Chap 23-Originally, a couple is said to be of one mind and body.

 

I appropriately treated the maid and sent her back with Ailia.

This alone made Ailia very grateful in many ways.

So much so that she handed over all the information she had about Kailon.

“Even so, wasn’t that a bit too harsh?”

“No. Because I did this, that woman’s plan have probably changed.”

“What about cooperating instead?”

Cooperation? Cooperaaaation?

Funnily enough, I have no intention of ever associating with the weak.

It’s already difficult enough to go and deal with Kailon and the others since they’re several years ahead of us. Cooperation, my foot.

“Above all, I don’t listen to the words of someone weaker than me.”

“Huh.”

“For now, if things go as they are, Ailia will just let us and Kailon fight.”

I stretched, crossing my legs.

It was obvious to anyone.

We already told Ailia that cooperation was out of the question, and we would stay still as long as she didn’t bother us.

And Kailon was the one who bothered us.

So, she’ll know that our thorns will be directed at Kailon.

She’ll want us to take down Kailon.

“Right?”

“We just need to take advantage of that.”

“Are you saying you’re going to kill Kailon, Ciel?”

There’s no way I’d kill him.

Rather, Kailon is a card we should use carefully.

“Originally, it’s more profitable to use the weak than to kill them.”

“How are you going to approach him?”

“Approach is one thing, but we need to make them fight.”

I have no intention of falling for Ailia’s plan.

“It’s simple. Just beat up Arnold.”

“Why is Arnold popping up?”

Why, you ask? Because I’m planning to use Arnold to drag him out.

I intend to use that guy, Ailia’s subordinate, to make those two fight.

“I’m going to use Arnold to drag him out. Easy, right?”

“Yeah, real easy… not! I mean, how is that even possible?”

“Well?”

Originally, you always have to strike unexpectedly.

That bitch Ailia is probably stretching her legs and relaxing right now.

No way.

Bang!

With a movement I’m now used to, I kicked open the door to Class B’s classroom.

The students who had already seen me once naturally turned their heads as if looking for Arnold, but he was nowhere to be found.

Arnold’s not here? Seriously. Did he already run away?

Or is he hiding somewhere like a rat?

“Where’s Arnold! Get out here right now!”

As I started looking for Arnold as if I was about to devour him, the students turned their heads.

As if to say they wouldn’t get involved, so I could find him myself.

However.

There was bound to be one person who would object.

“Who are you to dare call my fiancé’s name so casually?”

A woman with something like brown sheep horns and croissants on her head appeared.

Her bangs were neatly arranged, and her long sheep horns were twisted like croissants. It was obvious she was trying to say, “I’m a noble lady.”

She looks like she’d be fun to swindle.

I smiled brightly and approached her.

“Oh. What’s the noble lady’s name?”

“I’m Clara from the Erjet Marquis Family. Who are you?”

“If you’re engaged, you’re basically a future couple. And they say couples are of one mind.”

So, wouldn’t it be right for the couple to suffer together?

At least, that’s what I think.

So, I should at least squeeze some money out of her.

“What?”

“So, it’s only natural for the wife to receive the punishment that the husband should receive. First, Arnold stole my money, so pay it back.”

I naturally held out my hand.

Pay me back the money.

I didn’t actually lend him any money, but since I came all the way here, shouldn’t I fleece his fiancée too?

I shook the hand I held out as if it was a bother.

“What did you say?”

“Ten gold coins. Give them to me now. I’m getting dizzy. Or what? Do you really want to see me cause a ruckus here?”

“What kind of noble lady dresses and speaks like a commoner? Ah, wait. Okay. Just a moment. Okay, here are ten gold coins.”

In a daze, this woman named Clara took out ten gold coins and gave them to me.

Humans can’t cope with sudden situations like this.

As expected, nobles are fun to swindle money from.

Carrying so much gold around, she’s like a walking wallet.

-I guess I don’t need to give you an allowance? Schperen itself is a wallet anyway.

My master was right.

If I squeeze some money out of them like this, I can fill my wallet nicely.

“Okay, I’ll take it for now.”

“Huh? Wha—?!”

“You dare shoot an arrow at me?”

I turned around behind Clara, grabbed her slender waist, and flipped her over backward.

Thud!

“Squawk!”

The classroom fell silent at the sudden event.

Since she was wearing a skirt, her underwear must have been visible.

Can a noble lady be so clumsy?

I tapped the limp Clara a few times.

Hmm. She’s not dead.

Well, if she died from this, coming to Schperen would be a nuisance in itself.

She’d be better off going out and eating dirt.

After some time, a guy who seemed to be a Class B student finally brought Arnold.

“W-What are you doing?”

Arnold didn’t like the fact that I was stepping on his fiancée’s body with my foot, and he started to get angry, veins popping out on his temples.

“You came just in time, Arnold. You’re the kind of guy who only comes home after his wife is dead from a thief breaking in. You’re the perfect husband for thieves to thrive on.”

Clap, clap, clap.

A scathing mockery. It would have been perfect if I had clapped along with it.

What kind of idiot doesn’t prepare for class in the morning and goes out so confidently?

I was disgusted by his incompetence, recklessness, and delinquency.

But at least he showed up late, so I can step on him.

“To even touch the innocent Clara! What do you want!”

“How dare you say that with such a lack of conscience?”

“What?”

That half-angry face.

There are so many students in Class B watching this. So many spectators.

Okay, the stage is set.

From now on, you’re the one who shot the arrow.

“You dared to shoot an arrow at me! You pathetic guy! You have no honor as a noble!”

“What are you talking about!”

“Someone shot an arrow at me during swordsmanship department time, okay? Who else would it be but you?”

It was actually Kailon, but I’m pinning it on Arnold here.

This is important.

No one will believe this as it is.

But it’s different if it’s a family that wants to take down Edenberun.

“You shot an arrow? An assassination on school grounds?”

“Even if you’re a loser, do you have to try to kill people?”

“Isn’t that a bit far-fetched?”

“Yeah, there’s a barrier, too.”

The students’ reactions were dramatically like oil and water.

From students saying, “Is that even possible?” to “There’s a barrier, it doesn’t make sense,” to “If it’s Edenberun, they might do it.”

Especially the noble families that were wary of Edenberun seemed to agree with my opinion, saying that Edenberun might do it.

As expected.

“How can you shoot an arrow when there’s a barrier!”

“How would I know? Are you saying I’m lying or what?”

“Looking at your personality, it’s possible.”

“Wait!”

It was at that moment.

Suddenly, an elf intervened between me and Arnold.

An elf with long, flowing hair and red hair sticking out like antennae because it wasn’t properly styled.

The elf I once told to eat a lot because she had big breasts appeared with an apron on and her hands behind her back.

With a serious face, too.

The elf’s atmosphere is always noble.

“I saw it.”

“Who are you?”

Ignoring Arnold, who was flustered by the appearance of the new person, the nutritionist elf approached and looked around at the crowd full of students before slowly reciting.

“I am the nutritionist Ruru. Yesterday, during swordsmanship department class time, I was seriously thinking about how to feed the students as a nutritionist and walking around the grounds when I saw the swordsmanship department training ground in the distance. And someone from outside shot an arrow to hit someone in the training ground.”

Huh?

Did an elf suddenly come to support me here?

No.

Looking closely, this elf is winking at me slightly.

Ah. This elf seems to be from the Thieves’ Guild side.

If an elf came, the story would be easier.

“That’s ridiculous! I never shot an arrow!”

“Maybe he hired an assassin.”

As the gazes pouring in from around became colder, the elf stepped forward even more.

As if to say that the truth must be revealed in the face of such injustice.

“That’s not important. It was a clear arrow filled with murderous intent. I can swear on my World Tree.”

The elf clenched her two feeble hands.

Oath of the World Tree.

The elf is swearing that what she is saying is true.

It’s swearing to the World Tree, which the elves revere as a god.

In short, it’s declaring that you’re telling the truth when there’s no proper evidence, swearing to your god.

But is that okay?

Usually, elves don’t lie, even if it’s just to save face. To even say such a thing while invoking their god.

The impression of elves is that they are such a noble race, so no one saw Ruru’s words as a lie.

Well, she might have actually seen the scene.

“If that elf swears on the World Tree, there’s no way to deny it.”

“Certainly, the only person who would shoot an arrow at Bathory is that Edenberun Marquis Family.”

“Wow. How can they be so disgusting?”

There’s a saying called witch hunt.

Even if you’re innocent, once you start being branded as a witch, you fall endlessly.

Well, look at the Edenberun Marquis Family’s innocent appearance.

The many fake witches who were witch-hunted must have been just as wronged, right?

Of course, I don’t care.

What I want to get now is to make that Kailon guy and Ailia fight.

“No, I’m innocent.”

“To try to kill me with such a terrible arrow!”

“In the first place, the only one who shoots arrows like that is the Sagittarius Prince Kailon!”

“Kailon? Who’s Kailon?”

I pretended not to know and retorted.

Tilting my head as if I didn’t know anything.

I have to make that name of Prince Kailon come out of his mouth on purpose.

“He’s the student council vice president, the third prince.”

“Can you handle it?”

“I’m innocent, what are you talking about since earlier?”

“Take me to where that Kailon or whatever is.”

I laid the groundwork while tidying my sleeves.

Take me there quickly.

You guys will end up fighting Kailon too. You won’t be free.

He probably knows it by now, too. That he has to make Kailon and Arietta fight. But he’s the one taking the lead.

So, he’s sweating.

He must be thinking that he’ll be targeted by Kailon if he stays like this.

Because according to the information I received, Kailon is quite crazy.

“Me?”

“If you want to prove your innocence, shouldn’t you go find him yourself?”

Okay, go and tell Kailon that you were the one who shot it.

“No. You.”

“If you don’t guide me, something very fun will happen to Edenberun.”

I smiled bitterly and looked at Arnold.

Yeah. Something really fun will happen.

I mean, if I wanted to, I could easily pin all sorts of crimes on them.

It’s so easy. There are idiots who are hooked on the Thieves’ Guild everywhere.

To be honest, I don’t even know why the imperial aristocracy is maintained even after all this. At least, it’s not difficult to get rid of Edenberun.

“What?”

“I could make them suffer the same fate as the Franz family.”

“Where did you learn to threaten like that?”

“Shall we see if it’s a threat or not? Come to think of it, Clara over there is from the Erjet Marquis Family, right? Hmm? What do you think?”

I looked down at the still unconscious clumsy noble lady and smiled faintly.

It seems like our Arnold cherishes Clara quite a bit.

Then I should use her, right?