Ch.26Lord Kartina

“So this is where you were, Elizabeth the First Knight Commander. And beside you… F-rank adventurer, correct? Without a name.”

“I’m honored that the lord would remember someone like me, a mere lowest-rank adventurer.”

I bowed my head slightly in greeting. From that lord’s perspective, a lowest-rank adventurer would be nothing more than a fly that could drop dead at any moment, yet they remembered me. Honestly, I was a bit surprised.

And the fact that they used honorifics and formal speech with someone like me.

Kartina let out a small “ohoho” laugh at my words.

“You may be F-rank, but you’re quite famous in your own way? Maintaining F-rank in one place for 8 years makes it impossible not to be talked about. There are rumors that you’re actually an incredibly powerful adventurer hiding your strength while living a leisurely life.”

I wonder what madman spread such nonsense.

There was a reason I hadn’t advanced to E-rank during my entire search for the dragon. The higher your rank, the more rights and money are guaranteed, but conversely, you bear more obligations.

Rights and money were useless to me, so naturally I viewed advancement as shackles.

F-rank requests were essentially just nominal tasks for advancing to E-rank, so most were odd jobs like herb gathering or disposing of household waste.

The compensation was terrible too, but unless you did something incredibly stupid, they’d generally mark your work as successful.

Most adventurers started at E-rank to begin with; those like me who started at F-rank were extremely rare.

With almost no rights came almost no obligations, so I’d just kept the title, but perhaps I should have gone for E-rank after all.

“That’s why I’ve always wanted to meet you… though I imagined it would be over tea and refreshments in my mansion’s reception room, not among ruins with debris and dust. It’s a bit disappointing.”

“That’s enough small talk, Kartina. Why did you come all the way here? You were the one who said the mansion was safer.”

Serena cut off the conversation and spoke bluntly.

She probably already had negative feelings toward this region’s lord, and now she had to speak informally to me and watch me having a friendly conversation with them, so her mood must have soured.

As I subtly stepped back, Serena stepped forward by the same amount. Our positions naturally switched.

“First Knight Commander left so suddenly that I came with modest support in case you needed help, but…”

Kartina’s eyes alternated between looking at the monster’s right arm and head that Serena was holding in each hand.

Her already gaunt face hardened further, and what little smile remained completely vanished. Her fist trembled as she gripped the fabric at her thigh.

“…It seems my concern was unfounded.”

Serena snorted at those words.

“Support? Don’t make me laugh. If I faced an enemy that required support, you lot would be useless anyway, and you know it.”

The knights flinched at the unexpected provocation, but when Elliot and Kartina nodded in agreement, they seemed to decide they shouldn’t step forward when their superiors remained calm, and quietly backed down.

Her words might have been thorny, but they were true, so what could be done?

If an enemy truly appeared that required Serena’s help, the entire royal knights would be insufficient as support.

Charlotte would probably need to join to provide anything worthy of being called “support,” but they brought just three knights—modest, as she said—so such a response was natural.

The same would be true even if they didn’t know Serena’s true strength and only knew her as the royal First Knight Commander. Even to them, three knights would be nothing more than disposable meat shields.

“My thinking was shallow. I apologize.”

Kartina bowed her head in apology. It seemed unnecessary, but considering what Serena had done here, I understood why the lord was so deferential.

She was probably desperately trying not to offend Serena in any way.

“No need to apologize. Just return to the mansion.”

“Understood.”

Despite her prompt reply, Kartina’s movements were hesitant. She seemed to be watching Serena’s reaction, her lips quivering, then as if having made up her mind, she closed her eyes tightly and clasped her hands in front of her lower abdomen.

“First Knight Commander Elizabeth, may I ask you a question?”

“About what?”

“About what you’re holding.”

Serena raised one hand. Kartina’s body trembled briefly as she seemed to make eye contact with the eight eyeballs, then she quietly nodded.

“I don’t mind. Go ahead.”

“Are that arm and head from a monster?”

Serena paused briefly as if considering her answer, but her deliberation didn’t last long.

“Yes.”

“Then, the shape of that head is…”

Befitting a lord who had governed a frontline city for a long time, she seemed disturbed by the monster’s severed head, which resembled a human form except for its eight eyes and strangely torn mouth.

She was indeed a person without flaws except for her timidity. Quite perceptive too.

It would be faster if I explained from here. Serena didn’t know much, as she had only arrived after I called her and then dismembered Scarface.

I also had a few questions to ask them.

“May I provide the explanation from here, Lord?”

“You scoundrel! How dare a lowest-rank adventurer like you interrupt!”

As I stepped forward in front of Serena and tried to insert myself into their conversation, Elliot, who had been silently observing us until now, suddenly shouted.

Kartina’s eyes widened as she looked at Elliot, suggesting she hadn’t minded my interruption at all. Otherwise, she wouldn’t have shown such a surprised expression.

Before Kartina could call out to Elliot in confusion, Serena shouted first.

“Elliot, wait—”

“Silence!”

BOOM! Serena stomped her left foot. The ground began to crack like a spider web from where she had stomped.

Kartina staggered. The knights’ expressions showed clear confusion. The stomp was so powerful that the ground not only cracked but pieces collided and thrust upward.

The cracks bloomed like a flower, swallowing almost the entire main road and surrounding buildings before finally stopping. I glanced at Serena. Anger blazed in her eyes.

“I did not give you permission to speak, direct knight.”

Despite Elliot being taller and larger, he was sweating profusely, only able to roll his eyes.

Dense mana seeped from Serena’s body, binding the surroundings. The already timid Kartina looked like she might burst into tears at any moment.

It was rather surprising that the lord hadn’t fainted.

Even those knights, who were much stronger than her, were trembling under the pressure, yet she remained conscious and clear-headed—worthy of praise.

Though there was no one to praise her, of course.

I inwardly sighed. I should have told Serena beforehand to endure whatever was said to me. Despite dozens of warnings, she stubbornly refused to listen on this one point.

“I’m… sor…”

“I apologize, Sir Elliot.”

I cut in before Elliot could stammer out his apology. As I bowed my head in apology, Serena dispersed her mana in confusion.

Strictly speaking, it was my fault.

It was indeed rude for a mere F-rank adventurer to interrupt a conversation between a city lord and the royal knight commander, offering to explain things himself.

On the surface, the fault was clearly mine.

Delving deeper, it was a mere knight interfering when I was trying to explain information I had painfully extracted from the monster, but that was Serena’s perspective.

Since we couldn’t freely reveal our relationship, this was the appropriate response.

“I was the one confronting that monster before the First Knight Commander came to help me. I thought I knew more about the monster than the Knight Commander, so I impulsively and presumptuously interrupted. I sincerely apologize.”

After I yielded first, Serena also withdrew her mana completely, though with a sulky expression.

Several sighs of relief could be heard. Beads of cold sweat had formed on Kartina’s forehead. Her clasped hands trembled.

While the four of them caught their breath, I quickly signaled to Serena with my eyes. Though she clearly disliked it, when I signaled again, she opened her mouth with a deadpan expression.

“Don’t… ever do that again. Understood?”

“Yes. I apologize, First Knight Commander.”

I deliberately omitted “Elizabeth.” With my pride already wounded from being reprimanded, calling Serena by her surname rather than her name would make it impossible to maintain my composure.

Leaving the deadpan-faced Serena behind, I waited until Kartina regained her composure.

After taking several deep breaths, Kartina seemed to have stabilized herself enough to open her eyes, though they still trembled slightly.

She wiped away the tears that had welled up with her sleeve and forced a smile.

“This isn’t why I came looking for the Knight Commander, but I keep finding myself apologizing. I’m sorry, First Knight Commander Elizabeth. Please forgive the rudeness of my knight.”

“…It’s fine.”

Her voice clearly suggested it wasn’t fine at all.

“If you’re upset—”

“No. It’s really fine. Don’t make me say it twice.”

Serena answered sharply. Her voice sounded somewhat urgent, and I had to suppress a laugh. She probably cut it off so abruptly because she feared having to reverse our master-servant relationship again.

“I understand. Then, adventurer?”

This time Kartina looked at me.

“Yes, but first, let me ask: how much should I explain? Everything? Or just the essentials?”

“…Is there a lot to explain?”

“If you want the full explanation, I’d need to start from when I entered the town and explain everything in order. If you just want the essentials, I can just tell you what that is.”

I pointed at Scarface’s head. Kartina probably wanted more than a simple explanation that it was a humanoid monster.

Where it came from, what it was, how strong it was, and so on. She clearly had many questions.

“Then, adventurer, you know the identity of that monster?”

“I can’t be completely certain, but I’d say yes.”

I added the disclaimer about uncertainty to leave myself an escape route.

I couldn’t exactly say I used a high-level magic scroll from Charlotte to melt Scarface, and then a monster jumped out of the hole.

I would need to recreate the story of how I met Scarface and why he transformed into a monster.

Plus the purgatory magic. If there were any suspicious points, I could signal Serena to confirm, and we could muddle through.

In a way, I was lying, but I felt no guilt. There are things in this world better left unknown, and above all, one must always prepare for the worst possibility.

“I’d like to ask you to tell me everything… but this place isn’t quite suitable for a long story.”

Kartina gave a bitter smile. The already devastated city now looked like it had been hit by an earthquake thanks to what Serena had just done.

The cracked buildings looked like they might split apart at any moment, and the ground had risen in places, making it easy to lose balance and fall.

“If it’s not too presumptuous, I’d like to continue our conversation at my mansion. Would that be acceptable?”

The unspoken addition was clear: though it’s not in great condition either.

“I don’t mind going to the mansion. However, before that, is it alright if we stop somewhere first?”

“Stop somewhere? Where?”

“The Adventurer’s Guild building.”

“The Adventurer’s Guild…? Why there?”

I studied her expression. Kartina’s face showed pure curiosity, while Elliot was still watching Serena cautiously. The two knights behind were doing the same.

“Because the Adventurer’s Guild was the first place I visited when I returned to this city.”

“Then wouldn’t that mean you don’t need to go there again? You said you visited it first.”

“The door was locked. All the windows were boarded up from the inside.”

“What?”

Kartina blinked. She seemed completely surprised by this information.

“So I’d like to force my way in with the Knight Commander’s help. Would that be alright, Knight Commander?”

Serena merely nodded slightly without giving a verbal response. She clearly didn’t want to speak informally to me.

“If we return to the mansion first, we’d have to come out again later to check that building. I thought it would be better to check it now before going.”

“…I thought everyone who remained loyal to me had gathered at the mansion.”

It seemed Kartina believed that people loyal to her had barricaded themselves inside the Adventurer’s Guild building.

If that were true, it would be excellent news, but if not… honestly, I wasn’t sure what would happen next.

“Very well. Let’s visit the Adventurer’s Guild building first. Elliot, follow me.”

“Yes, ma’am!”

Elliot briefly stood at attention, and the knights behind him mimicked his action.

Perhaps because she now had hope that more of her allies might be found, Kartina strode forward without hesitation. Serena and I remained standing in place as the four of them passed us by.

After confirming they were at a suitable distance, I whispered to Serena.

“Don’t take your eyes off those four.”

“Understood, my lord.”

Yes, one must always prepare for the worst possibility.