Morena Territory (2)
Morena Territory (2)
I stared intently at the message window before slowly answering.
"No."
I had already refused once, and since I intended to give up on this life anyway, there was no way I would accept.
The reason I hadn't refused immediately was that I was wondering why the message window had suddenly appeared.
It was the kind of message window that appeared whenever something special happened.
I had seen one when we left the capital, too.
And then a terrorist attack had taken place in the capital, leading to us being chased by the Royal Knights like this.
If so, something special was going to happen in Morena Territory soon.
At my sudden response, the companions walking alongside me looked at me.
I waved a hand and told them it was nothing.
Morena Territory was a small domain.
It belonged to a newly emerged noble known as Viscount Morena, but the Viscount had entrusted the domain to someone else while staying in the capital.
The steward to whom the Viscount had entrusted the territory was Ohen, a retired Royal Knight.
The territory consisted of a few small villages and one large village that fell short of being a proper city.
Though the territory was small, it seemed to be doing well.
The village palisades weren't high, and the domain soldiers standing guard seemed well-disciplined.
Public order seemed decent, too. Tenant farmers walked the roads unarmed, and neither their clothes nor their expressions looked bad.
But the overall mood felt rather somber.
Could the news have already reached here?
Domain soldiers inspected us at the village entrance.
There was no way they wouldn't inspect foreign mercenaries wearing cloaks and carrying swords.
Fortunately, Martin acted right on cue.
He slipped money into the hands of the domain soldiers guarding the gate, allowing us to enter the village where the lord's mansion was located without trouble.
Shortly afterward, we arrived at an inn the domain soldiers had recommended.
It was a neat, if small, inn.
Before we entered, Martin spoke.
"I'll go gather information. Since this isn't a very large village, it won't take long."
Nobody was naive enough to think that a veteran mercenary shouldn't go out at a time like this.
Paula nodded at Martin's words.
"Make sure you're not late."
Once Paula gave her permission, Martin disappeared into the alleyways.
We stepped into the inn.
"We have guests!"
The waitress spotted us and called toward the back of the kitchen.
A middle-aged woman who appeared to be the owner came out.
"Out-of-town mercenaries, huh? Meals? Rooms? Which is it?"
"We stopped by to rest while traveling. We plan to stay for a day or two. One large room and one small room, please."
"Oh, a female mercenary! It's been a while since I've seen one."
At Paula's words, the woman gave us a welcoming smile.
"Did you hear that? Get Rooms 1 and 2 ready!"
"Yes!"
The female employee headed upstairs with a rag in hand, while the middle-aged woman looked at us and asked again.
"You'll be having a meal, too, right? Guests don't come often, since this is such a remote spot, but I'm confident in my cooking."
Even an awakened noble had to eat regularly.
Paula ordered a meal.
The food was delicious.
After eating, we didn't go up to our rooms. Instead, we waited for Martin to return.
"Unlike other territories, this domain seems to be doing well even now. The lord must be a good person."
Bored with waiting, I casually asked the waitress, who had come downstairs after tidying up the room.
Fortunately, she answered.
"Our territory really is great, isn't it? It's all thanks to Ohen. Honestly, I wish Ohen were our lord instead."
"Hey! Don't go saying things like that so carelessly!"
"Meh, it's not as if I've ever even seen the face of the lord who went off to the capital. You haven't seen him since you were young, either, Mom."
I had thought she was just an employee, but it turned out she was the owner's daughter.
Either way, I could tell that the retired knight named Ohen was trusted by the territory's residents.
I set aside the information that Viscount Morena stayed in the capital and never visited his territory.
It wasn't anything special.
There were plenty of nobles like Viscount Morena who entrusted their domains to stewards and resided in the capital.
"By the way, the atmosphere seems quite subdued. Has something happened?"
For a territory that looked pleasant to live in, the people seemed rather downcast.
"They say Ohen's daughter, who enrolled in the capital's academy a while back, passed away. Everyone's gloomy because they're worried about Ohen."
At her daughter's words, the landlady clicked her tongue as she passed by.
"Why did he send her to the capital...? Such a kind person..."
At her mother's lament, the daughter muttered under her breath.
"She wasn't really that kind of person, though."
"Why, you little girl! Speaking ill of the dead!"
The landlady scolded her, but the daughter kept talking anyway.
"Still, the truth should be told properly. Unlike Ohen, she was a scary noble. People even said Ohen served his daughter like a master... Ack!"
"Get inside right now! Don't say such inappropriate things to guests who've just arrived!"
In the end, the daughter got a smack on the head and went into the kitchen.
"It's only because my daughter has never known any lord or noble besides Ohen. Ohen's daughter was terrifying, but she was a good noble."
Having said that, the landlady also went into the kitchen.
Afterward, we could hear her scolding her daughter from inside.
As we mulled over the two women's words, Martin returned.
By then, the sun had set, and darkness had fallen outside.
After Martin ate the cold food that had been set out for him, we went up to our room.
We headed to the large room designated for the men.
Once everyone was inside, the door was closed, and Joachim raised a soundproofing barrier with mana.
We waited for Martin to speak.
Taking a sip of the fruit liquor he'd brought up from the dining room, Martin began.
"It seems Sir Ohen is quite popular with the people of the territory. It was harder than I expected to get information."
That was something I'd already heard.
"It seems the news of Lady Ivana's death has already spread across the territory. I was puzzled by how quickly it got around, but there seems to be a reason."
I'd already heard about the rumor spreading, too.
But as Martin had said, it wasn't news that should have spread so quickly. This wasn't my past life, where news traveled in real time.
Important matters were sometimes relayed urgently using signal fires or abilities, but this incident was merely the death of a retired knight's adopted daughter.
There was no reason for the news to reach the domain so quickly.
I wondered what the reason was, but Martin moved on without explaining.
"It seems Sir Ohen has been staying at his mansion ever since he heard the news."
"Then we can visit the mansion tomorrow and ask him directly."
The questioning Paula meant was no ordinary interrogation. She meant subduing him by force and torturing him for answers.
Paula and Joachim had already been branded infamous anyway, and all they had to do was return to the Empire.
I was different, though.
Even if I had given up on this life, I had no intention of acting recklessly.
The former knight Ohen was a domain steward beloved by his people.
Even if I had resigned myself to this life, I wasn't inclined to torture a good person who wasn't even my enemy.
That said, I couldn't simply back down after coming all this way.
It was absurd to travel all the way here alongside people from an enemy organization, only to quit because I didn't want to torture someone.
Besides, there was no way to know which choice would grant me more experience points.
My dilemma deepened.
But Martin's next words made all that agonizing pointless.
"Sir Ohen is at home, but we can't visit the mansion. Another guest has arrived there."
"Who is there that makes it impossible?"
Paula looked puzzled. Her expression seemed to ask what the problem could be when Alex and Joachim were there.
"It seems a lavish carriage escorted by Royal Knights has arrived at the mansion."
At Martin's words, our jaws dropped.
We'd been dodging the Royal Knights all this time, only to find them right where we'd arrived.
We couldn't help but be astonished.
"It seems the rumors of Lady Ivana's death spread after that carriage arrived. That's also why the inspections began."
We hadn't been inspected because we looked suspicious. Security had been tightened because a high-ranking member of the royal family had arrived.
To think he had bypassed that tighter security with money—I saw Mercenary Martin in a new light.
"W-who came?"
If it was a carriage escorted by the Royal Knights, the person inside had to be someone connected to the royal family.
"Is it the First Prince, the Crown Prince?"
When I said that, everyone looked at me in surprise.
Paula and Joachim were shocked by my mention of the Crown Prince, while Martin was astonished that I'd guessed correctly.
I recalled everything that had happened so far.
The death of a retired knight's daughter, followed by the arrival of the Royal Knights.
And the royal carriage that brought the news of her death.
An adopted daughter, a sudden enrollment, unique abilities, the Crown Prince's wrath, First Prince Fine, Marquis Pisen, and Viscount Morena.
As I pieced all those stories together, a trashy soap opera I'd watched in my past life suddenly came to mind.
After thinking it over for a moment, I tossed the thought aside.
There was no point in guessing. I had to hear it directly.
When Martin confirmed it, Paula anxiously bit her nails.
"No, why would the Crown Prince be in a territory like this...?"
She, too, had realized that something was going on here.
But digging deeper was dangerous.
It was no different from a dragon sitting atop an immense treasure.
In the end, she sighed and spoke.
"We won't be able to leave now, so let's depart early tomorrow morning."
If we were caught climbing over the wooden palisade at night, things would likely get troublesome.
Leaving through the open gates in the morning was the best option.
My thoughts, though, differed slightly from Paula's.
Early the next day, we packed our belongings and gathered in the large room.
Joachim set up a soundproofing barrier once more, and Paula explained the plan.
"We'll make it look as though we're leaving in a hurry because of an unexpected matter. We won't even eat breakfast. Once we get out of this village, we'll keep moving toward the border without stopping."
Having said that, Paula looked at me and spoke.
"Since we have a way to cross the border, Young Lord Alex doesn't need to worry."
She was trying to reassure me.
Even without her saying so, I wasn't worried.
Because I had no intention of going to the border.
Instead of nodding in response, I swung my leg.
Thwack!
"Aaah!"
Along with a scream, the sound of a bone snapping rang out.
It was the sound of Paula's leg breaking beneath my blow.
'Paula has been contained.'
Since her ability likely had something to do with speed, breaking her leg alone was enough to stop her.
I immediately pounced on Joachim. The room was narrow and the distance short, but Joachim had his hand on his sword before I could reach him.
But before I even got to him, I swung the dagger concealed in my hand.
The Invisible Sword Aura severed half of the arm he was using to draw his sword.
Joachim dropped his sword and writhed on the floor. Blood gushed out.
But I didn't stop.
Unlike Paula, I couldn't rest easy with just this when it came to Joachim.
I cut the tendons in Joachim's other arm and slashed the tendons in both his legs as well.
Joachim collapsed, unconscious from the agony.
Although the soundproofing barrier Joachim had constructed vanished, the one I set up in its place kept any sound from escaping.
Having incapacitated the two nobles, I turned to look at the mercenary who had helped us until now.
He neither ran away nor made any move to fight.
"It seems this is as far as I go. It doesn't look like a trap, so what are your intentions?"
He was prepared to die. As expected of a veteran mercenary.
"Ugh... That's right. Why? Did you suddenly develop some loyalty to your kingdom? Do you think they'll spare you if you hand us over?"
Even as she trembled violently, Paula glared at me and snapped.
I shrugged.
"Of course not."
"Then why?!"
At my reply, both Paula and the mercenary looked bewildered.
"The two of you are like admission tickets."
They were admission tickets to meet the Prince.
After finishing off the mercenary and thoroughly searching Joachim and Paula, I began methodically tying them up.
First, I wrapped Joachim thoroughly in bandages so he wouldn't die.
I severed a few of Paula's tendons so she couldn't escape, and securely gagged them both so they couldn't scream.
After making sure they were both properly secured, I left the room.
Now it was time to meet the Crown Prince.