illusion was my office.
Rudick and I were talking with serious expressions.
-What are you going to do?
-Do about what?
-About Sir Irene and Selin. Are you just going to leave them like this?
According to Rudick, sothing had happened to Irene and Selin.
-How was I supposed to know they’d stoop to such a petty trick?
-Enough. I can’t just sit here. I’ll go to Haken right away and bring Selin back.
-Ugh.
-If they played such a an trick on her because it was her birthday, then isn’t it their responsibility to make it right?
-That’s true. But this is……
The illusion ended there.
It cut off just before the inside the illusion could continue speaking.
“What, that’s it?”
-What is this supposed to be?
Even the rabbit brat, not just , couldn’t close its mouth out of sheer absurdity.
Wasn’t this way too stingy?
At the very least, it should explain properly what happened and how.
“So, it was soone’s birthday.”
-The red female and the tall female did not return from Haken.
It seed that because of soone’s birthday, Selin and Irene had visited Haken, and sothing had happened there that caught them off guard.
But judging from the mood, it looked like sothing abnormal had taken place.
Sothing that not even Rudick nor I could have expected.
“For Selin not to have returned from Haken either… no wonder Rudick was worked up.”
-If it was the red female, she would have at least tried to send the tall female back.
“Even if she’s married, Selin’s liege is Irene. She’d never return without her.”
What puzzled a bit, however, was my last reaction.
It had been sowhat vague.
It was as if the other party had indeed done sothing, but it was hard to decide how exactly to respond.
Things were getting more and more tangled in a maze.
“…From Haken?”
“Yes, my father said I should stop by the territory.”
“Really? Did he not tell you the reason?”
“Exactly. What could it be?”
What was going on beca clear the next morning, when Irene ca to see .
The Lord of Haken had contacted her directly, asking her to stop by Haken for a short while.
It seed she had gone there after receiving the request, and for so reason had not been able to return.
“So, you’re planning to go back to Haken?”
“It would be strange to refuse, wouldn’t it? It’s also my father’s birthday.”
“Ah, that’s right. Lord Uldea’s birthday is soon. The festival is held to match that date as well.”
“That’s right. I’m thinking of just visiting briefly, seeing Father, and returning right away.”
“Returning right away, you say.”
“Of course, if Lord Iron doesn’t allow it, I won’t go. I may be from Haken, but now I’m a retainer of Johnson Territory.”
“Is that so?”
Sothing about this felt odd.
She clearly said she’d co right back, yet in the end, she hadn’t returned.
Did soone stop her from coming back here?
The only one who could do that was the Lord of Haken, but would Lord Uldea really pull such a ridiculous stunt?
-He clearly called it petty.
‘No, but still… this is just too cheap.’
As Irene herself said, she was now a retainer of Johnson Territory.
So if the Lord of Haken wanted her to return, the proper thing would be to ask my permission.
Of course, if it was just to see her face, there’d be no need to notify , but judging by the outco, that wasn’t the case.
But this wasn’t Lord Haken’s style.
If he wanted to bring her back to Haken, his style would have been to request it openly from .
‘If Irene had really been detained by force, I wouldn’t have had such a vague reaction either. There’s a hidden story here.’
Sothing was definitely going strangely.
-So what will you do?
‘That’s the question. What should I do about this?’
If I didn’t let her go to Haken, the imdiate problem could be solved.
But it was hard to judge whether that was the right thing to do.
It felt like we needed a fundantal solution.
Since it wasn’t possible for us to sever ties with Haken entirely, this sort of thing could happen again any ti, even if not now.
“Are you planning to depart imdiately?”
“No, maybe tomorrow or the day after? Of course, only if Lord Iron allows it.”
“What about an escort?”
“Co on, what escort? Once I get as far as Rubina, Haken’s soldiers will be there. If it would ease your mind, I’ll bring maybe two knights.”
“I see.”
Had the Diary not given a warning, I probably would have allowed her to go with just two knights, as she said.
After all, Haken was still an ally, and I hadn’t believed that the Lord of Haken would stoop to the pettiness of blocking her return.
Since it would be absurd to forbid Irene from visiting her hotown briefly, that likely would have been my final decision.
-The tall female must have been her escort.
If her only escorts were two knights, then even she would have had a hard ti escaping from Haken on her own.
If they had a different intention, it ant she’d inevitably be trapped there.
“If it’s not urgent, I’d like you to give so ti to think. Let consider it until tomorrow.”
“Will you? Then I’ll wait.”
Unaware of her “future,” Irene left again as if nothing were wrong, to go hunt mountain goats.
She ant to bring back all the remaining Three-Horned Mountain Goats from their habitat.
And I, watching her departing figure, began to sort my thoughts.
I first needed to figure out what exactly was going on.
“First, I need to confirm who it was that kept Irene there.”
Since I knew only the result but not the cause or process, I decided to identify the party first.
Once I knew the person, I could deduce the cause and purpose to so extent.
The first target was, of course, the Lord of Haken.
-Irene? Yes, I did call her over.
“May I ask why?”
-Well… hmm, you see. Actually, I just wanted to see Irene.
“You wanted to see her?”
-I have four sons, but only one daughter, Irene. Do you think sons and daughters are the sa? Without her, it feels terribly empty.
“Ah, I see.”
-Don’t worry. I’ll only see her face and send her back right away. Of course, if she wishes to remain in Haken, she is welco, but I’m not such a discourteous man that I would forcefully keep her.
“Of course, my lord, I trust you. In any case, understood. I’ll send Sir Irene to Haken within a few days.”
-I’d appreciate it if you did.
It didn’t seem to be the Lord of Haken after all.
As I had said before, the Lord of Haken was a man of considerable caliber.
Though lately he seed sowhat at a loss regarding the issue of succession, that was understandable if you considered that it stemd from his equal love for all his sons.
And this Lord of Haken, to shalessly tell a lie?
The more I thought about it, the less likely it seed.
-This is truly puzzling.
“Exactly.”
-Then who could it be?
“If it wasn’t the will of the Lord of Haken, then it must be one of the successors?”
That would an one of Haken’s heirs had detained Irene.
After all, only they had the authority to coerce soone of her stature.
But as for why they would keep her, I couldn’t guess the reason.
“I really can’t understand why they would hold onto Irene. She left the territory entirely, didn’t she?”
Irene had clearly declared her intention by bringing her entire faction over to Johnson Territory. She had no intention of joining the succession struggle.
Though it must have been disappointing not to draw her into their camp, since she hadn’t joined the other side either, it had been a fairly satisfactory outco for both factions.
Which ant there was no reason to drag her back again.
“To detain soone like Irene again? What aning does that even have?”
Besides, there was no gain in it.
Given Irene’s personality, there was no chance she would support soone who had forced her to stay.
There was no reason to stir up trouble pointlessly. If they still chose to keep her, there had to be a reason—but I had no idea what it was.
“What’s even stranger is that they must have had justification.”
-Justification?
“Rember what the Lord of Haken said before? That he had no justification to hold her. He said she was free to stay in Haken if she wanted, but if not, he’d let her go. Which ans sothing has happened to give them justification to keep her.”
-I see, is that how it is?
That explained the reluctant reaction I had shown inside the illusion.
Sothing felt petty, yet at the sa ti hard to challenge.
Sothing had happened that left unable to argue.
“I really do need to figure out the reason first if I want to prepare for this.”
The most important thing was why they would want Irene, now an outsider.
Everything began there.
“You’re asking how Rini lived in Haken?”
“Yes, Elder. I feel like I know too little about Sir Irene.”
“Hmm, really? Rini’s life in Haken…”
I knew that both sides of the succession camps had wanted Irene.
But seeing how persistent they were now, it seed it went beyond what I had thought.
There was another reason, beyond her being the beloved youngest daughter of the lord.
To uncover it, I t several people from Haken, and in the end even sought out Elder Benetrang, asking how Irene had lived there.
Since Irene had left with her entire faction, I thought confirming what she had been capable of in Haken was the top priority.
“Rini always took the lead on the battlefield.”
“Took the lead? But I heard Haken has three Masters. Why would Sir Irene…”
“Ah, Masters. Yes, there are. But those fellows are too reluctant to move. Though I can understand it. If the ‘Thunder Shavel’ of Mount Haken stirs, even if all of them respond together, they might barely manage to stop it. Still, sotis they are just a bit too inactive.”
“Thunder Shavel. Ah, that’s right. That was there.”
In Mount Haken near the territory, the Catastrophe-Class Monster ‘Thunder Shavel’ had settled.
It wasn’t on the level of the Despair-Class Monster, the ‘Fallen Yggdrasil,’ but once it moved, even for Haken, it was a calamity that could cause trendous damage.
Catastrophe-Class Monsters were beings that only multiple Masters together could hope to resist.
-If such a thing existed, no wonder they couldn’t move easily.
‘It might even be more dangerous than the Fallen Yggdrasil that took root in one place. Lower in rank, but far more active.’
Out of fear that Thunder Shavel might stir, most of Haken’s Masters rarely left the territory.
As a result, battles that occurred a little farther from the territory were handled not by Masters, but by other commanders.
And Irene, being particularly warlike, was said to always volunteer to take the lead.
How Haken’s other Masters behaved had nothing to do with , but the fact that Irene had especially led in battles left quite an impression.
“She must have been popular.”
“Of course, without a doubt. With her good looks, and her excellence in everything she did, and fighting so diligently, how could she not be popular?”
“And the residents must have followed her a lot too.”
“Certainly. To be honest, even more than my black-hearted sons, the residents liked Rini far better.”
‘This is it.’
It seed Irene was sought after because of public sentint.
Even if she didn’t lend direct aid, her very presence must have been considered helpful.
Since the two factions weren’t waging war, but rather fighting over who would inherit the territory, the direction of public opinion was an important factor.
Public support was what solidified one’s justification for inheriting the territory.
‘To think she was more popular than the sons of the Lord of Haken.’
-That female looks like the type who’d be popular, doesn’t she?
‘I didn’t realize it was to this extent.’
After thanking Elder Benetrang for sharing good information, I moved on.
Sitting alone in a chair for a while, I tried to think it through, but nothing ca to mind.
If Irene’s popularity was the issue, there wasn’t much I could do about it.
I couldn’t just tell her, “Your popularity is the problem, so cause a ruckus in Haken to ruin your reputation.”
‘Wait, a ruckus?’
-What is it, Master?
‘No, I think I’ve been overcomplicating things.’
Why not just go myself and bring Irene back?
I’d handle whatever problems cropped up, and if worst ca to worst, we’d escape together.
-Indeed, causing a ruckus in Haken is sothing Master is very familiar with.
‘No, that’s not it.’
Since I couldn’t predict what would happen, this seed the best course of action for now.
“Well then, since it’s co to this, I might as well go and enjoy Haken’s Spring Festival.”
It worked out nicely, I thought, as I called Irene over.
It was spring.
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