As expected, Liberte flew into a rage when he learned that someone had infiltrated his own mansion and attempted to attack Set—the Tamed Monster belonging to Rei, whom he was treating as an honored guest.
To strike at the Tamed Monster of a guest was, in his eyes, nothing less than an insult to Duke Kerebel's House itself.
The captured intruders were therefore subjected to a harsh interrogation that even made use of Magic Items...
"Preposterous! Why would you do something like this!? ...This is no laughing matter, even as a joke."
Standing before the messenger from Liberte, the man—Count Ceresse, who held considerable influence even within the Noble's Faction—forced a twitching smile as he spoke.
The letter the messenger carried declared that Count Ceresse was to be expelled from the Noble's Faction and forbidden from ever again calling himself a member of it.
"Even if you say so, I cannot answer. I am merely the one tasked with delivering this letter from Lord Liberte."
"...Then I shall meet Duke Kerebel in person and clear up this misunderstanding!"
To be cast out of the Noble's Faction would spell his ruin.
He would be met with nothing but scorn from the nobles of the faction, leaving him with only two choices: join the King's Faction or stand apart from all Three Great Factions.
As for the Neutral Faction, having attacked Set—the Tamed Monster of Rei, Daskar's trusted right hand—there was no chance they would accept him.
Of course, Count Ceresse still had the option of fleeing the country, but doing so would make it doubtful whether he could continue living as a noble at all. More importantly, he had no connections abroad.
Given his position, he had no choice but to find some way to overturn the decision to expel him from the Noble's Faction.
(Damn it... Duke Kerebel should value me far more than some boy from the Neutral Faction!)
Fierce irritation boiled inside Count Ceresse, yet with the Duke's messenger standing right in front of him, he could not voice it aloud.
If asked who was truly at fault for this incident, Count Ceresse would have immediately declared it was Rei.
During the mock battle, Rei had brazenly flaunted that Gryphon for all to see.
For a mere adventurer to possess such a rare monster was unforgivable.
In that case, the Gryphon would surely have been happier belonging to him.
...The fact that he saw Set as nothing more than an object was something Rei had never learned. In that sense, it was perhaps a stroke of luck for Count Ceresse.
In any case, ever since laying eyes on Set at the mock battle, he had made various preparations. When he heard that a servants' appreciation party would be held that night, he put his plan into motion... only for every move to backfire spectacularly.
Count Ceresse had never believed his actions could remain completely hidden from Duke Kerebel's side, but he had not anticipated the matter being handled with such overwhelming force.
And the most fatal miscalculation of all was that Duke Kerebel had chosen to prioritize Rei—a mere adventurer—over Count Ceresse himself.
Had the Duke clearly favored Count Ceresse, he would never have resorted to expulsion from the Noble's Faction.
Even if he hadn't gone that far, had he cared even a little, he would have waited some time—long enough for Count Ceresse to dispose of any evidence—before sending word. Naturally, that message would not have been an expulsion notice, but rather a polite inquiry asking whether he had any idea who might be responsible.
"Damn it!"
"...Is something wrong?"
At Count Ceresse's unintentional outburst of frustration, the messenger from Liberte tilted his head.
Of course, it was nothing more than a polite facade.
The man who had come as messenger knew exactly what Count Ceresse wanted to say: that his own shallow judgment had led him to commit a fatal blunder.
If the ones responsible had been his blood relatives rather than Count Ceresse himself, there might still have been room to salvage the situation.
But when the head of the Ceresse family had personally orchestrated the act, there was no defense possible.
The messenger privately wondered why the family head would do something so foolish. If he absolutely had to act, he should have used disposable intermediaries.
Still, the man was only Liberte's messenger; it was not his place to speak out of turn.
Count Ceresse seemed to understand this as well. Though the loose flesh of his cheeks quivered with displeasure, he said nothing more. ...No, he could say nothing more.
Anything he uttered now could only lead to the worst possible outcome for himself.
"It is nothing. However... isn't the content of this letter somewhat excessive? I would hope Duke Kerebel might reconsider with a cooler head."
"My lord is perfectly calm. In fact, one could say he has been merciful to a fault."
"What?"
Taking the remark as an insult to his master, the messenger spoke with clear displeasure.
Count Ceresse replied in an equally sour tone, yet in truth, if Liberte had truly deemed him unforgivable, he would not have sent a letter. He would have come in person at the head of his subordinates.
Count Ceresse, however, did not seem to realize this.
He shot the messenger a thoroughly unpleasant glare.
Sensing that further conversation was unwanted, the messenger bowed.
"Then I shall take my leave here."
"Wait! Are you saying everything written in this letter is true!? Let me speak with Duke Kerebel directly!"
"I am afraid I cannot. I was only ordered to deliver the letter and hold no such authority."
With those words and a final bow, the messenger left the room.
Count Ceresse glared at the man's retreating back with pure loathing.
"Damn you! Who do you think I am!? After everything I've done for the Noble's Faction, after all the hardships I've endured on its behalf... to discard me so easily over something like this!?"
As he spoke, his anger only grew. Count Ceresse slammed his fist against the office desk in frustration.
...Only to groan in pain the very next instant.
Yet for Count Ceresse, that sharp pain became the trigger that calmed his mind, which had been too clouded by rage and panic to think clearly. It allowed him to regain some measure of composure.
"What now? If I am truly expelled from the Noble's Faction in this situation, only a hopeless future awaits. Should I switch to the King's Faction? But... Count Herkena is there. I absolutely refuse to serve under that man."
Count Herkena ruled the neighboring territory.
The two families had been feuding for generations and were currently locked in conflict over water rights.
Serving under such a person was utterly intolerable for Count Ceresse.
"Then... should I operate without belonging to any faction? You expect me to become a pathetic loser?"
A fair number of nobles in the Kingdom of Mireana did not belong to any of the Three Great Factions.
Many of them had chosen that path according to their own convictions, yet in Count Ceresse's eyes they were nothing but losers among the nobility.
For the proud head of the Ceresse family to sink to the same level was completely unacceptable.
And since his attack on Set was already known, joining the Neutral Faction was impossible...
"What the hell am I supposed to do!?"
Once again, Count Ceresse slammed his fist against the office desk in a fit of frustration.
...What Count Ceresse did not know was that Liberte had long been concerned about the unusually heavy taxes he imposed on his people, even by the standards of the Noble's Faction.
There was a high likelihood of riots breaking out in the Ceresse territory in the near future. Leaving him in the faction would cause significant damage, so Liberte had coldly decided to cut him loose.
Had the one behind the attack on Set been someone else—someone whose presence would not harm the Noble's Faction—Liberte would not have gone this far with the punishment.
He would have delivered a penalty sufficient to satisfy Rei, but it would not have included expulsion from the Noble's Faction.
Unaware of any of this, Count Ceresse could only seethe with rage. The next day, after telling his wife and sons what had happened, he was served divorce papers by his wife and abandoned by her family as well.
"...What do you think? I believe Rei should be satisfied with this."
It was already so late that the date might as well have changed—an hour that would normally be called midnight. In Liberte's office, Rei was asked this question.
He was surprised that Liberte was still working after the party had ended, and for a moment he struggled to find the right reply.
Still, considering the current situation...
"If Duke Kerebel has judged this punishment appropriate, then I have no objections. Set didn't sustain any real injuries, after all. That said, will expulsion from the Noble's Faction alone be enough? Won't others simply come up with the same idea?"
To Rei, it seemed questionable whether simply being driven out of a faction counted as real punishment.
He mainly operated solo, after all. Such a light penalty might only invite more trouble.
"Hmm. Since you operate independently, you may not fully understand, but for a noble—especially one like Count Ceresse—this is an extremely heavy punishment. I can confidently state that no one will dare target Set while you remain in Anesis."
"Is it really that effective?"
"Indeed. Depending on how things unfold, even after you leave Anesis, the number of people foolish enough to meddle may decrease."
Hearing this, Rei had no choice but to accept the decision for now.
If something similar happened again despite these measures, he could voice his dissatisfaction with Liberte's judgment then. But that was a matter for the future.
"Understood. In that case, I won't say anything further. However... if someone still tries the same thing even after all this..."
Rei left the sentence unfinished, but for Liberte that was more than enough.
"Umu. In that event, you may handle it as you see fit. That said, as I mentioned earlier, after seeing the fate that has befallen Count Ceresse, I doubt anyone will act so recklessly."
He could not say there would be absolutely no one, because within the Noble's Faction there were always those who believed they could succeed where others had failed.
Nobles who, even after learning of Count Ceresse's downfall, would think to themselves that they could have done it better.
In truth, while Count Ceresse had committed several blunders, he had also executed parts of his plan quite skillfully.
One such element was the guard he had blackmailed with debt to guide the three intruders. That information had already been extracted from the three men repelled by Set, and the guard in question had already been secured.
Had their target not been Set but a more ordinary, docile opponent, Count Ceresse's plan might very well have succeeded.
Moving ahead of the others was also worthy of praise.
(In terms of ability, he was by no means incompetent. ...It was precisely because he was competent that I judged the damage he would bring to the Noble's Faction would be too great, and chose to cut him loose.)
No matter how capable one was, those abilities were meaningless if they were used only to oppress the people.
Moreover, his various maneuvers within the faction made it certain that, left unchecked, he would cause serious problems in the near future.
That was why it had come to this.
"With the matter of Count Ceresse settled for now... we have never had the chance to speak like this, just the two of us men. Would you mind if we talked a little longer?"
"Eh? Ah, yes. I don't mind at all."
Even as he answered, Rei was well aware that guards stood ready in the neighboring room, and that several more were hidden in the ceiling and beneath the floor.
Given the circumstances, it could hardly be called a conversation between just two men... but to Liberte, the guards apparently did not count.
A joyful smile rose to his face at the prospect of hearing from Rei how Elena had been spending her time in Gilm.