Chapter 29.1

The soldier smiled at her, lifting up the sword in his hand.

“You’ve got four men, so if there’s anything you need manpower for in the village, let us know anytime. We’re here to help until noon.”

The one man who’d been so naturally excluded would be Franz, most likely.

Does that man have no balls? Carla almost asked, but she swallowed it down to offer a rare customer service smile instead.

“How nice of you. Then I’ll prepare breakfast for you folks and then go ask the chief if there’s anyone who needs any help around here.”

“Understood! Please do not hesitate to let us know.”

Flashing a broad, good-natured grin, he then left.

While the other soldiers also went out to the well one after the other to wash up, Carla hurried over to Anna’s room.

Anna was in the middle of rolling right off her bed. Holding her daughter’s elbow in an iron grip, Carla spoke.

“Wake up!”

“Hng…? Mom?”

“Open those eyes of yours, quick. I’m going to hold up those men for the morning, and then I’ll send’em over to the farm to chase off the wolves.”

“Those men? Right, the soldiers are here, huh?”

Only then did Anna’s eyes widen.

Rubbing the crusts off Anna’s eyes for her, Carla told her the most important part of her directions yet.

“So before the morning is over, settle things with Bertram.”

“Settle… as in send him out of town?”

“That’s right. How long do you think the villagers will help hide him? When sword-bearing men are roaming around the village? The soldiers may be friendly now, but you never know when they’ll start slashing.”

Anna glanced outside the window with anxiety ridden in her eyes.

The bodies of the men who were splashing well water on themselves were all rugged and robust. Even Erich, who was so hungover that he couldn’t even open his eyes properly, had muscles that rippled clearly every time he splashed himself with cold water.

But the most dubious of their uninvited guests was, of course, Franz.

If he truly was the son of a duke, then he might think nothing much of slicing through a few commoners or more.

“Anna.”

“…Alright. I’ll go tell him as soon as I can.”

“Good thinking. I’ll also tie those blokes down for certain so they can’t go around on their own. Okay?”

Anna and Carla shared a brief, tight hug.

Soon, Anna was rushing to the kitchen. Going empty-handed to someone who wouldn’t have been able to eat breakfast was completely out of question.

Carla, who thought the same, did not bother stopping her daughter.

…although it must be said that she regretted it a little bit once she smelled meat cooking over the fire from this early in the morning.

Just like that, Anna fashioned together a bountiful pack of food and ran off to the hills.

Carla in the meantime also called in the soldiers and sat them down in the restaurant.

“Breakfast, everyone!”

“Thank— …thank you very much.”

The soldiers kept silence in front of their simple meal.

They’d definitely smelled grilled meat earlier, so why was it that only brown bread and wrinkly apples were in front of their eyes?

They were not, however, shameless enough to ask, ‘wasn’t that meat we smelled for us?’ and began eating instead.

Except, that is, for one person.

…Franz was not present.

“Where did the Sir Knight go?”

“He said he’ll eat by himself.”

As soon as she heard that, Carla ran out of the restaurant—things would be problematic if it turned out he was tailing Anna.

Fortunately, however, Franz was found on top of the low wall at the back of the restaurant.

“Sir Knight, sir, will you not have your breakfast?”

“There needs to be at least one person to remain vigilant of our surroundings, you understand.”

“You’re quite diligent, aren’t you. And here I thought my food wasn’t to your tastes.”

“That’s quite a thing to say. Just by having witnessed the drinking party from last night, I have no doubts that your skills must be quite incredible, madam.”

Answering smoothly and instinctively, Franz smiled. However, the corners of Carla’s mouth curved down in the opposite direction from Franz’s.

Why was it, he wondered, that nice words were responded to in such a way?

In the end, Franz decided to ask honestly.

“Why do you dislike me, madam? No, not just you, but the villagers seem to be especially hostile to me. I’ve heard that there was a conflict here with the ruling class during the war in regards to requisition, but even with that in mind, it’s a little harsh. Is there another reason?”

“It’s ‘cause you’re handsome, that’s all.”

“Ah, I… huh?”

At the strange answer, Franz widened his eyes.

“Should I not be handsome?”

“Twenty-something years ago, some young noble ran away to our village and was caught seducing many of our village girls before he ran off again. Since that day, the moral to be wary of handsome nobles have spread round here.”

“As a noble, that’s quite embarrassing… Was the culprit never caught?”

“He was a very good-looking man, at least in terms of his face. His golden hair and blue eyes were quite beautiful. Just like you, in fact.”

Not sure what to say, Franz slid his eyes to somewhere else.

Carla pushed her head into his line of sight and continued speaking.

“Which is why I wanted to ask a little something. What’s the name of your esteemed father, by any chance?”

The corners of Franz’s lips twitched.

A provocation, asking if his father too was a libertine.

Of course, his first instinct was to hotly protest that there was no way. Franz’s father was in his fifties, and he had never left the capital in his lifetime.

But as a member of the duchy, handling an outsider’s antagonism with the same was not recommended. The moment you did, you would be considered to have fallen to the same level as the provokers.

His eyes in slits, Franz stared down at Carla.

“I see no reason why I should tell you. In fact, I’d rather like an apology for your offensive question.”

“I suppose so. Sons wish to worship their fathers eternally and thus have a tendency to bristle at anything questionable brought up from the rest of the world, after all.”

“…Madam Carla.”

Franz brought his hand to the side of his waist. Fortunately, or perhaps unfortunately, his sword was not found there. But surely Carla knew what he’d meant to do from the clunking sound that resulted.