Ch.178178. Why Are You Speaking for Lucien’s Feelings as You Please?

“M-Master! This is unfair!”

“Yes, I thought you’d feel that way. That’s why I called you to the study, so we could talk.”

After pushing through countless phantom crowds, Jawill Wilson and Lucien arrived at Lake Estate.

When summoned to the study, Lucien was already trembling with fear, and Jawill Wilson had his head bowed low.

“I was showing Lucien the delphinium flower garden when suddenly five Black Hounds appeared!”

“So why did you step in instead of getting Lucien away from the situation?!”

“W-When someone is in danger, isn’t it natural for a knight to step forward?”

“What about the knights who protect Cataria Estate?”

“It happened so suddenly that no knights were in sight.”

I adjusted my posture and twitched my eyebrows.

“So you, who are quite the coward, lured five Black Hounds into the Forest of Destruction and even managed to eliminate them?”

At that moment, both Jawill Wilson and Lucien flinched simultaneously.

There was definitely something different from the rumors.

“Jawill Wilson, tell me the truth.”

“…It’s true. I lured the Black Hounds into the Forest of Destruction and eliminated them.”

“And the monsters in the Forest of Destruction just stood by watching?”

“W-When I entered the Forest of Destruction, I was lucky that there were no other monsters around.”

“So you handled five Black Hounds at once?”

“Yes…”

“I’ve prepared twenty-five wooden swords for you. Can you handle that?”

“…WHAT?!”

Then, Lucien spoke up with tears welling in her eyes.

“I’m sorry, Father… It was because of me.”

“Why, because of you?”

“We were in the delphinium garden when the Black Hounds tried to eat a small child. Uncle Jawill Wilson tried to grab my hand and run, but…”

“But what?”

“I threw stones at the Black Hounds.”

“S-Stones?”

“Yes… Then the Black Hounds that were about to attack the children came after me instead. So Uncle Jawill Wilson had no choice but to lure them into the Forest of Destruction.”

“Then who dealt with the Black Hounds after luring them there?”

Lucien pointed at herself while sobbing.

“…I did.”

Hearing the story, the puzzle pieces started to fit together.

Jawill Wilson must have had no choice.

Staying in the delphinium garden would have been overwhelming against the Black Hounds.

Instead, he lured them to the uninhabited Forest of Destruction so Lucien could handle them.

“That was quite clever.”

I let out a short sigh, and Jawill Wilson stepped forward, pounding his chest.

“Lucien is innocent. Planning the trip to the delphinium garden was entirely my fault, so if you want to punish someone—”

“I know.”

“…What?!”

“After hearing everything, it seems you were at fault for taking her to the delphinium garden.”

“Y-Yes…?”

“By the way, what was that ridiculously ornate flower carriage earlier?”

Jawill Wilson continued with slumped shoulders.

“I tried to decline, but the head of Cataria House insisted I accept it as a token of gratitude…”

“So Lucien handled all the Black Hounds, but you became the hero?”

At that moment, Lucien wiped the tears from her cheeks and spoke.

“While I was dealing with the Black Hounds, Uncle Jawill Wilson handled other monsters that appeared from the Forest of Destruction.”

Seemingly moved by Lucien’s words, Jawill Wilson stepped forward once more.

“Knight Jawill Wilson has no regrets. If I hadn’t stepped in, Lucien would have dealt with the monsters in the delphinium garden, and anyone who witnessed it would have been shocked.”

That’s true.

Lucien currently appears to be a young girl.

A young girl instantly taking down five Black Hounds?

It would raise suspicion rather than admiration.

Her skills would seem monstrous, far beyond what could be called genius.

“Well, I commend your spirit of no regrets. Lucien, you may leave now.”

“…Father.”

I winked at Lucien, who was looking at Jawill Wilson with worried eyes, to assure her everything was fine.

“Will you tell Dad about the fun stories from your trip tomorrow?”

“Yes, I will…”

After Lucien left the study, only Jawill Wilson and I remained.

I gripped the wooden sword and spoke.

“So, no regrets, right?”

Suddenly, Jawill Wilson’s previously dignified demeanor vanished as he fell to his knees and grabbed my thighs.

“Father, Uncle Jawill Wilson did nothing wrong!!”

“Why are you speaking for Lucien’s feelings?”

“T-That’s not it! Why do you think Lucien said that? It means she understands my feelings.”

“Didn’t you just say you had no regrets?”

“I have no regrets, but I don’t want to be hit with wooden swords!”

I twirled the wooden sword in the air and smirked.

“I don’t think you did anything wrong.”

“…Pardon?”

“And you certainly didn’t do anything deserving of punishment with wooden swords, so get up.”

Jawill Wilson, who had been kneeling, tilted his head and stood up.

“But just now, you said I was at fault…”

“That was because of Lucien. If I let it slide too easily, situations like this might happen again.”

“Ah…”

“Saving the child? Of course, that deserves praise. But if I just praise you, you might get carried away and intervene in every similar situation, which would be troublesome.”

Jawill Wilson clapped his hands in admiration.

“As expected of you, Young Master! I still have so much to learn from you!”

“Sigh… Anyway, good job on your trip. And playing the hero must have been tiring.”

Jawill Wilson scratched his head and chuckled.

“Hehe, thanks to having a good niece, I got to be treated like a hero.”

“Yes, that’s your luck, I suppose.”

“Oh! And the head of Cataria House mentioned you.”

“I bet they brought up the monster wave.”

“That’s right. They also mentioned wanting to visit Lake Estate soon.”

“You saved just one child, yet the head of the house is looking after you so well?”

I tilted my head, and Jawill Wilson clenched his fist and raised his voice.

“Not just one child! If we hadn’t dealt with the Black Hounds, there would have been more casualties. The Cataria knights arrived at the delphinium garden quite some time after the incident.”

“Hmm, I suppose you’re right.”

“Plus, the delphinium garden is a tourist spot, mostly filled with visitors from other estates like us. If tourists had been killed or injured, the head of Cataria would have had a massive headache.”

“So that’s why they invited you to dinner and sent the flower carriage.”

“Exactly. They even offered a reward, but I firmly declined.”

I sat down in a chair and nodded.

“Why refuse the money? You like money, don’t you?”

“The dinner and flower carriage were already enough… I felt taking more might cause problems. Besides, it wasn’t really my achievement.”

“You’ve already played the hero role thoroughly, so why suddenly… Anyway, tell Lucien I scolded you severely.”

“…Understood. I’ll tell her I received a few light hits from the wooden sword.”

“By the way, is there anything else to report?”

Jawill Wilson pondered for a moment before his eyes lit up.

“Ah! This is just a feeling, so it’s a bit vague, but I sensed a familiar strange energy in the Forest of Destruction.”

“Familiar energy?”

“The Forest of Death had a different energy before and after the monster wave, right?”

Jawill Wilson had a point.

Before the monster wave, entering the Forest of Death brought an eerie, suffocating feeling.

After the monster wave ended and we went to investigate, that energy had completely disappeared.

Was it simply because there were more monsters before and fewer after?

I’m not sure.

What’s certain is that even when we went to the Succubus Sanctuary teeming with succubi, the energy wasn’t similar to the Forest of Death.

I crossed my arms heavily and nodded.

“Yes, the energy was definitely different.”

“Well, I felt something similar in the Forest of Destruction.”

Cataria was an estate that didn’t appear in the original novel.

Therefore, I couldn’t be certain about any future monster waves occurring there.

‘Another monster wave in the neighboring estate… It’s a slim chance, but worth investigating sometime.’

Just as I was about to say something to Jawill Wilson, Riden Solace entered the study without knocking.

After my initial surprise, I swallowed hard when I saw blood on his face.

“What happened?!”

Riden Solace clutched his wounded waist and shouted.

“W-We’re under attack!”