Episode 6
My mother, who ran a merchant guild, once told me:
“Listen well, my cute Eustea. Life is ironic—if you try to live easily, it only gets harder.”
“Like when you got beaten up for tax evasion, Mama? (Like when you tried to save on taxes and got thrashed for evasion?)”
“…That was a failed tax optimization. Those bastard tax office sons-of-bitches clung to an obsolete regulation like dogs… Pretend you didn’t hear that.”
Ah, not that.
“But there’s an unwritten law to avoid making life harder.”
“What is it?”
Mother smiled like sunshine.
“If someone slaps your cheek, repay them with a fractured skull.”
That way, they won’t dare try again.
The human heart is like drawing paper—once ink splatters, it spreads.
I let Marina slap me once, and now she’d done it three more times.
So I…
“Want me to bite down hard?”
“What?”
“You might bite your tongue.”
I grabbed her collar and threw her.
Smack!
Marina hit the ground flat on her back and burst into tears.
I watched Marina flee, sobbing.
The threat worked—she didn’t call anyone, just ran off in a panic.
I picked up the fallen assignments, muttering, “It was just a bluff…”
“Probably.”
“…!”
Startled, I spun around.
The deputy leader stood with his arms crossed, watching me.
I quickly straightened and bowed. “Hello.”
“I’m fine, but you might not be.”
“Huh?”
“You think you’ll be safe after throwing the lord’s niece?”
He saw that?
From when?
Swallowing hard, he slowly approached. “Would it help if I said I was watching the lord’s niece before you were?”
“…You knew about the alchemist?”
“There’s nothing in this castle I don’t know.”
I couldn’t help but gasp in admiration.
He’d anticipated Marina bringing in an alchemist and had been monitoring her from the start.
Worthy of being called the leader’s right hand.
“Are you the kind of person who looks down on the lord’s niece because you caught my eye?”
I tilted my head at his question. “No?”
“Then what gave you the confidence to throw her? You seem to know you can’t use the alchemist as leverage without evidence.”
“Yes, there’s no proof.”
The alchemist had fled.
So I had nothing to accuse Marina with.
“But Marina won’t think that far.”
“Why not?”
“If she could, she wouldn’t have been scared in the first place.”
“…”
“Even if someone tells her I’m actually at a disadvantage, she won’t tattle to the lord. She has no proof I threw her either.”
The deputy leader stared at me.
Then…
Snort.
A chuckle escaped him.
“Correct.”
“But shouldn’t we tell the leader an alchemist specializing in brainwashing is here?”
There are only three elite squad members in the castle: the leader, the deputy leader, and Antonio.
The others are out on missions.
‘So the one Marina wants to brainwash is obvious.’
The leader.
She’d stop at nothing to become his adopted daughter.
The deputy leader sighed, running a hand through his hair. “No need to tell the leader.”
“Why…?”
“Because the one the lord’s niece was trying to brainwash was me.”
What?
Why target the deputy leader and not the leader?
‘Wait.’
The puzzle clicked into place.
The deputy leader decides the adopted daughter.
That’s how much influence he has.
‘Hold on. Then…’
I frantically scanned him from head to toe.
He flinched as I inspected him closely. “…What are you doing?”
“No strange spots? Feeling unwell? Alchemy doesn’t always require contact. It can be done with scents.”
The leader’s barrier is as strong as the emperor’s, maintained by the magic tower and priests.
The other elites are powerful, but the leader is on another level.
Targeting the deputy leader might’ve worked.
“Can I lift your bangs? I need to check your forehead for spots…”
“What are you?”
“Huh?”
He pushed my hand away and stepped back.
Looking embarrassed, he said, “I know I was too harsh when we first met. But why…”
“…?”
“I was that cruel, so you’d have reason to fear me. Why are you worrying about me?”
Huh?
I wasn’t worried about him—I was worried about my future.
Imagine if he got brainwashed and suddenly picked Marina as the adopted daughter.
I’d be kicked out immediately.
I was about to explain when he spoke first. “Be kind in moderation. Don’t make people anxious.”
With that, he strode off.
“…”
I was worried about myself?
I wanted to say it, but he was already gone.
* * *
The deputy leader stared at the papers on his desk.
Soaked once but cleverly dried, the contents were still legible.
Yes.
The assignments Eustea gave, written with saliva-dipped pens by Antonio and the others.
“She’s… too good at her job.”
His aide, a member, looked puzzled. “What do you mean?”
“These assignments.”
“Ah. Everyone’s improved a lot.”
The aide smiled.
Excluding the leader, the six elite squad members each command their own units.
Coincidentally, unit members share their commander’s traits.
The ones currently guarding the castle are Antonio’s unit.
Their combat power rivals the strongest among the six.
But the problem is…
‘They’re hopeless at thinking.’
The deputy leader kept Antonio’s unit close partly out of concern for that.
The aide looked at the crooked handwriting in Antonio’s unit’s assignments. “They can even write diaries now. The whole unit’s been positively influenced.”
“Is that all you see?”
“Huh?”
Looking closer, something else stood out.
[Suspicious person approached the gate]
[Antonio-sama stole my meat. It’s been 3 days since we had meat. I won’t let it slide]
“…!”
The aide flinched, looking at the deputy leader. “This is internal castle information.”
Antonio’s unit is in charge of castle security.
With these diaries alone, Eustea could gather intelligence.
The aide’s face hardened. “What is she planning?”
“She clearly defined the purpose of learning. All I want from Antonio’s unit is basic reporting.”
And this serves as sufficient reports.
“Could she be leaking to another faction?”
“She reports progress to me weekly. If she were leaking, she wouldn’t do that.”
“She’s remarkable…”
“That’s not all.”
The deputy leader tapped one assignment with his knuckle.
[Antonio-sama stole my meat. It’s been 3 days since we had meat. I won’t let it slide]
The same complaint from earlier.
The aide frowned. “Is Antonio-sama’s unit being shortchanged on food?”
“It could mean Viscount Sanmiguel has been embezzling barracks funds.”
By skimping on expensive ingredients like meat.
The deputy leader never skimped on the members’ meals.
Not luxuriously like great families, but he ensured meat at least once a day for morale and mission rewards.
The members, unaware of his intent, wouldn’t have noticed.
But Eustea did.
That meals for his unit and Antonio’s unit differed.
‘Raising the issue without certainty would only make things awkward.’
So if food was truly the problem, she used the diaries to alert him.
The aide clicked his tongue. “She’s unbelievably clever…”
But someone too clever is hard to employ. The damage is greater if they betray.
‘Is that why you’re considering kicking her out?’
The aide glanced cautiously, but the deputy leader scowled. “And she’s kind too.”
“…Pardon?”
He sighed deeply.
Eustea is from the Andres marquess family.
Cast out, yes, but if her father called her back, she’d go.
Who’d give up a great noble’s daughter’s position?
But…
‘I want her.’
He sighed again.
* * *
A few days later.
I smiled warmly at the barracks cafeteria menu board.
The deputy leader must’ve acted immediately after seeing the assignments.
And naturally, Antonio’s unit members…
“Seriously, doing the assignments diligently gets us meat every day.”
“Told you. Just trust Little Teacher.”
They loved it.
‘Good people.’
I shared my meat with the members fighting over a piece, smiling kindly.
But something was odd.
‘Why are only two grabbing hair?’
Usually three circled around.
Come to think of it, one was missing.
I asked, puzzled, “Where’s Chari?”
“She’ll be here soon. Went to pick up the girls.”
“Girls?”
“Yeah. They’re taking a test today, apparently.”
A test?
Only for girls?
Pondering what it could be, I soon realized.
‘The adopted daughter exam must be today.’
The leader plans to take in an adopted daughter to infiltrate Esgaroth.
A daughter, not a son, to avoid inheritance issues.
The empire still follows primogeniture except in special cases.
At that moment—
“Antonio-sama!”
A member burst into the cafeteria.
Pale-faced, he said to Antonio, “Chari’s been arrested!”
Antonio and the others froze.
Antonio threw down his spoon and stood. “What do you mean? Why Chari?”
“Chari was escorting the girls, but they were all kidnapped. The viscount arrested Chari for it.”
“…!”
The cafeteria fell silent.
‘No way.’
This didn’t happen in the game.
The girls arrived safely and took the exam.
A different girl, not Marina, became the adopted daughter.
‘Why suddenly?’
Antonio bolted out.
The members and I followed.
* * *
Sanmiguel Castle’s courtyard.
The place where Chari was arrested was packed with people.
Chari was pinned face-down.
Watching were Viscount Sanmiguel and Marina.
Antonio shouted, “Chari!”
“C-Captain…”
Chari, pale, looked at Antonio.
Seeing her face, Antonio’s expression turned icy.
Her lip was split, her cheek swollen.
The viscount, hands behind his back, spoke. “No choice. She wouldn’t talk.”
That confirmed it.
Chari wasn’t injured in a fight during the escort.
The viscount did this.
Antonio’s unit all looked murderous.
Veins bulged in Antonio’s fist. “You…”
At that moment—
“Stand down.”
Another group arrived through the crowd.
The deputy leader and his unit.
Even with his appearance, Antonio’s rage didn’t subside.
As Antonio stomped forward, the deputy leader blocked him instantly.
“Move.”
“This is the lord’s castle. You can’t touch the lord’s person.”
Not just members but other servants were present.
To outsiders, Antonio is the viscount’s knight.
If a knight appointed in public lays a hand on his lord, he’d be executed for treason.
The viscount had gathered people precisely for this.
His lips curled slyly. “The girls vanished without a trace the moment she looked away. I can’t believe it.”
Antonio snarled, “Are you saying Chari sold them off?”
“We’ll have to verify. But what now? The princes are coming, and without the girls, there’s no exam.”
He feigned distress.
But Marina behind him smiled arrogantly.
Her reaction confirmed it.
‘She acted because she feared someone else would be chosen over her in the adopted daughter exam.’
And she framed Chari from Antonio’s unit.
To force Chari under torture to give the answer the viscount wanted.
Likely to implicate Antonio.
‘Then the deputy leader couldn’t oppose Marina becoming the adopted daughter to protect Antonio.’
Non-members looked confused, whispering.
“Exam? What exam?”
“Selecting a girl to send as the princes’ squire?”
Amid the commotion, the deputy leader’s expression was ice-cold.
He’d guessed the viscount’s scheme.
The viscount shrugged. “No choice. Marina, you’re the only candidate left, so prepare to go to Esgaroth.”
“I’ll do my best with this heavy responsibility.”
Marina giggled, glancing at me.
But I ignored her and approached Chari.
“Little Teacher…”
Chari was a good kid.
One of the few girls in Antonio’s unit.
My age, too.
She’d been kind to me.
“Bought this at the market… Might not suit a noble lady, but I thought it was pretty… Ah, whatever. Here, Little Teacher.”
She said I’d need a pretty hairpin with a pretty dress.
That she liked that Little Teacher taught her letters.
Shyly.
I wrapped a handkerchief around Chari’s cheek and spoke. “The exam can still happen.”
Marina scoffed. “No candidates, no exam. And this isn’t your place to butt in. Get lost.”
“There is a candidate.”
“…What?”
This time, the viscount asked.
I looked him straight in the eye. “Someone of noble birth worthy of being an adopted daughter. Educated enough to be the princes’ squire.”
Everyone in the courtyard gasped.
They understood what I meant.
As they expected, I said, “I will be the candidate.”
Antonio and the deputy leader stared at me, stunned.
Antonio looked overwhelmed.
And the deputy leader…
“I, Lorenzo Worth, recommend Eustea of the Andres family as a candidate.”
He declared.
I looked at the viscount and Marina, thinking:
‘Adopted daughter exam—I’m in.’
