83.
Even in the midst of being so busy that he could use a cat’s paw, San tried to teach Gee how to write. He sacrificed the present for the future, but the results were not good.
‘He’s not unintelligent, but he doesn’t try.’
As a result, even with studying, the outcome was poor. Yet he loved sword training so much. San sighed and got up again. Even this break time was a luxury.
Thinking this, as he was moving his pen, someone knocked on the door. Since San couldn’t move, Gee got up and opened the door. Soon after, he frowned.
“San, the mansion is under attack. They say it’s dangerous.”
At those words, San’s mind became clear.
“How many people can move right now?”
“About twenty.”
Outside was still half-shrouded in darkness.
“Can you tell how many intruders there are?”
“They say at least ten visible. Their clothes and weapons aren’t uniform.”
“Then there must be more than that. And the opponents are likely mercenaries.”
San’s mind raced quickly. Dozens of intruders had rushed into the area where noble mansions were gathered. For this to be possible in a place where the guards patrol thoroughly, it meant someone must have tampered with something.
If so, it was better for them to move as quickly as possible too. Even if discovered, the guards who had already been tampered with would likely turn a blind eye.
‘You can’t tell who’s on whose side just by looking.’
The conclusion was reached.
“Let’s go now!”
It didn’t take long to prepare. Gee, knowing the urgency of the situation, had only mentioned the number of people who could move immediately.
When they arrived in front of the mansion, as San had predicted, dozens of suspicious people were moving about, but no one was stopping them. This meant the intruders’ power was not to be underestimated. As soon as they arrived at Yu Jin’s mansion, they rushed inside. About ten corpses were lying in the front yard, all looking like mercenaries at a glance.
As soon as Gee confirmed this, he turned towards the direction where noises could still be heard. And on the side of the mansion, he found Haruna still fighting with mercenaries. As soon as Haruna spotted Gee, she shouted.
“Reinforcements!”
The first thing Yu Jin did after making Blando and Gee allies was to have them memorize the faces of key figures from different groups. Gee immediately jumped into the battle and started killing the attacking mercenaries. Seeing this, Haruna withdrew her weapon and stamped the ground.
“I’ll leave it to you!”
Thus, Gee filled the space left by Haruna and the guards. Haruna hurriedly headed in the opposite direction, and Gee’s group quickly cleaned up the area.
Meanwhile, Jinhyeon, along with Keith, had captured Fox and a few other mercenaries. At first, Keith had cleared out the decoys and pondered his next move. Should he go to Yu Jin and protect him, or help Jinhyeon? To be honest, he wanted to protect Yu Jin rather than help Jinhyeon. But if he did that, it might become difficult to find out who was behind the intruders.
It didn’t seem likely that Jinhyeon, who was probably dealing with the main force, would know that there were many decoys.
“Haah.”
Keith sighed and turned around to attack the mercenaries from the opposite side of Jinhyeon. They were quite skilled and reacted quickly, but couldn’t overcome the difference in ability. To be frank, if they were good enough to beat Keith or Jinhyeon, they wouldn’t be here in the first place.
So the two quickly killed off the mercenaries, and when there were only a few left, Fox tried to escape.
“You think I’ll let you go?”
But Jinhyeon persistently clung to Fox. And in the process, Jinhyeon’s genius shone once again. With each clash of weapons, his skills gradually improved.
“Wow, the world is unfair.”
Fox gritted his teeth and shouted. He had heard that Jinhyeon was quite skilled, but he didn’t know he was such a monster. He struggled desperately, but before long, Jinhyeon surpassed him. And eventually, Fox was captured with severe injuries.
“Jinhyeon!”
By that time, Haruna had also arrived. The bright sunlight was now filling in behind the receding darkness. They all safely greeted the morning. Afterwards, San, who remained in the information group, sent one piece of information.
It was information that there was a family gathering at Lucid.
“A family council, huh.”
Yu Jin clicked his tongue while looking at the information received from San. Ruhan had called for a family gathering without inviting Yu Jin.
‘Does he really intend to let me go?’
If so, that would be fortunate, but somehow he felt uneasy. Still, knowing that his feelings weren’t the most important thing right now, Yu Jin decided to think about other matters first.
“They say they don’t know for what purpose it’s being convened. What do you think the reason might be?”
“If someone from Lucid sent today’s attackers, we might be able to guess the reason for the gathering.”
At Haruna’s words, everyone looked at her.
“It’s not a gathering with a pleasant meaning, I suppose.”
Haruna replied to Yu Jin’s words.
“I guess not. But what could the reason be for them to try to kill Yu Jin? Do you have any hunches?”
“Yes. If they found out that the family head offered me the heir position.”
Until now, Pamina and Azes had made tremendous efforts to make their children the family head. But how would they feel if they found out that the family head wanted to give Yu Jin the heir position? It would probably feel like the ground was crumbling beneath their feet.
“They’d want to kill me.”
“Or put me in a similar state.”
The corner of Jinhyeon’s mouth twisted upward.
“What vile characters.”
“That’s right.”
Just as they were talking about this, Keith, who had briefly left his seat, returned. His face was paler than usual, and water droplets were dripping from his hair. While Jinhyeon and Haruna were guarding Yu Jin, he had dealt with Fox.
“Did you find out anything?”
“Yes.”
Keith slowly nodded and opened his mouth.
“It seems the opponent is likely Pamina.”
“…How do you know that?”
Normally, nobles didn’t meet mercenaries directly when using them. Nobles considered mercenaries lowly, so how could Pamina, who was particularly fastidious among nobles, have directly hired mercenaries?
“Apparently, the client didn’t properly cover their face.”
Fox grumbled as he said this.
“If I had known the client showed their face, I wouldn’t have participated. Such jobs are usually dangerous. There’s nothing good whether you succeed or fail. So I was planning to just take the payment and run if we succeeded.”
Fox seemed to be quite clever. But unexpectedly, he had a weak heart and got involved after following a mercenary he knew. He babbled about this and that without Keith even having to do much.
“Don’t you have any loyalty?”
“I did, but it’s gone now. I ended up like this because of someone I trusted. And our loyalty is to money and safety.”
Thanks to this, they were able to quickly gather information.
“The situation is taking a strange turn.”
Yu Jin sighed softly. Even if it was about the heir position, it was strange to attack so openly like this. Doesn’t this seem like someone with nothing to lose?
“It doesn’t seem to be simply a meeting to change the heir.”
Jinhyeon added, hugging Yu Jin from behind.
“Could it be a place to expose the crimes Pamina has committed?”
“That would make more sense. But we don’t know which of her crimes they’re going to talk about.”
Yu Jin sighed again at Keith’s words.
“That’s right. She’s a person who has committed so many wrongs.”
They didn’t know what else might happen in the future.
“Failure.”
Even after hearing the message delivered by a person planted in advance, Pamina didn’t move. She sat in front of her dressing table, staring at her reflection in the mirror. The person watching her intently swallowed hard.
“Then I’ll withdraw.”
It was because Pamina’s atmosphere, sitting still like a doll, was unsettling. Only after everyone left and the room was empty did Pamina open her mouth.
“It failed.”
It seems the mansion’s guards were stronger than expected. She had wanted to present Yu Jin’s head to Ruhan at the end, but that became difficult.
Pamina slowly opened the drawer of her dressing table. Then she groomed herself more meticulously than usual. She had no one to help her since she had sent away her trusted maid along with Grein, but it didn’t matter. Compared to what she was about to do, putting on makeup wasn’t difficult at all.
After applying makeup, styling her hair, and changing clothes, she looked quite presentable. Her beauty, praised since her youth, hadn’t faded even with age. In that state, Pamina packed a small dagger and a pouch.
“I must greet the guests.”
That was her duty as the first wife. Pamina opened the door and stepped outside. Two knights immediately attached themselves to her. They weren’t the familiar faces she usually had around. Still, as if it didn’t matter, she moved her steps and arrived at the entrance of the mansion. The butler, who had been waiting in advance, bowed deeply.
“Welcome, Lady Pamina.”
The butler also knew that Pamina came out whenever guests arrived. So this time too, he stood quietly behind Pamina, waiting for the door to open. Soon the door opened, and the first relative to arrive entered. As soon as he saw Pamina, he greeted her.
