「Wh-what…!? What’s happening?」
「Let’s check it out, Rani!」
The shrieks weren’t something Inglis could just brush off.
She led the way back into the venue. The room’s attention was focused on the innermost area.
As they approached, the awful smell wafting around became more prominent.She recognized this distinct stench from her past battle’s experience as the smell of burnt flesh.
And the scene that they came upon was exactly as she imagined.
Inside the large room exactly around the area where Marquis Wilford had been entertaining his guests now stood a corpse of a man burnt to a cinder — that was the inspector from the capital, Sir Shioni’s corpse.
His body was charred to the point of which he could no longer be recognized and remained motionless — his life completely burned out.
Close to the corpse were Marquis Wiford and Vice Commander Ada, as well as Rahal and the big man who was his guardian-slash-slave.
The Marquis and his knight were stunned while Rahal smiled daringly. As for the big man, Inglis couldn’t read his expression under his mask.
「What the f…!? O-, oi, what happened here!?」Leon raised his voice in a slight panic.
「Hmph! All I did was teaching this insolent man a lesson. He wasn’t the most polite when addressing me, a Highlander, you see.」
Rahal responded with a sneer whilst Marquis Wilford and Ada were petrified still.
「Ms. Ada! What happened…!?」
Inglis shook Ada lightly on her shoulder to snap her out of it.
「M-, miss Inglis…! That’s — It’s my fault! It’s because of me that Sir Shioni is…!」
「What do you mean? Please, take a breath and tell me, slowly.」
「Th-, that’s…. Um — Master Rahal ordered me to attend to him tonight…」
「Eeeh…!?」
What a vulgar thing to say. And adding to the fact that Inglis knew him from her childhood, it was rather disheartening to hear.
Even though Inglis recognized herself as the same gender as him on the inside, she still couldn’t fathom this kind of behaviour.
If things like these happened in her previous life, with her as the king, they would have been executed where they stood.
「I-it took me by surprise so I couldn’t answer on the spot, but then Sir Shioni defended me. He was usually rather outraged when dealing with people of such deplorable behaviour but… He was quite lenient this time. But then Master Rahal produced fire out of nowhere, then…!」
「And that was how Sir Shioni ended up like that!?」
「Y-, yes…! I-, I have no excuses! I-, if only I… If only—」
「Ms Ada. No. You are prohibited to say further. You did nothing wrong. Right, Rani?」
「Of course! It’s exactly as Glis said, Ada!」
「S-, still, this has turned out to be very messy… No matter how I think about it, it’s a blunder I can’t escape from. Even before we got here, Sir Shioni and Mr. Highlander here had been at odds. After all, Sir Shioni was such a righteous and straightlaced man—」
Notwithstanding the fact that this kind of person was the most suitable to be an inspector, however—
「It’s nothing to fuss at.」
Jeered Rahal with no hint of remorse.
「Just say that he died of a sudden illness. Since I, the Highlander, am the one saying it, it’s the undeniable fact.」
「…I should’ve known but I still can’t accept it. The current monarch can’t say anything against the Highlanders, he’s got no balls to. 」
Said Leon as his entire body trembled with pent up anger.
「What I’m saying here, Lord Wilford. Whether Sir Shioni here had died because of a sudden illness or because of an assassination plot your people schemed, I have the say over that. Do you get what I mean? You do, don’t you?」
「Y-, yeah…!」
「Now, order that female knight of yours, make her do as I told! Show me you’re willing to expend your underling for the sake of your own butt!」
「…Ho-, how deplorable… you highlanders!」
「Father!」
Rahal was trying to make the Marquis submit to him for his own entertainment right in front of his own daughter, Rafinha.
Hardly anything was as cruel as this. If Inglis was shown something like this, she’d—
「P-, please wait! Let me…!」
「You can’t.」
Ada must’ve thought she should take the initiative and offer her own body.
Having predicted this, Inglis immediately stopped her and took the spotlight herself.
「Mr. Rahal. You’re so crooked. Is it fun doing things like these?」
「Oh, it’s fun, very! I have finally become a Highlander after losing all of my worldly possessions. I’ll stomp and play on these lowly nobles’ and knights’ useless trashy dignity and honor and all the 𝖘𝖍𝖎𝖙 they have! What’s this if not the absolute fun, Haahaha!」1
「…I despise you.」
「Hmph. Talking so big for a single win from the past. What can you even do? Oh, why don’t you take over that female knight’s position then? I won’t mind.」
「I see. I don’t really mind it either.」
When Inglis replied so, Rafinha rebutted with a scream.
「G-, Glis!? You can’t! What are you thinking!?」
「That’s right, Miss Inglis! If you did that, I don’t know how I could ever apologize to Captain Ryuk later!」
Ada was on the same wavelength as Rafinha.
「…Mr. Rahal seems to have a grudge with me, so… I should be the one who brings this matter to an end. I should’ve done this from the beginning.」
After Inglis was done reasoning with the screaming two, she turned back to Rahal.
「Promise me. You won’t lay your hand on Rani and Ms Ada.」
「Ah, fine. You’re still young but there’s no one better than you here.」
On the inside, Rahal was already jumping in delight.
The foe that had injured his pride whilst he was a boy, that Inglis of all people, had grown into such a beautiful flower.
And he got to have the chance to lay his hand on her, breaking her. Conquering her. Making her succumb to him.
That would be the ultimate revenge. The ultimate restoration of his majesty. The affirmation of his own dignity.
「Come to my lodging later, and come alone. By tonight, you got that? Don’t beg me to wait until tomorrow.」
「I understand. I will make sure to come.」
With a perfect poker face, Inglis nodded.
「Laters then. I’m going back first.」
Said Rahal as he left the venue of the night banquet. 2
