Silver Maiden

Ch 22

POV Krauss Carnel

"Are you ready to leave?"

"Yes." Charlotte replied without turning toward me.

Today was the day we were finally leaving for the mission. With a few hours left for departure, I and Charlotte were checking our carriage to check its condition and see if all the luggage had been packed. It was the same carriage we used to travel here from Cordon.

"Oh, Leon. You are here as well?" A familiar voice called out.

It was Alfred and Louis with their combat pairs.

"Hi. Oh, this is my combat pair Charlotte. And these guys are Alfred Rose and Louis, his follower."

Charlotte gave a deep bow as I introduced her. I had almost forgotten that she was also a noble from the Carnel Empire.

"Nice to meet you, miss Charlotte. Let me introduce our partners as well." Alfred pointed to the girl beside him, "This is Jennifer Cloud, my combat pair, and this is Wayn, Louis' partner."

Both me and Charlotte immediately bowed to her. ""Greetings, Lady Cloud. It is an honour.""

"No need to bow down like that. Since you are Alfred's friends, you can behave informally with me as you do with him." Jennifer said with a soft smile.

Jennifer Cloud. The only daughter of the Cloud Duke. There was nobody who didn't know about Jennifer Cloud in the Carnel Empire. She was also from a Ducal house like Alfred, except her reputation was much higher than his. Since she was the only daughter, despite being a girl she was given complete and rigorous training in combat, especially when her talent was so high.

But this was not what made her name so renowned. It was the fact that she had participated in battles against the armies of the Gretel Empire and had won every single time. Although she wasn't the one who led the army, according to rumours, she was an excellent strategist, and the victories were possible only due to her contribution.

The combination of beauty, strength, and intelligence gave her the nickname of the Silver Maiden. She was a hero to the commoners, and the most desired bachelorette to ask for her hand among the nobles. I certainly hadn't expected her to be partnered up with Alfred Rose. But thinking about it was an excellent match in ability.

Once all the introductions were done, Alfred asked brought up the topic of travelling together, "Truthfully, Leon, I came here now to ask you about doing our missions together. Three level 3 Experts can easily do the missions if we work together, four if we include even your combat pair. So, are you interested?"

I and Charlotte made eye contact for a second as if to communicate our opinions, and as expected, neither of us were in favour. There were just too many secrets to hide. But I couldn't reject these people just like that. They were top-level noble descendants, after all.

"You all took missions to the Carnel empire, didn't you?" Instead of directly refusing, I decided to reason it through.

And as expected, Alfred nodded. "Correct. So you are saying…"

"That's right. My mission location is the Ralendall Kingdom, not Carnel Empire. If we travel together, I am afraid it will be difficult to return in just a month."

The deadline given to us was a month. Any pair that didn't finish the mission 30 days from now would be considered failed. Fortunately, Ralendall and Carnel were quite far apart.

"I see. Then it can't be helped, huh?"

"I am sorry." I bowed slightly to show my regret.

"There's no need to apologize. It was an oversight on my side. Most people choose missions from their own nation, so I hadn't considered that you would choose another."

"Until you have submitted the mission post to the adventurer guild of the concerned nation, the quest is not registered to your name. You can still change your mission, can't you?" Jennifer stated right as I thought I had solved the problem. I couldn't react to her words for a moment.

"Wait Jennifer that is-" Unfortunately Alfred's sentence was stopped by Jennifer raising her hand.

"Unfortunately, that is not possible for us to do, Lady Jennifer." While I was stunned, Charlotte replied politely, although the words she said were quite direct.

"Oh, may I inquire into the reason for your compulsion?"

"There is a specific resource we need from this place. I am sorry, we can't reveal any more about it." I spoke before Jennifer tried to dig any deeper.

"I see. It seems this 'resource' is very important to you. Then asking any more would be rude of me." She said cheerfully as if to say she didn't mind the rejection.

"Thank you for your generosity, Lady Jennifer." I slightly bowed to her again as she left.

"I didn't think your friend circle would include so many high-level nobles," Charlotte said sarcastically once Alfred's group had left.

"I didn't either," I grumbled.

If I did, I would have chosen a better identity. Since my identity was a fallen noble, I was forced to play along with her manners and etiquette. A commoner identity would have been much easier. I could have easily just appeared ignorant and talked to her directly.

"Haah…" I sighed as I thought of the not very friendly impression I had left on Jennifer. "Let us leave now. I don't want to spend any more nights in the wilderness than the minimum required."

** ** **

"Jennifer, there was no need to act like that."

"You are too trusting, Alfred. Do you even know whether he is lying about being a Durnell or not?"

"I-"

"Did you see the carriage they had behind them? It was better than this one we are in."

"… I didn't notice. Is that true, Louis?"

"Yes."

"Two refinement level 3 experts at such a young age. Do you really think you wouldn't have heard about them if they were from the Carnel Empire?"

"What if they are from the Gretel Empire trying to get close to you? At least it would explain his family name."

"…"

"Once I get back to my estate, I will check the Durnell family records first."

** ** **

POV Krauss Carnel

Ah. I was right to buy this carriage. It makes the journey so much more comfortable. The five spells I had used during the last carriage ride were active once again, optimizing our journey. Except this time, I had also attached a few monster repelling poisons on the outside of the carriage. It was a standard item used during travelling to reduce danger.

"You are not studying spells this time?" Charlotte asked when she saw me relaxing.

"Not really. I have learnt all the spells I wanted to learn. Why? Did you want to stare at my charming figure while I was reading a book?"

"…"

She really had no sense of humour.

A few hours passed while we stared out the window before I broke the silence for small talk.

"Did you manage to hide your strength from the instructors properly?"

"Do you think I would be here if I didn't?"

"I don't."

"...but it was very difficult." She added softly.

I can only imagine how difficult it would be to hide your strength across a major level. Especially when you are being observed by 7th refinement experts.

"Maybe you won't need to hide it after you return."

"What do you mean?"

"Just say you managed to find a rare resource during the mission and broke through. No one can suspect you at that point."

"Do you want to kill me? The academy can easily investigate something like that by scanning my body for any residual matter in my blood after I return. What if they find out the truth?"

"If my plan succeeds, there won't be any suspicion." There was a glint in my eyes as I said that.

This was my true reason for going to a place like the Moskvan forest where humans rarely entered. It was a plan to advance to the sorcerer stage without raising suspicion of my dual affinity.

Charlotte observed my confident expression before hesitantly saying, "If… you really do have a way. I accept. But you must tell me what your plan is."

"Don't worry. If everything goes accordingly, I will explain everything."

With her cooperation, I had turned a possible problem into an ally. This was good.

"By the way, Charlotte, I never asked which noble family you were from?"

Since she was an assassin, I had thought she was from some sort of hitman organization. But after seeing her behaviour in front of Jennifer, I was sure of it. She was used to dealing with nobles.

Charlotte thought about my question for a while before replying, "Who knows. Maybe I am a Durnell as well."

So sharp. She already had suspicions about my identity.

"I never thought I would be able to meet a family member in such a place."

Again, she gave me a blank look as if to say it wasn't funny before opening her mouth, "My mother used to work as the head maid for a noble. It was her who taught me the nobles' etiquette."

"I see."

A viable story for sure. But I didn't know its legitimacy.

Silence once again settled between us.

** ** **