Chapter 67: Catastrophe
The one who appeared, shouting, was a foppish man dressed up like a peacock, and I couldn’t help but burst out laughing.
“Who are you! What are you doing!”
“Shut up! To a guest who came to visit your papa, ‘Who are you?’ is hardly appropriate, is it?”
Though, I was the one who got angry at the rude summons and barged in here.
“A guest…?”
For a peacock, he made a face like a pigeon hit by a peashooter, making me wonder if this guy was a peacock or a pigeon.
“What is this outrage! Father, what is happening?”
He was noisy, so I threw a nearby single-person sofa at him to shut him up.
“You guys in the hallway, listen up! If you’re thinking of barging in, be prepared to exchange your lives for Halewood’s!”
When I yelled at them, the noisy hallway became quiet.
Only the Earl’s cup was prepared on the table, so I guess I’m not a guest.
I had the thoughtless butler bring a cup, poured myself some, and tasted it.
It tasted pretty much the same as the alcohol I got from Earl Lingan, and thinking, ‘So this is it, huh,’ I offered some to the dumbfounded Earl.
Five cups in quick succession, and though he turned bright red for a different reason, he became capable of talking.
“I’ll ask again. Who did you hear about the Flower Nectar from? What do you plan to do after taking the Flower Nectar from me?”
“I merely heard you possessed something rare and sent my subordinates to purchase it. For you to barge into my mansion and commit such violence, you’ve made an enemy of the Kingdom!”
Oh my, did drinking alcohol make him bold?
“It was your orders to try and summon me forcibly using knights, and to try and drag me into a carriage at knifepoint, wasn’t it?”
“Who would believe the ramblings of a vagrant? The words of I, a noble of the Royal Family, are absolute! If you leave quietly as you are, I’ll overlook this. Get out of my mansion at once!”
This was getting ridiculous, so I ordered the butler to prepare a carriage as I was leaving.
The butler was bewildered by the Earl’s words, so I flashed my Identification at him again, and he bowed once before leaving the office.
“I’ll be taking my leave, but it’s fine even if you don’t overlook this. You’re going to die soon anyway.”
“You… do you intend to harm me, an Earl?”
“Nope, I have no intention of dealing with you. Your opponent is outside the window.”
Saying that, I threw the glass at the window, shattering it, and called Bee-chan and the others.
《Master is calling!》
《Let’s go!》
《Master, where are you?》
《Fly around the house and you’ll find me.》
《There are lots of humans.》
《Where, where is it?》
《Found Master! There are lots of humans too.》
《We can’t get in.》
《Master, let us in!》
《There’s a hole here!》
《We can get in through the hole!》
The Earl stared blankly as Bee-chan and the others poured in through the broken window. He didn’t seem to understand what was happening, but the buzzing of wings echoing throughout the room made him realize it was an abnormal situation.
《You can sting all the guys in here.》
《Can we sting a lot?》
《Master, leave it to us!》
《You can sting as much as you like, but don’t go too far.》
As I said that and left the room, a dozen or so men in the hallways to the left and right, swords in hand, hesitated to step inside. Seeing me, they readied their swords again.
However, when the Killer Bees appeared, flying over my head, their faces showed shock, but abandoning their master and fleeing was out of the question.
A moment’s hesitation was fatal; everyone except for one man who fled like a startled rabbit became prey for Bee-chan and the others, collapsing covered in Bees with screams.
Glancing over, I spotted the peacock cowering and clutching a chair. Being the kind person I am, I threw the chair far away to make him an easier target for stinging.
I kept watch to ensure they didn’t go too far and harm the maids or servants. After confirming the deaths of the nearby knights and the Earl, I sent Bee-chan and the others outside, but had a few dozen remain above my head as guards.
The man who fled like a startled rabbit must have been the one who called himself Zalm, judging by the glimpse I got of his face.
He fled the instant he saw the Killer Bees, so his situational judgment is sound, but his employer is crap.
Thinking such thoughts, I walked in the direction Zalm had fled, went down the stairs, and came out into what seemed to be an entrance hall.
I felt a gaze from the shadows, but there was no hostility, nor did they seem afraid.
“That’s Zalm over there, isn’t it? Come on out.”
“Those Bees above your head, what are they?”
“These? They’re my guards, given to me by the Tamer God. They attack anyone who tries to harm me and help me out. As long as you don’t attack me, the Bees won’t attack you.”
“Then, the people in that room…”
“They attacked me, so I think they’re all dead. More importantly, I ordered Studd to prepare a carriage. Could you show me where I need to go?”
“Then you should just wait in that room.”
“I don’t have a hobby of waiting in a room full of corpses.”
Just as I said that, a shriek of “Hieee!” came from the second floor, so I figured it was Studd and had Zalm go get him.
Studd, led by the hand by Zalm, arrived pale-faced, his expression gone.
“The deaths of the Earl and the others will be a problem, so report that they were attacked by my guards. The Queen knows about my guards, so honestly explain why I was in this mansion. Got it?”
He nodded desperately, but he probably couldn’t comprehend what had happened.
“Zalm, you fled the moment you saw the Killer Bees. Did you know about them?”
“Before I was made to serve the Earl’s family, I was an Adventurer. Anyone would flee if they saw that many Killer Bees.”
“Now that your master is dead, are you relieved of your duties?”
“The legitimate heir, Owens-sama, is in the territory, so probably not.”
“Who was that outside the office?”
“That was the third son, Saranze-sama.”
“Studd probably can’t understand or explain why they died, so could you tell him about the Killer Bees?”
“Well, I’ll at least tell him what happened.”
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After Shinya boarded the carriage and left the mansion, Studd pressed Zalm about what they had discussed.
“The masters died because they were attacked by Killer Bees. Those were the Bees flying above Shinya-dono’s head earlier.”
“Why are you unharmed?”
“Well, it’s common sense for Adventurers that if you see a swarm of Killer Bees, you run even if it means abandoning your own parents and siblings. If you hesitate, you’ll definitely die.”
“I heard that man was a Tamer, but can he use Bees?”
“Studd-dono, no matter how skilled a Tamer is, controlling Bees is impossible.”
“But there were Bees above that man’s head just now!”
“According to him, he has received the Divine Protection of the Tamer God, and the Killer Bees are guards assigned to him. He said they attack anyone who tries to harm him.”
Recalling the numerous faces contorted in agony at their deaths from Zalm’s story, Studd began to tremble again.
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Noble families are obligated to report any incidents to the Kingdom, so a report of Earl Halewood’s death was filed with the Royal Castle that very day.
However, the deaths of many knights and the third son, Saranze, were excluded from the report by the Countess and the butler to prevent the incident from escalating.
The Countess, driven half-mad by the murder of her husband, the head of the family, and her third son, was desperately admonished by Studd, who told her about the Identification Shinya had shown him.
If she made a fuss now, it would become known that they had used subordinates to forcibly bring an Adventurer holding the Queen’s Identification to the mansion.
It would also be revealed that they had forcefully demanded the Flower Nectar, known only to the Queen and her close aides, and had been counterattacked.
She yielded to his desperate persuasion that if this became known, the Halewood Earldom would incur the Royal Family’s displeasure, potentially affecting the heir’s succession to the title and the peerage itself.
Therefore, it was reported that Earl Halewood had suddenly clutched his chest in agony while chatting in the salon, and by the time a Healing Magician arrived, he had already passed away, and nothing could be done.
For the mourners, they disguised the bluish-black discolored face, stung by Killer Bees, with makeup and conducted the funeral.
The third son and the knights were put into a Magic Bag and sent to the Tanza mansion in the Florence domain.
Among the mourners were many close nobles and wealthy merchants who knew the third son was at the Royal Capital mansion, but they found it strange that he never once appeared during the funeral.
From the absence of many knights and the expressions of the servants, they sensed something more than just the master’s sudden death, but no one pointed it out.
However, with the Earl, head of the family, the third son, and over 30 escorting knights dead, it was impossible to keep it a secret, and it leaked from the servants, becoming a rumor.
Somehow, after the funeral was concluded, the eldest son, who had rushed from their domain, submitted a petition to inherit the Earl’s title.
However, the reply ordered not only Countess Halewood and the eldest son, Owens Halewood, but also Butler Studd to appear.
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Countess Halewood and Owens Halewood waited for their summons in the antechamber provided for Earl Halewood within the Royal Castle, trembling with anxiety.
Butler Studd, who had been ordered to accompany them, had been led away by an official after arriving at the antechamber, and there had been no word from him since.
After waiting restlessly, by the time they were finally summoned by an aide to Prime Minister Brighton, the afternoon sun was beginning to set.
Upon entering Prime Minister Brighton’s reception room, where they were guided, they found Butler Studd and a young man attended by two enormous wolves waiting.
Studd looked pale, was drenched in a cold sweat, and wouldn’t even make eye contact; the young man, for his part, wore a deeply bitter expression and was looking away.
＊ ＊ ＊ ＊ ＊ ＊ ＊
After returning from Earl Halewood’s Residence, I visited the Moran Trading Company on Lawrence Street and told Milene-sama the whole story from beginning to end.
The next day, Milene-sama went to the Royal Palace. She reported on the treatment due to someone possessing the Queen’s Identification, and also about the Flower Nectar.
This information was relayed from the Queen to the King, and then to the Prime Minister. A decision was subsequently made regarding the punishment for the Halewood family’s arrogance—their exploitation of the claim they had spread that Consort Cindyra was a favored concubine.
Having conveyed the gist of the matter to Milene-sama, I’d been taking it easy, thinking, ‘Whatever happens, happens.’
Just when I was starting to forget about it all, I was summoned. I was brought to the Royal Castle, riding with Milene-sama in her carriage.
It seemed they wanted me to attend the inquiry as a witness to the unreasonable demands Earl Halewood had made of me.
Where I was taken, Studd was standing there, his face etched with exhaustion.