“I’ve been stigmatized as a traitor who doesn’t even know grace, but I’ll have to endure that.”
A bitter smile caught Tragula’s mouth.
Looking at his tired complexion, it seemed that he had been in and out of a battle with Countess Nerus.
Of course, Countess Nerus would not have wanted to let Tragula go smoothly.
But yes, I really couldn’t believe she would turn down Fulgor’s Pumpkin in favor of the Golden Falcon.
Tragula predicted that she would not give up ownership of the Golden Falcon even before talking to Countess Nerus.
What’s the reason? Curious, I asked slightly.
“Why didn’t she give up the Golden Falcon?”
However, the answer did not come out immediately. Tragula was worried for a long time and kept his mouth shut.
How long did he realize he couldn’t hide it? He spoke carefully as if he were exposing his own shame.
“…she has the veins of the Heavenly Palace other than me.”
“Is it your blood?”
“… Yes.”
It didn’t seem like something that he would be afraid to reveal…
But since it was a family matter, I thought there might be some complications that he was hiding that he wasn’t letting me know about.
I don’t have to know that much, and it was enough to know for sure why Countess Nerus didn’t gently pass the Golden Falcon.
I changed my words in a light tone.
“Will that other blood of the Heavenly Palace interfere with the Black Knights? Oh, I’m not asking you to take care of them or anything. It would be easier to deal with them if I knew.”
“There will be no disturbance. Because they’re still a kid. Of course, in about four or five years, they will be at the starting point to attack dungeons, but…”
“Then it’s okay.”
One less thing to worry about. I let out a small sigh of relief.
It was not long before the Demon Lord’s dungeon would open anyway.
If my calculations were correct, it would have been after next year’s results report at the earliest, and after the results report the year after that at the latest.
While Tragula and I were talking like this, the room, or rather the castle owner, Meyer, didn’t say a word and just kept his seat in silence.
There were three in the space, but it felt very strange to be the only two talking. However, neither Meyer nor Tragula cared much about whether they spoke to each other or not.
‘I feel like I’m the only sensitive person caught in the middle…’
Feeling so uncomfortable, I also told Tragula in advance about finding a traitor in the Yellow Lightning Unit.
Tragula quietly listened to my story.
Even if it was a fact that he already knew, he would have felt a lot of betrayal when he faced it, but he looked relieved.
The story ended, and Tragula probed as if he remembered now.
“I’ll give this back to you.”
“Fulgor’s Pumpkin… You can just keep this. Because I handed over ownership to you.”
If he returned the Golden Falcon to Countess Nerus and there was nothing left in my hand, wouldn’t it be in vain?
But Tragula shook his head.
“Didn’t you say you’d save me a good bow? I’ll take the item to replace the Golden Falcon.”
He then unavoidably gave me back the Fulgor’s Pumpkin.
The warmth of the pumpkin against my hand warmed me slightly.
I glanced into Meyer’s eyes. Where can I get a good bow? Of course, I was thinking of robbing Meyer’s stuff.
If I offer to give it here, Tragula and the old misunderstanding…
It’s not a misunderstanding. It would be nice to relieve the resentment. Meyer, the party, gave a weak response.
Tragula said as much, but he didn’t seem too bothered about the missing bow to replace the Golden Falcon.
Tragula continued to speak, looking refreshed.
“Thanks to the Vice Commander, I have laid down the burden of my heart… From now on, please call me Tragula Cornu, not Tragula Nerus.”
Tragula, who regained the name of the heavenly palace, smiled broadly.
His smile was as bright as he seemed to shake off the depression caused by the pressure that had covered him so far and his surrounding senses.
After finishing the story roughly, I sent Tragula back to rest.
As Tragula left the office, I sighed as soon as the door closed.
“If I had known this would be the case, I would have just met in my office.”
“… What? Why?”
“The Commander didn’t say anything. I feel like I’m disturbing you.”
“No. What do you mean, disturbing? I didn’t say anything because… Yes. I was listening to you.”
His mouth, which had been tightly closed like a shell earlier, opened easily.
I chuckled and asked him back.
“It’s not surveillance?”
“What do you mean surveillance!”
Meyer jumped up . I wondered if he was frustrated, or if he was stung by the ineffable… I set a trap as I probed Meyer.
“If you’re curious about what I talked to Tragula, I can organize conversation records and hand them over.”
“No, I wasn’t surveilling you, I was listening. Anyway, if you ever meet someone in the future, whether it be him or anybody else, I’ll see you in my office.”
“…Are you sure you’re not surveilling me?”
I opened my eyes suspiciously. Meyer avoided my gaze and coughed in vain.
Well, there was no reason for me to refuse him when he was offering me his office.
Because no matter how plausible my office was, it was not as good as Meyer’s office.
I sat down on the couch, which was so soft I almost sunk to the floor.
Meyer was willing to put up with my careless attitude. Tragula and I can’t meet alone… It seemed that the weight of grace selectively increased and then decreased.
“Anyway… It’s clear that Countess Nerus has a dream.”
Adopting Tragula might be the case. But even as a spy… He’s also not the only one.
The desire to do so was too insistent and vexatious to be a mere restoration of the family.
Her track record seemed meaningless unless it was the Grand Dake. I could even feel the obsession.
She must have a lot of money and a lot of guts, because she owned artifacts and even kept them on the negotiating table without hesitation.
It was understandable that such a person would have great ambition, but it didn’t make sense that she would dare to insist on becoming a Grand Duke.
It was because the Grand Duke did not represent unconditional power, and if necessary, it was close to an honorary position.
I tried to guess what Countess Nerus was thinking, but I couldn’t understand anything from one to ten.
“Isn’t it cleaner to seek marriage than to adopt Tragula? Or become his fiancée.”
I said, remembering the noblemen who had attached themselves to me and who had targeted the elite of the Black Knights.
They were annoying, but their methods were still at an understandable level.
“She decided to get married and sponsor him, but then it would be difficult to make a promise after becoming a hero. Attributing a last name to is certainly effective. I don’t know if it’s common sense, though.”
Meyer clicked his tongue. Meyer’s words are not wrong, but it sounded very awkward for him to talk about common sense.
“And marriage or engagement is only possible with one person, but not adoption.”
“Those words…”
“There are quite a few people she has adopted. Do you know what her nickname is in the social world?”
“What is it?”
“Big Mother. Adoptions of budding expedition members are common in social circles, but she’s got quite a few of them. She’s right up there in expeditionary patronage.”
I opened my mouth wide. I didn’t know it would be that bad.
“Well… Is it enough to take care of all those people? The amount of money it would take to properly train one member of the expedition should be extraordinary.”
“Countess Nerus is quite capital-rich.”
It would have been quite daunting if Meyer admitted it. I quietly clicked my tongue.
Come to think of it, the reason that Meyer, who entered the second round, did not throw Tragula out at once was to use him to close the dungeon, but also seemed to be because the backlash of Countess Nerus, who had failed after putting in a promising player, was annoying.
Because she was more persistent and annoying than expected.
“You accepted Tragula as part of the expedition at first, knowing that Countess Nerus existed. You don’t seem to like the interference of external forces in the expedition.”
“Well, I saw his skills earlier then. Although Countess Nerus sponsored several expedition members, I thought it was just a diversified investment.”
But he didn’t think it was enough to make him switch to expeditionary forces.
Meyer’s lips twisted as he translated in a whisper. It was natural for him to be angry at being taken by surprise.
“Well… I’m sure she’ll react somehow because she drank a lot of water from this incident. It’s not too late to figure out her intentions then.”
“Wouldn’t she be a threat?”
“No one is a threat, as long as the Black Knights are the strongest expedition. And since I have you, the Black Knights will continue to be the strongest expedition.”
Meyer spoke firmly without any doubt.
Thank you for trusting me completely. Shy, I smiled and scratched my neck.
Meyer said, pointing his chin at Fulgor’s Pumpkin, which I had placed on the table.
“Anyway, you can have Fulgor’s Pumpkin.”
“I have a lot of artifacts right now…”
“If there’s a lot, there won’t be much difference even if there’s one more.”
What kind of logic is this? While I couldn’t find anything to refute, Meyer reached out and squeezed the pumpkin back into my hand.
Then he didn’t let go of my hand until I grabbed the pumpkin.
I couldn’t even move as I was captivated by the hand that was big enough to hold mine.
In the end, I had to take Fulgor’s Pumpkin.
That’s how I had one more thing to carry. I sighed deeply.
Meyer looked at me and opened his mouth softly.
“By the way, Jun.”
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