Dark Fantasy’s Extra Chapter 56

The next morning, I made preparations to determine our next destination and take Hilde there.

I needed Beast specimens for Zepetia, and with the witches becoming more active, things would only get busier from now on.

But on the morning of our departure, I received orders to go to an empty conference room.

Though they didn’t tell me why, that alone suggested this wasn’t an ordinary matter.

When I arrived at the conference room and opened the door, Marquis Bluebeard was waiting alone inside.

“Marquis?”

“Come in.”

I closed the door and entered.

“When we met last time you were 9th-rank, but now you’re an 8th-rank hunter. Congratulations on your promotion.”

“Thank you. But why…”

“Sit down first.”

I sat across from the Marquis.

“You must be wondering why I called you here separately. I’ll be brief. This is about Hilde.”

Of course there couldn’t be any other reason, but I still didn’t know the specific reason.

“How long has it been since you took charge of her?”

“Just over a month now.”

“I see. A short time in some ways, long in others. What do you feel toward Hilde?”

Though I didn’t know why he was calling me separately to ask this, I decided to answer honestly.

“I feel she has overwhelming talent. In just that time, Hilde has become skilled enough to be appointed as a lower-ranked hunter with no shortcomings. At a time when others would still be receiving basic training, she’s already finished all that long ago.”

“Indeed, an exceptionally talented prospect. But that’s not what I want to know.”

“Then…?”

“I’m asking about your personal feelings.”

“…?”

I don’t quite understand.

“Um… She’s a good colleague.”

Though ambiguous, I expressed my honest feelings.

Apart from my expectations of her as the protagonist, that’s truly what I think.

“Colleague, you say…. You’re living together with Hilde, aren’t you?”

With those words, I instantly realized what the Marquis was trying to say.

“…Yes.”

“Seems you finally understand what I’m talking about.”

“There’s nothing for you to worry about, Marquis.”

This matter clearly falls under headquarters’ jurisdiction, and the Marquis oversees a different branch.

But I’m not tactless enough to say such things out loud.

“If anything inappropriate had happened, the Heresy Inquisition Department would have already…”

“According to my investigation.”

The Marquis cut me off.

“You’ve taken Hilde outside ‘frequently.'”

He emphasized the word frequently.

“If something unseemly happened within the Order, naturally the Heresy Inquisition Department would step in, but they don’t monitor every outdoor training session. Isn’t that right?”

I don’t understand why the Marquis is suddenly acting this way.

Perhaps something happened at the Grand Conference that ended recently?

Though I can’t know what was said there, I at least know there were discussions about Hilde.

Then inevitably I must have been a subject of debate too.

But the Marquis isn’t the type to interrogate like this.

“If anything had happened, Hilde would have reported it upon returning.”

“That child has only been a hunter for about a month. And she’s very naive about such matters.”

His blatant suspicion made my blood boil.

But showing emotion would not be a wise choice.

First I need to stay calm and choose the best possible answer I can give.

“So… what would you like me to do, Marquis?”

“Well then. First, can you provide evidence that you haven’t laid hands on Hilde?”

“Isn’t it proper for the accusing party to bring evidence?”

“Hmm.”

The Marquis raised one eyebrow.

“…Sigh, this is something.”

He leaned back in his chair with a sigh.

“What is it. Are you really a commoner?”

The accusatory tone from before was gone, replaced by exasperation.

“Well, naturally I don’t have evidence either. Don’t misunderstand. I don’t actually think you laid hands on Hilde. If I truly suspected such a thing, I wouldn’t be arranging this meeting but would have spoken with Hilde first and sent you straight to interrogation.”

He crossed his arms and stared at me steadily.

“But normally, you see… I don’t mean to dismiss you, but wouldn’t a commoner typically have some strong reaction when I speak like this? It makes me wonder if I lack authority as a noble.”

“Not at all.”

Though honestly, thanks to Crowty, dealing with high nobles of the Order didn’t feel particularly difficult.

To begin with, Marquis Bluebeard was renowned for his excellent character in not treating subordinates carelessly, and when I met him before, I experienced that this was true.

Of course, except for the fact that he would betray the Order later, or rather had already betrayed it….

“Anyway, I’ll be frank since you must be curious. It’s because of Hilde’s father, William.”

“…?”

Why is Count Grimm’s name coming up here?

I haven’t even met him yet.

“He’s very worried about his daughter.”

Of course he would be.

His daughter who was raised as a noble is now working as a hunter, one of the most dangerous professions in the world.

He even gave Hilde the difficult task of becoming a higher-ranked hunter within 2 years – probably planning to make her quit when she fails.

“He’s not just worried about her life. He’s also concerned that as a woman, she might develop inappropriate feelings for someone.”

Put that way, I have nothing to say.

But Hilde and I have only known each other for just over a month.

Of course we’ve grown close.

But I don’t think she would forget her noble roots to that extent.

Even though hunters may not apply noble or commoner status, the background one is born with doesn’t disappear.

The roots of class consciousness run deep, and everyone unconsciously draws lines and divides themselves.

It’s all too obvious what kind of looks they would get if rumors spread about a commoner and noble.

At most if a male noble was involved with a female commoner, it could be dismissed as an ungentlemanly mistake, but with a female noble and male commoner the story becomes completely different.

In severe cases, the woman would be cast out from her family and demoted below commoner status while the man would be castrated before execution.

This isn’t mere exaggeration but something that actually happened.

It was quite the talk of the capital.

A noble lady suddenly became pregnant and it turned out to be the child of a handsome commoner man who swindled money while seducing women.

Though I didn’t see it myself, I heard the man was caught trying to escape, had his genitals cut off and was hung on the noble family’s wall alongside his head.

Of course rumors tend to be exaggerated, but at least the fact that a high-status woman and low-status man had feelings for each other must be true.

Not that it has anything to do with me.

“You should be quite careful too.”

“Pardon?”

“Perhaps you want to say this doesn’t apply to you?”

“Ah, well…”

“Hilde is still young. The very fact that she’s staying in the same place with an unrelated man for so long makes no sense. It wouldn’t be strange at all for her to develop interest in the opposite sex even from mere curiosity or trivial matters.”

Put that way it does seem rather dangerous….

No, come to think of it, hasn’t it been quite dangerous?

We’ve been comfortable with each other for a while now, but she’s originally from a noble background so me casually patting her head or hugging her must be quite inappropriate….

…No, this is completely out of bounds.

“Do you understand?”

I couldn’t help but nod.

“Good. Since I’m friends with William I can mediate like this to resolve things nicely, but if not, the situation could have turned out very badly.”

That’s exactly right.

If Count Grimm had come to speak directly, he might have gone berserk as a father cherishing his daughter.

“Just in case, but you won’t go spreading word about this conversation to anyone?”

“I absolutely will not speak of it.”

“You must not. Anyway, now that you understand the issue, I trust you’ll conduct yourself appropriately.”

“Yes.”

“Good then. You may go now.”

I bowed deeply to the Marquis before leaving the conference room.

He’s right.

I’ve been too close with Hilde lately.

Of course I felt close to her as comrades, colleagues, and seniors, but there are too many differences between us.

Setting everything else aside, in probably a month or two Hilde will be assigned as a mid-ranked hunter and meet new companions there.

And she’ll continue down that straight path until being appointed as a higher-ranked hunter.

Due to the fundamental difference of talent rather than status, I cannot follow that path.

All I can do is help from behind the scenes or give plausible hints as I originally planned.

That would be most appropriate.

I returned to the quarters.

When I opened the door, Hilde waved.

“You’re back quickly. What was it about?”

“Nothing much.”

“Come on, tell me.”

She came closer and asked.

“Never mind that, just pack up. Let’s head out now.”

I slightly avoided her while picking up my bag strap from the floor.

“Yes….”

Though disappointed, Hilde shouldered her own bag.

“Where we’re going this time won’t be easy either, so stay sharp.”

I said this, but I don’t think it will be too difficult for Hilde now.

To begin with, the Order directly cleared out any truly dangerous Beast locations in this area long ago, and what remains are just ambiguous places not worth touching.

Besides the juniper forest, western temple, stranded Deep Sea Folk hideout, and abandoned northern pioneer village of Vinears that we’ve visited so far, there’s really only one place left.

“The village of Hameln, right?”

“Yes. Children have been disappearing there.”

“And the Order hasn’t investigated?”

“The villagers refused.”

“What?”

“Of course the Order did investigate, but the villagers wouldn’t cooperate at all. They don’t deal with Order headquarters either, and since nothing came up in the investigation, the Order lost interest.”

“But children disappearing is serious!”

“…Such things happen all the time. If just children disappearing is all that’s happening, the damage is actually minor. So they focus more on villages that deal with the Order, or places with more severe damage.”

“But…”

“That’s why we’re going there. We can handle it ourselves without anyone minding.”

“I see! We’ll solve it!”

Hilde said confidently with a smile.

Of course I’m not worried about her abilities either.

But I wonder if she’ll still be able to smile after learning the village’s truth.