Chapter 596: Four Third-Rank Adventurers
Editor: Tseirp
Envoy Berke and his party flew off, and the two Phantomkins who had been frozen vanished, but they had companions.
Those were the ones who had been waiting on the road outside the mansion.
However…
“The Censorate men who went to suppress them were struck down in the very opening of the battle, and the enemies escaped.”
“Ah—so Envoy Berke and the others prolonged the fight partly to buy time for their people to flee.”
At Secretary Shau’s explanation, Ryo nodded.
By the way, Secretary Shau—who had fought a magic duel with the female Phantomkin Taoran—had been so exhausted right after the battle that he could hardly speak.
“Getting old saps your endurance.”
Once he could speak again, he muttered that complaint more than once.“I was surprised that General Yun’s body itself had been turned into a tool for analyzing alchemy tools.”
“Indeed. That’s why they, on arriving in the capital, secured General Yun’s body first.”
“However, since his interrogation was carried out here rather than inside the palace or the adjoining high-security prison, their information gathering was insufficient.”
“So they brought him along even into the diplomatic negotiations… and let him into the palace.”
“Do you think they might have siphoned off information about the Starry Veil?”
“To be honest, I don’t know. There’s a lot we need to investigate.”
Ryo and Secretary Shau confirmed the situation with each other.
The Phantomkins’ party had left, and it felt as if everything were over…
“Actually, it’s not over yet.”
Ryo said to Abel in a stern, resolute tone.
“Uh—okay… I don’t know why you’re telling me, though?”
“Shau-san is busy organizing his subordinates, so I’m telling the idle-looking Abel.”
“Is that so. Being able to speak honestly is a virtue.”
“Aww, you’re making me blush.”
“I wasn’t praising you.”
Ryo blushed for some reason, and Abel told him he wasn’t praising him.
“There are four third-rank adventurers who were forgotten.”
“That’s right. The spotlight was stolen at once by Envoy Berke.”
“That’s third-rank for you. Still not all the way there.”
“We’re sixth-rank, below them, though.”
“That’s that, this is this.”
“Ryo, your ability to flip your words one after another is impressive.”
“Well, I wouldn’t go that far.”
“Again—not praising you.”
Ryo blushed again, and Abel repeated that he wasn’t praising him.
Still, it was true that the four third-rank adventurers had been left in the garden.
Of course, when the little scuffle with Envoy Berke happened, all four were resealed inside full .
“Those four—they all talked, didn’t they?”
“Seems so. They apparently babbled it all out themselves. Not fit to be called adventurers.”
“Well, if they were surrounded by the Censorate and told it was the Emperor’s order and interrogated, they’d comply, wouldn’t they?”
“After all, they were people hired only for money. Third-Rank adventurers are probably only worth that much.”
“We’re Sixth-Rank, below them, though. And those five from ‘Spring View’ are also Third-Rank.”
“Meaning the ‘Spring View’ lot has higher aspirations!”
“I-Is that so…?”
Ryo repeatedly nodded as if certain, and Abel reluctantly accepted it.
At least Abel had no information to contradict that.
To Abel’s eyes as well, the five of ‘Spring View’ looked like good people.
That those five and the four captured in the garden were the same third-rank adventurers was…
“Well, even among third-rank adventurers, there are all kinds.”
Abel said that and shrugged.
“Duke Rondo, what should we do with the four who are frozen?”
Secretary Shau, apparently finished issuing orders to his subordinates, approached and asked Ryo.
“Umm, can I decide that?”
“We have been informed that His Majesty permitted Duke Rondo to detain them. However, these four… have not necessarily committed a clear crime.”
“Indeed, they were just watching me.”
Yes—the four had only been watching on orders.
They hadn’t harmed Ryo or those around him.
Of course, because Ryo had obtained Emperor Tsuin’s permission to detain them, Ryo would not be held culpable… but still…
“Let’s keep them at my place for a while.”
“…Frozen, you mean?”
“There might be some kind of reaction from the other side.”
“Understood.”
Ryo thought a little before giving his decision, and Secretary Shau nodded in agreement.
In Rondo Manor’s garden, four ice sculptures were erected.
Around them, ice golems cleaned, opened, and closed windows, and occasionally carried baggage.
A fantasy-like sight stretched out.
Moreover, with a swordsman practicing flight around them, it was all the more so.
“Abel, you’ve improved a lot.”
“See? I can do sudden direction changes in midair now.”
When Ryo praised him, Abel demonstrated a 180-degree turn from straight flight.
He genuinely looked like he was having fun.
“The harsh, bleak aura you usually wear has changed completely—it’s a good look.”
“I’m not bleak, am I?”
“You fail to see yourself clearly.”
“I know I’m being unfairly accused…”
While Rondo Manor was filled with peace and happiness, elsewhere in the imperial capital, there were those who wore a bleak, harsh atmosphere.
“Four of them? Four third-rank adventurers all gone missing—what’s going on?”
“The two they started watching from the Holy Emperor Square… they looked like adventurers, right? What are they, adventurers from the Special-Rank Hall?!”
“I’ve never heard of such a pair…”
“How are we supposed to report this to His Highness?”
At those words, everyone fell silent.
This was the Fifth Annex of Prince Bin’s royal residence, the Fourth Prince.
The adventurers hired by Prince Bin used this place as a base for their assignments.
“Lin Sui-sama has arrived!”
When one adventurer said so, everyone present dropped to one knee.
A man in his mid-forties entered.
Lin Sui—the trusted right-hand and eyes of Fourth Prince Bin.
His hair was carefully tied and fastened with a small brown cap.
The brown Eastern robes he wore looked plain at first glance, but to someone who could tell, they were clearly made from high-quality cloth and carefully tailored.
“I heard there was trouble, so I came to see.”
“Yes…”
Sun Ki, the second-rank adventurer acting as the coordinator for the group, answered in a tone that could hardly be called gentle.
Everyone present was either second-rank or third-rank.
That means Sun Ki, who was coordinating the site, was himself a second-rank of the same standing.
He had simply been made the leader because he had been an adventurer longer than the others.
Sun Ki had been pleased when chosen as the coordinator—he thought it might curry favor with the prince—but having to report such an error after a single day was unexpected.
He felt bitter inside, but of course, he did not show it.
He was a second-rank adventurer.
Even in the vast Darwei, second-rank adventurers were not numerous.
He had carried out many assignments before.
Among them had been duties related to the imperial household.
He was here because he had completed those without issue.
Even so, he had never had to report a failure like this before…
“Four third-rank adventurers have gone out of contact.”
“When did you lose contact with them—what were they doing?”
“They were watching new surveillance targets who appeared from Holy Emperor Square.”
“Those surveillance targets…were they someone from the Shitaifu class?”
“No…based on the report, they were adventurers.”
“I see—adventurers from the Special-Rank Hall, then?”
Lin Sui muttered that.
And Sun Ki said nothing in response.
They were not lying.
The person standing before them had jumped to a conclusion…
They didn’t actually know who that pair was.
There was no reason to deny something that hadn’t been identified…
Lin Sui thought for a moment and asked,
“Why were those two added to your surveillance targets in the first place?”
“They were seen having a private talk with the third-rank squad ‘Spring View’ that Count Bashu hired.”
Just sharing a meal could look like a private meeting to the watchful.
Unfortunate for Ryo and Abel.
“Count Bashu… since he doesn’t belong to any faction, his movements are hard to predict. Strengthen surveillance around Count Bashu. That may reveal the whereabouts of the four who went out of contact.”
“Yes, sir!”
Giving the instruction, Lin Sui left the Fifth Annex.
“We must cause more and more confusion… it’s still not enough.”
Lin Sui’s mutter was so faint that no one’s ears caught it.
TLN: Please read my translations at , I did not give permission to any site to host my translations.
If you like my translations, please support me on Patreon and unlock early chapter releases! 7 day free trial is available for Bronze tier now!