Chapter 27

Chapter 27. The Marquess of Hierro’s House (1)

Simon greeted the middle-aged noble, who looked older than the Duke.

"Marquess, it is an honor to meet you for the first time. I am Simon de Gresia."

His greeting to the Marquess was impeccably polite, but unlike his usual self, it was also remarkably stiff.

Was he nervous because he was standing before the Marquess?

After greeting the Marquess, he greeted the noblewomen as well, then exchanged greetings with the Marquess’s children.

The first was a young man who looked as though he had only just reached adulthood. Judging by his age, he seemed to be the Marquess’s eldest son.

Looking at him made me think of Martin, the illegitimate son we had seen on the way here.

The illegitimate son was broad-shouldered and full of confidence, while the legitimate heir looked weak-willed.

Even to a third party like me, the two of them were far too easy to compare.

After that, Simon greeted the other sons, who seemed ordinary enough, and finally turned to the daughters.

The very first was the eldest daughter, Adria. As she bowed her head, Simon opened his mouth.

"I-I would like to introduce myself properly. I am Simon de G-Gresia."

Good heavens. Simon, who seemed to have noble etiquette engraved into his body, was stammering.

Only then did I understand why he had been so tense.

I was not the only one who noticed.

The Marquess and the noblewomen smiled faintly, and Adria’s younger sisters covered their mouths and laughed softly.

Simon’s face turned bright red, but he still finished his greeting to the end.

That willingness to endure humiliation and carry on truly was the mark of a proper noble.

"Who is the boy behind you?"

After the Knight Commander and the Head Steward had also given their greetings, the Marquess looked at me and asked.

I had been hoping to let it pass so the atmosphere would not turn awkward, but once the Marquess had asked, I could hardly avoid introducing myself.

I stepped forward and bowed my head.

"My name is Alex. I offer my greetings to you, Marquess."

"Alex? Ah, that illegitimate son..."

When I glanced at him, I saw that he was already frowning deeply. The Marquess knew my name.

Well, of course he did. He was preparing for a political marriage. There was no way he would know nothing about the other family.

"...Then let us all go inside."

As expected, he barely acknowledged my greeting and simply led the group indoors.

I told you it would make things awkward. Why ask in the first place?

The Marquess’s family whispered among themselves as they looked at me.

Some stared at me with surprise, while others glared even more sharply than the Marquess.

In any case, most of them were plainly wearing expressions that said an illegitimate son had followed along into a place where he did not belong.

Only one person was different. Brother Simon’s prospective fiancée, upon hearing that I was an illegitimate son, looked at me with open interest.

Brother Simon entered the main residence surrounded by the Marquess’s family. Adria, who had been looking at me curiously, vanished into the main residence with them as well.

"I will show you to your quarters."

The knights, the Knight Commander, the Head Steward, and I were led separately to the guest rooms.

Fortunately, I was given a room of my own. It seemed they had no choice but to give me a private room because of my awkward position.

They even brought my lunch to my room separately.

After I had finished eating, someone came to my room.

He was one of the soldiers I had worked hard to win over on the journey to the Marquess’s House.

The soldier’s name was Juan, and compared to the others, he was quieter and more diligent.

I had spent money and effort to make him one of my people, and during the journey the Knight Commander had permitted him to assist me.

From Juan’s point of view, attending to a young master was probably a nuisance, but thanks to all the effort I had put into winning him over, he listened well whenever I asked something of him.

"Did you find out?"

"Yes. Fortunately, he did not go far."

"Where is he?"

"I confirmed that he is staying at an inn on Mercenary Street."

"He did not notice, did he? If he realized he was being watched, it might cause a misunderstanding."

"No. I changed into plain clothes and kept watch."

I really had chosen the right person. He had done even better than I had expected.

I had asked Juan to secretly tail Martin after we parted from him in front of the outer wall.

I had told Juan that the reason I wanted him followed was because I planned to sneak off later and surprise him.

The nuance was different, but in practice the reason was the same.

"You worked hard. I will be sure to repay you later."

"It is all right. I have already been repaid more than enough. I will definitely pay this money back later as well."

He thumped his chest. I heard the sound of the gold coin I had given him inside his shirt.

That gold coin was money to buy medicine for his sick mother.

The moment I heard that Juan needed money to buy medicine for her, I had immediately handed it over.

That was also why I had chosen Juan in the first place.

It was not a small amount of money even for me, but when it came to winning someone’s loyalty during a journey, it was hard to find anything faster or more certain than money.

Well, it was not as if I had anywhere else to invest it, and if he returned the principal before I came of age, it would not be much of a loss.

'Surely he is not going to run off with it. No way.'

Forcing down the unease in my heart, I asked for the name of the inn where Martin was staying.

"It is called the Silver Hero Inn."

Silver Hero. Was that a reference to the ancestor of the Marquess’s House?

In any case, it was an easy name to remember.

I made a few more requests of Juan as he left the room.

After he was gone, I sank into thought.

Thanks to meeting Martin along the way, things were progressing far more smoothly than expected.

I had found out where Martin was staying, and I had also learned that he had ties to mercenaries.

Whether they were the same mercenaries I had encountered before was something I could confirm myself.

While I was at it, I had also found out when Simon fell for Adria, and why Martin had needlessly stirred up trouble in the first place.

"So now all that remains is to find evidence."

Unless the situation became the absolute worst-case scenario, there was no way I could handle this personally.

I would have to borrow someone else’s hand, meaning the Marquess’s. And if I wanted to report Martin to the Marquess, I would need evidence.

Well, judging by the situation, it did not have to be hard evidence. Something enough to arouse suspicion in the Marquess or his wives would probably suffice.

"All right, then. I suppose it is time to create a reason to go out."

I rose from my seat and headed to the room where the Knight Commander was staying.

"You want to know when Young Master Simon will be going on an outing?"

"Yes. I think I need to look over the places beforehand."

A faint, incredulous smile passed across the Knight Commander’s lips.

"A preliminary inspection? Where did you even hear of such a thing?"

Well, I could not say I failed to understand how he felt, but I continued anyway.

"I came as part of Brother Simon’s escort. On the way here and on the way back, there are knights and soldiers, so there is nothing for me to do. It is the same inside the lord’s castle."

I had not seen Brother Simon even once in the half day since our arrival. While we remained inside the castle, it looked as though I would not even get the chance to see his face, let alone escort him.

"During the outing, only a small number of people will move together, so that is when I will be truly needed. I want to carry out the duty I was given properly."

I lied through my teeth with all the effort I could muster.

"...Very well."

The Knight Commander gave his permission with a reluctant expression.

"But I cannot send you on a preliminary inspection alone. Go with one knight."

"Then I will go with Sir Ugo."

"Ugo?"

"Yes. I think Sir Ugo would be good at it."

The Knight Commander looked at me steadily. His expression seemed to ask how I could possibly know that.

Well, that was because I had seen it in my previous life...

I returned his gaze with the expression of someone merely making a guess.

The outing was set for three days later.

That was because the introductions and greetings that had begun on the day of our arrival continued into the following day.

The betrothal between the House of Gresia and the Marquess of Hierro’s House had already become a widespread rumor.

Several banquets were held, and people kept flocking in because they wanted to become acquainted with the future heir of the House of Gresia.

So many people came that the outing was nearly canceled, but the ladies of the Marquess’s House insisted that the two concerned also needed time to speak among themselves, and so the outing was finally arranged.

Fortunately, Mercenary Street was included in the route.

On the day before the outing, I left the lord’s castle in order to inspect the route in advance.

Senior Knight Ugo left the castle with me, and the Marquess’s House attached someone to us to guide us through the city.

Strangely enough, they sent a maid.

"It is a pleasure to meet you for the first time. I am Bianca."

At this repeated twist of fate, I could not help laughing.

Thinking about it, it was not all that strange that she had been sent to guide us.

I was still a member of the ducal family, even if I was an illegitimate son.

Because of my age, they could hardly send me out without a maid, and at the same time, they could not very well send just any maid outside the lord’s castle.

The three of us left the lord’s castle and walked on in silence.

Bianca looked no different from the last time I had seen her. She showed only the face of a maid assigned to guide us while keeping her true ability concealed.

Still, she could not hide every bit of the presence that leaked out little by little.

But unlike in my previous life, Ugo did not notice the hidden presence she was concealing.

Even back then, if he had not heard about it in advance, he surely would not have recognized Bianca’s ability.

Was it only Ugo who could not perceive it? Or could none of the knights perceive it?

I would have to look into whether noticing Bianca’s ability was part of my own ability, or whether it was simply a trait of nobles.

We followed the route planned for the outing. Fortunately, it did not leave the city.

Once we had gotten farther from the lord’s castle, Bianca began explaining the sights around us.

"This is the central plaza. It is famous for the anecdote that the Marquess two generations ago confessed his love to the Marquess’s wife at the fountain in this square."

The story she delivered with such an expressionless face did not suit her expression at all.

"That temple over there has been empty for a year now. The priest in charge got drunk and cast a holy art in reverse, so it became a restricted zone. If you go inside, you will end up impotent, so please be careful."

Her commentary mixed the sort of gossip neighborhood matrons whispered to one another with the kind of stories people tried to keep hushed up.

Sir Ugo was listening to her with a baffled expression.

As expected, that personality of hers had not gone anywhere. Still, she had not been quite this sharp before... It seemed she had some sort of grievance.

Unfortunately, this was not the time to listen to her complaints.

As he listened to her, Ugo was diligently surveying the surroundings, and I imitated him.

After passing through several places like that, we finally arrived at the place I wanted.

"This is Mercenary Street. There is not much worth saying about it. It is loud, filthy, and full of troublemakers."

It was an extraordinarily scathing assessment, but looking at Mercenary Street spread out before us, it was hard to deny her words.

The atmosphere of the street was lively.

Armed mercenaries walked about in groups, while boys and girls called out to draw them in.

Toward the inns, toward the weapon shops and other stores, toward the taverns.

And in the corners, mercenaries who had drunk themselves senseless lay sprawled on the ground, while tavern women and mercenaries shouted at one another.

On one side of that filthy, noisy street, I spotted the signboard I had been looking for.

[Silver Hero Inn]

It was the inn where Martin was staying.

"Could we stop in for a moment? I would like to see what the atmosphere is like inside as well."

The two of them found my request puzzling, but neither objected.

I led them both into the Silver Hero Inn.

Perhaps because it was daytime, the first floor of the inn was not particularly noisy.

There were people who had been drinking since the night before and were now sprawled out, people eating their meals,

and mercenaries speaking together in low voices.

Among those mercenaries, I saw the man I had been looking for.

No, there were mercenaries there whose faces I recognized as well.

The crazy woman mercenary, and the male mercenary who had killed Adria and me.

The two of them were talking with Martin.