Chapter 18.2

Chapter 18.2

I gotta question. For someone who y’all been strugglin’ to get, they sure fall into y’all traps easily.」

「Yeah. This would have stopped being a problem a long time ago if it was this easy, right?」

Hiroshi and Haruna asked, to which Douga and the Head Priest twisted their lips. Mark listened, with something on his mind.

「This is only a theory, but afflicted people may gradually lose cognitive functions without realizing.」

「Why do you say that?」

「The change in Katrina-sama. This theory makes the most sense.」

Mark nodded in agreement to the Head Priest. Even half a year ago, Katrina was more reasonable, and had more self-control. Recently, though, it has become exponentially more difficult to reason with her.

「And they could be panicking after their big upset.」

Douga chimed in.

「When in a hurry to gain back some ground, most would get themselves into worse circumstances from losing sight of things.」

Hiroshi and Haruna nodded.

「It’s pathetic, but the truth is that we didn’t even notice how badly they are afflicted, until things came to light recently. Looking back on it, there were numerous signs…」

「I mean, unlike monsters, it looks like folks don’t show it until they’re deep into affliction. Barold can hide it too, looks like.」

As Hiroshi said here, even Barold could blend into a crowd, despite the amount of affliction on him. While the mechanism behind this was unknown, humanoid intelligent species (including elves, for example) seem to be well-equipped at blending in despite their affliction.

To begin with, only those with specific training or extremely heightened sense (like Hiroshi and Mio) could sense affliction. No one could be blamed for not being able to detect an afflicted person in a crowd.

「So, I was too busy to ask you this, but… If the end result is the same, why don’t you gather all the people on your maybe list and have me sing to them?」

「Because that won’t solve anything.」

「How so, Mark-O?」

「Don’t call me Mark-O.」

Despite Hiroshi’s jest, Mark explained to them:

「Two reasons. First, it’s not a crime to be afflicted in of itself. It’s not uncommon to be afflicted enough that purification would be painful after a large-scale hunt of monsters. Undead, especially. In some towns, you can just be afflicted by living there for a while.」

「Okay. It does seem unfair to punish those people just for happenstance when they can be healed with purification.」

「That’s right. No one in Farlane would take on the Undead any longer.」

While Haruna and Hiroshi nodded to his sound reasoning, Mark continued:

「The other reason is that not everyone on the other side is afflicted. Unfortunately, there are a good number of fools ready to serve my sister until the very end, without any direct influence」

「On top of that, we are mostly aware of all the nobles afflicted beyond the point of return, but we aren’t quite sure when it comes to scholars or servants. We can’t leave them alone and have them used in a scheme, but there are too many on the list to preemptively get rid of. The most realistic solution is to isolate them somehow. Quietly.」

「If that’s how the affliction situation is ’round here, won’t some of ’em be allies once we purify ’em? The sober devotees aside.」

「Those have already joined us. As early as directly after the ball of your first night here. The last of them have joined us after we spread the rumor that Haruna has been blessed by Alfemina-sama.」

「Those who haven’t joined us at this point seem to have their lives threatened upon purification.」

Mark and Douga explained.

「Then why don’t ya punish ’em as-is? Y’all need more evidence or somethin’?」

「If we were in Darl, the evidence we have would more than suffice…」

「In the Farlane, the incident with the King before the last is not yet forgotten. If they had a few less followers, we could forcefully arrest Prince Katrina and Barold, but there are a lot of them out there that could claim that the rebellion was just, taking advantage of the fact that the royal family had to use such forceful tactics.」

「On the other hand, squashing all opposition preemptively could cause a civil war. Unfortunately, no matter how wise our nation’s progression is, the king before our last has cursed our nation with an intense stigma against any executive judgement issued by the royal family.」

Douga and the Head Priest did an adequate job of illustrating the cumbersome mire that was Farlane’s court. The people were allergic, in a sense, to the royal family using their executive powers. This could be akin to the Japanese aversion of the self-defense force, the German fear of inflation, or the United States’ disgust for universal healthcare.

There were many examples throughout history that a nation’s particular attitude, no matter how strange to the foreign eye, seems inevitable to the people living in it. In Farlane, the biggest issue was that the highest power of the nation was crippled by this particular allergy.

「In any case, even Alfemina-sama says that everything will be settled soon. She also said that we should be wary of Haruna-sama’s surrounding for the next three days.」

Aearis said with a determined expression, which caused Haruna’s stomach to turn. She was aware that she had eyes on her, but she didn’t expect things to have escalated so quickly.

「I might be in for a pickle, then.」

「A pickle?」

「I’m invited to dinner at the Marquis Roano’s tonight. I don’t think they’ll make a move right then and there, but…」

A pickle indeed. The room fell silent. Marquis Roano was a member of a clan (most likely) in opposition of the royal family. His position was near the top of them, in fact. Turning him down would have appeared suspicious. But now, they had to worry about Haruna returning safely.

「Haruna. Do you need a date?」

「I was thinking of asking Tatsuya-san…」

「Shall I join you instead?」

Avin had interrupted Haruna answering Mark.

「My Lord!?」

「Avin!?」

「Brother, that may not be so wise…」

Aearis retorted, unable to conceal her surprise from her eldest brother’s sudden appearance. Douga and the Head Priest were speechless from his sudden appearance, as well as the danger implied in his proposal. Mark was holding his tongue for the moment, as Aearis had said everything he wanted to.

「Aearis. Do you mean that it would be unwise to escort a woman who is not my fiancée to a party, or for a member of the royal family to walk right into the home of a potential enemy?」

「In this case, Brother, it would be both.」

「As for the former, that isn’t an issue. My dear fiancée has a heart of pure gold. I told her that the saviors of my little sister needed me, and gave me the go-ahead. In fact, “a man should defend a lady at all cost” she said.」

「…I’m glad to have Prisea as my sister-in law…」

A wild message from Princess Prisea, who was in line to be the next queen of Falldania. Aearis’ expression was a mix of admiration and amazement. Hiroshi and Haruna felt some familiarity with Mark, who looked about ready to vomit sugar from hearing such claims of blatant affection.

「If anyone would still accuse me of infidelity, I’ll have some steamy stories to tell over a voice amplifier.」

「…Good luck, Haruna-san…」

「…Looks like I’ll need it…」

Hiroshi and Haruna felt an onslaught of exhaustion from Avin nonchalant declaration to use the worst weapon imaginable against singles, and his overall lack of care for the effects of his public display of affection.

「I wouldn’t be too worried about the latter, either. Roano can’t lay a finger on me. It would be detrimental for him if our relationship with Falldania were to suffer in any way by harming me.」

「Come to think of it, the Marquis Roano and his family mostly traded with merchants from Falldania.」

「Quite right. And even if Farlane and Falldania’s relationship doesn’t suffer, what merchant would trade with Roano if I were to suffer any harm upon attending his dinner party?」

The party could only chuckle in response. The Roano family mostly dealt with dairy and some fruit. Truth be told, they could be found elsewhere in Farlane quite easily. It was just that the Roano brand was preferred by Falldania. There was nothing really special about their products. There was the matter of production rate, but Farlane’s farming was advanced enough that they could easily meet that demand.

In short, for the merchants of Falldania, Roano wasn’t worth trading with at the cost of hurting their reputation with the royal family of Farlane.

「Then all we gotta worry ’bout’s the dead o’ the night.」

「Any ideas, Master Craftsman?」

「I was thinkin’ ’bout layin’ a little trap at the door to Haruna-san’s room.」

「At the door? Will that suffice?」

Lord Avin asked. Hiroshi cracked a grin in response:

「We don’t care ’bout ‘em gettin’ in, so it’ll do. We’ll just have Haruna-san go somewhere safe.」

「Somewhere…? Are you going to set up a portal at the door?」

「Somethin’ like that. They could detect the destination with transportation spells, so I thought I’d set up a portal under specific conditions.」

Hiroshi nonchalantly proposed this ridiculous solution. It was Lord Avin’s turn to facepalm.

「Speaking with you, sometimes I feel like I lose sight of normality.」

「You’re the one to talk, My Lord.」

Avin brushed the comeback off with a bright smile.

「This isn’t funny…」

「Mark-O, normality has no place in a crisis like this.」

「Out of all people, Brother! And don’t call me Mark-O!」

Mark raised his voice, and Haruna watched. Sure, he was competent at what he did, but still had much growing up to do.