VIO Ch 72 – Looking for a Scholar (VI)

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translator: mii

editor: ASplashofMusic

VIO 72 – Looking for a Scholar (VI)

Rille’s retelling caused Vio to widen his eyes in surprise.
“Wheat that is resistant to cold? His research involved something that wonderful? His Highness hadn’t mentioned that in his recommendation letter.”

“That is probably because that bald… I mean, the priest in Nada town’s temple burned all the results of his research,” Rille replied, a scary look on her face.

Vio nodded.
“I know how you feel, Rille.
If I ever see that priest in real life, I think I would be tempted to strangle him to death.”

“Not to mention, he would actually earn more money from the wheat than the honey liquor.
There must be something wrong with his head,” said Rille, which she followed with a burst of curses.
She was quite the scary sight at that moment.

But Vio took no notice of her and sighed in disappointment.
“Yeah.
It’s unfortunate that we weren’t able to invite such a talented person… But I can’t force him to return to the territory of the Lesserhains either.
Not when he has so many bad memories there.”

“I explained the job to him just in case it would catch his interest… but his reaction didn’t seem quite positive.”

“Okay.” Since this was the case, he should just let it go and shift his focus.
“Jill, can you look into the other people on the list? Then meet with each of them to gain a better idea of their personality and expertise.
Afterward, I’ll decide who to recruit,” instructed Vio, extending a set of documents toward Jill.

Jill nodded and took the documents.
“Understood.
Setting aside Dawn Samarelli, there are a total of ten people left… Could you give me three days to complete the task?”

“Are you sure that’ll be enough time? I’m fine with waiting for a week.”

“No, three days are enough.
May I leave at once?”

“Sure.
Is there any way I can assist you?”

“If you don’t mind, I would like to use the carriage.”

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Without hesitation, Vio said, “That’s fine.
I plan on staying here in the room today anyway.
It’s hot outside, so make sure to take breaks every once in a while.
Send my regards to Hauser too.”

“I understand.
Then I will take my leave, Young Master.” Jill bowed once and headed to the servant’s room.
After putting on a hat and taking a bag with him, he left.

Following that, Legion left to find mage as well, so Vio decided to have a cup of tea with Rille.

****

That afternoon, Cheval and Lantz were summoned to Prince Ars’ office.

“Your Highness, we have arrived… Uh, I understand why you summoned Sir Lantz, but why was I included too? Have I committed any mistake…?” asked Cheval in a timid manner as he stood before Ars’ office desk.

Ars broke into a grin.
“What’s wrong, Cheval? Have you done something that will warrant a summon from me?”

“No, I’ve done no such thing! It’s just that… whenever Your Highness summons me, most of the time, it is to scold me…”

“It’s not me but Fion who scolds you, isn’t it? And I know that you’ve done well, but I hope you’ll refrain from playing around in such a conspicuous manner.
My knights need to be well-behaved,” reminded Ars.

An awkward expression crossed Cheval’s face, while Lantz looked at Cheval with cold eyes.
He said, “You have already found a woman you vowed to be serious with, and yet you’ve started chasing after other women again? I didn’t expect you to be this terrible.”

“That’s just ridiculous! I haven’t played around with women ever since I met Miss Rille! And what do you mean by ‘this terrible…’”

Ars raised his right hand to stop them.
“I was just teasing him.
Don’t take it seriously.
I apologize for summoning the both of you so suddenly, but I have an important task for you.
Listen carefully.”

“Yes,” said Cheval, giving a salute.

Lantz did the same.
“Understood.”

Are nodded at them.
“I want you to safely escort a very important person.
For that, you’re going to pretend to be their accompanying servants.
Dye your hair and change into commoners’ clothes.”

As the youngest brother in a noble family, Lantz looked perplexed.
“Servants…?”

“Don’t look that unwilling.
After you successfully complete this mission, I will consider promoting you and raising your salary.
Your clothes and funds have already been prepared for you outside the castle.
I’ll have the chamberlain guide you to where they were specifically placed.
As soon as you get dressed, go to this inn.” Ars held out a piece of paper with an address written on it.
“You can ask for further details there.”

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Lantz stepped forward, took the paper with both hands, then returned to his original position.

“Any questions?”

At once, Cheval raised his right hand.
“Your Highness, this mission must be really important if there’s such a heavy reward for successfully accomplishing it.
So why was I assigned to this mission? Choosing Sir Lantz for this mission is understandable, but… if the captain hears of my involvement in this, he’s not going to stay quiet, is he?”

“You’re right.
Just as you said, Fion opposed choosing you for this mission.
But this arrangement is my wish.
You’ll understand once you reach the inn.
Anything else? It seems like there’s none.
Then head off for your mission right away.”

Prompted by Ars, Cheval and Lantz saluted and left the office.

Afterward, both of them were brought to a private house outside the royal palace.
There, they dressed in commoners’ shirts and pants, as well as dyed their hair.
Cheval dyed his blond hair brown, while Lantz dyed his red hair black.
After finishing their preparations, they immediately headed to the inn.

They soon found themselves heading into a back alley.

“‘Tree Toad Inn…’ Here?”

They looked up at the inn’s wooden signage.
On it was a drawing of a tree toad.

“This place is quite inconspicuous and hidden from view.
It looks like it could be a popular place to hold secret meetings.
I don’t like this.”

“You sure are knowledgeable about such things.
As expected from Sir Cheval.
Have you had an affair before?”

“…Sir Lantz, you’re too cruel.
I’ve never had an affair… hm? Well, I guess I’ve had an one-night stand with a married woman before,” Cheval said, tilting his head.

Lantz’s green eyes turned icy.
“Why don’t you just die?”

“No, you’re misunderstanding something.
She lied to me and said she wasn’t married! Thanks to that, I almost got killed by her husband.”

“How regretful.
The husband really should’ve killed you back then.”

“Please stop with your severe criticisms.
I beg you.”

Lantz simply ignored Cheval and knocked on the door of Tree Toad Inn.

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They were then brought into a room that was situated at a corner of the second floor.
The door was closed as soon as they entered.

Inside the room, Cheval and Lantz caught sight of a young man.
They were about to greet him when the young man said, “Hey, the both of you are finally here.”

He had brown hair, but he looked too similar to a certain knight who was typically clad in black.

“Sir Night?!” exclaimed Cheval, surprised.

On the contrary, Lantz, who stood beside Cheval, was rather calm as he said, “Then, the very important person we’re escorting is actually…” At the same time, he looked toward the back of the room.

.
However, the person he saw was a brunette in a red dress.

“…Not Princess Liona, huh,” Lantz muttered.

Cheval asked him in a whisper, “Who is that?”

The girl had a beautiful face, but her features weren’t as elegant as Liona’s.
She appeared to be of nobility and possessed a cold aura, along with a slight nervous air around her.
Her eyes were brown with a reddish tint too.
Nothing about her resembled Liona at all.
She must be an entirely different person.

“Sir Night, did you commit a blunder in the span of time since we last met? Then got yourself dismissed from your position as Princess Liona’s guardian knight?” asked Cheval.

The moment Cheval said this, someone burst into laughter behind Cheval and Lantz.
It was the female knight standing by the door, who was currently holding her belly.
In the midst of laughter, she said, “This is so good.
So far, you guys were successfully tricked.
How interesting.”

Although the female knight had brown hair, getting a good look of her face caused Lantz to widen his eyes.
“Princess Liona?! Why are you dressed like that?”

“You’re one of Ars’ best knights, right? Lantz, was it… And you should be Cheval.
The knight who said ‘the maid is cute,'” said Liona with a laugh.

Perhaps it was because Liona often wore masculine clothes, but the garb of a female knight fitted her nicely.
She didn’t seem out of place in it.

Cheval and Lantz rushed to kneel on one knee, then saluted.
Then while their heads were lowered, Lantz whispered with a dark smile, “Lucky you, Sir Cheval.
She seems to have a wonderful impression of you.”

“I’m not happy at all… Hey, Sir Lantz.
You hate me, don’t you?”

“Yes.
But rest assured, I equally hate all flighty guys.”

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“I see.
That sure is really encouraging to hear.
Thank you very much,” Cheval replied, voice filled with sarcasm and frustration.

Coolly, Lantz replied, “You’re welcome.”

“Stand up, both of you.
I apologize for forcing you to be my escorts.
I was going to hire mercenaries, but Ars and Diana told me they were willing to lend me a few of their knights, so I decided to take up on their offer.”

Then, as ordered by Liona, the noble lady rose from her chair.

“Let me introduce you to her.
She is Rizelotte, the daughter of Count Bianca.
Rizelotte’s just a made-up character, but there really is a Count Bianca in Ruslan.
No one has seen the face of Count Bianca’s daughter, so this is perfect.
And since we’ll have to maintain the act for the entire journey, I’ll be keeping her real name a secret.”

Lantz nodded in understanding.
“In other words, we will pretend to serve this noblewoman, but we are truly escorting Princess Liona.
Is that right?”

“Yes.
An evil, sly fox is aiming for my life, so I’ve decided to become this noblewoman’s knight to deceive the enemy’s eyes.
Meanwhile, you guys will be the servants.
And aside from the people in this room, one more person—the coachman—will accompany us,” Liona explained smoothly.
Afterward, she slightly tilted her head.
“Anything you want to ask?”

“Why did you nominate us?” Cheval asked.

Night raised his hand.
“I suggested the two of you for this mission.
I chose Sir Lantz because Crown Prince Ars and Captain Fion both recommended him.
Meanwhile, I had a good impression of Sir Cheval when we had a meal together.
We don’t have a good grasp of who our friends and enemies are in this kingdom, so we wanted to pick someone who we personally had a good impression of.
Aside from this, a part of the reason was the intuition I’ve cultivated during my days as a mercenary.”

Then Lantz asked, “What happened to your kingdom’s knights?”

“We sent them back as part of our plan to deceive the enemy.
The next step in the plan is to disguise ourselves and return as a group of fictional characters.
And then—”

“I also thought it would be nice to observe the daily lives of the citizens.
This is for me to gain better insights as a future Queen, so don’t worry,” said Liona with a smile.

Night flashed a bitter smile and shook his head.
“Alright.
But please don’t leave my side, Princess.”

“Call me Lio.”

“…Dame Lio.”

“Li-o!”

“Please give me a break…” Night held his head, unable to make himself comply.

It seemed that Liona had Night twisted around her little finger.
Lantz and Cheval heaved a sigh, already imagining their future hardships.