“Master, please don’t put too much pressure on yourself, okay? Of course, the best-case scenario would be you successfully carrying out your investigation, but things may not go that smoothly. Prioritize your safety, and don’t hesitate to use magic if you have to,” Flèche said.
“Huh?”
“If Hanche figures out your intentions and makes this a problem between our two nations, I’ll just freeze anyone who complains. So don’t worry about that and conduct your investigation freely.”
“That’s... All right, I’ll do that.”
I wouldn’t. Because of what he just said, I absolutely could not let my guard down while I was in Hanche. Why? Because I knew for a fact that he would follow through on his threats.
Sometimes, I really hate the fact that he has so much mana.
I would conduct my investigation methodically and carefully so as not to get Flèche involved.
As the three of us discussed our plan, Char emerged from the mansion. He must’ve finished his work for now.
“Oh, Char. You came at the perfect time,” I said, looking up at my husband from my seat on the bench.
He was eyeing Flèche and me with suspicion. “What is happening here? Lam, did you get involved in something troublesome again?”
“What gave it away?” I asked.
My husband didn’t reply. Instead, he let out a deep sigh. “Your health has finally stabilized. Please don’t tell me you’re about to go do something absurd again.”
“Nothing of the sort, no. His Majesty has just entrusted me with a little mission. I’ll be traveling to Hanche for a while.”
Char turned to Flèche. “Could you please not assign jobs to my wife without notifying me? Also, you’re sitting too close to her.”
“I’m just here on an unofficial visit. Besides, why would master need your permission to do something?”
Char’s mood soured, while cold air began radiating from Flèche. Sensing the tense atmosphere, Thibault froze like a statue, his face as pale as a sheet.
“Don’t fight in the garden, you two. I’ll get very angry if you do,” I said.
Char and Flèche had the worst compatibility out of all of my disciples. Lance seemed to see him as a like-minded comrade, and, despite mocking him and calling him a “fledgling,” Épée had accepted him as a fellow disciple. As for Flèche, I didn’t think he flat-out rejected him; he had let us move to his kingdom and had given Char a peerage. But...
They simply don’t get along.
The two of them were too prickly and overly suspicious of each other.
“He just asked me to do a bit of snooping in the royal palace of Hanche,” I said.
“I-I apologize for asking for the countess’s help,” Thibault interjected, seemingly unable to endure the electric tension any longer. “B-Basically...”
He went on to explain everything he had just recounted to me. Despite seeming a little unreliable, there was no doubt Thibault was a good man.
“The Faith again?” Char grumbled. “They sure are a tenacious bunch.”
“Epocha is gone, and Lance has been going around the continent to inform all members of the Faith that he’s dissolving it. Other than Chaos and Néant, all the saints and holy knights are currently hedgehogs. In other words, the Faith is a lot less of a threat than it used to be. But I’m still a tad worried about their scheming in Hanche. If this turns out to be a false alarm, I’ll come home immediately,” I assured my husband.
“Do you really intend to go? No matter what?” he asked.
“Yes. Besides, I’m a little curious to see what kind of place Hanche is. And I’d prefer to take a look at the situation with the Faith before Lance learns about it and causes a huge stir. That boy can be a little unpredictable at times.”
“Fair point. Some of his letters do contain pretty violent details...”
Thanks to the letters the two of them exchanged on the regular, Char had a rough idea of what Lance was up to.
“Anyway, I am worried about what the Faith is doing, but I’m mostly interested in doing some sightseeing, really. Thibault told me that there are plenty of uncharted regions in Hanche, so I’m thinking I might be able to find clues about my master’s whereabouts. Don’t you think it sounds like there could be a hidden village in its wilderness?”
Lance had previously told me about a hidden elfin village. Elfins had always been reclusive, even five hundred years ago, preferring to keep to themselves. They were said to be the founders of magic and had always been shrouded in mystery.
My master, Finis, was an elfin, and even though I’d lived with her for years, I knew little about elfins beyond the basics of their culture and spells. She had always been considered an oddball even among her own kind, so it was safe to say I understood very little about their true ways.
Elfins preferred to keep their distance from others, not just from humans but even from their own kin, and Finis had been no different. Each of them traveled alone, conducted research alone, and practiced magic alone. As such, I was especially intrigued by the idea of a village where several of them lived together. Very, very intrigued.
Lance had still been a bit shaken by our battle with Epocha when he’d told me about the village, so his information had been a little vague. I’d had Char write him a letter asking for more details about the hidden village, but unfortunately, he hadn’t replied.
In the end, I’m back to square one. I still have no idea where my master could be.
The fact that Lance had called it a hidden village meant that it wasn’t just far from civilization; there must’ve been some system in place to prevent regular people from finding it. They likely used magic to control who could come and go. It definitely wasn’t the kind of place one could just wander into.
I have no idea how Lance even found it in the first place.
I knew that there was no guarantee that going to Hanche would lead me to Finis. But I just wanted to make some progress on my quest to be reunited with the woman who’d taken care of me all those years—especially since I was still frustrated about the way she’d suddenly left.
“Lam, if you really want to go, I won’t stop you,” Char said.
“You won’t?” I asked.
He paused, then added, “But I’m worried—for several reasons—so I would like to come with you.”
“We should be able to bring one more person along, right?” I asked Thibault.
Not only could Char use magic, but he also had exceptional physical prowess; he was the perfect type of person to infiltrate an order of knights.
Thibault nodded enthusiastically. He seemed to think that my husband was more reliable than I was.
“Lam, you don’t mind if I invite the twins too, do you? Things have been so peaceful lately, Fouet has been slacking off even more, and Barre seems to be on the verge of causing a riot out of boredom.”
“Now that you mention it...”
I reflected on the twins’ behaviors over the past few weeks. Fouet had been sneaking out of the mansion more frequently, spending time in his favorite spot on the island, while Barre often vanished for hours at a time, sometimes not returning that day at all. The two of them were adults, so it wasn’t like we needed to intervene, but it was clear they were growing restless with how calm things were now. I supposed it was a given, considering they’d never had this much free time in their lives. Perhaps Char was right, and going to Hanche would do them some good.
He’s worried about the twins, huh? Char truly has matured as the head of the family.
I told him I agreed with his proposition. “But who will take care of the mansion if all the adults are gone?” I asked.
“Canon and the other two can. They need to practice managing the estate in preparation for when I retire. They did a good job house-sitting while we were fighting Epocha, so they should be all right,” Char said.
I nodded. “Good point. They managed to protect the mansion well then.”
“Canon is my heir; he needs to be able to run a household by himself when I’m not around.”
“Oh, I get it now! You want to retire young, don’t you?”
Realizing he’d been found out, Char awkwardly averted his gaze. “I just want him to get used to his position. You know, to prepare for the worst.”
“Well, that’s a good point. I agree with you; it’ll be good practice for him,” I said before turning to Thibault. “Can we bring two more people with us? Char would like his aides to accompany us.”
“O-Of course. I’ll... I’ll figure something out,” Thibault replied.
How reliable!
And so, it was decided that Char, Barre, Fouet, and I would travel to Hanche together.
With that out of the way, Flèche turned to me. “I have to go back to the palace, master. My subordinates must be looking for me as we speak.”
I nodded. “I’m so proud of you for doing your best with your duties as king.”
A smile as radiant as a blossoming flower spread across his face. He seemed truly happy with my praise.
“Come to see me next time, okay? I’m going to get jealous if you keep spending so much time with Épée and none with me.”
Ah, these were his true feelings.
It wasn’t like I was seeing Épée all the time, but Flèche clearly hadn’t expected him to move right next to us. Since we were neighbors, we did occasionally run into each other, and Flèche must have felt a bit left out.
“Okay,” I said. “I’ll come to watch you work hard at the royal palace next time.”
His face lit up. “Really? You’re welcome to drop by at any time, so you have to come.”
With that, he stood from the bench, clearly in a good mood, and teleported back to the royal palace with Thibault.
After waving goodbye to them, I took a moment to reflect on the mission ahead. Infiltrating a chivalric order didn’t sound easy, but I was very excited to give it a go.
“Well then, I suppose I should try learning how to behave like a knight before we leave,” I said in high spirits.
Even if it wasn’t perfect, it would still be better than doing nothing at all.
“Lam, have you ever swung a sword?” Char asked.
“I have plenty of experience with brooms!”
Even though I hadn’t clearly said I’d never used a sword, Char seemed to guess based on my response.
He sighed. “I expected as much, but it seems that the road ahead will be tough.” Gazing up at the sky with a distant look, he muttered, “Why did he pick you of all people?”