episode_0006

As the morning sun rose, the one wearing a black mask headed to the inn where Yukal had left.

In such a small village, the only person who could detect his presence would be his master, but he proceeded cautiously, making sure not to make a sound.

Although there was a sign saying that the inn was not open for business for the time being, he entered without any hesitation and stopped in front of a room where he sensed someone inside.

After a final check of his attire and deeming it sufficient, he stared at the door.

“I have something to report.”

“Can’t you come back later? I’m in the middle of enjoying myself.”

“This is a report related to the instructions given by Yukal.”

“Hmm…”

After a brief moment of thought, she soon permitted the entry of the one in black.

“Come in.”

Upon opening the door, a man resembling a bandit lay on the ground with wounds and bruises all over his body, bleeding. However, seemingly unfazed, the man in black knelt down on one knee.

“Commander Laika of the 4th Division. I greet my lord.”

“So, it must be something important enough to interrupt my time, right? Otherwise, I might be disappointed.”

Feeling the pressure of his constrained breath, he continued speaking unabashedly.

“Firstly, regarding Yukal’s movements. After meeting with my lord, he rushed to the village with all his might, collected money from the current inn, and then moved to the Borea Territory.”

“Uh-huh…”

“At one point, he encountered three bandits the next day and even considered intervening, but he dealt with them using the sleep bomb granted by my lord. However, he showed no mercy in handling the bandits. He ruthlessly struck them dozens of times with the hand axes they carried, cutting off all their throats and covering them with dirt and grass. Seeing no hesitation in killing and disposing of people, it appears that he has received professional training. It seems that his initial act of feigning tension and diverting from the road was also due to the ease of corpse disposal.”

“P-please spare me.”

Seemingly unable to listen any longer, Cynaria kicked the innkeeper’s head with her foot.

“Cough.”

“You’re disturbing the report. I haven’t resorted to more force because there are still things I want to hear from you, but if you keep making noise, I can’t help it. Can you be quiet?”

Seeing the innkeeper desperately covering her mouth with both hands pleased her, and she smiled mischievously.

“Continue.”

“After dealing with the bandits, he arrived at the Borea Territory on foot after three days. Judging by the fact that he first reserved a ticket for the Madotrain heading to Artero, it is presumed that he intends to apply for today’s entrance exam at the Ardente Academy. Subsequently, he purchased an old wooden sword and a pouch containing contraceptives from a rather remote antique shop.”

“Contraceptives?”

“That’s correct.”

“Hmm…”

Seeing Cynaria tapping the table, Laika couldn’t help but feel slightly tense.

His lord had a habit of tapping his fingers when displeased, and every time this happened, trouble ensued.

“He didn’t seem like that kind of guy, but turns out he was quite the playboy. Next time we meet, we might need to give him some sex education.”

“….”

“Keep reporting.”

“After leaving the antique shop, he visited various inns in Borea but couldn’t find a room until he finally secured one at the last inn.”

“Lucky you. At this time, rooms would naturally be scarce, wouldn’t they?”

However, he gave up the room to the woman in the robe and slept in the alley next to the inn. It seems that he didn’t want to put the woman to sleep outside when he lied about having two rooms even though there was only one.

“Hmm~”

Watching the table being dug into with his fingers, Laika started sweating cold on his back involuntarily.

He felt an intuition that the master might explode if he uttered the next words, but eventually, he had no choice but to speak.

As the shadow of the master, he should not hide anything or tell lies.

“The inn staff say it’s certain that Yukal likes the woman in the robe. He said in a conversation with himself that if he were a man, he could never put a girl he liked to sleep outside.”

Crack!

In the end, the table couldn’t withstand Sineria’s power and shattered.

The temperature in the room feeling a few degrees lower is definitely not due to mood.

“Hmm~ It’s a bit stuffy.”

“……”

“What’s your name?”

“I didn’t hear you well?”

“What’s the girl’s name?”

“It’s Claire. She revealed that she has no surname, so for now, she is presumed to be a commoner. Like Yukal, she is said to be participating in the entrance exam for the Ardent Academy.”

“Keep an eye on that girl too. It could be a diplomatic move.”

“I will take note of her name.”

“By the way, why did you come alone? Where is 7th Division?”

“I was informed that more time is needed at the 7th Division. I could find out what happened after coming to this village, but it might take longer to investigate how I ended up in this village.”

Even an orphan without any background can be investigated thoroughly within a few days by Sineria’s guild ‘Black Moon,’ which is responsible for the leadership. If the past before coming to the village does not surface even after a day, there are two possibilities: either they fell from the sky, or someone deliberately erased everything.

The former is nonsense, and the latter would be quite troublesome, so it’s best to do what can be done immediately.

After finishing his thoughts, Sineria approached the innkeeper with a smile.

“It would be great if you could spill everything you know about Yukal. Please tell me quickly-”

“I-I’ll tell you everything! I suddenly came to our village 11 years ago and did various odd jobs, then got a job at my inn and have been working there ever since. I’ve been good at work as much as an adult since I was young and have been interested in swordsmanship. Sometimes when you go into the room, you can see that I always have an Ardent Academy pamphlet, so I thought I would go take the exam there someday. That’s all. Please spare my life!”

Seeing the trembling innkeeper, Sineria sighed.

“Is that all?”

“I-I’m serious. Please believe me. Even if you ask other people, you won’t get more than this.”

“Really? Then what about this note?”

-Thanks to you, we found a solution, so I’ll just take the unpaid wages until now.-

-In the future, don’t exploit your employees’ wages, and pay your taxes faithfully.-

-And you’re in charge of cooking, but shouldn’t you shave your beard for hygiene?-

-P.S.: The shopkeeper may have a debt, so you should pay it off.-

-Yukal-

“If you look here, it says we found a solution thanks to you. Can you explain that?”

“I really have no idea what you’re talking about…”

“It hurts my heart, but I have no choice but to intervene. Which would you choose between your hands and feet?”

“M-My hands, please.”

“We’ll start with your fingernails. If you don’t give me the answers I want, I’ll pluck them out one by one, so you have twenty chances, right?”

“Aaaah!”

“I’ll ask again. I heard you found a solution thanks to you. Do you have any guesses about that?”

“I really don’t know! Please spare me- Aaargh!!”

For a while, the inn was filled with screams, but no one in the village noticed anything unusual.

“Inn handled well. The accidental fire caused by the spilled lamp will unfortunately result in the death of the innkeeper.”

“Yeah, good job.”

“Master, there are several strange points. Apparently, that person has been handling tasks beyond those of an adult male since he was young, but from what I observed… he seemed weak. Almost like a young child. Unclear past before coming to the village and even mysterious notes with unknown meanings. Shouldn’t we apprehend him now?”

“No. If it’s to the extent we can’t grasp, there’s a high chance they meticulously trained Yuukal from a young age for infiltration. For now, continue monitoring Yuukal as planned. Just be more cautious than before.”

“I will engrave it in my heart.”

“I’ll follow Artero soon, so go ahead first.”

Likeka disappeared as if she had never been there.

Alone, Cineria smiled deeply, thinking about Yuukal.

“I thought I could always figure everything out, but it’s only this much already. My heart is starting to race.”

Let’s hold back a little longer for the sweet reward of uncovering his secret. Just a little bit more.