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Chapter 200: Can’t Calm Down

I subconsciously looked at Butler for help.

He remained unruffled without meeting my gaze, and I can totally read his mind insinuating that servants are meant to be invisible even when they’re here. Argh, I’ll definitely get back at you, you…!!

「Jean, she’s just teasing you. You just have to remember that I can freely return to my home now. I’m going to let everyone know about it later too. 」
Ash probably noticed how I can’t calm down, so she backed me up. But please, for goodness sake, can you also consider what you’re gonna let them know?

「Yeah… 」
Ah, but wait, Papa Ash got pushed down when he looked the other way, so… I’m about to feel relieved, but now I can’t!

「Haha. You have the capacity and personal resources to purchase spirit silver, although we’d much prefer it if it’s spirit gold instead if you’re already at that point of luxury. Well, as long as you don’t have any problems with your personality then the ducal house will approve. After all, we totally didn’t expect that Leora would fall in love, and it’s great that she’s looking more feminine now — the duke also regrets taking that away from Leora using that spirit, so he’s reflecting tons now. He even rejected the royal family’s wish to have Leora engaged at the risk of impudence. He wants her to live her life as she wishes. 」

The grand duke’s family is related to Lilith’s maternal family, so they’ve taken full control of the real power now, apparently. As long as the duke doesn’t make a mistake, the king will just be a decoration from now on.

That being said, this whole affair of the duke being forced sounds fishy now; it’s probably a political move. It’s like the grand duke managed to take control of the duke too through Lilith, or something like that. It’s just that Lilith seems a bit happy when she mentions ‘captain’, so that’s a relief, at the very least.

「I really didn’t expect you to look so different from your previous ‘handsome guy’ visage — well, it’s also surprising that you didn’t change inwardly at all. 」
Lilith said with great emotion.

Yup, her shoulders’ breadth has been reduced to about a third of it’s original size now. If only — ah, no, it’s nothing.

「If only she had a chest. 」
Lilith, don’t spout the part I left out just like that!!

I then asked her to tell me about a rough sketch of how the kingdom is doing now, and also threw a few questions about the incident that time — only the ones that she’d be okay with answering.
Apparently, the incident is far reaching, affecting not only the current generation but the following generation too, and a part of it also dealt with assassinations and opium use.
For the finale, they planned to attack the entire kingdom all at the same time by poisoning all the wells to make the citizens sick.

The neighboring countries and kingdoms condemned pouring poison into wells and rivers, however, it was practiced from time to time. It’s very rarely done though, since once the trust is lost, the other kingdom would use that as an excuse to invade the enemy party.

Ah, and Butler’s son is still gonna stay to serve. He’s the type who can study, but doesn’t have a sense for deciding things. His abilities shine the most when there’s someone directing him from above, apparently. He’s not compatible with Muscle Brain Papa, but if Lilith is there — oh, they’ve been totally captured, huh.

「Still, I heard that the guy is an adventurer and that Leora wants to protect him as a knight, so I was imagining a huge respectable guy like Captain, but — 」
Lilith’s gaze raked over me from head to toe.

Eh, is Papa Ash a muscle man!? And why do I get a feeling that you’re treating me like a wimp!? Stop comparing, will you, I’m still growing.

「What monster did you hunt recently? 」
「Red lizard. 」

I also hunted others, but that’s the most recent one. You need a lot more skill dealing with it compared to the other monsters that you only have to slash at. As for those slash-only-and-it’s-already-good monsters, they’re the type you normally can’t just charge at — but I’m leaving that part out, of course.

「Well, you’ll be safe if Leora’s with you. She’s not that accommodating at times, but she’s an excellent escort. I heard that you’re also a merchant. 」
Yeah, I really think she’s looking down on me as someone wimpy, but reality is different so I don’t really mind. Oh, maybe Lilith’s guy barometer is strength?

Seems like Butler didn’t really talk about me that much, unexpectedly, so I’m a bit perplexed.
So, the reason why Ash is free now isn’t because they acknowledge her partner (me), but because they trust her, huh.

***
The meal-slash-meeting ended after all this stuff. I couldn’t taste the food at all!

Lilith is a baffling woman.She’s just like how I pictured aristocrats to be but with deep affection; she’s quite amiable but can be savage from time to time too.

She probably assessed me too, I just don’t know what’s my worth based on her ‘appraisal’.

Still, my image of a noble young lady is starting to get fuzzy, but… assassins, powerful guys, ‘carnivores’… is that what normal here is? Hmmmm?

I returned to my house. Riche sniffed me all over first. He’s doing it thoroughly, probably because I met Lilith.

I was tired because of a lot of things, so I thoroughly petted Riche and got some much needed comfort. Riche’s fur is a bit cooler this season. His fur is so silky smooth that it doesn’t get caught at all when I comb it with my fingers. His paw pads are also soft despite being a dog.

It’s probably soft because he doesn’t actually touch the ground even when he runs. I always forget this, but Riche is a spirit, and he’s probably a wolf type.

I couldn’t taste the food earlier, so I ate some chazuke. Just a little bit of rice, less than the usual, but with a proper-sized piece of grilled salmon and roe, a sprinkle of white sesame seeds and crumpled nori. I felt like it so I also added a tiny bit of wasabi.

I finally calmed down as I ate with gusto.