“Did you learn this through that special information-gathering ability of yours, too?”
“Yes.”
“……”
Without realizing it, Nathan covered his face with one hand. Rachel watched his reaction, then bit her lip.
Honestly, it wasn’t as if she had come here to do anything bad.
“How did you happen to come here, Duke? Are you still keeping an eye on me?”
“……”
“Since I have yet to let go of my suspicions about you, it’s only natural. No, considering what’s happening now, you could say it’s fortunate that I haven’t stopped monitoring you.”
The man eventually lowered his hand and looked down at her stiffly.
“You said the evidence is here, so you came to retrieve it. Even if you have magical tools, this is the estate of a high-ranking noble family. Do you really think a young lady who has never undergone any training could break into a noble’s estate, find the evidence, and get out safely?”
“……What else could I do? If I keep refusing to marry Duke Valencia, my parents will sell me off to some unsuitable family. And if a war breaks out, it’ll become even harder to run away somewhere. In a situation like that, if there’s a chance to stop the war, receive a title, and become independent, shouldn’t I take it? I can’t just throw away such an opportunity because it might be dangerous, can I?”
In the first place, it was Nathan Valencia who had driven her into this situation.
Seeing the man at a loss for words, Rachel turned away decisively.
“Anyway, if your misunderstanding has been cleared up, you should go now. I absolutely have to get inside.”
“……”
It wasn’t even that unlikely a gamble to begin with. Thanks to 「Record」, she knew exactly where the evidence was.
‘If it isn’t there, I’ll think about it then.’
If things really went wrong, she could at least report it to His Majesty. Of course, she wouldn’t be able to receive a title that way, but at least the war wouldn’t happen, would it?
Rachel was taking out the crystal containing the alarm-disabling magic again when—
“……Let’s go in together.”
“What?”
Startled, she turned to the side. The man, who had approached until he was right beside her, snatched away the pouch containing the magical tools.
“Duke!”
“Going in alone is impossible for you anyway. There will probably be highly skilled knights inside as well. If you have nothing to hide, it might be better to take me in with you as insurance.”
“……!”
“And if you’re still uneasy, I’ll swear it. I will never take the credit for your achievement. I’ll also actively cooperate so that you can receive a title and become independent. What do you say?”
It was an offer that was difficult to refuse.
He was a swordsman who had reached the realm.
If necessary, he was someone capable of half-destroying this estate and escaping without being discovered.
Besides, this could give him greater confidence in her suspicious information-gathering ability and, at the same time, put the final nail in the coffin of his suspicions.
“Will you really help me become independent?”
“Yes. The fact that you’ve ended up like this is partly my fault, too.”
“……”
He extended a hand.
Rachel felt uneasy about moving together with Nathan Valencia, but—
However she looked at it, there were nothing but advantages to his proposal. After hesitating, Rachel carefully took his hand.
“……If that’s the case, all right. I’ll be in your care, Duke.”
“……”
Bzzzt—
Without saying a word, he took out three crystals containing alarm-disabling magic and activated them. At the same time, he took out and activated one crystal containing flight magic and another containing concealment magic, then rose into the air while holding onto Rachel.
“Where is the evidence?”
“……The fifth floor, the central room on the east side. It’s Marquis Tauren’s office.”
After leaping over the estate wall, he moved without hesitation. Keeping Rachel floating in the air, he crossed the garden in an instant and reached the main residence.
He stopped briefly in front of the entrance.
Then, a moment later, he quietly opened the door and stepped inside. Rachel realized only afterward.
‘He stopped because someone was passing near the entrance.’
She hadn’t seen him use any detection magic.
The fact that he could sense a presence beyond the door without even using something like that proved just how formidable he truly was—one of the strongest people on the continent.
After entering and quietly closing the door, the man handed Rachel another activated flight tool while she was still hovering slightly above the ground. He had timed it perfectly, offering it just as the magical power in the flight tool she had been using was nearly depleted.
Then, still holding Rachel’s hand, he activated another concealment tool and quickly headed toward the fifth floor.
“Why……”
He glanced at her, and Rachel shook her head.
“……It’s nothing.”
Why was he keeping her floating?
Ever since they crossed the estate wall, he had kept Rachel slightly suspended with flight magic. She was only a handspan above the ground, so there was nothing frightening about it, and it was convenient because she didn’t have to walk, but—
“……”
Surely not.
Rachel was looking down at her feet when the man, who had already reached the corner of the eastern corridor on the fifth floor, whispered quietly.
“Stay here for a moment. I’ll deal with the knights and come back.”
“Ah……”
He disappeared in an instant, then called for her barely a second later.
“You can come now.”
“……”
Still hovering in the air, Rachel rounded the corner and saw four knights collapsed on the floor in front of the office.
As Rachel approached, he took out the alarm-disabling tools and activated every one of them.
Bzzzt—
The magic placed around the office was dispelled.
He immediately led Rachel inside.
Rachel looked around the office, finding it exactly as she had read about in 「Record」, and made a strange expression.
「Four walls, completely sealed off, without a single window.
The geometric patterns carved into the walls might have looked like nothing more than unusual designs at first glance, but in the eyes of Aisha Labelyn, a great mage, they were visible.
‘It’s magic.’」
At that moment, the man, who had been looking around the office with her, placed a hand against one of the walls.
“Is it here?”
It was exactly the place where Aisha Labelyn had discovered the secret vault in 「Record」.
Rachel nodded in surprise.
“Yes. How did you……”
“There’s an empty space here.”
In the meantime, he activated one of the concealment crystals and raised his momentum.
The geometric patterns carved into the wall lit up as though resisting him.
According to 「Record」, touching the patterns in the correct order would disable the security and open the secret vault, but—
Crack—
“……!”
He simply tore the magic apart.
Crash—
He broke straight through the wall as well.
Inside was an iron door.
Rachel stared dumbfoundedly as he casually tore off even the iron door of the secret vault.
As expected of a swordsman who had reached the realm.
Seeing this, she realized just how lenient he had been with her.
No, perhaps he had been quite patient with his fake wife even before her regression.
He had slaughtered assassins with nothing but a tree branch.
And with his bare hands, he had effortlessly destroyed a space protected by magic.
If someone who possessed such overwhelming power, along with bloodline and legitimacy, had merely watched her coldly—
“……”
Perhaps even that had been him showing her mercy.
Rachel was staring blankly at him after reaching this unexpected conclusion when the man, having first checked the inside of the secret vault to make sure it was safe, turned toward her.
“……”
Nathan Valencia, who had been about to say something, closed his mouth.
His red eyes slowly darkened.
Amid the quiet surroundings,
he spoke again.
“Why are you looking at me like that?”
“……What?”
“Do you not realize it?”
Muttering those words, he reached a hand toward her face.
Rachel flinched, and he withdrew the hand that had come close to her eyes.
“……I’ve thought it was strange for a while now. You and I had clearly never met before. Yet sometimes, you would look at me as though you resented me. At other times, you looked as if you had given up on something. As if I had done something to you.”
“……!”
Rachel instinctively touched the area around her eyes.
‘Did I really look at Nathan Valencia like that?’
Sometimes, because of him, she had recalled memories from before her regression.
But they had only lasted for an instant, and she had thought she hadn’t shown anything on her face. The realization that he had noticed something left her flustered.
Footsteps—
“……!”
He suddenly approached.
Rachel instinctively stepped backward.
Thud.
Her back hit the wall.
By then, the magic power in the flight tool had run out, and she felt her feet touch the floor again.
He planted one hand against the wall beside her, preventing her from escaping.
“So tell me.”
His darkened red eyes flickered right before her.
“Tell me what it is.”
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