"……I see. So it failed."
The man offered only those words in return upon hearing the report, showing no particular sign of surprise.
"Um, my lord. Even though it failed, should we not take further action?"
"There is no need. Discovering early that he had returned was a stroke of fortune in itself. That is sufficient for this matter. ……After all, I must make him thoroughly regret refusing my nomination request."
Murmuring thus, the man—Viscount Linus Marnino—set down the wine he had been drinking on the table.
The fact that his nomination request had been refused despite being issued had sorely provoked Linus's pride.
What stung the most was likely that the target was not some nameless, ordinary adventurer, but Rei the Alias-Bearer.
It grated on him that the other King's Faction nobles seemed to see him as the noble who had his nomination request rejected by Rei whenever they looked his way.
Moreover, the request he had originally intended to make had failed precisely because Rei refused it.
Thinking of it that way, it was only natural that Linus, here and now, felt irritation toward Rei from the bottom of his heart. ……No, one could say it was entirely justified.
At the very least, within Linus's mind, his irritation toward Rei had been rationalized.
"Then, what shall be our next move?"
"Carelessly laying hands on Rei will certainly result in heavy losses on our end. Given that, we must ensure Rei does not learn we are behind this."
Though left unsaid, that consideration naturally included the presence of Marina, Vihera, and above all, Elena.
Linus was a King's Faction noble, but he was by no means a key figure.
If it became known that he had laid hands on the daughter of Duke Kerebel, who led the Noble's Faction, all manner of trouble would follow.
Of course, not only Duke Kerebel—Elena herself bore the alias of Princess General, and was someone who could not be made an enemy.
That was precisely why he had taken every precaution to ensure his involvement would never be discovered when he arranged for the carriage to be attacked.
Furthermore, those he hired were not adventurers but mercenaries who knew little of the region……or rather, creatures that could only be called failed mercenaries.
Above all, the request had passed through several intermediaries, making it impossible to trace back to Linus.
The only ones I could use were such men, so in the end it amounted to nothing more than petty harassment.
He brought the wine to his lips once more and savored its taste.
It should have been a fairly decent wine, but strangely, it did not taste very good to him right now.
If anything, he even found it somewhat unpleasant.
……That change in taste was born of Linus's anxiety, though he himself showed no sign of realizing it.
The reason he had come to Gilm had ended in failure.
As a target upon which to vent that frustration, Rei had been chosen—something that must have felt only natural to Linus.
But……now that it had come to this, he was beginning to truly grasp, in the depths of his heart, that he had made an enemy of Rei.
Because he was a noble of the Kingdom of Mireana, and moreover a noble of the King's Faction—the largest faction—Linus had naturally gathered all manner of information about Rei.
Among that information was, of course, the fact that he showed no mercy to those who made enemies of him.
Even nobles were not spared. He resorted to violence without hesitation against those who opposed him. ……And he did not flinch from severing arms or legs—which made him a genuine threat to Linus as well.
For those raised in Elgin, the notion that nobles were beings to be revered, special existences, was rooted deep within.
Of course, there were those who paid no mind to such things, but even they acted as they did fully aware of the common sense—or what one might call the baseline norms—within themselves.
But Rei was different.
As if to declare that nobles had absolutely nothing to do with him, he would draw his weapon without a moment's hesitation……or more precisely, Death Scythe.
Naturally, that was only when the noble side was at fault, but for Linus, a quintessential noble, the conviction that nobles were fundamentally in the right ran strong.
"My lord?"
"……Ah, forgive me. I was considering what move to make next."
He murmured as if to smother the fear welling up inside him, and brought the wine to his lips once more.
"What move to make, huh. ……Well, what should be done."
To speak honestly, Linus harbored almost no grudge toward Rei at this point.
The incident today had provided some measure of catharsis, and now, fear toward Rei was welling up within him.
If it were discovered that he was the mastermind behind this affair, Rei would undoubtedly charge straight toward this mansion.
What made it worse was that he had far too many dark secrets.
Though they had not been brought to light, if an investigation by the Gilm Guard Force were triggered by a dispute with Rei, it was clear they would probe into matters that were far from painless—indeed, they would uncover things that would genuinely hurt.
If this were within the sphere of influence of the King's Faction, including the Royal Capital, I could still manage somehow.
He muttered quietly to himself while gazing at the wine.
But there was no point in saying that now.
He had already set his plan in motion.
"My lord, if you would permit, shall I try to handle it on my end?"
"……What do you intend to do?"
"Yes. Fortunately, we have the appropriate connections. Using those——"
"Cease."
Without letting his subordinate finish, Linus cut him off.
"Do you not trust me?"
The man asked, but there was no trace of reproach toward his lord in his voice.
It was a gaze of pure concern for his master.
But……that was precisely why Linus had no choice but to reject the man's proposal.
"That is not it. I merely believe there is no need to push you that far for the time being. ……Yes, perhaps I have been overthinking things as well. I must depart Gilm soon; the snow could begin falling at any time. If that happens, I would be trapped in a frontier backwater like this until spring."
"Then?"
"Umu. Staying in a place like this, even I may end up influenced by the barbaric atmosphere. Perhaps that is the reason for this whole affair as well."
"Understood. I shall arrange for an escort by tomorrow."
"……Hmm? Are my own household soldiers not sufficient?"
"Yes. From what I have looked into, even around Gilm, winter-specific monsters begin appearing at this time of year. Compared to the monsters that emerge from spring through autumn, they are said to be stronger."
"So my household soldiers alone will not suffice, then."
"Regrettably, no."
Linus had confidence in the strength of the soldiers his house employed, but even so, it was true that he felt uneasy about pitting them against monsters appearing in an unfamiliar frontier.
In that case, they are disposable adventurers anyway. It should not matter how many die.
Linus had never been favorably disposed toward adventurers to begin with, but even he had not thought of them as disposable pawns.
The fact that he now felt mild disgust toward them was, no doubt, because of the incident with Rei.
……To other adventurers who knew Rei's character, being grouped together with Rei was unacceptable in many ways.
Both in terms of skill and personality.
Linus had, of course, met adventurers other than Rei.
But even so, Rei's existence had left such a powerful impression that the word "adventurer" had become inextricably linked with Rei in his mind.
"Understood. Since time is short, I will recruit escort adventurers from now until tomorrow's departure. However, given the lack of time, they will likely be of inferior quality."
"I care not. They are disposable in any case. As long as they serve as our shields until we leave the frontier, that is enough. ……Against bandits rather than frontier monsters, my household soldiers can manage, can they not?"
"That should be the case. However, since this is the frontier, there is a possibility that even bandits could be strong……"
At those words, Linus furrowed his brow slightly.
If his subordinates fell short of adventurers when facing monsters, he could still tolerate it.
As much as it galled Linus, adventurers were essentially specialists in dealing with monsters.
But to be told that they would fall short of adventurers even against bandits—against people—was anything but amusing.
Still, he did not voice his dissatisfaction, because he possessed the knowledge that this frontier land was an extraordinary place in many ways.
"I see. ……In any case, we depart first thing tomorrow, so the preparations——"
Do not forget.
Just as Linus was about to say those words, he suddenly noticed shouting coming from outside the room and furrowed his brow in displeasure.
"What is the meaning of this? As those who serve me, to commit such an uncouth act——"
Linus muttered with undisguised annoyance, judging that it would soon settle down……but the cries coming from outside the room showed no sign of abating.
"Please wait! This is the mansion of the Viscount Marnino Family! Such insolence will absolutely not be——"
"I will fetch my lord at once, so please wait a moment!"
"Even if you are the Knight Order, do you think such behavior will be tolerated!?"
If anything, the voices were growing gradually closer, heading toward the room where Linus sat.
"What is happening? The Knight Order?"
"My lord, prepare to flee at once."
Those words were directed at Linus, who murmured in confusion at the voices coming from outside.
At the words of the man—one he would call his most trusted retainer—Linus initially fixed him with a look that said, "What are you talking about?"
But……
"Hurry! If my lord is captured here, your standing within the King's Faction will only worsen! But if you can escape from here now, we can manage things using the King's Faction's influence!"
Barked at in a stern voice, Linus finally came back to his senses.
Had he been a capable man, he could have immediately leapt from the window and fled.
But while Linus was not incompetent, he was far from someone who could be called capable.
Hearing his subordinate's words, he reflexively shouted.
"Ridiculous! Why have they reached me!?"
It was a cry from the very depths of his soul.
He could understand why the Knight Order had come, but he had no idea whatsoever how they had traced this affair back to him.
"My lord!"
The man shouted, but Linus could not comprehend at all what was currently befalling him.
He had placed several intermediaries between himself and the attackers, planning this affair so that it would absolutely never lead back to him.
If a certain number of days had passed before they reached him, he might have been able to accept it.
But Rei and his party had been attacked today.
So why, how——? Paralyzed by those thoughts, unable to act……the next moment, the door to Linus's room was thrown open, and several men appeared.
All of them wore metal armor—a sight Linus, of course, recognized.
They were members of the Gilm Knight Order.
"Damn it!"
Judging the situation to be absolutely dire, the man who had urged Linus to flee drew a short blade—likely for self-defense—from his garments and charged at the knights.
"My lord, please flee!"
The knights, too, had likely not expected to be attacked at this stage, and were a step slow in responding to the man lunging at them.
That single step created a gap in their defense—one that could be called fatal.
But……before the short blade's strike—capable of claiming a knight's life—could land, something flew through the air, slicing through it, and pierced the right shoulder of the man who had been about to assault the knight.
"Bit too careless, aren't you?"
Along with that voice, a man appeared—his physique so slight it could accurately be called wiry.
His haphazardly cut hair partially obscured his face, lending him an unsettling air.
In his hand was a short blade—shorter and thinner than the one wielded by the man who had attacked the knight to help Linus escape.
It had almost no handle to speak of, typical of throwing daggers; it was a blade designed purely for throwing.
"Ah, ahh. That saved me. ……Seize him!"
After the man, who appeared to be the commander of the knights, expressed his gratitude to the man who had thrown the dagger, he issued an order to his subordinates.
Though Linus had trained to some extent as a noble, there was no way he could resist professional soldiers……and the Knight Order of the frontier city of Gilm, no less.
He was immediately seized and restrained, along with the man who had attacked with the short blade.
"You lot, do you think you will get away with this!?"
Linus cried out in humiliation, but the knights paid him no mind, seizing him and dragging him from the room.
Confirming this, the commander of the knights bowed his head once more to the man who had thrown the dagger.
"I'm sorry, you saved us. We obtained this information thanks to you and your men, and yet you went so far as to lend a hand beyond that——"
"Think nothing of it. The boss……no, Mr. Egg is employed by you. That makes us comrades, doesn't it? As the Prairie Wolves handling Gilm's underworld, I merely did what was expected."
With a smile that was no more than a slight curl of his lip, the man spoke those words.