Chapter 33
Silence fell after my words.
“I thought you only saw it as a purely practical relationship.”
The man spoke again, and the confusion on his face was impossible to miss.
“I assumed the young lady would think the same way, just because most people do. That was presumptuous of me. I made a mistake.”
“No, it’s okay.”
I said it was fine several times, but he still seemed bothered by it. After repeating his apologies again and again, he finally left the room.
He really does seem like a good person, doesn’t he?
“Then I’ll be going now.”
“Ah, wait a moment!”
At the sound of my voice, he turned back toward me just as he was about to leave.
“My name is Berian. What’s your name?”
For a long time, I’d hesitated because I didn’t know what to call him. Since we might see each other again, I thought it would be better to at least know his name.
“…Run.”
To make sure I wouldn’t forget it, I repeated the name two or three times in my head before smiling brightly. He gave a small nod in response.
“Goodbye, Run.”
Not long after sending Run off, exhaustion washed over me.
I tried to hold on a little longer, but soon even the precariously flickering candle in the darkened room lost its light.
As my eyelids grew heavy, I curled up, thinking I would fall into a deep sleep, and drifted off.
✦✦✦
Knock, knock, knock—
“Are you awake?”
Azz’s voice, clear even through the door, brushed away my light sleep. I rubbed my tired eyes and answered.
“Yes…”
“Could you come downstairs for a bit? Let’s have breakfast, and there’s something I’d like to talk about.”
“Okay.”
As my blurred vision slowly cleared and I walked down the stairs, I heard the sound of dishes clinking in the kitchen.
“Ah, you’re here?”
While I stared at the lightly prepared meal on the table, Azz gently grabbed my shoulders and sat me down in the chair.
I pierced a tomato on my plate with a fork and spoke.
“What did you want to talk about?”
He took a bite of bread, then snapped his fingers with his thumb and middle finger and grinned.
“I found what you wanted.”
“…What?”
Already?
It had only been a few hours since I asked him for information. Was it really possible to find it this fast?
“So quickly?”
“I only sorted out a few relevant materials from the information we had, that’s all.”
I couldn’t help but admire him silently.
“But there’s a bit of a problem.”
“What is it?”
“I managed to gather what I could about the minor incidents that happened within the knight order, but the information bureau wants to ask you a few questions.”
As he spoke, Azz placed an egg onto my plate.
“Uh… I don’t mind answering questions, but I might not know much.”
“That’s fine. They’re really not difficult questions.”
After breakfast, we moved to the room behind the counter. I’d always been curious about what was inside, since Azz was always coming in and out of it. But inside, there was only a long desk and a few antique-looking objects scattered across it.
“Look around a bit. To be honest, I’m a little proud of this place.”
Proud of what, exactly…?
Following his gaze, I saw several jewellery boxes. Inside them were necklaces.
“Necklaces?”
“To be precise, they’re voice communication stones. The ones over there don’t carry sound very well, so they need repairs. But I don’t have the materials these days, so they’re useless.”
He pointed to a different jewellery box and said those were the ones he actually used.
My eyes widened.
How many communication stones does he even have?
Even among the items produced by the magic tower, communication stones were notoriously expensive. Seeing so many gathered in one place felt unreal.
As I continued looking around, more and more fascinating items appeared.
How much does all of this even cost…?
While I stared in shock like a stunned rabbit, Azz picked up one of the antiques from the desk and removed the necklace he was wearing.
The pendant was embedded with several gemstones. He placed one purple gem on top of it, and in that instant, light flared and spread in dozens of branching strands.
As I stared blankly at the sight, a shape began to form inside the light.
This is…
“Was that a communication stone?”
He nodded.
At last, a woman’s figure appeared clearly within the glow. But my mind went blank from the sheer shock of the communication device.
That thing is worth several times more than a voice communication stone… no wonder they don’t charge for their information. They’re already swimming in money…
Now it made sense why I’d never seen many people managing all that information.
“Ah, Azz.”
The woman, now fully visible in the light, had dark brown hair and a captivating aura around her.
“Mm. Do you have time right now?”
“Not bad timing. Is that the girl you told me about?”
In a husky voice, she asked while pointing at me.
“Nice to meet you.”
Overwhelmed by an unfamiliar pressure, I bowed my head slightly. The woman burst into loud laughter.
“Why are you so scared? Relax.”
When I nodded, she picked up several sheets from the pile of papers around her.
“You asked for background checks on Count Clody, right?”
“It’s not exactly a background check…”
“Well, whatever. You asked me to find people who approached the Count, which means they’re people he normally wouldn’t meet. If they were met through the knight order, they’d be members of it. But then, wouldn’t it be harder to find people within the knights who don’t meet the vice-captain? It might actually be faster to look for the ones he doesn’t meet.”
“Ah…”
“Do you have anyone in mind? Anyone you’re suspicious of? Or any information at all would help.”
Someone suspicious…
Was it okay for me to talk so freely? If I were wrong, I’d just be wasting time.
“You have to help me here. Even if it’s me, investigating that many people would take at least a few days of nonstop work.”
“…I don’t know the names. But there were people I didn’t recognise around the Count. Aides, knights, that sort of thing.”
“Do they seem like people who were originally appointed as knights?”
“Yes. But their behaviour…”
“What impression did you get from the Count?”
“Um… up until three months ago, he used to send letters now and then, but after that, there were no letters at all.”
“Hm. Then that period is probably the key. Even so, it might take quite a while.”
“That’s okay. Thank you.”
After asking a few more questions of both Azz and me, the woman nodded with a strange expression.
“With this much, I can probably track something down.”
“Good work. You can disconnect.”
“If this turns out well, make sure my pay is extra—”
Click.
The moment Azz removed the communication stone, the woman’s distorted figure vanished as the connection severed.
“This kind of slow-burning case is rare for us. Usually, we get exact names or timelines.”
He shrugged and continued.
“You could go back to the estate and come back later. Want to go?”
“No.”
The answer slipped out instantly, without a single moment of hesitation. Azz looked at me as if he found that unexpected.
“…Did that make things awkward?”
“You can stay here if you want. There’s not much to do, but there are interesting things to look at around here.”
“Thank you.”
He handed over the compiled information and left the room.
Incidents that happened inside the knight order…
Perhaps he’d been on a long journey, because there wasn’t that much material about him.
Still, the organisation is really neat.
The way all the minor incidents were neatly categorised looked like an encyclopedia sold in a bookstore somewhere. Thanks to that, it was easy to understand.
Most of it involved monster hunting. Occasionally, there were conflicts between knights, but nothing that directly involved my father.
Commendation of Aian. Conflict with House Fade. Injury during a hunt.
I carefully read through each case one by one. Even if it didn’t directly involve my father, it might still be useful later.
Below each incident were attached newspaper articles and posters that mentioned them. Among them was an article I had seen before.
The article with the largest amount of material was, of course, Aian’s story—the one that had even made it into the newspapers.
“The vice-captain, Aian, was praised for his remarkable achievements.”
The long article described the incident in detail, but only one line mentioned my father: that he had fought alongside him. There was nothing else written.
There wasn’t much here that I should concern myself with.
Or so I thought.
As I flipped through the articles several times, frustration slipped out of my mouth.
“They’re unbelievably detailed… They even wrote down every single word His Majesty said. There’s more about the Emperor’s words than about Sir Aidan’s achievements. Why did they write this kind of article?”
A small doubt crept into my voice.
I sat upright abruptly.
Isn’t this strange? Why didn’t the reporters, who always try to write the most provocative and exciting stories possible, include Aidan’s actual exploits?
Newspapers weren’t written just for nobles. They were meant for commoners, especially those who lived far from the capital and received news slowly.
And for commoners, the Emperor’s formal speeches would never be more entertaining than the story of a single knight’s heroics.
Yet every article I had found outside only contained the imperial message praising Aidan’s deeds. His actual actions were nowhere to be found. There were barely any detailed accounts of the journey itself.
Aidan’s story had been printed on the front page.
It wasn’t that the newspaper was lying, but…
Why place such a large photograph on the first page and not include the parts people would be excited to read?
This had nothing to do with my situation. It probably wouldn’t even help me. And yet, I couldn’t shake the curiosity.
My eyes turned back to the stack of newspapers I’d already read several times.
They never revealed anything before.
But since I couldn’t do anything else right now… maybe I could at least solve this one small mystery.
