After school.
These days, Quinie, the head of the Viet family, had a lot on her mind, even while returning home.
As a third-year student, she had to think about what she would do after graduating since the second semester started.
“Is it really that worrisome? Can’t you just live well as the head of the family and eat and live well?”
Anne, a friend who was walking next to her, nagged her. Anne, who had already become the head of the family and had decided what she would do, didn’t quite understand Quinie’s worries.
“If I were just going to be a merchant, I wouldn’t have attended Constelle.”
“Hmm…?”
Quinie had a dream.
Her family, Viet, was a family that was on the verge of collapse. Quinie restored it with her own strength, which is why she became the head of the family.
‘Families that just chase after money have no power.’
Quinie thought the reason the Viet family collapsed was because it didn’t have enough power to protect itself.
Before she became the head of the family, the Viet family tried to solve even the family’s protection and defense through diplomacy with other families. In other words, they tried to trade monetary gains for the defense power.
They tried to solidify the family’s defenses by buying other families’ knights, freelance knights, and mercenary groups with money if necessary.
At first, there was no particular problem. As long as the fair trade continued, there was no problem with the family’s defense.
The problem was after the knight order that the Viet family bought with money joined hands with the hostile family trying to overthrow Viet.
Viets, who lacked the power to protect themselves, could not be free from coercion by force.
It was like making deals with someone holding a knife to your neck. Of course, things could not go right.
‘Right now, the other Houses are just watching, but who knows when something like that might happen again?’
That was why she had to prove herself. If she, as the head of the House, had enough power, they wouldn’t think of messing with her so casually.
After graduating from Constel and dealing with the monsters, and accumulating sufficient merit, knights would gather under her House. Once that happened, she would be able to have the House’s own knight order.
“The question is, do I become a pro or go for knighthood…”
As a pro, you would receive assignments, but you had some degree of discretion. In other words, you could carry them out while also doing your job as the head of the House.
However, becoming a pro in itself was not particularly meaningful, so it took time to compile enough achievements.
On the other hand, once you became a knight, you would gain recognition from the surrounding Houses, and it would be easier to rally other knights. It was not uncommon for the head of the House to also be the leader of the knight order.
The only question was whether the current Quinie and the Viet House had the means to do so.
-Did you hear that rumor?
At that moment, something that grated on Quinie’s ears reached her. Two female students were walking and talking. She listened in briefly, and it was about someone confessing to someone else, hardly anything major.
“There seems to be a lot of gossip these days.”
Anne, who was walking beside her, had a derisive smile mixed with a sigh. She had warned Quinie not to worry about inconsequential matters.
Quinie was aware of the sparkling rumors that had been circulating as of late. As a merchant, she naturally valued information, and most of it flowed to her, even the trivial stuff.
“It’s the new school year, you know? And this year’s freshmen, there are many promising talents.”
“I envy the young’uns.”
“Yeah. They’re two years younger than us.”
Anne replied, chuckling softly.
Quinie tends to enjoy the spread of rumors. Sometimes, she even manages to extract important information from them. It’s also her role to discern their truth.
……However.
‘Lately, I feel like there’s too many.’
Even if it is a new school year, and even with all the freshmen star students being active.
There was something strange about this situation, where rumors that had nothing to do with that started spreading, too.
Lately, the rumors had no connective tissue; they were scattered and sporadic.
It made her feel as though someone was artificially manipulating things.
“……!”
Quinie suddenly stopped walking at that moment.
On one of the corridor walls that Quinie and Anna were passing by, a large ‘magic bulletin board’ was posted.
Magic bulletin boards were a method of writing on walls using mana-powered luminescent letters, without needing paper or pens.
The writing was scribbled, as if someone had played a malicious prank. As for the bulletin board’s subject matter, it crudely filled the entirety of the wall, leaving no blank space.
Its contents. Quinie read the bulletin board as if she’d been nailed to the spot.
[Quinie de Viet has an extreme phobia of corpses.]
[Quinie de Viet didn’t enroll in Constel to gain skill. She came here to hide.]
“──Ha.”
Anne let out a sigh mixed with a sneer beside her. She spoke up, fearing Quinie might worry unnecessarily.
“There’s bound to be such baseless rumors when there’s a lot to talk about.”
“……”
“Quinie?”
Although Anne dismissed it as just a rumor.
Quinie’s expression suggested otherwise.
Quinie clenched her hand once, relaxed it, and then clenched it again.
It was a habit to hide her trembling.
* * *
Two days later.
I listened to Selena’s report at the mansion.
It hadn’t been long since I asked her to investigate Rokbel, but it seemed Selena had already completed her investigation.
“Lord Frondier, before I report, there’s something I want to ask.”
“What is it?”
“Do you believe in my report, Lord Frondier?”
Selena is a member of the Manggot. It’s inevitable that she and I would doubt each other.
I asked Selena to betray Manggot, but that was merely a one-sided promise. Selena could refuse if she wanted to, and I had no way of knowing which side she had chosen.
However, I had a certain conviction. That Selena would become my ally. And even if she didn’t, it didn’t matter.
As long as Selena has the desire to know who she is and wants to return to her family, she cannot refuse my request.
My order to her to ‘moderately’ report about me to Manggot. In fact, Selena is already following that order by not disclosing anything about the ‘ancient language’.
“I believe you.”
“……”
“There’s no reason not to. At least, there’s no reason for you to lie to me about this matter.”
“……Understood.”
Selena nodded deeply.
“First of all, Rokbel is safe.”
With that first sentence, Selena’s report began.