Beauty and the Beast
The parlor of the Earl of Keely’s castle was a kind of a hunter’s lair, with rough masonry walls, stuffed beasts’ heads, and decorative bows hanging on the walls. The floor was also covered with the fur of some kind of monster.
The atmosphere was rough and rugged. Iris (René) thought this was fine, but perhaps strange for an aristocrat.
“Welcome, my friends. ‘Dragon’s Throat’.”
Earl Keely… Oswald Mikal Keely, who sat facing the four of them, was in his late forties or so.
As a lord, he was also a knight of the king and would be in a position to lead an army in case of emergency, but he looked rather slender and civilized. He had short, neatly combed, citrus-colored hair. His face was a little stern, and his gray eyes shone piercingly.
If the overall impression were to be summed up in one sentence, it would be “a stubborn and inflexible old bureaucrat”.
The social status of adventurers varied widely, but it was rare for the lord himself to be in the reception room to discuss business. It was proof that the “Dragon’s Throat” was valued by the Earl that much.
“No, we would do anything for Earl-sama.”
Benedict held his big hand and laughed with his fangs exposed.
A mop-like tail protruding from a hole in his trousers flapped and thumped on the sofa.
His bulky upper body was clad only in a crude short-sleeved shirt, but his fur-covered body didn’t seem to be feeling the cold.
Oswald nodded his head in satisfaction, and then he spoke up.
“I’ve already spoken to Benedict, but I’d like to reiterate my request. I had been working for some time on a plan to eliminate the criminal organization Night Pythons from the territory. As we enter the final stage of this operation, I would like to ask “Dragon’s Throat” to protect me and my daughter, Catherine, in case the Night Pythons attempt to fight back or retaliate against us. The official request will begin in one week. I am not sure how long it will take, but I expect it to be about half a month to a month. I will pay you on a per day basis for your work during that time.”
“Earl-sama, may I speak on the matter?”
Raising his hand and asking permission to speak is Hugh, who was wearing armor even in a place like this.
Although he had left his sword and shield behind, as expected.
“What is it?”
“Well, I was wondering if you could tell us about the progress of the Night Pythons Elimination Operation and what the future outlook is. If we don’t know what’s going on, we can’t do our job.”
Hugh’s real intention was to find out if it was a bad situation or not.
Oswald thought for a moment before replying.
“Night Pythons are based in major cities in the territory … and have hideouts, … well, safe houses, most of which we’ve already tracked down. We are also prepared to round up the illegal brothels and dealers of banned drugs that finance the organization. If we can capture the major leaders and destroy their funding sources, their activities in the territory will be crippled.”
“Um, Earl-sama?”
When Iris (René) spoke up, everyone around her looked a bit surprised.
Iris was not used to speaking up at negotiation meetings, so she was a little worried that it might seem unnatural, but she had to ask.
“Do you know where the Night Pythons boss is? Can you arrest him?”
This is exactly what René wanted.
After signing a contract with Miriam, René wandered around in search of information about the Night Pythons.
The first destination was a brothel where Miriam used to work. A soul can travel a thousand miles in a single night. It was easy just to go there, even if it was on the other side of the country.
She spent a whole day eavesdropping on the conversations that took place there, but she could not obtain any information that would lead her to the boss.
For a moment, she considered the idea of torturing them from top to bottom in turns to find out the whereabouts of the higher-ranking members, but decided against it. Even though she had disappeared under the guise of defeat, there was a risk that the Order of Knights would discover René’s existence and whereabouts if she went on a wild rampage. If the target were to escape, the situation would be quite serious.
René would not go on a rampage until she had a clear prospect of achieving her goal.
While thinking about how to proceed with the investigation secretly, René heard about the Earl’s plan to conduct operation against the Night Pythons in the midst of such chaos.
She had come a long way and found a party of adventurers who were very well suited to the task.
–I was sure that in my position I could get information from the Earl and possibly assist him in his investigations. I would like to make good use of the “Dragon’s Throat” and the Earl to gather information on the Night Pythons. And, of course, about the domestic situation.
If she could get Oswald to tell her where the boss was, the mission would be accomplished in one shot.
“…I don’t know if this boss is the head of the Night Pythons, as you might expect. I don’t think he’s in the territory, and if he is, I can’t touch him. I’d like to capture the executive in charge of the territory, if possible, but as a… matter of fact, I haven’t been able to locate him. Well, the objective is to destroy Night Pythons’ bases of operations. We don’t have to do whatever it takes to get the boss.”
Not quite so fast.
Frankly, Iris (René) was a little discouraged, but Oswald was probably the only one who was willing to fight Night Pythons under the circumstances. It would be a shortcut to use him somehow.
-I would have loved to have been able to find and possess the mistress of the Night Pythons boss or something.
But if the body of the possessed person was not a girl, her magic output would be reduced. Besides, the key figures in the underworld seemed to have strong defenses, so if that failed, she wouldn’t be able to do anything. She would need time to see what’s going on in the country, so for now, she would just start with the lenses.
“Earl-san, I have to confirm something. I heard that you are going to have Iris play the role of Lady Catherine’s double. Can you tell us more about it?”
Diana, of course, wanted to make sure that Iris (René) was safe.
“Yes. I was going to talk about that too, but I’m not talking about pretending to be Catherine and jumping into the middle of danger, much less using her as bait.”
To be frank, as far as René was concerned, the more danger, the better the opportunity to get a lead, but it didn’t seem to work out that way.
“It is a special standby status that is only an extension of personal security. I want to set up a mechanism to discourage assassinations and attacks…”
Oswald’s words were interrupted by the sound of a door opening with an almost smashing force.
“Benedict!”
A well-dressed girl burst into the reception room.
She was about the same size as Iris (René). Her hair, the same citrus color as Oswald’s, was long and shiny, and she had odd eyes, one gray and the other red. She was wearing a red dress with a design with several ribbons tied around it.
She walked around the sofa and hugged Benedict before jumping into his arms.
“I’m so glad you’re here!”
“Wait, young lady, please don’t do that.”
And Benedict got his fur all smothered and fluffed up.
She was Catherine Margaretha Keely. She was the subject of Iris’s (René’s) protection.
Before becoming an adventurer, Benedict worked as a bodyguard for Earl Keely’s family.
He had been in Catherine’s good graces since then. Even now, every time he saw her, she was like this.
“Catherine. That’s enough of that.”
“Yes, Father.”
Oswald corrected her, and Catherine finally moved away from Benedict.
Although she knew of her appearance by salvaging memories from “Iris” this is naturally the first time René had seen Catherine in person.
She gave the impression of being a talkative young lady, just a little bit selfish and a little bit strong-willed. She looked at Iris (René), and her face turned sullen.
“…Father. Are you sure you want to do this?”
“Yes. For your safety.”
“Mwah.”
“Young Lady, please hear him out. Earl-sama is thinking of you.”
Catherine stared at Iris (René), then pointed a finger at her.
“You mean well? You’re going to be my double, so behave yourself and live up to the Earl of Keely’s name! I will not tolerate any disrespect from you!”
“Catherine, stop pointing fingers at people.”
＊ ＊ ＊
After the commissioned request, the four members of “Dragon’s Throat” were walking down the castle corridor to the rooms they had been assigned to stay in during the job.
“I sometimes get the feeling that the young lady thinks of me as a dog instead of a man.”
“You don’t think so, you actually believe so. And by the way, the way you treat the young lady, you’re not a ‘man’ at all, you’re a dog.”
Benedict stroked back his wrinkled fur.
“I’ve been thinking for a while now that the young lady is being subtly harsh with Iris.”
Hugh nodded his head and Benedict looked down at the stone floor with its cold surface.
“The young lady has a strong competitive nature…, and she’s concerned that she didn’t inherit her mother’s talent for magic. I think she’s also jealous of Iris.”
“Oh, because Iris is a magician?”
“A genius at it, too.”
To Iris (René), it was like a puppy barking at her, and it was nothing short of adorable.
In any case, the young lady’s problems were unimportant for her purposes.
“Even though Iris is the one that is going to protect her. I wish she would be more grateful.”
Diana shrugged.
She was kind to the children, but Iris inevitably took priority.
“It doesn’t matter if Catherine-chan doesn’t like me, it won’t change anything. I can’t leave her alone, and that’s the kind of request I’m supposed to be doing.”
“That’s right, but…”
Since Diana was still reluctant to go, Iris (René) was the one who hammered the nail in the coffin.
Anyway, as a member of “Dragon’s Throat,” she needed to get some clues about the Night Pythons as she carried out the request.
–Thanks for your help. Delightful companions…
No one noticed the smile that Iris (René) stealthily revealed.
TLN: Sorry, about the “Iris (René)” thing, it may become annoying. Sadly, I don’t know of any other way to make it look decent. In Japanese it just says Iris and René above it, but I don’t know of any way to this in Word lmao. 🙂 Suggestions welcomed. <3
