The cold woman who came with Neun didn't waste time to put salt in Julia's wounds. The last time they met, Julia who was part of the Tisdale family had insulted them and their leader so how can she not take advantage of this chance?

"Tch, so you think you've won because of my situation Laura? Who do you think was responsible for the young lady of the house you served?" Julia immediately retorted. Though Laura was taking advantage of her situation, that didn't mean that she had to take it lying down.

"Knowing you, it was the hero who ordered you to do it. I doubt you even told him of her ident.i.ty, right?" Laura grinned after seeing Julia flinch.

She got it right. Julia never explained that she knew the people who they saved. In her defense, Kazuya neither showed interest nor questioned her about it.

"Aren't you quite rude? Suddenly picking a fight with my subordinate in front of me?" Though Kazuya didn't really want to bother, the fact remained that he was currently being ignored. Though he already knew that the princess shared some kind of rivalry with the young miss of the Eberbach house, the fact remained that Julia was serving him and not Alicia.

"Ah, pardon me hero. I couldn't help it since this woman always acted high and mighty because of her and her former master's status. I mean no offense." Laura quickly apologized.

"I would have taken offense if I hadn't known beforehand that the steel wolves unit were known for their talent in offending friend and foe alike. Though I do prefer honest and blunt people, do remember that this girl is my subordinate now no matter who she served before. That will not change as long as she breathes." Kazuya said without a care.

"(He just…)" Laura turned towards the hero and gave him a serious look.

How could she not? Though she only mentioned offhand what the current situation in the Eberbach house is, he had already given his stance on the matter. He didn't even care to check the benefits that the other side would be offering in exchange for Julia's freedom, which in her opinion, the hero could take great advantage of.

Julia, on the other hand already had a feeling what the hero's stance would be and remained quiet. Though she felt a little appreciative towards the fact that Kazuya defended her from being insulted any further, his solid stance on the matter had left her helpless. She would have been lying to herself if Julia said that she didn't have hope that the princess or her father would try and save her from her current predicament.

"Anyway, I still have to return this mount. I trust that the one that girl took was returned?" he looked at Neun whose reactions were proving that Laura had a better position than her.

"Yes. The manager who lent you the horses was quite worried."

"I see. I better pay him a visit then."

"That…" Laura tried to stop them but stopped her attempt as she froze when her eyes met with Kazuya's gaze.

Laura was startled. The feeling the hero initially gave her was that he was like a normal person. Now, her instincts were screaming that she should watch her words. This was the same feeling she had gotten off their leader whenever she was in a bad mood.

Though she was a subordinate of someone he knew, he was displeased on how rude Laura was being. She had yet to introduce herself, yet she wanted to order him around?

"Listen here, girl whose name I am no longer interested in, I may be intruding on Elrich-san's place but that doesn't mean I must lower my head to him. He's someone I found the least annoying when I arrived here. I am not on his side nor anyone else's. I am only on 'my' own side.

I've already overlooked your arrogance because of what I know about your unit. Make no mistake, I will treat people as they treat me." Kazuya turned away and headed to return the horse.

To be honest, Laura didn't intend to be rude towards the hero. She had merely forgotten the fact that she hadn't introduced herself because she investigated a lot about the hero ever since she arrived at the capital. She learned a lot about him that she had felt that this was not their first actual meeting.

"Heh" Julia smirked and mocked Laura before following behind the hero.

Laura frowned. A sudden thought made her a bit worried. What if Julia was someone the king's faction had deliberately planted to sway the hero who had just proven that he was extremely hard to deal with. With her mistake, Julia might use the opportunity to cause a rift to form between the duke and the hero.

"(I better let Elrich-sama and Zwei-sama know.)" Laura headed towards the Eberbach residence.

Seeing that Laura did not follow them, Neun frowned. She didn't do anything to help Laura who was in a commanding position in the unit she wanted to join. What if it affects her chances of getting accepted to the unit?

"Kazuysama, please do not take the vice-commander's offense to heart. She had been quite stressed ever since she had arrived at the capital because of what happened to the young miss. The situation is quite tense because…" she cast a small sound insulating barrier around them and proceeded to explain the duke's suspicions.

Surely enough, Julia was startled. The effect of the spell that the Zweifel kingdom's family had cast on her had more or less taken full effect. Julia's memories of any important information that was discussed with her were no longer existent but even so, it wasn't perfect. She now recognized some of the people that were sent to a.s.sa.s.sinate Sodina Eberbach. If Kazuya asked her seriously, she would have no choice but to comply in the end.

Though Julia was worried, with what Kazuya had done, there was really no need for her to be asked. Kazuya had gotten rid of the bodies to prevent them from turning into undead, thus unconsciously helping the king's faction in ridding their traces despite the failure. Despite that, the mythical device that the hero brought from earth was the key to confirming the a.s.sailants' ident.i.ties.

"(If I…)" sure enough, Julia's loyalty toward her former master was still evident as thoughts entered her mind to help the princess gain an advantage.

"Are you defending her because you want to join that unit?" Julia intruded on the conversation and instantly gained Neun's ire.

Julia's claim was not without basis. They only ever saw Neun with Acht who was also not someone that could be considered a person suitable for military service. It wasn't hard for Julia to guess that they were candidates who wanted to join the infamous steel wolves unit because of their strange personalities.

The king's faction was not all that ignorant about the duke's organization. As a person who was once a close confidant of the princess, she was able to access such information if she wanted to. There probably wasn't a unit not belonging to their faction that Julia was more knowledgeable about other than the steel wolves. It was the one that always stuck with Alicia's rival after all.

"Kid! You're alright!" the manager immediately identified Kazuya's group as they were attracting too much attention because of the two beautiful ladies glaring at each other.

Some of the people recognized Neun because of her recent daily activities so they couldn't help but stare at Kazuya who appeared to be the person she had been waiting for all week.

"What? It's that guy? Someone from the east?"

"Looks like maid-chan is mad that he brought another girl back."

"What a s.h.i.+tty guy! If I had a maid like that…"Find authorized novels in Webnovel，faster updates, better experience，Please click for visiting.

"(These two…)" Kazuya couldn't help but sigh as he approached the Blue House's stables.

Acht had taken the night s.h.i.+ft when they waited for Kazuya so the crowd had been only familiar with seeing Neun. The two, who were currently at odds with each other, were oblivious to the crowd's murmurs which made the crowd's suspicions even more convincing.

"Hehe. Looks like you got caught after all." the manager snickered.

"Please spare me. I apologize if it took too long to bring this guy back. As you may have already known, we encountered some problems." Kazuya ignored the crowd and entered after handing the horse over to one of the workers from the stables.

"I heard. If it were not for this maid-chan here who brought the other horseback, I would have given those n.o.bles a piece of my mind!" he waved his fist. He was displeased at the fact that they had stolen a horse from his customers and returned it to him as if nothing was wrong about it.

"It's alright. That person taking the horse was intentional on my part. Though they weren't aware of it, it turned out the way I intended. Your thoughts are appreciated though." Kazuya thanked the kind manager.

"You're a good kid. You should be careful around here, you know. There are a lot of people here at the capital that prey on that. I've seen too many people come here with smiles only to end up leaving broken." He warned.

"Don't worry, I'm kind to those who are kind to me but I am ten times as ruthless to those who mean to cause me harm." Kazuya smiled.

"Haha! Then I shouldn't be too worried!" of course, he didn't take Kazuya's words to heart. It was enough for him to hear that the kid understood what he meant.

"I will be staying at the capital for a while so I might not rent the horses for fast travel but I will remember to come if I need to go around the capital. How much do I owe you for the days I failed to return the horse?" Kazuya tried to reach for his pocket but he was stopped.

"No need. Those n.o.bles already said that they would take care of everything." He glanced at Neun who gave him a nod.

"Alright then, I won't be polite and let them take care of it then." Kazuya accepted it without making a fuss. Though he had money, what he had was still not enough for what he had planned in the long run. He would not decline opportunities that would let him save every coin that he could.

"I'll be heading off since I still need to take care of some matters so I'll see you later!" Kazuya excused himself and left the store. Wanting to get rid of the crowd that talked about them, Kazuya quickened his pace and headed towards the Eberbach residence.

Upon arriving at the gates of the Eberbach estate, Kazuya immediately sensed a lot of people paying attention to him. A lot of them were hidden but they weren't able to fool Kazuya's detection abilities. It was evident that Elrich was indeed looking at this issue very carefully.

"(I wonder if she was called here as well…)" he couldn't help but wonder as the guards who recognized Kazuya immediately paid him a respectful salute before granting him pa.s.sage.

"Kazuysama, would you like to meet with the duke now?" since he was the one who Julian had been pestering Elrich for, it would be best if he were to meet him while he was here and rid the duke of the stubborn man who relentlessly visited them despite their current preparations.

"No, not yet. We've traveled quite the distance so I would like to get myself changed and get a little rest before meeting with this guest. You may inform him of my intentions." He then turned to Julia. "You go to the kitchen and fetch food for us."

Since he had declined the duke's offer to provide his newly acquired servant a room, they would be staying together in Kazuya's a.s.signed s.p.a.ce. He had intended to take a long bath so he sent Julia to procure food in the meantime. Julia also wanted to refresh herself before meeting with her father but she could only accept her current master's orders.

"Okay. Do you have any preference?" she already accepted her current situation so she more or less tried to act the part.

"I'll leave it up to you." Kazuya didn't waste time and headed for his room. He didn't need anyone to guide him in this place so he entered the residence without a care.

Those observing the situation were already aware of Kazuya's ident.i.ty as soon as he entered with Julia and Neun. Laura already informed them that the hero had returned to the capital so they made sure to remember the face of the hero of their generation.

To those who couldn't believe that princess Alicia's most loyal dog had fallen to such a state was convinced after seeing her acting submissively towards Kazuya. To think, this woman would someday be able to freely walk inside the Eberbach residence was something they only thought would have happened if the house had fallen.

"Hey! Where the heck do you think you're going!" someone angrily called out to Kazuya as soon as he tried to enter his room.

"…" wearing a white attire that could only enhance the appeal of her long golden blonde hair. A familiar beautiful young girl threw a glare towards Kazuya.

"This room isn't something you can enter! Are you new? Don't you know that this is the room that belongs to the leader of the steel wolves unit!?"

.