Ah, This Won't Do (5)
"A noble is looking for Er?"
In a secluded meeting room tucked into a quiet corner of the Karpe Adventurer Guild, a handful of people sat talking among themselves. The one asking the question, eyes gone wide, was a black-haired priestess. Jina shook her head hard enough to set her single tied-back fall of hair swaying.
"What in the world is going on?!"
"Five years ago, a treason incident in the royal capital brought down one of the kingdom's pillars — an entire ducal house. That house was the Arkhansiel family."
Back then, the accusation of treason against a whole ducal line had thrown the entire kingdom into an uproar. Recalling just how vicious the atmosphere had been — so much so that even the Adventurer Guild had been forced to keep its head down and watch the political winds — Lize spoke in a low voice.
"The Duke of Arkhansiel was executed for the crime of treason, and his retainers received punishments tantamount to the extinction of their houses."
"We know that much. The Church was in chaos over it too."
"What does that have to do with anything?"
At Ain's question, Lize answered with a stiff expression.
"At the time, there was one man who reported his own family's treason to the royal house and survived. That man is the current Count Arkhansiel — Zamber Arkhansiel. He is the younger brother of the late Duke, and the uncle of Lady Ersia Arkhansiel."
A man who for years had shown his face nowhere, who had holed himself up in a forgotten corner of the tattered remnants of the Arcanciel Territory —
"He has come looking for Lady Er, claiming she is his niece."
"...His niece?"
"So this Count Arkhansiel is Er's blood relative?"
"That would follow, yes."
Of course, that was only if the relationship between Er and Count Arkhansiel was genuine — but it was hard to imagine a noble of a count's standing would fail to verify something like that.
Ain closed his mouth and sank into thought. Jina, by contrast, let her thoughts spill straight out.
"If that's true, why did Er hide it?"
"Well, only Lady Er would know the truth... but it is a house that had the crime of treason pinned on it. And as far as the world is concerned, the daughter of House Arkhansiel is dead."
"...That's right."
She'd been fleeing the royal knights and the army when her carriage went over a cliff, hadn't she? Recalling the story that had circulated among the public, Jina fell silent — and in that same breath,
"...So why are you telling us this?"
Ain's golden eyes glinted as he spoke in a low voice.
"The Adventurer Guild is pro-nobility, isn't it? Are you sure you should be leaking something like this?"
"Of course I shouldn't. If I get caught, I'll be fired. But I believed this was something I had to tell you."
"Why?"
"Because she is someone precious. To you, Ain — and to you as well, Jina."
"..."
Ain looked at Lize's face for a long moment, then let out a small sigh and shook his head.
"You don't have to say something that embarrassing. I get the idea. This is part of building a positive relationship, or whatever, right?"
"...Ah. Yes. That's right."
"What?"
Only after hearing Ain's words did Lize remember that she was supposed to be getting closer to Ain and Jina. She closed her mouth for a moment, choosing her next words with care. Unaware of what was going through her mind, Ain and Jina both tilted their heads.
"The Count left people behind at the Guild. He said they were his contacts, but they are watchers, no doubt — posted to keep an eye out for Lady Er's return."
"...Lucky break, then. That we came back first, just the two of us."
"What are you going to do, Ain?"
Hearing his mutter, Jina looked at him with a worried expression.
"If you think about it coldly, there's no reason for us to get mixed up in some nobles' family drama. We'd only stand to lose. There's nothing in it for us. But..."
"Since when have we ever cared about that?"
"...Ain."
"You don't have to pretend to be cold about it. I've already made up my mind. The first thing we do is tell Er. If it's her business, she should be the one to decide."
With that, Ain turned to leave the meeting room, then glanced back over his shoulder.
"Lize. Thanks. You just saved us."
"...Think nothing of it. I simply did not want an adventurer of the Karpe Guild leaking away to the outside."
"Sure. I'll pass that along to Er."
Ain grinned and walked straight out of the meeting room. Jina started after him, then remembered something and shouted.
"...Ain! We still need to hire a porter!"
"That's not exactly the priority right now!"
Lize listened to Ain's reply and the sound of Jina catching up to him and starting an argument, and let out a small sigh.
"I will put in a request for a few Scrap Iron-rank adventurers right away. Please wait just a moment."
"Thanks, Lize!"
At the lord's manor in the heart of Karpe, a man sat in the annex with one leg crossed over the other, swirling a wine glass in his hand.
"A fine bouquet."
"You honor us, Count Arkhansiel."
"So. Viscount Karpe is away, I take it?"
"Yes, my lord. He left word that he regrets being unable to greet you in person."
"Can't be helped. Viscount Karpe is an outstanding knight — unlike myself."
The lord of Karpe was, by his own skill alone, a match for any royal knight. But that very excellence meant he spent more time ranging across battlefields than managing his own territory, and so on days like this, when a distinguished guest arrived, his retainers had no choice but to offer greetings in his stead.
"Still, Viscount Karpe is a capable man. He can't properly administer his own lands, so he grants the commoners the right to govern themselves. A method I could never have imagined."
"There have been any number of missteps, my lord, but it functions well enough."
The one offering the explanation was Viscount Karpe's close aide, an elderly butler. The monocled steward held himself ramrod straight as he relayed his master's words.
"I was instructed to place the annex at your disposal, my lord. Should anything else prove lacking, you need only say the word. Speak to me or to any of the servants, and it will be attended to at once."
"Haha. How could I impose further? On people who have welcomed me so warmly when I arrived with scarcely more than a notice."
He laughed, a rich and easy sound, and his dark eyes gleamed.
"I intend to keep as quiet as possible and be on my way, so you need not concern yourselves with the annex. Don't worry. I won't do anything that would stain Viscount Karpe's honor — or yours."
The meaning behind those words was perfectly simple. Do not concern yourselves with what happens in the annex. I will find no fault with you, so whatever takes place, close your eyes to it.
Had anyone else been listening, it would have been an unbearably arrogant thing to say. The old butler answered with a smiling face.
"But of course. It never once occurred to me that Count Arkhansiel — a particularly close friend of His Highness the Crown Prince — would cause any sort of trouble."
"Haha! I like a man who catches on quickly! I shall tell His Highness myself that Viscount Karpe has an excellent butler!"
"You honor me."
The old butler knew perfectly well what that insolent noble had at his back: the Crown Prince, this nation's lesser sun. But the last thing he wanted was for his own name to reach those ears. That half-rate wastrel of a Crown Prince. That fool who would inherit the throne only because there were no other blood relatives left. The butler had no desire whatsoever to catch that idiot's eye.
"Then this old man shall take his leave. I wish you a comfortable stay."
"Haha. My thanks."
He bowed, stepped out of Zamber Arkhansiel's chambers, and the instant the door clicked shut, the smile vanished from his face. What took its place was a cold sneer, thick with contempt. The old butler stared at the closed door for a brief moment, then turned on his heel with a crisp, practiced motion and left the annex behind.
There was nothing to be gained by getting tangled up with a retainer of that wastrel Crown Prince. It would not stop with him. It would touch every soul in the household — and Viscount Karpe himself.
And so the old butler decided he would pay the annex no mind, and he passed that decision down to the servants beneath him. Even so, as an old man who knew far too many stories, he could not stop the words from slipping out under his breath.
"If His Highness Crown Prince Licht were still here... a wastrel like that would never have been allowed to run wild..."
The Scrap Iron-rank adventurers Lize had arranged were dripping with sweat as they hauled the grizzly bear carcasses, and once Haru had watched all four of them loaded onto the cart the porters had brought, she gave a small nod. She had been overseeing the work, and after telling the exhausted adventurers to take a short rest, she headed toward where her companions were waiting.
What reached Haru's ears was a voice of startling coldness — and the man who answered it spoke in a tone nearly as subdued as her own.
"...Count Arkhansiel, you said."
"Yeah. A noble is looking for you. Says you're his long-lost niece."
"..."
Er closed her mouth and lowered her head. Ain saw the way her fists had clenched tight, and he spoke to her with care.
"Can I ask what's going on?"
"...This isn't how I wanted to tell you."
He could hear the apology in her voice, and the guilt underneath it.
"Then I'll hear that story a little later."
"...Ain?"
"Ain, what are you talking about?!"
Whatever he had said back at the Adventurer Guild seemed to have vanished. Jina stared at him in shock as he put off hearing the explanation.
"I don't want to hear it like I'm interrogating her. And Er needs time to put her own words in order."
"We don't have time for that! A noble just showed up in Karpe. Or are we supposed to just pick up and leave for another city?"
"That's not a bad idea either. If we need to run."
From Er's reaction a moment ago, Ain had already gathered that whatever she felt toward Count Arkhansiel, it was not fondness. If she truly was the daughter of House Arkhansiel, there had to be a reason she was living as an adventurer with her name hidden.
"Er, wait outside the city. I'll handle the preparations to leave—"
"Ain!"
Jina cried out, startled by the genuine look of a man about to walk away. In that same instant, Er shook her head at Ain, whose eyes were full of worry.
"...No. There's no need for that."
"Let's go meet him. That man."
"...I don't think that noble came here with anything good in mind."
"He probably didn't. I still have to see him."
Er's green eyes flashed as she went on.
"I want to hear what kind of face he has the nerve to come looking for me with."
"..."
"So will you wait for me, just a little? I'll tell you my story... after that."
There was a resolve in her voice he could not quite name, and Ain closed his mouth. Jina, however, had thought of something else, and she pressed on carefully.
"But if he came here to find you... couldn't he just skip the talk and take you?"
"I have no intention of going quietly, so don't worry. If it comes to that, I'll use this."
She gave the sword at her hip a slight, pointed draw. Ain spoke before the steel had cleared the scabbard.
"You won't need to go that far."
"What?"
"I've got a plan of my own."
"Ain, don't tell me..."
"Er. You've still got the rosary, right?"
At his question, Er slipped the rosary from around her neck and held it up for him to see.
"That's all I need."
Ain said it with a grin.