Uninvited Guests
The main gate of the Greenhilt baronial manor.
"Good work."
"Ah, here you are. Aren't you late, though?"
"No, sir. This is exactly the right time."
"Hmph. The sun set ages ago."
The gatekeepers guarding the entrance to the lord's manor had just finished their shift change.
Whether they were the ones heading home now that night had fallen, or the ones who would have to stand rooted here through the small hours, everyone was equally worn out.
"Well then, head inside."
"Right. You lot take care."
These men, belonging to the city guard, worked in pairs on four rotating shifts that kept the manor entrance covered around the clock.
With not a single incident in more than a decade, the post had become one of the sweetest assignments in the city guard—men competed to volunteer for it. The pay was far better than what their colleagues earned walking the streets on ordinary patrol.
Even so, the daily grind of the same endless routine still wore them down.
"What a dog's life, standing here in the middle of the night. Those old bastards need to retire already so we can get day shifts."
"Tell me about it. Married life, and this is what I'm doing?"
"Heh heh heh. What, she turn you down when you ask for it in the morning?"
"Not even morning. Lately I only get home at dawn, and after a full shift my back's got nothing left for that. Dating days were better."
"Lucky bastard. Instead of complaining, maybe put a kid in her."
They traded idle banter as they watched the seniors they had just relieved walk away. With the baron away for several days, and with nothing but the same dull stretch of hours to endure, even pointless jokes were necessary.
Talk about women was the one subject that made time fly.
"A kid? My wife already says she'll introduce someone nice. You know how much she nags me for crawling in at dawn every day."
"Come on, don't be like that. For a man I'm not half bad, right?"
"Bullshit."
Until someone came out of the manor, or until a visitor appeared from the far side of the street, their conversation showed no sign of stopping. In the dead of night almost no one left the house and almost no one came calling. The later the hour grew, the more they talked, and the dirtier the jokes became.
The veterans always said the same thing: the moment trouble starts at the baron's manor, your life is on the line.
The young guards still never paid those warnings much mind.
"Ha, fuck, I'm so damn jealous. And you're the one asking me to introduce you to a woman?"
"Forget it. You've got a wife. Or come with me on the next day off."
"Tsk... Think I can get away with it? If I get caught I'll be kicked out of the house..."
"Then don't. Anyway, the Karl Mercenary Group has an outpost over that way. Around there is the best."
"Hey. You hear something?"
"Hear what? Wait—hold on. I think my ears are picking something up too..."
The pair who had been trading crude jokes earlier than usual tonight suddenly snapped to attention. The sound of hoofbeats was approaching from a distance.
"Is the lord already back?"
"Biswald is nowhere near close enough for him to be here already."
Yet when they scanned the darkness, no horses were in sight. No carriage, no people either.
"What the hell? Did we just hear things?"
Then—
"Ghk—"
"What? Why'd you— ghk!?"
Suddenly they could not breathe. Something like a rope had shot out of the dark and clamped around their throats. There was no chance even to raise an alarm.
They clawed at the nooses, trying to force fingers between the rope and their necks, but the grip was so vicious that they only scratched deeper furrows into their own flesh.
And then—
Shiiing—
Someone stepped close and drew the swords hanging at the guards' waists.
Thuk—!
The blades sank straight into their backs. Pierced through the heart, the two men died where they stood without making another sound.
The bodies were cleared away in an instant. Four black-masked shadows vaulted the wall and slipped into the manor grounds.
Late evening.
The air at the dinner table was heavier than usual. Roy, the one who had told on his brother, spent the entire meal watching everyone's faces. Aena, who had struck her son's cheek for the first time in her life, looked no happier. As for Jerry—the root of the whole mess—he clearly wanted nothing more than to escape the oppressive atmosphere at once.
Only Anna remained her ordinary self.
"Roy? What's wrong with your face? Did you cry because dinner was late?"
"No."
Both of Roy's cheeks were still puffed and swollen thanks to Jerry.
"You don't need to know."
"What is it? Did you eat so much candy your teeth went bad?"
"Yeah. Probably that."
"Aigoo, dummy. That's why I keep telling you to stop eating so much candy."
"Mm."
Anna hurriedly pressed both hands to her own cheeks. She had scolded her little brother, but no one in the house loved candy more, or ate more of it, than she did.
Roy cast a sidelong glance at Jerry across the table. As expected, the older boy could not bring himself to spout nonsense. He still had enough pride left that he would never go around advertising how a much younger brother had gotten the better of him. No one would have believed him anyway.
If you really looked at it, there was not a single person in the manor who would take that deranged colt's side. They might grumble behind his back, but that was all. And every bit of that was Jerry's own doing. Roy felt not the slightest scrap of pity as he looked at him.
"Jerry. I'm sorry about earlier. I got too worked up."
Aena finally opened her heavy mouth. With the baron away, she was the one who had to hold the household together.
"Yes..."
"So let's hear the reason. What set you off this time?"
"Well..."
When Jerry could not answer cleanly, Aena's gaze shifted to Roy.
"You tell me, Roy."
"I think Hyung-nim just doesn't like that Marek is serving as my personal attendant."
"Marek? Why Marek?"
Aena was well aware that Jerry and Marek had recently had a serious fight and that both had been placed under confinement for it. But Jerry had caused so many incidents over the years that the episode had not changed her regard for Marek in the slightest.
Jerry, who had been sitting silent, finally spoke. Even after the slap, he still refused to yield the point.
"Marek talked back to his master. We don't need a servant like that."
Silence fell as if cold water had been dumped over the table. After a moment Aena spoke slowly.
"Jerry. Marek may be an employee, but he is also a distant collateral member of House Greenhilt who shares our blood. That makes him a noble as well. He is not someone you may treat however you please."
"But I'm his master, aren't I?"
"Being the master does not give you the right to treat him however you like! He is someone we hired with money, not a slave you can order around at will. Do I really have to explain the difference?"
"But..."
"Enough! If you ever treat Marek or any other employee so roughly again, I will not forgive you. Do you understand, Jerry?"
"......"
"Answer me."
"I understand."
"And one more thing—your younger siblings are not your toys."
"Yes..."
Thoroughly scolded, Jerry sniveled for a long while; finally he could not hold it in and began to cry in earnest.
Hah...
Aena, every bit the mother, went to him and wrapped him in a warm embrace. Anna watched the scene with a bright smile. Anyone who did not know better might have called it a touching moment of family harmony.
Roy, however, felt otherwise.
As if that will fix that lunatic's manners?
He stared at Jerry's blubbering face with an expression of pure disbelief. After letting a suitable interval pass, he said,
"Then I'll keep Marek with me from now on."
"Yes. Your father already gave his permission."
The boy who had been bawling a moment earlier was now glaring at Roy as if nothing had happened. His mouth, however, stayed shut. Unless he was a complete fool, he would at least stop openly demanding that Marek be driven out.
That only meant he would not do it openly. What he might try behind the scenes was another matter.
Looking at those eyes, he still hasn't learned a thing.
Roy made a mental note to tell Marek to steer clear of Jerry for a while. He had known the type since his previous life: when they could not get what they wanted, they simply hunted for a weaker target to torment.
The one silver lining was that in a few more days the deranged colt would leave for the royal capital.
"Jerry. Are you getting ready for the capital?"
As if on cue, the subject left Aena's lips at once.
"Yes."
"I'm worried. You haven't even had time to get used to the new attendant yet."
"Eric hyung is in the capital, and so is Chris, Eric hyung's attendant. There are the household staff at that manor, and Grandfather too."
"Still, they all have their own charges. You need to stay with your personal attendant."
"I'll do well. This time... I won't fight..."
"You must. Absolutely!"
"Yes..."
Listening to the two of them, Roy quietly gathered what information he could about the royal capital—the place he himself was scheduled to enter one day. Of course that was still a distant prospect for a five-year-old; before then waited baptism, his social debut, and any number of other ceremonies.
Funny. Wanting to grow up fast, when not long ago I was fighting tooth and nail to slow down aging...
Apparently living in a child's body was turning his thoughts childish as well.
I should be grateful. Whether this is the will of the gods or some kind of grace, I still don't know.
"Roy? What are you thinking about in the middle of dinner?"
"Anna, why don't you wipe that carrot off your cheek...!?"
That was when it happened.
A scream rang out from outside the building. At the same moment someone came rushing in.
"F-f-fire...! There's a fire!"
"What? Where?"
"Th-the woodshed behind the annex, where we stack the firewood..."
No one who heard the word "fire" could remain calm. And of all places, the woodshed.
I cleaned up thoroughly, though?
Roy jumped down from his chair and ran. Aena called after him, but he ignored her. If he was the cause of this fire, then the responsibility was his as well.
No one dies or gets hurt because of me.
Even before he rounded the corner of the annex he could hear the growing murmur of voices. Though the sun had long since set, a red glow was staining everything in sight.