“Greetings. My name is Jacob, and I serve House Panario.”
“…Greetings. What brings you here?”
Glen continued watching the man before him without lowering his guard.
The middle-aged knight named Jacob answered with a smile.
“My apologies for what happened. These are people whom our house invited, but we never imagined that any bandits would dare attack a Priestly Delegation.”
“Hmm. Have you come to escort the priests?”
“That is correct. And… the Viscount said that, if possible, he would very much like to invite you as well, Young Master Glen.”
“…Me?”
“Yes. Rumors have spread that you saved the people of our domain on several occasions. He wishes to express his gratitude. We would be honored if you accompanied us.”
Well, look at these bastards.
Having noticed something strange, Glen chuckled quietly.
“However… your timing is remarkably convenient. You appeared at the precise moment after we had driven off the bandits.”
“Yes. Shameful as it is to admit, the battle was already over by the time we were in a position to intervene. I thought it would be better to report the matter to the Viscount and escort all of you together.”
“Ah, so inviting me was your idea?”
Jacob’s left eyebrow twitched.
It lasted only an instant—brief enough that anyone who had not been watching him closely would have missed it.
“…The Viscount has always taken a great interest in you, Young Master Glen. Naturally, I was aware of it as well.”
“Hmm. Is that so?”
“What will you do? Ah, of course, we have no intention of forcing you. Should you refuse, we will simply escort the Priestly Delegation and return.”
“…One moment.”
Glen turned and looked behind him.
His gaze met Nedain’s expressionless face.
Pretending to adjust his belt, Nedain placed his right hand above his navel and made a gesture at an angle where only Glen could see it.
The brief hand signal had a simple meaning.
‘Encirclement.’
Ha. So this is not an invitation but a threat.
What an audacious bastard.
Glen next turned his gaze toward Priest Monica.
When their eyes met, she tilted her head as though she had no idea what was happening.
…She is not working with them? That is fortunate.
Glen lowered his gaze and considered the situation.
What if they fought here?
They would unquestionably be at a disadvantage.
Regardless of whether they won or lost, they might even be blamed if the Priestly Delegation was injured.
Rejected.
What if they simply withdrew?
Would the other side allow it?
And what would happen to the Priestly Delegation?
There were too many uncertainties.
Rejected as well.
“…It seems there is only one choice.”
At Glen’s quiet mutter, Nedain silently placed a hand on the hilt of his sword.
Glen chuckled at Nedain’s attempt to appear perfectly casual, causing the knight to frown.
Ignoring him, Glen turned back around with a smile.
“Very well. I will accept your generous offer.”
Jacob released a short breath and nodded.
“…Thank you for granting us the honor of receiving you. We will escort you from here.”
***
The Priestly Delegation of the Church of Hernesia, the Lion Knights led by Glen, and the group commanded by Jacob—
Together, they formed a lengthy procession.
Jacob had cunningly divided his men between the front and rear of the column.
It was clearly intended to prevent Glen’s party from escaping.
Nedain had found the situation frustrating from the beginning.
He could not understand what Glen was thinking.
“What are you planning?”
Nedain naturally guided his horse beside Glen’s and asked the question.
Glen answered as though it were nothing important.
“What do you mean?”
Both men spoke more quietly than usual.
They could not risk being overheard.
“Surely you have already realized that this is a trap.”
“I have. That is precisely why I am going.”
Nedain frowned.
“Pardon?”
“If a lion enters a wolves’ den, who should be afraid? The wolves or the lion?”
Nedain’s eyes widened.
“You intend to… turn their trap against them?”
“That is correct. Let us see whether those bastards have jaws large enough to swallow us whole.”
“….”
Nedain let out a brief chuckle at Glen’s confidence.
At the same time, the anxiety he had felt until moments ago gradually faded.
Even he found the phenomenon rather remarkable.
“What about the knights?”
“Most of them do not appear to have noticed anything. However, Krok and Tristan seem to suspect that something is wrong.”
“Of course. Those two have discerning eyes. I knew it from the moment they bet on me.”
“…You mean during your sparring match with Tylan? How long ago was that?”
“Come to think of it, it was not that long ago. Three or four months? Time truly passes quickly.”
“You speak like an old man.”
This time, Glen frowned.
“Not you too. Dame Erdin said the same thing before we parted.”
“Were you truly unaware? Sometimes, I find myself under the illusion that you are even older than I am.”
“…Tsk.”
Naturally.
Mentally, Glen truly was older than Nedain.
As Glen shook his head, Nedain spoke again.
“Should I alert the other knights?”
“That would be best. However, do not make it too obvious. Find some indirect way to warn them.”
“Hmm… Understood. I will discreetly inform them.”
“Ah, perhaps you should schedule a training session the moment we arrive.”
“Pardon?”
“If they intend to attempt something, they will probably wait until we have lowered our guard. Do you understand?”
Understanding Glen’s intention, Nedain’s face twisted sharply.
“You want me to torment the innocent knights again?”
“You only need to make it appear convincing.”
“…Haa.”
The knights believed they would finally be able to rest at a noble estate after so long.
Nedain would have to shatter those expectations.
The thought did not sit particularly well with him either.
“They say the more people curse you, the longer you live.”
“What kind of…? If that is true, I have already secured a remarkably long life.”
“Heh heh. How fortunate. May you live for many years.”
“Urgh…. What will you do about the Priestly Delegation?”
“Hmm….”
Glen turned his upper body slightly in the saddle and looked toward the priests.
He saw Priest Monica walking with her eyes calmly lowered.
…Could he trust her?
“Not yet.”
“Pardon?”
“Let us observe them a little longer. I am still not certain.”
“You still suspect they may be working together?”
“Sometimes it seems that way, and at other times it does not….”
“I do not believe they are. If they were involved, that would mean they arranged the attack upon themselves.”
“It would make sense if the bandits, the Priestly Delegation, and House Panario ahead of us were all colluding. It could have been a performance.”
“That seems far too….”
“I know. I am merely describing one possibility.”
“Understood.”
After their brief discussion ended, both men’s gazes grew calm and guarded.
Before long, an estate began to appear at the edge of their vision.
***
“What? What kind of nonsense is that? Why the hell has that Good-for-Nothing Son appeared here?”
“I-I am not entirely certain….”
Jacob hesitated beneath Viscount Panario’s furious shouting.
That only intensified the Viscount’s anger.
“You worthless fool! You should have found that out!”
“My apologies…. However, by the time we discovered them, the mercenaries were already clearly losing….”
“That is why I told you to observe everything carefully from the beginning! D-Damn it all! How am I supposed to explain this to Count Sailharn?”
“…My apologies.”
The Viscount wanted nothing more than to bind the idiotic knight and have him beaten senseless.
However, this was not the time.
Unless he resolved the situation immediately, every condition House Sailharn had offered him would become meaningless.
As the Viscount groaned and contemplated a solution, Jacob spoke cautiously.
“Your Lordship… what if we simply invite Young Master Glen as well?”
“What? What are you talking about?”
“It is clear that House Sailharn’s objective is to obstruct him.”
The Viscount gestured with his chin for Jacob to continue.
“Then we should bring him here… and secretly dispose of him ourselves.”
“Do you even understand what you are suggesting…?”
“Would that not be the outcome House Sailharn desires most?”
The Viscount fell into deep thought at Jacob’s proposal.
“….”
House Panario was unquestionably in decline.
It had been ever since the Throne of Arian passed into the hands of that damned House Staufen.
Since his father’s time, House Panario had been politically opposed to House Staufen.
They had fought desperately to prevent a king from emerging from that family, but their efforts had not been enough.
House Staufen ultimately claimed the Throne, plunging House Panario and the other opposition forces into a desperate crisis.
‘That damned Staufen bastard.’
They could not win this conflict.
No one among the opposition possessed the political ability to contend with that cunning old fox.
That was the Viscount’s final conclusion.
Then what?
Should he remain seated and wait to be purged?
While he had been struggling with those concerns, House Sailharn of the Duchy of Repen contacted him.
They promised to help House Panario relocate to the Empire in exchange for cooperation.
The Viscount considered it a reasonable offer.
“Yes… that may work.”
Their objective was to remove Glen, the Heir to the duchy.
According to the Viscount’s own investigation, Glen was the very image of a pathetic Good-for-Nothing Son.
However, not long ago, he had somehow defeated a member of House Sailharn in a sparring match.
Furthermore, the two ducal houses had long been notorious rivals.
House Sailharn’s motive for making the offer was clear.
At the very least, it was unlikely to be a deception.
Besides, what could they possibly gain by deceiving the already declining House Panario?
Having reached that conclusion, the Viscount readily seized the hand House Sailharn had extended.
“If we are going to do this, it may be better to do it thoroughly.”
“Precisely. Word of the Conversion Ceremony has already been delivered. It is too late for us to change sides now.”
That was how they had devised the plan involving the Conversion Ceremony.
Count Sailharn had proposed the method.
It was an extremely simple yet powerful move.
The plan was only possible because the Kingdom of Arian did not compel its people to follow any particular religion.
First, they would invite priests of the Church of Hernesia under the pretext of holding a Conversion Ceremony.
Next, they would disguise separately hired mercenaries as bandits and have them attack the priests.
People might consider the attackers remarkably audacious, but given the current situation in the North, it would not be impossible to believe.
Finally, they would spread a rumor that the bandits responsible for the attack had actually been hired by the Kingdom of Arian.
It would not even be a false rumor.
They would merely be revealing the truth.
The duchy and the kingdom had historically maintained a poor relationship, so the rumor would spread like wildfire.
That would place Glen, who had business within the kingdom, in an extremely difficult position.
In other words, the central objective was to sow discord between the Duchy of Repen and the Kingdom of Arian.
That had been the original plan, but it now required a slight adjustment.
Killing Glen would probably not cause any serious problems.
“Very well. Go and bring that bastard here immediately!”
“Understood…. But what should I do if he refuses?”
“….”
He might refuse the invitation?
…The Viscount had not considered that.
“Attack him.”
“…Pardon?”
“If there is no other choice, then kill him!”
“A-Are you certain?”
“Kill the entire Priestly Delegation as well and make it appear that he was responsible.”
Viscount Panario intended to flee to the Empire regardless.
Once he did, he would no longer care what happened between the kingdom and the duchy.
Yes.
This was the correct decision.
“….”
When Jacob continued looking doubtful, the Viscount shouted at him again.
“Move! Now!”
“Y-Yes, Your Lordship!”
“That incompetent fool… Tsk.”
He should never have knighted a fool who had begun his life as a common thug.
Of course, the Viscount’s own father had risen from the back alleys as well, but his circumstances had been entirely different.
“Haa… Excellent. An Imperial noble… Heh heh.”
There was little prestige in being a noble of a minor kingdom like this one.
Only the status of an Imperial noble was truly suitable for a man of his dignity.
Greed gleamed in his eyes.