Oukoku e Tsuzuku Michi-Novel

Chapter 173: Winter War in the Capital ③ The Magical Girl’s Secre

「This is such a disaster. Was there a siege battle here or something......?」

I rode back to the mansion on my horse to see that I didn’t make it in time for the attack. The stone paving in front of the mansion has been burned so much that the stone is indistinguishable from charcoal. Those cinders strewn about here and there on the ground are probably human remains.

「Um~?」「Funnyi~?」

Mel, who is riding in front of me, has her eyes covered by me and she does the same for Leah in front of her.

Girls who aren’t used to gory battle scenes shouldn’t see this.

I urge my horse to check on the house first and I see Irijina standing imposingly with her spear in front of the main gate.

Good thing she’s alright, since that means the others are at the very least in one piece.

「Hardlett-dono!」

Irijina’s expression relaxed into one of relief as she realizes my presence.

「Irijina, are there any dead or injured?」

「None!」

Then that’s good.

The house hasn’t burned down either so everything went well.

「Praise me, Hardlett-dono!! Kroll and Pipi too, but more importantly Alice!!」

「I can understand Kroll and Pipi, but Alice? I didn’t think she could fight at all.」

「Alice was the one who burned all the enemies with her magic! It was terrifying, she’s in a class of her own!!」

「She was a magic user!? That’s surprising......」

Now that I think about it, she did light the fireplace and the candles without touching them, she could heat a pot of soup in her hands, and she could reboil bathwater which has cooled down without any firewood. I never would have thought she was using magic.

「Um......」

Standing in front of me while being supported by Kroll is...... Alice?

「Alice? I thought you had red hair.」

「Uuu...... when I use up all my magic power, my hair turns white......」

The red hair she had was really attractive too.

However, this just proves that she protected everyone.

「Even so...... it doesn’t change how nice it smells. Thank you.」

I hug her and scoop some hair in my hands so I can kiss her exposed neck.

「Ah! ......that tickles.」

My kiss moves from the side of her neck to her nape, then to her throat and then finally her lips for a tongue-twisting kiss.

At the same time, my hands crawl over her breasts and crotch.

「Nnh! ......reward...... my ass...... until it won’t go back......」

「Sorry I’m late. You did well too Irijina.」

I let go of the mumbling Alice and hug Irijina.

「No sweat! I got all bloody from that fight...... and Hardlett-dono’s all bloody. Did the same happen over there?」

「Yeah, those guys over there complained about how drunk you were, but it might have been a stroke of luck you were sent away now that I think about it.」

I don’t know how the fight transpired here but they might not have held out if Irijina wasn’t with them.

I give Irijina a messy kiss, enough for her saliva to trickle down her chin.

「The next time we get in bed...... will be really hot.」

「I’m looking forward to it......」

「Um...... make my ass...... gaping.」

Alice is still saying something.

I was about to hear her out but Pipi pounces on me before I could ask.

「Chief~~! Pipi did her best too~~~!」

「Good girl, did you get hurt?」

「Nope!」

I pat Kroll on the head after jostling around a bit with Pipi.

「Good job. You did well.」

Kroll’s hand is trembling slightly.

It must have been the first time he killed someone.

「When you calm down, I’ll take you with me to the brothel, to a place with busty girls.」

His shaking stopped, but now his lower half is starting to bulge out.

He’s still just a kid.

I make sure to tell him to let Dorothea know absolutely not to allow the children outside or in the courtyard. There are burnt corpses and blood splatter everywhere after all and even I want to cover my eyes.

If the kids see something like that, they definitely won’t be able to control their bladders at night.

「Also Hardlett-dono, there are some important guests waiting for you at this time......」

「Oh yeah, I know.」

The spectacle in the courtyard could not have been done by humans.

I could probably do it if I tried, but the problem is that it would make me feel horrible after the fact so maybe it’s impossible for me.

「Sorry to trouble you, Brynhildr.」

I was the only one who entered the guest room.

I don’t know if it’s the right choice to keep it a secret from my family although it isn’t wise to spread the information around either.

「So you’re finally here. You always make me do additional work. What a troublesome boy.」

The good-looking vampire is seated in a dignified manner with her trusted retainer standing upright directly behind her.

「Today was the promised day, wasn’t it. I was delayed by a trifling matter.」

「It appears so. It’s been such a long time since I came all the way here to Nostoria and something had to interfere.」

Nostoria? I don’t really know what she is referring to, but I’ll move on.

「First I must thank you, those guys out in the courtyard was your doing right? Thanks for protecting those in this house.」

「Hmph, I wasn’t really protecting them. I just thought I wouldn’t get to suck your blood if your house was destroyed, that’s all. 」

Brynhildr swiftly moves beside me and clamps down on my neck.

「Hey now, right off the bat?」

「Normally I would think about letting you use my hole, but my interest has faded and I just want to get what I want as soon as possible.」

「Aah, then I’m expecting to get double the intensity next time.」

「Ridiculous, if you say something stupid like that again, I’ll suck the blood straight from your cock next time.」

Go ahead.

When Brynhildr finishes sucking my blood, she releases me.

She must have held back quite a bit since I don’t feel any dizziness.

Now I just have to deal with the accompanying sexual desire which comes with the blood-sucking, my formal pants can’t hold back my erection much longer and I can feel it starting to tear.

「This incident, I didn’t see any other larger battles. Is it perhaps insurrection of some sort?」

Brynhildr is unusually curious about my situation.

「Magrado...... no, they’re just remnants of a country I destroyed in the past who are now targeting nobles with their desperate attacks.」

The beautiful vampire laughs pleasantly, revealing to me her fangs wet with my blood.

「Ahahaha! You really are a fool. That’s impossible.」

What does she mean?

「Didn’t you tell me before? That you were practically forced to come here by your superior...... is that superior of yours a stupid enough person to leak that information to everyone?」

「He should be more clever than me at least.」

「Then how did those remnants know you were in the capital? And the so-called ball where you were attacked...... how did they know of the participants?」

That does seem strange.

Even if the remnants were to hide in the capital, they shouldn’t have such accurate details of the nobles’ daily movements.

It’s the same with the palace guards’ gear.

They could probably attack and steal the equipment or obtain them from the black market somehow for maybe 10 people.

However, there were over 50 of them according to Irijina. There’s too many of them no matter how you look at it.

「And lastly...... you’re an influential person here, right?」

Erich did say that as well.

「So much commotion was caused and pillars of fire could be seen rising from the edges of the city. Yet, the guards still haven’t arrived.」

「......That’s true.」

About 30 minutes has passed since the commotion. The real guards should have arrived by now.

「I’m just saying this for your information. Even now, the guards and fake guards are running around the city. The human world is always engulfed in some chaos no matter the times.」

Brynhildr’s eyes are more effective than an owl at night. What she said must be true. Something bigger than I expected must be going on.

「I shouldn’t take responsibility for the public order of the capital...... is what you’re saying?」

I should probably be dedicating my efforts to protecting my house and my family until things calm down.

「But to tell me just to watch things unfold......」

I didn’t bring the escort unit with me so I have absolutely no forces on hand to use.

With the completion of the road from Rafen to the capital and the improvement to the public order, I didn’t think I needed them.

It would take some time just to contact them, and then for them to prepare and sortie.

Suddenly, I thought about a good idea.

I have a powerful ally in front of me, don’t I?

「Hey Brynhildr......」

「No.」

「I didn’t even say anything yet.」

「I’m sure you just want to ask me to do something! I’m not your servant, plus I’ve finished my meal so I’m going home now.」

「Don’t say that......」

I sit beside Brynhildr and touch her hand gently.

I give a tender embrace to the woman who turns her head away from me in a huff.

「Hey, come on...... you’ll do it, won’t you? Please, Brynhildr.」

「Don’t talk like such a spoiled brat when you’re a grown man, it’s disgusting!」

She doesn’t actually dislike it despite what she said.

I can tell based on the few vampires I’ve seen and the various girls I’ve been with, but she is small in many areas with an appearance closer to a young girl who prefers to spoil someone rather than be spoiled herself.

Even though she said such harsh things to me now she would probably accept many of my requests if I try hard enough.

Using human standards, she’s probably the type of person who would spoil her child or husband.

「Please, I’m in lots of trouble here.」

「Aah geez, don’t make such a face! Hmph, then why don’t you lick my feet! If you do, I’ll even think about helping you......」

I remove Brynhildr’s boots and her black socks and then drag my tongue over her toes.

Well, I wonder what this is about.

I don’t recall doing anything worth rewarding with a chance to lick the feet of such a beauty.

Is it because her lust has built up after sucking my blood?

「You, don’t you have any pride...... aah, don’t lick up here! I didn’t say it was alright to lick my thigh! Siegfried! Don’t look, go over there!!」

Siegfried sticks close to the wall where she pointed at.

For some reason, that’s quite the amusing scene.

「Brynhildr......」

「Don’t look up at me like that...... fine, I get it! I get it, just stop your tongue!」

Too bad, it was just starting to get fun too.

「Then ...... take care of this too......」

「......it can’t be helped, you can probably go on until dawn with those legs of yours, right Siegfried? Get going.」

Siegfried, who had been watching silently as Brynhildr and I were fooling around with each other, nods slightly and opens the large window before jumping out and disappearing like the wind.

It’s cold, close it.

「Good grief, you’re really a helpless guy.」

Brynhildr pulls my head into her lap and strokes my head as she puts her mouth to the nape of my neck, gingerly sucking out my blood.

「My perverted little boy...... what a helpless boy.」

It seems like somehow, I said something inexcusable.

After that, I continued to let her stroke my head until she was satisfied.

「Alright, Kroll will keep watch outside from beside the door. If you spot any suspicious movements, report it immediately.」

「Yessir!」

Kroll positions himself in front of the door with his sword and a small shield.

「Tell Dorothea to gather the children in the kitchen closest to the basement just in case. It’ll be cold, so let them drink some warm soup as well.」

「Yessir, I understand.」

Dorothea leads the kids who are still holding their blankets and grumbling about how sleepy they are to the kitchen.

Even with me here, I should make sure they can go into hiding at any time tonight just as a precaution.

「Irijina and Pipi will be armed and be on standby with me.」

「Yeah!」「Aye!」

「I will be with Aegir-san too.」「Me too.」「My ass......」

It looks like Mel and the others will be with me too.

Good, now our preparations are complete.

「Ooh...... that’s good.」

I instinctively throw my head back in pleasure on top of the bed.

Irijina’s mouth is stuffed with my meat rod and Mel and Leah are licking the exposed parts of the shaft from the left and right respectively.

My arms are extended to each side, one pleasuring Pipi’s vagina and the other teasing Alice’s asshole.

「It’s a little hard to do, but it really turns you on.」

「Yeah, it’s a fresh feeling.」

We don’t know when the enemy will come so we’re all dressed, with Irijina and I in particular wearing armor so every time we moved, the metal would rub against each other and make grating and clanking noises.

Inside the room...

「Sucking on Aegir-san’s thing with his armor on......」

Mel comments feeling a little shy.

「It’s like you’re being violated on the battlefield, right?」

Leah also seems to be blushing.

Oh right, Leah is masochistic so she enjoys rape play but because her acting can be really excessive, I held back on doing that with her.

「Ngh ...... it won’t fit in my mouth anymore!」

My dick, which is at its largest right now, slides out of Irijina’s mouth and rears its swollen head.

「「「Hya~......」」」

All the girls stop what they’re doing and stares at the saliva-covered erection.

「Even though we’ve seen it so many times.」「It’s so incredibly big.」「It’s so manly!」「Pipi’s going to give it her all today too!」

Leah lies face down erotically as I line up my hips with hers.

「Ah, wait Hardlett-dono!」

Irijina shouts and pushes Alice in front of me.

It seems that the girl tried her best because she wanted me to dig out her asshole.

I told her to hold back on using her asshole, but she did protect everyone’s lives.

A reward is in order.

I sit up and spread my legs.

「Alice, come here.」

「......okay.」

Alice nods slightly and crouches with her ass pointed at me.

The reverse sitting position is the easiest position for my dick to slide into her.

I’ve gotten excited from the killing in the ball and the flirting with the vampire already and with the three girls giving me extra affection, my dick is hard as a rock now.

The veins are all popping out and it looks more menacing than usual if I do say so myself.

Alice doesn’t hesitate to lower her hips on me though.

「Haa, haa...... something so thick...... in my ass...... 」

Her tiny ass is slowly lowered onto my rod, and her cute butt cheeks which are disproportionately to her mature asshole spreads open.

Alice pulls apart her ass cheeks herself and then drops her hips down in one go.

「Auuh!!」

「Nn......」

My meat rod buries itself into her asshole and even though her ass is loosened, the walls are wrapping around me quite tightly.

「Ooooaaaaaaaaaah–!!」

Alice makes a sudden change and screams out like an animal, holding her own ass and trying to push her hips down even more.

「Hey, if you go any further, you’ll injure yourself you know?」

「I don’t care! As long as my ass is being fucked...... I don’t care even if I dieeee!!」

So she’s already not listening, I’ll make sure she doesn’t go too overboard then.

「Au......uuggguuuh......」

Alice pushes down her hips while tears and drool drips down her face. Since I can’t do anything to make her stop, I’ll help her out.

I grab Alice’s hips which are hovering above me and thrust my hips up.

In that instant, the final piece of resistance is eliminated and my entire meat rod glides into her ass.

「Ohhoooooooo–!! It’s in—! A thick dick is insideeeee!!」

「......uwaah.」

Mel lets out a voice of disbelief.

Alice is probably making an incredible expression right now.

「I’m gonna move now.」

My dick has most definitely made its way all the way inside her ass and to her intestines so if I move in and out too viciously, I’ll hurt her.

So I take Alice’s arms and pull them behind her, then slowly rock my body.

「Aheeee!! Ooohhhoh! Iiiihhiiih!」

「Does it feel good? ......I can’t hear you.」

I lick her neck, pinch her nipples and rub her vagina once in a while hoping to at least teach her one different kind of pleasure besides the kind she gets from using her asshole, but the pleasure from her ass is so strong she doesn’t get turned on from anything else.

Her vagina isn’t really wet either.

「Geez, what a pervert.」

I pull my dick out until only the tip is in her anus.

「Ah! No, don’t take it out!!」

From there, I insert myself inside again slowly, burrowing my length up to the base.

「Aooooooh...... it’s inside againnnn......」

A voice of pure bliss – normally the insides of an ass don’t lubricate themselves but Alice’s asshole is slippery from the very beginning.

I think her asshole is being treated as her actual genitals.

For the next while, I gently thrust into her ass and grant her the greatest pleasure.

Alice could only hold her head and moan loudly although she does turn around and pleads me for a kiss.

What a cutie.

I guess it’s time to finish her off.

「Alice, close your eyes and relax. I’ll make you happy.」

「Make me feel good ...... I don’t care if my ass can’t go back to normal...... thrust as hard as you can......」

Alice collapses flat on her stomach and tilts her head back in ecstacy.

「Uwaah...... I’ve seen a girl who got violated the same way in the past.」

Leah unconsciously cuts in.

I remain in my armor with only my crotch exposed while pressing against Alice, whose clothes are all messed up, and penetrating her ass.

From the outsider’s perspective, it looks as if the girl was captured from battle and her ass was being used to comfort the man.

「Alright...... cum !」

I embrace Alice’s hips and thrust my dick in and out of her hole.

Adjusting the speed and strength of my thrusts so that I’m not going too hard nor too weak, Alice once again starts shrieking.

「Leah, hold her hands.」

「O-okay!」

With her legs in my hands and her hands grabbed by Leah, Alice continues screaming as her ass is getting pierced and her eyes finally roll back.

「I’m also...... cumming!」

With one final thrust of my hips, I hug Alice from behind and push her against the bed. After a short moment, the huge amount of semen stored in my balls shoots into the depths of the woman’s bowels, going in the opposite direction of how things should normally flow in this canal.

「Ooooh...... that’s good」

「Ahiiiiih............」

Alice’s voice lingers on and she collapses completely devoid of strength with her tongue hanging loosely onto the bed.

「Guh......still cumming......」

As I continue to release my load, the other girls rub their bodies against me.

However, I can’t really feel much because of the armor I’m wearing.

「Enough of this!」

I remove my armor and get naked.

「Hardlett-dono!? You won’t have enough time to put it back on when the enemy comes!」

「I don’t mind. I can still fight as long as I have a weapon.」

I just need to dodge the enemy’s attacks, plus with this ‘weapon’ swinging around while I fight, the men who has tiny peckers may just lose the will to fight.

「It really is warm.」「Bare skin feels the best.」「Pipi wants it in her next!」

The girls push up against me one after the other after I get naked.

Well, wait a bit, I’m still continuing my ejaculation for Alice.

I’ll make love to all of you when I’m finished.

「T-then I should take everything off too......」

「No, you’ll stay the way you are now Irijina. I’m not going to let you fight naked...... besides, fucking you in your armor is hot.」

We finish having sex and Irijina, who was attacked rather gently, switches with Kroll as the lookout while Dorothea looks after Mel and Leah who are passed out.

Pipi climbed onto the roof to act as a secondary lookout.

The only ones left in the room are Alice and I.

「Hey, Alice.」

「......yes?」

The exhausted Alice is barely keeping herself conscious. Her asshole is all stretched out although she said that it’ll be fine.

「Can you tell me about yourself?」

「......why?」

I hug Alice tightly.

「I want your heart to belong to me too. That’s why I want to know more about you.」

「......」

I want to know if there was any significance behind the kiss she wanted me to give her earlier besides pleasure.

「You don’t want to? Well we can continue just like this and I can keep kissing you for pleasure.」

「......No, it’s not that. It’s just ......there’s nothing which can be done even after you obtain a weird girl like me.」

「Are you referring to your magic? Or maybe your ass?」

Alice smiles slightly.

「Both...... I guess.」

「Both things make you attractive.」

I hold the embarrassed Alice against my chest and she starts talking in a quiet voice.

It appears Alice was born into a poor farming family.

Both her parents had black hair yet she was born with red hair...... which naturally led to her father accusing her mother of cheating.

Her mother, whom Alice doesn’t remember much of, casted her away as a cursed child and also lost her place in the family.

Receiving only hatred, Alice was scorned as the child of another lover by the other villagers and was brought up to be obedient and reserved.

However, there were also some whose attitude changed as she grew up.

「You see, my father......」

Her father considered Alice a hated child, the byproduct of her mother and another man.

But things changed when she matured.

He saw her as an existence absolutely unrelated by blood – just a young girl who stayed in the house.

「When I was 14......no, 15...... on a sweltering hot evening...... I was raped by my father.」

Getting her pregnant would be inconvenient for him so he fucked her ass instead.

That was the girl’s first time.

I hug Alice close to me.

「I see, it was hard on you.」

「Eh? Not really......though.」

「Aryah?」

「Being wanted by my father made me happy...... my ass felt incredibly good too.」

「So her love for anal originated way back...... it’s quite deep-seated.」

Apparently she was happy whenever her father directed his lust at her, no matter what form it took.

That relationship continued, not as father and child, but as man and lover.

「Back then...... I was relatively happy.」

But it didn’t last for long.

When Alice and her father were having sex in a little shed for farming tools, her mother came in by chance.

It turned into a huge mess and Alice was chased out of the house.

However, a group of bandits rushed to the village that night, and the vigilante group in the village could not stop them.

Despite being estranged by her family, she still wanted to protect them, especially her father who loved her, and it was then that she first activated her magic.

The bandits fell apart from the unexpected magic and the girl who protected the village became a hero. Those in the village applauded her and praised her as their guardian deity.

Of course, there’s no way her mother could chase her out of the house now.

Alice prostrated herself many times, apologizing to her mother in tears, but the parent never even looked at her a single time.

After countless nights, her mother finally pointed a blade at Alice.

Being unfamiliar with the attack on the girl while she was asleep, it ended with just a scratch.

Waking up in a panic, Alice desperately pleaded her mother to stop, but having been made to suffer and even getting her husband stolen, the mother continues to approach the girl while cursing.

Adding to the tragedy is the fact the girl was not able to control the magic she recently learned.

Her hand sprung up by itself as if it just touched something hot and unintentionally release flames at the mother who was approaching with a cleaver.

The mother was barely able to escape with her life though her body was left with severe burns, and the father – the one ally Alice had – hit her.

Having lost everything, the girl abandoned the village.

「Hic......uguh......」

Her emotions must be spilling over just from talking about it.

Alice buries her face in my chest and cries.

What has happened already happened and nothing I say will make a difference at this point.

The one thing I can do now is just to gently embrace the girl.

「And the place you ended up is the goblin’s nest?」

You would never have expected her to be caught by goblins knowing she had such a tremendous magic ability.

But I’m sure she went there with the intention to die.

「No......I wanted to go to the city...... I didn’t want to die......」

「......So why did you get captured by the goblins? Did your magic run out?」

「No, I was attacked in my sleep...... and raped on the spot......」

She could have blown the goblins back if she saw an opening.

Magic doesn’t require weapons after all.

「I don’t know if it’s because goblins have low intelligence which led them to mistake which hole to put it in...... but they put it in my ass...... and I can’t do a thing when something gets thrust in my ass...... so I went insane from the pleasure...... and before I knew it, they put something in that hole...... and also my ass......」

It was a simpler reason than I thought.

The gist was that she tried to resist but couldn’t think of anything else besides pleasure when she got fucked in the ass.

The stuff that happened afterwards would only make me feel uncomfortable if I listen to it.

「Even one would have been good enough ......I just wanted family.」

「What are you talking about?」

I knock Alice’s head.

「All the girls you’re living with in the annex are like family.」

「Eh?」

「You wake up and sleep together, you laugh and eat meals together, you play in the bath together ...... you get embraced by me. That’s a family, isn’t it?」

Alice closes her eyes as if to reminisce about something.

「Ah...... ah......」

「You’ve already gotten your family a long time ago.」

Tears drip uncontrollably down Alice’s face.

「I ...... have a...... family?」

「That’s right. And if you’re concerned about blood relations.」

I take Alice’s hand and have her grab my meat rod.

「If this thing is put in your vagina and moves around...... the origins of more family will come out.」

「The family......will grow?」

I roll Alice onto her back and get in between her legs.

「That’s right, will you accept me?」

「Yeah, I...... will be your woman all the way down to my heart. And then...... increase the number of family.」

「Thank you, Alice.」

I instantly sink my cock into Alice.

Normally, this hole couldn’t be used unless plenty of saliva got it wet before penetration.

Moreover, she would dislike it and wouldn’t get turned on much at all, but...... right now, her vagina is like a bottomless swamp.

「I’m...... wet?」

「Yeah, dripping wet. It feels really good.」

We embrace eat other in the missionary position and I pump my hips while kissing her.

It’s the first time I’m hearing these moans Alice is making because of the pleasure from her vagina, it feels just as great as when I heard Alice declare she belonged to me.

「My ass too...... insert your finger please.」

So she still needs something in her ass?

「If you could, up to your wrist......」

Good grief.......

「Continue up to your elbow......」

As if!

Alice finally reached her first orgasm with her vagina and received plenty of my semen injection.

It was pretty thick and lots of it came out so she might actually get pregnant.

After that, there was still no signs of the enemy attack, and the kingdom army near the suburbs of the capital came at dawn to fortify the perimeter of my mansion.

We’ve escaped danger for now, but there should be more to this incident than this.

「Listening to this for the entire night...... can’t hold it ......」

What’s wrong, Kroll?

–Third Person POV–

At the Same Time, Royal Palace: King’s Private Quarters

「So it’s a failure.」

「I am deeply ashamed......」

In the Goldonian royal palace, in the personal room of the King, Rebecca kneels in front of an unhappy King Alexandro.

「Information officers to prepare for a situation like this, and then your status.」

「......」

Rebecca’s head is so low that it’s practically touching the floor.

It’s an inexcusable blunder, where attacks have been confirmed at the venue of the ball Government Affairs Commissioner Baldwin attended, the residence of Military Affairs Commissioner Radhalde, and the residence of Margrave Hardlett, among several others involved with the military.

All attacks were made by groups of more than 10 people disguised as palace guards.

The information officers were unable to perceive a hint of such a large scale operation within their own base of operations, the capital of Goldonia.

This conclusion was one which couldn’t be changed by doubting Rebecca’s ability or loyalty.

「Tell me what you know.」

Disappointment oozes out from the King’s voice.

「Yes, Your Majesty! All attacks were done by groups disguised as palace guards. Their equipment were not forged to look the same, they’re practically the same thing. Further, not many people besides the ones who were invited knew about the party attended by the Commissioner of Government Affairs. Similarly, not many people knew beforehand about Lord Hardlett’s arrival in the capital.」

「So what are you saying?」

「This isn’t simply an attack from the remnants of Magrado, but somebody is pulling the strings from within the capital. And it’s probably somebody with a connection to a fairly high ranking noble......」

The King rests his elbow on the desk.

「It is said that some of the royal guards took an unnatural patrol route bypassing the attack site and that there was a change of orders just before, but each squad leader received conflicting messages from the person giving orders and were all mixed up.」

「False orders, huh.」

「Yes.」

「Any ideas?」

「A person whose connections know the schedule of high ranking nobles and someone who is familiar with the command structure of the palace guards.」

She has someone in mind, but that person has too high of a ranking for Rebecca who is of honorary Baron status to point out.

「So it’s Hoover......」

Rebecca nods silently in response to the King’s words.

「How dare he throw mud at my face...... do you know his whereabouts!?」

The King flings the glass on the desk and yells angrily.

The alcohol in the glass which fell to the floor spills everywhere and even gets on Rebecca, but she doesn’t even flinch.

「All the information officers under me are conducting the search now......」

Even though she knew it would anger the King, she couldn’t lie.

「The Chief Accountant Meloudo, the Vice-Director of Tax O’Connors, the Captain of the 6th Division Corps Irhid...... do you understand? The main personnel who lost their lives from this attack. They’re all skilled people I have acknowledged.」

The King glares at Rebecca.

「Lead Information Officer Rebecca Blaze...... you have until the day after tomorrow. If you cannot tell me the whereabouts of Hoover when I wake up the day after tomorrow, consider your position and your honorary title no more!」

With his last angry roar, the King orders her to leave and waves his hand.

「I will definitely meet your expectations.」

Rebecca leaves the room with a calm expression on her face, but as soon as she closes the door behind her, she wipes the sweat dripping from her brow.

In reality, she has little to no information on Hoover’s location.

She had some vague information about a suspicious carriage leaving to the south before dawn but it was unconfirmed and the reports came late amidst the confusion so by the time it reached her ears, it was already morning.

There was no certainty that the carriage belonged to Hoover and there was a chance the carriage was just a regular express vehicle even if they chased after it.

「Not good......This is bad...... What should I do......」

The base of the trust she’s steadily earned from the King is crumbling.

The King selects capable people without following customs, but on the other hand is harsh with incompetent people.

If she fails this time, it is doubtful she will get a second chance.

「But what should I do...... take the army’s cavalry...... no, the city is a mess right now so it won’t be so easy......」

All her options were exhausted.

Just when she thought she had no other option but to grab a horse and search herself, a single man came to mind.

「But to cooperate without receiving anything in return...... whatever, I’m sure I have no other option!」

Rebecca spurs her horse into the city at a dangerous speed, desperately clinging to her last hope.

Protagonist: Aegir Hardlett. 23 years old. Winter.

Status: Goldonia Kingdom Margrave. Great Feudal Lord of Eastern Area. King of the Mountains. Friend of the Dwarves.

Citizens: 155,000. Major Cities – Rafen: 22,000. Lintbloom: 3500.

Assets: 60,300 gold (emergency sortie -300)

Accompanying: Mel (concubine), Leah (lover), Irijina (escort), Pipi (escort?), Dorothea (lover), Alice (lover), Kroll (sexually frustrated)

Sexual Partners: 151, children who have been born: 32