When Five Humans Gather, There’s Always One Piece of Trash(3)

After the audience with Aria and Meiyel, who had resolved the Sky Island incident, ended, the first to rise was the king.

The king, who stood up from his throne, went inside the palace with Duke Petra and Duke Hilstin, and afterwards Marquis Fairina and Marquis Kilma went outside.

Then Aria and Meiyel walked out through the opened doors with Knight Commander Haran and Knight Arin, after which the courtiers entered the palace while murmuring amongst themselves.

Most of the main figures had left, and the last to depart were the knights who had been standing in formation.

And after even the knights had all left, leaving the audience chamber empty, Duke Imptia violently struck the wall.

Bang──!

“Damn it!!! That rotten woman──!!!”

He struck the wall so hard that his hand turned red and ached. Though the pain was intense enough to make him scream, Duke Imptia still shouted with an enraged face.

“A lowly commoner dares to mock me and say such things?! And to ruin all my plans on top of that!!!”

His plan to swallow up the throne was just one step away from being realized, but what Aria had asked of the king had turned all of Duke Imptia’s plans to dust.

-May I personally punish those who lay hands on me and my siblings? Even if that target is anyone.

He never imagined she would make such a request when the king said he would grant anything, much less that the king would eagerly agree and grant it.

Personally punish. Duke Imptia remembered the eyes that had stared directly at him while saying those words.

As if to say these words were meant solely for you, those two eyes glaring at him.

At the same time, Aria’s face smirking with one corner of her mouth raised after finishing her words and the king granting her request was clearly etched in Duke Imptia’s mind.

“Damn it… If only I had those women, even the knights would no longer be an obstacle…!”

The reason Duke Imptia coveted Aria and Meiyel was for one purpose only.

To grasp the royal authority of the Kingdom of Puhara that he had long dreamed of.

And the biggest obstacle to Duke Imptia ousting the current king and taking that seat was none other than Knight Commander Haran and the knights he led.

Not only were they strong, but the immense loyalty that such a powerful knight order held towards the current king meant Duke Imptia could not overcome them alone.

That’s why Duke Imptia had tried to draw the two of them to his side in order to check Haran and the knights.

If he could bring those two, who had skills surpassing Knight Commander Haran, to his side, then only the easy path to seizing the throne would remain.

That’s why Duke Imptia couldn’t help but be even more furious at Aria who had just now shattered his plans.

Now that the king had strongly agreed and permitted it, if he carelessly touched the two of them, he would be in danger instead.

To begin with, since they were even stronger than that Knight Commander Haran, the outcome was obvious if their fangs were turned towards him.

“Ugh… Urgh…”

That’s why Duke Imptia soon suppressed his anger and let out a deep sigh.

No matter how ambitious Duke Imptia was, being in a position as one of the five nobles, he wasn’t a fool who couldn’t use his head.

The reason he had coveted Aria and Meiyel was simply because they were the key to taking a shortcut.

Now that he could no longer grasp that key, though frustrated, he had no choice but to return to the original path he was going to take.

If he let his pride get the better of him here, he would only end up a moth flying into the flame and losing his life.

“I’ll make you regret toying with me like this someday…!”

Of course, he didn’t just discard these frustrating feelings.

Duke Imptia vowed revenge for when he became king in the future, while pressing down the volcanic frustration into a box in his heart. After spending a few minutes composing his emotions like that, he slowly left the audience chamber.

“I need to hurry. I might be late.”

Today was the day of a meeting with the hitmen he had arranged 15 days ago.

Those who had become regulars from countless uses would already be waiting at the mansion, so he shouldn’t keep them waiting too long.

That’s why Duke Imptia immediately headed out to the street with quick steps and boarded the carriage that was waiting on standby.

Clunk──!

“Go straight to the mansion.”

“Yes, Your Grace.”

As soon as the door closed, the coachman immediately drove the carriage at Duke Imptia’s words.

Enjoying the smooth ride of the expensive carriage received as a bribe, Duke Imptia leaned back against the seat to catch a brief nap before arriving at the mansion.

To get some rest, however brief, for the meeting that would soon take place.

And as he closed his eyes, he quickly fell into a doze.

---

Though the audience had ended, I was still watching the king rise from his seat with my head bowed.

As much as I wanted to leave right away, I couldn’t show such behavior in the audience chamber where everyone was still gathered.

For that reason, only after confirming that the king had definitely entered the palace did I rise from my seat.

“Hup…!”

And I relieved the fatigue in my body, which had been maintaining a rigid posture, by lightly tensing and relaxing all my muscles.

At the momentary refreshing feeling, I brightened my expression before turning to look at Mu, who still hadn’t gotten up.

“My legs hurt…”

“Get up quickly, Meiyel. You can use magic, can’t you?”

“Mm…”

Perhaps because it was Meiyel’s relatively weaker body? Seeing Mu trembling with stiff legs, I supported her legs and grabbed her arm to help her up.

I didn’t want to stay here any longer since Duke Imptia was still shooting a gaze filled with faint killing intent towards me.

Led by my helping hand, Mu stood up with a furrowed brow and cast recovery magic on herself, and I walked towards the audience chamber doors while holding Mu’s hand.

“Ah! Professor!”

“Arin! There are still other people here! Maintain proper decorum!”

And as I approached, Arin, who had been standing by the door, came towards me with her usual bright demeanor.

Perhaps thinking her duty was over, she threw away her knightly manner of speech and ran to me.

Haran scolded Arin as he approached together with her.

Honestly, as Arin said, the original task of the audience was already over, so I carefully intervened to stop Haran who was about to scold Arin with a stern expression.

“It’s alright, Knight Commander. There’s no one left to see us anyway, and the audience is over now, so please speak comfortably as well.”

“I-Is that so?”

“Haha! Too bad, Dad. The professor is on my side… Ack?!”

At my words, Haran sheepishly scratched his head and stepped back.

I smacked Arin on the head as she was making a smug expression at Haran, then spoke to Haran who had taken a step back.

“If it’s alright with you, would you like to walk together to the main road? Meiyel’s legs seem stiff too, so we plan to walk for a bit.”

“Hahaha, then I’ll be your conversation partner for a while.”

Fortunately, he didn’t seem to lack flexibility, as Haran answered with a laugh at my words and slightly came down from his heavy position as Knight Commander.

For now, since the audience was over, our relationship was no different from that of a professor and a parent, so I started discussing Arin while walking out of the audience chamber with Mu and Arin at my side.

Roughly how Arin was doing at the academy, how well she was following training, whether she had made good friends, and so on.

Truly parent-teacher conversation-like dialogue was exchanged between Haran and me, and since Arin was actually showing good performance at the academy befitting a representative character, I answered him truthfully, causing Haran to smile with quite a relieved expression.

Haran added that it was a relief, as if she often caused trouble normally.

Arin’s face behind us flushed red at his expression that showed how much he loved his daughter.

However, this light conversation was brief. Haran slightly stiffened his smiling face and asked me:

“That wish you spoke of to His Majesty the King today. I suppose it was because of the nobles clinging to you.”

“Yes, that’s correct.”

More precisely, it was a request solely for Duke Imptia who had been sending dirty looks my way until the end, but I swallowed those unnecessary words and answered. At my response, Haran slightly furrowed his brows and said:

“Those nobles’ greed is truly sickening. I know well because I’ve experienced it a lot myself.”

“Is that so.”

Well, with the position of Knight Commander and this level of strength, it would be strange if people didn’t flock to him.

As I nodded in agreement, Haran clenched his fist firmly and turned to look at me.

“If there’s anything I can help with, please feel free to say so. I’ll do my best to help within my capabilities.”

I opened my eyes wide at those unexpectedly surprising words.

Whether it was because of his kind nature or because I was the teacher Arin relied on, at least looking at those eyes, it didn’t seem to be words spoken half-heartedly.

In other words, this meant that he, the Knight Commander no less, was offering to cooperate with me fully, so I felt very grateful, but I shook my head lightly and answered:

“I appreciate your concern, but it’s alright. I’ve already taken care of it.”

“What do you mean by taken care of…?”

I had already received permission from the king in the audience chamber and issued orders through Mu afterwards. They should have arrived and finished the preparations by now.

But not understanding my words, Haran tilted his head, and I turned my gaze while smiling slightly.

“You’ll know tomorrow.”

Because one large mansion will have neatly disappeared by then.

---

“Phew… What a tiring day.”

Duke Imptia muttered as he got off the carriage that had arrived at the mansion.

Perhaps because his emotional consumption was too high today, he felt mentally tired despite having taken a deep nap in the carriage.

But he couldn’t just stand blankly in front of the door. Duke Imptia pressed his dizzy head and entered the mansion.

“They’re probably in the reception room. I should go there right away.”

Since he was just returning from going out, there was no need to pay attention to his attire, so Duke Imptia naturally turned his feet that were about to head to his personal room.

The usual five people would probably be waiting, so he intended to go straight there to assign the contract killing of his target and then rest comfortably afterwards.

Rather than washing up and then talking about dirty business, it would be better to finish the talk first and then wash up. Having finished his thoughts, Duke Imptia began walking towards the reception room located at the end of the first floor, strolling through the quiet hallway.

Though the hallway was unusually quiet with no maids around for some reason, Duke Imptia didn’t pay much attention to it.

In his current tired state, he didn’t want to care about it, as a quiet hallway was better than a noisy one.

If they weren’t in the first floor hallway, it meant they must be on another floor or in another room anyway.

Duke Imptia massaged his stiff neck as he stopped in front of the reception room he had arrived at, and without hesitation, opened the door and stepped inside.

“It’s been a while, everyone. Have you been well…?”

And as he was about to greet his partners he was meeting after some time, Duke Imptia finally noticed that something was wrong.

Or more precisely, he could now sense the strangeness that had been there all along.

What entered his eyes was blood.

Only bright red blood flowing like a river on the sofa and forming a puddle on the floor.

Only after seeing that did the pungent iron scent invade his nostrils.

“Ugh…!”

The scent was so thick that it involuntarily made him retch.

It wasn’t because people had died. He had seen countless deaths to begin with.

The position Duke Imptia currently held was also one he had climbed by personally killing, killing, and killing.

The reason Duke Imptia retched was because of the blood scent polluting his lungs and the two women sitting on the blood-soaked sofa at the back of the reception room, looking at him.

“You’re finally here. I thought my neck would fall off waiting.”

“I’m tired, so let’s finish quickly and go.”

“Shall we? Ah, Imp… what kind of duke was it again? Here, I’ve already taken care of what seem to be your friends.”

The woman holding a sword was covered in blood from head to toe, while the woman holding a staff was floating next to the sword-wielding woman in clean attire.

And the duke caught what the sword-wielding woman threw at him while smiling brightly.

“Aaagh?!!”

However, as soon as he caught it, Duke Imptia had no choice but to throw it away.

What she had thrown at him was the familiar head of a hitman, severed below the neck.

Thud──!

The moment he realized whose head it was, Duke Imptia threw it away and fell over noisily.

Tears welled up involuntarily as he fell to the floor. Snot flowed disgustingly at the same time, but he couldn’t wipe it away.

Because before that, the woman who had been sitting moved with her sword.

“Humans really are weak after all.”

The woman who referred to herself as “human” while twirling her sword.

Duke Imptia tried to back away from the fear he instinctively felt, his whole body burning up, but there was no way he could be faster than the woman as he retreated while wetting himself.

Slowly, making the sound of heels clicking, the woman approached and raised her sword.

“P-Please spa───”

“You shouldn’t have messed with our master.”

His words, barely squeezed out, were cut off by the sword before they could finish and fell to the floor.