THIBV - Chapter 109

Leticia's swordsmanship master was a mercenary.

It seems that he had been teaching Leticia martial arts little by little without Count's knowledge.

'He said that whenever Leticia ran away from home to rebel against her father, she went to look for him.'

Leticia summoned him to the palace and asked if she could receive formal lessons, and I readily agreed.

It was an unconventional appointment. If the other nobles knew, they might criticize me for bringing mercenaries into the sacred palace and even teaching a noble lady.

But I decided that it would be more beneficial to get some finger-pointing from the nobles and give Leticia what she wanted.

Besides, this young mercenary was a pretty decent person.

No matter how strong and stubborn Leticia was, when she was out in the world, she was just a rookie with little experience and no knowledge of the world.

Just by looking at the fact that he never harbored ill feelings toward such a noble lady and that he always gave her a nice place to sleep, fed her, and took care of her whenever she ran away from home, you could tell that he was an honest and warm person.

Leticia took it for granted that she was treated this way, having paid him a fair price and taken care of her every time she ran away, but I knew that Leticia was safe because of Michael's goodness.

I asked with a soft smile.

"Is it worth taking swordsmanship lessons?"

"It's rewarding that Leticia is a quick learner."

"Huh, you're right."

Leticia, who was listening from the side, snorted and muttered. However, Judging by the slightly raised nose, It seemed that she did not mind the compliment.

"It's not a hindrance to your work?"

"This is also a request, so there is no need to interfere. You have given me sufficient wages, and it is my job to give you a fair price for It."

"That's fortunate."

This young man, Michael Wayne, was quiet and honest.

His behavior was elegant and not frivolous or clumsy as if he had been trained in etiquette.

He was a man who broke the stereotypes about mercenaries.

Of course, not only his words and actions but also his handsome and neat appearance and his neat and gentlemanly attire gave off an air of a knight rather than a mercenary.

Although his face was tanned and dark from the sun, his skin color did not diminish his beauty.

Michael said that class was finally over and that he would be going now, saying goodbye to me and Leticia before leaving.

I looked at Leticia suspiciously.

'You ran away with money, but instead of finding a place to stay, why did you resort to the help of mercenaries?'

I asked Leticia, who was returning after briefly seeing Michael off.

"Do you like him?"

"Yes, he teaches well."

"As a man?"

"Ugh."

Leticia's face contorted. As I snickered, Leticia said slyly.

"I like a man who listens well. Michael is far from cute."

"Yes?" 

"Yes."

I shrugged. Or so I thought.

'He's a man who listens well. That's exactly what Julian is. He's cute.'

I giggled inwardly as I thought about Julian's cute points. A blush rose to my cheeks.

By the way, I had something to do with Leticia.

"Leticia, how is Miss Diane doing these days?"

"I feel like she's gotten a lot healthier lately. I think it's because the weather has gotten warmer. but her cough that hasn't stopped all winter has stopped."

Leticia's older sister Diane never suffered from a serious illness, but she seemed to have been prone to minor illnesses since childhood.

It could be that the minor illness that wasn't even a disease and that didn't respond to medicine was the influence of magi. Of course, it might not be, but it wouldn't hurt to check.

"I'm glad to hear that she's feeling better. Send a messenger to Miss Diane and tell her that I asked to see her today."

"Today? Yes, I will!"

I called her to show her Queen Beatrice's records and to confirm Diane's abilities.

'I hope it's a minor ability, but it's helpful.'

I wondered if she could read any clues from the assassin's masks.

***

Diane was a quiet, delicate woman. Unlike Leticia, she seemed shy and gentle.

"Thank you for the invitation. Mrs. Winston."

There was no strength whatsoever in the thin voice that was spoken softly.

Pale face, bloodless lips, hunched shoulders. She was wearing reading glasses because her eyesight was poor.

"I've heard a lot from Leticia, Miss Diane. I heard you're not feeling well, and I'm worried that I've made you walk so wearily."

"No, I am so glad you offered to let me see Queen Beatrice's records."

Diane smiled weakly.

'Do you really like it?'

She looked so listless that I couldn't be sure just from what she said and her expression.

I had Leticia bring her Queen Beatrice's records.

But as soon as she saw that, Diane's eyes changed.

"This is a record written by Archivist Mark Tonner himself!"

I was taken aback.

That was why Diane shouted with such a powerful voice as if she had become a different person.

Her eyes, once unfocused and powerless, were suddenly sparkling.

"Mark Tonner...?"

"Queen Beatrice loved scholars. Her administrators were also highly educated. Marc Tonner was originally a scholar who studied supernatural powers. He caught Queen Beatrice's eye and wrote royal documents related to supernatural powers. If Marc Tonner wrote them himself, these records were not simply intended to record the Queen's daily life."

"Can you tell that it's his writing just by looking at the font?"

"Of course. How could I not know? Marc Tonner was an eccentric and loved to use a quill made from the feather of a bird called the Silvercrest. The quill was good because it could hold a lot of ink, but it was difficult to use, so it was not preferred. Marc Tonner loved it because it had the advantage of being able to write for a long time without breaking, and thanks to this, he had very thin and unbroken handwriting. If you look closely, most of the letters are connected, and the parts expressed as dots are not visible. The lines are so thin that the dots are too small."

Diane blurted out her words, perhaps excited, then took a few deep breaths.

After catching her breath, she told me how special Marc Tonner had been to Queen Beatrice, how many academic papers he had published on the subject of supernatural powers, and what obsessions he had...

In fact, it wasn't easy for me to understand.

'Not only Queen Beatrice but also a passionate follower of Marc Tonner.'

Diane realized she had talked too much and sighed.

"I'm sorry. I didn't mean to get so worked up... I'm so glad to see the original record, not a copy."

"It's a blessing to have something you're passionate about. I'll give you some time later, so read it slowly. Before that, I have something I want to ask you."

"What is that?"

"Leticia told me that you could read people's memories. Do you feel anything from these records?"

"What do you want to know about this record?"

"Is there anyone who has touched this place? Any information would be appreciated."

Diane tilted her head and asked for a moment.

I waited leisurely for Diane.

Diane placed her hand on the records and closed her eyes, then opened them after a while.

She shook her head weakly.

"I haven't seen much because my abilities are so poor. The more things are handled, the more easily the past becomes blurred. Lately, it seems that people wearing administrative uniforms have been moving the records. Since then, all I can see is Mrs. Winston."

By administrators, I think she meant the people who brought the records to me.

"Can't you tell what happened before?"

"Before that... there was someone..."

Diane squinted her eyes as if trying to recall a memory. She rolled her eyes around, then suddenly looked up as if she had discovered something.

"It's a snake."

"Snake?"

"I see a necklace with the relief of a snake wrapped around a lion's neck. Sorry, I don't know the details beyond that."

"Yes."

I sighed in disappointment.

"I was wondering if someone had tampered with it since I felt like there were some missing records. Anyway, thanks for your help."

"If it's something like that, I think I can know without reading the object's memory."

Diane suddenly started leafing through the records.

"Mark Tonner has an obsessive-compulsive disorder, so he always writes his records by adding subheadings and dividing them into multiples of six. So he has a characteristic of writing so that the table of contents matches six, twelve, or eighteen. He even writes his diaries so that they end in six or twelve lines. Even if he adds useless entries at the end to make up the lines."

Diane suddenly became excited again and started talking.

"He's a genius, a weirdo, an obsessive-compulsive. He's even perverted. This record is definitely... Look here. There are subheadings one, two, three, four."

She showed me the subheadings that I had overlooked without paying much attention to them.

"If there are four subheadings in one volume, then to meet the multiple of six, you would have to organize the subheadings into three volumes, with at least twelve subheadings. Since there are two volumes here, you are missing at least one volume."

Diane was certain It was true.

I thought she had a tenacity that was more useful than her powers.

'I'm missing one volume. I wish I could find it.'

I had a gut feeling that there might be important records about the Shadow Curse there.

Anyway, since I couldn't find it right away, I was satisfied with finding out this much information and took out the assassin's mask.

"Diane, can you read the memories contained in this?"

Diane placed her hand on the mask again.

Then, all of a sudden, he asked Leticia to bring her some paper and a pen and started drawing.

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