Chapter 75

“Hahaha. I have absolutely no idea what you’re talking about… is what I’d like to say, but I guess that won’t work on you, Adele?”

I played it off with a smirk, pretending to be composed.

However, looking up at Adele’s face, I couldn’t find even a trace of a smile.

—Sigh.

I let out a heavy breath.

“Since when did you know?”

“Just now.”

“Just now?!”

I felt my eyes widen of their own accord.

Adele spoke.

“I knew you were lying to me. You said so yourself. But as for whether that lie was truly about the Sword of Four Seasons… well, I wasn’t entirely sure. At least, not until I asked you just now.”

Dammit. I should have tried to deny it more convincingly. To think I’d end up in this mess because I jumped to the conclusion that she’d known all along…

“Tsk…”

I rubbed my face.

“I started suspecting you from the moment you made that proposal to me. But you never asked me a single thing about the Sword of Four Seasons. You were just focused on saving your fief and asking for help with that.”

Adele asked.

“Why was that?”

I could feel the hand rubbing my face trembling slightly. I tried my best to stop the shaking as I opened my mouth.

“To be honest, I didn’t care about the Sword of Four Seasons at all.”

“You didn’t care? You might not know exactly what it is, but it’s an artifact important enough for an Emperor’s Hunter to come looking for it personally.”

“Of course, I’m greedy for it. I’m curious, too. But things like that are just tools. My goal is to win over people.”

“People.”

I nodded toward her as she repeated my words.

“Yes. If I can just bring the lower district back into Denabi’s system, the national power of Denabi will double. I’m far more interested in that kind of thing.”

“Was approaching me part of that goal? To make your country, your fief, wealthy and powerful?”

“If I said I had no such objective, I’d be nothing more than a liar, wouldn’t I?”

“Hmm.”

“But if I only intended to use someone as exceptional as you for just that purpose, then that would be a foolish story too.”

Adele tilted her head to the side.

“The Denabi lower district didn’t need you. I needed you, which is why I proposed that you become my person.”

“You don’t say a single word about it being for my sake.”

“…”

“You made that proposal just to use me.”

I swallowed hard.

“I’m sorry.”

The moment I said that, Adele suddenly vanished from my sight. She approached me like the wind and pulled me into an embrace. My hands flailed in the air, not knowing what to do.

“Adele…?”

“If you did something wrong, you should be punished.”

She said.

“This is your punishment.”

Is she trying to kill me by breaking my waist with a bear hug? That kind of ridiculous delusion brushed past me. My hands hovered awkwardly in the air behind her back.

‘Why am I fumbling so much?’

I felt like nitpicking my own behavior.

I tucked my chin in as much as possible and looked down at the top of her head. I asked her.

“Are you forgiving me?”

“I’m not finished yet. Just wait.”

She spoke with her face buried in my chest. Her voice vibrated through my body.

“I might be a fool, but I’m not some girl living in a dream. Not once did I think there would be no ulterior motives in your proposal. I wouldn’t even want that in the first place. It’s only natural for a person’s heart to be a little singed and burnt.”

How should I respond? ‘Thank you for thinking of it that way’? But Adele didn’t give me a chance to say anything.

“You won’t be able to understand me. I’m a woman who is perfect to be used, but you probably have no idea why I’m letting myself be used for your benefit.”

I couldn’t refute her. I didn’t understand her affection or her actions at all. I had simply seized an unparalleled opportunity because it was there, and used her simply because she was available to be used.

“…I’m sorry.”

“Stay very sorry. The more sorry you feel, the easier it is for me to make unreasonable demands. I’m looking forward to it… what kind of wish I’ll ask you to grant next.”

“I won’t grant anything too absurd… but are you really okay with that?”

She nodded while her face was still buried in my chest.

“Yes. That’s enough.”

‘As expected, the darkest place is under the candle.’

It was a stroke of luck. I locked the door and let out a sigh as if putting down a heavy burden.

To escape the commotion at the gate, the place we sought out was Izack’s house. It seemed the thugs hadn’t found their way here yet.

However, Adele expressed her concern.

“The house is bigger than I thought. But if someone comes looking, we’ll be discovered immediately. There’s nowhere to hide.”

I chuckled and replied.

“Won’t we have to wait and see to find out if that’s true?”

“?”

I led Adele toward the master bedroom of the house. I pulled back the carpet in the middle of the room, revealing something like a crack in the floorboards. I put some strength into lifting it up.

“Nngh…”

—Clatter.

‘Ha, this damn thing. It’s incredibly heavy…!’

I wiped the sweat from my forehead and guided Adele down below.

“This is…”

She looked around the basement. It was the distillation facility of the Arenta family. It was the same scene Ronari had shown me when I first arrived in this world. The basement hadn’t changed much since then. However, perhaps it had been a while since the distillation equipment was last operated, as layers of dust had settled on top of the stills.

Adele asked.

“What is this?”

“Is this your first time seeing one? It’s a still. A machine used to produce pure alcohol—spirits.”

I continued.

“We’ll hide out here. By tomorrow, a search party will likely be organized to look for us. When that happens, we just need to head out into the streets and link up with them.”

“Hmm.”

“What is it?”

“I just thought the plan was a bit too dull for someone like you. When you were attacking the lower district market, there was more… well, meticulous and devious scheming involved…”

Devious? What does she take me for?

“A solution to a problem doesn’t always need to be complex. I’m a man who loves simplicity more than anyone.”

“I’ll believe you.”

“You’ll ‘believe’ me…?”

Adele flopped down onto a stool. Then, she changed the subject.

“Anyway, how did you find a place like this? It doesn’t seem to suit you at all.”

“It’s no exaggeration to say that practically all my plans started right here. Lowering the liquor tax and selling alcohol to revive the fief’s economy, using that money to conquer dungeons to avoid the threat of the Mana Plague… though the process changed a bit along the way, everything I decided to do was ultimately settled here.”

At that, Adele stared at me with strange eyes.

“Hmm? Why are you looking at me like that?”

“Just because. You look like you’re having fun.”

“Fun? Hardly!”

I scowled deeply.

“Do you have any idea how much I suffered doing that work? If it weren’t for the help of Ronari’s family and the other staff, I truly wouldn’t have accomplished anything.”

“Ronari? Who’s that?”

“Ah… a colleague of mine. Along with Avenger, she’s one of the people I trust most.”

“Is it a woman?”

“Yes, she is.”

—Tsk.

Adele suddenly clicked her tongue. She didn’t look to be in a particularly good mood. It would be best not to poke that bear.

I crouched down on the floor across from her. There wasn’t much to do until tomorrow anyway.

“Get some sleep,” I said. “I’ll stay awake.”

“What? Are you worrying about me? I could win even if a hundred of you came at me.”

“It’s a bit embarrassing to say this as a man, but I’m truly of no help in a fight. If a battle breaks out tomorrow, I have nothing to do but rely on you. So, shouldn’t you at least be in top condition?”

“Hmm… that makes sense.”

She pulled her knees up onto the stool and buried her face in them. Between her cloak and her hair, she looked like a little gnome wearing a straw raincoat.

The ‘gnome’ spoke.

“Then I’ll sleep for a bit. Wake me if anything happens.”

“Understood.”

It wasn’t long after she became a ‘gnome’ that she began to breathe with soft, rhythmic snores. I watched her sleep for a while before looking up at the ceiling.

A plan to settle this entire situation was slowly taking shape in my mind.

“The Young Lord is down there! I cannot leave him in that den of damn wolves for even a single day!”

Avenger’s fist slammed onto the desk. Izack glared at him and spoke.

“But if we invade the lower district with the guards now, it will inevitably escalate into an armed conflict.”

“I know that…!”

Avenger bit his lip hard. Their sharp confrontation had already lasted for several minutes. They were in an office inside the gatehouse. The guards watching their conflict felt their hearts burning with anxiety, as they were the ones who had helped Shane enter the lower district in the first place.

When Avenger’s eyes, burning with rage, turned toward the guards, they swallowed hard.

“Gulp…”

Avenger looked at the guards and spoke.

“I am disappointed in you, Mr. Izack. I thought you might have a shred of loyalty to the Young Lord. It seems I was wrong.”

“That brat isn’t my lord!”

“But he is the benefactor who saved the lives of everyone living on this land! You too, Mr. Izack, and your family! If it weren’t for the Young Lord, everyone would have become statues of mana crystal, their souls wandering the netherworld!”

“Have you said your piece…?!”

Izack grabbed Avenger by the collar and pulled him up. But Avenger didn’t care.

“Ah. I figured you’d act like this. You can’t refute me, and your blood is boiling, so you have to vent it somehow. But if you have that kind of strength left, at least use it to save the Young Lord!”

Izack bit his lip. His expression twisted in what looked like agony. His hands slipped from Avenger’s collar and dropped.

It wasn’t that Izack wasn’t worried about Shane. No matter how much Adele was by Shane’s side, he couldn’t put his mind at ease. Adele was an Emperor’s Hunter, not Shane’s hunter. He thought that even if she seemed to be on good terms with Shane now, she could abandon him and leave at any time.

‘But even so, I can’t start a war between the upper and lower districts…’

Due to the attack on the gate, tensions between the two districts had skyrocketed. If he deployed all the soldiers to enter the lower district under the pretext of saving Shane, a clash was guaranteed.

‘It’s my fault for not guiding the brat properly in the first place.’

Izack had been the bridge between Malik and Shane. However, he knew almost nothing about the current Malik—his influence, his inner thoughts, his standing. Everything was uncertain. Because of that, Izack had essentially left Shane to his own devices. He neither dissuaded him nor supported him.

—Thud!

‘Dammit…’

Izack struck the table with both hands and lowered his head. War was out of the question. But they—Denabi—could not afford to lose Shane. He had to make a decision.

“…A search party…”

‘Let’s organize one.’

Just as he was about to say it…

Someone burst into the room. It was a soldier from the guards. The Guard Captain recognized him.

“You’re supposed to be at the West Gate. Why have you come all the way to the East Gate?!”

“Haa, ha… The thing is…”

The soldier caught his breath and spoke.

“At the West Gate… an envoy from Limone has arrived.”