9 – Siren

As I suspected, the kitchen was near the dining hall, so getting the tea wasn’t too difficult.

Of course, it wasn’t difficult, but it wasn’t exactly smooth sailing either.

Each time the cooks and maids saw me, they dropped plates, shattering them.

It wasn’t my fault in the slightest, but.

I felt bad, wondering how much Damian must have tormented them in the past to cause such a reaction, so I offered to help clean up.

“…P-Please, just spare my life… *sob* Please!”

One of the maids burst into tears and prostrated herself before me, leaving me no choice but to leave her be and vacate the premises.

‘Lorraine definitely said he was only slightly tyrannical…’

No matter how I think about it, their reactions are far too extreme to describe him as only slightly so.

Sensing something was amiss, I decided to ask Lorraine, who was waiting for me at the training grounds, about it.

“Erm… young master, we’re close, aren’t we? You won’t withhold my tea for speaking the truth, will you?”

Lorraine glanced at me, a fleeting moment of hesitation in her eyes, before offering an awkward smile and launching into a tale of Damian’s exploits.

“He’d strike people with wooden swords and hunks of metal at the slightest provocation, deliberately pick fights and then toss them into the pond, and oh! There was that time he tried to feed a maid bugs.”

…A series of rather shocking revelations burst forth.

If this had happened in my modern era, it would’ve been a special report on abuse of power, earning him universal scorn. Realizing the repugnant nature of his actions, a sense of bewilderment washed over me.

Suddenly, a single question bloomed in my mind.

Why did Damian’s family, despite his utter degeneracy, cherish him so?

It wasn’t as if Damian’s family were steeped in aristocratic prejudice, looking down on commoners with disdain.

Though it had only been a day and premature judgment was unwise, they seemed remarkably decent, genuinely upright individuals.

‘Even at a cursory glance, the servants all seemed to take pride in their work.’

Which meant it wasn’t a matter of inheriting a unique family atmosphere.

Damian’s own delinquency had mutated into this monstrousness…

Knowing this, the fact that none of his family members had tried to correct him, simply left him to his own devices, felt unsettling.

‘No… it was more than just leaving him alone, they coddled him, shielded him.’

Unable to comprehend this, I cautiously broached the subject, carefully wording my question.

Lorraine wore a look of deep contemplation before revealing the reason.

“I don’t know the full story, but I heard that the youngest master was very ill as a child. I was told the overprotectiveness started then. Maybe that’s why? And there’s also a large age gap, and since he’s the youngest, perhaps they simply adore him.”

The moment I heard those words, another question naturally arose.

If he grew up receiving only love, then why had he become so broken?

No matter how much I pondered, I couldn’t find an answer. Shaking off these distractions, I gripped the wooden sword.

“…Let’s train.”

At my words, Lorraine breathed a sigh of relief and brandished her wooden sword.

“Yes. Shall we begin immediately, then?”

The training method Lorraine and I employed was simple.

We’d spar until I was on the verge of a fatal injury, then, when things got too dangerous, we’d replenish our stamina and mental strength with potions and tea.

Then, we’d resume sparring. A simple structure, indeed.

The only drawback was the excessive amount of blood splattering everywhere, painting the surroundings crimson.

However, this could be resolved using a magical tool imbued with cleaning magic, so from my perspective, the training method was completely problem-free.

Of course, it seemed I was alone in this assessment.

The knights in the training grounds did not seem to share my sentiment.

“… Is that right? Are they just trying to kill him?”

“They’re really going at it fiercely.”

Voices rippled through the air.

In the North, they tended to treat me like I wasn’t even there, never expressing any feelings, so I had no idea how others felt.

Here, there were none of those types, so I could tell our training was perhaps a little more extreme than it should have been.

Even so, nothing was better for improving my skills, so I ignored it and was about to continue the sparring when—

Someone screamed from the entrance.

“D-Damian?!”

Damian’s eldest sister, Lilia Carsaril.

According to Lorraine, she possessed a gentle and virtuous nature, earning her the moniker of “Saintess” among some of the knights.

She rushed toward me, a look of utter shock on her face, and began examining my body.

“Are you alright? B-blood on our youngest… Lorraine, what on earth is going on?”

“Ah, well…”

“I entrusted Damian to your protection, and you’re beating him instead! What kind of behavior is that?”

“I’m… I’m so sorry. I have no excuse.”

Lorraine wasn’t at fault.

From the start, she disliked the training because she thought it was too brutal.

So, before poor Lorraine could get a proper scolding from Lilia ＜em＞nuna＜/em＞, I quickly interjected.

“It was my idea, so there’s no need to…”

“You be quiet. What’s so great that you have to interfere?”

“…?”

“No, you come stand here too. What’s wrong with you, not taking care of your own body like that? Do you know how sad your family would be if you got hurt?”

I glanced at Lorraine, seeking her help, but—

Lorraine, looking completely dazed, could only nod.

Seeing Lorraine like that, I thought, ‘Well, she has been through a lot,’ and lowered my gaze.

‘Next time, I should probably spar somewhere else.’

I resolved to train in a more remote location where people rarely went, and added a thought for Lorraine, telling her to reflect on herself.

*

After Lilia ＜em＞nuna＜/em＞ finished scolding us, I treated everyone in the training grounds to tea.

In the North, offering tea was futile, each cup ignored, not even a sip spared. It was impossible to give it away.

But here, everyone, without exception, politely accepted, savoring each mouthful.

At first, the reaction wasn’t so strong.

But as they finished their cups, gasps of astonishment echoed through the room, their impressions of the tea freely offered.

“My word, the effect is astonishing! It feels as if all the weariness has simply vanished!”

“Such theatrics… Oh, forgive me, young master. That wasn’t directed at you, but at this… thing. Yes, yes… Uh? What is this. Uh?”

“Even the most potent elixirs haven’t touched my fatigue lately, yet after this, it’s all but gone!”

Remembering Lorraine’s usual reactions to my efforts, I could roughly understand their fervent praise.

I smiled faintly, watching their delight, when my brother approached, showering compliments.

“Where did you learn this? Incredible. Wonderfully delicious, and the fatigue just melts away.”

“Just learned it messing around.”

“Really? Impressive.”

Notably, among the tea drinkers, my sister Lilia seemed especially fond of it.

Recently plagued by severe headaches, she declared that the tea had instantly dissolved them all, lavishing me with praise.

“My little darling, thanks to you, your sister is living like royalty. Your sister isn’t usually one for tears… I might cry.”

Unsure how to respond, I offered only an awkward smile.

Lilia forcibly pulled me into an embrace, stroking my hair as she spoke.

“Come here, let your sister hold you. There, there.”

Being six years my senior, treating me like a child was perhaps inevitable.

It wasn’t unpleasant, but the embarrassment was unavoidable, and I quickly excused myself. Lilia gazed after me, a hint of sadness in her eyes.

“Are you all grown up, then?”

“……”

Reluctantly offering her only my head for a moment, I became lost in thought.

‘What could be the reason Lilia is assassinated?’

She wasn’t the sort to make enemies with a prickly personality, and she wasn’t just any young lady. She was the eldest daughter of the Duke of Carsaril, the most influential figure in central politics.

In other words, she wasn’t someone worth risking an assassination for, inviting such a tremendous amount of risk.

Yet, unable to fathom the reason for the assassination, my concerns deepened.

‘An investigation is necessary.’

And the investigation needed to start with Lilia.

I asked Lilia, who was still stroking my head.

“Is something troubling you, perhaps? Any problems?”

“Hmm? Ah… I’ve had a terrible headache lately. But the youngest one’s tea fixed it right up.”

Headache, was it? I nodded, wondering if it could possibly be linked to the assassination plot.

*

Assassinations, by their very nature, happen without the victim’s knowledge.

I chatted with Lilia-nuna, carefully extracting bits of information, and then excused myself to wander the mansion.

‘Perhaps I might stumble upon some clue.’

After practically dragging Lorraine along, that is.

Under the guise of familiarizing myself with the mansion’s layout, I thoroughly searched the interior, checked unused rooms, the whole shebang.

But finding nothing of value, I was stumped.

‘If only I knew exactly when it was going to happen, I might have a grasp on things.’

Evil characters in novels rarely had their pasts explained in detail, alas.

Sadly, I lacked specific intel on that front.

All I knew was…

That Lilia-nuna would be assassinated, and much later, around the novel’s midpoint,

The protagonist, Dale, would visit Karsaril’s territory, discover ‘dark magic,’ and expose it.

‘Wait a moment… dark magic?’

Now that I thought about it, that was odd.

Why would the Karsaril family, wanting for absolutely nothing, need to dabble in dark magic?

‘They wouldn’t. Even if they did, they could find other means.’

So why did dark magic figure in?

The instant I realized this, I sensed something was amiss.

‘I need to investigate immediately.’

I told Lorraine, who was trailing behind me, to prepare for an outing, and then pulled a spirit from my pocket.

“Myaang!”

The spirit, pleased that I had summoned it, rubbed its face against my palm, nuzzling affectionately.

I stroked the spirit’s head, and set off.

‘The spirit of the sun detested dark magic.’

To put it another way, it would react strongly to even the faintest trace or residue of dark magic.

Therefore, by using the spirit’s power to scan the surroundings, I was confident I could achieve concrete results. Stepping outside, what I found was…

The aftertaste of dark magic lingered, pervasive throughout the city.