Under the bright light of the mana crystal lamps.
The first thing the Inquisitors discovered was a small altar prepared for offering prayers to the Main God.
“Look, it seems someone was praying to the Main God here.”
“And quite… thoroughly, too. The ritual arrangement is completely proper.”
The Inquisitors spoke in bewilderment.
And hanging above the altar were several inscriptions.
<Goal! Make a High Master mine!>
<If possible, make him handsome!>
<Once I set my sights on a man, I always get him!>
<Find someone to share everything from marriage to the grave within two years!>
<I will definitely get married!>
Er covered her forehead.
‘That damn Milla.’
Milla looked at Er apologetically.
Those had been Er’s original instructions to Milla.
<Burn Mage Grass thoroughly at all four corners of the room. Mage Grass starts corroding immediately when it gets wet, but if you light it with a match at that moment, it burns even more intensely right before it corrodes.>
<And there’s the small altar I made as a decoy. Clean that altar, and, oh, right. Make sure you take down the writings I hung up for mental discipline.>
Milla had hurried around trying to complete everything she had been told to do. She had finished burning the Mage Grass and cleaning up the altar, but…
‘I’m sorry, Lady… I couldn’t take down the writings you had put up….’
Er felt as though the darkest chapter of her life had just been exposed to the entire world.
Those horrible writings had originated from Er’s habits in her previous life.
Er had survived in a truly wild environment where all she had was her body and mind.
Because of that, if she ever lost herself or allowed her willpower to break, there was no way to recover.
On the surface, she appeared to live a luxurious life as the commander of Chronicle Lim and a noblewoman.
But in reality, she had very little money she could freely spend, so her only hobbies were buying good brushes and fountain pens and writing.
Other than that, she would draw pictures or make things.
‘If you keep thinking about what you desperately want in an extreme situation and write down whatever comes to mind, it will definitely come true.’
That had been Er’s personal superstition.
“Hmm…”
After seeing them, Reville spoke with an awkward expression.
He looked like he was experiencing an intense amount of secondhand embarrassment.
“So… you’re really dedicated to finding a husband. That’s the biggest concern for women around your age, after all. Yes, my lady. Keep it up.”
Shut up, you bastard.
Er pressed her forehead.
When she lowered her hand, however, her expression had become perfectly calm.
“What a predicament.”
“……”
“Perhaps someone is trying to slander me, taking advantage of my poor reputation. And His Highness the Crown Prince, who supposedly never overlooks anything…”
Er whispered.
“Looks like he struck out this time.”
“……I really can’t believe this. Since I even wrote that statement, I can’t arrest you now.”
Reville said.
Meanwhile, Milla hurried over and helped Er into a robe-like dress and put her shoes on.
“So what are you going to do now? If this statement catches our boss’s attention, I’m dead…”
“Come on. Surely he wouldn’t kill you?”
Er said brightly.
“You say that because you don’t know him.”
“Then shall we just keep this between the two of us?”
“What?”
Reville’s eyes widened at Er’s words.
“Let’s keep the fact that you wrote this statement a secret. It would be troublesome for you if it reached your boss. I’ll just keep it safe.”
“……”
“And if I happen to be investigated again, I’ll use it then.”
Once Reville understood what she meant, a slow smile spread across his lips.
“Wow, I’m in trouble. This young lady is really interesting.”
“Well, you’re interesting too.”
Er and Reville smiled at each other.
But everyone watching them gradually began to feel that something was strange.
‘They’re definitely smiling… but why does it feel like the killing intent of two alley cats confronting each other over territory?’
Milla thought nervously, breaking out in a cold sweat.
“My lady, strangely…”
Reville whispered.
“You smell a little like the streets, just like me. Not exactly dirt-poor, but that dry, attractive scent you only find on people who come from the sand…”
“Ah, I know about people being called ‘sandspoon’ beneath ‘dirtspoon.’ At least dirt can absorb some moisture when you put it in your mouth…”
“Sand is even worse. Try sucking on that and all you get is a dry mouth and more thirst.”
“And it’s difficult to escape from a sandpit-like swamp through your own strength, too, isn’t it?”
“Exactly. So why do you smell like my hometown?”
Come to think of it, Reville was also trash from the Nirm Duchy.
You could say he was one of the rare cases who had been lucky enough to escape without having a Heartstone implanted in his body because he had found a good master.
“From the looks of it…”
Er leaned toward Reville.
“You have a master who rescued you from that sandpit and even put a leash around your neck. Then you should hurry back and get to work. Instead of wasting your time on something trivial like ‘bullying an innocent young lady,’ like today. You need to earn achievements if you want to repay the favor, don’t you?”
“Oh? You’ve got quite the way with words.”
Reville said.
“Didn’t you know? My biological father was a mercenary. That blood doesn’t just disappear.”
“So your taste in men is wild? Preferably a High Master?”
A High Master was a title referring to both Sword Masters and Mana Masters—in other words, swordsmen and mages who had reached the ninth circle.
So aiming for a Sword Master meant setting one’s sights on the highest-ranking High Masters.
“If you’re asking about my taste in men, then… yes.”
Er crossed her legs as she sat down.
“If I was born as the granddaughter of a knight family, I should dream big. If marriage is one of the most important matters for a noble young lady… then surely I’m allowed to dream of someone at the level of a High Master.”
Whatever. I’m going all in.
Er said it shamelessly.
‘It’s not like I have any social reputation left to lose anyway.’
Fortunately, the matter was settled without further trouble.
It had been painful enough when Reville’s men took away not only the altar where she had supposedly prayed to the Main God as “evidence from the scene,” but also those damned calligraphy pieces.
“I won’t tell you to have a safe journey. You’re going to get scolded by your master now, so it would be rude of me to tease you.”
“Understood. Just make sure the statement doesn’t get leaked. Anyway, my lady…”
Reville’s expression softened considerably.
“Ah, what a shame. I’m only a Mid-Master myself.”
Er’s eyebrow twitched.
The classification of Masters was determined by the level of their mana rings.
Those who created mana rings from the first to third circles were called First Masters.
Even reaching that level meant being a fairly skilled swordsman. It was a realm that could not be reached without talent.
Those who created mana rings from the fourth to eighth circles were called Mid-Masters. From the level of Mid-Master onward, there were many people who could genuinely be called powerful.
“I suppose there are quite a lot of Mid-Masters. They’re not exactly common, though.”
“I’ve been beyond the eighth stage for quite some time.”
Er frowned slightly.
‘Oh?’
So he had only one mana circle left before reaching the next level?
‘Reaching the eighth circle is incredibly difficult. It’s a talent that appears in roughly one person out of ten thousand.’
In simple terms, those who reached the eighth circle were among the strongest humans alive.
But the ninth circle was a realm that could only be reached by clearing a legendary-grade dungeon and implanting the mana core of a legendary-grade boss monster into one’s body.
In some cases, this also granted additional skills.
‘Simply put, if an eighth-circle Mid-Master is roughly the strongest a human can become through talent and effort… then a High Master exists beyond the limits of humanity.’
One of the humans closest to becoming a High Master.
‘Well, Reville is quite the monster himself. I heard his name often enough in my previous life.’
Maybe I should remember that.
“Goodbye, fox-faced knight.”
Er said.
Reville scratched his head and muttered, “What an incredibly charming young lady,” before leaving the garden.
“So that’s what happened.”
Kiers was sitting upon the Emperor’s throne.
With the Emperor ill and his consciousness unclear, it was no longer strange to see the Crown Prince acting as regent in his place.
“Then why are you standing on two feet while telling me all this?”
Kiers said gently.
“What?”
“You should kneel. That way, I can decide whether to let you off or punish you.”
Kiers spoke indifferently.
Reville immediately dropped to his knees.
‘Ah, I hope I don’t get an actual prison sentence.’
Kiers slowly examined the evidence.
Then he picked up one of the flowers from the altar Er had prepared and turned it over.
Tap.
Something resembling ash fell from it.
It was the trace of a sharp leaf that had been partially burned.
Kiers deeply inhaled its scent.
Even a tiny amount gave off a strong fragrance.
There was no mistaking this smell.
“What is that?”
Reville asked, unable to suppress his curiosity despite trying to read the atmosphere.
“Mage Grass.”
Kiers said.
Mage Grass was a type of grass discovered in the second legendary-grade dungeon…
‘Information about it still isn’t widely known.’
In any case, it was certainly not something an ordinary halfwit noble young lady could easily know about.
“Your Highness?”
Kiers slowly raised his head.
Reville was looking at him as though he were a strange person.
“Are you all right?”
“Why?”
“You’re… smiling right now, aren’t you?”
Reville had expected him to become angry and reveal his notoriously foul temper.
Somehow, this was even more frightening than being cursed at.
Kiers’s gaze softened.
“You know you’re going to be punished, right?”
“Of course!”
“Then go rest somewhere. From now on, you’ll receive the same punishment as trainee knights who violate regulations. And never act recklessly and get yourself dragged into someone else’s affairs again.”
The punishments trainee knights received for violating regulations were boring things such as writing reflection essays, swinging their swords two hundred times every day, salary deductions, and so on.
“In this capital, even a clown who plays the part of a local fool can hide a more sinister talent than anyone else. So watch your conduct.”
“Yes. I’ll reflect on my actions.”
Reville left the room looking slightly dejected.
“What did His Highness say? Is he very displeased?”
Reville happened to run into Orun, who was heading toward the audience chamber.
“Oh, surprisingly, he seems to be fine…”
“Maybe it’s because he slept well last night. It’s fortunate he’s in a good mood today.”
Orun said.
“Our boss hasn’t been sleeping well until now?”
Reville asked, seemingly confused.
‘And he calls himself a close aide…’
Orun’s gaze softened.
“You know he hasn’t been able to sleep since the war against the Nirm Duchy ended six months ago. His doctor’s prescription for sleeping pills had reached a dangerous level, so he recently stopped taking them. But yesterday, apparently, he slept for ten whole hours without dreaming.”
“Oh.”
Reville nodded.
“That’s… a good thing, right?”
“You’re actually asking that? Of course it is.”
Orun added,
“But I wonder why he suddenly started sleeping so well. Perhaps something changed in his state of mind.”
Orun and Reville looked at each other.
But there was no way either of them could know the answer.
