CH 174

Anyway, I should ask the details from Ash and Butler — so we moved to a more suitable place so we can talk.

We went to the second floor of my house. Dinosso just passed straight through my house to call Ash and Butler.

While waiting, I lit the fireplace and started boiling water for tea. I finally succeeded in convincing them to use porcelain recently, so the plates and cups I took out are all pure white.

I placed a yogurt cake on the simple white plate, scooped a huge spoonful of strawberry mousse and dolloped it. Added some raw strawberries — There’s a ruckus outside.

I went downstairs, and heard somebody arguing in front of the door. Butler and Dinosso’s voices intertwined with Reid’s.

「Lilith-dono entrusted this task to me. She wishes me to stand witness in the event that you’re going to meet somebody of unknown origins, regardless if it is your neighbor. 」

Whoa, Chris is right, Lil Bro’s extreme nosiness is about to explode, huh.

「He’s not someone dangerous, and he isn’t related to the kingdom in any way. The reason why we cannot disclose his origin is because he’s an adventurer. 」Butler.

「My brother, he’s someone dear to me as well. 」

Chris pacified him.

「Then let me see his face even just once. 」

He’s quite upright for an escort, but is he really an escort?

I also wanna ask whether he can overpower DInosso and Butler’s combo?

But, maybe it’s a relief for the client that he’s like this.

「He looks like this. 」

I don’t want someone heatedly arguing in front of my house, so I peeked out. Great thing I cleaned up the first floor, even if I open the door they won’t see anything but the stairs.

「You’re Ruta’s — I see, there shouldn’t be any problems if it’s Ruta’s owner. Pardon my rudeness. 」

Reid immediately backed down.

Everyone wordlessly stared at his back as he strode back home. Chris followed behind, and he turned around, raising a hand in apology.

Why is Ruta’s trust worth that much? Ruta’s adorable, but he’s a wild, restive horse from everyone else’s view, you know?

「Did you meet him before? 」

We climbed to the second floor, then I served yogurt cake to everyone. Butler immediately started to prepare coffee.

「Thank goodness. That guy’s quite bullheaded. 」

「Even though he had been gentle-mannered before. 」

「Mm, but it seems he’s only stubborn when he’s keeping his promise to somebody. Lilith frequently relied on him. 」

Lilith must be that red-haired woman.

「It’s been a while since I enjoyed Jean’s snacks. Is it alright if we talk while we eat? 」

「Go ahead. 」

Butler served the coffee, so I also took a bite.

Mm, tastes great.

「Pour this if you want it sweeter. 」

I put the strawberry sauce in front of Ash. The taste’s perfect for me, but it’s not sweet enough for Ash, I’m sure.

「Thanks. It’s delicious. 」

Ash happily ate.

「Soft and fluffy — and it’s cold. 」

「Yeah. It’s tasty, but it’s probably one of those… yeah, better not to ask how it’s made, huh. 」

Alright, let’s serve room temp milk pudding to the men from now on.

「I’ve been keeping in touch with Lilith through Az. 」

「Hm? 」

Az isn’t a strong spirit, but since he’s a bird, his specialty is moving fast.

Both Merchant Guilds and Adventurer’s Guilds use spirits for communication, so even though it takes a long time to transport people and things, information travels fast.

「Things had become weird in our kingdom a short while after I left. Lilith wasn’t specifically writing to me about such things, but there’s a lot of things I felt uneasy about, and it’s getting worse. 」

「Okay. 」

「The same thing happened here in Canum, right? I can’t help but wonder if it’s because of that that I’ve been expelled and Father collapsed to illness. Father and I are the only ones who can see spirits without using magical circles in the entire kingdom, after all. 」

So she’s considering the possibility that something was done to them using spirits. Dean’s sister wasn’t aware that she’d been possessed, but this is different — it’s a premeditated crime, huh.

「And there’s also the Torum Kingdom. They held a little bit more power across the small countries compared to our kingdom, and they took advantage of war in the Plains to absorb the surrounding small countries. Their method is to extend aid to countries exhausted by the war, making the citizens turn their back on the royal family reigning over them. Even the countries who didn’t participate in the war have difficulty obtaining supplies, so there are a lot of poor countries. Well, there’s nothing surprising about poor small countries not being able to support themselves anymore, so I didn’t think it was a big deal, but seems I’m mistaken. 」

「I also have my doubts regarding that matter. It seems they’ve been aiming for the downfall of the surrounding countries long before. 」

Butler interjected with a bow.

Those ‘small countries’ are small enough that even someone like me can become a feudal lord over it, so there are many town — no, village structures there. So, were they taking those regions down one by one in preparation for conquering Ash’s relatively huge kingdom?

「With her suggestions pointing to avoiding anything that could unravel the influence of spirits, I felt it highly likely that Lilith was also possessed. So, I requested Az to bring some holy water and pour it on Lilith. And I was right. After that, Lilith also moved secretly behind the scenes to bring the high-ranking officials back to their senses. 」

Ash added more strawberry sauce to the cake. Viscous scarlet liquid trickled down from the white milk pitcher.

「The person claiming to be my younger brother got arrested and Father was rescued. He had been fed poison, apparently, and he’s still unconscious, but he’s recovering. 」

It might sound old-fashioned, but feeding someone basically meant just that — feeding the medicine or poison to a person.

「That’s great. 」

I don’t know what kind of poison they used, but this world has recovery potions. Well, the medicines here have after-effects, though it’s just my guess.

「I didn’t just receive a letter from Lilith this time; even the Royal Family sent a decree ordering me to return. The royals probably want my Sight. 」

I always looked her in the eye when we’re chatting, but now, I’m staring at the sauce spreading. One last scarlet drop trickled down.