Chapter 99

Marquis Fedorov’s home was blown up, and the capital guards had arrived to douse the fire . They brought the Marquis and his family, along with the servants, to the guard station . After the situation had been confirmed, I made my way back to Duke Barga’s estate .  

When I’d left the estate, I had taken a carriage halfway to my mission . Now, I could only return on foot . The explosion had shaken the capital, and the areas around the Marquis’s residence were in chaos . As the sun had set some time ago, I walked down dark streets to avoid being seen before climbing up to a roof via a wall run . From there, I ran from roof to roof until I reached Duke Barga’s estate .

When I arrived, Laptiricia-sama and Ashley were there . Duke Barga had left right after he got back – perhaps because he’d gotten the evidence from Vi, along with the target’s residence had been demolished . Was he going to confront Marquis Fedorov right away? Well… I’ll just leave that to him . As of now, my duty was to escort Laptiricia-sama .

I confirmed things with Volker . Lapitirica-sama was resting in her room, and Ashley was on standby . As for the young knight who’d taken my place in disguise, he was on standby in another room . When I entered the waiting room, I found Ashley perched on the sofa . She was reading what appeared to be a letter .

“Welcome back, Shaft . ”

“I’m back, Ashley . Were there any problems at the ball?”

“Eh – since it was at the Royal Palace, Marquis Fedorov couldn’t afford to do anything there . His face when he saw Latiri was truly a sight to behold . ”

“His residence was burnt down right in front of his face after all . ”

“And ‘Black Mask Shaft’ is apparently, very well known in the capital . That poor young knight nearly broke down after being bombarded relentlessly with questions and all the flirting ladies . ”

What ladies! They sounded more like kids finding a new toy…

“Maybe I should thank him tomorrow . ”

Our conversation was cut abruptly there . Ashley didn’t look too good – maybe because of the letter’s content?

I took a seat on the sofa facing Ashley . Now, should I ask her, or wait for her to tell me?

The odd silence continued on . Now that I thought about it, I hadn’t spent much time with Ashley during the mission . After a few days, we’ll be returning back to the Fort City of Barga . The mission would end, and I’ll finally be able to resume my postponed plans to conquer the Wolf Labyrinth .

What would she do when she returns? Go back to work as a guild investigator at the General Guild?

“Ashley, are you going to return to work at the guild after this?”

“Ee?… . I’m not going back . I intend to quit the guild after this . ”

“Quitting? You want to quit your job as a guild investigator?”

“Yes… Ermm, Shaft, have you heard anything about my family?”

“Yeah, a little bit . ”

“Un… I made an appearance in the capital after a long time, and they found out about it . The elder sent me this letter . ”

She waved the letter as she said so . By the elder, she probably meant the first one of the Zephanel Clan, who still held the position of Honorary Prime Minister of the Kurtmerga Kingdom .

“That letter, is it related to your decision to quit?”

“Indeed, it is . As soon as the request is completed, not immediately, but after a few arrangements, I am to head south to the family’s main estate . As the candidate for the next head, I need to complete one task . ”

South… South? I think I heard something about the south before .

“Pirates… is it?”

Hearing my mutterings, Ashley’s hand stopped waving the letter . Not entirely though . It seemed that she’d been doing that to cover up that they were trembling .

“So you know?”

“No, not in detail . Some time ago, during dinner I think, I overheard someone talking . The pirates in the south were gaining momentum, or so they said . ”

“Right… And the task I was assigned was to defeat them . ”

“The Kurtmerga’s navy… Don’t they have others who should be dealing with this instead?”

“They aren’t completely unaware of it . It’s just that… Rather than the southern port where the main house is located, Kurtmerga’s Nazy Headquarters is on the eastern coastline . Thus, the fight against the pirates is to be spearheaded by the Zephanels . Four years ago, both sides engaged in a great naval battle; taking heavy damage from it . It resulted in fewer pirate attacks until recently . This time though, the Zephanel’s naval forces haven’t fully recovered, so it’ll be a tough battle . ”

“I see… In that case, I’ll go with you . ”

“Ee?! Wait a minute, Shaft, I didn’t mean to involve you in this matter!”

“Does my company trouble you? I want to come with you on my own free will . So, no need to worry about that . It’s been a very long time since I’d last seen the sea, so I want to look as well . In addition, I won’t be returning to Barga for a while . ”

“It’s not that I feel trouble— What do you mean you won’t be returning to Barga . ”

“As soon as this mission is completed, I planned to enter the Wolf Labyrinth to defeat the gatekeeper, and hopefully, the Labyrinth Master as well . ”

Hearing my declaration to conquer the labyrinth, Ashley dropped the letter in her hand . She reclined back into the sofa .

“The 25th floor… Can you pass through that rain safely?”

“No problem . If there is, would I dare to say that I’ll defeat the gatekeeper and its master? However, now that I have my next goal set, I really can’t afford to lose . ”

Once the Wolf Labyrinth was conquered, there’d be no way to hide Schwartz’s fighting prowess . I’ve been wondering how to avoid this, which was the reason why I picked the less popular Labyrinth . But since my name would be recovered upon entering it, if the labyrinth is conquered, everyone would know about my involvement .

When that happened, Schwartz would be known for his combat strength . One that allowed him to transverse the labyrinth alone .

I’ve been avoiding showing my powers off to avoid being solicited by guilds and clans; channeling that to Shaft instead… But if I want shaft to take the credit for conquering the labyrinth, I’d have to register as an adventurer all over again… How troublesome .

Ashley’s expression told me that she was lost for words . I didn’t need an answer anyways .

“I’ll come with you . ”

“— un . ”

◆◆◇◆◆◇◆◆

The next day, Ashley and I were in Duke Barga’s office for a briefing on last night’s events .

“Shaft-kun, you had it hard last night . But thanks to that show, it saved me the trouble of winning Marquis Fedorov’s heart over . ”

“Glad to hear it . How about the encrypted message we found last night?”

“That was a written contract from the Dark Guild . The deadline for the assassination was the day before yesterday . With the dark guild withdrawing quietly, I believe the danger has come to pass . ”

“And the other magic nobles?”

“It was resolved last night as well . With this, my future worries have disappeared . I guess all that is left now is to wait for the Royal Family to make a decision . ”

What still bothered me was how Cactus would move next . Although it’s written on the contract that the failing clan would be purged, it was already on the verge of destruction in the first place . Perhaps they’ll hunt down the remnants to keep up appearances . If possible, I don’t want to become their next target .

“So, what’s left is the return trip to Barga . ”

“Indeed . We’ll be departing tomorrow . I hope you don’t mind if I ask you to stay up until the end . ”

“Yes . I’ll keep that in mind . ”

This escort mission had felt longer than I’d expected it to be . In my idle thoughts, I turned on the mask’s FLIR mode . I thought Vi would be in the corner like last time, but she was standing right behind Duke Barga… That woman is kinda scary…