Book 2: Chapter 6
Book 2: Chapter 6
「You are a terrific master of martial arts. I’m sure you were brought up with rigorous training from an early age.」said Maxim-san, once he got back up. And the rest of the knights, although displeased, no longer openly criticised.
「If that escort can activate 【Dark Magic】 as quickly as that, he surely has either 【Mana Control】 or 【Magic Aptitude Enhancement】.」
「And he’s circulating the smoke with 【Wind Magic】, right?」
「I heard he used 【Earth Magic】 when he saved His Excellency the Earl.」
「Then, how did he dodge Maxim-sama’s attack? There aren’t enough skill holders for all of them.」
Some knights were discussing that in one corner.
I guess they’ll get suspicious if I use various types of magic… how troublesome.
On a side note, it was actually thanks to Raikira-san that my physical movement improved. I heard about Raikira-san’s skill from Zerry-san.
「The young boss received an incredibly rare skill orb from the leader of our mercenary group. It was 【Body Enhancement★★★】. The skill orb that raises the muscle strength of the whole body… I wonder where the leader got it from…」
Raikira-san’s movement was not due to skill orbs that enhance one specific part, but one that provides overall enhancement, just like 【Four Elemental Magic】. The moment I realised that, 【World Ruler】 learned the skill.
Thanks to that, my movements shot up by several levels.
I was helped by Raikira-san once again. It felt like a “memento” from him.
「Reiji!」
The match had a great influence on the young lady.
She became more attached and asked me to stay by her side. At first, I was wondering what to do about the attachment of the greenhouse-grown strawberry princess, but she didn’t seem to let up anytime soon.
Children of the same age weren’t around Lady Eva.
There were no schools. Nobles usually hired a private tutor. The tutors were all retired civil officials and nobles, meaning only old people. Speaking of friends of the same age, she meets them once in a while when her father takes her along to high society parties like Dance Party, Tea Party, and Evening Party.
「Children of my age are too scared to approach me.」the young lady said to me, with a sullen face, during a study break from a private tutor.
「Is it because you are beautiful?」
「Of course not! Even you are making fun of me, Reiji!」
「Well, I was being honest, though…」
「Eh!?」
The flustered young lady, flushing, looked much more human than the “Cold-Blooded Lord” —Ahhh, so that’s what the kids are afraid of.
「W-W-What do you m-mean I am b-beautiful…」
「Is it because of His Excellency that everyone is afraid to approach you?」
「Y-Yeah, that’s right. But that’s not what I asked. Y-You said something about b-beautiful–」
「That’s unfortunate. You’ll surely find good friends one day.」
「…Reiji?」
「Well then, let’s continue studying. Teacher, we can resume.」
On one hand, I sympathized with the young lady who was born to the Earl who was called “Cold-Blooded Lord”. But on the other hand, I couldn’t understand why she was extremely moody for the rest of the day.
The “Cold-blooded Lord” seemed to have incurred the resentment of numerous people.
However, when I asked for the reason, I found that those resentments can be summed up to being unjustified resentment.
「…The reason I was attacked? Hmm, I suppose it is necessary information as Eva’s escort, so I shall tell you.」
Once every 10 days, I had to meet the Earl for a “reporting session”. It was to confirm the progress of the conditions I put forth and to inform the Earl on how the young lady was doing.
「I was assigned to be the “Special Assistant Secretary” of the “Altar Management Bureau”, an organization directly under the Holy King.」
…An unknown organization seems to have popped up.
「Reiji-san, it seems you’re not very familiar with these matters despite being in the Holy King’s Knights Order. Well, you will learn eventually. Simply put, I am “The Holy King’s Dagger”.」
「Not “The Secretary’s Dagger” despite being assistant secretary?」
「Yes. I won’t go into the details, but you know that there is “First Altar” that produces skill orbs in the Kruvan Holy Kingdom, right?」
「!」
There are 8 places in the world that produce skill orbs.
One of them is Six Mine, where I worked as a slave.
As the name suggests, First Altar is an altar, and it seems that a lot of skill orbs appear on the altar accompanied by light every day.
Much more efficient than mining in a mine. Considering that there are many places where it is difficult to harvest such as the seabed, glaciers, and lava, you can effortlessly acquire a large amount of skill orbs that pop out at the altar in Kruvan Holy Kingdom.
In this world, skill orbs are directly connected to military power.
The fact that the Kruvan Holy Kingdom is one of the major powers is very much due to the benefits of “First Altar”.
「At first, I considered the possibility that Reiji-san approached me because you wanted to know about the altar, but that doesn’t seem to be the case. What you wanted is information related to skill orbs of “5 stars or more”, correct?」
「Yes. I’d like to hear any information about the appearance of such skill orbs, or auctioned ones, etc. Anything at all.」
「I hear it only a few times a year…」
「I don’t mind.」
The Earl nodded.
「Reij-san. I have been researching everything about the altar at the command of the Holy King. In the last few years, the number of stars of skill orbs emerging from the altar has dropped and I have been investigating it.」
「The number of stars has dropped…?」
「The number of appearances of three or more stars has clearly decreased. The only thing that can be concluded from this is that people within the organization have been selling it through illegal channels.」
「Traitors…?」
「Not quite. They didn’t do it with the intention of betrayal, but rather were having trouble with money. In the last year, I finally discovered the fact that skill orbs were being sold illegally, and caught and executed all the related nobles.」
Eek. Executed?
「I-Is it that serious of a crime?」
I stood in front of the Earl, while feeling slight shivers running down my body. The Earl explained indifferently, like reading from a report.
Publicly, they were accused of embezzlement, bribery, and possession of slaves. According to the Earl, “Anyone who violates the altar couldn’t possibly be innocent” – and were executed.
The altar is absolutely inviolable.
The Holy King strongly reminded that problems would arise if information that the altar was defiled were to leak, thus the Earl took on the entire responsibility for the investigation and execution.
Thus born the nickname “Cold-Blooded Lord”.
The assailants who aimed for the Earl’s life seems to have been sent by someone connected to the nobles who were executed.
「Um… Your Excellency.」
「What is it, Reiji-san?」
「Why did you tell me something so important which was ordered by the Holy King?」
「………」
「………」
What a sly man. Don’t just smile it off!
「Couldn’t you have perhaps explained a little about this before I accepted the escort request…?」
「Well, you didn’t ask.」
How am I supposed to ask that! How am I even supposed to come up with that exact scenario to ask about that!
Well, I suppose the Earl couldn’t have talked about it before I became an escort though!
「By the way, Reiji-san. This is information about “Lulusha”. Just as before, no one has been found to meet your description.」
I received a report written on paper. Not only “Lulusha” but also similar names such as “Luluusha” and “Lulushi” were being investigated.
Despite the Earl’s nickname, Cold-Blooded Lord, I feel he is polite and sincere when we are together. He also bound the contract magic, after all.
After that, I gave a report on the lady. Only during that period, I can sense slight happiness from the Earl.
And that was how usual reporting sessions went.
That aspect changed about a month ago. That was also when the young lady and I started the “Slave Business Crushing”.