Chapter80
"Ah, you've come, My Lord."
"Pedro. You were on duty."
"Yes sir! Gotta work hard to feed my daughter!"
A spirited soldier.
He was a man who revered the sword, a citizen and soldier who loved Carpe.
Moreover, as a father who also had a daughter like Callias, and having lost his wife long ago, they found some common ground.
"I shall guide you."
"You don't need to stand guard?"
"Of course not. If a Count were to visit and we didn't guide you, we'd be the ones getting severely reprimanded."
"I see."
"And besides, not many people come here anyway, so one guard is more than enough. The monthly pay is decent and the work is easy, but it's awfully dull—which suits me just fine."
"If it's dull, why stay? If you volunteer, there must be plenty of other duties."
"Can't be helped even if it's dull."
"Because of your daughter."
A daughter-fool of a father.
"Yes. If I were to die by doing something dangerous, who would raise my daughter? I'm the only family she has, so I have to be careful."
"Your love for your daughter is profound."
"I'm confident she wouldn't hurt even if I put her in my eye. She's truly adorable. When I get home, that tiny thing clings to me and refuses to let go. She takes after her late wife, so pretty..."
A bitterness lingered around Pedro's lips. He seemed to be thinking of his deceased wife.
"How old is the child?"
"She's twelve this year."
Coincidentally, the same age as Emily.
Callias naturally thought of Emily and let out a soft chuckle.
"What do kids like these days?"
"Does the Count have a daughter as well?"
"I do, that child is also twelve this year. She's a remarkably stiff child by nature."
"Is that so. I somehow feel glad to hear that. But unfortunately, our daughter wouldn't be a good reference."
And the reason for that was—
"This one, unlike other kids her age, has a lot of interest in swords..."
A girl interested in swords.
As expected of a child from the Carpe Kingdom, which declared Valterus as its state religion.
Callias also knew a girl who was only interested in swords.
Rather, his interest was piqued.
"Tell me more."
"Maybe because she doesn't have a mother, or maybe she figured out early that I make a living by the sword, but she makes a fuss about wanting to learn swordsmanship too. She says she wants to become a knight..."
Because of that, he seemed to have a lot of worries.
He didn't want to raise his only daughter as a knight, but she was so stubborn that he eventually gifted her a wooden sword for now.
"There's also the path of becoming a Pilgrim."
"Phew... If she becomes a monastic, it'll be hard to even see her face, wouldn't it? Besides, it's dangerous even after becoming a Pilgrim. Isn't that the perfect job to die alone in some unfamiliar place? Absolutely not."
Callias swallowed a groan and nodded with disapproval.
Honestly, Pilgrim was not a preferred occupation for nobility, let alone the majority of people. It was a thorny path where one was more likely to die than as a knight.
Moreover, now that the Order's reputation had hit rock bottom, one might even get stoned if unlucky.
Who would want to do it?
"Are you thinking of raising her as a knight?"
"Click, I'm not sure. She seems to want to go to the Royal Academy... but would that even be possible with my abilities?"
Royal Academy.
As the name suggests, it was a school of the royal family established to raise children into knights.
"If you complete the course normally, they bestow a knight's title and grant a modest famous sword. Furthermore, they give the top three cadets a choice: join the Royal Knight Order or become a Paladin of the Order."
He didn't know such benefits existed.
From what he heard, there was nothing bad about it.
"It wouldn't be a bad idea to send her."
"Sigh, don't even mention it. She takes after me so she's not bad with a sword, but to get in you need connections, and above all, the waiting list is so long I can't even dare. Plus the enrollment fee is so expensive... my guard salary is nowhere near enough. Click, I'm just sorry for being a poor father."
Royal Academy, huh.
'Emily would love that.'
It might not match the combat experience of the North, but it seemed like it would be a good experience.
For Callias, writing a recommendation letter wouldn't be difficult, and with Northern bloodline, admission wouldn't be a problem either.
'That kid has talent in swordsmanship but absolutely no friends, it seemed.'
When he last saw her, he said he'd gift her a sword next time, but she said she didn't need it, so this kind of gift wouldn't be bad either.
'I wonder if she's doing well.'
Two months had passed since leaving the North.
He suddenly worried whether she was doing well in that cold, purely white place.
Was he slowly becoming a father?
Since being reborn in this world, this might be the first time he thought of someone and missed them.
Of course, he still didn't have the proper heart of a parent yet, but—
"You've arrived. I'll be waiting, so please take your time."
"Alright."
After talking about this and that, they were already in front of Beatrice's house.
Or should he call it a laboratory?
Knock knock. When he knocked on the door, a faint voice telling him to come in could be heard from inside.
"Excuse me."
When he opened the door and entered, a chaotic spread of documents and various artifacts and research materials greeted him.
"You've come."
Beatrice was sitting back in her chair with her dark purple hair cascading down. Her figure, crossing her legs on the leather sofa, could be described as somewhat alluring. This was because the clothes Beatrice was wearing were at a level where it would be embarrassing to even call them clothes—mere scraps of fabric.
A black silk slip.
It was a nightgown that would reveal everything inside with just a slight breeze.
"Do you have exhibitionist tendencies?"
"I only wore this because the Count was coming. When I'm focused on research, I don't even wear this. My nerves become so sensitive that wearing anything feels suffocating. If you'd like, would you like to experiment together?"
It was a rather flustering statement, but he refused without a change in expression.
Callias had no interest in women of easy virtue.
"We head to the Artemion Earl's estate. If we inform the Order or the royal family, it'll reach the bastard's ears and he might smuggle out the demonic essence and demonic beasts, so a surprise attack is better."
"Alright, let's depart immediately."
"Are you planning to go looking like that?"
"Just a moment."
In that state, she threw on an outer garment and pulled a hood over her entire body.
* * *
The sun begins to set outside the window.
The reddish light intensely burns its final rays. Shadows lengthen and the world slowly fills with darkness.
Within the swelling darkness.
Scratch scratch scratch scratch.
The screeching sound pierces the ears annoyingly.
"It's annoying enough to kill me."
The quarters Callias had secured.
Orkal, who was quietly maintaining Soul Ring, frowned because of Bibi scratching at the door.
Callias had gone out.
That much was fine.
But using a high-value asset like the Chief Inquisitor to babysit a damn dog—no, a baby demonic beast, didn't sit well with him.
Brance hadn't returned from wherever he went, so he was told to watch Bibi.
"It's not even watching a house, but watching a dog? This is beyond absurd. How did I end up like this."
Scratch scratch scratch scratch.
Whether he cared or not, Bibi kept scratching at the door. Perhaps because it saw Callias disappear through that door.
It's been scratching at the door all day long.
"Agh! It's loud! Stop it, you little—!"
Callias seemed to find that creature cute, but Orkal did not.
Not at all.
The wounds he received from the Brain Wolf Dragon still remained intact on his body.
Moreover, wasn't it a demonic beast's offspring?
An instinctive disgust ran deep.
Originally, Orkal had lost his parents and siblings to demonic beast attacks, so it was even more pronounced.
—Woof! Woof! Grrrrng!
"You little shit, you think I'm easy pickings too!?"
He already had nowhere to vent his frustrations, so this worked out well.
Originally, furry beasts must be taught with the rod to understand.
Smack!
Orkal nervously thrust Soul Ring into its scabbard. As he approached Bibi, gripping the sword like a club—
Perhaps sensing something, Bibi suddenly darted out.
"So what, where's it going from here—"
Crash—!
It smashed through the window and bolted out.
"Hah! No, crazy— what, what the—!"
The hotel they were using as quarters was on the 3rd floor.
Even if it was a demonic beast, falling from a 3rd floor height would kill it.
Even if it didn't die, it should have been injured quite a bit.
Callias cherished Bibi quite a bit.
When he thought about how his anger might turn toward him, a chill ran down his spine.
He realized once again that the one who would be disciplined by the rod was himself.
"Please, please!"
Orkal immediately jumped out the window himself.
Thud!
Orkal, having landed while grasping his sword at his waist, surveyed the surroundings.
"What, why is it gone—!!"
But Bibi was nowhere to be seen. All that was visible was the dark night road.
The sparsely placed street lamps.
Orkal realized.
'I'm fucked.'
He had lost Bibi.
"No, it fell from that height, how could it already disappear like this?"
He suspected Callias had been feeding it something strange.
As expected of a Brain Wolf Dragon. Not an ordinary specimen.
If it could do that, why was it scratching at the door all this time?
But this was no time to continue such thoughts.
"I have to find it before Lord Callias returns."
Getting beaten up by him again was something he'd rather decline. Orkal drew Soul Ring halfway from its scabbard.
Between the gap, bugs materialized with a whirring sound.
"Find Bibi."
Tap!
Having climbed onto the roof of a tall building, Orkal closed his eyes and concentrated.
A moment later.
When he opened his eyes, the space between Orkal's brows narrowed.
"Why did it go there."
The place Bibi had gone was the Earl's grand mansion.
The Artemion Earl's mansion.
* * *
The Artemion family mansion, underground.
"Want to eat? Lick it up like a dog."
"You bastard!! I am not your plaything! I am the retainer of Lord Callias, who shall become the proud master of the North!"
"If you eat this, I'll give you one more steak."
It was too good a piece of meat to refuse.
Chomp chomp!
Honestly, it wasn't even dropped on the floor but placed in a bowl, so it didn't matter.
Perhaps because it was truly fine meat, the taste was also