We were sent to Canaan from the basement of the Dairoku, and were picked up by two horse-drawn carriages with the coat of arms of the Marquis of Comona. We rode in groups of three and two, the with two people of the 3rd Division in the front carriage and three people of the 5th Division in the back.
The two men of the 3rd Division were the first group to form.
Light Hemmings, 24 years old. Wind magic user.
Bulgari Wilt, 26 years old. Flame magic user.
Hemmings was a very cool guy with straight blond hair, twisted and short, a large build, and blue-gray eyes. Wilt, on the other hand, had frizzy platinum-colored hair that goes all the way down his back in a single bun, blue eyes, and a graceful manly manner.
Hemmings doesn’t seem to be very good at talking to women. He doesn’t make eye contact, and he doesn’t talk about anything other than what’s necessary.
That said, Wilt is accustomed to talking to them, and he’s doing a good job of keeping the five of us together. He’s the oldest among us, so he’s probably looking out for us.
In the carriage, Judy was complaining about it.
“Hey, that Hemmings guy is kind of brusque, isn’t he? He only responds with ‘oh’ and ‘okay.’”
She’s sticking out her tongue. It’s not the etiquette of a noble, but I think it’s cute in this way.
“Maybe he doesn’t like women.”
Helena put a hand to her chin and thought about it. Speaking of which, I was talking to Helena…
“It’s might just be hard to make eye contact. There’s too much of a height difference between us to tell…”
Judy is happy with my words, and stops.
***
The Marquis of Comona has just turned thirty years old. He had been a civil servant of the castle and had been living in the townhouse of the royal capital until he took over the house, but he quit his job and returned home after the death of the former marquis.
Since the former marquis was in charge of the fiefdom, it would make sense for him to be having a hard time inspecting and managing the fiefdom since taking over, but he seems to have had no trouble with it as he had a talent for it to begin with.
Wheat cultivation and dairy farming are flourishing in the Comona territory. It’s very beautiful to see the ears of wheat fluttering in the sunset as far as the eye can see.
We arrived at the Comona mansion, which was a strict stone castle. But the young Marquis welcomed us in a soft-spoken, gentle manner.
Upon our arrival, he spoke to us in the saloon over a cup of tea.
“Thank you for coming. When I went there on an inspection tour, I was consulted by the village chief. It was more than 20 years ago, and the village chief was replaced, and all the people in the lord’s residence were replaced, so I have no clue how to find out what happened at that time.”
“What do you mean?” Wilt asks.
“Well, I had never returned to the territory because of my father’s intentions.”
“Never?”
“Yes, it’s strange, but I’ve been living in the royal capital since I was eight years old because my mother was weak and they said it would be better for here to see a doctor in the royal capital…It’s just that…there’s something that’s been bothering me a lot…”
The Marquis of Comona hesitated for a while before he spoke up, as if he had made up his mind.
“My mother was the second wife, and my father had a half-sister from his ex-wife. That sister died suddenly of illness at the time, but I don’t recall that happening at all.”
There’s something about the story that seems to be flowing in an unpleasant direction…
“Is that a story from when the Marquis went to the Royal Capital?”
“It was only after some time after I went to the Royal Capital that I was told that my sister had died of illness, but now that I think about it, the decision to go to the Royal Capital was also made suddenly, as if to rush my mother and me. I remember my mother wondering why her husband decided for us to go to the Royal Capital so suddenly.”
“Did you and your sister talk in the mansion at that time?”
“Yes, my sister and I were ten years apart in age, and she was already eighteen at the time, so she was very protective and loving to me.”
“What did she look like?”
“She was a very active person. Very outspoken to my father, and she often clashed with him at every turn.”
“I’m sure she had a fiancé at that age.”
“Yes, she was engaged to the heir of Count Rentor, I think.”
“Who is that?”
“It seems that after catching the illness, she was engaged and married to someone else.”
“So returning to the main point, do you believe that your sister’s illness and death are connected to this purification process?”
“…Yes, I believe it’s related.”
“And why is that?”
“…I suspect that my sister had some kind of accident and died in her summer home. The reason for this is that I know my sister had another lover, and that she had slipped out in the middle of the night to meet him.”
“Do you say that you saw it as a child?”
“Yes, I saw my sister slip out of her room several times in the middle of the night. We were in a row of rooms in the same wing, so I know that she was sneaking in through the window in the morning. I had seen looked at the bottom of the window at that time and I saw him. My sister also realized that I knew, and she told me not to tell my father.”
“Who was that man?”
“He was a young gardener who was in and out of the house at the time.”
“And what about him?”
“I’ve looked into it, but I don’t know much because there’s not much of a clue left of anyone who worked in the house at the time.”
“Who was your sister’s handmaiden? Was she a noblewoman on elf the aristocrats?”
“Yes, I checked that too. She returned to her parents’ house, the Viscount, but committed suicide two years later. She was suffering from a mental illness.”
“Well, I somehow understand background. I’d like to head to the site in the daytime tomorrow.”
“Yes, I will go with you. We have a villa in the next village to Villaha, so you can stay there tomorrow.”
Everyone was pensive for a while after the Marquis left the room, but then a voice called out.
“What do you guys think?”
Wilt turned the conversation over to us.
“From what I’ve heard, it’s probably because the Marquis’ sister died at the summer house, that supernatural phenomena are occurring.”
Judy replies.
“Well, I suppose it is leaving some regret behind.”
“I don’t know if it was just my imagination, but Hemmings looked a little pale…”
“What is it Hemmings, are you afraid of ghosts?”
“…I’m not good at that sort of thing.”
The three women involuntarily rolled their eyes at Hemmings who said it with a straight face.
“““Seriously?’’””
Now, without a doubt, the three of them hummed in my mind.
Everyone’s eyes seem to say, ’What are you saying, with such a big body!?’
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
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