Chapter 172 – 172. The Hounds (2)
Down the dark night road, as she was walking towards her destination, the Gleor Waste Warehouse, Erin opened her mouth.
“By the way, sister. Why were the Knights of Artia so busy?”
“Ah, that…”
Ayra put on her troubled expression as if she had been asked a slightly embarrassing question, and then she opened her mouth.
“Are you aware of the current situation in this country?”
“No.”
“Currently, with the Knights of Artia at the center, all the aristocrats who conspired to embezzle Renion Hersha in the past have been arrested and an investigation is underway.”
“Ah…”
Erin hardened her expression when the name of her deceased father was mentioned.
She doesn’t feel any pity or longing for her father.
For Erin, the man named Renion Hersha was only memories of abuse that she wanted to seal, causing trauma just by recalling that they were connected by blood.
Because of her Eun-hyeon’s effort and careful care, she now frowns as she feels awkward, but her mind was so exhausted that she had severe seizures in the beginning.
Erin shrugged off the bad feelings that came into her head and listened to Eira’s explanation.
“Many nobles appear as knights and are being interrogated. All those who have gone through that process and are convicted are being fined in large amounts by the punishment given by the queen.”
“Is there something wrong with that?”
If her crimes with her own father are revealed to the world and she is being punished for it, it means that this corruption-ridden country is slowly regaining stability.
Erin didn’t quite understand where Eira was talking about.
“It’s the right direction in the long run. But now the investigation is underway and the sentence is being executed. Do you know the difference between a noble in Pernin and a noble who governs a provincial fief?”
“Yes. The nobles of the provincial territories received other territories from the royal family, not the capital, and are the political powerhouses who govern those territories.”
“Yes. Because of this, most of the local nobles stay in their own estates, and most of the nobles in Pernin, with the exception of ducal families and some nobles, go to work at the court and fulfill their duties as nobles.”
Representatively, Riod, who does not have a territory and leads the knights called Artia, or Bernard, who is in charge of the finance minister, who is in charge of managing the kingdom’s finances, is an example of this.
Avros, who holds the position of Minister of Military Affairs in a similar position, is a unique case of having a manor while being a court noble.
By fostering the next successor, duke duke, the two of them manage the dukedom and manage the military affairs of the country at the same time through an appropriate division of duties.
“In other words, it means that the majority of the corrupt nobles currently interrogated by the knight commander of Artia are those in charge of the administration of the kingdom of Pernias. At this point, it also means that the administrative agencies of this country are temporarily paralyzed and are not functioning properly.”
“… I’m a commoner, so I don’t know difficult things. Bad people get punished. How does that matter?”
Although she is attending Aether, Erin only showed strength in practical skills such as swordsmanship and magic, and showed rock-bottom results in the fields of society, politics, and history.
“Um, Erin was Eunhyeon-nim’s disciple, right?”
“… Were you a disciple?”
“… ? Ah yes.”
I couldn’t understand why Gerard was surprised, but first of all, I was learning a lot from Eun-hyeon unofficially, so the expression of a disciple was correct.
“Let’s assume that you and Eunhyeon-nim come to a situation where you have to carry out a certain mission.”
“Mmm, yes.”
“But due to unavoidable circumstances, a situation arose where Eunhyeon-nim and you couldn’t carry out the mission together. There is no other way to fill the void left by Eun-hyeon, who is lacking, and in a situation where you have to carry out the mission alone.”
“Um…”
“Under such a situation, can you take on all of Eun-hyeon’s duties and work?”
“No?”
It’s ridiculous to think about comparing Eun-hyeon’s ability with her own.
Erin’s immediate answer came without worrying about her, and Eira smiled bitterly at her.
“To put it more simply, it could be the burden of having to handle the share of the two of you alone, Erin.”
“That… It will definitely be difficult. So, are you saying that Pernin is in a very chaotic situation, and the knights of Artia are busy investigating nobles who committed corruption?”
“Huh. Furthermore… As the Duke suddenly resigned from the position of Minister of Military Affairs, the military sector is in a state of chaos right now, so the atmosphere in Pernin is also very chaotic.”
“Duke Armitas voluntarily resigned… ?”
Erin asked, startled by news she had never heard.
“His son committed a serious crime that damaged the honor of the country, but he voluntarily resigned, saying how he could take the position of the country’s leader. Following the Duke, many corrupt aristocrats who were in charge of the military department were forced to resign, and the personnel in the military department were all reversed. Because it was decided so suddenly, the whole atmosphere of Pernin is very chaotic right now.”
“Okay…”
To make mistakes and take responsibility for them. In a way, it was the most ideal form Erin had hoped for, but the mistake Ashton committed and the responsibility for it was the parents who were connected by blood, so the ending that Abros had to bear was a very unpleasant feeling.
“And while investigating the corrupt aristocrats, it was also confirmed that strange drugs were circulating among the children of nobles.”
“Any medicine?”
“Do you remember what your father wanted to bring to you last night to bring to Eunhyeon?”
“Yes.”
Erin nodded her head, remembering the existence of her paper envelope and the letter that Rio de intended to deliver to Eun-hyeon through him.
“What is that?”
“It is a drug.”
“A drug?”
It was not Eira who answered, but Gerard who intervened.
“Yes. It refers to illegally manufactured drugs, not ordinary commercially available drugs. The item that is currently circulating among the nobles is an illegal drug called ‘Manastream’. It has the effect of forcibly awakening the mana in the body, thereby increasing the amount of magical power and improving the physical ability, but the heightened emotions habitually cause symptoms of dependence and eventually break down people’s reason. “
“Uh…”
Erin looked at her Ayra with her dumbfounded eyes.
When her eyes asked if this story was true, Eira nodded her head with a bitter look on her face.
And she recalled the situation she had discovered with Marva and the gangsters, and she had bad expectations in her head.
– That’s wrong! Why is it wrong with the amount I talked about before! It got more expensive!
– That’s right, since more people are looking for it, isn’t it natural that there is a demand for competition as well?
– This is all my money…
Despite Marva’s urgent cry and her status as a noble, why couldn’t she strongly resist the thugs’ approach, Erin thought of the reason.
“Could it be Marva…”
“That’s right. You just discovered the situation when you were trying to get drugs.”
“It’s a tactic he’d use. He sews a young aristocrat of an easy age and poisons him with drugs, and then uses the poisoned aristocrat’s son to approach people of the same status or close friends around him and poison them in a similar way. Generally… In a sense, an environment where young students are gathered like Aether is a good place for him to rampage.”
If the dependence becomes stronger after getting their hands on drugs, the children of young aristocrats who are not mature due to their age will eventually lose patience and have no choice but to continue to depend on drugs and eventually succumb to the supply of drugs. .
Obsessed with their own sense of privilege and filled with pride and vanity, the foolish sons of nobles wouldn’t have been involved in such a thing if their self-interest had been straight from the start.
In the end, the aristocratic children who were unable to reveal their shame while showing the appearance of being addicted to drugs and giving in to the supply plan due to their own stupidity had to desperately hide this fact from their parents to avoid being found out.
“Since her father is now investigating the corruption of the aristocrats, and at the same time interrogating all the students of Aether and the people around them who were involved in this drug case, she couldn’t directly come out of the information Erin brought.”
Because there were so many people with formidable status, including corrupt aristocrats under investigation, sons and daughters of nobles involved in drug cases, and even aristocrats, Riod, the commander and leader of the investigation, was unable to directly step forward despite the background information brought by Erinn. There was no situation.
Understanding why Leode was sighing and making a frustrated expression, Erin nodded in response with difficulty.
“… It’s a serious problem.”
“That’s right. No matter how vigilant and sneaky the bastard is, it’s a problem that this country is such a mess that he can act like this. It is clear to see how hard Brother Riod is going through.”
“As the daughter of an aristocrat in this country, I am really ashamed…”
In response to Gerard’s sigh, Eira dropped her head heavily and replied.
“… So you’re saying that the drug supplier is the warlock I was talking about?”
“Yes. That’s right. Randell Maber. He is the son of Rampel Maber, the court wizard of the Mirvabilla Empire, which was destroyed 20 years ago.”
Erin was taken aback by the sudden change in bleak voice.
The pitiful look she had shown when she wooed him was gone, and her face and eyes, thinking of her enemies, were those of a warrior who had been through her struggles.
That serious side of hers seemed like the dependable side that Eunhyun and Illyana sometimes show, so she felt the difference in the gap.
‘Not just a pervert, but a real hero… Pervert but…’
Erin, who let her guard down a bit, asked again.
“Did Gerard come to ask the Marquis for help in chasing down this man?”
“Yes. While tracking the whereabouts of this man, I obtained information that drugs were being released here from 3 months ago using a method similar to Randell, and entered Pernin to track Randall. So, I was going to ask you for some help, but, hey, who would have thought this country would be such a mess?”
“Uh…”
“I don’t know what the reason is, but I was expecting a little bit if I could get help from Hyun-hyung, but in the end, Hyun-hyung was also absent due to something important…”
‘What is this person…’
Erin listened to Gerard, looking at him with her subtle eyes.
At first she thought she was just a pervert of her mind.
However, he couldn’t believe that he was a man with the title of a great hero like Rio de and Illyana.
And what is your impression now?
‘Very talkative.’
He talked so much that it was tiring to reply to him one by one even while walking down the street at night.
“Oh, by the way, is it true that Hyun-hyung is getting married to Iliana-sister?”
“Yes? Ah yes. The date is still set, but that’s what it’s supposed to be.”
“It was real… In the end, you succeeded in seducing Hyun-hyung. That sister…”
“Huh… ?”
Erin, hearing Gerard’s murmurs, raises her question mark and makes a puzzled expression.
“Oh, nothing. Haha.”
“Submaster. We inform you that you have reached your destination.”
“Ah, yes. Okay.”
Gerard put on a strange expression as he looked at Emilia, who calmly reported that he had reached his destination, the Gleor Abandoned Warehouse.
“Wow, that’s amazing. A humanoid golem that can speak and act on its own… And yet, such elaborate modeling… Did you say doll?”
“I strongly agree with the remarks praising the appearance of this object.”
Accepting that Gerard was praising her, Emilia opened her mouth with a small nod of her head.
The expression itself was as calm as always, but Erin thought that it was not an illusion that her reaction seemed somehow happy.
“Then I’ll try to hide myself from now on.”
The plan was simple, nothing special.
The three of Erin, Ayra, and Emilia’s women are perfect for inducing distraction and releasing vigilance.
It is a simple strategy that Gerard takes advantage of Erin’s attention while acting separately through hiding, and takes care of Randel before he notices the abnormality and runs away.
“Although you came together like this again, are you two really all right?”
Erin and Eira nodded their heads with serious faces at the sharp gaze that penetrated the two of them.
It is a fact that does not need to be explained in words that it is not a matter that a young girl and an apprentice knight can get into as long as it is a criminal pursued by Dae-Hero.
Even so, Erin and Eira had a clear purpose that they followed directly here.
In Erin’s case, it was because the owner of the black magic book Elvin had learned was here.
Eira was also worried about not being able to send her close friend Erin alone.
‘I’m probably the weakest among them.’
It was a part that Ei knew well.
Emilia’s fighting ability is her own training, and from the moment Emilia suits her, she realizes that she doesn’t like it either.
Eira knows best, as she has watched Erin, who was trained with her, as she fights by utilizing the power of the divine beast within her body and achieves her remarkable growth.
But she was nonetheless not that she was not worried about a child like her younger sister than herself.
When I first met her, she was a very mentally weak and unstable girl who was growing little by little, but in Eira’s memory, her unstable appearance at that time was still not forgotten.
“Because we have Emilia on our side. I am confident that she will not be taken lightly.”
“I don’t know how strong that doll is… If you are the two raised by Hyun-hyung and Riod-hyung, I will trust you and leave it to you. Please, no matter what happens, do not die and endure.”
There was nothing special about the basis for trusting the two women and the doll.
It’s just that they were raised by the two men who had been with her.
Neither gender nor age mattered.
“All right.”
“We request that you do not underestimate the fighting ability of this entity.”
Seeing Erin and Eira’s reaction to keep their heads in mind while nodding their heads with firm expressions, and seeing the strangely proud doll, Gerard disappeared into the darkness.
