Dance With the Nightingale - Chapter 17

“Huu, finally done.”

I said as I looked at myself in the mirror.

Right now, I had a normal white shirt and black pants worn underneath my armor, while a dark purple robe covered all of me.

Uhh, why was I wearing clothes when my armor could shapeshift?

Well yes, my armor could shapeshift, but there was a ‘proportional decrease in capability’, and my escort, my dear maid Amy, didn’t want that.

So, I had to wear something underneath that.

My head piece was turned into glasses, though, stylish black ones.

After giving myself one final look, ‘Umu’, I nodded, and turned to Amy, who was sitting on the couch while reading the places I wanted to visit in the city, “How is it, Amy?”

I don’t know why, but I suddenly felt like a narcissist when I said.

Was I really paying too much attention to myself?

I thought, as I looked at my maid, who had apparently returned from her leave.

“Your appearance will be obscured by the robe anyways so why bother, Young Master?”, she said without lifting her head, her brows knitting up as she continued to read the places I mentioned.

“Is Young Master on his way to become a narcissist, now?”

Of course, she didn’t forget to add a joke.

“Well, you bother about such things when you suddenly have a lot of free time, thanks to the courtesy of someone.”

I complained, not being subtle about who that someone was, but only got a laugh in response, as Amy placed the note on the table and stood up.

“Don’t sulk Young Master, Master even allowed you to go incognito, when you really need to show your face around the territory.”

Her tone changing from a cheerful to a mischievous one.

“Also, have you been sneaking out Young Master?

I can’t imagine you knowing such places of you haven’t.”

Said the maid, who wasn’t dressed like one.

Rather than a maid, today she was dressed more like a mercenary.

Her ears and tail, had somehow disappeared while, she wore an armor which was quite different from mine except from having the same color.

Unlike my armor which was top notch but still a standard product, hers was custom made and heavily leaned towards speed.

It had a chest piece that covered her neck and chest, while leaving a small part of her belly open.

Her shoulder and arm guards were decorated with golden accents, and a short battle skirt was attached to the chest piece, while it itself had a pair of short swords dangling on it.

And finally, her leg guards, they were quite normal ones as they covered everything from her knees to her toes.

Though, I didn’t check with [Mana Reading], I could still feel that this armor was heavily enchanted.

And an honest side-thought, it would have look quite erotic, if she didn’t wear that purple body suit underneath.

Though wearing it, didn’t make it any less exciting.

But, if she really came with me like this then all my plans would go in gutter.

Fortunately, she was self conscious of herself as she donned a dark purple robe, one identical to mine, that perfectly covered all her features and-

“Young Master, are you done admiring, your maid~”,

-cheekily asked after noticing my trance.

‘Yeah, I’m done.’ I thought inwardly while outwardly I said, “Ahem, ahem, let’s go, let’s go.”, as I moved towards the door.

While not forgetting to answer her previous question, “And hey Amy!, don’t accuse me for nothing, I haven’t been sneaking out or something, and it’s not like I can actually sneak out of the estate anyways.”

“Ohya, does that mean you have been trying?”

“Nooo.” I said exasperatedly while shaking my head as I got out my room, feeling a bit refreshed.

Now that my mind had settled down, I found my behavior of that day quite… pathetic.

The outcome was more or less okay, but it didn’t the fact that I almost dug a hole for myself that day.

Fortunately, Amy was mature enough to know that I was just speaking impulsively, while being drunk on emotions, and somehow drew a line.

A day without her also helped me a lot in that regard too.

Her image in my mind wasn’t as prominent as it was before.

It was now accompanied by the Knight Commander’s, and most importantly my Father’s image, decreasing its overall influence on me.

Right now, unless I flip her switch, everything was the same as before, there was no awkwardness nor constrain other than some ‘harmless teasing’, and that was for the best, I guess…

I will slowly get used to teasing.

Maybe, I will even start liking it..?

-I shuddered, as I quickly erased that thought from my mind.

‘I don’t want to be a Nishikata!’ I desperately prayed, as I moved to my last stop before leaving, Earl’s Study.

(A/N: Teasing Master Takagi-san reference.)

***

[In the Earl’s Study]

-Sip

-Sip

I sipped the hot coffee that was brewed by the Earl, while sitting on the couch.

And as I previously said, the Earl is damn good at this.

I feel like I’ll become a coffee addict at this rate.

After savoring the aroma of his coffee, the Magus sitting across me, leisurely said, “You had your breakfast time, right?”

I lightly chuckled at his question before answering, “Yes, yes I did, my dutifully maid bought it to me.”

“Hmm, that’s good, and did you rest well?” He asked again, while looking at some kind of report in his hand.

“You seriously thought I could rest?”

I said while giving him a stink eye.

“Hah, looks like you didn’t. But hold it in for a while, umm, just think of it as a self-control training will you?”

“Stop that now, I’m not that dumb, and just tell me what this is about? You didn’t sent Amy out for nothing, did you? It’s something about today’s attack right?”

I got straight to the point as I really wanted to end this quickly.

It was good that I was his son, if it was someone else who talked like that, then they wouldn’t know how they died, quite literally.

“Oh, you noticed that?”

“Well, she wasn’t trying to hide, so of course, I did. And get back to the topic. No, first tell me how did that guy sneak into the Estate?”

“Hmm, that guy, as you call the intruder, was an Expert Grade Spy with Secrecy attribute, here,” He gave passed me a document, it was a recruitment report of a new maid recruit, it was dated only 2 months ago.

On it, I could see a picture of a somewhat pretty girl with long brown hair and cute freckles, her name was Cana Nester, Age 21, there was a lot of other info, but I didn’t read it all, as the Earl continued,

“This girl, her body was used as a dummy, I found it in the intruder’s ring, along with some Magus class talismans, there was nothing else stored.

Apparently this girl had a habit of going out to roam in the city, poor lass was targeted as such. She was captured, killed, her face was skinned along with her hair, beauty spots and some other things.

They were then imbibed into the intruder using magic, changing intruder’s appearance permanently.

That along with the Magus class cloaking talismans and most importantly her innate attribute, was enough to fool the arrays.

She would have been safe as long as she kept a distance from me, didn’t use magic in the estate, and if I didn’t consciously scan the territory for her. What are your thoughts on this, Rayne?”

After his long jargon, the Earl turned to me and asked.

And actually, there was a lot to consider, the intruder was an Archmage, she had Magus class talismans, had permanently changed her face, but…

“She was supposed to be a long-time suicide mole. The Magus class talismans were most likely bought and not provided by a Magus themselves, and the ones who sent the mole aren’t the Dukes. According to me Marquess Stellan, Marquess Natalberg and Marquise Sphixertale would be the prime suspects.”,

As the Author of this novel, this question was too easy for me, I just had to tell my father the names of his future enemies.

So, with full confidence, I said a bunch of statements.

“Oh, why do you think so?, Elaborate.”

And for some reason, the Earl looked quite happy with my answer as he asked.

But, well…

…I didn’t have a reasoning in my head.

When, I actually said those three names, I said cause I knew it, there wasn’t a reasoning behind it…

“If those were the only things you found in her ring then there were no countermeasures for her escape, nor were there any valuables or anything that could specify the mole’s identity, along with the permanent change of face, this would mean that she was not equipped to break the seal of servants on her, nor she was expected back.”

But when I started to think about it, all the information in my brain, even the one from my previous life was combined and used to explain my answer.

And I continued talking.

“All the Dukes know that you are a Magus, so they won’t send an Archmage to be haplessly killed by you. Nor would they let their subordinates to do something that will have a desperate Magus coming their way, to kill them.

That eliminates the Dukes, and the Mole herself being a Archmage also eliminates anyone below Marquess.

And considering your relationship with Marquesses, Stellan and Natalberg are obvious suspects, while my reason for choosing Marquise Sphixertale is solely based on my own instinct.”

And the more I talked the further I realized, that I have a superhuman brain too, a realization which made me quite happy until…

“Hmm, I see, so you can think too…” I heard the Earl murmur.

“Hey, what do you mean by that!”

I complained, but then stopped after seeing his amused smirk.

But soon, a similar smirk appeared on my face as I said,

“Heh, should I tell Mother, that you called your own son dumb?

Yes?, Father?, why did you suddenly stop smiling?”

(A/N: Mother = Latina.)

You will get blue balled if you tease me!

A Magus getting blue balled just how funny is that.

I thought, while laughing inwardly as I finished the rest of my coffee, while listening to the Earl, who suddenly started praising my reasoning with a ‘pure’ heart.

My business here, was done.

Just one small question was left.

“So, is this a secret between us?”

“Well, yes, just keep it between us, and unless you are near me, don’t get too relaxed like today.”

He said.

“Okay, I will keep it a secret. But you know, you can always say ‘Hang out with me more often’ th-owww”, before I could finish, the Earl flicked his finger at me, as a toned-down air bullet struck my forehead.

“Also, don’t read too much into such things, now get out.” He said, as just like in the morning, he picked me up with Psychokinesis and threw me out of the now opened door.

At least he was considerate enough to land me on my feet, I thought as I landed, left the building, and moved towards the Estates’ exit.

***

“Hey, Amy did you get as much as I told you.”

I asked her as we travelled to the city downhill, on a carriage.

And actually, the carriage was unnecessary, cause the city wasn’t far, just a kilometers away.

The Ellsworth Estate was built atop a hill.

It had mountains on it’s back, which actually formed hemispherical ranges that created a natural barrier against any army or intruder.

With the back secured, the front of the Estate had a single kilometer long band of empty hemispherical land, that was there to spot, stop, and intercept any hostilities.

While one kilometer was nothing for higher ranked Magic users, it was good enough to separate the city and the estate, while also purging any funny ideas from ignorant people’s mind.

Back to the topic, what do you think is my most important advantage over Eva, other than my memories?

The answer was obvious, my background, my resources, and my Money.

Today, I asked Amy to get me 500,000 Coles from the Treasury while having my breakfast.

Would they give me that much money, that too on such a short notice?

“No, Young Master, I didn’t get as much as you said, rather…”

There was no need to consider that possibility,

“I got the five times of that!”

My maid answered as she showed me a bag full of coins, gold coins.

“Umu, I knew I could leave that to you.”

I nodded in satisfaction as a smile appeared on my face.

We’ll need this money on our first stop.

Well, I was a bit concerned if 500,000 would be enough, but with 2,500,000 Coles, I can definitely hire them.

The top miscellaneous mercenary group of the world, the [Blackbeard Searchers].

My reasoning was simple, if I could get the work done by throwing away some pocket change, why should I hesitate?

I thought, as the carriage finally stopped.

We had arrived at the city borders.

The city dubbed as [Potion Factory], the city that was one of the wealthiest cities in the world, the capital city of Ellsworth County, [Ellesmere].