Night—
“Uncle Brandon, can you tell me what on earth is going on at home right now?”
In the tavern, Lillian was continuously pouring wine for Brandon, whose face was completely flushed red.
Although he was already quite drunk, the patrol captain immediately put on a serious expression upon hearing about the Enridel family.
Even the surrounding soldiers stopped their laughter and chatter at this moment.
“This is not something the young lady should know.”
Seeing Lillian pouring wine into his cup again, Brandon did not drain it in one gulp like he had just done.
“If the young lady is hoping to get me drunk and pry information out of me, you can save your breath.”
“We are professionally trained, right, soldiers?!”
To change the subject, Brandon shouted at the soldiers filling the tavern.
“The boss is right!”
“We are professionally trained!”
“You guys...”
Seeing this, the young lady was momentarily at a loss for words.
“There's no need for you to try and pry information from our mouths, young lady. This matter isn't exactly good news for you.”
At the same time, as if to prove he wasn't drunk, Brandon stood up from his seat.
He walked straight toward Ichikawa.
“Hmm?”
The light in front of Ichikawa was suddenly blocked by a towering wall of a man.
Brandon held a bottle of plain water and placed it in front of Ichikawa.
“Hey, hey, kid, do you dare to have a match? A real man can't possibly fail to drink something that looks just like plain water, right?”
As Brandon spoke, he glanced at Lillian, who was standing not far away.
Upon seeing him cause trouble for the Hero, the young lady's focus had clearly begun to shift toward this Hero.
Although doing this wasn't very nice, this matter... the Duke had said that the young lady must not know.
Ichikawa looked at Brandon's serious expression and immediately understood.
“Hey! Uncle, this isn't nearly enough to drink.”
A playful expression appeared on his face as he looked at Brandon, even though he knew he was being used to change the subject.
But as someone who had successfully transformed using alcohol during the demon race's celebration, he couldn't let himself be outdone by someone else.
If he lost, he would feel a bit sorry for the Baroque couple, who had played rock-paper-scissors drinking games with him in the tavern back then.
Determination burned in Ichikawa's eyes.
“Mr. Baroque, I won't let you down!”
Meanwhile, far away in the coastal Viscount Preston's domain.
“Why does it feel like someone far away is talking about me?”
Baroque was currently standing inside the manor of the viscount's domain, with Viscount Wayne Preston standing beside him.
“Could it be that your wife is missing you?”
“I'd rather not think about that.”
“I never expected everyone from the demon race would actually come to help the Second Prince.”
Viscount Preston looked at the carriages transporting crops produced by the demon race outside the manor window, an uncontrollable smile on his face.
“Usually, it's Preston secretly shipping seafood to the demon race.”
“Mhm...”
“I hope we can have friendly exchanges in the future.”
Viscount Preston smiled; after all, he was located right on the border.
Having a group of easygoing, good neighbors right across the border was infinitely better than conflicts breaking out every day.
“Lord Baroque, where are we going for our next stop?”
Niya poked half of her head through the doorway, looking at the two men conversing in the room.
“Next, we just need to wait, Niya.”
“And next time, don't rip the entire door off.”
Seeing the door Niya was clutching in her hand, Baroque could only offer an apologetic look to Viscount Preston.
“I-I'm extremely sorry!”
“But who on earth is thinking about me...”
Shifting back to a certain tavern in Enridel—
“You're no good!”
“I'm the real man!”
Looking at Brandon, who was on the verge of collapsing from drinking, a victorious laugh broke out on Ichikawa's face.
“Don't underestimate the soldiers of Enridel! I am a real man!”
Brandon suddenly stood up from his seat and chugged the entire bottle of plain water.
Instantly, the entire world began to spin uncontrollably.
“Hey! I'm the one who's—mmph—”
Seeing such an intense battle, Lin Ling, who was sitting on the side, was just about to join in when Ivelia grabbed her.
“You can't drink.”
“Eh~ Why not?”
“Because you're a girl!”
“Right! A girl!”
Brandon chimed in with Ichikawa, taking another swig from the bottle.
“That person is a woman too, damn it.”
For some reason, Brandon slammed his fist onto the bar counter as he sat heavily back into his seat.
“That person... If it weren't for her, why would we in Enridel be afraid of her? Why would we have ended up like this?”
“That person? What exactly happened to the Enridel domain?”
Seeing Brandon suddenly bring up matters concerning Enridel, Lillian couldn't help but step forward to press for answers.
Ichikawa shot her a look, signaling her to remain quiet.
At a time like this, Lillian suddenly cutting in would very likely cause the soldier to clam up again.
“The Sword Saint of Camillaya, you know of them, don't you, Hero?”
“Sword Saint?”
Lin Ling looked back at Ivelia, who shook her head.
Ichikawa was somewhat puzzled by the interaction between the two. A Sword Saint that even the Demon King didn't know about?
“Yeah, that's the one.”
Bang!
“If it weren't for that person suddenly coming here with Rozaku's subordinates.”
“And claiming something about the Duchess poisoning the Emperor. How the hell is that possible?!”
“It's obviously an idea that damn newly appointed Bishop Nadia of the Holy See gave to the Emperor.”
Hearing this somewhat familiar name, Lin Ling fell into thought.
Nadia? I think Sia's mother has that name...
“Hmph, as soon as she took office, she wanted to purge members of the Holy See on a large scale.”
“Enridel would naturally never agree. It must be because we don't get along with the current Emperor that those vampire-like bastards are targeting the Enridel territory like this.”
Saying this, Brandon looked at Ichikawa again.
“Kid, you are a Hero, and a real man.”
“If that person really believes Rozaku's nonsense, the entire domain is going to suffer.”
“Wh-When the time comes, I'll leave the young lady, Lillian, in your hands...”
The moment those words left his mouth, Brandon's figure blurred.
Before Ichikawa could even react, Lillian, who was standing not far away, felt her vision go dark.
“Uncle Brandon...”
“You're not drunk?!”
Seeing Brandon, who had already picked Lillian up, even Lin Ling, who was watching from the side, was somewhat shocked.
“This is actual plain water. How could I possibly get drunk from drinking water?”
“A soldier does not drink alcohol when in danger.”
A solemn look came over Brandon's face.
“The way you arrived was very peculiar. I believe you have a way to leave, just like how the person beside that girl is definitely not human.”
“Kid, although I don't know what happened between Lillian and you.”
“But Keith and Rozaku want right now is to use one of Camillaya's trump cards to completely erase the title of the Duke of Enridel.”
“Even if she trusts you, I need to know why you have come here.”
The cheerful and laughing atmosphere among the soldiers in the tavern completely vanished, suddenly replaced by a chilling aura of solemnity.
“Before Keith took the throne, we weren't just a patrol squad.”
“We came to subjugate the Demon King.”
“The Demon King?”
“Who is the Demon King?”
“Keith.”
As a Hero summoned by Camillaya, Ichikawa had just uttered such highly rebellious words right in front of the soldiers.
“Heh. Take Lillian and go.”
“Eh? You don't even suspect him of lying?!”
Lin Ling had already secretly prepared herself for a fight.
Upon hearing this, the magic arms behind her instantly dissipated.
After saying his piece, Brandon stood up and led the soldiers toward the tavern door.
“Hey! Listen to what I'm saying!”
Bang...
“No, Ichikawa, why are you staying quiet again at a time like this?!”
Seeing that the soldiers had already left the tavern, Lin Ling grabbed Ichikawa's shoulders and shook him.
“Stop shaking me, stop shaking me.”
“Doesn't him saying that just tell us this matter isn't simple?”
“Just because it isn't simple, we aren't going to do it?!”
Lin Ling's expression became serious.
“But didn't you notice? He explained everything before Lillian lost consciousness.”
“Eh?”
The seriousness on Lin Ling's face turned into a blank stare.
“Him handing Lillian over to us is equivalent to aligning her with our faction.”
“Which means, at this very moment, Enridel has aligned itself with us—that is, with Kainster's faction.”
“Now, there's trouble at home. Will you help?”
Rate on N.U.
