0. Trap>Perhaps because he had worked in such high spirits, quitting time seemed to arrive far earlier than expected, and Sian headed to the “Forest of Lagron” with the sisters.
The sisters were a little suspicious, but he could hardly imagine that he would be put in danger, and since the reserved location was in the middle of the capital, he decided not to worry and simply go enjoy something delicious.
While Sian enjoyed his meal, Rasha and Kirat focused on observing him.
Whether because the meal pleased him, Sian seemed to let his guard down completely from the start as he conversed with them.
“Ah… so your parents are merchants trading with the Kingdom of Con?”
“Yes. They are away with the caravan right now, so at present only the two of us and our retainers are staying at the manor. Fortunately, many people around us help us, so we live comfortably.
Ah, and Kirat, don’t you have something to apologize for?”
“Ah… I want to apologize for causing Sir Sian trouble last time…….”
“I’m sorry. This child gets very lonely because our parents often travel outside… and she is quite mischievous…….”
Kirat and Rasha apologized according to the script they had prepared beforehand.
Wandering around the streets while invisible was not something an ordinary person could do.
Even if Kirat had not been caught using a technique to investigate him, they still needed an explanation for why she had been moving about while transparent.
Fortunately, through Marquis Narasha’s side, they had been able to obtain an artifact that made invisibility possible. It was not perfect, but it would serve as an explanation to some extent.
“Ah, it’s all right… Miss Kirat, Miss Rat. Such things happen. If you’re apologizing for what you did to me, you don’t need to worry too much. I didn’t suffer any harm in the first place. And as for her collapsing, that was partly my mistake as well, so if anything, I should be the one apologizing.”
Sian was in a good mood from the delicious meal, and though Kirat looked young, she maintained proper manners, so Sian did not speak down to her and answered politely.
However, at Sian’s thoughtless reply, the two sisters flinched in surprise.
What he had just said meant he knew they had tried to scan him.
This had not been within their expectations. Until now, no Vander had ever noticed the subtle flow of Exar used for probing.
“Um… Sir Sian? What do you mean by saying it was your mistake that Kirat collapsed?”
Rasha asked again without showing her agitation. She needed to find out how much this man knew.
At Rasha’s question, Sir Sian answered with a puzzled expression.
“Um… weren’t you apologizing because Miss Kirat used an Exar ability? If that’s what you mean, it’s fine. You may have simply been curious.”
Since Sian had seen Miss Shubil before, he assumed Kirat was also an Exer. From the look of it, she had tried to do something to him…….
He had heard that the abilities of Exers were so varied that they ranged from useless abilities like causing fruit to grow where a flower should bloom, to absurd abilities like turning day into night over a certain area.
For that reason, he did not think a fifteen-year-old child would have acted out of malice toward him, so he accepted the apology lightly.
Would she have done such a thing in the first place if she knew who he was?
It was also because the Exar manifested from Kirat had been faint.
Rasha and Kirat, who had learned this much through their conversation, were relieved that the Sian before them did not know the exact truth and had let it pass. On the other hand, however, their wariness rose at the fact that he had noticed and repelled such a faint flow of Exar.
Because of that, fearing Sian might become wary, they were unable to conduct any further investigation as planned and had no choice but to finish the meal and send him back.
Rasha and Kirat had gone in with peace of mind, but they began to feel that this might not be an easy matter.
Then they moved on to speak further with their companions waiting at the manor.☆ ☆ ☆“Elder, has Marquis Narasha contacted us? What did he decide to do?”
Keratan, one of the companions gathered underground, asked the Fifth Elder in the center.
There was not a single person gathered here who believed they would be unable to kill that fellow.
Even if he was a great genius who had become a Grand-Vander at seventeen, it did not matter. Being young did not make one immune to blades. Rather, if he had that much talent, they had to kill him while he was still weak enough to be killed.
They simply could not act because the marquis had hesitated after discovering that the fellow was the second son of the Roman family.
Feeling the eyes fixed on him, the Fifth Elder recalled the conversation he had had with the marquis.‘If he is going to be an obstacle anyway… if he must be killed, then he must be killed. However, you absolutely must not be caught! Even if you are caught, you must leave no evidence that can prove the relationship between you and me. No matter how much Count Roman maintains neutrality… I doubt he will continue to do so even after his child is killed.’Marquis Narasha’s request was not particularly difficult for them, so they had answered that they understood and returned.
No one knew they were connected to the marquis anyway, and if they caused an uproar in the capital, others might gather, so they had already planned to lure him to the outskirts.<…
Yes, Marquis Narasha has made his decision. If it is something we must deal with anyway… let us do it quickly……. We proceed according to plan…….>The moment they heard that, everyone gathered inside the manor’s eyes gleamed.
Then, recalling their respective roles, they poured out their anticipation for a battle that would be happening for the first time in a long while.
Only Kirat and Rasha stood at the back with strange expressions, as if something weighed on their minds, but soon they shook their heads and began preparing as well.☆ ☆ ☆“Hmhmhm… food, food~”
Sian headed toward Kirat’s manor in the outskirts with a cheerful expression.
The letter that had come through a servant said that their parents had heard about the matter and wished to apologize to him once more in person, and were inviting him over.‘As expected, when a person does good deeds, blessings come their way~’Remembering the meal from last time, Sian could not go empty-handed, so after work ended, he bought a suitable gift and, retracing his memory of when he had brought Kirat home last time, headed toward the manor in the outskirts.
Moreover, while indulging in pleasant imaginings about meeting the beautiful woman Rat and the still-young but promising Kirat, Sian realized before long that he had arrived at the manor. He ran a hand over his hair once and knocked on the manor door.
“Is anyone there?”
“Welcome, Sir Sian von Roman. They are waiting inside. Please come this way.”
After entering the manor, Sian smelled something delicious and made a pleased expression, but at the same time, his expression turned somewhat odd.‘It’s terribly quiet…….’Contrary to Sian’s expectation that more people would be bustling about because the owner of the merchant company had returned, the manor felt dreary.
However, thinking that Miss Rat’s father might dislike noise, he decided to let it pass and focused on Miss Rat’s father, who was approaching him.
“Oh, greetings. I heard my daughter was indebted to you this time. A pleasure. I am Keratan. Come this way.”
“Not at all. It’s a pleasure to meet you.”
Sian answered with a smile and entered the dining room he had visited before. Inside, guards were standing in place.
“…
By the way, I don’t see Miss Kirat.”
At Sian’s puzzled question, Keratan spoke with a smile.
“That’s right, Kirat is not here. Because it would be dangerous.”
The moment Sian, feeling confused by Keratan’s words, made a curious expression, the blade at Keratan’s waist, which Sian had thought was a ceremonial sword, bared sharp fangs and flew toward him.
At that signal, the fierce aura emitted by the guards enveloped the dining room, and sword strikes like a storm came flying at Sian.☆ ☆ ☆‘Something feels wrong…….’That thought suddenly came to Kirat as she watched the situation from a hill near the manor.
Kirat herself was not a combatant, so she was waiting here at a distance and observing the situation at the manor. If she went near that place, she would be caught up in it.
Since she came from the Great Forest, she was not weak, but combat was not her specialty, and she was not confident she would avoid getting in her companions’ way if she were near there.
The plan was perfect.
The marquis had said so too. That manor did exist, but officially it was considered a safe house with no owner, so no one would come, and it did not matter if it was destroyed. Since it was also far from the capital, it was perfect.
They did not like wasting strength needlessly. That was why they had prepared an ambush (though Keratan, who liked to show off, was a concern, he would not go overboard).
In the northern Great Forest where they had lived, words like “leaving strength in reserve” and “showing composure” were much the same as saying one wished to die. All living creatures there were always desperate.
There could hardly be another place where the word desperate fit so well. If one was not desperate, one would certainly die.
That was why they looked down on the martial artists here who were bound by honor or formality. Since they were weaker than them to begin with, and bound themselves by such things on top of that, it was impossible not to look down on them, even if they did not want to mock them.
Moreover, by this place’s terminology, the Fifth Elder had reached the realm of Grand-Vander more than fifty years ago.
That was why they were not worried even if that man was a Grand-Vander.
However, Kirat was worried for some other reason. She did not know what it was…….
Then, perhaps because the battle had begun, she sensed an intense feeling from the manor. Kirat tried to activate her skill, as if determined to observe the situation properly this time.
At that moment, an information window appeared in the air.[Quest Occurred: Rescue your blood sister Kal-Rasha and your companions.]
-Your companions are in danger. Rescue Kal-Rasha and your companions inside.[Reward: 40,000 experience for rescuing Kal-Rasha, 20,000 experience per companion rescued]
Kirat’s complexion hardened as she stared into the air. Her companions were in danger… and even her older sister, Rasha!
Moreover, the amount of experience awarded for a mere rescue was abnormally high. That meant it was that difficult.
Feeling that the situation was flowing in a strange direction, Kirat hurriedly ran toward the manor to assess the situation.
At that moment, an incredibly vicious, yet at the same time immense and overwhelming energy spread out in all directions from the manor.‘Ghk…….’Kirat nearly lost consciousness, but precisely because she felt that energy, she was able to keep from collapsing through superhuman will.
Because she realized that if they could not stop the owner of that energy… everyone would die.
Having thought that far, Kirat recalled her older sister and ran toward the manor.☆ ☆ ☆Sian fell into thought as he watched the scabbard being swung toward him.‘What on earth is this situation?’He had come expecting a delicious meal, only for the man claiming to be Miss Rat’s father to be trying to feed him a blade instead, packed full of killing intent. The guards around him were also far beyond anything that could be believed of mere guards for the head of a merchant company.
Every single one of them was far stronger than his older brother, so there was no way they were merely guards for the head of a merchant company connecting Con and Tian.
Even more absurd was the fact that Miss Rat was among those swinging blades at him.‘Could Miss Kirat have died from that injury last time?’It was an absurd guess, but in order to explain this absurd situation, he needed an equally absurd guess.
While he was thinking, Keratan’s blade, which he had thought was ceremonial but which contained a sharpness beyond imagination, had already reached right in front of him while scattering a dark red light.‘Fine. First I’ll knock them all down, then ask.’There had to be some reason even the kind Miss Rat was swinging a blade at him. Besides, had he not lived steadily until now without making enemies?
Since he could not kill them without knowing the circumstances, Sian praised himself for making a very merciful decision and loosened the scabbard at his waist.
After gently avoiding the blade that had reached right before him, Sian was about to strike down the guard beside him with the scabbard in his hand when, all of a sudden, a sticky sensation bound him, and his body froze with a jolt.
The sensation was indeed the Exar he had felt from Miss Shubil and Miss Kirat last time, but it was far more powerful and clung to him stickily with an overwhelming malice.
Wondering where it came from, he looked beyond the guard and saw a woman dressed as a maid staring at him while violently rotating the Exar in her heart in time with its beat.
He tried to shake it off by putting in a little strength, but it was not so easy this time.
Last time, the Exar Miss Shubil had sent toward him had contained no particular will or malice, so he had been able to affect it. But now that Exar was being manifested with such a clear will, there was no particular method he could use against it.
As if that were not enough, a fierce energy exploded behind him and came rushing toward him.‘Mm… this much is like Father? No. It’s a little stronger.’If his father’s energy was refined and carried a more solemn feeling, then the energy approaching from behind to tear him apart was far more ferocious and intense.
This was not on a level he could dodge while entertaining one thought after another. The instant he thought, ‘Oh,’ Sian swung backward the scabbard he had been about to use to strike the guard beside him, knocking away a strangely shaped blade that had come for his shoulder.
Without even a chance to remove the black energy binding him, Sian knocked aside the blades flying at him from every direction one by one and slowly retreated toward the outskirts. Then, while facing off against the opponents keeping him in check, he took advantage of a brief lull to speak.
“Um… I don’t think we have that kind of relationship… Do you still have no intention of talking this through? I’ve never killed anyone before… so if possible, I’d like to end this peacefully.”
Hearing those words, Keratan and the others snorted. He was a complete greenhorn, wasn’t he?
His honesty in not bluffing was admirable, but they were not close enough to praise him for something like that. They mocked Sian’s words, broke the lull, and charged in.‘They aren’t rabid dogs… so why don’t they listen when a person speaks…….’Seeing this, Sian sighed. On their side, they were going all out, determined to fight him to the death… but from his perspective, it was merely troublesome.
It would be nice to hit them with his scabbard as usual, but each of them was not low-level, and the old man over there, swinging his sword with a murderous aura as if promising to slice his head neatly into three pieces, was annoying, so that seemed difficult.
Still, he could not very well die quietly… If he released it just a little and used it, it should be fine.
“Ah… I really hate it when things turn out like this… You started it first.”
And Sian released the “something” he had locked away inside himself since five years ago.