Previous | Index | Next

Count Keeley immediately dispatched troops to investigate the suspicious room that Iris had accidentally discovered.

The two corpses found were determined, after autopsy, to have been restrained with “Binding Cords” and killed with “Poison.”

At first, it seemed to be a bizarre magical murder, but the Count’s investigation revealed a series of astonishing facts.

First, illegal drugs and concealed weapons were confiscated from the apartment where the two had died. Furthermore, the room itself had been rented under the name of a non-existent merchant. And the dead men were former adventurers who took on jobs for the Night Python, including sabotage, investigations, violent acts, and sometimes even assassinations.

It’s unknown exactly why they died. Perhaps they were eliminated for botching a job, but the specifics remained unclear. In any case, the fact that they had a base near the castle made it almost certain that they were being prepared for an attack on the Count’s family.

One more important clue was found in the room.

A dying message, presumably written by one of the murdered men as his last act, was scrawled on the floor in blood: “Golden Bird, back door, hidden room.” It had been concealed under his body.

Taking this as a vital lead, the Count promptly sent troops to the Golden Bird as well, discovering the Night Python’s main base… and many more corpses.

The Night Python had bases in various cities, and the Count’s side had thought they had grasped the one in Eltaref. In reality, that was a decoy, and the Golden Bird was the real one.

Why everyone had been killed was a total mystery. It was clearly an attack by multiple mages. Was it an internal conflict? A raid by another criminal organization? An attack by someone holding a grudge against the Night Python?

Whatever the reason, the ledgers, memos, letters, and correspondence left behind provided a great deal of information about the Night Python.

While the destruction of the base remained a mystery, the anti-Night Python purge operation moved to the next stage.

According to the men who first attacked, who “cooperatively confessed” under Iris Lune’s “intense but not inhumane interrogation,” they had only been ordered to set up a base there temporarily, and their subsequent actions were to be dictated by the Night Python. In other words, they did not know the full extent of the Night Python’s goals or plans.

When Iris tracked them to a bare room that was clearly temporary accommodation, she was disappointed. But, she figured they would make contact somewhere to receive orders, and letting them move without action was a bingo.

Using emotional tracing, Iris Lune discovered the hidden base of the Golden Bird.

And then, waiting for nightfall, she slipped out of bed, and became a ninja.

Incidentally, the dying message was, of course, a fabrication by Iris Lune, who killed the two men.

It might have been a bit unnatural, but it allowed her to give information to the Count and guide him.

Before bed, Iris Lune read a memo summarizing the progress of the operation, a grin creeping onto her face.

This memo was written by Benedict. Since she had to spend the day pretending to be Lady Catherine, she had no opportunity to talk to her companions. However, Benedict insisted that it would be bad if Iris, who was hired as a bodyguard, was unaware of the situation. So, the Count had given permission for her to receive memos, which he added should be “thrown into the fireplace after reading.”

If she secretly supported the Count from the shadows like this, she might reach what Iris Lune sought…maybe.

This time, Iris Lune had skillfully reached the core in the shortest distance, but it was not always going to be like this. The network of connections and information that Count Keeley, as a lord, possessed was a power that even the strongest undead, Iris Lune, did not have. Especially information gathering from remote locations or wide areas was difficult even with magic. So, she could have the Count compensate for the areas she was bad at.

–But… the executive in charge of overall domain affairs isn’t in the biggest city in the domain. Are they deliberately avoiding the Lord’s territory?

In any case, if it was a distant town, it would be difficult for Iris Lune to reach it. Even her high-performance emotional detection radar wouldn’t reach that far. For the time being, she would have to rely on the Count and his subordinates to run around and investigate.

So, what should Iris Lune do now?

–An inside man, huh? I’ll look for that. I’ve got emotional detection, after all.

Also, never mind the guild staff, but that guy named Jay something from yesterday said something about an inside man’s servant. It’s possible that the higher-ups in the Night Python might try to make contact with him again. I wonder if I can subtly suggest that to the Count that he might be suspicious.

If she did that, her work would be limited to inside the castle.

It was something she could do while continuing her duties as a body double.

Even though she was acting as Catherine’s body double, Catherine’s life was pretty much the same as usual.

However, while Iris Lune was acting as a bodyguard, two schedules were drawn up for Catherine at the castle each day.

The Count himself decided each morning which one the real Catherine would be responsible for and which one Iris Lune would take. Iris Lune was also living as Catherine at the same time.

She would dye her hair tangerine with “Color Spray,” apply face powder, and do a light makeup.

And when she wore the same clothes, there she was in the mirror; a girl who was indeed the spitting image of Lady Catherine.

The servants treated both the real and the fake no differently, referring to both of them as “Lady Catherine.”

Iris Lune wasn’t sure if this operation had any meaning, but she was doing her job as told, so if anything went wrong, it would be the Count’s responsibility.

Also, if there was something that required her to show her face to the people of the territory, that would naturally be Iris Lune’s job.

“You don’t need to have a conversation with them,” the Count explained. There were no such plans during the current quest period, but just knowing that a body double was available made the Count feel much more secure in case something came up.

Life as Catherine was quite busy.

First was studies. She learned grammar, geometry, art, and sociology from a tutor as part of her mandatory education.

Next was bridal training. Embroidery, sewing, cooking, and other household chores. It was the level of home economics at elementary school, but she would at least have to do cleaning and laundry. She had to be able to do what she normally left to the servants.

This was the daily life of a noble girl living in Ciel-Terra.

There was a pretense that it was “because you never know what kind of household you will marry into,” but it was more of a product of the conformist culture, where it was “because it was normal to do this,” and “it was embarrassing not to be able to.”

Even though Iris Lune had been an adult in her previous life, she had only lived 10 years in this world. She could at least read and write and had some knowledge of society, but it was actually quite beneficial to receive education in grammar and sociology.

By the way, since she couldn’t deceive the teachers about her knowledge, academic ability or proficiency no matter what she did, the tutors also knew who was who.

“…Wonderful. Iris-sama, you might be a mathematical genius.”

“Thank you…”

In the study, with only a blackboard and a desk, Iris Lune was being praised by her geometry teacher for giving a solo lesson.

Since his side hair was curled up in a roll, Iris Lune called him “Mozart” in her mind. Giving teachers strange nicknames was a student’s privilege since the dawn of time.

She was praised for solving a math problem that would be at the junior high school level in Japan, but in her past life on Earth, Choujiro, who was inside her, had a science background and graduated from college. It was natural for her to be able to do this level of problem, so she was a bit uncomfortable with how impressed Mozart seemed.

“By the way, Iris-sama, you are a mage, aren’t you? Actually, I also teach magic. Unfortunately, Lady Catherine did not have the aptitude for it, so she has ended her magic studies at the theory level.”

“Oh, is that so?”

An unexpected fact. Mozart seemed to be a magician.

He looked like he’d be more suited to music.

In fact, the essential education for a noble includes magic theory (and practice if one has the talent). Catherine had no talent for magic, so she didn’t do the practice, and since she had finished her theory, it had been removed from her timetable.

“If you don’t mind me asking, what’s your level of magic, sensei?”

“In the level divisions often used by adventurers, I’d say my basic spells are at level 2, and my fire elemental magic is at level 1. Ah, it’s embarrassing. It’s my job to teach the first step, so I’m content with that, but I just didn’t put in the effort. How about you, Iris-sama?”

“I’m level 3 with water and wind. And some others.”

“Wow, level 3 at that age is truly remarkable!”

All magic has “levels” established as benchmarks for learning difficulty.

The level of magic that one can use is a barometer to measure one’s abilities.

Mozart’s practical skills were only “pretty good for an amateur.”

If you were to rate ‘Iris’s’ skills, it would be that she was “already a full-fledged mage at this age, but nothing more than that.”

She would have grown and achieved greatness as she grew up. If only she hadn’t been noticed by Renée.

By the way, the skills of the person inside, Renée, were “about on par with the strongest magician of the human race in her current state, and she’s going to get even stronger from here on out”… She felt tired when using high-level magic, but there was no such thing as “magic that’s too difficult to use.” It was just that there were some genres like divine magic that she couldn’t use.

But Iris Lune thought that she shouldn’t be arrogant because of that power. Even though her magic power had decreased due to the Dullahan transformation, her magic hadn’t worked against the Knight Order’s “Turtle Formation.” No matter how high your magic power is, it’s pointless if you just recklessly use magic without thinking.

“If it’s alright with you, I would love to see a little bit of your magic, Iris-sama.”

“I can’t really do that. Because Lady Catherine can’t use magic, if I show a magical aura it would expose me as a fake.”

“Oh, that’s true. My apologies.”

Mozart laughed apologetically.

It felt like this conversation was already crossing the line, but right now, the entire castle was being shielded from detection and information-gathering magic by a barrier erected by a hired magician. The only thing she had to worry about was low-tech eavesdropping.

–Well, it’s kinda weird that I’m worried about that… I should probably use my emotion detection.

It was possible that an inside man was observing Iris Lune’s actions and trying to determine if she was genuine.

As she solved the next problem, Iris Lune gradually expanded the range of her emotional detection.

There was no one in a place where they could eavesdrop. The tired, gray emotions of the servants passing through the hallway, like overworked salarymen, flowed in.

–Nothing in particular is popping out. I should widen the range a little more…

That’s when it happened.

Iris Lune suddenly sensed someone’s alertness flare up nearby.

–What? Who is it?!

She hadn’t noticed anything particularly noteworthy before, but it suddenly changed to a prickly, alert state. Like an office worker who’s been walking down the hallway relaxed, suddenly meeting the CEO coming from the opposite direction.

She thought that she may have met the Count, but judging from the reaction, that wasn’t the case.

The person didn’t seem to be meeting someone or seeing something but was heading straight for the study where Iris Lune was.

–They’re bracing themselves to come to me? But their reaction is strangely negative…

Holding her breath a little, she waited, and soon, there was a hesitant knock on the door.

“Come in,”

Mozart called out, and a young male servant entered.

He was an ordinary-looking young man with a slightly nervous demeanor.

“I have brought the teaching materials for the geometry lesson.”

“Thank you for your hard work.”

He dropped the triangles and semicircles he had been carrying onto the teaching desk with a thud.

They were rulers commonly used in schools for drawing shapes on the blackboard.

He bowed politely to the teacher and Iris Lune.

However, his emotions were strange when he looked at Iris Lune in particular. His negative sense of alert intensified even more.

The man left the room, but he paused for a few seconds before leaving, then left, trying to muffle his footsteps.

“Sensei, who was that?”

“That’s Dias. He’s been helping me out recently. He said, ‘I want to deepen my knowledge even at this age,’ and asked if he could help while being taught.”

“Is that so…”

–Could it be…this guy?

Suspicious. Too suspicious. Anyone can suddenly want to study, but when you combine that with his emotional reaction, it’s too fishy.

“Umm, Sensei, excuse me, I need to go to the restroom…”

“Please do. But remember, once you leave this classroom, you are ‘Lady Catherine’.”

Previous | Index | Next