The Guardian Knight of Affection-Starved Young Ladies

8 – Suspicious Deal (03)

009.

The meeting with the Duke of Lacatus was not over with that.

When they first came back, Kallen was surprised,

but since Blamia showed no suspicion, he had no choice but to follow.

Wasn’t the deal that passed between them supposed to end with that one?

Well, it seemed too easy for that.

The people sent from the Lacatus family were consistent.

To be exact, the three who came at first remained, with the occasional addition of an apprentice maid around Kallen’s age.

The content and degree of the requests varied quite a bit.

As if testing Kallen.

The level of the monsters gradually increased, and later on, they even sent only the apprentice maid and Kallen alone.

One day, unable to understand, Kallen asked the apprentice maid.

“What on earth is this?”

“W-what?”

“I can somewhat understand dealing with monsters or patrolling, but why do we do this meaningless task?”

“Ah…”

In the carriage, using the excuse of patrolling the outskirts of the territory, alone with the apprentice maid of the Rakatus Duke’s household.

Though she was called a maid, she had only recently become an apprentice.

In other words, all the camping and assistance so far had been solely Kallen’s responsibility.

It was out of frustration that he spoke, but the apprentice maid soon welled up with tears and lowered her head.

“I’m s-sorry… sob…”

“…”

It was Kallen who was dumbfounded.

Even if he wanted to say something, with such a reaction, he couldn’t do anything.

In the end, he swallowed his frustration with a sigh and leaned against the carriage window.

Most days continued like that.

On a day when Ebaum, Brussel, and Deuce came to the cabin as usual.

By now, it was something he had gotten somewhat used to.

Kallen skillfully packed the luggage he had prepared and got ready to follow.

“Kid.”

It was Blamia who called Kallen to a halt.

“Do you not want to do it?”

A tone that could be taken as unpleasant at first glance.

But that voice was not the kind that criticized Kallen.

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When Kallen turned to look at Blamia, the eccentric old man had a slightly softened expression.

It was a question asking for Kallen’s intention.

Not criticizing his attitude, but a genuine question to understand how Kallen felt.

“Not really, Master.”

Even if it was bothersome, even if it felt meaningless.

He knew that this task was connected to some wish of Blamia and Sinat.

If he could help with that, Kallen didn’t mind at all.

“Alright, then go see Sinat for a moment.”

“…Right now?”

“Now.”

Wasn’t it just about to depart?

Kallen tilted his head but obediently headed inside.

The voices from behind were barely audible.

“Kal!”

“The master told me to come.”

“Yes, you came well.”

In fact, Kallen felt a little sorry for Sinat.

Having endured something akin to her obsession for two years, he knew how anxious Sinat would be when he wasn’t around.

Sinat was enduring that anxiety solely with the promise to Rakatus.

“What’s the matter?”

At Kallen’s question, Sinat laughed and turned around, handing something over.

It was a rectangular-shaped wrapped box.

“A gift?”

“Yes… you can open it.”

Kallen received the box and opened it.

With a click, the box opened to reveal a monocle and a black cane.

“…How is it?”

How is it, indeed.

He could understand the intention behind the monocle.

However, unless it was during the heyday of Blamia, a cane seemed a bit outdated in this era.

“The monocle is something my grandfather used… and the cane is my gift.”

“What?”

“I found an Amher tree while walking, and it reminded me of you.”

Sinat’s expression didn’t show it, but it was clearly that of someone waiting.

Moreover, the gift was a cane she had made herself.

Kallen couldn’t betray that expectation.

“Thank you, Sinat.”

“I’m bored, so come back as soon as possible, Kal.”

“Got it.”

Kallen and Sinat looked at each other and chuckled.

*

“Thank you for the gift, sir. I’ll be back.”

“…Alright.”

After expressing his gratitude for the monocle, Kallen followed the three and got into the carriage.

Fortunately, there was no apprentice maid this time, but there was still an uneasy feeling lingering.

The sense of dissonance peaked when Kallen got into the carriage.

“This is the last time.”

It was a remark from Evam.

All the accumulated doubts, the sudden gifts from Blamia and Sinat.

And Evam’s words.

“Are you finally going to tell me?”

“Did you know?”

“How could I not, with you being so cryptic.”

“As expected, you have a good intuition.”

He usually avoided getting involved, but what could be so urgent to make him this anxious?

At first, he didn’t know, but as time went on, he couldn’t shake the feeling that it was some kind of test.

“Have you ever heard from the Grand Duke? About the children of various noble families, or promising young people of your age.”

Evam’s expression, as he cautiously broached the subject, looked somewhat complicated.

When Kallen reached Brussels, he turned his head completely to look out the window.

“Not in detail, just about those with high succession ranks.”

“Right, that’s normal. For example, Lady Laris or Lady Selacia. Very outstanding and remarkable individuals.”

“I’ve also heard about Decaum, the prince of Lakatus.”

When boasting, one usually mentions the names of people from their own family first.

Evam mentioned the ladies, not the people of Lakatus, and Kallen matched his words as the eldest son of their family.

But Evam shook his head and let out a faint sigh.

“Eliana.”

“Yes?”

“Did the Grand Duke mention the name Eliana Lacatus?”

In the lady’s education that Blamia had given to Sinat, there were naturally many names of prominent families’ children.

After all, they were people they had to get acquainted with.

It was said that they should at least know their names.

And Kallen was always the one listening beside him.

However, he had never heard the name ‘Eliana Lacatus’ that Ebam mentioned.

Since it had a surname, he could only guess that she was a person from the Lacatus family.

“Yes… that’s right. Miss Eliana is the youngest of the Lacatus family.”

“Is she related to my work?”

“You got it right. What I want to ask you is to escort the lady.”

Everchan Lacatus, the head of the Lacatus family, who was said to be on the verge of the 5th rank.

He had heard how outstanding his eldest son was, and it was said that there were many other talented people in the Lacatus family.

Naturally, a question arose in Kallen’s mind.

“That-“

“That’s why I kept asking you similar favors repeatedly, as if testing you.”

However, Ebam cut off his words as if he didn’t want to answer that question.

Kallen couldn’t let it go easily either.

He didn’t like the fact that he had been hiding it until now and was still hiding it here.

“Why me? I don’t think that test was special. There must be someone better than me in the Lacatus family.”

“Hmm.”

The Dranus family had declined, and four new pillars had risen.

One of them was the Lacatus family, and there was no way they didn’t have a high-ranking mage.

Even though high-ranking mages were rare in the world, within the same family, they could easily afford the expensive magic education.

It had to be Kallen.

To satisfy that statement, the tests they had given were nothing special.

A high-ranking mage would be much better at hunting monsters, and there was no reason to entrust the escort to a boy who had never done it before.

He understood why they had done things like camping with an apprentice maid, but something even more incomprehensible had happened.

“Don’t tell me it’s because my fighting style was unique. You should know better than anyone that it can’t be the reason.”

“This is troublesome.”

“Stop talking like that…”

Kallen couldn’t finish his sentence.

Because there was sadness etched on Evam’s face.

Sadness?

Not confusion, nor anything else, but sadness.

It was not an emotion that suited the current situation.

As if Blamia would have felt for Sinat…

“To be honest, it’s beyond my authority.”

“Pardon?”

“It’s something that someone like me can’t dare to speak of.”

Kallen could only be more bewildered.

Hadn’t he introduced himself as the External Manager?

At least in this matter, there would be no one among the members of Rakatus with more authority than Evam.

No, if he had to pick, there was one person.

“Are you telling me to hear it directly?”

“…Indeed. You’re perceptive.”

The head of Rakatus.

Evam was now telling him to hear it from Everchen Rakatus.

Kallen was at a loss for words.

The carriage carried the unexpected silence.

Quietly heading southeast.

*

“We’ll arrive soon.”

“…”

A mountain of documents, estimated to be in the hundreds or thousands.

In the antique office, a middle-aged man quietly put down his quill.

Following the quill with his gaze, one could see that the documents were far from ordinary.

Complex symbols and formulas intertwined.

But they all meant one thing.

All the documents piled up like a mountain were the same.

The middle-aged man was delving into hundreds or thousands of papers on a single topic.

“Soon?”

“Yes. We just received word that it has passed the territorial cabinet.”

Dark circles under his eyes showed how tired he was.

But his eyes were still clear.

He had tried every method known to man and failed.

The method he thought was most likely, but also the first to fail.

A new possibility was about to arrive from that method.

“…Let’s go.”

“Pardon? You mean personally?”

“They say it’s a rare breed raised by the elder. How could I not be interested?”

The master of Rakatus, whose heavy laughter suited him well,

rose to his feet.