Chapter 53: A Special Woman (2)

"Ahhh?! Ah, mister?! I just paid for that?! Kyaaah!? It hurts!"

The stall owner grabbed the woman by her hair.

She flailed in panic, struggling to break free.

"Sigh."

As more and more people started paying attention, Isaac stepped forward and handed over some coins.

"Here, vendor. I'll pay for it."

"No, this girl needs to be taught a lesson! How dare she meddle in someone else's business—!"

"My companion and I will be eating too, so let's leave it at that."

"Hehe, greetings!"

Jonathan, standing behind Isaac, waved cheerfully.

Noticing the armor of a Helmut Knight, the stall owner hesitated before quietly letting go of the woman and taking the money.

Isaac and the woman moved into the gap between the stalls, along with the skewers she had taken. It was a narrow space formed between the rows of vendors.

"Cough, thank you for your kindness. But please, try this skewer! Then you'll realize my words were worth their weight in gold—!"

Still not quite composed, the woman was about to continue when she suddenly stopped and stared intently at Isaac's face.

"…Have you fallen for him?"

"Shut up."

Isaac elbowed Jonathan, who had whispered in his ear, and handed over a skewer.

Ignoring Jonathan, who was happily devouring two skewers, Isaac sighed.

"I helped you this time, but from now on, don't take food if you don't have the money."

"You've got it wrong. I thought I had money. I'm not that shameless."

"..."

"More importantly—"

The woman, arms crossed, smirked. She seemed to have noticed something and shrugged her shoulders before pointing at Isaac with her finger.

"Isaac Helmut. You just returned from the North, didn't you?"

She identified him immediately.

"Wha?!"

Jonathan's jaw dropped in shock.

Isaac rarely left the estate, so even the people in Helmut territory barely knew what he looked like.

With a mysterious smile, the woman turned her back to them.

"Earrings made of Frost Silver… How extravagant."

Satisfied with the air of mystery and uniqueness she had created, she walked away with light, graceful steps.

Watching her retreating figure, Isaac sighed and called out.

"Princess, what are you doing here?"

"…!"

The woman flinched.

Then, with an awkward expression and a cold sweat on her brow, she turned back and stammered.

"N-n-no, I'm not…!"

***

Still between the stalls, the three of them sat crouched, facing each other.

"H-how did you know?"

Clarice Evangel Legardia, the princess of Albion Kingdom.

A direct descendant of the Legardia royal family.

"Frost Silver is only handled by Caldias and the royal family."

When Silverna gave him the earrings, she had said something.

[Who else but someone from the north would recognize Frost Silver?]

But if she recognized it,

It meant one of two things—

Either she was from Caldias or the royal family.

"Given your appearance, I thought you might be the princess."

"…I tried to act like I knew better and ended up tripping over my own feet."

Clarice slumped in defeat.

Watching her, Isaac gave a wry smile.

To be honest—

If he were to speak frankly—

They had a connection in his past life.

From the moment he saw her, he had been thinking about how to explain how he recognized her.

Fortunately, she had outed herself before he needed to make something up.

"Well, this works out. I was thinking this might be a bit too much to handle alone."

Clarice picked up a small stone from the ground and drew a circle on the dirt.

"This is Blackson. Thanks to your report, Isaac, we've learned about the existence of an unknown group—the Transcendents."

"..."

"We're currently making preparations behind the scenes to take control of Blackson. If things move quickly, the operation will begin not long after the Sword Festival."

"That soon?"

"This is already slow. We have no idea what those Transcendents might try."

Clarice sighed.

Jonathan, curious, asked the obvious question.

"B-but why did you come to the Sword Festival? You seem way too busy for that."

"That's exactly why I'm here."

Clarice smiled and drew a long line in the dirt, finishing it with a small triangle and tapping it twice with the stone.

"There's intel suggesting that someone in Helmut is colluding with the Transcendents. I came here to investigate it in secret."

"…The princess herself?"

"I'm quite capable, you know. If it weren't for me, no one would have realized that Helmut was working with the Transcendents."

She puffed up proudly.

"They kept it so well hidden. Do you have any idea how much trouble I went through?"

Despite her words, her shoulders drooped with exhaustion.

"There were times I wished I had never found out. The Kingdom's Sword—Helmut—colluding with the enemy?"

"Who is it?"

Isaac asked sincerely.

In his past life, he had never heard about Helmut working with the Transcendents.

If anything, the closest thing to that was Alois, the third son, becoming one of their followers.

But as far as Isaac knew, that only happened after Alois had been exiled from Helmut.

'Then who is it?'

Isaac had no idea.

So, he asked the princess directly.

"The one who colluded with the Transcendents from Helmut is—"

With a bold smirk, the princess declared,

"Sharen Helmut!"

Isaac smacked his forehead and let out a deep sigh.

Clarice Evangel Legardia.

There was no doubt she was exceptional.

Alongside Liana, she stood as one of humanity's final defenders.

If Liana had been the kingdom's last sword,

Clarice was its final pride.

A brilliant strategist and commander of humanity.

But, much like Silverna—

Her talents had yet to fully bloom.

"A-ah! No, really! I have evidence! Two months ago, Sharen Helmut suddenly started sending her maids outside far too frequently! Every single day! She had never done that before!"

It was to search for Star Cookies.

Because Isaac, who usually ran errands, had left for the north.

"Not only that, but she even traveled outside herself. Look, some of those trips included areas near Blackson."

She must have gone there in case she could find the Star Cookie.

"And didn't she even encounter the Transcendents in the north this time?! According to information I obtained separately, Sharen Helmut suddenly volunteered to be dispatched to the north—!"

Well, I had to admit it.

Her intelligence-gathering skills are no joke.

Just how did she manage to find all that out?

As Isaac blankly watched her, Claris, who had been passionately arguing that Sharen must be the traitor, gradually lowered her voice.

"…Or maybe not?"

She sneaked a glance at Isaac and Jonathan, clearly considering the possibility that she might be wrong.

"She isn't."

Isaac stated firmly, prompting Jonathan to hurriedly add in an attempt to smooth things over.

"Ah, I think it's just because you've never met her before! If you see her in person, you'll realize that she's absolutely not the type to do something like that!"

"I see."

Clarice pursed her lips, let out a sigh, and slowly stood up.

"So that's how it is. As expected, simply gathering and compiling information isn't enough."

Surprisingly, her expression brightened. The subtle smile on her face even carried a hint of mischievous competitiveness.

"I need to feel it on-site. Just as I thought. I'm even amazed by myself for predicting my own shortcomings."

"…"

"…"

"Alright then, you two! Help me. We're going to find out who the real traitor in Helmut is."

"Sounds good."

Isaac stood up as well.

In truth, he was also curious—was there really a traitor in Helmut at this point in time?

As far as he knew, aside from Alois, no one from Helmut had colluded with the Transcendents.

If that's the case, could Arandel's illness also be suspicious?

If Arandel could survive, then their war deterrence would remain intact.

"Shall we head to the estate together?"

Clarice was royalty. Naturally, she would have received an invitation to the Sword Festival, and invited guests were accommodated at Helmut's estate during the event.

"No, I'll do some more investigating around the area. I want to see just how valuable the information I gather personally will be. Aren't you both excited?"

"…"

"…"

"Ahem, I'm a princess, you know?"

"I'm very excited."

"Please be sure to share your findings with us."

"Of course! See you at the estate!"

Just like that, Clarice appeared like the wind, stirred things up like a storm, and vanished just as quickly.

Watching her retreating figure, the two men could only stand there, bewildered.

***

Helmut Estate

The carriage came to a halt at its destination.

"Haah."

He knew he would have to return eventually, but he hadn't expected it to be like this.

With a sigh, Isaac stepped out of the carriage.

What lay before him was the massive and majestic Helmut estate.

The other carriages parked nearby belonged to the nobles who had also received invitations.

Since the estate was still busy welcoming guests, no one paid much attention to Isaac's return.

Except for one person.

"B-Brother-in-law!"

An awkward gait.

Supporting himself with a cane, Alois approached Isaac with a smile.

"Brother-in-law! My sister seems to have some sort of strange misunderstanding— Brother-in-law?"

"Pfft."

Isaac couldn't hold back his laughter and covered his mouth with his hand.

"Do you want me to teach you how to use that cane properly? You look pretty sloppy with it."

After all, that was his area of expertise.

"…I'll recover soon."

Alois, visibly annoyed, gritted his teeth and retorted.