episode_0186

“Welcome. I am Jeanne d’Arc Oublier, the leader of the Red Fox Mercenary Group. I apologize for not being fully prepared due to the unexpected situation.”

In the middle of the night,

Jeanne greeted someone along with the executives of the Red Fox Mercenary Group.

“It is our Imperial Knights Order’s fault for not fully considering even unexpected situations. Thank you so much for coming out to meet us this far.”

It was none other than Victoria von Bayern, the general commander of the Imperial Knights Order’s Drake special quest team.

The Imperial Knights Order has planted a quick communication line and is continuously updating the approximate report of the Enklema Cliff situation.

The report included the appearance of beasts that had been corrupted by mana,

and as a result, Victoria selected only elite soldiers and arrived at the meeting place with the Red Fox Mercenary Group one day earlier than planned.

“These are the guys. There are a lot of them?”

“There were a few more than this. If you include the ones we worked on with food, there are nearly thirty.”

Victoria, guided by Thomas, checked the corpse of a desert fox that had been corrupted by mana.

“As you have seen for yourself, there are quite a few. It’s not just one or two that have been possessed by mana. It has been increasing little by little for a long time, and the beasts living here have been affected for a long time.”

Soon, an emergency meeting began between the elite members of the Imperial Knights Order’s Drake special quest team and the executives of the Red Fox Mercenary Group.

With no mage in the party, Priscilla, who had the deepest understanding of the situation at the present time, seemed to be leading the meeting.

“The Empire was considering two possible scenarios for the appearance of monsters. One is a serendipity, that is, it is formed by a special connection in a specific area, and the other is the possibility that mana is rising.”

Victoria, who was listening to Priscilla’s words, carefully opened her mouth.

This is because what she is saying now is close to classified information.

“If we follow Priscilla’s words, it means that the latter is more likely.”

The Elysium Empire, which must consider even political positions,

cannot recklessly reveal the extermination of monsters.

If the appearance of monsters is due to serendipity, there will be enough leeway to maintain that policy until now.

On the other hand, if mana is rising in the continent itself, the story is completely different.

“There are epidemics raging here and there. I know that the Empire is trying to keep it quiet, but I know there are a lot of strange rumors going around? I think it was possible to predict it.”

Priscilla presented evidence to further strengthen her judgment.

‘Oh, did Priscilla know that too? She never talks about things like that usually?’

In the case of the words that were exchanged until just now, Eugene had already heard most of the story from Priscilla.

So, he was just nodding his head in a manual way,

but when the story of the epidemic came out, he looked at Priscilla.

In the Red Fox Mercenary Group, he and Jeanne thought it was top-secret information.

“So, if it’s a Drake that appeared because the mana is rising, it may be difficult to prepare only for the Drake. There is also room for scraps of monsters to be created.”

In fact, there is no reason for this emergency meeting to be held because of the macroscopic story.

It is being conducted because there is a high possibility that it will affect the special quest team right now.

And as expected, Priscilla presented the basis for why the extermination team’s security level should be further increased.

In a mana-filled area, the highest-level monsters are likely to be infested with scraps of monsters that parasitize using the mana of the highest-level monsters.

“Thank you for making a place for us to stay in the middle of the night.”

While the emergency meeting was in progress, the Red Fox Mercenary Group’s work team made a temporary lodging for the Imperial Knights Order with spare tents.

Victoria met with Eugene and Jeanne separately and expressed her gratitude for that.

“Is the protection for the mage also strengthened?”

As the three of them were left alone, Jeanne asked about Elisabeth’s situation.

Elisabeth is structured to join the Imperial Knights Order team and head to Enklema.

In other words, it can be said that her younger sister’s safety depends on the Imperial Knights Order.

“Of course. You can think of it as me coming here personally for that purpose. I need to clearly understand the situation on the ground and send accurate information.”

Victoria answered with a fairly stable expression and tone.

It is her basic tendency, but it is because she knows that her older sister is worried about her younger sister even though she does not mention it.

“I think we should start searching from this side first, starting tomorrow morning. If Priscilla is right, every day will be different.”

Eugene, who was listening, also joined in.

If there is only Drake, it is most important to catch him for sure.

On the other hand, if there is a possibility of scrap monsters being created, as Priscilla said, the balance between certainty and speed is very important.

Therefore, according to the original plan, the full force of the Imperial Knights Order special quest team was supposed to join and then enter the full-scale quest,

but it seems that the Red Fox Mercenary Group’s central quest performance will have to be carried out in advance.

“If it’s not a full-scale war, it’s a perfectly acceptable thing. It seems that the system should be officially changed because the aspect has changed. However, please ensure maximum safety. We are colleagues at this point.”

Strictly speaking, the leader of the Drake special quest is Victoria, and the main force is also the Imperial Knights Order.

In other words, the Red Fox Mercenary Group is in a situation where they have to follow Victoria and the Imperial Knights Order’s instructions within a certain range.

Victoria indirectly implied that she would increase the Red Fox Mercenary Group’s discretion to some extent.

“Seeing her in person, Victoria von Bayern… she looks very much like Adrian von Bayern, the late wife of Duke Constantin von Bayern.”

Afterwards, Jeanne returned to her commander’s tent for bed.

And next to her was Eugene Schneider.

This is because he gave up his tent space for the temporary tent space of the elite members of the Imperial Knights Order.

It was a very intentional concession.

Jeanne mentioned the name of Victoria’s mother, Adrian von Bayern, to Eugene.

“Is she a famous person? She must be famous because she was a duchess.”

Eugene reacted with a slightly puzzled expression to Jeanne’s words.

The reason is that Jeanne is not the type to talk about other people’s families.

If it is someone famous enough that he knows very well, he might know,

but since he doesn’t, it can be said that he is reacting as if something is wrong.

“Ah! Well, you wouldn’t really feel it. Duchess Adrian is a distant relative of our Oublier family, from the Ortega family, the leader of the North.”

Jeanne, with a look of realization, explained the background of why she mentioned Adrian.

As expected, what she had in mind was the special relationship between the Oublier family and Adrian.

“Oh, really? Distant relatives of a great family are on a different level than distant relatives of an ordinary family, right?”

Eugene, who heard those words, also had a somewhat interested expression.

This is because he is also aware of the stickiness of the blood ties of the great nobles from stories he has heard.

“That’s right. Especially since my father was very close to Duchess Adrian. So, from a very young age, my sister, my siblings and I grew up hearing her name. Coincidentally, it seems like my father hasn’t mentioned Duchess Adrian since you came? But actually, I’ve never seen the duchess myself because she passed away when I was very young.”

When Eugene showed an interested expression, Jeanne seemed to have a feeling and explained diligently.

“Ah… she passed away?”

Eugene’s facial expression suddenly dropped.

He might not care if she was a stranger, but Eugene and Victoria had formed a considerable bond since they met at the Imperial Knights Order Arena.

In particular, Victoria was quite cool and trustworthy, so Eugene felt like he had gained a friendly female friend.

“So, I’ve only seen her portraits a few times. Nevertheless, she was so beautiful that she was engraved in my mind. Victoria really looks like Duchess Adrian.”

Constantin von Bayern obtained a second wife after Adrian’s death.

Her name is Sabrina von Bayern, and the child born between them is Victoria’s half-brother, Robert von Bayern.

Occasionally, social gatherings of noble ladies were held under Sabrina’s leadership,

and Jeanne, who participated there with Grand Duchess Marianne, had seen Adrian’s portrait.

“Hmm…!”

Jeanne, who had been chattering, suddenly let out a deep sigh.

“What’s wrong, Jeanne? Is there anything else you want to say besides what you just said?”

Eugene, who had been listening to the complicated relationship between noble families with interest,

became alert when he heard the sigh of his beloved woman.

“No, it’s just that I suddenly remembered something while preparing for this quest and learning about Victoria.”

As mentioned before, Jeanne did not know Victoria well.

This is because Victoria was wandering around the continent when she was following her mother to social gatherings.

She had only heard the story that she had been recognized as the youngest Sword Expert about a year ago.

Then, on this occasion, she learned various things about Victoria.

“I thought it was understandable that Father favored her.”

That was none other than the fact that she was being favored by Antoine Desselle Oublier.

“Actually, it’s a really silly thought. Whenever my father mentioned Duchess Adrian and Victoria’s names when I was young, I had that feeling.”

As she brought up the story, Jeanne unfolded the story inside her.

“It seemed like he was more affectionate than when he mentioned me and my mother…”

Jeanne trailed off.

This is probably because she thought it was a pathetic and self-esteem-shattering thought even when she thought about it.

‘Hmm… I guess she felt that way. The thought that she, his own daughter, wasn’t very talented, so Victoria, a distant niece, was being favored by her father.’

Eugene roughly caught the emotions Jeanne was feeling now.

“The Grand Duke favors Victoria, that may be true. But you know, Jeanne, you have come to collaborate with Victoria confidently with your own strength. This is a really great thing.”

Eugene immediately filled his beloved woman Jeanne’s self-esteem.

That is the truth. Because Eugene has experienced Jeanne’s steady steps for several months.

“Hmm… that’s definitely not wrong…”

Also, wasn’t Jeanne herself proud of that?

Jeanne felt better when Eugene reminded her again.

“If you exterminate even the Drake this time, the story will really change? I think the Grand Duke’s eyes will be the same.”

“Okay, in this case, I’ll clear it completely as you said, Eugene, and then confidently reveal it to my father!”

Then, Eugene coaxed her even more,

and Jeanne revealed a great ambition in Eugene’s arms with an infinitely uplifted feeling.

And the next day,

“The Drake has appeared!!!!”

The golden goblin Drake, who would grant Jeanne’s wish, appeared.