Chapter 101

“Where are they?” Redford asked from inside his office. The lord's former office, which he had previously utilized during his lifetime, was now vacant. However, he was the sole occupant of the residence, as he had expelled the lady of the house.

“We sent people to search for them, my lord. Unfortunately, no search has turned up anything.” A knight replied.

“And the forest?” Redford asked.

“They did a thorough job. The monster is nowhere to be seen.” The knight once again replied.

“Is it also possible for the disappearance of all of the beasts?” Redford asked.

“I cannot say for certain, my lord. The monster was reported to be fourth tier. Also, it was reported that the pack of wolves in the forest's depths was all at the fourth tier. It is impossible for a single monster to prevail over all of them, even if it were to breed extensively." The knight explained in detail.

“Then what the hell HAPPENED?!!!” Redford's voice abruptly increased in volume, his voice reverberating throughout the room, causing the knight to flinch slightly, but not in terror. Out of loyalty.

“I cannot say, my lord.” The knight respectfully replied despite Redford’s outburst.

“Darn it! It is all because of those damn conservatives!” Redford was very troubled. He knew that his fate would not be kind if he returned empty-handed. If it came out what the queen wanted and what she did behind the king's back, his head would be hung for all to see.

“Shall we do something about them, my lord?” The knight asked.

“And risk Carlson’s wrath? Our significance is insufficient for the king to go that far in order to protect us from him. Redford knew his worth. His position was the lowest among all the lords on the king's side. Despite his status as a member of the king's army, the king would not provide him with protection solely to maintain Carlson's silence. After the king, Carlson did have a lot of power in the kingdom. Maybe even more than him in some ways.

Silence prevailed for a while before Redford said, “The commoner. The one who is always with her. Bring him here.”

“Yes, my lord.” The knight didn’t question anything and left to carry out the order.

~~

I observed the individual in front of me, and I decided to refrain from wasting my time trying to describe him. Therefore, I will refer to him as "Gay."

“Thank you for seeing me, Squire Jack.” You could see Gay's hidden disdain in his eyes. He wanted to kick me out and maybe even cut my head off, but he kept his cool and smiled.

“Who am I to not come when you call, my lord?” I responded by bowing gently, but my expression was not discernible. It was necessary to keep up the pretenses. If he were to feel any offense toward me, he could immediately cut my throat, and no one would be able to do anything about it.

While I could do something about it, it would only cause more trouble than it was worth, so it was best to just keep up the subservient act.

“Lady Zara praises you quite a lot. She claims you are her best servant.” Gay said, Well, lied through his teeth. I was always near them, and Zara and he never talked for more than twenty words at a time. Also, I was never a part of that conversation.

“I can only be grateful, my lord,” I replied with another gentle bow.

“Hmm…” He hummed in response. He kept quiet at first, then asked after a while, "Jack, the real reason I called you here today is to talk about your future."

“My future?” I asked.

“Yes,” Gay replied. “You have a talent that is too big for this small town. I can assist you in awakening your full potential; however, you must accompany me to the capital in order to do so."

“To the capital?” I asked.

“Yes.” He simply replied.

“If my lord thinks it is the best choice for me, then I can only say that I’m honored,” I answered with a smile that showed I was happy but also trying to hold back my tears of joy.

That worked as Gay smiled and replied, “Yes. You should be. It is not an offer everyone gets every day.”

One would think he was the one who granted me my potential.

"However," Gay stated, his expression tense as if there was an imminent tragedy, "I am unable to depart until my responsibilities here are satisfactorily fulfilled. Nevertheless, the situation would be quite different if it were possible to hasten my work."

Now he got to his real point.

“Sped up, my lord?” I asked.

“Yes.” Gay simply replied but added nothing.

Because the next part was up to me, he kept quiet. My face changed a few times before it finally showed him what he was looking for.

“You mean I…” I did not finish my sentence; however, Gay could infer that I had reached the exact conclusion he desired from the expression of uncertainty on my face and responded, "Yes. You simply have to change sides. Come to me, and I shall take you out of this small town.”

I guess you could say the rest of the conversation was pretty dull. It was the same cliché of him attempting to persuade me, and I posing questions about my family and loyalty. Eventually, I succumbed to his tempting words and gave in to his sweet dreams.

Sounded kind of dirty.

Nevertheless, the conversation concluded with me being provided with instructions that were, once more, quite traditional. Monitor Zara and inform him of her activities, and determine whether she was involved in the events that happened in the last few days involving the individuals he brought with him. I was shocked when he told me that the people he said he had returned were actually missing. He then said Zara had something to do with it.

With my instructions delivered and my loyalty in his pocket, Gay dismissed me, but my motive here was not yet accomplished. I would return soon to discover what his secret was. What his illness was.

~~

“Did he say anything else?” Zara asked while she was being dressed by her maids. I felt like jumping on her at first sight, but there was a right time and place for everything. This wasn’t it.

“No, Lady Zara.” I relayed everything to Zara.

Well, not everything. Just the version that mattered to her. The rest was unnecessary. It didn’t matter a least bit.

“Hmmm… And you discovered what his illness is?” She then asked.

“Yes,” I replied, “I made sure the conversation went long enough for the symptoms of his illness to kick in.” I lied. Yes, I did try to make the conversation last longer so I could figure out what it was about, but his illness didn't show up until later for me to figure anything out.

I had to use a skill to go back in there, though my breath was hitched because the knight with Redford was quite strong. Not strong enough to one-up me, but the skill [Night Demon] was still low level, so there was a risk someone with a high perception could have caught me, like that knight.

“And what is it?” Zara asked.

Okay, now that was where things got a little… complicated.

You see, what Redford had wasn’t something terrifying. Well, it wasn’t terrifying to a modern man like me. To the people of this era, however, what he had was terrible. The only helping hand was that it wasn’t contagious.

“His skin is decaying, Lady Zara,” I replied.

Hansen’s disease. A name almost everyone knew, if they weren’t an idiot. It was a disease that killed skin tissues, then the nerves, and then the sensations in the entire body, eventually killing the person.

Redford was in the early stages. Only his skin tissues were currently affected, and from the color of the patches, it was just beginning. The golden period of treatment. It was the stage where a single dose of Dapsone could cure him. Of course, making the dapsone was the issue here.

“I presume it is not treatable?” Zara asked.

“It is,” I replied.

While the plan was something else, I decided to go on another route.

To infiltrate the royal palace.

“It is?” Zara asked.

“If I can properly analyze the disease, I am certain I can cure it,” I replied.

I was taking a risk here. Once again, I was letting Zara know how important I was. It exposed me to Carlson even more, but what other choice did I have?

It was the most optimal chance to infiltrate the palace.

“And why would I want that?” Zara asked.

“Because then we would have a person from the other side in our palms.” I simply replied.

Zara stopped. Her pause extended for a while before she turned to look at me, “You’re quite wise, Jack. Almost to the point it is a little… worrying.”

And that’s exactly what I was talking about.

~~

Let me know if there are any mistakes.