Chapter 115
Chapter 115
“Lord Cassis!”
I waved my hands vigorously toward Cassis, who was slowly approaching on horseback from the distance.
“Irina?”
Cassis approached with a suspicious face from far away, and when he was not too far from me, he came closer with his brow deeply furrowed.
[He’s angry!]
[What are we going to do!]
Well, what can I do? I’m already here, so why get angry? He just has to accept it.
[Right, honestly, even though it’s because of the Emperor, there’s been no contact for so long, he shouldn’t be angry that you came looking for him.]
That’s a good point. I should use those exact words later if Cassis gets angry with me.
While I was having these pointless thoughts, Cassis dismounted and approached me.
“Why are you here?”
“Well, there was no contact from you for so long. I wondered what was going on, so I came.”
“…Are you out of your mind?”
Cassis immediately became angry with me.
“Do you know how dangerous this place is, and you just came recklessly? If I wasn’t in contact, it means it’s that dangerous, and you should have been more cautious.”
Wow, I think this is the first time I’ve seen Cassis speak so much and so quickly.
I blinked and stared blankly at Cassis as he stood before me, veins popping, scolding me.
Cassis had become quite haggard since I’d last seen him. He’d also gotten a bit grimy.
I couldn’t help but worry whether he was eating properly, getting enough sleep, and if his accommodations were decent.
“Leave immediately.”
“Lord Cassis, are you sleeping well?”
“Don’t change the subject, and this time, as your master—”
“Half your face is gone. Our Lord Cassis, whose only good feature is his face, who could have ruined this handsome face?”
I muttered, cutting off Cassis’s words as if talking to myself.
“…”
Cassis, perhaps taken aback, silently stared at me with a loss for words.
“Oh my goodness, it’s Irina! Irina! Please save us. Huhuhuheung.”
And at just the right timing, a light voice was heard.
“Senior Roen.”
“Ha, I really feel like I’m going to die. What are we going to do?”
“Roen.”
Cassis called Roen’s name in a low voice, as if warning him. But Roen, as if he couldn’t hear Cassis, strode over to me and clung to me.
I staggered momentarily under the unexpectedly heavy weight.
“There’s really nothing we can do. To do anything, we’d have to eliminate the demonic beasts first. But they told us not to eliminate them.”
“Oh dear.”
“We’re doomed. I’ll never amount to anything.”
“Oh, my…”
With a hunched posture due to Roen’s weight, I halfheartedly expressed sympathy. And I just barely managed to raise my head to look earnestly at Cassis.
“…Roen. That’s enough.”
Noticing my pleading gaze, Cassis grabbed Roen and pulled him away from me.
Roen was dragged away by Cassis without resistance.
Cassis looked at both Roen and me, then surveyed the surroundings before suggesting we move elsewhere.
“Oh, you’re staying in a place that’s not too bad.”
His barracks were shabby, if anything, but seemed to have everything necessary.
Roen responded to my comment by asking what I was thinking to evaluate this place as “not too bad,” and I snorted in response to his provocation.
“Roen, Irina. Both of you stop fighting.”
“Yes, sir.”
“Yeeees.”
Cassis stared at me and opened his mouth. His words sounded like a sigh.
“Irina, I’ll ask again. What brings you here?”
“Aren’t you happy to see me?”
“Stop evading the question.”
He seems to have noticed I’m dodging the question. I shrugged once, dropped the playfulness, and spoke with a serious face.
“I see you’re completely trapped here, and I couldn’t just leave it be.”
“You could have sent someone else instead. Much better than Irina coming directly…”
Cassis’s voice grew increasingly louder. I interrupted him.
“Much better? Who?”
“…”
“Luwin has no talent. There are no proper people. The most capable person, Senior Roen, is trapped with you in Mashuf village.”
“Still, there must have been a better way.”
“Several months have passed while trying to find that better way. Considering the effort I’ve put in to get here, you shouldn’t condemn me like this, Lord Cassis.”
“…”
“And honestly, you don’t have a solution right now, do you?”
At my words, Cassis responded with a stern face.
“That’s not entirely true. And did Irina come here again without one?”
Not entirely true? That’s a relief.
And of course there must be a solution.
I shrugged as if wondering why he would ask such a thing.
“I don’t understand why Lord Cassis is so angry with me. Isn’t it natural for a subordinate to come?”
Cassis’s face suggested he was at a loss for words. Roen, who had been quietly staying in place, suddenly stood up.
“I have other matters to attend to, so I’ll take my leave. Please resolve your issues, and call me again when needed.”
[He’s quick-witted.]
[Indeed.]
After Roen left, an awkward silence descended on the barracks.
I was the first to speak.
“I understand your concern. Out of worry, you excluded me from tasks related to demonic beasts. I understand. But that way, nothing can be done.”
Cassis gazed at me intently.
“Is my role just to resolve Luwin’s debt? No. My role is to restore Luwin’s honor. I’m resolving the debt for that purpose. Your suffering in someone else’s territory because of demonic beasts is also related to Luwin’s honor.”
“I see…”
“So I’m going to actively intervene.”
Cassis was much more appeased than before.
He took a step toward me.
“…I’m sorry.”
An apology delivered in a voice that seemed dejected.
For a moment, I felt my heart skip a beat.
“I know you’re a strong person who doesn’t easily break, but you’re also someone who seems fragile enough to break if bumped.”
There was a strange power in his calm and gentle voice. For someone who always spoke indifferently and insensitively to speak in such a voice.
“I understand what you mean.”
“I’m glad, then.”
“But please don’t be angry. Just tell me you’re worried.”
“…”
Seeing Cassis with his lips turned up ever so slightly, I found myself whining without realizing it. I crossed my arms, slightly turned my head, and said:
“I really put in a lot of effort to get here. It took a lot of time… So just say you’re worried, and welcome me warmly.”
“I am worried.”
“Yes, like that.”
“That’s why I wished Irina hadn’t come.”
Oh, come on. That’s not what I meant.
After all my explaining, saying that makes me look like what?
But just as I was about to turn my head abruptly to object, something gently touched my cheek.
“…!”
It was Cassis’s finger.
I hesitated at the sudden contact. His finger still lightly touched my cheek, and perhaps because I didn’t step back… the finger that had lightly touched my cheek slid embarrassingly along the texture of my skin.
And then, Cassis’s hand cupped my cheek. A warm heat touched my face.
Slightly surprised, I looked up at Cassis blankly.
Cassis’s face was soft and warm.
“Still, seeing you like this, I find it a bit absurd how happy and excited my heart is.”
“…You were excited?”
“Of course.”
Cassis gently narrowed his eyes and pulled me in. I moved obediently as he drew me.
And so I ended up in Cassis’s embrace.
Even as my face buried in his broad, firm chest, it didn’t feel real.
“I missed you a lot.”
“…Yes.”
“I don’t know about you, but I truly missed you.”
I’ve been denying it all along, but meeting Irina directly, I can’t deny it anymore.
Cassis added that whisper-like confession to my ear.
For a long time, I couldn’t move an inch at the cotton-like confession that settled in my ear, and just stood still, feeling Cassis’s body heat.
* * *
“Count Adela is actively providing help. The problem is those things we’re not allowed to lay a finger on.”
Beyond the iron bars, demonic beasts in human form were wandering aimlessly.
“How’s their attack power?”
“They’re definitely weaker than those from Duke Hellis’s mansion. But by no means are they at a level that can be ignored.”
Although they couldn’t hunt down the humanoid demonic beasts, they hadn’t just been playing around all this time.
They had been analyzing the demonic beasts in detail.
“Those who had exceptional talents when they were human have tremendous power even as demonic beasts. For example, when I directly confronted one who was a knight of Count Adela, he was at the level of the demonic beast we encountered at Duke Hellis’s mansion.”
“How’s the number of demonic beasts?”
“Growing every day.”
Roen explained, following Cassis.
“The number of people who have died from demonic beasts so far is about 300. And the number of humanoid demonic beasts discovered so far is about 70.”
My face grew troubled.
That meant the number of demonic beasts would only increase, not decrease.
Moreover, he had mentioned that the power of these demonic beasts was much stronger than that of the regular animal-type demonic beasts. They seemed to have abilities too.
“Doesn’t this become more and more unfavorable to us as time passes?”
“That’s right.”
The emperor’s the problem. No doubt about it.
[Exactly.]
[What should we do?]
“So, the imperial decree itself… is not to hunt humanoid demonic beasts? And the purpose is because of Count Adela’s eldest son?”
“That’s essentially it.”
“The prohibition against attacking humanoid demonic beasts applies to everyone, right?”
So not just our Luwin people, but also the imperial knights and the imperial army shouldn’t kill humanoid demonic beasts?
“Yes, that’s right. But Irina, the problem is that they never come to the front line. So there’s no damage either.”
I frowned.
They’re playing really dirty.
[What do we do?]
[Yes…]
Then there’s no choice.
The Emperor’s orders, no matter how nonsensical, are absolute. Only those with sufficient power and support base can resist such orders, even slightly.
“Then we should prioritize finding Count Adela’s eldest son first.”
“Well, that’s already in progress.”
“However, one thing I’ve been thinking about lately…”
I looked at Cassis, who seemed to be speaking after much contemplation.
“Let’s exploit the loopholes in the imperial decree.”
