Chapter Three Hundred and Three: Predictions and Answers (Gottfried’s POV)
“Is it all right to leave Miss Karen behind, Master Julius?”
Called by Julius, Gottfried stood apart from the procession of those returning from the hunting festival.
“I intend to keep this conversation brief.”
Ever since Karen had fallen asleep, Julius had allowed almost no one near and had taken care of her himself.
To be fair, he did borrow a woman’s hands, at least. However, he kept those he allowed close to a bare minimum, and as for men, he refused all visits except from Sieg.
The fact that Julius had entrusted Karen to someone else in order to summon him made Gottfried suppress his unease as he spoke:
“What matter could you possibly wish to discuss with me?”
“—Gottfried.”
Called by name by Julius, Gottfried straightened his posture.
“You don’t have excellent intuition—you’ve simply been noticing and pretending not to see, correct?”
“…Now, what exactly do you mean by that?”
“My father—you knew from before that Winfried had been making multiple women bear children and abandoning them in that dungeon.”
Since it wasn’t a question, Gottfried responded with silence.
“When I escaped from that dungeon, and you appeared at that place, it wasn’t some coincidence due to intuition, was it? Were you coming to check regularly? Or had you stationed surveillance—to confirm that I and my siblings, whom Winfried had abandoned, died properly? Certainly, if any of them had somehow survived and been set loose in the world, they might have posed a threat to Brother Helfried’s rule. Am I mistaken?”
Gazing at Gottfried, who remained silent with a tense expression, Julius spoke matter-of-factly.
“Please be at ease. Even if that were the truth, I have no intention of blaming you now. It’s something that doesn’t matter to me anymore. Just as I was an existence that didn’t matter to you back then.”
Julius’s expression as he said this was rather peaceful.
“Just as I no longer hesitate to cast aside others if it means staying with Karen, I’m sure you were the same. To protect your wife, you had no choice but to avoid involvement with Winfried.”
Gottfried swallowed his words and fell silent. Long ago, he had spoken up against Winfried’s methods. After that, Gottfried’s wife, who was his fiancée at the time, had been injured. Fortunately, it was a minor injury. It wasn’t the kind that would leave emotional scars either. However, Gottfried had been made to resolve never to openly oppose Winfried again.
After a moment, Julius smiled with satisfaction.
“At last, I’ve been able to see your face when I speak one of my deductions. So that’s the expression you make. Until now, I simply couldn’t ask.”
“…Since when have you held that suspicion?”
To Julius, who didn’t seek an answer, Gottfried asked something completely different instead of answering.
“Since the day I escaped from that dungeon, when you appeared before me.”
“Why are you able to ask now what you couldn’t ask until now…?”
When Gottfried asked, Julius said with a bright smile:
“Because I have Karen now.”
“—So that’s how it was. I understand your feelings. For me too, I have my wife, and everyone else simply doesn’t matter anymore. Still, even if they don’t matter, it would be wise to get along with others well enough that you can justify your actions to Miss Karen.”
“Speaking from experience? That’s golden advice. Thank you for the counsel, Gottfried.”
Julius, who until now had avoided calling Gottfried by anything other than his position title, as if being reserved, called Gottfried by name with a cheerful smile and expressed gratitude before leaving.
As Gottfried stared intently at his retreating figure, a presence suddenly appeared from behind him.
“Waugh!?”
“Julius was suddenly thrown into a dungeon. It was practically the same as being told that he would not be allowed to live unless he became strong.”
Paying no mind to Gottfried, who jumped back in shock, Karen, who was somehow behind Gottfried, continued:
“It means he’s been enduring all this time, thinking he had to be like a noble. So I think it’s fine if Julius acts a little selfish from now on.”
Even if not to Julius’s extent, Gottfried was a reasonably formidable fighter within the knight order. Yet he hadn’t noticed the approach of Karen, who wasn’t a combatant.
Karen, who seemed to have simply appeared there, watched Julius’s departing back and murmured regretfully, as though nothing unusual had happened, "He seemed to be really looking forward to the award ceremony too. I wish I could have attended for him…”
“How in the world did you…!?”
“Ah, I tried using a technique to erase my presence. When I tried it against the black dragon, it didn’t notice, so I thought it might work against humans too.”
Karen casually stated something outrageous.
If one examined the black dragon’s remains, it had indeed been old, just as Julius said. However, even if old, it was an S-rank intelligent monster. Being intelligent meant it would have had experience accumulated with age as well. If she had outwitted that black dragon, it meant it would work even against S-rank adventurers.
What kind of skill was it?
With that ability, she could even serve as a decoy.
So, Karen being one of the party members in the black dragon subjugation wasn’t a lie or falsehood.
Gottfried was astonished by that fearsome ability.
“I was curious where Julius was going when he left me behind, so I followed him, and it ended up turning into eavesdropping. I apologize.”
“No, that’s fine, but—”
Julius’s possessiveness had become quite strong.
As Gottfried tried to advise that she should hurry back to Julius, who must think Karen was in the carriage, Karen said:
“If it’s not intuition, then how did you notice that Sir Alban and his knights were about to be falsely accused? There was some precursor, and because of that, you realized something would happen this time too, right?”
Was that really the question Julius’s fiancée chose to ask after hearing all of that?
Faced with a question that carried no blame whatsoever, Gottfried answered, somewhat taken aback:
“…It’s true that I’m slightly more perceptive than most people. There is a reason, but it’s difficult for others to understand even when explained. That seems to appear like intuition to others, and so even if I explained it to you, it would be difficult to understand—but essentially, Alban’s house has been under attack by someone for quite some time.”
“Under attack?”
“Yes. They themselves haven’t noticed, but I could see that someone was plotting the downfall of the Court Viscounty along with several other houses. However, the signs were so minor that those involved would likely dismiss them as insignificant if I explained. From the beginning, it was better received to simply claim it was intuition without giving reasons at all.”
“…What did the culprit want to accomplish by bringing down the Court Viscounty?”
“They want it.”
“Want it?”
Gottfried nodded to Karen, whose eyes widened.
“The Court Viscounty has produced many excellent blacksmiths. Long ago, their ancestor was an A-rank master craftsman. There would be many who would want to bring them down and absorb everything, including the techniques left by that master craftsman.”
Those who had scattered the white monster eggs—probably the Children of Dark Night—what did they want to gain by bringing down the Court Viscounty?
As Karen sank into the sea of thought, Julius, who had noticed Karen’s escape from where she was supposed to be sleeping in the carriage, returned.
“That man is obsessed with you right now. If he thinks you’re trying to escape from that obsession, you’ll have a terrible time.”
“Is that from personal experience?”
To Karen’s question, Gottfried cleared his throat and said:
“I won’t deny it.”
“But it’s all right.”
“On what grounds—”
“Karen!”
Seeing Julius arrive with a frantic expression, Gottfried suppressed his presence as much as possible, though not to Karen’s extent.
To Julius, who came at her with almost a grabbing momentum, Karen said with a smile:
“Did you come to get me? Thank you.”
When Karen extended her hand, saying that, Julius’s expression melted into a smile with just that.
“Let’s return to the carriage quickly. It’s cold here.”
“Okay.”
Karen, lifted up, also entrusted herself to Julius’s arms with a relieved expression.
Averting his eyes from the dazzling sight of the couple leaning into each other, Gottfried muttered quietly:
“It’s true that I noticed Winfried was doing something, but pretended not to see it. When I learned the children had been sacrificed, it was already too late—and when I went thinking I must save them next time, it was already too late. To say this now would be pointless.”
After muttering in a voice so small that even someone with vast amounts of magical power couldn’t notice, Gottfried looked in the direction where his own territory was.
“Since I notice things, I won’t do anything that I couldn’t justify to you if you found out about it. Well, it’s fundamentally impossible for me alone to deal with everything I’ve noticed, so the truth is I still pretend not to notice as much as possible and push the handling onto those around me.”
He made excuses to his wife, who wasn’t present. Feeling as if he could hear a scolding voice from somewhere, Gottfried shrugged his shoulders as he returned to the formation.
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