CHAPTER 147: CONFIRMATION [1]

The Ert family was merely a small baronial family in the southern part of the continent.

No special local products, not many people. Just one of those common territories found everywhere in the Empire where people lived day to day through farming.

However, Gismond had some talent, and caught the eye of Count Bamond, who sponsored him and allowed him to receive knightly training.

With that, he entered the academy.

"After that, it’s just as you know, young master. He lived an ordinary academy life and had an unremarkable first year... but he started to change gradually from the second semester of his second year."

"Did he receive anything from his family?"

"Nothing special."

"What about sponsorship from Count Bamond?"

"There’s money and small elixirs, but nothing significant enough to worry about."

Gerhard flipped through the report page by page.

The elixirs received were only two, both low quality and with little mana—common ones. Those two alone couldn’t explain his current aura.

There was clearly something being hidden.

And that was probably magical contamination with high probability. The report reinforced this suspicion into certainty.

"Where did he go and what did he do during this break?"

"More detailed information is still being investigated, but he headed to the Pandrein continent."

"Pandrein? Isn’t the Ert barony in southern Luthar?"

"Yes."

He must have gone to Pandrein with some purpose. Gerhard intuitively felt that Gismond’s secret was hidden there.

"Where did he land and where did he go?"

"Lamons in Pragia."

"...Lamons?"

Lamons was a port city in Pragia, one of the trading ports with the Luthar continent. It was a fairly large metropolis where mercenaries were particularly numerous...

"Wasn’t Lamons the city where Aint Armian worked as a mercenary during the break?"

"That’s right. To be precise, he registered with the guild in Lamons, then went to Abelar, and then worked in the royal capital."

"So then Aint might have encountered Gismond."

"That’s probably not the case."

Hyde shook his head.

"Gismond went south. We’re still tracking exactly where his destination was."

"South?"

There were many cities south of Lamons. But the first two that came to mind were:

Frans county, where black adamantite was located.

And Feyers Fortress, which would be the first to face Flauros’s legion.

’Is it just my imagination?’

But he had never had good results ignoring his intuition.

There’s some connection. Definitely.

Even if there wasn’t, it didn’t matter. If he could just alleviate this anxiety, that would be fine.

"Make sure to find out his activities during the break. He is highly likely to be a malignant creature."

"Are you saying he evaded the academy’s eyes?"

"If my prediction is correct."

"I will follow your orders."

"And Hyde, I want you to personally stick to him and monitor his every move."

Hyde’s face hardened.

"I cannot leave your side, young master."

"You are the person I trust the most right now."

"That’s exactly my point. Didn’t you promise?"

"How much trouble could happen inside the academy?"

At Gerhard’s words, Hyde suppressed his rising anger and replied.

"A demon was summoned."

"That was the first and last time. Do you think they could summon such a demon twice? With the headmaster keeping a sharp eye?"

The demon’s summoning was only possible because the academy had not even considered the existence of demons and malignant creatures.

"You promised."

"Promises are made to be broken."

"Can a merchant say such things?"

"Changing words to one’s advantage is also a virtue of merchants."

"No."

"It’s an order."

"..."

Hyde bit his lip.

"The headmaster has caught all the malignant creatures. The only remaining one who seems most like a malignant creature is that guy. If you’re monitoring him, do you think I’ll be in any danger?"

"...I can’t win against you in words."

"Eloquence is also an essential virtue of merchants."

Snap, Gerhard closed the report.

’I should meet with Aint.’

The best way to confirm whether someone was a malignant creature or not was to use Aint Armian.

==

"I think that’s the person."

Aint observed a man drinking beer boisterously with a group of students.

The appearance, including dark brown hair and eyes, was exactly as Gerhard had described.

It was indeed Gismond Ert, a third-year Knight Department student.

"So that person is a malignant creature?"

"Not a malignant creature, but could be one. But he said the possibility is high."

"He doesn’t particularly look like a malignant creature. Does he suddenly transform?"

"Are you listening to me?"

"So is there a way to verify?"

"Sort of."

Aint responded while deboning a fried chicken wing tossed in sweet and sour sauce.

"This is interesting."

Ariadne rested her chin on her hand and gazed intently at Aint. Her inscrutable eyes were quite burdensome.

"What is?"

"That you have a way to find malignant creatures that no one else can. Is this something only an Armian can do?"

"In a way. And it’s not that no one else can find them."

According to Gerhard, twelve malignant creatures had already been captured or killed by the Guardians.

"But they can’t find any more, so they’re leaving that malignant creature alone."

"It’s just a suspicion. And the one who suspected it wasn’t me but Senior Gerhard."

"But in the end, he’s asking you for final confirmation."

"I can just feel it better because we’re natural enemies."

Though it’s actually Gardner who does the finding.

’Gardner, do we really need to make contact?’

Yes. You can’t tell from the outside. If that were possible, they would have been caught long ago.

"Then we should approach naturally somehow..."

"That’s easy."

Ariadne stood up abruptly. She grabbed Aint’s hand and strode over to their table.

Four heads turned at the sudden approach, and Ariadne smiled brightly as she met the four pairs of eyes fixed on her.

"Hello, seniors."

"Huh...?"

"...Ariadne Florian?"

"You know me? Can I sit next to you for a bit?"

Ariadne squeezed in beside them without waiting for an answer. Then she gestured to Aint.

"Aint Armian?"

"You know him too?"

"Well, of course..."

"We got to know you from watching your performance in the Jousting Competition. Oh, can I have one of these?"

With that brazenness, Aint found himself sitting in front of her. Whether by coincidence or not, Gismond Ert was next to him.

"Senior Gismond? To be honest, I was a bit surprised. I never thought you would perform so well in the Jousting Competition."

"...Really?"

"Yes. I wanted to meet you in person, and here you are drinking with Aint. What an incredible coincidence, isn’t it?"

"Y-yes, it is. But even so, compared to you two..."

"That may be true, but that doesn’t mean your achievements should be belittled."