Shugal's Distress
The invasion and plundering of Reina's mansion was a success, but that didn't come without its problems.
Though the Count and his army were victorious in their campaign to invade her mansion and take what they came for, it attracted a lot of unwanted attention from not only the people of the town, but also the guild.
It's understandable.
Not every day do you see an incident of this kind happen to a highly recognized adventure house.
"Whatever happened here, Reina is not gonna be happy about it."
Shugal and his team of adventurers and coworkers were roaming around the ruins of her mansion. It was more rubble than ruins, but the structure of the house was still standing.
Shugal spoke as he was surveying the place.
"Do you think she was not caught up in, whatever this is?"
Kierra was clearly feeling concerned about the state of things. Even her voice as she spoke was filled with worry.
She was more concerned about the people than the mansion. The place was completely deserted.
"I doubt she was... She wouldn't have been back from the Zeus Woods..."
Shugal was confident in his assessment. This wasn't just about trust in Reina's power, but he was also trusting his eyes of the remains.
"Look at this. There are footsteps everywhere, meaning there was a large number of people here, maybe an army."
"Okay."
"Now look at the remains of the people who are dead."
He said, pointing to the dead bodies of the demihumans from the gate and those who struggled during the invasion close to the house.
Mostly were male demihumans; not a single female was found.
"If Reina were here, there would have been more dead bodies from the people who made these footsteps. Not to mention, if she were fighting, I doubt they would have succeeded here."
"..."
Kierra wore a worried expression and just listened to Shugal's explanation. She couldn't fathom anyone daring to attack her place without knowing she was not there, but even then, Marcus and Mariada were as strong as she, so the mansion's falling was worrisome.
"I don't get it, though. How could they have gotten past Mariada's barrier and cause such damage?"
"..."
While Shugal was pondering the situation, he was speaking to himself because Kierra was not even focused.
Her attention was somewhere else.
She was glancing around the mansion and even mumbling to herself, "Only man".
Her expression got even worse when an adventurer came walking towards her and Shugal, carrying something in his hand.
"Guild master Shugal. You might wanna look at what I found."
He handed a piece of cloth to the guild master.
He perused the cloth.
It wasn't anything special except for its quality and the crest on the cloth.
"What is it?" He asked while unraveling the cloth. "Wait, this is... The Count's Crest."
He was surprised to see the Count's Crest on the cloth that was handed to him. But not so much so that his reaction was dramatic.
He was composed but still curious.
As for Kierra, the moment she heard him say it was the Count's crest on that cloth, and seeing it for herself, drove her over the edge.
In her head, she connected the dots and finally realized why there were only males on the floor.
Her eyes widened and then squinted respectively as part of the same expression. She was surprised and then got angry at the same time.
"That would explain the large number of footsteps; it must have been his troops... But why attack Reina? She is our best adventurer, and he knows that too."
"That pervert..! I'm gonna kill him!"
Kierra was fuming with rage as she turned around, heading for the gate. Her eyes were squinted and calm, but her teeth were gritted.
That beautiful face was now fierce and crazy looking.
She was determined to act on her words.
"Hey, where are you going, Kierra?"
He grabbed her arm when he heard her say something about killing the count.
He remained calm and logical, even after learning about the core of the situation. He didn't lose his temper and start seeking revenge.
Unlike Kierra, who lets her emotions run wild.
"Let me go, Shugal!"
She snapped back at him.
"It all makes sense now why there are no women, that pervert took them to satisfy his lustful desires. I have to take them back!"
"Calm down, Kierra... There has to be something more to this than that."
"Something more? Don't you have eyes! Look! This is it! He came in here, took the women, and killed the man, and you wanna tell me there has to be something more to this?!"
She snapped really hard this time. She was even breathing hard after that.
Though Shugal didn't let go of her arm.
"Look, I understand how you feel, but you need to calm down and relax. We need to investigate the matter and get evidence before we can act."
"No, you don't. Not only did adventurers die, but servants of our friend are in danger, and you wanna waste time here when we know where they are.
I'm disappointed in you, Shugal."
She yanked her arm out of Shugal's grip and walked away.
He didn't try to stop her like last because the direction she was walking in was not to the gate. She walked towards the gathering of the adventurers in the mansion.
He remains standing and watches her walk away. He may have acted like it didn't bother him, but when he stared at the crest in his hand, his expression changed.
He even let out a big sigh and said...
"I hope the Count knows what he got himself into... This will not end well."
☆☆☆
At Count Juliq's manor, the troops were enjoying their feast.
The mood was lively, with every soldier carrying a mug or a bottle of booze in their hand and meat in the other. They sang songs together and hugged each other without a care in the world.
They were happy about their victory. A victory only they knew about, and it would remain so by the Count's orders lest someone try to lose their head from snitching.
Shugal arrived at the mansion with some of his men and was welcomed by a butler of the mansion.
They kept talking about trivial things like how the troops seemed joyful and things of that nature while he led him alone to the Count's study room.
"You may wait here. The Count will be with you shortly."
"Right, thanks."
They arrived in the study room, and the butler showed Shugal to a set of sofas and a table in the middle.
The room was big enough to house several bookshelves, a sofa set for relaxing, and a desk for his work stuff.
Shugal glanced around the room as he walked towards the sofas.
Before he could sit down, the door opened again, and the Count entered the room.
He bowed as he entered the room with his right hand placed at his chest.
"Good evening, my lord."
"Mhmm, yes."
He politely greeted him with a bow. It is a sign of respect when greeting nobles to bow.
The count sat down on the one-person sofa at the head of the table.
"You may raise your head."
He spoke, instructing Shugal to raise his head and sit down beside him. His voice was as if he were speaking through his nose.
Snotty and full of mucus, but that was just his natural voice tone.
"Thank you, my lord."
He sat down, and then a female human maid poured tea for the two of them.
Shugal opened the conversation with a lighthearted comment.
"My lord, your soldiers are in such good spirits today."
"Yes, they just experienced battle after a long time. Now they won't have to lose their morale and start complaining about living in peace."
He wasn't suspicious at all of the sudden visit from the guild master after just completely committing atrocities at Reina's mansion, who happens to be a member of the guild, and he responded without any reservations.
Either the count is fearless of any rumors that may arise, or Shugal's way of disarming him by shifting the topic to his soldiers was effective.
"A battle, huh?"
He answered with a rhetorical question as if he didn't already have an idea of what the battle could be.
"Well, if they ever get bored with the peace, just show them to the guild. I'll be more than happy to give them battles."
They all laugh at the banter.
Juliq picked up his tea and took a sip, then Shugal got serious.
"Speaking of a battle, it seems there was one yesterday at Reina's mansion."
"Reina?"
"You know, the S rank adventurer."
With this remark, Shugal got Juliq to be more cautious now. You could see it in his eyes that he was more inclined to choose his words carefully.
But he didn't let it show to Shugal.
He is a noble to the core. He is good at wearing a false expression meant to please.
"Right, the failed royal from the Alandic Empire. I heard about that. It is truly sad what happened to her servants. Luckily, my soldiers are in good spirits. If whatever attacked her seeks to trespass on my manor, they will be dealt with swiftly."
He tried to feign concern and worry, but quickly overshadowed it with his cocky remark about the state of his soldiers and how his manor will be protected.
"Yes, truly sad. However, Count Juliq, I never mentioned anything about her servants, nor has the news of this incident been made public yet. All the people know is that the mansion was destroyed, and nothing about her servants' situations."
He snipped with a cold, suggestive remark,
He also dropped the whole my lord thing; now he was more direct with the man, and this caused him to feel Shugal's eyes on every move he made.
What Shugal said was a remark, but in the heart of it was a question assessing what the Count said.
'How come you know about what exactly happened when no one but the guild knows about it?' is all Juliq heard.
"Shugal, did you come here to question my loyalty to my citizens?"
"Please address me by my title, Count."
The count's mood suddenly became sour, and when Shugal reprimanded him, it only made his mood intensify.
"I came here to ask for your help in catching the people behind the incident, and hopefully find the servants. I'm just wondering how you know when I haven't even informed you yet."
He casually took a sip of the tea offered to him, as if he didn't just indirectly accuse the count of being behind the whole thing.
Even closing his eyes when sipping the tea.
He was really driving it home that you are not out of the hook just because you are the count of his domain. Everyone is a suspect, and you don't scare us at all.
"You would dare speak to the count like that?"
As the count was being questioned, his butler, standing on the side, jumped in, angry at how casual he was being with his master, the count.
He was even ready to attack him. However, it would come to fail miserably.
"We are men with stations to live up to. Me addressing him as Count is completely okay."
"Such insolence! I should take your head right here!"
"You can try."
He was ready to strike Shugal a moment ago, but when Shugal told him to try what he was planning, he froze in place, scared to act.
Shugal wasn't just staring at him, waiting to see if he would act. He was also emitting an intense physical aura.
It is the natural law of predators and prey that those who are instantly frightened by the eyes of others become prey on the spot.
And so, only Shugal's eyes were enough to cause the man to back up and stop his advance. It was so intense that he felt like a giant was staring him down, and the only thing to do was to retreat.
Even Juliq, when he saw his eyes and felt his aura, remained helpless. He didn't have the guts to call his soldiers because by the time they got to the room, he would be dead.
He knew that.
"Calm down..." Juliq directed his butler. "Forgive him for acting so rashly."
"It's fine."
Shugal relaxed his facial muscles and put down the teacup.
The butler was completely disappointed in himself for causing the count to apologize on his behalf. This was the lowest he could go in proving himself useless to the count, and it hit him hard.
"You wanted to know how we found out about Reina's servants, right?"
"Yes, if you wouldn't mind."
"It's quite simple, really. My intelligence unit found out sooner than you'd think. Nothing can happen in my domain and slip my eyes."
He was composed, but there was a hint of boastful nature in his voice.
"I see. Then you must know where they are."
"I'm afraid the people covered their tracks very well when escaping. So I don't know."
"That's too bad..."
Shugal may have seemed disappointed, but he was actually pleased by what the count said, because now, when he presents him with the evidence, they will contradict his words and paint him as the perpetrator.
Whatever he does after this will be watched closely.
Shugal stood up and prepared to leave. As he was heading for the door, he stopped and turned around to face the count.
"Oh...."
He reached into his pocket and took out the cloth from the mansion's rubble.
He placed it on the table, unfolded it with the crest facing up for all to see.
"Don't lose your crest on the battlefield... Count Juliq."
They looked at it with amazement and worry. Their schemes were coming to light, and that crest was the first to be unveiled.
"And another thing... Reina is still alive, so don't worry about her."
"I-I'm glad."
He faked a smile, but inside, he was in disarray from the new development.
"Have a good day, my lord. Until we meet again."
He stared at their expression. They tried to avoid reacting at all costs, but their faces betrayed them.
He didn't say anything and just walked away to the door, leaving them with anxiety.
As soon as he stepped out the door, Count Juliq slammed his fist on the table. Clearly, they didn't expect him to come here, let alone find out that Reina is still alive.
With this new revelation, the count no longer felt victorious - YET.
And with Shugal saying they will meet again, he had to get rid of any incriminating pieces of evidence in his mansion.
The road to victory for the count was still far ahead.
