The Damn Family Is Back Again - Chapter 339



339. Family (9)

In the end, Radiel’s armor was horribly damaged. The chest guard, once broken, scattered its fragments and died a glorious death.

Thanks to that, I had to stand facing the wall for a while.

I couldn’t say anything.

I couldn’t ask any questions.

I had to stand there, facing the wall, until Harnié said it was okay.

That was the price of careless actions.

…But considering everything, this is quite cheap.

Normally, a giant spike might have pierced my back. Despite that, my back wasn’t burning with anger… Given the situation, Harnié was holding back as much as possible.

“Ah, found it. This is it.”

As I mentioned, Harnié quickly found the necessary item after rummaging through the room a few times.

That was, in a way, a stroke of luck. The Bagran Duke’s house was a place I was already familiar with. So I could tell where things were.

This room happened to be the one prepared with women’s clothing.

So, Harnie miraculously found new clothes to replace the damaged armor.

“But why, of all things… Haah. No, wait. This is better than nothing.”

With a sigh, Harnie slowly began to change clothes.

Before long, with the clinking and clattering sounds, Radiel’s damaged armor fell to the ground, and the change was complete.

“You can turn around now. I’m all dressed.”

Obediently, he turned around. Although she had finished changing, her eyes were still sharp, indicating her anger hadn’t fully subsided.

But…

The new clothes looked quite pretty.

Even though it was a maid outfit that other maids wore…

It looked completely different on Harnie. She didn’t look plain at all.

“…It suits you better than I thought.”

“What, what did you say?”

Oh, crap.

What I meant to think in my head came out aloud.

“You… really…! Saying such things so casually…!”

…I’m screwed.

The mark of her slap might last a bit longer this time.

Harnie fanned herself for a long time to cool down her anger.

“With this, we can catch our breath for now… but the real problem lies ahead.”

Now that she had clothes to wear, Harnié could move again.

However, this wasn’t entirely good news.

“It’s a big problem. Sir Radiel’s armor is in this state…”

Until now, Radiel’s armor had not only hidden Harnié’s appearance but also served as a pass card to easily pass through the Duchy of Bagrand.

With it broken, Harnié’s appearance could no longer be concealed.

The fact that they could no longer disguise themselves as Radiel and Mark and deceive others with passwords meant that they had to completely overhaul their existing plan.

‘To make matters worse, this has appeared.’

The status window that appeared a moment ago.

Its content was quite unsettling.

▶You have entered the field of the Duke of Bagrand.◀

▶Warning! Soldiers are patrolling, so if you don’t pay attention to stealth, a chase event may occur!◀

▶Avoid the soldiers’ eyes and obtain the necessary items.◀

They knew that the necessary items were placed in the Duke of Bagrand’s house, but the number of soldiers was not small.

The number was comparable to the soldiers guarding the Duchy, and their vigilance was not weak. Why on earth was this happening?

Of course, now was not the time to complain.

“We have no choice. Since disguising as Radiel and Mark is out of the question, we have to change our approach.”

“What are you going to do?”

“Didn’t Radiel say that he was acting under Claire’s orders? Then it wouldn’t be strange for one of us to be wandering around delivering news. And my armor can cover at least one person.”

“So you’re telling me to become a maid attached to a guest in the Duke of Bagrand’s house.”

“Yes. If you assume that they received such a task, it’s not impossible for the maids to follow the person ahead.”

If a maid was tasked with guiding a guest, she would usually stand in front, but if she was assigned to the guest, she would follow behind.

For instance, when Harnie visited this place, Camilla did the same. Remembering that, an alternative could be found.

But…

The real problem was this.

‘…I have to say that there’s a place I want to stop by.’

How to explain this was the key.

Soldiers were all around, and we had to get out as soon as possible.

Harnie had a general warrant issued against her, so she had to leave the duke’s mansion.

It was already difficult enough to find a way out of the Bagrand Duke’s mansion, let alone suggesting to stop by the basement… Of course not.

Then Harnie grabbed my face with both hands, looked into my eyes, and asked.

“Spill it out, Karsein.”

“…Yes?”

“I know about the Eye of Wederos. I heard it from Pollux and Talphon. Anyway, because of that power, you see something different, right? So, you have something you want to say, don’t you? Isn’t that right?”

“…”

“It’s very important. You’re hiding it with that face because it’s bothering you.”

She smiled gently and stroked my cheek.

-Squeeze.

“I won’t ask why. I just want to help you. That’s why I came all the way here. So, spill it out.”

As if she was reading my mind.

If not, did I drop some clue?

I don’t know if there’s any other reason to guess.

But, Harni didn’t ask. She noticed that I was hiding something and made it comfortable for me to speak.

With that, I could be honest.

“…There must be something hidden in the mansion’s basement. We need to go there.”

“Alright. Then let’s go that way. Should we be careful not to get caught?”

“Yes.”

She didn’t ask until the end.

She didn’t add any other words.

She just followed the path I was taking.

‘…Seeing something else.’

It’s a completely different meaning, but that’s right.

I see something else.

It was true that I was seeing something else due to the power of Wederos.

*

“There it is!”

“Catch him!”

The magic of the artifact I originally had was completely exhausted, and its function stopped.

The hallucination effect no longer occurs.

The effect that hindered facial recognition, as well as the hood or clothing that had camouflage and stealth functions, were now just ordinary clothes.

It was almost a given that the pursuit would follow due to the malfunctioning tools.

The knights encircled and chased the two fugitives.

There were several clashes of swords, and they managed to shake off the pursuers a few times, but eventually, the encirclement was formed.

Arina stepped forward and advised Karsein.

“In the end, you’re making us go through all this trouble. Karsein. You have no idea how many people have suffered because of you.”

“…”

“Drop your weapon quietly. Otherwise.”

-Sreung.

“You’ll get seriously hurt. Karsein.”

She even showed her intention to face him directly with her sword, but he did not let go of his weapon.

Arina snorted as if she was dumbfounded.

“Ha. Fool. You’re going to keep this up until the end, huh.”

In the end, conversation doesn’t work.

If that’s the case, she has to persuade someone else.

“I didn’t expect Lady Harni to agree with this. At least tell me what he said. What on earth did he say to even deceive you, my lady?”

“…”

“My lady. Keeping silent won’t solve everything.”

Even so, not a single word came out of his fiancée’s mouth.

It was absurd. How could someone deceive a person to such an extent?

Arina’s blue eyes were filled with rage.

“Captain Fergo.”

“Yes!”

“Don’t let a single one move. I’ll handle it myself.”

“Understood!”

Arina, with steps filled with anger, walked towards the two hooded figures.

“Don’t blame me. You brought this upon yourself.”

The endlessly cold sword moves.

A heavy, massive sword mercilessly strikes another sword.

-Kaang! Kaang!

The stark difference in strength was evident, painting a picture of one-sided attack and defense.

Arina scoffed and swung her sword even more fiercely.

“Pathetic. Is this all you could boast about with such arrogance?”

“…Kugh!”

“Struggle more. Show your true, ugly self. If you don’t even take a stance, you should at least throw dirt in my eyes and charge. Isn’t that your true nature?”

-Thud!

Karsein, hit by a kick, falls to his knees.

“Ha. I gave you an opening, yet you can’t even take advantage of that? Or are you trying to hide your commoner nature?”

“…”

“Come at me more. As much as you’re exhausted, I’m also holding back. If you can overpower me while I’m using only one arm, I’ll promise to help you at full strength and absolve your sins. I won’t mind even if you use cowardly tricks.”

The battle ended all too easily.

As someone who had faced many opponents, there was no way she had any strength left at this point.

Nevertheless, Arina did not stop.

She pushed Karsein even harder. Even though she could have ended it with her sword, she didn’t use it, instead resorting to punches and kicks. So that Karsein could keep charging at her again and again.

The same situation repeated several times.

Finally, Karsein collapsed at Arina’s feet.

“In the end, even your venom amounts to nothing more than this. Yes, this is your limit. Someone who doesn’t even try properly and stops at a half-hearted effort can’t expect any results. That’s why all you can do is deceive people with that silver tongue of yours.”

Anger surged within her.

Because of someone like him, her mother was bedridden. Her two younger siblings were beguiled.

“…Yes. You should never have been discovered by Mother back then. If you were going to repay our family’s kindness with such betrayal, you should have disappeared on the day of the Snowflake Festival. You… never once considered us as family.”

At that moment.

Someone shouted and charged at her.

In the face of the sudden attack, Arina had to quickly grab her sword again.

-Clang!

“Who are you people?”

Arina, who had crossed swords with the attacker, finally realized and asked.

There was no way Harnié could wield a sword. But this woman was not holding the sword clumsily; she had been properly trained.

-Swish!

“Ugh…!”

“…Ha. I’ve been deceived.”

The hood was pulled back.

Only then does Radiel’s face come into Arina’s view.

Then who is the person below? It’s obvious.

Mark Redeltaine.

The deputy commander of the First Knights.

A pair of men and women had deliberately played the roles of Karsein and Harnie.

Before long, Radiel and Mark were bound.

Arina asked with a look of utter incomprehension.

“What’s going on? Sir Radiel. Sir Mark.”

“…”

“You are knights of the House of Bagran. Why did you disobey my orders?”

Without a moment’s hesitation, Mark and Radiel answered.

“We are ready to accept any punishment.”

“…Ha.”

Arina held her throbbing head.

“To side with Karsein. You must be prepared for the consequences.”

“We have no regrets about this choice. But we want to say this.”

“Speak.”

“Having faced both swords, I can say with certainty that if you had fought sincerely in the martial arts tournament, the one to lose would have been you, Lady Arina.”

“Tsk. Not worth listening to.”

Arina, feeling it was a waste to have heard it, called the soldiers and ordered them to take the two away.

From noble mtl dot com

“Think carefully, Miss Arina! Do you know even a single thing about Young Master Karsein?”

Radiel and Mark shouted until the end, even as they were dragged away.

They spoke, and spoke again, never lowering their voices.

“…What do I know about Karsein?”

That kind of thing…

…

-Ding!

[ Arina Bagland: 90% ]

[ It was rather me who ■■ the family as ■■. ]

*

▶You have arrived at the Duke’s basement.◀

▶The danger level of this field is ＜restricted＞.◀

Hiding and hiding again in the Duke’s residence, I finally reached here.

The basement.

Here lies the item needed to return home.

Harnie signaled.

A nod meant it was okay to enter. He would keep watch for a while, and when he signaled again, I should come out.

Without hesitation, I opened the door.

-Click.

Dust flew in the musty air.

And in between…

There was a brightly shining object.

▶You have discovered ＜The Relic of Duke Vagrand＞.◀

▶A hidden memorial effect occurs.◀