CH ss - 2

A year passed, and Viscount Givens received a troublesome letter from a fellow noble in his faction.

Summarizing the contents, the letter said, “Do something about the Clausel family”.

Baron Clausel is a powerful nobleman who’s not worthy of his title, and even if he’s a neutral, he may eventually become an obstacle.

Viscount Given let out a sigh and began to think about how he should move.

The course of action he chose was to set up the Clausel family.

Although it would take a long time, it was a measure that might bring the Clausel family further into the Heroic Faction’s fold without the Heroic Faction being suspected of having played a hand in it.

To this end, he took the time to establish a cooperative relationship with an elf.

His name was Jerukku, a sinister elf.

It was really by chance that he was able to make the connection.

A knight of Viscount Givens left his domain and traveled to a distant adventurer’s guild.

There, he concealed the fact that he was the hand of Viscount Givens and was looking for adventurers to help him in his efforts to undermine the Clausel family.

But normally, they wouldn’t be so easy to find.

Even if they were easy to find, it was doubtful whether they were worthy of trust.

However, Jerukku came into contact with the knight of Viscount Givens.

It just so happened that Jerukku was interested after making an attempt on the knight’s life who asked to speak with him.

The knight, in a desperate attempt to save his life, shamelessly revealed his true identity, which turned out to be the right thing to do.

“I like killing.”

The knight was threatened to take Jerukku to the Viscount in exchange for his life, and he obediently took him back to Viscount Givens.

There, Jerukku said this.

“When I trampled insects as a child, I felt an indescribable pleasure. But my interest soon waned, and I began to kill small animals. But that soon became boring, and I began to kill the children of my own kind.”

He says that he felt even more pleasure than when he first reached it.

Somewhere along the way, he came to believe that he was “born to kill people,” and he began to find meaning in that alone.

There’s no purpose. He just wants to kill.

Viscount Givens smirked at Jerukku as he spoke of this thought.

“Is there any value in killing a noble?”

“Perhaps there is. I’ve never experienced it, but I would very much like to enjoy it. But I would be willing to get paid for it.”

“What do you want?”

“Money. After that, I want information.”

Jerukku asked for an unbelievable amount of money and information.

The information was the means to break the curse that had been engraved on his body.

Viscount Givens, who was troubled, suggested the dean of the Imperial Cadet Academy, but Jerukku didn’t want to be noticed, so he sought another source.

“So rest assured. As long as you source for information for me, and give me the reward, I’ll undertake the work for you. As long as that happens, I will work for you without betrayal.”

“Do you think I can easily trust someone who has come this far by threatening my men?”

Viscount Givens laughed despite his words as he said this.

“I trust the viscount. The fact that I didn’t kill you here is proof of that.”

“—- You could’ve killed me here, taken the money and walked away. But you didn’t. That’s because you found something more amusing.”

The two men were in communication.

Definitely and surely.

“It’s a lovely comedy, isn’t it, a heroic nobleman hiring a hit man?”

“It’s all a necessary sacrifice. In order to bring true freedom to Leomel, it’s necessary for us, the heroic faction, to rise to the occasion. To do so, we must eliminate any obstacles that may stand in our way.”

“Then have me assassinate Baron Clausel.”

“No, you can’t do that. That’s not possible. The man has value, so it would be premature to kill him.”

Saying this, Viscount Givens clapped his hands and called for the knights.

The one who came was the pathetic knight who had been threatened by Jerukku and had led him here out of fear for his life.

“You wanted to see me?”

“It’s just work. Nothing more.”

The knight thought he was forgiven.

The knight was relieved to be told that it was a job, and he walked over to Viscount Givens and knelt.

However, the rest of the story is not told.

He looked up and wondered what was going on.

“Jerukku, this is your first task.”

The knight’s vision shook and he let go of his consciousness.

He couldn’t be seen as he died because he had been devoured above the neck by the maneater on the ceiling, and his entire body was devoured before he could even drip fresh blood.

************************************************************

Soon after, two legitimate sons were born to the seven great barons.

A year later, two more heirs were born.

Many of Leomel’s subjects, not limited to the heroic nobility, rejoiced at this. For them, the factional strife among the nobles was irrelevant, and they rejoiced at the birth of the successor to a royal noble family with close ties to a hero.

At the same time, however, a special person was born into the Clausel family.

Licia, a saint who would later make a name for herself.

The influence of the heirs of the barons’ firstborns energized the heroes.

The birth of Licia, however, also brought attention to the saint.

—— It was around this time that Viscount Givens made a certain discovery.

“Jerukku. What was the name of the knight who took charge of the village that failed in last year’s raid?”

“I believe his name was Roy Ashton.”

One day at dusk, the two were talking in his office.

Viscount Givens, on the other hand, had in his hand a parchment filled with information that he had been researching in the imperial capital until the other day.

“Ashton the Adventurer…… you‘ve probably been erased from history.”

Viscount Givens laughed amusedly as he held the parchment.

His words weren’t audible to Jerukku.

But he could see that Viscount Givens was laughing.

“Sounds like fun, but are you sure? You’ve still got the troublesome matter of the saint to deal with.”

“I don’t mind. Fortunately, I have a trump card that I hadn’t planned on.”

“A trump card?”

“Never mind. But from this day on, I want you to work even harder to bring down the village that belongs to the Ashtons.”

“Do you really think that village is worth it? I can’t think of a better word to describe it than “frontier village.”

“The majority of people would think so, no, everyone but me. The Ashtons to me are worth more than gold, silver, and treasure.”

Jerukku tilted his head and asked for an explanation, but Viscount Givens would not speak.

I’m the only one who should know. He thought.

“That’s alright. I’ll take care of it. In any case, the knight in charge of that village is capable. A mere D-rank monster would be defeated just as before.”

“What about a unique monster that can be used as long as it is in the D-rank category?”

“I can do that, but…”

“If it takes time, effort and money, I’ll pay more than ever before. So, destroy that village somehow. Remember, only the current head of the family and his wife should be killed. But bring me back the son who was born a few days ago, no matter what it takes.”

No matter how many times he thought about it, Jerukku couldn’t understand Viscount Given’s purpose.

But his employer seemed to think it was the right thing to do, and he was promised money.

And even to this day, he has been working hard to gather information to break the seal, and although there have been a number of eyebrows raised, he has still been provided with an amount of information that can be tested.

That is why Jerukku trusts Viscount Given and doesn’t ask him anything.

Because their relationship was the same as before, they were just business associates.