Volume 6 - CH 6

Chapter 6 – Margrave or Erven

The next day, before leaving Cyril, Eto and his party met with the kidnapped victims and explained the situation in Margrave.

As they have been traveling together for a while, a relationship of trust has been built between them. Especially when the women heard that Sorano and Kohaku were going to leave, they couldn’t hide their anxiety. To that, the two explained Eto’s initiative to help the victims, and reassure them that they will definitely meet again.

Meanwhile, the three knights who were also traveling with them will be staying in the town of Cyril for some time. They were also given a room in the Knight’s facility and promised to take care not to bother the victims. Then, Eto shook hands with the knights and thanked them for their care during the trip.

“Eto-san, it seems you are going first.”

Saying that, Tommy extended his right hand, which was then grasped by Eto.

“Yes. My party was asked to deliver a letter to Veil, after all. Besides, I also want to go there as soon as possible to see the situation. And it would be dangerous to go there by carriage.”

“That’s true. Although the trip from the Royal Capital feels like a while, it was actually a short while, and was a valuable experience to me.”

“It was also a valuable experience for me, especially with Tommy-san’s cooking and storytelling skills.”

“Storytelling skills? Ah, so it’s about that! I know I ended up troubling you by telling you about the story of my heartbreak, but at that time–”

“It’s fine. Thanks to that story, the women were able to accept Tommy-san, after all. And if you didn’t start telling me your story, I might not have been able to ask you to help with the cooking class. It seems, thanks to that, we were able to make connections with many people happily.”

“Making connections happily, huh. Haha, I see. But, if it’s like that, then the fact that I was rejected is also a part of that happy-way to make a connection… No, no, as expected, there is no way it was.”

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Tommy’s words were so strange that it made Eto subconsciously laugh. And Tommy, who complains to Eto by saying, “You’re terrible for laughing at that”, also smiled.

“For me, I think I will wait for instructions from my boss while watching the situation here for a while. Thus, I hope I can see Eto-san again somewhere.”

“Ee. Since we, adventurers, are in a profession that requires traveling, I’m sure we can meet again somewhere.”

“That’s true. I will do my best so at that time I won’t be telling you my heartbroken story, but a love fulfillment story.”

“I will be looking forward to that.”

☆☆☆

Four horses are running on the highway, heading west. Since Kohaku couldn’t ride one by herself, she was clinging to Sorano’s back. The other horse is ridden by Narl, who volunteered himself when Jerome’s chief asked one of the knights to guide Eto and his party. And since it seems he was originally planning to return to the territory of Veil, he could subsequently guide Eto and his party.

The area surrounding the road leading to Veil was filled with cultivated lands. Sadly, the wheat field has already been harvested in the fall. If the group were a little earlier, they might be able to see the scenery of vast golden wheat that spread endlessly.

The distance from Cyril to Veil is something that can be reached in less than half a day by a fast horse. However, since Jerome’s letter was not an urgent one, Eto and his group stayed overnight in a village along the way, so they wouldn’t put more burden on their horses. Then, in the next morning, they arrived at Veil.

The territory of Veil is like an ancient city on the border, even a stone pavement seems to have a long history. As the group was running their horses to the castle where the Margrave stayed, they saw many passers-by talking secretly while giving them side glances. Liveliness couldn’t be felt in the city, and the inhabitants seemed to just want to hold their breath and wait for the storm to pass.

Upon arriving at the castle, Narl simply showed his guild card and went all the way to the inside. Meanwhile, Eto hesitated whether it was okay for his party to follow him.

“What are you doing? Come here.”

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“We are outsiders, though…”

“Don’t worry about it. If you don’t come, I’ll leave.”

Hurried by Narl, Eto’s party immediately followed behind him.

As they went straight down the corridor inside the castle, another guild investigator, Nii, appeared from a side passage and naturally joined Eto’s group. Nii nodded to Narl, and muttered, “It’s been a while”, to Eto and his party. The appearance of Nii is similar to Narl, but the cloth wrapped around the head and the cloth covering the mouth were both orange. Eto wondered whether it was their native dress, but feeling that they wouldn’t answer, Eto decided to keep silent.

After being led to a small room and waiting for a while, a man in his late thirties wearing knight clothing entered the room. The man seems to be commanding officer Andrea, who is temporarily entrusted to manage the knights of Veil. Seeing him, Eto couldn’t help but feel sympathy, as even though Andrea was still young, it would probably be difficult for him after letting the Acting Lord escape.

Eto then handed the letter he had received from Jerome, Cyril’s branch leader, to the commanding officer Andrea and asked about the situation at the fort. After looking at Narl and confirming he could tell Eto, Andrea told Eto and his group about the current situation in detail.

That made Eto think that Narl might actually be someone with a great status, but since it might bring unnecessary trouble, he pretended to not know it. Because if it is necessary for him to know about that, they will naturally tell him at that time.

The southern fort was a castle floating on a lake. After the Acting Lord barricaded himself inside, the bridge connecting the fort was sunk to the bottom of the lake. And after they asked Margrave who was still on the sickbed, it seems it was indeed possible to operate the bridge from inside the fort.

The enemy also tied the hostages to a wall made of wood and brought them to the front, completely blocking arrows and magic attacks. Although the Hero’s party who was on a journey to subjugate monsters also participated in the siege, the situation remains difficult to approach, said Captain Andrea.

“Ge, the Hero is there?”

Kohaku muttered in a small voice. She seems to hate the Hero Ronaldo a lot, to the point she has a weary look on her face. Because it looks like Eto’s party has come to the Margrave territory to chase the Hero’s party.

Commanding officer Andrea then told the group to take any room in the castle to recover from their exhaustion after the long trip. However, since Eto’s party thought staying in such places will make their shoulders stiff, they declined and wanted to search for an inn in the city. However, Narl said that the inhabitants are currently wary of the people from other territories, so they might not be able to get an inn easily. In the end, the party decided to rest in the castle as they had no other choice.

Then, after having dinner with the knights, Eto and Amou entered a double room. After a while, a tall butler came and told Eto that Margrave asked Eto to visit him. Judging that he couldn’t refuse, Eto told the butler to come again ten minutes later after he finished his preparation.

In the meantime, he called Kohaku and Sorano to his room and told them to be ready to move. Although it is unclear how far Margrave himself was involved in this incident, there is nothing wrong in preparing for the unprecedented.

Guided by the butler who returned exactly ten minutes later, Eto headed to the room where Margrave Stainbolt was waiting.