Chapter 15: Airune Dakuren
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 15: Airune Dakuren
“Winning over the bank manager of Hus will be easy. She’ll be more than satisfied just by the prospect of hosting Lord Alto’s deposits. Like our Adventurer Guild, performance metrics are everything to them.”
To be perfectly honest…
“It seems that issue will be resolved quite simply. The next priority is Lord Alto’s living arrangements. We must find a region in Hus that suits his tastes.”
A barrage of difficult terms and words that had nothing to do with my life were flying around, and I didn’t have the mental energy to keep track of them.
“Ah, my lady, do not worry about that. I already have a plan in motion for that side of things.”
“I shall hear that plan in due time.”
“…Understood.”
Sigh. Usually, after a meal, one should relax for a bit and then take a nap.
Looking toward the terrace of the drawing room, I saw the sun was already setting.
These people were debating something quite intensely, but not once did they ask me if I was okay with any of it.
If they were going to be like this, why did they make me sit here?
“What if Mirei’s party comes all the way to Hus looking for Lord Alto?”
“That is simple, Branch Manager. We can just say we killed them because we didn’t know who they were, or perhaps because they refused to submit to a search.”
“Dear, that is too much. Simply chasing them away will suffice. It benefits us more if they remain as living symbols of regret—fools who failed to recognize the jewel that was Alto and let him go. Hoot-hoot-hoot-hoot!”
“Honey, you sound like a villain.”
“As expected of the Count!”
They were perfectly in sync, acting all lovey-dovey while putting on quite the show.
I couldn’t take it anymore.
“But Mirei’s party is the world’s first Hero-rank party. If they try to force their way through, it might be difficult for ordinary guards to stop them. We must also consider potential casualties.”
“Do not worry, Branch Manager. If that happens, I shall step in myself.”
“The Count himself?! But… the opponents are Hero-rank…”
I was so sleepy.
Yawning a few times wasn’t going to be enough to keep me awake.
“Branch Manager.”
“Yes!”
“I am a man who was actually on the battlefield with the Heroes.”
“Gasp…!”
“Even if they are called a Hero-rank party today, their skills won’t even reach the level of the Heroes, let alone the members of the legendary Bertrand Unit. Have you forgotten that I was the one involved in setting those rank standards?”
“I-I am sorry.”
They were talking about a topic I didn’t want to hear.
I’ll just close my eyes.
“More importantly, I wonder if they can even maintain that Hero rank without Alto. Dispatch people to Lukart and gather information on Mirei’s party—their skills, their teamwork, and exactly what role Alto played. If Alto intentionally set the stage and raised them, those girls are likely nothing more than Gold-rank at best.”
“Yes, sir! Understood!”
What a sharp old man.
Dakuus’s snake-like eyes were as keen as ever.
“Well, since that’s settled…”
“Dear, Lord Alto is asleep.”
“Hmph, and here we were having all these discussions for his sake.”
“He hasn’t had a moment to rest since arriving in Hus, has he?”
“I suppose it can’t be helped. We’ll stop here for today. You there! Toss Alto onto the bed in the guest room!”
“Hmm… he does look quite cute while sleeping.”
“Branch Manager, it’s not too late, you know?”
“Actually, there is a gentleman I’m on good terms with…”
“Oh my!”
That was it.
That was the last thing I remembered before falling completely asleep.
“Dear, you and the head chef are the only men in this castle, so you have to carry him.”
“Ugh! What a troublesome fellow!”
I don’t like it either, old man.
* * *
In the dead of night, the entrance to the Dakuren Lord’s Castle opened cautiously.
A black silhouette moved swiftly, avoiding the eyes of the castle guards, scaling the wall and reaching the main entrance. As the indoor light hit her, she squinted.
“Ugh…!”
A girl clad in light armor entered the castle, her stunning silver hair fluttering as she dashed down the hallway.
Should I go straight to my room?
No, I’m covered in mud from trekking through the wetlands for a quest today.
I don’t want to get my room dirty.
And…
Growl.
I’m so hungry…
The girl instinctively stopped in front of the drawing room.
The lights in the drawing room were kept on day and night, and refreshments were always laid out to welcome guests at any time.
When she was younger, she would get scolded by the Countess if she tried to eat something late at night, but she hadn’t eaten anything today.
Asking me to find a pet toad in the wetlands… what kind of quest is that?
Even though she had become a Silver-rank adventurer, the Adventurer Guild kept giving her these menial tasks.
It was undoubtedly Count Dakuus pulling strings at the guild.
Feeling quite grumpy, the girl decided to take a small revenge.
She would eat every single refreshment in the drawing room.
Not a bad idea.
The girl smirked and pushed open the drawing room door.
Then, her eyes met those of the Countess, who was sitting at the table, staring straight at her.
“Mother, why aren’t you sleeping? You’ll catch a cold.”
“You are the daughter of the Dakuren family, yet I do not know why your behavior grows to resemble my husband’s more every day.”
The Countess sighed as the girl shamelessly pretended to worry about her while deflecting blame.
“Where have you been to be returning so late?”
“I was finishing a quest.”
“What kind of quest takes this long? And what is all this mud?”
The Countess pointed to one side of the girl’s hair.
Looking closely, a clump of mud had hardened in her silver locks.
The girl nonchalantly crumbled it and brushed it off.
“Lady Airune, you must not wander about at such late hours. Even if it is shortly after the war, public safety is not that perfect.”
“Didn’t the Count once say there’s no place with better security than Hus?”
“I am not looking for an argument, my lady. Today is the day the first man to immigrate to Hus arrived. Since you weren’t here to meet him, we have to arrange another date.”
“The Count is the deputy, so if he saw him, that’s enough.”
“Lady Airune!”
The Countess firmly rejected Airune’s words.
“If we overlook such small details, people will start to see my husband as the Lord, not the Acting Lord. You are the rightful successor, and my husband is merely a retired soldier.”
“The rightful successor was Brother Janks, not me. It was always that way.”
“It was, but it is no longer. You must realize this, my lady.”
“Realize what? That I’m alone? That my mother passed away early, and even my father and brother left me behind? Is that what I should realize?”
“My lady!”
Eventually, the Countess’s voice rose, and Airune couldn’t suppress her rebelliousness.
She hated how the Countess forced the situation upon her without even trying to understand her feelings or position.
“The other day you told me it was time for me to marry, and today you’re telling me to hurry up and become the Lord. You don’t even ask what I think.”
“A noble must naturally marry and succeed to their position.”
“I don’t want to! Father told me to live freely, however I wanted.”
“That was when Marquis Dakuren and Young Master Janks were still here! Look at reality!”
“Reality? Reality?”
Airune’s face hardened instantly as she confronted the Countess.
“The reality is that pathetic men and the women who follow them are enjoying the peace achieved with the blood of my father and brother! Those idiots who think it’s natural to receive tributes from women just because of their faces! They’re not even as good-looking as I am!”
One of the Countess’s eyebrows twitched.
It wasn’t that she didn’t understand Airune’s resentment, but she could sense the girl’s pride in her own beauty in that last remark.
Boasting about her looks even in this situation… is this what a late puberty is like?
Of course, Airune was beautiful enough to make someone like the famous Mirei look plain.
Unlike the rugged Marquis Dakuren and Janks, she took after her mother, with porcelain skin and amber eyes that looked sorrowful with just a slight narrowing. Her features flowed naturally down to her pale pink cheeks and lips, making men woo her of their own accord.
“Looks! I don’t even expect refinement. At the very least… at the very least, there should be a man who shows gratitude to those who died protecting the country and works hard at his own job with diligence. Only then would I even consider marriage!”
“So, you are saying you do want to get married?”
“W-what…!”
Having seen through the fact that Airune wasn’t against marriage itself, the Countess leisurely lifted her teacup.
“My lady, your standards are too high. Where in the world would such a man be? If he existed, he would have to be at least a National Merit Recipient.”
“Fine! If he’s a National Merit Recipient, I’ll marry him without a word of complaint. But what a shame! Most recipients are over forty, already married, or living in seclusion due to PTSD. I doubt any of them would have me!”
“My lady.”
“What is it?”
“Are you serious about not caring about his face?”
Airune flinched, then sighed.
“I don’t care. Neither my father nor my brother were handsome, but they were wonderful men. Since I was a child, my father was my ideal. A man who never remarried and only looked at my mother… compared to those guys outside who act all high and mighty just because of their faces, I want to see a man’s character.”
“In that case, how would you feel if Alto Bertrand proposed?”
Alto Bertrand.
It was a name Airune knew well.
A member of the Bertrand Unit that cleared the path to the Demon King for the Four Heroes, including her father. A war hero who personally fought and killed Vulcanus of the Four Heavenly Kings.
The one known as the Bloodhound.
According to Count Dakuus, he had served under Marquis Dakuren in the past and was very loyal to her father.
She remembered.
The No. 1 National Merit Recipient who, after the victory of the Final War, only looked at the faces of his comrades during the medal ceremony and left abruptly without receiving his medal.
“If it’s him… I’ll think about it.”
But she couldn’t just say yes to a man she didn’t even know.
At the very least, if he was someone who served her father and earned his trust, she guessed he would have a decent personality.
Besides, the Bloodhound’s whereabouts had been unknown since the medal ceremony.
The Kingdom was said to be desperately searching for him to save face in front of other nations, but they couldn’t find even a trace of him.
“I see.”
The Countess was satisfied.
Despite the earlier argument, testing Airune’s intentions was enough of a success.
“Still, you must attend your successor lessons. Please do not forget that marriage and succession are the duties of a noble.”
“Yes, yes! I know, that’s why I’m working as an adventurer and inspecting various parts of Hus!”
“The inspections seem sufficient, so now return to the castle and—”
“I’m going to sleep!”
Airune was no longer hungry.
What bad luck.
Of all people, I had to run into the Countess.
Still, because the Countess had raised her like her own daughter since she was young, Airune could act like a real daughter—getting annoyed and bickering with her.
The Countess knew this, and because Airune called her “Mother,” she hadn’t given up hope.
With every step, mud crunched and fell from her.
She couldn’t go into her own room and lie down like this.
It would get dirty.
At this hour, the maids had finished work, and even if there were some on duty, she didn’t want to bother them.
“Sigh.”
Left with no choice, Airune unfastened her light armor and headed for a relatively close guest room.
Exhausted to her core, Airune haphazardly shed her armor in the guest room, didn’t even wash, and climbed into bed in her thin undergarments.
‘Huh?’
There was something round and large inside the bed.
It must be a large rabbit doll.
Actually, that doll was in Airune’s own room, but she was so tired that she lacked the discernment to tell if she was in a guest room or her own.
Instinctively, she pulled the “doll” close to her chest and hugged it tight.
Ever since her father and brother left for the battlefield, Airune had found it difficult to fall asleep alone.
It’s okay today, because I have the rabbit.
Hugging the doll even tighter, Airune’s breathing gradually slowed.