Hoh. I Thought They Seemed Alike Somehow, So That’s What it Was.
After being taken away, I thought we’d be brought either to the royal capital or to the Hohenberg Marquis House, since they were the victims this time.
But that wasn’t the case. For some reason, we were heading toward the Count’s territory instead.
And even the knights escorting us looked shaken.
The only ones who didn’t were the division captain and those two knights hanging around him like lackeys.
Don’t tell me they’re actually working together? A captain of the Royal Knight Order?
But this… no matter how I looked at it, it felt exactly like collusion.
Because there’s no way they’d normally take us to the territory of the noble who filed the accusation.
Father requested a noble trial.
This world had a court system too, but only nobles and the wealthy could use it. If a commoner committed a crime, or got framed for one, they’d receive a sentence without much of an investigation. False accusations weren’t exactly rare because of that.
Only nobles and rich people could request a proper investigation.
A garbage world like that.
But this wasn’t the time to complain about it. We had to use every tool available if we wanted to avoid being falsely convicted.
However, that request was buried by the division captain himself.
Well, if he really was conspiring with my bastard uncle, then that made sense.
Now then, what do we do?
Though the group was heading toward the count territory, we still hadn’t crossed into it yet.
The Count territory was six days away from the Baron territory. Today marked the fourth day since departure.
We’d probably enter the territory sometime tomorrow afternoon.
That night, Father and I discussed things and decided to send several instructions back to the Barony.
Using the pen Father always carried around, a fountain pen I’d made with knowledge from my previous life, and a handkerchief, we wrote out a message.
Well, since our hands were tied behind our backs, we couldn’t physically write it ourselves.
But I could still use alchemy magic.
I placed the pen and handkerchief inside a magic circle, then pictured the words in my head… and done.
Everyone used their bodies to shield the leaking light of the magic circle from escaping the covered wagon, but… I hope that was enough.
“Alright, Zeke, Tiffany. I’m counting on you.”
“Leave it to me, Aniue.”
“Yup, Tiffa’ll do her best.”
Then the two of them shouted together…
““We need to pee!””
The young knight standing guard outside poked his head in, and the twins started fidgeting awkwardly.
Nicely done, you two.
There was something we’d figured out during the journey.
Other than the division captain and his two lackeys, the other knights seemed completely unaware of what was going on.
Even when the captain announced we were heading to the Count’s territory, they’d looked confused. Several had even asked why.
Some knights were also questioning why the Royal Knight Order had been mobilized over a dispute between nobles, especially one involving a child as the supposed culprit.
In other words, there *were* decent people among them.
And this young knight was one of them.
“Umm… would it be alright if I accompanied them?”
“I don’t mind. What about you, Tiffa?”
“No. I-I’d be embarrassed with some man I don’t know.”
Tiffany turned away with a huff.
If this had been some nasty guy, he probably would’ve snapped, “Then piss yourself right there!”
But this knight wasn’t like that.
“T-Then perhaps if Dermont-sama came along as well?”
He suggested it while trying to be considerate toward Tiffany.
Up until now, Tiffany had constantly insisted she hated going unless either Father, Mother, or I accompanied her, so he probably assumed it’d be the same this time too.
“If Niichama comes too…”
“Got it. Then I’ll go with you.”
And so, hiding the handkerchief inside my sleeve, I climbed down from the covered wagon and headed into the bushes.
The guard knight politely stopped a short distance away and waited for us.
The two of them crouched down and hurriedly dug a small hole.
They hid the handkerchief inside, placed a suitable rock over it, and that was that.
We returned to the wagon acting completely normal, and morning arrived.
Sir Robert should be secretly following us.
So he should notice the handkerchief too.
And with that, we resumed moving.
Then around noon, at long last…
Not the Count territory’s, but Royal Knights blocked our path instead.
Eh… more knights?
“I am Kubarton Orsfes, Commander of the First Division. By order of His Majesty the King, I have been tasked with escorting the Spanberg Baron family to the Royal Capital. Hand the Baron’s family over to us.”
“W-What!? Why would His Majesty know about this matter!?”
Th-The King!?
“What do you mean, why? You are a Royal Knight, are you not? Then surely your presence here should also be by His Majesty’s will? Ah, that’s right. You moved your division without authorization, didn’t you?”
The moment Commander Orsfes said that, the subordinates under the other captain began murmuring in confusion.
“C-Captain… what does he mean?”
“When we departed, you said this was a royal order!”
“You said it was a secret mission directly from His Majesty!”
Hoh. So he moved the division with such an obvious lie.
Something like that would be exposed immediately afterward.
Well, maybe he planned to keep everyone quiet afterward by insisting, “This is a classified mission, so keep it confidential.”
“Guh… th-that’s…”
You’re sweating bullets there, Captain.
“Ahem. Commander Orsfes. In truth, I was the one who requested Delanche-dono’s assistance.”
My bastard uncle stepped forward.
This guy really is an idiot. He’s digging his own grave.
“Hoh. You *requested* the Royal Knight Order, the King’s own soldiers?”
“That’s right! My nephew committed a crime. However, he is still young, and I could not bear to have him put on trial. Thus, I intended to punish him privately ourselves and apologize to the Hohenberg Marquis House.”
No, that still doesn’t justify mobilizing the Royal Knight Order on your own authority.
“That still doesn’t justify mobilizing the Royal Knight Order on your own authority.”
See? Even the commander said the exact same thing.
“Th-that is… w-well… Delanche-dono is, umm… related to my mother’s side of the family…”
“C-Count!? About that matter…”
“Shut up.”
Hoh. I thought they seemed alike somehow, so that’s what it was.
So Delanche was related to the former countess, my step-grandmother and my bastard uncle’s mother.
No wonder they resembled each other.
“I see. I understand perfectly now.”
“Y-You understand, then? In that case, we shall take my younger brother’s family and…”
THUD!
Commander Orsfes stomped the ground hard.
“Did you not hear my words? I said I have received a royal command to escort the baron’s family to the Royal Capital. Refusing to hand over the Baron’s family shall be taken as intent to rebel against the King himself!”
The commander drew his sword. The knights lined up behind him also unsheathed their blades one after another.
Seeing that, the subordinates under Captain Delanche laid their swords on the ground to show they had no intention of resisting.
As for my bastard uncle, Captain Delanche, and the two lackeys, their faces rapidly turned pale.
~ Read Chapters 16-22 in Advance on Patreon ~
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