Volume 2 - CH 13

Volume 2

Chapter 13-Sudden News and Intrigue

(TL:By Rafael)

"Count Clauda?"(Yuki)

"Yeah. He's my grandfather by blood. And practically a stranger."(Rain)

"You were a nobleman, Rain-san?"(Nene)

Rain shakes her head at Nene's surprised voice.

"I'm a bastard and an outcast."(Rain)

After a pause, Rain began to speak.

That was something I often heard in the wind.

(TL: Wind here means rumours)

Rain's mother, who had been hired as a servant in a nobleman's mansion, became the handmaiden of the eldest son of the Count of Clauda.

This must have been a headache for the Count's family. In addition, she was pregnant with Rain during one of their many encounters, and Count Clauda, fearing that word might get out about his young and promising legitimate son, immediately dismissed Rain's heavily pregnant mother and sent her back to her hometown with some money in her hand.

"My mom went up to the sky because of an epidemic when I was little,....... I enrolled in a magic academy through an acquaintance, and later became an adventurer. Why did he come to me ...... now?"(Rain)

Rain looks at the letter with an indescribable expression.

"Why don't you check inside for now?"(Yuki)

"Yeah. Right."(Rain)

With a small nod, Rain opened the folded letter.

"......."(Rain)

She was looking at the letter, but her face gradually became stern, and finally she put the letter on the table with a dumbfounded look.

"How?"(Rain)

She turned her head and trembled a little.

Something is wrong.

"Are you okay?"(Yuki)

"No, I'm not okay. What does he think I am, some raccoon? ......!"(Rain)

I rubbed Rain's back as she shed tears and tapped her desk in an unusually emotional manner.

"Can I see the letter?"(Rain)

"I don't like it, but you can look ......."(Yuki)

We all looked at the letter that was pushed out.

《I've decided what to do with you.》

The letter suddenly started out like this.

The words that follow are devoid of any affection whatsoever.

《The honorable Mastoma, second prince of Salmutaria, has requested you》

《You have been useless until now, but the time has come for you to be of use to my House of Clauda.》

《As a woman of the House of Clauda's blood, you should rejoice in the honor of being a part of the prosperity of the kingdom and our family.》

《But you need to be educated at the very least. If you are a rude and thoughtless adventurer, quit immediately and return as soon as possible.》

What...? What is this?

I can't believe this is what he said to his granddaughter, whom he had cut off ties with and decided to ignore.

I've heard that aristocrats have a somewhat different blood color than us, but I never imagined that they would be so inhuman.

"What am I going to do now......?"(Rain)

"Well, why don't you just ignore it?"(Marina)

"Huh?"(Yuki)

Marina said matter-of-factly to the downcast Rain.

"You don't have to deal with it. There's no ...... mention of Rain's name anywhere on this. They've got the wrong guy."(Marina)

Marina looks at me with a mischievous smile.

Normally, Marina seems to be a bit of an absent-minded person, but sometimes she is strangely quick-witted like this and normally I don't say that but she 

...... has a point.

(TL: Will it rain today)

"Okay, let's go with that line. The letter was not sealed with the wax of the Claudian family, nor did anyone confirm that we received it. Let's just pretend that a letter bird flew in while we were acting as a party and I opened it."(Yuki)

If you look closely, you will see that there is really no address like "To Rain" anywhere.

It's not surprising that wr opened the mail thinking it was addressed to the party, or that we threw it away because the contents made no sense.

. ...... After all, adventurers are rough and thoughtless.

"We received a letter that was either a prank or a misunderstanding,...... and I, being a rude person, inadvertently lost it,....... Okay?"(Yuki)

(TL: I, being a rude person often tear my test sheets)

"Yuki?"(Rain)

I toss the letter into the small fireplace in the cottage and smile at Rain.

"I didn't see anything."(Yuki)

(TL: I left my eyes at my house)

"Oh, Sensei Your letter fell into the fireplace."(Silk)

"Don't know,Don't care."(Yuki)

Marina and the others laughed at Rain.

When Rain saw this, she hugged me with tears streaming down her face.

I hugged her back and patted her on the head.

"Don't worry. It's going to be okay."(Yuki)

"Yeah."(Rain)

Now that I've said that, I still have no plan.

What should I do?

After all, I'm dealing with a nobleman and the royal family of Salmutaria.

I'm not sure what to do about the balance of power that's been tilted from the start.

In the first place, there are only a few approaches we can take, or rather, almost none.

Even if we suppressed the letter here, we might be behind the curve if the other side moves.

I think we need to take whatever steps we can before they do.

"Hey, Nene."(Yuki)

"What is it?"(Nene)

"Could you ask Mamaru to gather some information about Count Clauda and Mastoma, the second prince of Salmutaria?"(Yuki)

At my request, Nene gives me a stern look.

"Why......? Mamaru-san is a receptionist, you know?"(Nene)

"You know what I mean, Nene. It's just another window."(Yuki)

"...... it is going to be expensive."(Nene)

"I'll get you a nice souvenir."(Yuki)

Nene nodded, letting out a big sigh.

"I'm going to do something illegal. I'm going to use the relay here, so please apologize to the old lady guild master later."(Nene)

With that, Nene walked out of the cottage.

First, we need information. Without it, we can't make a decision on how to proceed.

"Well, next is ......."(Yuki)

"Eh?"(Rain)

I picked up Rain, who was still attached to me, and headed for the door.

"I'm going to go see Manuela. Silk and Marina, you stay here and prepare for the next attack."(Yuki)

"Okay."(Silk)

"Got it!"(Marina)

I nodded to them and walked out the door with Rain in my arms.

As I walked through the camp towards the command center cottage, I asked Rain in my arms.

"Hey, Rain."(Yuki)

"What?"(Rain)

"We're going to be doing some pretty crazy stuff right now. ...... If you don't want to, let me know first."(Yuki)

After saying no, I explained to Rain the plan of what I was going to do.

To be frank, it's not a very complimentary move.

But it should be quite effective in protecting Rain's character.

"......!"(Rain)

Rain, who was still in my arms, looked a little surprised.

"Still no good?"(Yuki)

" Yeah, that's good. Let's do it."(Rain)

Rain, who had a downcast expression earlier, laughed ...... softly, her cheeks softly tinted like a flower.

TL Note-  Let's show our support for Rain the comments. #RainForLife