Chapter 228: Harvest Festival (4)

Chapter 228: Harvest Festival (4)The evening in Tristan Duchy was quite chilly. Perhaps, it was because the territory was right next to the Kendride Margraviate, which bordered the land to the north.

Grabbing his coat, Marquis Bogut let out a sigh.

As he walked out of the Duke's mansion into the courtyard, white breath vapor came out with his mouth.

There was no hesitation in his gait as he had seen everything he wanted to see.

“...What an absurd guy, being able to have dominance over the Devils like that...”

He muttered while scratching his head.

“You think so, right?”

At a glance, it seemed like he was talking to himself since there was no one there, but that couldn’t be further from the truth.

Suddenly, a woman appeared under the light shade, wearing an expressionless face.

Marquis Bogut let out a snort, dumbfounded. He simply couldn’t believe that someone was actually able to hide their whole body in such a light patch of shade.

I guess her reputation of being able to infiltrate any place as long as there’s an area without any light isn’t a lie, huh...?

“...Truly a skill that befits someone who bears a title that was only bestowed to two people in this whole continent.”

Marquis Bogut looked at the two animal ears standing on the woman’s head as he said those words.

Biped, the race who faced severe discrimination in the Empire.

Normally, for such a race to come into one of the most authoritative noble territory in the Empire, it would be nothing short of suicidal, but considering who this person was, it wasn’t the case at all.

“Nice to meet you, Grand Assassin. This is the first time I’ve seen you in person. All this time, we’ve only been writing to each other, hm?”

“...”

“Right, come to think of it, was the other Grand Assassin from the same family as yours? As expected, your whole family is—”

“What do you want?”

Well, that didn’t work.

This was his first time meeting the Grand Assassin, but the unfriendliness that he felt in person didn’t feel so different from her writing.

“...That person right there, is your target.”

Marquis Bogut looked behind inside the Duke’s mansion while continuing,

“You’ve seen him from the distance, right? What did he do to that ‘Devil’s Vessel’.”

“...I won’t accept any assassination request against that man.”

Her answer came in a flat tone.

“The Holy Land has already sent someone to assassinate him. I refuse to get a bad blood with someone from the same field as me.”

“You got it wrong, I don’t need you to kill him.”

“...What?”

She responded with an incredulous tone, as if asking, ‘Then why would you hire an assassin?’, but the Marquis ignored her and continued to explain while smiling.

“What that man has done is just the beginning. From now on, the Devils gathering around that man would start their moves in earnest, and you’re the only ‘person’ who can observe it in detail, while being conscious, without getting caught.”

“...”

“Do you understand why I hired you now?”

“...”

Since her whole face was being wrapped tightly in a hood, the Marquis couldn’t see what expression she made, but he was sure that she was frowning at him. He ignored that and continued while smiling.

“Infiltrate the academy. Get as close as possible to that man. If you see anything that stands out, report it to me.”

Marquis Bogut paused for a moment before adding something with a meaningful smile.

“...Also, you might run into your family there.”

“...”

The Assassin stayed quiet for a moment before bursting out laughing.

“I don’t care about them.”

“Oh, really?”

“Yeah.”

Right before she disappeared into the shadow again...

Her cold voice entered his ears.

“Because they’ve betrayed me.”

“...”

Marquis Bogut quietly watched as the Assassin disappeared with such words.

...Betrayal, huh?

It was a familiar word to him.

And he would be getting more and more familiar with that word in the future.

“-!”

As he thought so, his upper body suddenly leaned forward violently.

A violent cough burst out from his stomach, accompanied by the pain so great that blood started to fill up his mouth.

“...”

He touched the area around his mouth while smiling bitterly.

In the white breath vapor that came out from his mouth, he could smell the strong scent of blood.

“...Hang in there a little longer, Bogut. You’re doing great.”

He muttered while instinctively stroking his neck—the thing that he had always done every time this happened.

Except that this time, the locket that he had usually grasped in his hand was nowhere to be found.

The locket with the picture of Astrid, Armin, and him in it.

“...”

I knew it...

Giving it to Armin before I left was a good idea.

Without it, he felt as if he had broken a bad habit of relying on it every time he was feeling weak.

So, instead of grasping that locket...

He clenched his teeth as he ruminated on the words engraved on that locket.

“My friends...”

From now on, until forever...

Until death separates us apart...

“Just a little more, my friends...”

Almost there...

It’s just around the corner...

Pardon?

[You know, there’s one ‘first time’ that she can’t take, right?]

‘...’

[I wonder what will happen once she knows who took your virginity...]

Uh, that...

No matter how hard I thought about it, that was something I couldn’t do anything about...

...Let’s worry about it later, Caliban.

I replied, deciding to focus on my dance with Eleanor right now.

She clearly came all dressed up to do this. I couldn’t let her down.

Fortunately, even with my poor dancing skills, thanks to her lead, my moves still came out smoothly.

...Am I going to pass this without any big trouble this time again?

Just like the dance moves I had been dishing out.

It felt as if this incident was coming to an end now.

Honestly, when I was invited to Tristan Duchy territory, I was seriously worried that something big would happen. Well, something did happen, but it wasn’t that big.

“...”

.

Though...

If there was one thing I was worried about right now...

It was the fact that the Empress was watching Eleanor and me dancing on the stage with a suspicious amount of interest.

It was as if...

She was somehow jealous...?

“...”

Cecilia the 11th...

Until the party was over, she didn’t stop sending such a gaze our way.

●

“How was your outing, Your Imperial Majesty?”

Someone suddenly asked the Empress, who was silently walking while holding her staff.

He was the Sword Saint, sitting on the coach’s box while holding the whip, asking her that question as soon as she got close to the carriage.

But the Empress only looked at him blankly.

Her expression suggested that she was thinking deeply about something. She only stared at him without saying anything.

“...Your Imperial Majesty?”

The Sword Saint, Radu, slightly frowned his eyebrows as he asked again.

“Radu.”

“Yes, Your Imperial Majesty. I am listening.”

“Have you ever gone to a school before?”

A strange question was asked.

But, it wasn’t hard for him to answer that.

“No. I was born and grew up in the knightage, so I didn’t have the opportunity to experience such a place.”

“I see.”

The Empress let out a chuckle as she continued.

“I haven’t either.”

"..."

After a short silence, the Sword Saint managed to ask another question.

“May I ask why you’re suddenly curious about that?”

“Eleanor... She looks happy.”

“...Does she?”

The Sword Saint asked, sounding as if he somehow sensed something worrying.

He could be more confident about his guess more than anyone since he was always beside her to assist her.

Sometimes, Cecilia the 11th would behave strangely, to the point that it could astound people around her.

Right now, she was exuding the vibe that felt as if she was about to behave just like that.

“Radu.”

“Yes, Your Imperial Majesty.”

“If I were to go to school, would I be able to have such a cool relationship with someone?”

“...Pardon me?”

Radu fired that question, he could feel goosebumps appearing on his skin.

No way.

The Empress, the Ruler of the Empire herself...

Is saying that she wants to enroll into the Empire’s educational institution...?

This is an even worse disaster than a commander-in-chief asking to be enrolled as a low-ranking soldier in the army...!

“I’m just saying this, but...”

“...”

“If the Empress expresses her wish to go to school, wouldn’t it be a big horseplay? Elfante would definitely turn chaotic. Political problems would arise from that too.”

“...It would be like that, huh, as expected.”

He replied, forcing a smile.

Right, I’m glad the Empress hasn’t lost her mind so b—

“But, what if I enroll not as the Empress...”

“...”

“...Hmm.”

“...”

“Hm. Hm. Maybe...”

Radu closed his eyes tightly.

To him, this was definitely a force majeure.