The sun was shining on the gray city and the snow was melting and disappearing from the main street. The day was the first clear winter day in a long time.
A few days had passed since the start of boot camp.
Iris (René) was out on the town with Diana. Today, she was in a comfortable robe, without the torturous corset.
“How are your studies going?”
“Very hard…”
The destination was the branch of the Adventurers’ Guild in town.
For them it was almost always a direct request quest from the Earl, but even so, it was polite for adventurers to go through the Guild. Adventurers who disregarded the guild and accepted requests were subject to punishment and, in some cases, blacklisting.
The reason Iris (René) went out of her way to accompany her in the name of distraction and relaxation was because René wanted to see the Adventurers’ Guild with her own eyes.
Adventurers specialized in searching for places where monsters live and in fighting against them. Although they were sometimes regarded as a bit shady by the public, they were also the heroes celebrated in many adventure stories and songs.
The current threat to René was Commander of the Order of Knights, but there was no guarantee that she would not have to fight with a strong adventurer in the future. She needed to understand as much as possible about the adventurers.
Although she had her own reasons, such as …, she was not satisfied with just salvaging them from Iris’s memory and came to see for herself, half of which was out of curiosity.
“How to use a knife and fork. How to sit and stand in a chair. Graceful speech and graceful hand gestures. When you walk, walk on a straight line. In addition, … can you believe it? They made me do the whole thing with a book on my head!”
“Oh, my. I thought it was a joke to make the big guys laugh, but they really did it.”
“Do I really have to do this?”
The topic of conversation along the way was the training that Iris (René) was being forced to undergo.
Catherine, who was educated as a noble from birth, can’t compete with Iris (René), an adventurer, girl from the countryside (royal blood only), and overworked company employee, a complex chimera. Even so, in order to make up for it, she was given a level of cramming education that would make even the Ministry of Education want to cry out for a liberal arts education.
“If it’s necessary to study for a job, I’d like to be paid for this time, too.”
“Ahahahaha! That makes sense! But, Iris, I’m sure this will help you in the future.”
“Is that so?”
“That’s the way it’s going to be. Just because you know how to use a knife and fork, you might get a look from the higher-ups like, “She’s an adventurer, but maybe she’s from a respectable family.” The bigwigs may look at you differently. That kind of thing can come in handy somewhere.”
I see, Iris (René) thought.
Although it is unfair to think of it as being forced to train without pay, it may indeed be a good deal to think of it as being able to take the classes that you would pay to take for free.
In fact, as René, this would be a great opportunity for her.
In the future, there will be times when she will possess and take the place of another noble girl. In order not to be puzzled at such a time, there should be no loss in acquiring the appropriate behavior.
–Well, that too… after we finish with this country first.
In order to do that, she first had to send the Night Pythons to hell.
It was not enough to live a life of a nobleman as a double of a young lady. She had to manipulate the situation from behind the scenes to get the Night Python destroyed.
–I’m not sure how far I can go with the Earl and the “Dragon’s Throat” if I make my own move in the end… At the moment, I don’t even know who or what I need to defeat… Well, first of all, I should take advantage of the fact that I have a living body and gather information. I’d like to gather information about the situation in Ciel-Terra after the coup. There was a limit to how much I could eavesdrop on people’s conversations in my spiritual body.
While she was thinking about this, the two of them arrived at the Guild’s branch office.
＊ ＊ ＊
“Hooyo, a request from the lord. I understand.”
The familiar branch manager seemed to know exactly what to expect, and upon seeing Iris (René) and Diana, immediately stated.
The Adventurers’ Guild branch was located in the most prosperous part of town.
However, the two-story building itself was small and cozy, like a bar with a nice atmosphere. Although they did not serve food there, some adventurers brought in food and drinks they had bought at nearby stores. Around the counter, instead of a menu of drinks and alcoholic beverages, there was a sign with a list of quests.
Since the branch was small, the branch manager sometimes stood at the counter and attended to adventurers himself. In his own words, “As long as nothing strange happens, the branch manager is the one who is the least busy.” In fact, it was probably more of a hobby of his.
He was a bearded man with rock-like muscles, large horizontally and short vertically. The Branch Manager was a dwarf, the second most common race in this country after humans. Even young male dwarves have beards so thick that it is difficult for humans to tell how old they are, but it seemed that the Branch Manager was already past his prime. His muscles, which he was so proud of, had deteriorated (what part of his muscles had deteriorated is hard for humans to tell), but he had been a vigorous adventurer in his youth, and even now he enjoyed standing at the counter and looking at the faces of active adventurers.
“Indeed, it seems that you are favored by the lord.”
“Well liked is good and bad. This job is a bit dangerous. You have heard all about it.”
“I guess so. It depends on the situation… If the enemy is really going all out, it could be dangerous.”
“What do you think?”
“Oh, hmm…”
The branch manager glanced at the adventurers who were eating and drinking nearby.
As for this request, it would be better not to talk about it in a place where it could be heard by an unspecified number of people.
“I’ll tell you upstairs… Hey! Wayne! Take over the counter for a minute!”
Replacing him was a young administrative staff member who came down the stairs, as the branch master went up the stairs, followed by the two.
The two were taken to the Branch Manager Master’s office, which looked like the principal’s office of a small school. This room was equipped with facilities for secret talks. In addition to a soundproof structure, it also had magical sound insulation and detection inhibition at the charm level. It seemed that a large branch might have a number of rooms with more extensive facilities, but for a branch of this size, one room is the best they could do.
“How much do you guys know about this recent coup?”
At the opening words of the branch manager, Iris (René) thought the blood of her entire body began to flow backwards.
The fight with the Night Pythons was just an errand to raise her skill level. She didn’t think that the story would connect here.
A cold, black flame of resentment burned in her chest. Iris (René) tried her best to calm her mind so that the killing intent and murderous intentions wouldn’t blow over. If she inadvertently emitted a strange (i.e., evil) presence, Diana, a priestess, might notice René’s presence.
Fortunately, Diana did not seem to have noticed anything.
“It’s just rumors floating around.”
“I see. Then you should listen to what I have to say.”
The branch manager made tea himself and served it to both of them.
He poured a lot of some kind of alcohol into his own cup of tea, by the way. It seemed that Dwarves are not satisfied unless they put alcohol even in their tea. It was no longer tea, but liquor with tea.
“First of all, the home of the Night Pythons is believed to be in the territory of Duke Gerard. It is said that the duke in question may be related to the Night Pythons. Well, there is no proof. And the duke is the center of the royal brothers’ faction. I don’t know what our lord thinks about it, but I guess he thought it would be a bad influence and decided to drive the Night Pythons out of his territory while he still could…”
“Um…, I’ve been thinking about it for a while now. What was the position of the Earl of Keely in this coup?”
“I feel a little bad for the lord to say, sidelined… Emotionally, he was probably on the anti-coup side. The victory was already decided when the king’s brother received the support of the four major powers and got all the big lords on his side. If he had fought back, his territory would have been burnt to the ground. So he had no choice but to watch with his fingers crossed. Even so, he should be treated as an outsider from now on for not actively cooperating with the coup. However, I don’t think they’re going to confiscate his territory so easily…”
Listening to him, Iris (René) somehow understood why the coup had come so easily.
Hilbert made the major lords bow down to him by getting the support of the four major powers.
By making the major lords bow to him, he made the other lords think that fighting was futile.
The king… In other words, René’s father, found himself in a state of limbo.
All the knights and farmers held by each lord were gathered together to form the strength of the “Kingdom of Ciel-Terra”. The war potential of a lord was naturally proportional to the size of his domain. If a major lord rebelled, the blow would be immeasurable.
And the Order of Knights who reported directly to the royal family, and who he could rely on, had Lawrence at the top…
At any rate, Duke Gerard ranked as a target for elimination for Iris (René), next to the Pretender Hilbert and Knight Commander Lawrence. The Earl of Keely was thrown into the ‘don’t kill unless you have to’ folder in her mind.
Anyway, it would not be peaceful if the duke, who was considered to be the center among those royal brothers’ faction lords, might be in cahoots with the Night Pythons.
“So you’re saying that the royal brother’ faction might use the Night Pythons to attack the Earl?”
“I don’t think they would be that blatant about it. You know what the lords are worried about… The Night Pythons are a criminal organization, a shady one at that. And they might lose their grip on it.”
The branch manager showed a sullen face.
Iris (René) knew firsthand what kind of madness was swirling in the country at the moment. Those who oppose the new king may be subjected to execution just for that. It is no wonder that the Night Pythons see this situation and think, ‘No matter what we do to Earl Keely, who seemed to have been an anti-coup faction, the authorities will not come after us.’ Or, if they are really in cahoots with the heavyweights of the royal brothers’ faction, they could silence the authorities through Duke Gerard and go into all-out warfare mode.
“Hugh’s concerns may have come true. I don’t want to get caught up in a family feud, do we?”
Diana, who had been smoking before long, blew out a puff of purple smoke that sounded like a sigh.
Hugh said, “Being in this country itself may be dangerous.” On the contrary, if they were not careful, the “Dragon’s Throat” might even get involved in this coup d’état on the losing side.
The branch manager nodded hesitantly with a difficult look on his face.
“But I also want “Dragon’s Throat” to take care of this request. I want you to protect the lord.”
“Branch Manager, I thought the guild was neutral in politics?”
“I know. That’s why this is my personal opinion.”
The Adventurers’ Guild, a supranational organization, distanced itself from politics. By adhering to the principle of “not being beholden to any particular nation or political power”, the guild was recognized by many nations as a legitimate organization.
If it was to escort the daughter of an earl who was targeted by a criminal organization, it would be fine, but if it involved a major disturbance that could split the nation in two, it would be a gray area.
It was his job as a branch manager to reject those kinds of stinky requests and to arrange the conditions with the client so that the situation would not become political.
“Besides, I know a thing or two about the Night Pythons. They have their own thugs who are in charge of rough stuff, and they also have ace adventurers under their command. But they are not so busy as to be able to poke their nose in without restraint. I don’t think Night Pythons are going to be able to devote enough manpower to deal with the four of you. It’s not something they’re going to get that serious about.”
“…Do you mean that we will be getting them thrown out of the entire Earl’s territory?”
“The mines are the best place for them. Besides, the Night Pythons are not the type to go to war with the authorities. They always try to snuff the snot out of the officials and nobles and make nice with them. Even if they were kicked out of one of the small territories ruled by a stubborn man who can’t speak his mind, it’s doubtful that they would want to stay in such a troublesome and unappealing place.”
If a country were at war, would it commit all its forces to a single battlefield?
Normally, no, not unless it was a battle for the defense of the mainland with the very survival of the nation at stake.
In other words, that was what the branch manager was referring to.
“But they have their own reputation to uphold, and if we’re too defenseless, they might retaliate in kind. I want you to stop them.”
“I’ll do it. It’s for the Earl-sama and Catherine-chan.”
Before Diana could say anything, Iris (René) took the initiative. If they refused to go, she would be totally helpless.
The fight with the Night Pythons was just supposed to be a simple chore, but it could possibly lead to a detestable revenge. Her evil will to fight flared up.
“… I see.”
The branch manager, who had no idea about the Iris’s (René’s) situation, laughed a little apologetically.
Diana looked bitter, but … said nothing more.
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