Chapter 53: A Special Woman (2)

 

“Aaagh?! H-hey, mister?! I just paid you, didn’t I?! Kyaaah!? That hurts!”

 

The street vendor yanked her by the hair without warning. The woman flailed in alarm, trying desperately to figure out how to break free.

 

“Ugh, seriously.”

 

As more and more onlookers gathered, Isaac stepped forward and held out some coins.

 

“Hey, shopkeeper. Here. I’ll pay for it.”

 

“No way! This wench needs more than money—she needs a lesson! Who do you think you are, interfering in my business—?!”

 

“My companion and I will eat as well, so let’s end this here.”

 

“He-hehe, hello there!”

 

Jonathan, who was standing behind Isaac, waved in greeting. Seeing that Jonathan was wearing the armor of a Helmut knight, the vendor let go of the woman’s hair and quietly accepted the money.

 

Isaac, the woman, and the skewers all moved between the stalls, stepping into a narrow gap formed by the row of carts.

 

“Ugh, thank you for stepping in. But please, have a bite of these skewers. You’ll realize that what I said was absolutely true—!”

 

Still somewhat dazed, the woman began to speak but suddenly fixed her gaze on Isaac’s face.

 

“…Is she falling for you?”

 

“Shut up, would you?”

 

Isaac silenced Jonathan, who had whispered in his ear, by nudging him with an elbow and then handed over a skewer. Meanwhile, Jonathan stood off to the side, happily devouring two skewers at once. Isaac let out a long sigh.

 

“I helped you this time, but please don’t eat anything if you don’t have the money to pay for it.”

 

“That’s a misunderstanding. I really thought I had enough. I’m not that shameless.”

 

“…”

 

“More importantly—”

 

Arms folded, the woman grinned slyly. She shrugged her shoulders, as if she’d picked up on something, then pointed a finger at Isaac.

 

“Isaac Helmut. Just came back from the North, I see?”

 

“How the—?!”

 

Jonathan’s jaw dropped open in astonishment. Isaac rarely ventured outside, so even among the townsfolk in Helmut Territory, not many knew much about him.

 

Wearing a mysterious smile, the woman spun around and turned her back on them.

 

“Earrings made from frostsilver… Pretty extravagant, aren’t they?”

 

Pleased that her own air of mystery seemed to be paying off, she flitted away with light steps. Isaac sighed and called out to her retreating figure.

 

“Your Highness, what are you doing here?”

 

“…!”

 

She flinched. Then, with a forced smile and beads of sweat on her forehead, she turned back.

 

“I-I, um… that’s… not true at all.”

 

***

 

Still between the stalls, the three of them crouched down, facing each other.

 

“H-how did you know?”

 

She was a princess of Albion Kingdom: Clarice Evangel Regardia, a direct descendant of the Regardia royal family.

 

“It’s because frostsilver is only ever handled by Caldias or the royal family.”

 

Silverna had mentioned something when she gave him those earrings:

 

[Who outside of the North would even recognize Frostsilver?]

 

If this woman recognized it, it could only mean one of two things: She was connected to Caldias or to the royal family.

 

“I suspected you were the princess.”

 

“…Serves me right for showing off when I shouldn’t have.”

 

Clarice drooped, looking dejected.

 

Isaac let out a small, bitter laugh as he watched her.

 

In truth, if he were being completely honest…

 

He’d known of her in his previous life as well, which was how he recognized her. He’d worried about how to explain it away if someone asked, but fortunately, she’d outed herself.

 

“Well, this works out. I was starting to think I might have trouble handling this on my own.”

 

Clarice picked up a small stone from nearby, used it to draw a circle on the ground, then tapped its center.

 

“This place is Blackthorn. Thanks to your report, Isaac, we now know about those unknown beings called the Transcendents.”

 

“…”

 

“We’re in the midst of discreet preparations to take down Blackthorn. If all goes well, the operation will begin shortly after the Sword Festival ends.”

 

“That soon?”

 

“Even that might be too slow. We have no idea what these Transcendents might do.”

 

Clarice sighed deeply. Jonathan then asked the question on Isaac’s mind:

 

 

“S-so why did you come to the Sword Festival? I figured you’d be incredibly busy.”

 

“That’s exactly why I’m here.”

 

With a bright smile, Clarice drew a long line in the dirt, ending in a triangle, and tapped it lightly with her stone.

 

“We have intelligence that someone in Helmut is secretly communicating with the Transcendents. I’m here to investigate that under the radar.”

 

“…You came in person, Your Highness?”

 

“I’m very capable, you know. If it weren’t for me, we might never have discovered Helmut was in contact with the Transcendents at all.”

 

Clarice Evangel Regardia, the princess, squared her shoulders.

 

“You have no idea how thoroughly they kept this under wraps. It was a real headache to figure out, you know?”

 

Even as she spoke, she let out a weary sigh, her shoulders sagging.

 

“There were times I thought maybe it would’ve been better not to know at all. Imagine— Helmut, the Kingdom’s sword, secretly colluding with those beings.”

 

“Who is it?”

 

Isaac asked earnestly. In his previous life, he hadn’t been aware of any alliance between the Transcendents and Helmut.

 

If anything, he only knew about Alois eventually becoming a vassal of the Transcendents—but that, as far as he recalled, happened only after Alois was banished from Helmut.

 

‘Who could it be?’

 

Since Isaac didn’t know for sure, he decided to ask.

 

“Who is the traitor in Helmut that’s colluding with the Transcendents—”

 

With a cheeky grin, Clarice boldly proclaimed:

 

“Sharen Helmut!”

 

Isaac pressed a hand to his forehead with a sigh.

 

Clarice Evangel Regardia….

 

She was undoubtedly exceptional, someone who would one day stand alongside Rihanna, safeguarding humanity until the bitter end.

 

If Rihanna was the kingdom’s final blade, then Clarice was the kingdom’s last bastion of pride—humanity’s commander and a brilliant strategist.

 

However, like Silverna, it seemed her talents had yet to fully bloom.

 

“A-Actually! I swear I have proof! Two months ago, Sharen Helmut started sending her maids outside the estate for odd errands—every single day! She never did that before, but then suddenly—!”

 

In reality, she’d been sending them to look for cookies. After all, Isaac—who usually ran those errands—had gone North.

 

“Not only that, she personally traveled outside on a few occasions. Look, one of those trips was near Blackthorn.”

 

She must have gone to see if they had the star cookies.

 

“And didn’t you have a run-in with the Transcendents in the North as well? I found out Sharen Helmut randomly volunteered for that Northern deployment—!”

 

Alright, Isaac had to admit:

 

‘Her intelligence network is no joke.’

 

How on earth did she find out all that?

 

As Isaac stared at her in silence, listening to her steadily build the case against Sharen, Clarice’s voice gradually grew timid.

 

“…Do you think I might be wrong?”

 

She shot quick glances at Isaac and Jonathan. It was clear she recognized she could be mistaken.

 

“No, you are mistaken.”

 

Isaac stated this firmly, prompting Jonathan to try to smooth things over.

 

“I-I’m sure it’s because you haven’t met her in person! If you do, you’ll realize right away that she’s definitely not that kind of person!”

 

“Is that so…”

 

With a pout, Clarice let out a sigh and slowly rose to her feet.

 

“I see. So that’s it. I guess just gathering data and piecing it together isn’t enough. Information has its limits.”

 

Yet, her expression actually brightened. A slight smile tugged at her lips, revealing a mischievous spark.

 

“You have to see things for yourself, on-site. It’s exactly as I suspected: I amaze even myself with how keenly I anticipate my own shortcomings.”

 

“…”

 

“…”

 

“So then, both of you—help me out. We need to track down the real traitor in Helmut.”

 

“I’m in.”

 

Isaac also stood up. To be honest, he was curious whether there really was a traitor in Helmut at this point in time.

 

After all, from what he remembered, there had been no one besides Alois who colluded with the Transcendents.

 

‘Maybe Arandel’s illness isn’t as hopeless as it seems?’

 

If Arandel could live, the war’s deterrent might change drastically.

 

“Will you be coming to the estate, then?”

 

As a member of the royal family, Clarice naturally had an invitation to the Sword Festival. Those holding invitations stayed at Helmut’s estate throughout the event.

 

“No, I’m going to gather some more intel on my own first. You have no idea how valuable firsthand information can be. You two are looking forward to it, right?”

 

“…”

 

“…”

 

“Ahem, you do realize I’m a princess?”

 

“We’re really looking forward to it.”

 

“Please share with us everything you find.”

 

“Great! I’ll see you at the estate, then!”

 

Just like a gust of wind, Clarice had appeared, stirred everything up like a storm, and vanished.

 

Left watching her retreating figure, both Isaac and Jonathan felt slightly dazed.

 

****

 

Soon after, their carriage reached its destination and came to a stop.

 

“Hah…”

 

He’d known he’d return eventually, but this was sooner than expected.

 

With a sigh, Isaac stepped down from the carriage. Looming before him was the massive, imposing Helmut estate.

 

The line of other carriages belonged to nobles who had also been invited. Everyone was busy attending to guests, so Isaac’s homecoming went largely unnoticed.

 

Well—there was one exception.

 

“B-brother-in-law!”

 

Alois approached awkwardly, leaning on a cane and wearing a broad smile.

 

“Brother-in-law! Big sister seems to have some weird misunderstanding— Broth—?”

 

“Pfft.”

 

Isa couldn’t hold back a laugh, raising a hand to his mouth.

 

“Want me to show you how to use that cane properly? Your stance looks pretty sloppy.”

 

After all, it was one of his specialties.

 

“…I’ll be fine in no time.”

 

Visibly annoyed, Alois grit his teeth in response.

– – – The End of The Chapter – – –

 

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