Chapter 80: Eldora
“Goblan, explain why there are Adventurers here and how things ended up like this!”
Hmm, he seems to be the Earl’s son, but he’s calm and composed, and looks like he can listen to what others have to say.
I’ll hold off on calling Bee-chan and the others and see how things play out.
However, the Goblin butler was stammering so much his explanation was incoherent, so I’ll explain everything from the beginning up to the current situation.
“And you expect me to believe that?”
“Whether you believe it or not is up to you, but the butler is alive, and the Guards in this room heard everything. You’ll have to report Earl Deolus’s death. That’s why I was just ordering him to report the Earl’s death to the Royal Capital.”
“You claim to have Queen Lilianne-sama’s Identification. There’s no mistake about that, is there?”
“I gave it to that Goblin over there and told him to show it to the Earl, so it should be lying around somewhere.”
“Goblan, where is his Identification?”
Questioned, the Goblin frantically searched around where the table had been, picked it up from near the Earl’s feet, and handed it to the man.
The man stared intently at the Identification he received, placed it on his palm, put his finger on it, and muttered something.
Well, well, how mysterious—the Royal Family Crest appeared.
As expected of a magical world. It’s probably for anti-counterfeiting, but it’s quite high-tech.
Seeing the emerged crest, the man’s attitude changed, and he bowed to me.
“Shinya-dono, I apologize for my father’s rudeness.”
“It seems you’re somewhat reasonable.”
“If what you say is true, then it was my father’s blunder, and there are no words to express my apologies.”
Saying so, he lowered his head and offered my Identification back with both hands.
“This is more than just a ‘blunder,’ but I want to know why he tried to force us to become his subordinates, even to the point of ignoring the agreement between the Kingdom and the Guild.”
“It’s likely because he was granted this territory. His previous domain was the town of Coltana in the Heylands Territory, about ten days east of the Royal Capital and then another four days north from there—a desolate land far from the main highway. When he was ordered to relocate to this town of Tanza in the Florence territory, he spoke of his dream to present a Dragon to the Royal Family.”
Whoa, whoa, some unpleasant words just came up.
“So, he was planning to gather Adventurers and make them go on a Dragon Subjugation or something?”
“Ever since he was ordered to relocate to Tanza, he often spoke of how presenting something to the Royal Family would earn him favor, dreaming of a promotion in rank or a wealthier territory.”
“You sound somewhat detached from all this.”
“I am the second son of this house, and I’ve been ordered to assist my elder brother.”
“So you’re not the one in charge of this house?”
“My elder brother is out inspecting the town…”
Hesitating while saying he’s “inspecting the town” during this crisis… I see what that means.
“Fran, you must be tired. Stand up.”
“…Did you kill him? This time for sure, I’m definitely going to be a criminal slave, aren’t I?”
“I wonder about that. You are…”
“I am Eldora Deolus, second son of Earl Haynes Deolus.”
“Is this brother who’s ‘inspecting’ the heir?”
“Yes, he is Shelka Deolus, but…”
“He likes to fool around and rarely comes back to the mansion… huh.”
I forced Fran to stand up, tossed the Earl’s corpse aside, sat her on the sofa, and brought out glasses and a liquor bottle from the cabinet.
“Are you going to drink at a time like this?”
“Come on, Fran. I can’t deal with something this ridiculous while sober.”
I poured a generous amount into Fran’s glass, then poured about half a glass for myself and downed it in one go.
Exhaling a hot breath that rose from my stomach, I fixed Eldora with the King Tiger’s Glare.
“This territory and the mansion in the Royal Capital that Earl Deolus was granted originally belonged to Earl Halewood. Do you know why he was demoted and had his territory changed?”
“By rumor…”
“Let’s hear it.”
“It’s said that the head of the house and many of his guards died after being attacked by poisonous Bees, and there was a falsehood in the report to the Royal Family.”
Fran, who had been sipping the poured alcohol and whose complexion had slightly improved, suddenly turned pale.
“I was also somewhat involved in that matter. That involvement was about him using his noble power to forcibly make the Adventurers of this land serve him. The Royal Capital and the domain capital, the place and the lord may have changed, but the same thing was about to happen again. You understand what this means, don’t you?”
“Will our house be demoted?”
“I don’t have any authority, but I have no intention of overlooking this. However, if you’re willing, we can also end this by pretending nothing happened.”
“I’ll refrain.”
“Why? Isn’t that the path a member of the nobility should take?”
“There is no one here who seems capable of defeating you, sir. Furthermore, I cannot believe that someone possessing an Identification bearing the Royal Family Crest would come to this place alone.”
He’s overthinking it, but he’s not stupid, and he has guts.
“You said the heir is Shelka. A guy who leisurely goes out to ‘inspect the town’ during a crisis like this doesn’t seem fit to be the head of an Earl’s house. If you push him aside and succeed the house, you can just report that the current head died suddenly from excessive worry.”
“Is that permissible?”
“If an idiot becomes the head, the people of the domain and his subordinates will suffer, and it’ll be a nuisance for us Adventurers too.”
“I will call my family here. Could you please convey that to them?”
“Butler, you have no objections, right?”
He’s bowing deeply. Well, of course, he is; the fear of losing his job has vanished.
I called in the knights standing by the walls and outside the door, and when I told them that if they recognized Eldora as the next head and swore their loyalty, I would consider this incident as if it never happened, they all knelt at once.
“This is absurd,” Fran muttered, still pale, but I pretended not to hear and ignored her.
I won’t tell her that making it seem like nothing happened is better to avoid future trouble, and that way, she can continue her carefree life as an Adventurer.
Summoned by Goblan, the Goblin butler, six people appeared, including the Countess, a mature woman, and children.
They noticed the unusual situation in the room and their complexions changed, but they swallowed their words upon seeing the tense atmosphere and expressions of Eldora and the knights.
“Shinya-dono, who is present here, is an individual in Her Majesty the Queen’s service. Father, unbelievably, used the Guards to apprehend this esteemed person and tried to force him to become a subordinate. As you can see, Shinya-dono and his companion are Adventurers, and what Father did was an act that ignored the agreement between the Royal Family and the Adventurers Guild. As a result, he was counterattacked and perished.”
“Are you certain that person is truly in the Queen’s service?”
“If you doubt it, take a good look at this.”
I handed my Identification to the butler standing beside me and prompted him to show it to the Countess, who was openly displaying her distrust.
She received the Identification, placed her finger on it just as Eldora had, muttered something, and stared intently at the crest that appeared.
Toying with the returned Identification, I said, “When Beasts are swarming the domain capital, an heir who fools around in town cannot be recognized as fit to be an Earl. Eldora shall be the next head, and…”
“Please wait! No matter if you are an individual entrusted with an Identification by Her Majesty the Queen, you do not have the authority to decide the successor of an Earl’s house! The next head will be Shelka; Shelka Deolus will succeed!”
That bastard Eldora. He anticipated his mother, a staunch believer in primogeniture, would object and had her meet me.
Well, for the sake of my own peaceful life, I’ll live up to his expectations.
“Is that so? Then I, too, will have to report that he ignored the agreement between the Royal Family and the Adventurers Guild and tried to forcibly make Adventurers and myself his subordinates. The previous lord of this Florence territory also did the same thing and ended up demoted and his territory changed. You all received this land, but if you continue to do the same, it won’t end with just a demotion or a territory change.”
“How absurd! I won’t allow it! I won’t let mere Adventurers interfere in the affairs of our Earl’s house!”
《Bee-chan and the others, can you come?》
《We’ve been waiting! We’re coming!》
《I’m going too!》
《Aahn, where do we enter from?》
《Found Master!》
《Only the ones who replied can come in.》
《Oh, there are lots of them!》
《All-you-can-sting! ♪》
《Ah, the one to sting is the one in front of me… that lady. Circle above her head.》
《Hmm… this one?》
《Close, it’s the one next to her.》
《This one, right! She has lots of hair!》
《You can sting that one as much as you like. No one else, okay?》
The people present looked startled by the buzzing of the Killer Bees, but as the bees started flying overhead, they sensed the danger and ducked down.
However, the Countess, whom I had singled out, ended up screaming.
She shrieked things like
《Aww, she’s not moving anymore.》
《I want to sting more!》
《Master, are there no more?》
《Sorry about that. I’ll ask you again next time, okay?》
“Could it be… the rumored Tamer with Divine Protection?”
“Don’t say any more than that. As long as you don’t show hostility towards me, you’ll be fine.”
The official record would state: Heir Shelka Deolus, having witnessed his father’s sudden death, became mentally ill, shut himself away, and there was no prospect of his recovery.
The Countess, grieving the successive misfortunes, decided to mourn her husband by secluding herself in her chambers. Declaring she wished to see no one, she resolved not to emerge.
Once the story was concocted, an escort was sent for Shelka Deolus, who was staying at a brothel. He was whispered the news of the Earl’s death and told to return to the mansion in secret, so he jumped into the waiting carriage. Since those who came for Shelka were the Earl’s knights, he harbored no suspicion. However, he noticed something was amiss when the carriage passed through the service gate, but a playboy like him was no match for trained knights, and he was forced into an annex behind the mansion. At that time, he was stripped of everything—not to mention his Magic Pouch, but also items identifying him as a member of the Earl’s family and any weapons—and was imprisoned. There was a shabby bed, a table, and a chair. The window was boarded up with thick planks, and the door was bolted from the outside. Shelka finally realized that something terrible had happened, but having been stripped of everything and locked away, there was nothing he could do.
A report was delivered to the Royal Castle stating that Earl Haines Deolus, while leading the vanguard in the subjugation of the surging Beasts, had suddenly clutched his chest in agony and died.