Chapter 108
“Joshua!”
Lucille recognized at a glance.
The anger she had shown outside the window vanished, replaced by a face filled only with delight.
Clack, clack!
The iron boots she wore rattled as she closed the distance.
“I’m so glad you’re alive!”
She hugged tightly.
I pushed away the cold sensation of the chainmail and t her gaze.
She was on the verge of tears.
“You must maintain the dignity of a noble, this is unsightly.”
“What! Does that an you aren't happy at all?”
“It's not enough to shed tears over.”
“……You are still the sa huh.”
She showed a smile as if she were used to it.
“This is my first ti seeing this child, who is she?”
Lucille showed interest in Luna, who was hiding behind my legs.
“Her na is Luna.”
“She’s cute. Hello?”
Luna slowly stepped forward and bowed her head.
“Hello.”
“Kyaaa!”
Lucille let out a cheer and pulled Luna into her embrace.
“She’s so squishy. And fluffy.”
“Aaaargh.”
“How is such a cute girl together with Joshua.”
Whether it was the older sister or the younger one, they both couldn't resist cute things.
For so reason, I didn't feel bad.
Was it because of the notion that praise for a familiar is praise for the mage?
“Uh, Captain, who exactly is this boy?”
A soldier asked with a face full of curiosity.
He was not soone who had co along from the tower.
“He helped when we were at the tower. If it weren't for this boy, I would have been dead long ago.”
“Are you saying he is your savior?”
“Yes.”
The soldier turned his head and t my gaze.
He trembled and fumbled about.
“He looks like he’s scared of you?”
“I haven't particularly done anything though.”
“Is it sothing like charisma? It ans an intimidating aura is felt. This is a complint.”
I left the increasingly talkative Lucille behind and looked out the window.
The sun was setting.
The serfs who had been working disappeared into their respective designated lodgings, and darkness fell over the fields.
A few soldiers scattered and lit fires on the pillars erected around the buildings.
When I ignored her, Lucille stared at with a face full of grumpiness.
“How do you handle dinner?”
“It varies each ti, but usually it’s bread. Sotis lamb cos out as a special al, but that’s only about once a month.”
She answered my questions imdiately despite her displeased expression.
“Sit over there.”
Lucille sat at the window seat furthest inside.
Knowing she might act out if I ignored her again, I followed obediently.
Not long after sitting down, the soldier in charge of als brought out bread.
“There’s a windmill. We can get flour through it.”
“I see.”
“How have you been all this ti? And where is Tania?”
“I’ll tell you step by step.”
I told her about the journey during that ti.
The things that happened at the tower and the mine.
I even ntioned the fact that her sister was alive and in a safe place.
“Where is she?”
“In a place that isn't far.”
“Does that an you’re going to hide it even from ?”
“At least until I confirm the safety of this castle.”
Lucille's expression froze.
Like soone who had lost their appetite, she set down the bread she was biting into and sighed.
“I can't ever beat you. Just how much did you know before coming here?”
She paused as if trying to gauge my reaction.
I did not fall for it and feigned indifference while tearing at the bread.
It was Lucille who raised the white flag amidst the awkward atmosphere.
She suddenly slamd her head onto the desk and threw a tantrum by hitting the floor with her hands.
“Why must you trouble as well!”
“I haven't done anything.”
“That’s the problem! It would be better if you spoke honestly and shared the situation. Do you not trust ?”
“There are many people listening here.”
“They are my people. You can trust them.”
“Did you forget what happened with Austin at Triden?”
Lucille's face turned pale.
She appeared cool-headed at a glance, but her nature was as pure as Tania's.
She poured unreserved trust into those close to her.
The results of such trust were never good.
“If I were the Countess, I would have planted at least one person. As the ruler of the castle, one would be most curious about the public sentint.”
She remained silent and quickly glanced at the subordinates sitting around the hall.
She seed to be looking for a culprit.
When her gaze returned to , the corners of her mouth were distorted.
“I don't want to think that way.”
“I know. I won't ask Lady Lucille to suspect her subordinates either.”
A heavy groan flowed from Lucille's mouth.
“Lady Lucille, if it’s alright, I want to start working today.”
“It would be fine to start tomorrow, though?”
“I want to get used to things as quickly as possible.”
She instructed a subordinate to bring the duty roster.
“If you tell the ti slot you want, I’ll put you in there.”
I looked through the roster, searching for a na rather than a ti.
As expected, the person I was looking for was written there.
* * *
It beca dawn.
It was a ti when the moonlight felt like the strongest light in this world.
lor was quite flustered by the fact that his partner had changed tonight.
“I look forward to working with you.”
A boy stood before his eyes.
Since he was said to be an academy student, he was likely in his late teens.
His handso appearance drew attention.
While carefully examining his features, their eyes t.
lor reflexively turned his head and cleared his throat as if nothing had happened.
“I-I also look forward to working with you.”
It was a great spirit.
The boy possessed an aura that one shouldn't be able to have at that age.
“Is that child going along as well?”
When lor lowered his gaze slightly, he saw a young girl too.
“Yes.”
“Well, I suppose it doesn't matter. Today we will patrol the interior of the city. There is a set course, so you just need to follow well.”
lor walked along the road.
Fires burned atop the pillars erected throughout the streets.
While walking using those as milestones, the boy spoke to him.
“How do you like the city?”
“……Shouldn't that be a question I ask you?”
“I wanted to hear the opinion of soone with experience.”
“I think it’s a safe place. Zombies appear every ti, but we are repelling them without issue.”
“Is it truly safe when people have died?”
The boy answered in a blunt voice.
“It is common for people to die in any group. Only how many fewer die is what’s important.”
“Isn't that too irresponsible?”
lor stopped walking for a mont.
The boy was the first person to harbor dissatisfaction from his very first day at the castle.
“If it were , I would have been proactive in finding out why such a situation occurred.”
“Are you saying there is a problem with the Lord?”
“A snot-nosed kid who isn't even ten isn't at fault.”
“……So you are talking about the Countess.”
Goosebumps broke out on lor's body.
He didn't even exchange this kind of jest with Lucille Rainwood.
“If it weren't for the Countess, we would be in a much harder situation.”
“She hasn't done anything. She rely inherited what was already made.”
“You’d better watch your mouth. Neither Lady Lucille nor Sir Osmond will be able to protect you.”
lor was excited to a degree that surprised even himself.
He took a deep breath to calm his racing heart.
“I will act as if I didn't hear this story.”
We walked again.
The boy was silent.
He opened his mouth again only after we arrived at the turnaround point on the outskirts.
It was a place where a small garden sat near a lion statue.
“What crops are being grown?”
“It’s wheat.”
“Is there nothing else?”
“Isn't doing one thing well enough?”
The boy had a dissatisfied face.
“I heard the orchard beca a ss, is repair work underway?”
“Since zombies appeared, entry was prohibited for safety. For the ti being, the Knights of Red will investigate the area to find out the cause.”
“Will the results be made public once the investigation is over?”
“We don't have the right to know that.”
“Then who manages it in the anti?”
“Nature will take care of itself.”
The boy let out a sigh as if he were fed up now.
“Do you still think the Countess is doing well even after I’ve said all this?”
“People like us just need to do the tasks assigned to us well.”
Joshua ran his hand through his hair.
“Since when have you been acting as a spy?”
“It’s been about a month…… wait, what?”
In the mont lor was flustered.
Luna returned to her original form and struck his chest with her foot.
He was thrown back as the blow tore through his leather armor.
“Kughh!”
Luna then picked lor up in her mouth and walked into the forest.
She dropped him in the deepest part of the forest.
“Wh-What are you doing?”
“You don't know even after being hit? I ca to catch a spy.”
Joshua chuckled lightly.
“I know you’ve been reporting what happened in the security unit behind the scenes.”
“E-Evidence?”
“You just confessed in front of .”
“The words just ca out wrong by mistake.”
Joshua shook his head.
“Stop the excuses and let's have a more constructive conversation.”
“It isn't . You’ve misunderstood.”
Joshua took a towel from his backpack and gagged lor’s mouth.
His face turned pale with terror.
Joshua took out a dagger and stabbed the back of his hand.
“Mmmph!”
His scream could not pierce the towel and lingered within his mouth.
“I am in a very bad mood right now. Because the state of the castle is worse than I thought.”
“Mmmmmmph!”
“When I ask a question, either nod or shake your head. Choose one.”
lor complied while on the verge of tears.
“The incident that happened at the orchard was ordered by the Countess, right?”
He could not act imdiately and hesitated.
He agonized with bloodshot eyes.
Joshua stabbed the back of his other hand this ti.
He suppressed lor's struggling from the pain with force.
“Don't overthink. Just answer according to what you know.”
He nodded his head.
[Hidden Quest - Investigating the Spy of Saint Stalia is in progress.]
[You have acquired 20 coins.]
[Current coins held - 120]
The questions asked of him were a verification of the information already known.
The coins acquired in that process were the true goal.
I intended to fill up to 200.
“Dumping Vale near the Onda River was also her order, right?”
He nodded his head once more.
[You have acquired 20 coins.]
[Current coins held - 140]
“There is one spy in each unit besides you, right?”
He nodded again.
[You have acquired 20 coins.]
[Current coins held - 160]
“Is she also related to the reason the previous Lord died?”
He was now like a nodding doll.
[You have acquired 20 coins.]
[Current coins held - 180]
“You knew all of this and still took the Countess's side?”
“Mmmph!”
Even if only one of the questions I had asked was the truth, they were shocking things.
Yet every single one without exception was the truth.
Her life was foul.
It wasn't just misconduct committed to survive.
She had been that kind of human long before the world beca like this.
“I suppose it’s because you thought it would be advantageous to do so.”
“Pwah!”
The gag in lor's mouth fell to the floor.
“What is the purpose of doing this?”
“Purpose?”
“There must be a purpose. Revenge? If not that, then status? Surely you aren't going to say so outdated thing like it was for justice?”
“None of the above.”
“Then what?”
“Firstly, I am angry.”
He looked up with a bewildered expression.
“The fact that things have remained at this level despite possessing a castle of this size.”
“What does that have to do with you?”
“Why wouldn't it have anything to do with ? It’s the place I will occupy from now on.”
lor looked at with a face of horror.
“I’m sorry, but my questions aren't over yet. There is one more left.”
“Just what are you?”
“The number of tis she instigated soone to kill another for her sake. If it’s above 100, nod, otherwise shake your head.”
“…….”
After a mont of deliberation, lor nodded his head.
[You have acquired 20 coins.]
[Current coins held - 200]
[Hidden Quest - Investigating the Spy of Saint Stalia has been completed.]
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