Ch.155155. I Did My Best. You Know That, Right?

“What are you going to do now?”

“About what?”

“Lady Casia Spear has switched her interest from ‘Levan’ to you, young master.”

Casia Spear, apparently shocked by ‘Levan’s’ behavior, had moved to another inn, leaving only me and Denise behind.

I sighed briefly and shook my head.

“I… did my best. You know that, right?”

“It’s one problem after another. What if Lady Casia Spear follows us to Lake Territory again?”

“Just say what I told you before—that you disagreed with ‘Levan’ and decided to come with me instead.”

“Even so, that won’t change Lady Casia Spear’s feelings toward you, Selden Alphonse.”

“We’ll have to think about that later. Maybe Casia Spear was just pretending to be interested in ‘Selden Alphonse’ because she found ‘Levan’ too intimidating.”

Denise pondered for a moment before his eyes lit up.

“What if you, as ‘Selden Alphonse,’ behave exactly like ‘Levan’ did a little later?”

“Do you think Casia Spear is stupid? If both suddenly start acting the same way, she’ll obviously find it suspicious.”

“Ah… I suppose you’re right.”

“Anyway, just tell her you had a falling out with Levan.”

“Understood.”

Just when I thought I was finally free, it feels like I’m back at square one.

I looked around once more and gladly removed the wretched transformation leather from my face.

‘Maybe I should have kept Levan as a fictional character and remained indifferent until the end?’

No, if I hadn’t confronted her like that, Casia Spear would have kept searching for ‘Levan.’

I’ve tied up that loose end today, so no one will be looking for ‘Levan’ anymore.

“I’ll be leaving separately, so make your own way to Lake Territory.”

“By myself? What if Lady Casia Spear says she wants to come along?”

“That’s your problem now. Just tell her I left early because I had business to attend to.”

Feeling that continuing this conversation would only give me a headache, I hastily left and immediately headed to a secluded forest with Lucien, who had been hiding nearby.

“Phew!!”

I felt somewhat liberated.

At least now I wouldn’t have to pretend to be ‘Levan’ anymore.

“Lucien, can you transform into a dragon?”

Lucien fidgeted with her fingers.

“…But we were supposed to play…”

“We’ll play after we move to another territory. There are still too many watching eyes here.”

I gently patted her head, causing Lucien to blush and squeeze her eyes shut.

Then, her body gradually became enveloped in golden light.

Whooooosh—!

In an instant, her body was covered with shining scales.

Her slender hands and feet quickly transformed into sharp dragon claws, and a powerful cry emanated from her mouth.

This was my first time seeing an actual dragon transformation, and I unconsciously swallowed hard from the tension.

“Wow…”

The dragon-transformed Lucien flattened her massive body against the ground.

With a gentle smile, I lightly climbed onto her back.

Whoooosh—!

She flapped her wings powerfully and soared high into the sky.

My heart was filled with tension from the dizzying height.

Yet, a smile naturally escaped my lips.

It felt like I was truly flying through the sky.

Gripping Lucien’s scales with both hands, I raised my voice.

“Let’s go!! To Cheonsunji!!”

*

“You seem to be visiting quite often these days.”

After finishing some light shopping with Lucien, I visited Hongwaru alone.

Leaning back in my chair, I gazed steadily at the Poison Lady.

“Is that a problem?”

“Not at all. It’s an honor to see you frequently, Selden Alphonse. By the way, did the transformation leather work well?”

“Yes, it worked perfectly, thanks to you.”

“You visited Parsece Territory too, didn’t you?”

I raised an eyebrow at the Poison Lady’s words.

“Are you investigating me?”

“N-no, that’s not it. While researching ‘Levan,’ the figure who led the Parsece family to victory in the war… I saw a portrait.”

“A sketch?”

“Yes. Someone who encountered you while you were acting as ‘Levan’ apparently drew a portrait. Naturally, since I provided the transformation leather, I recognized it immediately.”

I sighed briefly before speaking.

“Who else knows that I’m ‘Levan’?”

“Only Theo, who’s standing behind me.”

“What about the person who made the transformation leather?”

“They might know their creation was used, but they have no idea who used it.”

“Hmm, is that so?”

“I apologize if I upset you. I thought it would be better to be honest…”

I waved my hand dismissively toward the Poison Lady.

“Don’t worry about it. I understand now that you’ve explained. I think I overreacted.”

“I understand your concern. We’re an organization that buys and sells information. Though, I wouldn’t sell information about you, Selden, even for money.”

The atmosphere became slightly awkward.

I picked up my teacup and raised my head.

“I’d like to track someone down.”

“Who are you referring to?”

“I’m looking for a missing person. She lived in Spear Territory, and her hometown is Europa in the Western Continent. She’s in her mid-twenties.”

“Y-you’re looking for a woman?”

“Yes, she is a woman. She’s a colleague’s wife.”

The Poison Lady, who had initially looked surprised, composed herself.

“Ah… I see.”

“Her husband is looking for her, and I want to help. Her name is Enna, and she has red hair and red eyes.”

“Red… that’s quite distinctive.”

“I thought you might be able to find her quickly.”

“With this information, it shouldn’t be a problem, as you said. Though it might take some time.”

The Poison Lady’s response was confident.

I smiled with satisfaction before leaning forward to focus on the conversation.

“But there’s a problem.”

“What kind of problem?”

Serion Lycus had finally visited Lake Territory.

This meant that the original novel’s story was now in progress.

However, it was difficult to gauge how strong Enna currently was, as she wouldn’t appear in the original novel for quite some time.

Of course, she probably wasn’t as powerful as Rio or Luna, but I needed someone relatively skilled.

I shifted my gaze to Theo, who stood behind the Poison Lady.

“Is he the most skilled person you have?”

“Yes, Theo is the most capable.”

After checking with my ‘Eye,’ I found that Theo’s skills were at best on par with Denise.

He was certainly above average, but whether he could handle Enna was uncertain.

“I’d just like you to confirm her identity. If possible, don’t approach her at all.”

“…There seems to be an issue with finding her.”

“There is.”

“Is she skilled?”

“I’m not certain, but she’s not weak. It might be better if you just locate her and let me know. I’ll handle the rest, so don’t worry.”

The Poison Lady rubbed her forehead with a serious expression.

“From my extensive tracking experience, if she’s at least as skilled as Theo, she’ll likely notice our approach.”

“Hmm… is that so?”

“She’ll probably sense us and flee before we can even send you a letter.”

This was a troublesome situation.

I didn’t have anyone suitable to assign to the information broker.

Normally, I would go myself, or send Rio and Luna with the information broker.

But.

Serion Lycus was currently in Lake Territory.

If I missed this opportunity, who knows when I’d get another chance to hand over Rio and Luna.

And I couldn’t send the still immature Lucien either.

I clutched my throbbing head.

“Ugh! Why can’t anything be resolved simply…”

“Would it be impossible for Theo to subdue this woman named Enna?”

“Killing her might be possible, but subduing her would be more difficult. And if he fails, she’ll hide even more thoroughly.”

“What if one of your skilled knights accompanied Theo? Together, they might be able to subdue her.”

“If that were possible, I would have done it already.”

“Hmm… since she’s skilled, finding her will be problematic.”

“Indeed.”

This was becoming quite the dilemma.

I had boasted to Denise that I would find her quickly, but now what should I do?

Should I wait until after meeting Serion Lycus to search for Enna?

No, if she can’t control her murderous urges and kills someone, it would be difficult to clean up the mess.

“Why not just honestly tell Enna that her husband is looking for her?”

“That won’t work either. She’s not just missing—she ran away from her husband in the middle of the night.”

“Ah… I see.”

After pondering for a while, something suddenly flashed in my mind.

“That’s it! If we can’t tell the truth, we can lie!”

“…Pardon?”

I slapped the table with my palm and curled my lips into a smile as I faced the Poison Lady.

“When you meet Enna, tell her that Denise has been kidnapped and is currently in Lake Territory.”