Shini Yasui Kōshaku Reijō to Nana-ri no Kikōshi

I concealed my shock and asked Citrouille as calmly as possible.

“Um, by Military Order of Útför, you mean the knight order under the direct command of the northern Governor-General, right……?”

“AH! Aah~~~ this is bad……!”

Citrouille covered his mouth hurriedly in an exaggerating manner.

“So, are you a retainer of the infamous Margrave of Urs?”

I decided to question him further while pretending not to realize its significance.

Citrouille answered in a panic.

“That, that’s confidential. If my affiliation is exposed, it will be difficult for me to move……!”

“My, my, what kind of movement are you involved with?”

“I was originally sent to cooperate with the investigation of the kidnapping cases a while ago, but, um……”

I see, so the northern people were working on the kidnapping cases.

The matter about the increase in the number of members dispatched from the military order was also due to these circumstances, huh.

However, for him to be that Harlan’s subordinate, he must be a dangerous person.

Something like being involved with the inquisitions, and willing to confine and torture people, among other things.

Uwah, how scary.

“About that matter, my brother has also agreed to it then.”

“So far, Sir Eduard has been tasked with doing extensive investigation. That’s why we, the Military Order of Útför, now lend our strength to the treatment of Sir Eduard.”

“……Is that so.”

Uh, it seems dangerous to investigate via the Military Order of Útför.

My brother would be fine, but I’m worried.

“I don’t know about the people who are working on other duties, but at the very least, I am on Sir Eduard’s side.”

Even though he said that, I can’t rest assured now that I know he has something to do with the Inquisitors.

I’m really glad that the principal concealed the truth about the Bloody Saint!

Now then.

This is a rare-to-come-by opportunity, so should I get information about Harlan from Citrouille?

Since I have nothing to lose, let’s try it out.

“But……is there a secret order from Sir Harlan?”

“No, no, no, I’m at the bottom of the pack, I’ve never even met Sir Harlan face-to-face nor have I been addressed by him directly.”

Harlan Slayson.

I feel like his shadow has been looming over me for the past several years.

“Speaking of which, I heard that Sir Harlan is a gentleman with severe features similar to that of a wolf, but……”

“Those rumors are nonsense. Sir Harlan wears a silver mask and doesn’t even show his face.”

And so Citrouille told me about Harlan’s appearance.

The infamous Harlan Slayson, who was surrounded by rumors reeking of blood.

He reportedly had a serious injury on his face more than a decade ago.

It is said that the bone on his frontal lobe was crushed by a stray shot.

Or that his whole face was horribly burned.

Or that his face has been distorted by a curse, and many such rumors, but the truth is uncertain.

Harlan left his injury as is in order not to forget the humiliation and his desire for revenge.

It was necessary to conceal his much-too-unsightly face, so Harlan began to wear the wolf mask.

“Please keep this story a secret. He’s a notorious and difficult person.”

“I have heard that he’s a daring and resolute gentleman, but does he have an ill repute?”

When I feigned ignorance and asked again in return, Citrouille pursed his lips and scratched his cheek.

“Ah—……if you don’t know, then you are better off not knowing.”

Citrouille looks awkward.

As expected, I can’t extract information about Harlan anymore.

Alright, then let’s start probing from another direction.

“By the way, are there perhaps, a lot of people like you who infiltrated the academy unknown to us?”

“Uuh……my apologies. Even if it’s only things about me, if the fact that I leak information were to be known, my head would fly……”

Citrouille muttered something disturbing with lifeless eyes.

By ‘my head would fly’, there’s no way he meant that literally, right?

After all, Lucanrant is not a land of demons, is it?

No, wait, it is a dangerous country1 though.

The fact that there is the matter about the Headless Prince, kind of sealed the deal.

“P-p-please, keep it a secret……!”

“I understand. I’ll keep this in my heart. In exchange, I’ll leave my brother in your hands. And also the students of this academy.”

“Y-yes! I promise! I will definitely protect them!”

With seemingly honest eyes, Citrouille said words that sound sincere.

He doesn’t look like a bad person, should I believe him for now?

Just as I was thinking about that, I heard the sound of knocking on the door of the medical office.

The one who entered the medical office was Brad Clochydd.

“Clochydd-sensei……?”

“Erica Aurelia. So you were here. Sorry, but I’ll borrow your brother.”

Brad walked quickly to the bed where my brother was sleeping.

He tore the blanket off of my brother who was sleeping soundly.

“……?”

“Ed, wake up. You are not free enough to be leisurely sleeping in this place, are you?”

My brother slowly opened his eyes.

Perhaps due to being awakened abruptly, he looked around with a surprised expression.

“Oya……Erica……and Brad, did you come to visit me? Thank you, I’m happy.”

“Who is that man? If he’s a suspicious person, I’ll have him removed from now on, that would be fine, right?”

Brad asked my brother without glancing at Citrouille even for a moment.

“You’re a worrywart as always, I see. This is the dispatched insurance healer, Jack Citrouille.”

“……A healer with mixed blood of the South and the North, is it? Of all things, did they have to bring in an outsider at this time?”

Brad glared at Citrouille with a piercing gaze.

With a forced smile on his face, Citrouille asked my brother for help with his eyes.

“He has good skills and is very trustworthy. You can rest assured because I can guarantee it.”

My brother defended Citrouille while rearranging his disheveled collar with his left hand.

“You’re Earl Brad Clochydd, right? Sir Brad, pleased to meet you.”

Brad rejected the hand that was offered by Citrouille.

“I have a principle to not trust others easily. Even if it is not the case, I do not intend to deepen my friendship with anyone.”

“Ah— um……I see.”

Citrouille retracted his hand with a bitter smile.

Seeing that, Brad deliberately had a nasty and aggressive smile on his face.

“You came here for treatment purpose, right? If so, you should finish your job quickly and return to where you came from.”

“It depends on the physical condition of Sir Eduard. I also want to finish my job as soon as possible, but he’s not yet ready to accept the full-scale treatment.”

“Do not sniff around the academy except to do your job. The academy is currently in a delicate situation.”

“Haha, I have no idea what the situation is. But, I understand. I will be careful not to get in the way.”

The two of them began to exchange barbed words.

It is a battle of wits while hiding their circumstances.

“Brad.”

My brother who got up from the bed raised his voice.

He forced his way through between Brad and Citrouille.

For a while, my brother and Brad stared at each other silently.

It was just a few tens of seconds, but it felt like the time had stopped.

It was my brother who broke the silence.

“By the way, Brad, didn’t you have a business with me?”

“The principal has called for you. Let’s go to the Principal’s Office right now.”

After saying so, Brad got out of the medical office briskly with a swish of his black robe.

“I’m sorry, Erica. You have come all the way here, but I have to go. And please accept my apology about just now, Citrouille.”

“Don’t worry, Onii-sama.”

“I’m fine. I will be waiting for your return here. I’m used to waiting anyway.”

My brother also quickly put on his jacket and followed Brad after taking his luggage with him.

After seeing them off, Citrouille sighed loudly.

It can’t be helped, as soon as he transferred here, his secret was leaked out to me and he was told off such things by Brad.

“Well, how scary. Are those two on bad terms with each other?”

“I wonder. I don’t think my brother is the type of person who hates others though.”

My brother is gone, so should I go to my next class?

I thought so and stood up while taking my bag.

“Ah right, is Sir Eduard right-handed?”

“He used to be left-handed, but he practiced and became ambidextrous.”

Right now he mainly uses his right hand, but it seems he’s still good at using his left hand.

That’s why sometimes he uses his left hand.

“When using wands, he mainly uses his right hand, but he’s better at using knife with his left hand.”

“Heeh, I see.”

But, I wonder why he asked this all of a sudden.

This time I questioned Citrouille.

“But why do you ask?”

“I couldn’t grasp which one is his dominant hand from his movement, so I was curious. If that is the case, then it’s understandable.”

Citrouille, Harlan’s subordinate who is an undercover investigator who infiltrated the academy.

He must have had sharp, observant eyes.

I wonder if he exposes vampires from such a small amount of information.

“But well, he’s a clever guy, that Sir Brad.”

“Do you think you’ve already been found out?”

“He seems to have figured out about half of it, huh~ aah~ how scary.”

Citrouille laughed while rubbing the back of his head.

If he got found out by that Brad from the very first day, it will be difficult for him to investigate further.

“His face looks severe, but I think he may be seriously worried about my brother and the academy.”

“But, you know……he’s also a person surrounded by various rumors, that Sir Brad.”

“Rumors? That Clochydd-sensei……?”

I was surprised, but I shouldn’t be.

Because he is one of the capture targets of the otome game 『Liber Monstrorum』.

I wasn’t able to gather information during my personal investigation, but of course he’s not an ordinary person!

“Officially, he was born to the Earl House of Clochydd but he was actually adopted, and it seems that his true birthplace was concealed.”

“I’ve heard cases where they take custody of the illegitimate child after adopting them as a related lower nobility but……”

I answered while thinking about Beatrice’s case.

This is especially true for noble mages whose pedigree tends to influence their abilities.

“It is said that the reason why he’s at this academy is because he has been receiving treatment for some kind of curse that he had for a long time.”

“No way……”

Information that I didn’t know came out of his mouth.

Thank you for letting me use this information.

But this Citrouille, he has a very loose tongue, huh.

I wonder if he would be able to keep his duty of confidentiality.

“Oops, I’ve talked too much. Please, keep this a secret.”

Citrouille smiled as if he felt my distrust.

This person is not a bad person, but I feel like he is not a good person either.

A warning bell rang in my mind.

Citrouille did not inadvertently leak information.

Is he trying to get information out of me by giving out information as if they were baits?

Rather than a boneheaded spy, he’s a scary adult.

“Citrouille-san, please be careful about your talkativeness, okay?”

“Yes, of course!”

Citrouille responded with a radiant smile like the blue sky.

He is an unfathomably dangerous person, but it is not enough to be considered an enemy.

I went to the afternoon class while feeling a bit anxious.

1 In both of this sentence and the previous sentence, it is said ‘修羅の国 (Shura no Kuni)’. Translated literally, it means land of demons/country of demons, but it is also a slang for ‘dangerous place’.