“You want to request something, sir?”
“Yes.”
As if he was ashamed to ask for Zich’s help again after having received help from him not long ago, Joachim’s face was a bit stiff. Zich smirked inside when he saw that face and thought, ‘It’s hilarious to see him like this.’
Before the regression, Joachim brazenly blabbered whatever was on his mind while following Zich; but now, he felt the shame of his lack of abilities after becoming the count of a kingdom. Of course, this Joachim was different from that Joachim. Zich didn’t intend to confuse the two, but he also didn’t think of them as completely separate entities.
‘Although they aren’t the Joachim and Evelyn I once knew, this is their past selves.’ For that reason alone, Zich’s heart went to these two, and Zich couldn’t find a reason to deny these feelings. This was also the reason why Condel died a very pitiful and cruel death.
“I will hear you out first, sir.” Although Zich said this, he planned to fulfill Joachim’s request if it wasn’t difficult.
“To explain it simply, the work is eradicating bandits.”
“Bandits?”
“Yes.”
“Can you elaborate?”
This was what Joachim told him: after solving Condel’s case, citizens of Janmalpi and the Count who ruled over them were overjoyed. The Count of Janmalpi even said he would give his hand in helping the Dracul family recover their honor back, and this was all Joachim wanted. A few days after that, the Count brought a request to Joachim, saying that it was something that could help bring his family’s honor back a bit.
“And that’s stamping out bandits?”
“Yes. The Count is close to Marquess Campbell.”
Because he was so focused on the conversation, Joachim had his eating utensils down. In comparison, Zich’s plate was already clean.
“Marquess Campbell is someone with a lot of influence in the kingdom.”
“That means he is someone who can aid you signifigantly, Count Dracul.”
“Yes, exactly.” Joachim nodded. “I heard that Marquess Campbell’s territory is swarming with bandits right now.”
Zich tilted his head. “Did the Marquess request help because of these bandits?”
“Yes.”
“Their numbers must be considerably high if the Marquess’ troops can’t handle them.”
“That doesn’t seem to be the case. I don’t know exactly why, but I heard their numbers aren’t outstanding enough to turn over a whole estate.”
“Yet, they still need help?”
It was hard to understand how a noble with a high title of Marquess was struggling to handle a limited number of bandits.
“Well, the Marquess doesn’t have a lot of spare resources and soldiers to use right now. His estate is protecting the border against an antagonistic neighboring country. It’s a country they actually fought just some decades ago.” It seemed like Joachim held negative emotions about this country as he let out slight discomfort when mentioning it.
“Thus, the Marquess has to always keep a certain number of troops at the side. However, it’s not just because they are struggling—they are also fighting off pirates too.”
“Pirates?”
“Not too long ago, small groups of pirates created an alliance and developed into a formidable force. Thus, the Marquess placed a lot of effort into preparing troops against them and recently began fighting with them.”
“In short, the bandits are messing them up when they have to focus on fighting off pirates and also leave some troops as a reserve against the neighboring kingdom, right?”
“Yes.”
It was definitely a difficult position that even a person from a high class like the Marquess would struggle with.
“That’s not all. Otherwise, the situation would’ve been settled as an annoying situation already,” Joachim said.
“There’s something more, sir?”
“The place where the bandits operate is near a city called Bambis. It’s one of the biggest cities among the Marquess’ lands and is sizable even in comparison to the whole country. It’s also a key point of transportation.”
“These bandits are sure bold. No, in this case, are they clever?”
If these bandits were wreaking havoc knowing the situation the Marquess was in, they were clearly an intelligent group. At the very least, their heads seemed to work much better than most of the common bandits all over the world.
“We still don’t know what kind of guys they are yet. We don’t know if they are smart guys who have taken advantage of the situation or simply guys with a lot of luck.”
Even if it was the latter, they couldn’t look down on this group. Zich couldn’t deny that one’s luck was as important as their skills to survive in this world. ‘Their forces could also keep getting bigger.’
Furthermore, if they attacked the residents living near the transportation hub, they would be able to get a continuous source of income. Joachim’s following words increased the severity of the situation even further. “Since Bambis is a key transportation point, most of the supplies and goods in the land run through it. This includes the military supplies they need to eradicate the pirates.”
“…If it’s to that degree, I suppose we can’t just think that a band of bandits is running wild.”
If they failed to eradicate the pirates because of the delay of military supplies, the Marquess’ reputation along with Count Campbell’s would fall into a pit.
“I think I have a clearer picture now. The situation totally warrants help from neighboring estates,” Zich said.
“The current Count’s wife is also the Marquess’ younger sister. I’m sure that’s also the reason why he sought the Count’s help too.” The situation was even more understandable with the mention of the family connection.
“So, is Count Campbell sending support troops to the Marquess?”
“No, that’s not it. The Marquess didn’t request that. They do have a troop prepared to deal with the bandits.”
“Then, what kind of help do they need?”
“They need someone who can find the bandits’ home base.”
“I guess that’s giving them trouble.” The most troublesome matter to take care of when dealing with bandits was finding their home base. Normally, when trained armies were dispatched, they managed to get rid of bandits; but that was only the case if they fought face-to-face.
‘There’s no way those bandit guys would fight them head-on.”
Most bandits hid their hideouts and ran elsewhere whenever they heard troops heading their way. Therefore, in order to fight off bandits, detection and scouting were more instrumental for success, rather than actual combat abilities.
“Yes. On the other hand, the Marquess can’t search the whole city while the entire country is focused on protecting the borders and gathering forces to fight off pirates in the sea, so he is very troubled.”
“So that is why you accepted his request?”
“It seems as if the Count here was extremely impressed by our ability to defeat Condel Siede. I think he was even more impressed because his forces weren’t able to catch even a sliver of the culprit’s shadow, but we were able to find and finish him off in an extremely short time period. It’s mostly thanks to you, Sir Zich.”
“Hmm. Then it seems like what I have to do is find the bandit’s home base around Bambis.”
“Yes.”
“I got it. I’ll accept the request.” Without much thought, Zich easily accepted Joachim’s request, and Joachim’s face brightened up.
“Thank you so much. Sir Zich, I keep being indebted to you in many ways.”
“Sir, you just have to return back the favor with a lot of interest.”
“Hahaha! I’ll make sure to repay you,” Joachim chuckled loudly.
“However, I plan to take care of this matter by myself. I ask for your understanding in this regard.”
People stared at Zich with surprise. Lyla had been planning to return to her room and gather her belongings without much thought, but she was especially surprised.
“What? Why suddenly?” Lyla’s voice reflected her surprise.
However, Zich continued with a calm voice, “We decided to stay here so that you can focus on your work.” Zich was referring to Lyla deciphering Clowon’s letters. “There’s no reason for you to go out of your way and hinder your work time. I’m also really looking forward to your results.”
Lyla was secretly pleased with Zich’s words since she thought that her translating time was going to get cut again. “But why are you going by yourself? You’re not going to take the others with you?”
“Elena probably won’t want to part with you. Rather than for our group to separate like that, it’s better for me to go by myself and quickly take care of this matter. From what I heard, it doesn’t seem like we need a lot of people for this job. The others will actually be a bother.”
If Zich spread his senses as wide as possible and ran like crazy, he could probably catch at least a few targets. Considering this method, if anyone wasn’t able to match up to Zich’s speed yet, they’d merely be a hindrance. Moreover, it was not as if Hans or Snoc’s sensing abilities were as advanced as Zich’s.
“Just let those two play here. I’m sure they’ll like that.”
“Yeah, for sure.”
Even though Zich did give them free time before, there was no greater freedom than the absence of a terrifying watch guard. Zich decided to give them completely free reign while he was gone.
“Okay, while you’re gone, I’ll work hard in deciphering the texts.” Lyla agreed with Zich’s suggestion.
Zich stared at Joachim. “Sir, it’s turned out like this, so please send a report that I’ll be the only lookout.”
“Yes, I understand.” Honestly, Joachim was a bit worried that Zich was going by himself, but he soon erased this concern from his mind. From what he knew, Zich had the best sense of judgment among his companions.
Like this, it was decided that Zich would be the only one traveling to Campbell.
* * *
After their meal was over, Joachim and Evelyn rode on the same carriage and headed towards Joachim’s lodging. Since Evelyn’s lodging was in the same place as Zich’s group, she didn’t need to ride in a separate carriage from them, but she sometimes rode on Joachim’s carriage when he visited to enjoy a short conversation together.
It was not strange for the two people who experienced an intense and troubling event to grow closer. Moreover, that feeling had slowly developed further, and it now progressed into a state where they could exchange casual conversations like this in a carriage. Joachim stared at Evelyn who was sitting in front of him.
She sighed while frowning deeply, “Phew, it really seems like there’s been no progress at all between those two.”
Joachim knew about her concern, and he smiled bitterly. After talking to her a bit more these days, he found out what type of person she was.
“Well, it’s Sir Zich and Ms. Lyla after all. It’s difficult to judge them based on normal standards.”
“But I wanted to see them get a bit closer. I know it’s for a short while, but now they’re even thinking about separating from each other.”
Since he was the reason for their separation, Joachim remained silent.
Evelyn noticed his reaction and was immediately startled. “Ah, I’m not blaming you at all. I was just frustrated that those two are…”
“I understand. You don’t have to be concerned about me.” However, the atmosphere couldn’t be lightened up with just a few words; he needed to change the topic.
Joachim threw in a topic that Evelyn would be very interested in. “But I think there is some hope for those two.”
As he intended, Evelyn immediately showed interest, “Really? Honestly, Ms. Lyla is just indifferent to romantic emotions and her sensitivities are still within ordinary boundaries. But Mr. Zich is so eccentric, he shows no interest in those matters at all—I mean, how uninterested do you have to be to bring your date to a casino?” Evelyn even brought up past events and complained.
“For me, I think that’s why there’s hope.”
“In what way?” Evelyn wondered what aspect of the casino date caused Joachim think that there was still hope for a human who planned such a ridiculous day.
“To be honest, it’s not the first time Sir Zich faked a date. When I met him for the first time, he pretended to date someone during that time too, and his partner was Ms. Bargot. She was the one who killed my family and tried to ruin my estate.”
Evelyn knew about this event to a certain extent, so she quietly nodded.
“During that time, Sir Zich approached Ms. Bargot to retrieve information from her, and he was extremely skillful. He escorted her so perfectly that in an instant, rumors spread around that they were lovers.”
“What? Then, why would a person like that…”
“Yes, so that’s why I was also very surprised. After thinking deeply about this matter, I made a few conjectures.”
Evelyn looked at him with great interest, and Joachim continued, “I thought that Sir Zich did something that he really enjoyed on his date with Ms. Lyla, rather than doing a date for the sake of showing others.”
“…So what you’re saying is that the date he had with Ms. Bargot was merely an act, and the date he had with Ms. Lyla was Mr. Zich’s idea of a real date?”
“Yes.”
Evelyn was momentarily shocked by the completely unexpected answer. However, she was also excited that Joachim’s conjecture fit her hopeful outcome. Unfortunately, her excitement quickly died down.
“If that was his idea of a real date, isn’t that also a serious problem?”
“…” Joachim was unable to respond to that question.
