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Volume 12 Chapter 2 Part 9

「I have no doubts that the fact that Lord Michio has arrived in the castle will reach Lady Cassandra’s ears very soon, so I am thankful for you coming today. I don’t want to imagine what would have happened if you did not show up today. But anyway, I would like you to accompany me now, Lord Michio.」

Again with that name that wasn’t telling me anything… but I was more hung up on the fact that the Duke has made quite a disturbing requirement of me.

「Lady Cassandra is the elder matron of our Elven Clan, so you can probably guess that it is very difficult for us to resist the demands of someone like that.」

Gozer gave me a short explanation about the person named Cassandra, who seems to be someone like an elder, or the most important person in the Elven clans, if I understood it correctly. That would also explain why she would learn that I came here in such a short time after I actually arrived in here.
I wonder if that is going to be enough for the Duke of Hartz’s system of counterintelligence?

「Huh…」

「Naturally, since Cassandra is an elder for us, that means that she is an elder for Rutina as well. On the contrary though, from the point of view of Cassia’s clan, she is not just an elder, but also the leader of the entire clan, and from Cassia’s point of view, Rutina is the member of the clan as well. That is also why she said that she would like to meet Lord Michio in person.」

Isn’t that quite obviously ridiculous? Because no matter how you’d look at it, doesn’t she want to question me about what have I done to the girl belonging to her clan and punish me for hurting her? And besides, what the hell is wrong with you two, talking about her while having your teeth chatter so loudly that even I can hear it?!

「Well, it should probably be fine, since she is not planning on hurting you or getting rid of you… I think. Probably.」

Oh, and now he goes and adds a 「maybe」at the end! That’s really reassuring.

「If that is what this is going to be about, then that’s all the more reason for me to not go there.」

When I looked at Gozer, he looked back at me with the eyes that looked like the ones of a dead fish rather than an elf.

So it’s not that he can’t go with me there… he just doesn’t want to go there at all.

「No, if Gozer guides me…」

「I have an urgent business to take care of in the Imperial City.」
「I can go and take care of that for you!」

「No, no, it’s a really miscellaneous thing, so there’s no need for you to trouble yourself with that! A-Anyway, I will go and bring Lady Cassia here!」

The two of them pushed each other around for a little bit, until Gozer finally fled the room to go get Cassia.

「Well, that’s about it anyway. As you can see, you have nothing to worry about.」

「Yeah, sure I don’t.」

「At any rate, you will not receive as harsh a treatment as we do.」

While the Duke was talking to me, his eyes looked the same as Gozer’s: that is to say, like he was already dead.

What in the hell did that old lady do to him to make him look like that? Well, whatever that was, I am sure that the Duke deserved it or something even worse.

「Uhm, so… will you finally tell me what is this all about?」

「What are you talking about, it’s just a greeting. A simple greeting, nothing more. Lady Cassandra simply wants to meet the person who has become Rutina’s owner, since that fact could not be kept hidden from her anymore. But you can rest assured that you won’t be judged the way I was after we dethroned the Earl of Selmar even though you had a role to play in it.」

The Duke sticks out his chest with pride. Is he trying to pull a bluff as hard as possible? Or could it be that he is trying to convince himself?

「If this was just about a simple greeting, then why did Gozer ran away as if he was afraid for his life?」

「That’s because he’s a coward. I-it’s not my intention to run away.」

「Is there any need to be frightened if it’s just a greeting?」

「N-nobody is frightened here. Who is frightened? Not me, that is for sure.」

He seems to be frightened out of his goddamn mind, the way I see it. Looks like dethroning the Earl of Selmar and dropping the Earl’s daughter Rutina into slavery was really bad move after all.

The Earl of Selmar may have fallen from grace, but that doesn’t mean that his relatives will not be complaining about it.

「Oh my, if it isn’t Lord Michio. thank you for coming here today.」

When I was troubled, Cassia came over.

Gozer is behind her. I guess he must’ve went and call her like he said he would after all.

「Well then, if you will excuse me right now…」

「…..」

「Uhm…. This time the situation is going to concern Lord Michio’s relationship with the members of my family.」

I looked at Gozer with eyes that indicated that I wanted to run away as well, but he has already left without explaining even a single thing.

Just like I thought, he must be really scared of that Cassandra lady.

Gozer’s eyes…the look in them signified that even such a wiseman and man of the world as him must be having his fair share of troubles and difficulties in life.

By the way, the Duke is also following Gozer’s back with scornful eyes.

Nicely done, Dukey my man.

Let’s make it our privilege to trouble Gozer as a reward if we manage to get out of this predicament alive, shall we?

「Lord Michio, the head of all females of our whole clan want’s to meet you, since you are currently the one who is taking care of Rutina. Can we go together and meet her now?」

I look at Cassia.

This polite and gentle way of inviting me to go together with her… there’s no way that I could possibly refuse her when she’s asking me in such a way.

And more importantly, since it was Cassia herself who asked me to do this, not the Duke, then of course I am not going to refuse her personal request!

「Meet, you say?」

「You don’t have to worry about anything specific. She’s a very nice and kind old lady.」

I see the Duke shaking his head on the side where Cassia couldn’t see him doing so.

Is she the type of person who’s kind to her relatives?

To begin with, I don’t know if this Cassandra is the elder or chief of all the Elves, just a specific clan of Elves or a chief of just the females in that clan of Elves. Because I also don’t know how much and how far the whole clan or family covers, I don’t know whether the Duke is part of that family or not.

Probably not, since judging by the Duke and Gozer’s words and reactions, she wasn’t kind to them at all, which shouldn’t have been the case if she was kind to all of her relatives.

In that case, could it be that she is the type that is gentle only with females?

Because if Cassia thinks that she is gentle, but the Duke and Gozer are terrified of her because of how strict she is with them, then it’s going to be very probable that she’s going to be very strict towards me as well.

「If you are going to be meeting with the chief elder, then wouldn’t it be better to bring Rutina along with you?」

「Yes. I really wanted to ask Lord Michio to do that.」

I was desperately racking my brain in order to find some kind of excuse that would allow me to not go meet that Cassandra elder after all, but unfortunately it looks like this ship has already swam from its port, and there was no way for me to leave it.

So she wanted me to take Rutina here with me after all?

「Ah…」

「I am sorry if it sounds strangely fostered coming from me, but I know that Rutina might not be willing to come here right now because of her circumstances, and grandmother Cassandra know about it as well.」