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Volume 2 Chapter 3 Part 6

If they will not be able to find the heavy knights of Waldrind in time, will the Werewolves try to tear them apart for not delivering on their promise of giving them a chance to take revenge? Maybe, but that still remains to be seen.

「You think Elmer’s purpose is something bigger than just that, don’t you? 」

Theo looked at Siluca and spoke as such. His intuition was as sharp as ever.

Maybe it’s because he often worked at an inn where various people hang out, but he was really good at seeing through the subtle reactions of others and deducing their intentions from them.

「I can’t believe that a dozen or so knights would follow along with a single knight captain’s mere rampage. If he managed to secure that many of them to his cause, then I think he must have presented them with a cause or purpose that must have resonated with them. 」

「I see… 」

Theo nodded in agreement, and then he lowered his gaze to the map that Siluca had spread out before him.

「These are the places where the heavy knights of Waldrind were seen. 」

With that said, he followed Siluca and placed a mark on the map.

「When they got information that the Werewolves were hunting for them now, it seems they secretly moved in order to ambush them. And if they really have a Mage or a Witch with them, then it would not have been that difficult for them to lure out the Werewolves into a potential trap. 」

「I think so too. However, hiding a dozen knights, even with the help of a Mage, is not as easy of a feat as it might seem. 」

With a grim expression on her face, Siluca stared at the newly added landmarks on the map.

That’s when they heard the door opening behind them.

「I brought you hot soup. 」

The werewolf queen Clara walked into the room while carrying a big tray with her.

「Thank you for your hospitality. 」

Theo bowed to the Queen.

「Thank you very much. 」

Siluca also bowed as she received the steaming cup from the Queen. Her cup smells of butter and burnt onions.

Since the day Siluca first visited this settlement, she has been staying at the Queen’s mansion. Because of the incident, many of the Queen’s children are forced to leave the village and in order to avoid being potential target of another attack by the heavy knights of Waldrind. Right now, the only residents that actually stayed in the mansion along with Siluca were the Werewolf Queen Clara and her youngest daughters, twins Emma and Luna.

two children. Only she and her youngest twin daughters, Emma and Luna, remain in her mansion.

「Would you also care to try the pie that I baked? 」

Clara said so and placed a platter between Siluca and Theo.

「Since you are offering, then we will enjoy having this. 」
Clara had already cut the pie into pieces, and Siluca picked a piece and bit into it. The abundant taste of mushrooms has spread itself all across her mouth in a wonderful symphony of tastes.

「Well, how does it taste? Is it delicious? 」

「It is delicious indeed. 」

「Let me teach you how to make it then. 」

「I will be much obliged. 」

As it soon turned out, Clara was a very caring type of person, and so she started pampering Siluca throughout her stay in the mansion. Of course, Siluca was grateful to her for everything that she did because she did not have to do any of it, but she was beginning to worry that if this keeps going any longer, then she would definitely start getting fat due to how much she was eating nowadays. And since she is wearing the clothes that are quite revealing now, there would be absolutely no way for her to cheat her way out of it if her figure changed in any noticeable way.

「You still have no luck finding them? 」

Peering at the map, Clara let out a sigh. She harbors a bitter hatred for the heavy knights of Waldrind who killed her kin and severely wounded her eldest son, Ion, so she wanted to find them and bring them to justice as soon as possible.

「Isn’t there a possibility that they might have already returned to Waldrind? 」

「Of course, that is a possibility that absolutely cannot be denied. However, as soon as we have heard the news from Lord Ion, a high alert state has been implemented, so given the circumstances, I think it would be exceedingly difficult for a group of more than 10 people to try and cross the border between Artuk and Waldrind while remaining completely unnoticed. 」

In the first place, the implementation of that system was only made possible because Theo moved and acted so quickly.

「I wonder if they are actually hiding in holes like rabbits? 」

「Either they are hiding somewhere where we cannot see them… or they are being hidden by someone. 」
Siluca was the one who said that there is a possibility that Elmer might be collaborating with someone powerful since he managed to sway so many of his companions to join his side.

(Is that collaborator the female Mage that Ion witnessed when he was attacked? Or could it be that it is actually some kind of influential person in Waldrind who is supporting Elmer from behind the scenes?And let us not forget about the possibility that he might have someone acting as an insider here in Artuk.)

There is also a possibility that all of the information that they received from Irvin might be fake, so Siluca could not allow herself to say anything careless now

Or maybe it’s fake information, I can’t say anything careless

「Maybe it does not even going to matter, but… 」

Theo muttered as if he just remembered something.

「Yes? What is it? 」

Siluca urged Theo to continue speaking. Right now they are in desperate need of information, so if he had any, no matter how insignificant they might be, she would have welcomed them with open arms.

「Right now, I am currently staying in the castle of a Baron called Eugen Niklae. 」

「At Baron Eugen’s castle? That is a good choice. 」

Siluca was impressed. She did not care about anything else after they have closed the border between Waldrind and Artuk and ordered the increase of the patrols on the highways, but she only now realized that even if they are not an army, they would still have to fight against a unit of Waldrind’s heavy knights when they will finally manage to find them, so it was a given that at that time they are going to need someone who is going to take the lead. Since Theo is acting as a representative of Vilar then he should be the one to take the lead, but since he is a newcomer in Artuk and a low-ranked Knight at that, there is a possibility that the older, more experienced Lords would refuse to listen to any orders that he would try to give them

(Master Theo is really good at building relationships with other people.)

Siluca was content with how reliable that part of him was.

「At the Baron’s castle, I have heard a strange story. 」

Theo began by telling Siluca and Clara that just after the battle at Selvis, the Baron’s men found a full set of armor belonging to a heavy knight of Waldrind on the road leading to the Forest of Eternal Darkness.

「I guess whoever that knight was, he must have gotten separated from the main unit while they were fleeing the battlefield he must have took a wrong turn somewhere, ending up in Artuk as a result. 」

If that was all there was to it, it would be just a plausible story. However, when you combine it with the current situation, it made Theo want to doubt the causal relationship between that happening and the incident.
Siluca turned her gaze to a point on the map. She remains as she was, continues to stare at that point for a long time.

There was a picture of a castle there. The forest is spreading around it, and there is not a single sign indicating any sightings of the heavy knights. But that’s just a sign that the investigation is still incomplete.

(Maybe they really are hiding around there…?)

「The Forest of Eternal Darkness… 」
Siluca hesitated for a while before uttering these words. And then he marks the spot with the tip of her magic wand.

「If you can’t find it after searching for this much, it’s possible that they are hiding here, since even the people of Artuk do not come close to that forest. 」