Suspiciously Suspicious... (5)
Thud. Thud.
Friga’s footsteps never faltered as she descended through the rough forest. A narrow trail wound between the dense undergrowth, worn smooth by frequent passage, and any branches that might have snagged her had been neatly cleared away.
Only the servant forced to walk even faster ahead of her was dying of exhaustion.
Yet his pace never slowed. Friga’s sharp killing intent pricked his back like thorns. It wasn’t aimed at him, but cold sweat still poured down and his heart hammered all the same.
The feeling was… something like coming home late after drinking without a word of notice, only to spot your wife’s silhouette through the window. Of course he was still a virgin, but that was how it felt.
“Hey. Thinking about it, the whole Holy City must already know Iscal’s been running around with that girl, right? Nobody doesn’t know his face anymore.”
Friga, who had been walking in silence, asked bluntly. The panting servant answered at once.
“Aigoo! Haaah— n-no, my lady. Lord Iscal always covers his face outside— huff. I’ve just been following him from the start, so— aigoo!”
“…Is that so? What was your name again? Sango? Sandi?”
“Sancho! It’s Sancho, my lady!”
“Why come tell me this? You’re Iscal’s servant. Shouldn’t you be hiding it from me?”
“Haaah— because I believe Lord Iscal’s only proper match is you, my lady—! Huff, huff!”
Even through her irritation, Sancho’s words—spoken by someone who had served Iscal since childhood—lifted Friga’s mood a little. Someday, when Iscal finally came to marry her, she would remember the name Sancho.
After that brief exchange she fell silent again and simply followed behind him.
“Haaah, haaah! M-my lady, we’re almost there.”
“Really? He’s here?”
Only after they reached the bustling commercial district did Sancho’s steps finally ease. He had worked his feet so hard that his sweat-soaked shirt clung to his body.
Feeling a twinge of guilt, Friga sent him away.
“That’s enough. Go. I’ll handle it from here.”
Ting—
A gold coin arced through the air and landed in Sancho’s hands—payment for his trouble and a quiet apology. The miserable look on his face vanished as he bowed deeply with a bright smile.
“Yes, yes! The woman with him wears a big robe, so she should be easy to spot.”
“Yeah, okay. Go rest. If anyone gives you grief, tell them I said you could.”
“Yes, thank you, my lady!”
Sancho bowed repeatedly and hurried off with quick little steps. Friga watched him go for a moment, then turned her gaze on the crowd and began scanning every face that passed.
Iscal. Iscal. Iscal.
You dare pull this after I haven’t seen your face for a while?
Ha. You’re dead. Dead for real.
Krrrng—!
She let the axe resting on one shoulder drop and drag along the ground. The neat stone blocks gouged deep, throwing up tiny sparks. Kenis or Demonic would scold her later if they found out, but that was a problem for later.
What mattered right now was seeing that insolent bitch’s face. She had no idea what the girl looked like, how pretty she might be—but if they met, Friga would rip the skin right off that face.
“Mom, look… is that—?”
“Shhh! Quiet, quiet!”
“Hello, my lady— s-sorry…”
Krrrng—!
The Dragon Hunter’s Axe ground its teeth and spat sparks. People who had been about to greet Friga cheerfully took one look at her eyes and shrank back.
The sight was pure murder. She looked ready to string someone up and kill them on the spot.
Whispers rose.
“Why is the lady carrying an axe around here…? Don’t tell me some evil heretics showed up?”
“No way. The paladins would’ve swarmed the place already.”
“Whoa! That axe is huge—!”
After the Duel Festival had opened with such spectacle and closed with a long, lingering aftertaste, people had come to regard Iscal and Friga as essentially dating in public.
Neither had confessed in words, yet Iscal’s every action during the trials had been pure, passionate devotion. To any outsider they looked like lovers.
…
Maybe Iscal was the only one who still didn’t know.
And that, in its own way, was infuriating. Friga strode forward. Somewhere in this commercial district were that damned thieving cat of a woman and the insolent Iscal himself.
Taah!
Friga kicked off the ground and shot forward like the wind. She lifted the massive axe with practiced ease so it never touched a single passerby, weaving through the packed crowd like a breeze and leaping clear.
Ssshk—
All the while her eyes never stopped moving, scanning every face. Customers visible through shop windows, merchants haggling with pedestrians.
…Found you.
The teahouse across the way.
A robe roughly Iscal’s size, and another robed figure seated beside it. Both were completely covered, but a closer look left no doubt—it was Iscal.
You’re dead.
Friga stopped in front of the teahouse and gripped the axe with both hands.
The haft settled perfectly into her palms.
Ssshk—
She advanced slowly. Killing intent reined in, breathing kept quiet. The exact posture of a predator about to pounce.
When the teahouse door was right in front of her—
KWAANG—!
The axe shot forward like the wind and smashed the door to paper scraps. Screams erupted inside at the sudden chaos. She had only made noise and controlled her strength carefully; no one should be hurt.
Friga kicked the dangling remnants of the ruined door aside and stormed in, shouting,
“Iscal, get out here!!”
Let’s see what kind of face that bitch is wearing.
Iscal, hooded in his robe, jiggled his leg anxiously and urged her on.
“S-Selina? Are you actually going to cooperate with the investigation? We’ve already hit several shops today alone—”
“Hmm— don’t rush me. Do you think Marquis Perius throws banquets that often?”
“That’s…”
“The marquis is extremely cautious. Because he poked around carelessly, he’s gone even deeper into hiding. Now I can’t even contact him except when I’ve got something for him. So first we need to get the goods.”
“By ‘goods’ you mean those pictures with animal ears drawn on them? Wouldn’t it be more efficient to just pay a painter?”
“Tsk tsk. You’re underestimating Marquis Perius. His tastes may be a bit perverted, but do you have any idea how high his standards are?”
Selina sipped her tea and murmured,
“Anything less than exceptional won’t even catch his eye. So the only way to meet him is to keep wandering around like this hunting for ‘that picture.’ Or find some artwork that can match it. Can you get something like that?”
“That’s…”
“If it isn’t a genuine masterpiece, it’ll never get past his underlings.”
For a moment the portraits of the saints hanging in the Pantheon corridors flashed through Iscal’s mind, but touching those would bring divine punishment for sure. He shook his head weakly.
“Right? Then the only option is to find something that makes the marquis risk meeting us. And the easiest, fastest way is combing the back alleys for ‘that picture.’”
“…I never knew the marquis could hide this well.”
The investigation into Marquis Perius had made no progress.
They had learned he was a noble from the Empire, so they expected to find him quickly—yet whether he had sunk into the earth or risen into the sky, his trail had vanished completely.
Thanks to Emperor Caesar’s active cooperation while he was staying in the Holy City for the baptism ceremony, they had secured the marquis’s face, name, and personal details from his Empire days. All of it proved useless.
Even with every scrap of information, they could not locate Marquis Perius inside the Holy City.
The banquet hall and the mansion were already cleaned out the moment he caught the scent…
In the end they had chosen to meet him through the artworks he was crazy about. Selina had settled on the mysterious pictures that occasionally turned up in the alleys.
Slurp—
“You have to take it easy. Finding the pictures is pure luck. Nothing we can do about that.”
“Haaah—”
Iscal let out a long sigh.
With no progress, his motivation was fading and doubt was creeping in. Did they really need to investigate this thoroughly? Maybe they were just a bunch of suspiciously cultured perverts?
But the marquis had hidden himself far too thoroughly for a mere pervert. Giving up now would leave a bad taste.
Unless he really did rise into the sky…
Twitch.
“Hm?”
Selina, enjoying her sweet cake and tea, suddenly turned her head toward the teahouse door—
KWAANG—!
The sturdy door exploded into useless fragments.
“Kyaaaaah!”
“W-what?! What’s going on!”
“Everyone get down!”
Dust billowed thickly.
Through it a figure shouted,
“Iscal, get out here!!!”
A familiar voice. Impossible to mistake.
Iscal’s pupils dilated and trembled violently.
Along with the cold winter wind, the lady had arrived.
“Is this all?”
Besides the first Selina I found, I had been diligently roaming the Holy City hunting for forgotten bloodlines. Compared to the time invested, the results were basically zero.
Only one man at the end of it all.
Still, better than nothing. One woman, one man—the gender ratio evened out nicely.
You have discovered a descendant of the Forgotten: ‘Hairy Rohan’!
The guy was dead drunk, sleeping in a secluded alley. Looking at how much hair covered his body, I could see exactly why he was called Hairy.
Wonder what kind of animal ears he’ll grow.
Whatever they were, I probably wouldn’t want to look at them. I still spent six thousand Faith to stick animal ears on the completely unconscious Rohan.
Never thought the day would come when I’d voluntarily put animal ears on a man. You never know what life will throw at you.
Ah. Hans.
I shifted the screen to Hans, who had just received a new rune engraving.
Adam was still hammering away late into the night. Outside the building stood Hans, staring blankly, Daisy tightly holding his hand, and the unicorn they had received as a prize.
Pruuh—
The creature kept snorting and happily accepting Daisy’s petting. I was the one who gave them the unicorn, but this felt very wrong.
I might have to catch that thing and neuter it one of these days.
I never expected it to act that way even toward Daisy, who’s still just a child. I might need to schedule a unicorn castration surgery on a nice free day.
I kept hopping around the screens for a while longer, then decided it was time to shut the game down.
A resident is recommending a visit to the Holy Land! Would you like to check?
Kenelm grabbed me just as I was about to close the game. She apparently had a recommendation. I followed the message window and moved the screen.
I trailed the arrow all the way… and it stopped on an unexpected person.
“For real? Is this actually right?”
Recommending a Holy Land visit for the ‘Suspiciously Cultured Marquis’!
For real?