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I was walking along the path based on the map Arthur gave me.

This time, I didn’t take the back roads.

The sun was setting, so there weren’t many people on the streets.

No, even the few people around weren’t trying to approach me.

In fact, they were deliberately avoiding my path.

They were overwhelmed by the unusual aura emanating from the woman behind me.

“……”

Blanshe, a former top assassin turned bodyguard knight, was flawlessly protecting me.

With someone of her caliber guarding me, anyone would feel at ease.

But the emotion I was feeling right now was discomfort.

“……”

“……”

The back of my head felt prickly.

Blanshe had been silently following me the whole time.

The silent pressure was palpable.

Unable to hold it in any longer, I spoke up first.

“Blanshe.”

“…Yes?”

“How was the training?”

“Ah, the training… you mean?”

Blanshe thought for a moment before answering.

“Wendy is diligently keeping up with my training. She has excellent focus and quick comprehension. Perhaps even more passionate than the knights of the Duke’s household…”

“She’s weak, though.”

“…Of course, she’s weak. Isn’t that why the Count entrusted her to me?”

“Being weak is a sin. She’s my exclusive maid, after all. I can’t accept her not being able to protect even herself. Train her thoroughly until she’s useful.”

Suddenly, Blanshe stopped in her tracks.

“…Won’t the Count teach her himself?”

What kind of random question was that?

“…Why should I?”

“…Now that I think about it, there’s no reason. My apologies. I was being shortsighted.”

Blanshe backed off awkwardly.

Strange. Very strange.

This wasn’t like her.

It seemed like she wanted to ask me something.

Ah, maybe it’s that.

“Blanshe.”

“Yes?”

“Come to think of it, there’s something I haven’t told you yet.”

“…!”

Blanshe swallowed hard.

It seemed I hit the mark.

Seeing her like that made me feel a little guilty.

I hid that feeling and spoke in the most neutral tone possible.

“Your training fee is 1 million Kael per session.”

“As I thought… Huh?”

“It’s the fee for your lessons that I forgot to mention earlier.”

I proposed an outrageous amount.

One-on-one lessons from a former top assassin aren’t something you come across every day.

No matter how far Wendy can keep up, it’ll be a huge help for her survival.

This amount is only natural.

Blanshe’s shoulders were trembling, perhaps out of gratitude.

But her response was different from what I expected.

“Th-that’s not it!”

Huh? Not this?

“Too little? Then I’ll raise it to 2 million Kael.”

“What?! Of course, it’s not too little! It’s absurdly high, but…! That’s not what I’m curious about…!”

Blanshe tried to say something but then sighed.

“It’s nothing… Please forget what I said.”

With that, she walked ahead.

I didn’t know why, but I spoke to the back of her head.

“Prove your worth.”

“……”

“Prove to me that you’re worth 2 million Kael.”

“…Understood. I’ll make sure the money the Count gave me isn’t wasted.”

“Don’t flatter yourself. It’s just deducted from your debt.”

“…Once I pay off all my debt, be prepared.”

Blanshe walked ahead with a dignified stride.

But she only took a few steps before stopping.

“…Which way?”

“Just follow quietly behind me.”

“Yes…”

Leaving the flustered Blanshe behind, I continued walking.

Soon, I stopped in front of a building.

A shabby building in a corner of the market.

It didn’t look much different from a thug’s hideout.

Blanshe looked suspiciously at me and the building, then spoke.

“Is this where the Count has business?”

“Yes.”

I also wondered if I’d come to the wrong place, but the faded sign reading “Groble Workshop” confirmed I was in the right spot.

As I reached for the door, I heard shouting and the sound of things breaking inside.

“Kill him—!”

“Try it! Come on!”

Someone was fighting inside.

“Count. Excuse me for a moment.”

With that, Blanshe’s long leg kicked the door open with a bang.

The rotting wooden door shattered, revealing the inside of the workshop.

Dust-covered furniture and tools were scattered everywhere.

In the middle, people were standing in a tense standoff.

Well, “standoff” might be an overstatement.

It was three people surrounding one.

But the one surrounded looked quite confident.

A tense situation.

But they all froze, staring at us who had just broken down the door.

“Who the hell are you?”

“I’m here to find Albert Groble.”

At my words, the men looked at each other and spoke.

“We’re here for the same thing.”

“We got here first, so scram!”

Oh? What’s this situation?

The person surrounded by the men shouted even louder.

“Ha! What kind of day is this? Annoying, so just come at me all at once! I’ll put holes in all your heads today!”

The one threatening everyone with an awl was a small, scruffy-looking woman.

At first glance, she seemed the weakest, but her eyes were filled with venom.

She looked ready to take anyone down with her, even if it meant mutual destruction.

I didn’t know what was going on, but it was clearly a troublesome situation.

But Blanshe, standing beside me, remained calm and simply asked,

“Count, what should we do?”

I answered without hesitation.

“Subdue them.”

“Yes.”

Blanshe cracked her knuckles and stepped forward.

Her pace was as casual as if she were taking a stroll.

The first victim was the man at the front.

“Didn’t I tell you to scram?!”

The man twisted his upper body to throw a punch.

But by then, Blanshe’s fist had already struck his jaw with blinding speed.

To an onlooker, it might have seemed like the man just collapsed for no reason.

“Ah…?”

The second victim had it worse.

He didn’t even realize what had happened before Blanshe’s hand chopped the back of his neck.

“…?!”

The man exaggeratedly crashed to the floor from what looked like a playful swing.

But the force behind it was no joke.

The floorboards shattered, sending splinters flying everywhere.

With two people down in an instant, the remaining two couldn’t help but tense up.

“Wh-what are you?!”

“A knight.”

“A knight?!”

Blanshe leaped slightly into the air.

*Thwack!*

A dull sound followed by a gust of wind.

Her clean roundhouse kick connected with the third man’s jaw.

His jaw twisted in an unnatural direction, and he too collapsed to the floor.

It had only been about ten seconds.

Now, only one person remained.

But surprisingly, the woman, who had just witnessed a one-sided beatdown, wasn’t intimidated at all.

In fact, she charged forward first.

“I won’t let you take this shop! I’d rather die!”

The tip of her awl gleamed.

Blanshe didn’t bother dodging the awl the woman thrust at her.

“No. I won’t kill you.”

“?!”

The next moment, the awl was caught between Blanshe’s fingers.

No matter how much the woman pulled, it didn’t budge.

“Let go of this!”

“No. I won’t.”

With that, Blanshe twisted her fingers as if turning a pen.

The awl magically ended up in her hand.

“What?!?! Ah?!”

The woman’s eyes widened in shock.

The next moment, she was flat on her back.

“Don’t move.”

Blanshe pointed the awl at the woman’s neck.

Disarmed, the woman raised her hands in surrender.

I slowly approached her and asked,

“Where’s Albert Groble?”

“I don’t know…”

She was clearly lying.

Her expression betrayed her determination not to tell.

“Count.”

Blanshe subtly gestured to me with her eyes.

Her gaze was directed toward the second floor.

“…Is he upstairs?”

“…!”

At that moment, the woman’s eyes wavered.

“I’ll go upstairs and check.”

“No! Don’t touch my grandfather!”

“Grandfather?”

At my question, she finally broke and confessed.

“I’m… Vanessa. The apprentice and granddaughter of Albert Groble.”

 

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