Chapter 51
From then on, Maxim-san began loudly describing me as "an incredible martial arts master, surely raised through harsh training from childhood," and although the other knights clearly weren't pleased, they stopped saying anything openly.
"If that guard can activate 【Dark Magic】 that quickly, he must have 【Magic Control】 or 【Magic Aptitude Enhancement】."
"The one stirring up the smoke was 【Wind Magic】, right?"
"Apparently, he used 【Earth Magic】 when he saved the Count."
"Hey, hey, hey. If that's the case, then what was it that let him dodge Maxim-sama's attack? He doesn't have nearly enough Talent slots for all that."
Some knights seriously debated this with grave expressions.
If I use too many flashy kinds of magic, people might start probing... That would be a pain.
Incidentally, the improvement in my movements was actually thanks to Raikira-san. Zelly-san had told me about Raikira-san's Talent, you see,
"The young master got an insanely rare Talent Jewel from the captain of the mercenary corps. It's 【Physical Enhancement★★★】, believe it or not. That Talent Jewel boosts the strength of his entire body—where do you suppose he got it...?"
The instant I recognized that Raikira-san's movements came not from Talent Jewels that enhanced each movement individually, but from something that could raise everything at once, like 【Four-Element Magic】, my 【All Creation】 learned it.
Thanks to that, my movements leveled up by several stages.
Raikira-san had helped me again... I decided to think of it as Raikira-san's "keepsake."
"Reiji!"
The match with Maxim-san had a major impact on Lady Eva as well.
Lady Eva started calling me "Reiji, Reiji" and telling me to stay by her side. At first, I had no idea how much distance to keep from this greenhouse-grown, highest-grade strawberry princess, but she kept closing in on me.
There were no people Lady Eva's age near her.
There were no schools, and it was normal for nobles to hire tutors. Those tutors were usually retired civil officials or nobles, which meant they were all grandfathers and grandmothers. The only friends her own age whom she occasionally met were children brought along to balls, tea parties, and evening parties in high society through her father's connections.
"The children around my age are afraid of me and won't come near."
Lady Eva said this with a sullen look during a break from her tutoring.
"Is it because you're beautiful, Lady Eva?"
"As if! Honestly, even Reiji is making fun of me now!"
"Well, I actually mean it..."
"Huh?!"
Compared with the "Cold-Blooded Lord," the blushing, flustered Lady Eva was far more human and adorable—ah, so that's what she meant by people being "afraid" of her.
"S-so, it's not as though I'm beautiful or anything..."
"Is it because everyone is afraid of the Count and won't come near you?"
"Y-yes, that's right. But that's not it. What I want to know is whether you think I'm beautiful—"
"Well, there's nothing to be done about that. I'm sure you'll find some good friends someday."
"...Reiji?"
"Then shall we continue studying? Please, Teacher."
While I felt sorry for Lady Eva for being born the daughter of a count known as the "Cold-Blooded Lord," I couldn't understand why she was in an extremely foul mood for the rest of that day.
Apparently, that "Cold-Blooded Lord" had earned the resentment of many people.
But once I heard the reason, it turned out to be nothing special. The "resentment" was the kind known as a "misplaced grudge."
"...The reason I was attacked? Well, I'll tell you, since it's also necessary for Eva's protection."
Once every ten days, I was given time to meet with the Count privately. This was to check on the progress of his "search for someone" and to report Lady Eva's situation to him.
"I hold the position of 'Special Aide to the Director' at the 'Altar Administration Bureau,' an organization directly under the Holy King."
Oh, some organization I'd never heard of had just appeared.
"...Even though you served in the Holy King's Knights, you don't seem to know much about these things, Reiji-san. Well, you'll understand eventually. Put simply, I was the 'Holy King's hidden blade.'"
"Not the 'Director's hidden blade'?"
"Yes. Skipping the details, you know that the Curvaane Holy Kingdom has the 'First Altar,' a place that produces Talent Jewels, don't you?"
"!"
There are eight places in the world that produce Talent Jewels.
The "Six Mines," where I had worked as a slave, was one of them.
The "First Altar" was, as its name suggested, an altar, and apparently large numbers of Talent Jewels appeared on it each day amid flashes of light.
It was far more efficient than mining. Considering that the other production sites were difficult places to harvest from—"the seabed," "glaciers," and "lava"—the Curvaane Holy Kingdom was able to acquire huge quantities of Talent Jewels without lifting a finger, since they simply popped onto an altar. (Though I have no idea what sound effect that would make.)
In this world, Talent Jewels were directly tied to military power.
The First Altar was a major reason the Curvaane Holy Kingdom had become one of the great powers.
"At first, I considered the possibility that you had approached me because you wanted to learn about the altar, Reiji-san, but apparently that wasn't the case. The information you wanted was about Talent Jewels with five stars or more, correct?"
"Yes. If you hear anything at all about a five-star or higher Talent Jewel appearing or being put up for auction, I want you to tell me."
"I only hear about such things a few times a year, though..."
"That's fine."
The Count gave a small nod.
"Reiji-san. I am investigating everything related to the altar under a direct order from the Holy King. In recent years, the number of stars on the Talent Jewels appearing from the altar has been decreasing, and I was investigating the reason."
"The number of stars is decreasing...?"
"The number of Talent Jewels with three stars or more appearing has clearly declined. When that happens, there is only one conclusion to draw: someone on the inside has been diverting them."
"Betrayal...?"
"The person didn't seem to be intending to betray anyone, merely to have been short of money. Within the past year, we finally discovered the diversion, captured every noble involved, and had them executed."
Gasp.
Execution, huh.
"Is that really such a serious crime?"
I felt a chill as I faced the Count. He spoke matter-of-factly, as though reading from a report, but everything he was describing had been ordered and carried out by the Count himself.
Officially, they had been driven to execution by piling up evidence of illegal acts such as "embezzlement," "bribery," and "slave ownership." As the Count put it, "Anyone willing to lay hands on the altar couldn't possibly be clean in other respects."
The altar was absolutely inviolable.
The Holy King had warned him that any leak suggesting the altar had been defiled would be disastrous, so the Count had taken sole responsibility for seeing justice done.
That was how he got the nickname "Cold-Blooded Lord."
Apparently, the attackers who had sought the Count's life were backed by people connected to the nobles executed at that time.
"Um... Count."
"What is it, Reiji-san?"
"Why did you casually reveal a matter this serious, after the Holy King had warned you about it?"
"..."
"..."
That's not fair. He just smiles and brushes it off.
"When you asked me to serve as a guard, shouldn't you have told me about that too...?"
"You didn't ask."
As if I could ask! How was I supposed to imagine anything like that?!
Well, I suppose the Count couldn't have gone blabbing about it to me before it was even decided that I would become his guard!
"By the way, Reiji-san, here is the information on 'Lulusha.' As before, we haven't found anyone who seems to match."
I accepted the report written on paper. They had searched not only for "Lulusha," but also similar names such as "Lulusha" and "Lulushi."
Even though the Count had acquired a nickname like "Cold-Blooded Lord," he was extremely polite and sincere—or at least seemed that way—when dealing with me. He had properly entered into Contract Magic with me, too.
After that, I gave him my report on Lady Eva. The Count seemed faintly amused only when he was listening to that.
That was our usual "report meeting."
Things changed—about a month ago.
In short, that was also what led Lady Eva and me to start something called "the slave-trader crackdown."