A Special Woman (2)
"Aaack?! Ah, mister?! I just paid for it! Kuaaa!? It hurts!"
The street vendor had outright grabbed her by the hair. The woman flailed in panic, desperately trying to wriggle free.
"Sigh."
As more eyes turned their way, Isaac approached and held out a coin.
"Boss, here. I'll cover it."
"No, this wench needs a good thrashing more than money! How dare she backseat-drive someone else's business—!"
"My companion and I will eat some too, so let her go this time."
"Hehe, hello there!"
Jonathan, standing behind him, waved cheerfully in greeting. The vendor spotted the Helmont knight's armor on him and reluctantly released his grip, snatching up the coin.
Isaac slipped between the stalls with the woman and her skewer in tow. It was a narrow gap amid the row of vendors.
"Ahem, thanks for the consideration. But try the skewer—just once. You'll see my words were worth their weight in gold—!"
The woman, still clueless, started to ramble on but suddenly froze, staring openly at Isaac's face.
"...You're not smitten, are you?"
"Shut it."
Isaac elbowed Jonathan away from whispering in his ear, then handed over the skewer. He ignored Jonathan happily devouring two skewers beside him and let out a sigh.
"I helped you out this time, but don't eat if you can't pay next time."
"Misunderstanding. I thought I had money. I'm not that shameless."
"..."
"More importantly—."
The woman crossed her arms and grinned slyly. As if she'd pieced it together, her shoulders shook with suppressed laughter, and she pointed at Isaac with a fingertip.
"Isaac Helmont. Just back from the North, huh?"
She nailed his identity on the spot.
"Gasp?!"
Jonathan's jaw dropped—how did she know? Isaac rarely ventured out, so even the villagers in Helmont territory barely knew him.
The woman turned with a mysterious smile, showing her back.
"Frostsilver earrings, no less. Quite the luxury you're sporting."
She seemed pleased with her own display of uniqueness and mystery, skipping lightly away. Isaac called after her retreating figure with a sigh.
"Your Highness, what are you doing here?"
"...!"
The woman flinched. She turned back with an awkward expression, sweat beading on her brow.
"Ah, n-no... I'm not."
Still huddled between the stalls, the three squatted facing each other.
"H-how did you know?"
Albion Kingdom's princess. Clarice Evangelle Regardia. Direct descendant of the Regardia royal family.
"Frostsilver is only handled by the Kaldias and the royals."
Silberna had said that when she gave him the earrings.
Who else in the North would recognize frostsilver?
So if someone did recognize it, they were one of two: Kaldias or royal.
"Your appearance gave away that you might be the princess."
"...I tried to play it cool and tripped over my own feet."
Clarice deflated. Isaac gave her a wry smile as he watched.
Truth be told—and more honestly—there had been some connection in his previous life.
From the moment he first saw her, he'd been wondering how to pry out how she knew him. Lucky for him, she'd outed herself.
"Actually, it worked out for the best. I was thinking it might be tough handling this alone."
Clarice picked up a nearby pebble and drew a circle on the ground.
"This is Blackhand. Thanks to your report, Isaac, we learned about those unknown beings, the Transcendents."
"..."
"We're preparing an underground strike on Blackhand itself. Soon after the Sword Festival at the earliest."
"That soon?"
"This is already slow. We don't know what those Transcendent bastards might do."
Clarice sighed. A question arose, and Jonathan voiced it perfectly.
"B-but why come to the Sword Festival? You must be swamped."
"Exactly."
Clarice grinned and drew a line from the circle, ending in a triangle that she tapped with the pebble.
"Intelligence says someone in Helmont is colluding with the Transcendents. I'm here to investigate secretly."
"...You're doing it personally, Your Highness?"
"I'm capable, you know. If it weren't for me, we wouldn't even know Helmont was in bed with Transcendents."
The princess shrugged smugly.
"No idea how airtight they kept it. It was real hard work."
She slumped her shoulders with a grumble.
"Sometimes I thought ignorance would be bliss. Helmont, the kingdom's sword, colluding..."
"Who is it?"
Isaac was genuinely curious. In his previous life, he hadn't known about any Helmont-Transcendent collusion.
If anything, Alois's Subordination—but that happened after Isaac knew Alois had been exiled from Helmont.
Who could it be?
Isaac didn't know, so he asked the princess.
"The Helmont colluding with Transcendents is—."
Clarice grinned mischievously and declared boldly.
"Sharen Helmont!"
Isaac smacked his forehead with a sigh.
Clarice Evangelle Regardia. Undoubtedly exceptional.
She and Lianna had stood as twin pillars, defending humanity to the end. If Lianna was the kingdom's final sword, Clarice was its last pride—the commander of humanity, an innovative strategist.
But like Silberna, her talents hadn't fully bloomed yet.
"N-no! It's true, I swear! It's not baseless! Two months ago, Sharen Helmont suddenly sent her maids outside—every day! She never did before!"
It was to hunt for star cookies. Because Isaac, who'd been running her errands, had left for the North.
"She even went out herself sometimes. See? Blackhand vicinity is on the list."
Probably checked there on the off chance of star cookies.
"And she just ran into Transcendents in the North! From what I gathered separately, Sharen Helmont suddenly volunteered for a dispatch to the North—!"
Okay, fine—he had to admit it.
Her intel is no joke.
How the hell did she dig that up? As Isaac stared blankly, Clarice's fervent rant about Sharen being the only possible culprit trailed off.
"...Right?"
She glanced cautiously at Isaac and Jonathan, clearly aware she might be wrong.
"No."
Isaac's firm denial prompted Jonathan to jump in and smooth things over.
"Y-you probably haven't met her! Once you do, you'll see she's not the type!"
"Is that so."
Clarice pouted, sighed, and slowly stood.
"I see. So intel isn't just about collecting reports—it's lacking without that."
Her expression brightened instead. A sly, impish gleam sparked in her smile.
"You have to feel it on the ground. It matched what I expected. I'm impressed with myself for predicting my own shortcomings."
"..."
"..."
"Then you two! Help me. We'll find out who's colluding in Helmont."
"Fine by me."
Isaac stood as well. Truth be told, he was curious too if there really was a Helmont traitor at this point.
As far as he knew, no one but Alois had colluded with Transcendents.
Does that cast doubt on Arandel's illness too?
If Arandel could live, it would create a deterrent against war.
"Coming to the mansion with us?"
Clarice was royalty. She'd surely received an invite to the Sword Festival, and invitees stayed at Helmont Mansion during it.
"Nah, I'll scout around more. See how valuable info I get on foot. You two must be excited too?"
"..."
"..."
"Ahem, I'm a princess?"
"Looking forward to it."
"Please do share."
"Great! See you at the mansion!"
Like a gust of wind, she'd appeared—and now whipped away like a storm. Watching her go, the two could only stare in stunned silence.
The carriage halted at its destination.
"Haa."
He'd known, but hadn't expected to return like this. Isaac stepped down from the carriage with a sigh.
What filled his view was the massive, majestic Helmont Mansion. Other carriages belonged to fellow invitees—nobles—and with guests arriving in droves, no one spared a thought for Isaac's return.
Except one.
"B-brother-in-law!"
An awkward gait. Alois approached Isaac with a smile, leaning on a cane. The moment Isaac saw it—
"Brother-in-law! Sis has some weird misunderstanding— Brother-in-law?"
"Pfft."
Isaac couldn't hold back his laugh, covering his mouth with a hand.
"Want tips on using that cane? It's pretty sloppy."
And he was something of an expert on that.
"...I'll get better soon."
Alois ground his teeth, mood soured, and shot back.