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Volume 2 Chapter 3 Part 5

In Irvin’s eyes, losing a dozen heavy knights in the process of killing only a few Werewolves was not worth it at all.

「According to the testimony of one of the heavy knights who refused Lord Emler’s request for cooperation because he did not want to go against Lady Marine, the purpose of Lord Elmer’s actions here is to throw entire Artuk in the state of confusion. It also means that he must have some influential collaborators supporting him. 」

「Confuse Artuk, powerful collaborators… 」

Irvine repeated Layla’s words, since he was taking into consideration that she might be feeding him false information. But it was not Irvin’s role to pass judgment onto her and decide that.

「I won’t get in your way, and I can even help you. As long as I will be able to understand what Lord Elmer’s purpose is, I will just return to Lady Marine and report my findings to her. So, what do you think? Not a bad deal at all, right? 」

「We may take away their Crest before Lady Marine cuts off Lord Elmer’s and his collaborator’s subordination to her, you know? 」

Elmer comes from a prestigious family and became a knight captain at a relatively young age. Certainly, he should have had the title of Baron right now, so it would be a shame to lose such a Crest. For Marine, that would be quite a heavy blow.

「Do whatever you deem necessary, please. Originally, Lady Marine should have cut Lord Elmer and his supporters off from her Crest the moment they started acting on their own, but she chose to not do that, because as you know, Lady Marine can be too kind for her own good sometimes. 」

Irvin was obviously aware of that as well. The members of the Kraische family were all known for being incredibly strict, but the truth is that beneath that harsh exterior they were actually quite affectionate. When Irvin became orphaned and was shivering in the cold on the streets, it was Mathias Kraische himself who picked him up and raised him.

「… That is fine with me. But just so you know, if you do anything that am going to deem as too suspicious, I will not hesitate to eliminate you at a moment’s notice without showing any mercy. 」

「Uwaahh, scary, so scary~~ 」

Layla shrugged her shoulders and dismissed Irvin’s threat.

「Even so, I never would have thought that you of all people would go and quit the Kraische family in order to become a servant of a regular Mage. If it is you we are talking about, then you were on a good way to becoming a Grand Chamberlain. 」

「I am fully satisfied with serving Lady Siluca right now. 」

「And we are perfectly satisfied with serving Lady Marine. But you right now, are you really fine with being treated so roughly and being used as nothing more but an errand boy to your new master’s every whim? 」
Layla said without even trying to hide her dissatisfaction.

「Whatever my Lady is going to demand of me, I will make sure to see it done. 」

When Irvin said so triumphantly, Layla showed a frustrated look from the bottom of her heart.

「Now then… 」

Irvin moves to a well-lit area and gazed at his own shadow.

「Did you hear that, Your Highness Balgary? 」

He called out to the shadow, and soon after that a jet black cat appeared from the depths of it.

「W-What the hell is this?! 」

After Layla came into an eye contact with His Highness Balgary, she screamed.

「This is a good friend of my Lady, and an individual of noble birth

You can be my lady’s friend. Because you are a noble person,
Let’s not get along

As Irvin introduced him to Layla, Balgary puffed his chest out proudly chest proudly and straightened his beard with his paws.

「Should I tell Siluca about everything that happened so far? 」

Balgary asked that of Irvin in his usual, overly pompous tone.

「If you would be so kind, Your Highness, then I would like to ask that of you. 」

「I understand. I will get right to it then. 」

Balgary nodded appreciatively, and then he disappeared into the shadows again.

「Well, I guess it is about time for me to go back to my companions as well. I will inform the werewolves about my encounter with you, so whenever you will have something that you would want to discuss with them, do not hesitate to do so, and more than anything, make sure that you will not get yourself lost in the woods. 」

「Uh-huh… can you not just take me with you? 」

Once again Layla spoke with dissatisfaction.

「Oh? So you want to go among the hungry Werewolves? 」

「Why not? That kind of thing might also be a little interesting. 」

「I am afraid that if I let a poisonous flower like you among them now, I would be scolded by Lady Siluca, so I am going to pass on that. 」

「Poisonous… Wait! Is wat you said just now not super rude?! 」

Layla protested Irvin’s latest statement vehemently, but Irvin ignored her and simply started running, so reluctantly, she picked herself from the ground and chased after him.

* * *

Listening to the sound of horses whining in the stables outside, Theo waited for a little while before he entered the room.

「Welcome home, Lord Theo. 」

Siluca took a deep breath in order to calm her voice down, and then she welcomed Theo properly.

「I am back… although I have to leave again soon. 」

Theo chuckled as he returned her greeting.

「By the way, where is Priscilla? I have not seen her around yet. 」

It was a perfectly natural question to ask, but when Theo mentioned the name of the priestess of the Order of the Crest, Siluca looked like she was deeply offended.

「Apparently she is trying to educate the Werewolf people about the value of helping others, because since many of the Werewolves have left the villages, so there is a shortage of workers everywhere… 」
Siluca replied in a tone as if she was merely reading passages from a book.

「So anyway, how did this latest part of your search go? 」

「The heavy knights of Waldrind have yet to be located. Right now, we are focusing on crushing every possible place they can be using as their hideouts. 」

After saying that, Theo let out a big sigh. It was obvious that all this searching has made him very tired.

「What about the Werewolves and Irvin’s search party? 」

「Yes, His Highness Balgary came back last night and passed on information from Irvin to me. 」

Siluca invited Theo to a nearby table, where she shows him a map. It was painted by Siluca herself on a large white cloth. In order to make it, she relied on the information that she found I the library of Castle Unicorn, and she was absolutely confident in its accuracy.

Siluca pointed out places where the Werewolves have been reported to be killed, the place where the queen Clara’s eldest son, Ion, was ambushed, and so on. Each of these places have been marked with a distinct symbol to avoid having them confused with the others.

「On top of that, Irvin managed to get his hands on some interesting information. Apparently, the person who is leading the heavy knights of Waldrind who have crossed the border is a knight captain named Elmer, and he is supposedly moving here with Marine Kraische’s permission, since she has yet to sever the connection between her Crest and the Crests of all the heavy knights that are currently here in Artuk. Their goal is to plunge Artuk in a state of confusion, and if the words of Irvin’s informant are to be believed, there is also either a Mage or a witch travelling with the heavy knights as well.

「They want to throw the entire country in a state of confusion? 」

Theo frowned when he heard that phrase.

「Throwing the country into confusion is a broad term, but it all depends on the degree of what they want to do.

Even this current situation that we are in right now could be said to be a state of confusion, since we have a lot of Lords, soldiers and even villagers running around. 」

「That’s all we can do for now, however. We just have to hope that our efforts will lead to the capture of the heavy knights of Waldrind soon. 」

If they will not be able to do that, then Theo and Siluca will have to bear the responsibility for that failure.