“You people were all way too worried. From the start, I knew there was no way he’d die. Of course, it was my spell that saved him, so you can give me credit for that,” Charlotte said with one of her usual smirks. She’d earned it, this time─I really would have died without her. That went for Virge getting me the poison aqua magia that I’d needed as well, of course. I owed him my thanks too.
“I’m sorry I worried you, everyone,” I said, “and I promise that I’ll be more cautious from now on. I’ll make sure that nothing like this ever happens again.”
“I-It’s… It’s my responsibility to make sure that nothing like this happens, period! I swear that I’ll never allow your life to be put in danger again, Lord Ars! I swear it!” declared Rietz.
He really must have felt responsible for what had happened to me. He had plenty of other responsibilities, of course, so I couldn’t let him be too terribly preoccupied with guarding me. If I was going to get by in this world, I would have to learn to keep self-protection constantly in mind. Summerforth wasn’t anywhere near as peaceful as Japan had been, after all.
“All right! Let’s get this meeting started,” I said.
With that, my first meeting in a very long time commenced. We covered all the usual topics, from the current issues facing the county to the appeals we’d received from our citizens. My retainers talked amongst themselves, gradually working toward the optimal solutions for each issue. There were many times when I just sat back and listened, though ultimately, it was up to me to make the final call in each case.
“By the way, what are the Shadows doing right now? Are they still searching for the assassin? What was her name…Zetsu?” Rosell asked Rietz.
Pham and his crew had spent a long time trying to track down the assassin who had poisoned me. My Appraisal skill had told me her name was Natasha, by the way, but apparently she went by Zetsu while working as an assassin. Plenty of people went by alternate names─Pham himself being one of them─and I’d decided to make a point of calling her Zetsu in the future.
“They’re still carrying on their search, yes,” explained Rietz. “To allow an individual who attempted to assassinate the head of House Louvent run free would be a stain upon our honor. Moreover, she was able to approach Lord Ars thanks to some sort of technique that allowed her to fool the results of his Eye of Appraisal. Being as there is a chance that Seitz has access to that technique, it is of vital importance that we learn its workings, lest his power become impractical to use. Apprehending Zetsu and forcing her to divulge her methods is the fastest and most effective option available to us.”
I felt that Rietz was letting his grudge against Zetsu color his analysis maybe just a little, but he also had a point. Catching Zetsu might be hard, but if it let us learn how she’d managed to falsify her status screen, it would make my future recruitment efforts much easier.
“Hmm. Do you think we’re gonna be able to catch her, though?” asked Rosell. “I guess it’d be best if we could for sure, so it makes sense to keep up the search. We don’t want to have all the Shadows out and about and leave Canarre unguarded from enemy spies again, though, so I think we should probably cut down on how many people we dedicate to that job.”
“Now that, I agree with. I’ll give the order at once,” said Rietz, accepting Rosell’s suggestion without protest.
It would certainly be nice to find Zetsu, if we could manage it. Her stats had been very high when I appraised her after her disguise wore off, as well, so she was unquestionably capable. If I had a chance, I would’ve liked to recruit her as a new retainer…though I knew even considering that was dangerously naive of me.
The rest of our meeting proceeded more or less as usual, and ended without any major developments cropping up. I’d completely regained my former endurance, at that point, so I was able to last through the whole meeting without any difficulties─not that meetings like that required all that much stamina in the first place, I suppose.
And so, we at House Louvent managed to escape from the crisis we’d found ourselves in and returned to our usual daily lives.
A few days came and went.
The day started like any other. I got up in the morning, had breakfast, and was in the study, writing a reply to a letter from another noble house when Rietz burst into the room.
“Urgent news, Lord Ars!” Rietz shouted in a fluster. I knew in an instant what that meant: Rietz only lost his composure like that when the news was bad.
I was certain that something awful had happened. Had Seitz invaded? Had someone done something appalling, or had someone been poisoned like I had? A whole assortment of worst-case scenarios flashed through my mind, but as it turned out, I was wrong about all of them.
“We’ve received a report from Shin─he’s completed his airship!”
○
In a corner of Ansel’s capital─the Imperial Capital of the Summerforth Empire─was a certain pub. It was almost entirely unoccupied, at the moment, populated only by its owner and a pair of customers who were seated at the bar. Not that there was anywhere else for them to sit: the pub was so narrow that there wasn’t room for anything other than a counter.
One of the customers was a woman wearing a bulky hood that obscured her features. The other, who wore a mask, was the assassin Zetsu.
“It’s quite the rare thing to see you fail to finish a job,” said the hooded woman.
“It really isn’t─these things happen, and the holder of the Eye of Appraisal would never be an easy target. He’s been blessed with capable followers indeed,” replied Zetsu. Her words were calm and calculating in a way that implied no frustration at all. She didn’t seem upset in the least about her failure.
“And now those capable followers are after you?”
“So it seems. The Summerforth Empire is a big place…but I do believe they’ll be making my work a little harder, for the time being.”
“Careful not to let them catch you,” the hooded woman said with a sneer. She made it sound like she was, to the contrary, hoping that her companion would be apprehended.
Zetsu shrugged. “Considering my reputation’s taken a hit after this failure, I won’t be getting many promising jobs for the time being anyway. This might be the right time for me to take a break. What about you, Raku? Has anything happened on your end recently?”
“Hmm. Nothing noteworthy. Work’s been as steady as ever. Oh, but you’ve reminded me─you said you found the Eye of Appraisal’s bearer, didn’t you?” the hooded woman─Raku─asked.
“Right,” Zetsu confirmed.