Chapter One Hundred and Fifty-One: Shadow of Conspiracy
“Is there somewhere we can avoid prying eyes?”
“My tent will do.”
“Would it be all right if Karen and I accompanied you?”
“I don’t mind.”
Behind Gunther and Julius, who were responding to Tristan’s words, Sepl looked at Karen with an expression that suggested he wanted to follow along. But even Karen couldn’t judge whether it would be all right to bring Sepl along.
In the end, five people entered Gunther’s tent: Karen, Julius, Gunther, Tristan, and Lyos.
Inside the tent was dim. Gunther lit the lantern. Outside, night had already fallen, yet the clearing in the forest was bright with moonlight, making it strangely easy to see. Perhaps with her magical power having increased to C-rank, her eyesight had improved compared to before.
“Before anything else, I must offer my sincerest apologies. It was my task to restrain my lord, but being powerless to do so, I forced that burden onto you.”
At Tristan’s words, Karen thought of Boromias and Stef.
Before witnessing that scene, she had wondered why adventurers were always so stubbornly inflexible. But now, Karen was amazed by the rationality of the adventurers who continued to endure in the face of such nobles.
“If you understand that, then why has it come to this? It can only seem like you nobles want this investigation to fail.”
“I might be better suited to answer that question.”
Julius said that and looked toward Tristan.
“Whatever you might say would probably sound like excuses to Mr. Gunther’s ears. May I explain instead?”
“I’m grateful for your consideration, Sir Julius. Please, I ask of you.”
At Tristan’s words, Julius nodded and looked at Gunther.
“Something seems off about the knights from the Royal Guard. Originally, that man wasn’t supposed to be on the roster of participants for this dungeon investigation team.”
“That man—you mean that snide bastard from earlier?”
“We also didn’t know that Sir Stef was participating in the dungeon investigation team.”
“How impressive that someone who’s supposed to be the Second Prince’s aide doesn’t even know who the team members are. Talking with you nobles is giving me a headache.”
“Gunther, if it sounded like Tristan’s negligence, that’s not the case. Both Tristan and I had received the participant roster. I was originally scheduled to participate as part of the elite unit myself. But different people from those on the roster showed up.”
“In other words, your suspicion was correct, Mr. Gunther.”
“My suspicion? What are you talking about?”
Gunther looked confused at Julius and Tristan’s words.
“You said it yourself earlier—that it almost seemed someone wanted the dungeon investigation to fail. There are indeed such people.”
“Hey, who are you talking about?! That’s impossible. This involves the dungeon’s collapse. Depending on the circumstances, even the royal capital could be destroyed. Who would want to interfere with that?!”
Gunther spoke as if he couldn’t believe it, but Julius sighed and shook his head.
“As hard as it is for me to believe, there are those who move for their own benefit without any thought for the country’s future. The members from the Royal Guard have probably been replaced to obstruct this dungeon investigation team’s mission.”
“The Royal Guard serves the King! If the members were replaced, that would be the king!”
“I don’t think it was His Majesty’s will… though he may have allowed it rather than actively stopping it.”
“For what purpose?!”
Gunther glared at Tristan. Tristan answered matter-of-factly:
“To test and train his sons—to see which of them is fit to become the next king. His Majesty occasionally tests his children in such ways.”
“Of all times, during this crisis…!”
“Without a crisis, one cannot truly measure a person’s worth. While I can understand this intellectually, I myself am also bewildered.”
Tristan sighed.
The Royal Guard was the order sworn to protect the royal family—and the king himself—and only the king held the authority to appoint its members. If intentions from someone other than the king were involved, that person would have to be someone very close to the king.
A relationship close enough to influence the king’s decision-making—Karen frowned as she pictured that person’s face.
“Could it be that we’re caught up in a succession struggle?”
“Ms. Karen, your insight is correct. That Royal Guard unit is a collection of wayward noble children gathered by the First Consort. The First Consort, in her mercy, gave them an opportunity for rehabilitation by allowing them to be listed at the bottom ranks within the Guard, but someone seems to be using them to participate in the dungeon investigation team and drag down His Highness Boromias.”
“Huh?”
Karen widened her eyes and tilted her head. The First Consort must be referring to Benedicta. It seemed that Benedicta was responsible for creating that problematic Royal Guard unit. This made sense somehow.
However, Tristan hadn’t said it was Benedicta’s doing.
“Is the Consort being used? Wasn’t she the one trying to hinder the Second Prince?”
“That’s unlikely. She bears no ill will. It’s just that because she’s close to His Majesty the King, there’s no end to those who approach her seeking to exploit her.”
Karen understood, having met her before.
Benedicta had been a beautiful woman. She certainly hadn’t seemed to harbor any malice. But Karen was somehow certain that there had been malice beneath the surface. Precisely because she was certain of it, the fact that the Consort had appeared innocent made her all the more terrifying.
“Um, I was once suspected by the Consort of stealing the recipe for the potions I invented from another trading company…”
“Wasn’t it one of the ladies-in-waiting around her who brought that up?”
“…Now that you mention it, yes, it was.”
Leonie Schiele—the Countess Schiele—had been the one who started it.
“The Consort is gentle, kind, and merciful. That’s why His Majesty the King’s favor toward her is so deep, but precisely because of this, she tends to be exploited by those around her.”
Leonie had spoken as if she were acting on Benedicta’s instructions, but it was possible that it was just talk, and it had been a bolt from the blue for Benedicta. Perhaps casual remarks made at a tea party had been taken out of proportion? If so, Karen might have been misunderstanding Benedicta all this time.
“In any case, those Royal Guards who are currently attending His Highness Boromias, whispering sweet words in his ear, and driving away us aides who have the Queen’s trust, are individuals cast out from high society for various reasons. Though they’re fellow nobles, I really don’t want to think of them as fellow knights—they’re extremely troublesome for us as well.”
She remembered the man who had been beheaded.
Karen had found it strange that someone claiming to be a Royal Guardsman would do such a thing.
The people Karen knew from the Ehlertt family, and the nobles she had met through Ehlertt’s introductions, were all decent people.
So Tristan’s assertion made sense.
“To ensure the dungeon investigation proceeds smoothly, I came here hoping we might bridge our ranks and have the adventurers cooperate with the Royal Knights.”
With those words, Tristan bowed his head toward Gunther.
The Translator's Note
The “Royal Guard” is a tricky term.
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