Chapter 240

I couldn’t exactly pretend I didn’t know.

Back when she was head of the family, anyone who led a noble house was expected to know ancient language.

It was an elective now, but back then, it was considered an essential part of one’s education. Her grandfather was particularly insistent that she learn it.

“Kainel also can read it.”

“What? Really?”

Ceres nodded at Cheion’s surprised reaction. Artia and Kainel had learned it alongside her when she first studied ancient language.

Thud!

“Then you read this.”

Cheion slid the stack of ancient language books over to Kainel.

“I’d rather not.”

“Oh, come on! Why?”

“It’s boring.”

“......”

Cheion was speechless at Kainel’s shameless refusal. Wow... Being that shameless really is a talent.

“Just read it. I want to finish this quickly, Kai.”

“...You want me to read this?”

“Yeah.”

At Ceres’s prompting, Kainel immediately picked up the book in front of Cheion and started reading, as if he hadn’t been slacking off at all.

“Wow... wow.......”

...What a pain.

Cheion was once again dumbfounded.

Maybe we should just have a Kainel-bashing session today.

“Hmm.”

Meanwhile, Ceres returned her attention to the book.

A demon...

She still couldn’t bring herself to turn the page, her eyes lingering on the passage about a ritual for summoning a demon.

***

Jingle.

The small bell hanging from the shop door rang as someone strode inside. It was Lot, the vice-guild leader of the Black Mercenary Corps.

“......”

He looked around the shop as if searching for someone, then made his way over to Ceres at the counter.

“Orders are taken at the tables.”

“Has my guild leader been here?”

It was clear Lot didn’t come to eat, judging by how quickly he got to the point.

“He had three bowls of stew a little while ago, then rushed out.”

“...Haa.”

Lot sighed heavily.

Was I too late? I thought he’d be here for sure.

“Did he say where he was going?”

Ceres shook her head.

Lot turned his head toward the members of his mercenary corps, who, as always, were already digging into their stew despite the early hour.

“Has anyone seen the guild leader?”

“If we had, we would’ve grabbed him and taken him straight to you.”

“He was already gone when we got here.”

“The others said he ran down the road to the right. Apparently, he wanted to get away before you showed up. Want us to help you look for him?”

“......”

What’s gotten into them? Why are they being so helpful today?

Lot looked at the mercenaries suspiciously. They were being unusually eager to answer, which was nothing like them.

“To the right?”

“Yes!”

After confirming which way the guild leader had gone, Lot gave Ceres a quick nod.

“Sorry for the trouble.”

Then he hurried out of the shop, as though he couldn’t spare another moment.

“He’s gone.”

“Yep. He’s gone.”

“Poor vice-leader. He’s really having a rough time chasing after Boss.”

“Yeah. I almost feel sorry for him.”

As soon as Lot disappeared, the mercenaries chimed in with sympathetic remarks. Their grinning faces, however, told a different story.

“Another bowl of stew.”

“Me too!”

The mercenaries quickly started ordering more stew, their eyes turning toward the kitchen in unison.

“You’re paying for this, right, Boss?”

Swish.

A hand slowly emerged from beside the kitchen door and waved back and forth, as if the answer were obvious.

Crouched beside the kitchen door, eating his stew, was none other than Skal, the guild leader of the Black Mercenary Corps.

Once he knew Lot was gone, he finally came out. He took a seat and settled down to finish his stew in peace.

“One more bowl!”

At Skal’s call, Ceres brought him a fresh bowl of stew, along with bowls for the other mercenaries.

It’s not like they’re playing hide-and-seek.

A little while ago, Skal suddenly rushed into the shop and asked Ceres to hide him, saying the vice-leader was after him. She had no idea why, but she had hidden him in the kitchen. She even told Lot that she hadn’t seen Skal.

Of course I’d help him.

Skal never missed a chance to hold the group’s gatherings at their shop, while Lot was always nagging him to stop coming by for stew. Between the two of them, there was only one obvious choice.

The other mercenaries naturally took Skal’s side as well. Since he was treating them to free stew, they were more than happy to play along and cover for him.

“There haven’t been any Black Forest outbreaks lately, and the monsters have disappeared. I’ve got nothing to do.”

Skal shuddered.

“Since I’m not going out to fight, he keeps pestering me to help with the paperwork.”

Until now, the vice-leader had taken care of all the paperwork while Skal was busy dealing with Black Forests. Then, all of a sudden, he decided it was time for Skal to handle it himself and dumped everything on him.

“So I ran away.”

I’d been leaving it all to him this whole time, so why change things now?!

It only took Skal one day to realize that paperwork was absolutely not for him. Since then, he had been doing everything he could to avoid getting dragged back to the office, while Lot had been chasing him down in an attempt to haul him back.

“I’m counting on you. If Lot comes by, just tell him you didn’t see me.”

“You should eat that stew quickly.”

“......?”

Skal gave Ceres a puzzled look. Why is she suddenly telling me to hurry up and eat?

Ceres ignored his questioning gaze and returned to her seat.

“Hmm.”

Once seated, Ceres replayed Skal’s words in her mind.

It is strange. The monsters, I mean.

Just as Skal had said, monster sightings had dropped sharply in recent days. And it wasn’t limited to just one place. It was happening across most of the Empire.

Mount Keltzo, for instance.

The recent trouble regarding the iron mine only happened because the monsters living on Mount Keltzo had suddenly gone quiet. If the monsters were still rampaging like before, Count Rainje would never have been able to pull a stunt like that.

People used to be swarmed by countless monsters as soon as they entered the mountain’s outskirts. Now, they could make it all the way to the mining area without finding a single trace of monsters.

“The monsters in the western region have been unusually quiet lately.”

“Same in my region.”

“Strange, isn’t it? They shouldn’t be this quiet.”

Monster sightings also dropped noticeably in the western, southern, and eastern regions, each under the control of one of the three dukes.

“I heard the Principality is quiet as well.”

Kainel had told her something similar. Even the Principality of Persia, where monsters were more rampant than anywhere else, had been unusually quiet lately.

Except for one place.

The Ice Tree Forest in the Principality of Persia. The monsters there were as vicious as ever. Anyone who ventured inside, hoping things might have changed, had to turn around and run for their lives.

If anything, the monsters were even more ferocious than before. It was as though they had been under someone’s control and were now suddenly free. {N•o•v•e•l•i•g•h•t} They were rampaging so wildly that no one could even make it past the edge of the forest.

So, apart from the Ice Tree Forest, the monsters across most of the Empire had either gone quiet or disappeared altogether.

What could be going on?

People were delighted that the monsters had decreased, but Ceres couldn’t shake the feeling that something was wrong. It felt like the brief calm before a storm.

The Imperial Family was investigating the sudden change, but they still hadn’t found anything.

BANG!

Just then, the shop door flew open, and someone strode inside.

“Gasp!”

Skal, who had been eating his stew, flinched and froze. The other mercenaries did the same. In an instant, the entire shop fell silent.

“Come out.”

It was vice-leader Lot, who had left only moments ago.