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Chapter 193

"A servant will send the money up shortly."

"I’ll be expecting it. Well then, I’ll head up now."

"Rest well. They’re probably having dinner now. See you in the morning."

As Ian turned to leave, he paused and looked back at Obell.

"Is something happening tomorrow morning?"

"Oh, you’ll find out when you go up, but my father has requested a meeting with you tomorrow morning. It’s not something that happens often. He seems eager to meet the brave warriors who easily took down such a monster, and the esteemed elder elf."

"... In the morning, not the evening?"

Obell shrugged. "He originally wanted dinner, but I have a banquet planned for the evening. Since you’re my guests, my father had to yield. Though the lady accepted my father’s request, she was hesitant about mine."

Ah, so that’s how it was.

Ian nodded, and Obell lowered his voice. "Could you please persuade her? It wouldn’t be right to have a banquet without the guests of honor."

"I’ll talk to her." Ian nodded, keeping to himself that he wasn’t sure if the banquet would happen at all.

Obell smiled contentedly. "If you feel like drinking, come down anytime. The party will go on."

It seemed Obell didn’t expect an answer, as he playfully raised his mug and turned away. He walked off, gulping down his drink.

So he really is the guardian of bread and beer. Maybe his power is to become more cheerful when he drinks.

"A meeting...?" Philip, who hadn’t smiled once, muttered.

Ian laughed dryly and started walking towards the guesthouse.

***

The group came together in Thesaya\'s room for dinner, just as Obell had said.

"Why are you so late, Ian? Lord Westwood had already come and went." Thesaya spoke with a mouthful of meat sauce around her lips.

Ian nodded as he unbuckled his sword. "I know. I met him downstairs."

"Oh, did you? Then you must have heard everything?"

"Yeah. You accepted the Count’s request?" Ian asked as he sat down and took the drink Mev handed him.

Thesaya nodded. "We couldn’t exactly refuse such a request on the spot. So, here’s the plan."

She smiled, popping another piece of meat into her mouth.

"Let’s leave tomorrow morning. There’s no good reason to get entangled with the Count. We were just discussing what excuse to use, though we haven’t come up with anything solid."

Charlotte, seated across from Thesaya, added as she raised her beer mug.

"So we waited for you, Ian. You\'re bound to come up with something clever."

"Well..."

Ian exchanged a glance with Philip before replying.

"We might have to meet with the Count."

"Huh...?" Thesaya tilted her head while Charlotte frowned.

Mev, observing Philip’s expression, spoke up. "You’re already aware of the risk of our false identities being exposed... there must be a reason for this."

"That’s right."

"Something happened outside, didn’t it? Where did you go, Ian?" Thesaya asked next.

Ian took a sip of his drink before answering.

"Outside the castle. To the slum."

"The slum...?"

"The place where the sick are quarantined," Philip added.

As Ian’s gaze fell on him, Philip began explaining what they had seen outside in a somber voice. Meanwhile, Ian downed his beer in one go, though he only intended to take a sip. It was the best beer he’d had recently, not because of its taste—it was still lukewarm—but because it helped rid the lingering stench from his nose.

"So there’s a plague, and a cursed one at that, spreading without the townspeople’s knowledge," Mev muttered with a serious expression after hearing the explanation.

Ian nodded as he refilled his glass. "That’s right. It doesn’t seem to be widespread enough to call it an outbreak just yet."

Ian gestured to Philip again and the bloated creature, Swamp\'s Resentment, that had been coiled around his finger, dropped onto the table.

The creature gagged and regurgitated a small amount of substance. Though minimal, it was enough to make the group grimace. It was a tar-like, foul-smelling, black goo.

Psssss—

The goo dissolved into black smoke almost immediately.

Philip extended his right hand, and a faint light emanated from his palm, burning away the smoke and goo. It was clear evidence it was a byproduct of a curse.

"So there’s a corrupter operating in Drenorov... and they’ve already created victims," Mev sighed.

Ian transformed Swamp’s Resentment back into a ring and picked up a fork.

As he took a bite of the meat on his plate, Thesaya spoke. "Could this be related to the strange shadow I saw? You mentioned that the darkness from the borderlands is descending."

She and Ian were the only ones still eating. Charlotte and Mev had put down their forks and were holding their glasses, while Philip hadn’t touched the food at all.

Ian gave a casual nod. "That might have prompted the local corrupters to start their activities in earnest. If it had started earlier, the city would already be in ruins."

"... It could be connected to the person we’re pursuing," Mev added in a subdued voice.

Ian chewed his meat and replied, "Possibly. We’ll find out once we investigate. Of course, if you prefer to leave for Tessen immediately, I’ll respect that. I’m here to help you with your vengeance."

It was just a formal remark.

As expected, Mev shook her head without hesitation. "No. Let’s investigate. I can’t ignore the corrupters’ schemes now that we’re aware of them, regardless of my personal vendetta."

"If that’s your decision." Ian nodded and resumed eating.

There was ample time to discuss the details after the meal. However, it was clear that the others did not share his sentiment.

"Do you think the Count and Lord Westwood might be involved?" Thesaya asked with a curious glint in her eye.

Holding his drink, Philip responded, "It’s possible, but personally, I doubt they’re connected to this incident."

"Based on what?"

"If they were involved, there would be no need to quarantine the sick. I don’t know what they stand to gain by spreading the plague, but they would have just let it spread. They wouldn’t have mentioned the fever to us, either. The Count and Lord Westwood are probably unaware of the situation. No matter how much they care for their people, they wouldn’t visit the sick directly."

"Hmm. Quite a reasonable argument, freckles," Thesaya smiled as she chewed her meat, then added, "But that’s incorrect."

"...Incorrect?"

"Yes. It doesn’t prove the Count and Lord Westwood’s innocence."

"Explain your reasoning."

"You mentioned curses create the plague, right? I know a bit of dark magic. The more lethal it is, the greater the cost. Even if the sick were thrown into the city, it wouldn’t spread much. It would kill a few and disappear. Of course, it might create byproducts that cause other side effects."

She glanced at Mev and Charlotte, then smiled.

"To make the city a total mess, one needs time and preparation to accumulate the power of the curse. Or they could turn this area into a demonic realm. Even if darkness is spreading here, those steps are necessary. That’s why they might quarantine them—to keep the residents from knowing until the right time."

Thesaya leisurely added while holding her drink, "The sick might even be the sacrifices. To grow the power of the curse. It’s almost certain?."

"... You sound like a demon-born elf. Convincing," Charlotte scoffed while raising her drink.

Philip, who had been nodding vacantly, added, "So, we can’t be sure about the Count and Lord Westwood’s innocence after all."

"That’s right. But there’s something we can be sure of."

Thesaya confidently continued while stabbing a piece of meat with her fork.

"The priests. They are definitely corrupt. Everything fits. There’s a corrupted priest at the monastery in Tessen. And here, it’s the priests who are taking care of the sick. I bet they’re all in on it. So..."

She turned to Charlotte and raised her eyebrows. "Since we’re talking about it, let’s check it out. Stealth is your and my specialty. Let’s quietly sneak into the church and interrogate a few. We’ll find something for sure."

"Sounds good to me," Charlotte smiled, showing her sharp teeth, and added, "If we keep one alive, it’ll be enough. Give me twenty chances, and they’ll spill everything they know."

Philip frowned and asked, "Why twenty chances?"

"Because they have twenty fingers and toes."

"Oh, I see... right..."

"If you want, we can make it twenty-three. There are the nose and ears too. Don’t worry, they won’t die before we finish." Charlotte assured with a sinister grin, making Philip pale.

"You might have to save that for another time. The church is in the middle of the city," said Philip.

Mev nodded in agreement and added, "Yes, according to Thesa’s words, they’re probably accumulating the power of the curse. Even if it’s not perfect, it could cause significant harm."

She looked at Thesaya and Charlotte, who both seemed disappointed.

"We need to be careful. The safety of civilians is too important to gamble with. We must approach cautiously and strike swiftly. Avoid conflict at night. The night is their time."

"Strict as always. Well, then..." Thesaya clicked her tongue and fell silent.

Soon, the faint sound of footsteps approached, followed by a knock on the door. It was a servant bringing the gold coins.

Handing the pouch to Charlotte, the servant added, "When you meet the Count tomorrow, please disarm yourselves completely. If you need attire, we can provide it."

"...We’ll comply," Charlotte replied, giving the group a peculiar look. The servant bowed politely and left. Charlotte returned to her seat, holding the pouch of gold, and smiled.

"The Count is quite thorough."

"This is a common precaution, but given the circumstances, it\'s hard to accept it without concern."

"Why does it matter? We have Ian’s magic." Thesaya remarked, then turned to Ian with a smile as she received the pouch of gold.

"You’ll keep our weapons safe, right, Ian?"

"Of course."

"Well, that’s convenient. First, let\'s confirm if the Count is corrupt. If things go south, we can just hold a blade to his throat."

Ian chuckled as he finished the last piece of meat on his plate.

"Quite a roundabout way to reach an obvious conclusion."

"...Was that your plan from the start?"

Swallowing the meat, Ian rinsed his mouth with beer before continuing, "There will definitely be a corrupted individual at the meeting with the Count tomorrow. Even if it’s not the Count or Lord Westwood, there will at least be a direct connection to them."

"You seem certain."

"Of course. An elder elf appears in the West, with no apparent ties, at this specific time. They’ll want to know why we’re here and if we pose any threat to their plans. Tomorrow is the perfect opportunity for them to find out."

"...They haven’t considered that it’s also the perfect moment for us to strike. They have no idea that we’re aware," Mev murmured coldly.

Ian nodded and waved his right hand lightly. "Exactly. We have the evidence. Since they’ve set the stage for us, we might as well use it to our advantage."

"If it turns out that Count Westwood and Lord Obell are indeed allied with the corrupted, what will you do then?" Philip asked cautiously.

Ian, bringing his drink to his lips, met Philip’s gaze and replied.

"Well, what would you do?"

"...I’d eliminate them. Even if it means being branded and hunted."

As Ian nodded and finished his drink, Thesaya sighed softly.

"I\'m exhausted of being hunted."

"If you don’t want that, then you’d better play your part well tomorrow, pointy ears."

"What? What nonsense..."

Before Thesaya could frown at Charlotte\'s reprimand, Philip’s eyes lit up as he exclaimed, "That’s right. If Thesa plays her part well, we can interrogate the Count and eliminate the corrupt without blowing our cover."

"No, why is that the conclusion...?"

"Don’t worry. Thesa, you just need to remember your lines. We’ll handle the rest. You’ll help, won’t you?"

Philip’s gaze turned to Charlotte and Mev, who lifted their glasses as if it were a given.

"...." Finally, Thesaya looked at Ian, who also raised his glass. Her mouth hung open in bewilderment.