Chapter 45
Immediately after sending Liddy off, Ruid and Hercy walked down the street.
‘I’m a little sleepy.’
Ruid rubbed his eyes. Drowsiness always comes suddenly.
At times like this, I usually sleep in a soft place nearby. Straw is good, and a laundry bin is also good. But I decided to hold on for now.
‘My sister will be worried.’
I haven’t told Amelia yet.
More than anything.
‘There is nothing more terrible in this world than being hungry when you need to sleep.’
I didn’t want to eat food at the mansion. After tasting the sweet and salty stew earlier, I couldn’t be satisfied with noble food.
“Oh, there are people crowded over there. Would you like to take a look?”
At that time, Hercy spoke. Ruid, who was feeling drowsy and generous, unconsciously nodded.
Where people were gathered, Yabawi was in full swing.
“No. 1, No. 2, No. 3. Double your choice! “Eat, eat, eat, eat!”
“No.2!”
“Oh, you failed, master. Actually, it was number 1.”
“ha ha ha!”
The aristocrat, who was obviously disheveled, took out a shilling from his pocket as if he felt regretful.
“Wow… I was quite confident in my sharp eyesight.”
It was a tone full of regret. The slut laughed heartily.
Ruid focused his attention on the man. It’s a voice I’ve heard many times before.
Sure enough, it was someone I knew.
“…Lord Gilbert?”
“uh.”
Gilbert, who saw Ruid, was startled and approached him.
“Aren’t you Prince Louis? Long time no see.”
Gilbert gave a brief nod and cleared his throat. A little cold sweat broke out on my forehead.
“Are you… on duty?”
Hersy asked cautiously. That was the only reason I was walking around the streets in livery rather than plain clothes at this time.
“…Gambling while on duty?”
Ruid tilted his head. Gilbert hurriedly waved his hands.
“Oh, it’s gambling. ha ha ha. That’s a funny joke. This is… I mean. It is a folk game of commoners. “I am.”
Gilbert waved his hands around and made an excuse. Ruid looked with interest.
“…To see it from the perspective of the common people. “Just as an example.”
Gilbert put both hands on his waist and lowered his head to 90 degrees.
“Just take a look! “Please do the same to the leader…!”
Ruid turned his gaze to the slut. With his front teeth slightly protruding, he looked just like a mouse.
‘Shall we give it a try?’
It’s strange that Gilbert, the knight, didn’t notice.
As he stepped forward, the slut looked at Ruid with an expression that said, ‘What the heck is this?’
“Haha, you are the new master. Do you want to take on the challenge?”
“huh.”
Ruid took out a gold coin.
The expression on the swindler’s face when he saw the gold coin changed as if he had made a windfall.
“This, this, he was a very big master. great! If I win, 1 gold is mine, but if you win, you get 2 gold.”
“good.”
“Come on, come on, eat money, eat money! Whoever finds this black bead wins. “You only get one chance!”
‘It’s probably a scam.’
The scammer’s morale was like the rules of the country. If he hadn’t used fraud in the first place, Gilbert wouldn’t have lost any money.
In other words, this was a game about finding tricks, not finding marbles.
The swindler’s hands moved busily. It was such an incredible skill that almost only an afterimage was visible.
Ruid’s eyes rolled around. No magic power was used. That is shameful. In the first place, I wonder if there would be a wizard who would use magical power for something like this.
The sleight of hand’s flashy movements stopped. Without hesitation, Ruid pointed to the rightmost cup with his finger.
“number 3! Are you sure about number 3?”
The slut said with a grin.
“I’ll give you just one chance to change!”
“are you okay.”
“Are you sure you’re okay?”
“huh.”
The slut gently tilted his cup with a look of frustration on his face. Ruid paid attention.
There was no particular misconduct. And, there were no beads.
“ha ha ha!”
The onlookers laughed the same way as before. I guessed that he was probably a windbreaker hired by a swindler.
“It’s such a shame!”
It was when the swindler was trying to take the gold coins that he had put down. Ruid quickly took the third cup with a worried look in his eyes.
“Now, just a moment.”
The slut stretched out his arm late, but it was already too late. Ruid had already seen the beads stuck to the inside of the cup.
Hersy, who was watching from the side, opened her eyes and questioned.
“How dare you cheat?!”
‘There was a reason why Gilbert was deceived.’
There was something sticky smeared on the inside of the cup. With a dazzling movement, the marble rose up through the cup.
“You got it.”
Ugh, Gilbert groaned.
I didn’t even assume that he would cheat.
Rather than being angry, I was embarrassed that the aspiring knight hadn’t figured out that simple trick.
Ruid held out his hand.
“2 gold.”
“Uh, uh…”
The slut looked around.
Then, he seemed to have given up and slumped his shoulders with a sad look on his face.
“There is nothing like 2 gold.”
“Give it to me with all your conscience.”
Ruid held out his hand. The slut flinched, took a shilling out of his pocket, and handed it to him. It was four shillings.
“…This is all my property.”
Of course, Ruid didn’t believe it, but he decided to leave it at that. The goal was to get Gilbert back the money he had stolen.
Ruid received a bag of money and scolded him.
“Stop picking on nobles who don’t know anything.”
Then, without hesitation, he turned his back and handed Gilbert one shilling.
Gilbert, filled with shame, lowered his head.
“thank you. Confucius Louis. “Thanks to you, I was able to save my lunch money.”
And he spoke anxiously.
“I… I know it’s really pathetic to say this, but could you please keep it a secret…?”
Ruid smiled brightly.
“If you want to silence me, there is a way.”
There is such a saying.
If you want to find the best donut shop in America, ask your local cop…!
I had no doubt that Gilbert would be a good knight.
**
Ruid sat astride a low wall.
“Yum.”
I took a bite of the grilled skewers that Gilbert had just bought me.
It was a simple grilled skewer with salt seasoned meat, but it was quite delicious.
“What kind of skewer is this?”
“Probably a goblin…”
“Chicken skewers.”
“yes? No, this is.”
“Chicken skewers.”
Hercy looked at Gilbert and shook his head quickly. Gilbert kept his mouth shut.
Ruid, who had lost his appetite for a moment, glared at the grilled skewers.
I was hypnotized.
‘Chicken skewers… these are chicken skewers.’
Then he took another bite and mumbled.
‘It’s delicious.’
As expected, thinking of it as chicken skewers is beneficial in many ways.
“Hmm. “The texture is not good.”
Meanwhile, Hercy had a sour expression. That was natural. Because I am eating it with a detox spell.
Ruid gave advice.
“It’s delicious if you don’t use the detox spell.”
“…I don’t mean to disparage Ruid’s taste, but wouldn’t there be a problem with not using detoxification magic on commoners’ food?”
“What problem?”
“Well… the hygiene isn’t good either. Honestly, I don’t know what I heard. “I heard that sometimes drugs are added.”
Ruid raised one arm. I tapped my stomach with my glowing blue hand.
“Just hang it on my boat.”
“Well, I guess it feels uncomfortable.”
“You don’t eat the food I cooked.”
“Yeah, that’s right…! Because it was made by Ruid. Ruid is clean, and there’s no way he would do anything to the food.”
Casting a detox spell on food.
It was so taken for granted that it was considered dirty if you didn’t do it.
‘I would have done the same if I had lived here since I was born.’
The meat tastes like chewing rubber and the vegetables taste like chewing a liquid monster.
Ruid thought that commoners’ food was better, even if it was a little dirty. Also, not all commoners are dirty. There is nothing strange about skewers like this, especially since they are grilled in front of you.
“And what was Sir Gilbert doing here?”
Hersy asked.
“Oh yes, we were investigating. “Crime has recently increased in the system.”
After wiping his mouth with a handkerchief, he spoke a little more seriously.
“Kidnapping crimes against young children are increasing. Prince Ruid also be careful. Regardless of how strong you are, meeting a criminal is a very unpleasant thing in itself. “By the way.”
Gilbert said politely.
“Please speak low. “This isn’t an academy, and I’m a commoner.”
Ruid tilted his head.
Gilbert did not have the characteristics that commoners usually have. The etiquette was also perfect.
“yes? Sir Gilbert is a commoner?”
Hercy was equally surprised.
“My father is a baron, but he has no fiefdom.”
“ah.”
Ruid understood immediately.
The hereditary succession of an empire is divided by whether there is a territory or not. If you had a fiefdom, you could pass the title on to your children, but if you had no fiefdom, you could not pass on the title hereditary.
Therefore, the actual life of a baron without a fiefdom was no different from that of an upper-class commoner.
A baron without a fief is one of two things. Either they sold their land because they had no money, or they bought it as a commoner.
Considering that Gilbert’s manners were perfect, it was most likely the former.
“But if Confucius writes a letter of recommendation, you can join the Imperial Knights. I don’t really care. haha.”
Gilbert smiled as if telling him not to worry.
However, his eyes were anxious, as if he was asking, ‘…Will you write it?’
Ruid transformed uncertainty into certainty.
“huh. “I’ll ask my mom.”
“…Are you talking about His Excellency the Duke?”
Gilbert was surprised.
“Because promises are meant to be kept.”
“…thank you. I didn’t know you would care so much. Then I guess I’ll have to work harder.”
Gilbert stood up from the fence.
He said, turning his back to the moonlight.
“I’ll just go. The case hasn’t been solved yet. “It was a fun time.”
“Now that I think about it, they said it was under investigation. “Your sister too?”
“yes. “I haven’t been able to sleep properly lately and I’ve been running around.”
‘…I guess I wasn’t too interested in Ame-san.’
Ruid said, feeling sorry.
“So are you still outside?”
“That’s right. In these cases, witnessing the crime scene comes first. “Can I guide you?”
“no.”
Ruid gave the remaining grilled skewers to Miho, who was on his shoulder.
It was a reward for remaining calm. Miho bit down on the skewer and jumped off his shoulder.
“I think he’ll hate it if you disturb him while he’s working.”
“Is that so…?”
Gilbert was puzzled. The general manager he knew was a complete idiot. In fact, there is a saying in the swordsmanship club that goes, ‘If you want to make the leader feel good, praise your younger brother rather than yourself.’
“Tell it to Sister Ame instead. “I’ll be sleeping in the mansion, so wake me up when you come.”
“yes. “I will.”
But Gilbert didn’t have a chance to say that.
“…sister?”
From far away, a haggard-looking Amelia walked unsteadily.
“Everything, Captain?”
Gilbert rushed over and helped Amelia.
As I approached, the telltale smell of alcohol assaulted my nose.
“Oh my… I see a hallucination. Hi.”
Ruid looked at Amelia with cold eyes.
‘I’m drunk.’
That’s also a very drunk look.
“Ehehe, I’m Luid’s friend.”
Amelia wrapped her arms around Hercy’s neck.
“Oh, Amelia…?”
Hersy didn’t know what to do.
“sister.”
“uh…? Hallucinations speak.”
Amelia shivered and approached Luid this time and crouched down.
He hiccuped and stroked Luid’s head.
“Wow… wow… I can feel the hallucination.”
“I’m not hallucinating.”
“You’re heartless… You’re heartless, Louis. “You could have said goodbye… Why did you leave me alone, huff?”
Now I’m starting to cry.
He looks no different from a drunkard.
A crack was drawn between Ruid’s eyebrows.
He took out a wand from his pocket.
I lightly hit the top of Amelia’s head.
Just-! Amelia’s eyes widened with a sound.
“?!”
At that moment, the alcohol that had been controlling Amelia was gone.
Amelia sat down, clutching the top of her head. She was very embarrassed.
“Lou, Louis. How did you do it? Didn’t you go home?”
“I haven’t gone yet. “Why do you think that?”
“…Because I went to the academy. There is no reason for Louis to be in the system.”
Ruid sighed deeply.
“I don’t plan on leaving until my sister graduates. “We came together when we came, so we should go together when we leave.”
“Louis…!”
Amelia hugged Luid.
“I actually believed it! “My sister had no doubts!”
“…lie.”
Amelia cupped her face with a happy smile.
But that happiness didn’t last long.
Because something came to mind.
“Wait a minute…”
Amelia felt saddened.
“Mom and sister, I’m sure they’re still waiting.”
**
Windsor Castle.
Gorgeous interior and shining chandeliers.
At the end of the day was a grand dinner and the Duke of Windsor.
Irene was sitting next to him.
Irene looked straight ahead with a smiling face and stayed still.
The Duke of Windsor was waiting calmly with his hands clasped together.
Neither of them made any movement.
“…You’re late.”
“It’s late.”
“I guess not today.”
“The day is not yet fully set. “Let’s wait one more hour, matriarch.”
“Sure.”
It’s already been two days.
They were waiting without moving anything.
Their wait…
was probably going to last quite a long time.