Ch.192192. Necessary Conversation (3)

Allen Kallia, the second son of the Marquisate of Kallia and Eunice’s younger brother, had always caused friction.

No, to be precise, it was from the moment their mother, Ileina Kallia, had placed both Eunice and Allen in competition as potential successors for the next head of the family.

It would be more accurate to say that the once-smooth relationship between the siblings began to slowly but surely twist and break apart.

‘Allen has changed.’

Was it because he became arrogant after having the skilled 3rd Army soldiers of the marquisate placed under his command?

Or had he been plotting something sinister all along, something he had carefully hidden from me until now?

The quiet and timid brother had completely changed since that moment.

‘And unfortunately, he changed in the worst possible way.’

It was fine that his quiet demeanor became more talkative. But his timid personality didn’t transform into cheerfulness or vivaciousness—instead, it became lustful and extremely artificial.

The problem wasn’t just his personality. In a situation already complicated by the Imperial Army testing the waters to gauge the size of the marquisate and, by extension, the kingdom…

He was up to something with his 3rd Army. Whenever support was needed, he would quietly slip away. Moreover, he was showing intense greed toward the 1st Army, which had come to fill the void he left.

Allen couldn’t help but be at odds with her.

‘Besides—’

She calmly traced back through the past.

A crucial past that she could never forget.

‘Just before coming to the Great Forest, I heard something that might be related to Allen.’

Starting with the suspicions quietly shared by the loyal women of her 2nd Army who followed her orders.

The machinations carried out by the vassals who supported her to make her the next head of the Kallia Marquisate, including keeping Allen in check and gathering intelligence on him.

The message they had inscribed on a hastily written letter, containing only the most important details.

‘They said Allen might be connected to Demons, or perhaps to a group that worships them.’

The women of the 2nd Army, with their sharp senses, had all consistently and discreetly informed her that they occasionally felt an unsettling energy from the knights of the 3rd Army, which Allen had completely taken over.

And that letter too—though it might not compare to the years accumulated by elves—the names of the vassals written in the corner of the letter that reached her… It was the sincere advice of trustworthy individuals who had devoted themselves to the marquisate for quite a long time by human standards.

She could neither ignore nor forget their words.

How long had it been since she came to the Great Forest, carrying worries about her territory and complexity in her heart?

Finally, she had gained an opportunity to find definitive clues about this matter.

‘The County of Sianella…’

A family more sincere than any other when it comes to eradicating Demons.

While the marquisate guarded the eastern front, the Sianella family were the border counts who protected the kingdom by eliminating the monsters that crawled out from the forbidden zone beyond the west, a magical realm teeming with crazed beasts.

Not only that, but just like the mysterious power contained in the violet eyes of the kingdom’s First Princess, Adelheid, they had inherited a power passed down from their ancestors, existing solely to destroy Demonkin.

‘When she encountered Allen, she must have sensed something from him.’

Just as elves detect spirit-related things through scents only they can perceive, she too would have been able to notice with her unique sense.

Even during the recent meeting, she directly stated that she could intuitively sense Magia in response to the elders’ questions… Indeed, even after joining the subjugation unit, she showed subtle confidence regarding matters related to Demons.

Setting aside doubts about her deep-rooted abilities.

Eunice asked in a serious tone.

“May I hear about Lady Sianella’s first impression of Allen?”

For her, this was currently the most important question.

Lady Sianella hesitated for a moment before answering.

“My first impression of Lord Allen Kallia… I think it’s fair to say I felt a sense of dissonance.”

Dissonance.

That single word immediately captured her attention.

“Dissonance… you say?”

“I first became acquainted with Lord Allen along with Lord Diolia who was behind him. The dissonance was felt not only by me but by Lord Diolia as well.”

“I’d like to hear more details…”

“…Would that be alright?”

She nodded as if entranced by the lady’s words.

The suspicion touched by the lady’s words gradually began to transform into intuitive certainty.

“Not only did my subtle intuition alert me that there was something vaguely suspicious about him, but at that time, Lord Allen was hurriedly going somewhere with a priest… and that priest’s pupils were strangely dilated.”

“…”

“His focus was unsteady and scattered, and since the lord quickly left with the priest—”

Diolia, whose name had been mentioned, stepped forward.

As the conversation between Sione and Eunice deepened.

Tania, who had been quietly listening to Sione’s words, tilted her head.

—Park Shinwoo, what does ‘yeongshik’ mean?

‘It’s similar to “lady.” It refers to the son of a noble person.’

—Hmm, in that case…

Tania looked at Diolia’s back.

No, more precisely, she was looking at the cotton puff that was being forcibly petted in Diolia’s left hand at every opportunity.

—How about calling that spirit “Yeongshik” too, just like Changshik?

‘No, that’s a bit…’

—Why not? Yeongshik sounds good and has a decent meaning. It means a precious existence, after all.

At this point, I’m more used to the nickname you gave him.

Changshik’s original name is actually Elvis, you know?

Tania, be quiet. What’s not possible is not possible.

* * *

The conversation between Sione and Eunice Kallia came to an end.

By then, Diolia had joined them, and the three discussed Allen Kallia. After having a sufficiently deep conversation, they returned to a much lighter atmosphere.

They were able to cleanly conclude their talk with Eunice Kallia by discussing famous events from the kingdom outside the Great Forest during her stay there.

However, there was one issue.

‘She was definitely looking at me at the end.’

When leaving the tent and heading toward the Arielt family’s quarters.

For some reason, Tania had noticed that Eunice Kallia’s suspicious gaze had been fixed on me for a moment, rather than on Sione, in whom she had shown such deep interest.

Although I didn’t know why she had been looking at me instead of Sione… since it didn’t seem like anything particularly troublesome would happen to me.

‘Well, I don’t need to worry too much about it right now.’

Rather than wasting mental energy worrying about Eunice,

It would be much better to organize thoughts about the upcoming entry into the eastern forest.

Upon arriving at my quarters, I removed and arranged the armor I had been wearing and placed my sword in a corner of the room.

The moment I felt lighter as the armor that had been weighing me down disappeared.

Pong!

“Whoa.”

—Myung?

Tania, who had been sitting demurely playing with the cotton puff, transformed into an even smaller girl.

Even though we weren’t near the World Tree, perhaps because of that strange quest earlier, Tania, who had been maintaining her highest-grade form for a while, had reverted to her high-grade form. So it wasn’t that strange.

—Myung myung.

“You’re asking if I’m hurt? Heh, is a mere low-grade spirit worried about me?”

—Kung…!

The cotton puff puffed up its body and charged at Tania.

However, since the cotton puff was a spirit small enough even compared to Tania,

The charge ended up being nothing more than snuggling into Tania’s arms.

“I’m just kidding. I just returned to high-grade like yesterday, so there’s nothing to worry about.”

—Myung?

“Yes, really.”

—Heng….

The cotton puff detached itself from Tania.

“…What? Say that again?”

Bwoong!

The cotton puff, fluttering its small wings, rose into the air and spoke again.

—Heng.

“This…”

The cotton puff suddenly flew toward me.

Using me as a shield, the cotton puff, true to its nature as a wind spirit,

Created small updrafts to rise up, then suddenly dropped down, repeatedly taunting Tania.

“You…”

Tania, with her arms crossed, puffed her cheeks and flew over.

—Myung!

“Stay still for a moment!”

The cotton puff and Tania suddenly began playing tag, circling around me.

The cotton puff used its small body and wind power more desperately than I’d ever seen before to avoid Tania’s outstretched hands.

As a result, Tania, unable to catch the cotton puff and coming up empty-handed, clung tightly to my left arm and whined.

“Park Shinwoo. Catch it for me.”

“Why are you suddenly acting like this?”

“When I changed from highest-grade to high-grade, it asked if I was in pain, and when I said I wasn’t, it taunted me saying it would have been better if I was.”

“Ah.”

But still… that’s because you provoked the cotton puff first by calling it a mere low-grade spirit—

“Park Shinwoo, you’re thinking something else again.”

“…No, I’m not?”

“Hmph, I can clearly see it in your eyes!”

The sparks flew toward me as well.

“Ugh.”

Tania grabbed my cheek and started pulling it.

The cotton puff, which had been watching from a distance, flew in and bumped into Tania’s hand that was pinching my cheek.

Tania’s thumb and index finger, which had been holding my cheek, fell away, and the cotton puff sneered at her.

—Heng.

“…You wait right there.”

—Myung.

“No way! I can catch you! If I can catch Changshik, why wouldn’t I be able to catch you?”

—…Heng.

“Why on earth did Park Shinwoo make another contract with something like you when he already has Changshik…”

—Myung?

“You’re not cute at all!”

Their second game of tag began.

What happened to the tracking ability she had developed playing tag with Changshik, the highest-grade wind spirit?

As Tania became more accustomed to the cotton puff’s size and movements, she eventually caught it.

After receiving a stern lecture from Tania for a while, the cotton puff was thoroughly chastened.

Tania placed the dispirited cotton puff on her two hands.

“Park Shinwoo, do you have a lot of time now?”

“Yes. I don’t have any set schedule from this afternoon.”

“That’s good. Then…”

She held out the cotton puff to me and said.

“Let’s give it a name now.”

Name.

At this single word, the cotton puff, which had been completely deflated, magically perked up with sparkling eyes.

—Myung!

As if it had been waiting for just this moment.