"What do you mean someone was watching Erne from the north wall?”
“He approached Sir Ern pretending to be a beggar. I don’t know the details.”
“It wasn’t Erne and you following him?”
“No, he was there before us. I saw him sitting there before we got off our horse. I’m sure of it.”
So what, there was someone who knew that Erne was going to the northern wall? How did they know that?
At the very moment Judith was wondering, Erne was watching the vagrants in the corner of the Black Boots bar.
The tramp sat down at the bar, trying hard to ignore Erne, who was glaring at him from the corner.
“Please give me a glass of mead.”
“Just wait.”
The blunt owner called the cleaning lady over and gave her some brief instructions. The honey wine did not come out, and the silent owner simply wiped the glass.
After watching that scene for a while, the bell on the door rang and a short man came in.
A man with the coppery skin characteristic of Southerners who looks exactly like Ouz's owner.
“I’ll buy the honey wine.”
Chief Omar sat down casually next to the homeless man and asked.
“So who came to the north wall? A blond-haired man? Or a dark-brown-haired woman?”
“Tch, didn’t you decide not to include him in the police force?”
“Wait a minute, wait a minute. I’ll let you go once I’m done.”
Erne locked up the bum in the police cell. He said he would never open his mouth, but Erne didn't trust a guy like that.
Cain, who happened to be at work at the police station receiving reports, heard that Erne had come to the police station and came to see him.
“I was trying to contact you because I noticed something strange, so you came to the right place.”
“What’s strange?”
“As for the Ouz upper house, there was no separate doctor. But they didn’t meet with the doctor or the pharmacist, and they didn’t call him to the upper house either.”
Neither the secretary of Ouz's upper house nor the deputy chief Omar met with the doctor or the pharmacist. So where do they get the medicine for drowning?
“He leaves for a very short time regularly, and the person in charge of the trip is Chief Omar, who often leaves the top and then returns.”
But the point where he always left and returned was the same.
“I asked other merchants, and they said that those in charge of trading privately often do that. But you know, Erne.”
Cain lowered his voice and whispered.
“Did you know that the Ouz upper class was originally from the South?”
Lionel is a Southerner, and Ouz is also a Southerner. It was hard to even match their origins.
Cain managed to get a piece of information out of a porter who had been working at the top of Ouz for a long time by coaxing, cajoling, and threatening him.
“When I was in the South, there was a psychic who often visited the upper part. But that psychic’s appearance was different.”
“Was it like the medium who introduced the Baron to the priest?”
"Yes."
He is a Followers.
Bulran, strange medicine, the South, the rich. Now the puzzle was falling into place. Erne clenched and unclenched his fist.
'But how did Chief Omar know that Judith or I would come to the north wall?'
He had already planted the tramp before Erne left, expecting that one of them, Judith or Erne, would come.
The reason he went to the northern wall was to collect tears from the wall. To get rid of the black-winged bees that had entered the mansion.
'And as soon as she saw the bee, Judith said that she must go to the north wall and dig up the moss.'
No matter how many different perspectives he tried to think about it, the conclusion always remained the same.
'What Judith knows about the bee, the follower knows.'
“He approached Sir Ern pretending to be a beggar. I don’t know the details.”
“It wasn’t Erne and you following him?”
“No, he was there before us. I saw him sitting there before we got off our horse. I’m sure of it.”
So what, there was someone who knew that Erne was going to the northern wall? How did they know that?
At the very moment Judith was wondering, Erne was watching the vagrants in the corner of the Black Boots bar.
The tramp sat down at the bar, trying hard to ignore Erne, who was glaring at him from the corner.
“Please give me a glass of mead.”
“Just wait.”
The blunt owner called the cleaning lady over and gave her some brief instructions. The honey wine did not come out, and the silent owner simply wiped the glass.
After watching that scene for a while, the bell on the door rang and a short man came in.
A man with the coppery skin characteristic of Southerners who looks exactly like Ouz's owner.
“I’ll buy the honey wine.”
Chief Omar sat down casually next to the homeless man and asked.
“So who came to the north wall? A blond-haired man? Or a dark-brown-haired woman?”
***
“Tch, didn’t you decide not to include him in the police force?”
“Wait a minute, wait a minute. I’ll let you go once I’m done.”
Erne locked up the bum in the police cell. He said he would never open his mouth, but Erne didn't trust a guy like that.
Cain, who happened to be at work at the police station receiving reports, heard that Erne had come to the police station and came to see him.
“I was trying to contact you because I noticed something strange, so you came to the right place.”
“What’s strange?”
“As for the Ouz upper house, there was no separate doctor. But they didn’t meet with the doctor or the pharmacist, and they didn’t call him to the upper house either.”
Neither the secretary of Ouz's upper house nor the deputy chief Omar met with the doctor or the pharmacist. So where do they get the medicine for drowning?
“He leaves for a very short time regularly, and the person in charge of the trip is Chief Omar, who often leaves the top and then returns.”
But the point where he always left and returned was the same.
“I asked other merchants, and they said that those in charge of trading privately often do that. But you know, Erne.”
Cain lowered his voice and whispered.
“Did you know that the Ouz upper class was originally from the South?”
Lionel is a Southerner, and Ouz is also a Southerner. It was hard to even match their origins.
Cain managed to get a piece of information out of a porter who had been working at the top of Ouz for a long time by coaxing, cajoling, and threatening him.
“When I was in the South, there was a psychic who often visited the upper part. But that psychic’s appearance was different.”
“Was it like the medium who introduced the Baron to the priest?”
"Yes."
He is a Followers.
Bulran, strange medicine, the South, the rich. Now the puzzle was falling into place. Erne clenched and unclenched his fist.
'But how did Chief Omar know that Judith or I would come to the north wall?'
He had already planted the tramp before Erne left, expecting that one of them, Judith or Erne, would come.
The reason he went to the northern wall was to collect tears from the wall. To get rid of the black-winged bees that had entered the mansion.
'And as soon as she saw the bee, Judith said that she must go to the north wall and dig up the moss.'
No matter how many different perspectives he tried to think about it, the conclusion always remained the same.
'What Judith knows about the bee, the follower knows.'
No, to be exact, he wants to check if Judith or Erne know about the bees. If he were sure they knew, he wouldn't have sent anyone.
'You said that Baron Harrington told you about bees. Was that true?'
Erne usually believed everything Judith said, but for some reason, he couldn't believe it this time.
“But how did you know that Chief Omar was suspicious? And who was that vagrant?”
Judith is suspicious.
His intuition was whispering to him that Judith had lied to him.
But there must have been a good reason.
Erne didn't want to be quick to suspect Judith.
Judith is not a Follower. She seems to be connected to them in some way, but she is not a Follower. If she was a Follower, her identity would have been revealed long ago.
Erne didn't know why she lied, but it wasn't Judith. He doesn't suspect Judith of being a Follower, but would Cain, who heard the whole story, really think so?
No matter how friendly Cain was to Judith, he could change the moment he found out that she was involved with a Followers.
“That happened. I can’t explain it, so don’t ask.”
Erne waved his hand as if he was annoyed. Cain looked dumbfounded, but knowing Erne’s personality well, he didn’t ask any more questions. He knew that if he asked, he wouldn’t get an answer.
“Anyway, I was planning to contact you anyway. I heard that the Ouz Upper will be going uphill tomorrow. I plan to form an advance party of mercenaries and tail them.”
"Tomorrow?"
“Oh, I’m not telling you to join the advance party. The 1st Knights will be supporting the rearguard. The advance party will secretly check the contact point, and if they find any Followers there, they will send a carrier.”
The plan was for the rearguard to depart first, wait outside the capital city walls, and then rush straight to the convoy once it arrived.
“Why would you assume that there would be Followers gathered there? It could simply be a contact point.”
“Chief Omar said that when he leaves the camp, he takes food with him. He goes with a full cart, and of course, he comes back with an empty cart.”
If so much food is needed, doesn't that mean there are a lot of people who need to eat it?
***
“You’re joining the advance party tomorrow?”
“That’s what happened.”
Erne had already informed Cain that he would join the advance party. With the Lionel incident, it might have been better for him to stick by Judith's side, but...
'I need to know the information the advance party gets before anyone else.'
Because information that is unfavorable to Judith may come out.
If so, Erne intended to destroy that information.
He knew it was inefficient and something he shouldn't do. But when did he ever live his life with efficiency in mind? Erne wanted to do it that way. Without Cain or Judith knowing.
If he's lucky enough to eliminate the priest in this outing, he might want to ask Judith some questions.
“It’s so sudden.”
Chief Omar was waiting for Erne at the northern wall. He has a connection with the Followers. In the original, the black-winged bee used by his Followers flew into the Rhineland Mansion.
The priest knows a word that others don't: vampire.
That alone makes his head spin, but this time Erne says he's going to go fight them as an advance party tomorrow.
“I have a feeling that this is where the main group of Followers is. The First Knights are following them, and there’s also a rear group, so it shouldn’t be too dangerous.”
Erne must have had some questions, but he didn't ask anything. He just consoled Judith by saying that it would be enough to get rid of the Followers.
The words that she would tell him everything when she got her thoughts together were on the tip of her tongue, but then she got stuck. Tell him everything? How far?
'If my guess is correct...'
Should I tell you everything? Judith was secretly grateful that Erne didn't ask her anything in her confusion.
'Was Erne originally like this? Wasn't he the type to bite without thinking?'
That's why he was called the mad dog of the empire. While Judith tilted her head between gratitude and bewilderment, Erne thought of a suitable topic to change the subject.
And it was an issue that absolutely had to be addressed.
“It’ll take a few days. You’ll have to sleep alone during that time, so what are you going to do about that damp steam inside you?”
***
“Damp steam? How long has it been since it left?”
“But why didn’t you say anything?”
“Because you didn’t ask. And you two secretly enjoy sleeping together... Hey, why are you hitting me!”
It was ridiculous. Tan almost ended up circling the mansion for not saying anything promptly about the damp steam escaping.
If Erne hadn't had to leave early tomorrow morning, Tan would have been upset all night.
“It’s been a while since I’ve slept so well.”
The damp steam had all gone, and there was no need to share a bed with Erne anymore.
I and Erne, who always went into the same room at night, went our separate ways again.
Even though it was the room right next door, it felt quite awkward to open the door and go in.
“Then sleep well.”
I opened the door without hesitation, fearing that if I hesitated, it would seem like I wanted to sleep with Erne. Erne also went into his room.
“I had a lot to think about, but it turned out well.”
Finally, I was able to have a bed all to myself. Erne's sleeping habits weren't bad, but because he was so big, the bed was always cramped.
The damp steam has all gone away, so now all that's left is to sleep comfortably. I've been feeling anxious about Erne lately, so this is a good thing.
Honestly, I don't regret it at all.
“It’s been a while since I’ve had such a comfortable night...”
What if it doesn't work? I, who entered the room without much thought, stopped in my tracks at the sight of things strewn about everywhere.
Come to think of it, my bedroom was naturally used as a storage room since I started sleeping in Erne's bedroom.
The room was full of empty boxes, packaging materials, and other supplies for the finished incense. The problem was that the bed was also full of stuff.
“I don’t think I can finish this today.”
I scratched my head in confusion and muttered a question that had a known answer.
“Oh, by the way, where are you going to go and chat?”
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