5. Bread and dagger (67)
Yurdina Castle fell into silence.
It was because two bad news arrived one after another.
One was the news of the disappearance of Ian Percus, the hero of the continent, and the other was the obituary of a loyalist who supported the Yurdina family.
Alex is dead.
He was a northerner by birth. His hot-tempered temperament, his courage not to avoid battle, and his meticulousness in remembering even the names of the lowest-ranking soldiers.
There were few people in Yurdina who didn’t respect him.
It was the death of the Nogisa who was so loved.
Even if there was a gloomy atmosphere in the castle, it couldn’t be helped. Not to mention, some of the high-ranking officials of the Yurdina family heard even more shocking news.
Ian Perkus betrayed humanity.
Delphine silently drank the wine from the glass. It should have tickled the tip of his nose with the fragrant incense of American liquor, but now he couldn’t feel anything.
It was the saintess who was in charge of the investigation team’s report.
Those who remained could not easily escape from the mental scars.
Not to mention Seria, Emma had been locked in her room for a long time since that day. He said that he often heard only the sound of giggling and swallowing tears.
princess?
The girl didn’t even know where she was or what she was doing. Locked in a room, wandering somewhere, or chewing on nails.
will be doing anything
Even the saintess was barely holding on. There was no time left to worry about others.
I had no interest in what the immature little child was doing.
However, the saintess was also curious.
How will Delphine Yurdina react when she hears this news?
I already knew that the relationship between the two was complicated. It started as a bad relationship, became a colleague, and after that it became a close friend.
Recently, rumors of infidelity have been floating around.
Delphine Yurdina, a woman in white jade who doesn’t seem to bleed even when stabbed.
Will she even have tears?
The answer soon became apparent.
“So?”
“… … Yeah?”
It was an overly plain reply.
As a saintess who was carefully examining Delphine’s appearance, she couldn’t help but be embarrassed.
Like it or not, Delphine sipped the wine in her glass and continued.
“My judgment is yes, saintess… In the end, he disappeared without a trace, and all that was left was his corpse. And even the cause of death is not clear.”
“Sir Alex’s cause of death seems rather clear, but… … .”
“I doubt the signature of the soldier who actually left a will.”
Hmm, even the way she lowered her eyes in agony was alluring.
It was like a creature whose nature was born to charm men. The saintess was also in a position to be wooed by numerous men, but it did not give off such a captivating feeling.
The existence itself was a sensational woman.
Ian’s passing was understandable. Unlike the saintess who was ignorant of sex, Delphine seemed adept at seduction.
In the past, I really hated that fact.
I couldn’t even laugh now.
If Ian wasn’t there anyway, it was just nonsense.
No, it’s okay to have an affair, so it’s been a few days since I’ve been praying for you to come back.
Still, God has not shown any answer.
As always.
The saintess throbbed and slightly frowned at the pain.
Delphine, on the other hand, remained calm. Sipping wine, the woman added reasoning.
“Why did you have to? If the beast had committed it alone, of course the cause of death would have been the same.”
“What if there was help from the elves?”
Delphine did not deny the possibility.
I just shook my head and added another question.
“On the contrary, there could have been an alien world of elves.”
It was the closest to the truth among the hypotheses put forward so far.
However, the saintess shook her head with a wry smile.
The women were desperate.
If there was even a slight chance that Ian hadn’t betrayed humanity, he’d been trying his best not to let go.
Even so, there was a reason for not denying the words left by the soldier.
“Sister Yurdina, Ian has lost his memory.”
The saintess’ calm voice was deeply tinged with sorrow.
Delphine said nothing.
The only thing that could be heard was the gurgling of an empty glass.
“And Ian killed Sir Alex. It’s clear from the scars left on the body. It means that you have already decided to side with the elves… Why do elves have to fake the deaths of soldiers?”
“Lest he change his mind and go back?”
“It’s a leap.”
It was said with a wry smile.
According to the news conveyed by the Hagiya messenger, the power of the elven village was weak. In such a village, there was no one capable of fooling Ian’s eyes.
I don’t know if I’ve received any kind of support.
But even considering the presence of reinforcements, it was hard to imagine the need for them to drive a wedge between Ian and humanity.
Because Ian had already lost his memory.
So he should have been on the side of the elves. Otherwise, there would be no reason to turn against the human race where my fate is staying.
It’s a quandary.
The more the question asked, the more the answer was invisible. The more so, the conclusion of logic flows to the clearest answer.
Ian Perkus betrayed humanity.
So far, that hypothesis is the most likely.
The saintess gave a pitiful smile for the last time.
“But I understand what Sister Yurdina meant. I believe in Ian too, that he will not betray us… But, it’s a little difficult right now. Talk to you next time.”
After the saintess left, Delphine remained silent for a long time.
“Alex… … .”
We had known each other since childhood.
Delphine’s heart was not at peace either. Even more so, the person who killed him was Ian Percus.
Isn’t it the one who offered the virgin?
It was funny.
Even though an aide who had been with her all her life died, the person who came to her mind right away was a man she had met less than a year ago.
Could it be because I burned the night?
Since it was my first time, I didn’t even know that my body was mistaking it for being my west side. Even though Delphine’s heart wasn’t love.
Yes, it should have been.
No matter how many times I comforted myself, the nervousness did not go away. Delphine quietly opened her mouth after pouring several drinks down her gullet.
“Rinella… Why don’t you come out now?”
Then, a change was detected in the stagnant airflow.
The blanket that had risen above Delphine’s bed began to wriggle. And soon, a lovely woman appears inside of him with a puha sound.
It was Elsie Rainella.
Perhaps it was because she had been hiding there for a long time, sweat was forming on her forehead. The way I tugged at my collar to let the air through proved this.
Delphine snorted and tilted her glass again.
“Why are you hiding? Are you going to say something you don’t want others to hear?”
“Well, there was a reason for that!”
It was a counterargument that he spat out while clenching his dainty fist.
After tidying up her clothes, Elsie jumped down the bed. The sound of clearing his cough was representative of his embarrassed mind.
“At least it’s a secret from the boobies… It will bother you.”
Seeing Elsie’s hesitancy, Delphine silently shook her glass.
The wine was dripping and leaving ripples.
It was after that that the question was asked.
“So, why did you come to my bedroom to ask for a favor? By the way, I have no hobby of welcoming idle guests.”
“Give me a guide.”
It was an out of the blue request.
However, the intention was so transparent that Delphine put down the glass with a wry smile.
“I can’t do it alone.”
“Yeah, you can’t just stay still!”
It was truly Elsie-like.
Asking for a guide even though it is impossible, is it not pity for the guide to accompany him? Considering Elsie’s usual temperament, this wasn’t strange either.
Elsie was always like that.
It was always like a flame, and no matter what others said, it never broke. That’s why Delphine didn’t even know that she hated Elsie.
Because I didn’t quietly accept defeat.
Or, maybe he saw the blond little boy who was just trembling from his obsession with the match.
In the past, Delphine would have rejected Elsie’s request with a single stroke.
The choice to invest power in useless places was not like Delphine. To put it bluntly, there was no room left for a large-scale search through the coniferous forest.
If you want to explore, you need to organize a small elite.
And given the various circumstances, it was reasonable to classify Ian as a potential hostile force. If so, the risk of this mission increases exponentially.
Ian Perkus was special in creating various variables using secondary weapons.
But meet him in a place with many cover terrain like a forest?
It was the worst.
There was a high probability that only meaningless power loss would occur.
Even so, why didn’t he say anything?
After being silent for a while, Delphine made an impulsive decision.
“… … OK, I’ll put it on.”
“Hey, you narrow-minded bitch! Our comrade was taken to the elven lair, but it’s not even that much… huh? Boo, will you stick it?”
Of course, it was Elsie who expected to be rejected.
As if he had waited, he poured out the swear words he had loaded up, but he had no choice but to be dumbfounded when he realized Delphine’s meaning.
Of course, Delphine didn’t even care how Elsie reacted.
He merely added a condition in a calm voice.
“Instead, I will go with you.”
It was an even more unexpected proposal.