'Why is Lazy Blade...?'

The black haired boy in front of him was the same person that he and Lady Orelly had deemed pathetic.

"Really? I thought you wanted me to reveal myself?"

Riley questioned the hooded man.

Riley continued to walk towards him until he was only inches away from him.

"What, did I frighten you that much?"

The man was armed with a dagger, but Riley remained as calm as ever.

In fact, he went so far as to knock on the man's forehead with his right hand.

As if asking him to not just stand there, and speak.

'This...'

It was hard for the man to believe this was the same person who cast away his sword after a single strike in the training ground.

'Is this really the same Riley?'

The hooded man did not dare to make even the slightest movement.

He felt as if any sudden movement would result in his body being torn to shreds.

"It’d be boring if you don’t have any reaction."

Riley continued speaking in a leisurely manner while clicking his tongue.

"I guess it would be difficult to have an intelligent conversation with an untimely guest."

Riley folded his arms, glanced at the dagger on the man's side, then gave him a cold look as he spoke again.

"I'll ask you once. There'll be no second chance."

"..."

"If you answer, I'll let you go."

He had just seen the pathetic strike Riley had made a few moments ago.

And now blackmail?

What a joke.

Yet...

He could not let out a laugh; instead his entire body was frozen in fear.

"What I want to know is..."

His cold eyes grew narrow.

Feeling his heart pounding, the hooded man swallowed his saliva.

He was finally allowed to do so.

"...Why did you visit Lady Orelly's bedroom?"

"..."

The hooded man's lips had already began to tremble before he noticed.

The calm moonlight that lit the corridor slowly began to fade away.

Late in the evening, in the library of the Iph.e.l.leta mansion.

"Young master! Where are you? Young master!"

Ian entered the room abruptly, searching for Riley.

There were signs that something had happened here, and Ian took a closer look at the room.

"Young master!"

Riley, who was lying on a couch with a book on his face, groaned and turned his body.

"Young master, wake up!"

"Ah, what? What's it now?"

Riley looked at Ian while rubbing his eyes drowsily.

He frowned, as if to ask 'Why did you bother my sweet nap?'.

"If you want to talk about the sword again..."

"I will get back to that later. But that's not important right now!"

Riley, who was expecting an endless lecture from Ian, tilted his head curiously.

What is it then?"

"A body was found in the mansion."

"Hmm?"

"A body! A corpse!"

Riley looked at Ian as if he had gone crazy.

"What the h.e.l.l are you talking about?"

The Riley Ian saw now was nothing like how he had been when Iris had collapsed.

"Haaa..."

His eyes had potential when he grabbed the sword, although the result had ended up being disappointing.

Ian sighed as he remembered the expectations that he had before.

"I'm glad I made it in time."

When Ian mumbled to himself, Riley's face turned even sourer.

"A better explanation please."

"An unknown man dressed in black was found. In front of Lady Orelly's room."

"Huh, really?"

Riley asked, as if he could not believe it.

"It seems that Count Stein has heard of Lady Iris' condition as well. The entire mansion is being turned upside down."

A stranger had managed to sneak into the mansion.

And poison had been found in the soup.

Although a body was found, it was hard to say whether there was only a single invader.

The reason Ian mumbled 'I made it in time' was because he needed to ensure Riley was safe from the unknown a.s.sa.s.sins.

"In any case, it is dangerous for you to be alone."

Ian spoke with a bittersweet expression on his face.

"I do not believe you could win against an a.s.sa.s.sin."

He hoped that this might stimulate Riley to take action.

But…

"Hmm."

Riley lazily turned his eyes towards the book that was on his face.

"I guess it's got nothing to do with me then."

"Pardon?"

"You can go. I hope you didn't leave Mother alone."

"Y-Young master, did you listen to what I said?"

"Yeah, I heard it. But it's got nothing to do with me right?"

Riley nodded without even turning his head to Ian.

"..."

His carefree att.i.tude showed no interest whatsoever in what Ian had just told him.

Ian could not stop his anger from rising at Riley's indifferent att.i.tude.

"Just what is ...!"

"Ah, wait!"

Ian stopped.

"I almost forgot."

Riley snapped his fingers then produced something from his pocket.

"Here, take these."

"...?"

Riley conferred to Ian a handful of seeds which Ian had never seen before.

"These are...?"

"Use it to make some tea for Mother. It should be pretty effective. Don't lose it, it's quite rare."

Riley rolled his shoulder then pointed to the book he was holding.

The t.i.tle was 'Encyclopaedia of Medicinal Seeds'.

It was surely for Iris, who had collapsed.

"W-when...?"

"Just now. I was tired from trying to find these so I tried to take a nap... and then you came all of a sudden. How do you think I felt?"

"..."

"I'm going back to sleep."

Riley went back to the couch as he ordered Ian not to disturb him again.

"We have searched every nook and cranny of this estate, even with our senses. He is the only invader."

The first son Ryan spoke while looking down on the corpse.

The second son Lloyd followed the conversation.

"To invade on his own, and without a weapon as well, he must have underestimated us quite a bit."

Count Stein, who had been listening to his sons, scanned the area for any evidence. He thought of another possibility.

"Or perhaps, there’s another accomplice within the mansion."

"..."

The body was found right in front of Lady Orelly's room, so she had no choice but to join in on the detective work.

'Impossible...'

She looked pale with worry, as if asking 'what's going on?', but what her mind was going through was the complete opposite.

The a.s.sa.s.sin she had called in secret has been killed instead, and placed in front of her room.

It was no small matter.

"Judging from the way he is dressed, he is likely a thief or someone from the a.s.sa.s.sin's Guild. Should we start from there?"

"Of course! Search all the lands, starting from Iffa village! How dare they challenge us by setting foot in the Iph.e.l.leta mansion!"

Count Stein grinded his teeth and swore to catch the person responsible for this.

'Just how did this...'

Lady Orelly gulped in fear.

While she was afraid of her temperamental husband, the worst thing was that something was missing from the body.

A dagger with the Guild's seal on it.

The dagger which should have been on his waist had vanished.

'Just... who?'

It would have been convenient if the evidence was destroyed by the a.s.sa.s.sin himself, but there was little chance that had happened, judging from the state of his body.

Then who?

Who could have taken the dagger?