Grand Duke Valdemar barely understood that I hadn’t come for compensation issues and asked why I had come instead.
I explained the reason to him.
I told him that I planned to search the nearby mountain range for something and wanted to impose on him for a while before setting off.
“Search operations in the Sky Mountain Range…? I can’t understand. What could you possibly be looking for that requires such hardship…?”
“Well… that’s difficult to say. It’s classified information.”
I trailed off. If I revealed that I was here to find and hide the Holy Sword, I couldn’t even predict what kind of reaction I’d get.
He might insist that the sword belongs to the imperial family and demand I hand it over to Leopold… or, on the contrary, he might suggest overthrowing Leopold, whom he already dislikes, and installing a new emperor.
After the Great Invasion, where the northern territories were nearly completely overrun by Ryurik’s forces despite Leopold’s assurances of safety, Grand Duke Valdemar didn’t seem to think highly of him.
“Can’t reveal it? Classified, classified… Hmm, I see.”
So, it was better to keep what I was searching for hidden from him.
“Are you looking for Juwaiyoz?”
…He saw right through me.
“Uh…”
Caught off guard by his direct question, I hesitated for a moment, unable to respond.
How did he know?
And it wasn’t just a wild guess—his tone and expression were filled with certainty.
As if he had known all along that Juwaiyoz was hidden in the Sky Mountain Range.
“I knew it. Had the Median Family also heard about Juwaiyoz’s whereabouts? No, if you’re only now starting the search… was it a secret from Landenburg? Did Ludwig tell you before he died in battle?”
Seeing my inability to respond, Valdemar muttered to himself, nodding as if he had figured it all out on his own.
He had guessed the object of my search correctly, but he was completely off about the source of the information.
From what he said, it seemed the Pailoon family had passed down the story that Carolus lost the Holy Sword during a battle in the Sky Mountain Range…
But I knew that fact not from family records but from my knowledge of the original story.
Anyway, since I was caught, there was no point in pretending.
“…There’s no use denying it. Yes, I plan to search the Sky Mountain Range for Juwaiyoz.”
I clicked my tongue and nodded, admitting that I was indeed searching for the Holy Sword.
“If the sword possesses the legendary power, it would greatly enhance our combat strength.”
I added that I had no intention of handing it over to Leopold or using it to start a rebellion—I only wanted to use it as a weapon, so he shouldn’t interfere.
“Hmm…”
“Is there a problem?”
“No, not really. Even if you were to claim Juwaiyoz for yourself, that would be a matter for you, as a Marquis, to negotiate with the imperial family. It’s not something Pailoon should meddle in.”
I politely asked if he had any objections, and he shook his head, indicating he had no intention of interfering.
Though I wasn’t sure if I could trust that.
“However…”
“However?”
“I can’t shake the feeling that this is a futile endeavor.”
Ah, so that’s why he was so calm. He thought I was bound to fail.
“Pailoon has been searching for Juwaiyoz’s whereabouts in the north for hundreds of years, but we’ve never found it.”
So, his family had also searched for the Holy Sword. Though they failed.
“In a way, it’s only natural. How could anyone find a small piece of metal lost eight hundred years ago in the vast Sky Mountain Range? It’s probably buried deep in the frozen ground.”
Well, it was a crazy endeavor by common sense.
I only dared to search because I had a rough idea of where it might be. Without any clues, I wouldn’t even know where to start.
“Well… I have some free time now, so I thought I’d give it a shot. If I don’t find it within a certain time, I’ll just give up and return empty-handed.”
“In that case… I won’t stop you.”
Valdemar sighed lightly and shook his head.
—
After the discussion about the Holy Sword search was settled, I requested a place to stay for the time being and asked him to interrogate the prisoners I had brought.
I listed the issues that needed to be addressed and the precautions for handling them.
Though the precautions were mostly just advice to regularly beat them down if they started acting up.
“Fairy Guardians and Dragonkin… Interesting but troublesome. How far do you want to go? If you want them to retain their sanity after the interrogation…”
“Once I’ve extracted all the information I need, it doesn’t matter what happens to them. Kill them or keep them alive—it’s up to you.”
Once I had all the information, I didn’t care about the fate of Ereneisia or Macaoros.
Whether they went insane and died in prison or were executed, it was all their karma.
“That’s a very satisfactory answer.”
Valdemar smiled.
Yeah, I knew he’d like that.
He seemed like the type who enjoyed torturing and dissecting Beastmen, just like Freide. Though these were different races, it probably didn’t make much difference.
The issue of accommodation was resolved by being guided to my recently completed mansion.
He said I could be treated as a guest at Pailoon Castle if I wanted, but if I preferred less commotion, the mansion would be better.
Since Freide would guide me to the mansion, I bid him farewell and left the reception room to return to Rana and Damien.
“Ah, sister! Are you done with the discussion?”
“Yes. It went well.”
Rana, who had been waiting outside the reception room, ran over with a bright smile and linked her arm with mine.
Since she had grown quite a bit, she couldn’t cling to my waist like she used to, so lately, she had taken to linking arms like this.
“Where are we going now? I heard Pailoon’s hot springs are really warm. Should we take a bath first?”
Hot springs, huh? Well, I hadn’t had the chance to properly wash up lately. I was fine, but Rana might have felt a bit uncomfortable.
“Hmm… Let’s meet Freide first, then go home, wash up, and rest.”
“Home?”
“You remember how I made a big contribution during the last Great Invasion, right? As a reward, I was gifted a mansion.”
I hadn’t seen it yet, but since Freide said she’d take care of it, there should at least be a bathroom… right?
Probably…?
…If there’s no bathroom, I’ll dunk Freide in ice water.
—
After that, we walked through the castle corridors to Freide’s room.
She had been staying in the Imperial Capital for a while but had recently returned to the castle and had started hunting Beastmen again.
Beastman hunting. Such a Freide-like activity. For her, it was killing three birds with one stone.
It was her only hobby, her duty as the heir of Pailoon, and a way to train her combat skills.
Knock knock.
Arriving at Freide’s private room, I lightly knocked on the wooden arch-shaped door with a “Do Not Disturb” sign hanging on it.
“Who is it? I said not to disturb me while I’m working.”
A high schooler-like, irritated response came from inside.
Seems like… she was so engrossed in her hobby that she didn’t even know I had come.
What kind of work could she be doing? Probably just taxidermy on some Beastmen.
“Who do you think? It’s your ‘only’ friend. I’m coming in—”
“Huh? Hashalleur? No, wait—”
Finally realizing who the visitor was, Freide urgently tried to stop me, but by then, I had already flung open the door.
Crash!
…Uh, well, I meant to open it gently.
If only it hadn’t been locked.
“What’s this?”
I let out a hollow laugh, holding the door that had been ripped off its hinges. A familiar sense of déjà vu flashed through my mind. This time, it wasn’t intentional.
“You broke the door again?! I told you to wait a moment!”
Freide, looking at me with exasperation, snapped angrily, holding a small saw dripping with blood in her right hand.
“Ah, sorry. I didn’t expect it to be locked. I’ve never seen anyone lock their own room door unless they were having a secret rendezvous.”
She’s not a high schooler anymore—what’s with this behavior?
I shrugged awkwardly and offered a half-hearted apology, then leaned the broken door against the wall and stepped inside.
It wasn’t a bedroom but a workshop-like space, and the interior was surprisingly spacious, filled with the mixed scents of metal, blood, and chemicals.
Like her private room at the academy, one wall was lined with various weapons and surgical tools, and on the shelves beside them, Beastman organs were displayed in glass jars.
The difference from the academy was that, thanks to the larger space, the room was filled with all sorts of taxidermy. Bears, wolves, leopards, deer—there was a wide variety.
In fact, it seemed she had been working on a new piece, as a Beastman corpse with its belly split open lay neatly on a large wooden table in the corner.
“Still with the hobbies.”
I sighed and shook my head.
She hasn’t changed a bit.
Though she’s gotten stronger.
