Later, he generously rewarded Callan, but apparently, he was not so kind to Skaha.

If a pregnant woman comes down alone to the countryside and lives in seclusion…… isn’t it obvious? There would be no noble to welcome the existence of an illegitimate child…….

Lugard, who had just returned from an errand, rushed upstairs at the news of Skaha’s fall.

“Lord Callan!”

After wrapping the wound with white cloth and wiping the bloodstains from Skaha’s leg with a warm, wet towel, Callan motioned frantically.

“Skaha fell looking for you, Lugard. She said someone was chasing her, but she fainted before she could finish. She had a gun, too…….”

Lugard picked up the gun from the table and quickly checked the magazine. His face turned pale.

“……A shot has been fired.”

“What on earth is happening…….”

Skaha and Lugard had spent peaceful days since settling in Isnak for several months. Callan, Lugard’s employer, was well aware of their ordinary and quiet daily lives.

Lost in thought, Lugard paused before lifting his head as if making a difficult decision.

“Lord Callan, is there a place where I can use a phone?”

“A phone is not cheap in such a small village…… Ah! There’s one at the Isnak trading post. Tiren saw it.”

Before Callan had finished telling the story of his twin brother’s sighting of the phone, Lugard kicked the door open and ran out.

Lugard was neither particularly smart nor quickwitted.

Pondering who might have done this to Skaha, Lugard concluded…….

‘Iriel de Agnoman.’

She must have resolved to eliminate Skaha, a hindrance to her marriage to Admiral Gakha!

They had staged an accident in that valley with the presence of Lieutenant Rakan and the bodyguard captain, and probably considered Skaha, who carried the child of the man she was to marry, a thorn in her side!

Someone strong enough to face the Count of Agnoman was needed…… Contacting Admiral Gakha would not be what Skaha wanted.

Lugard’s mother, who was forever searching for Lugard’s biological father, had never found him.

After running to the trading post in Isnak, Lugard spent a good part of his weekly wages to use the phone.

He thought only the nobles used it because it was expensive, but luckily the trading post had one.

When the operator’s voice came after a few rings, Lugard shouted, unable to hide his urgency.
“Connect me to Sergeant Rakan of the Conwell estate! I might be staying at Corbu’s townhouse or Lindcoem’s Blahnath division building now!”

The operator had already connected the call to Sergeant Rakan for the emperor several times.

Unlike Lugard, the operator responded in a monotonous and relaxed tone, naturally sending a signal to the emperor’s direct line.

In his excited state, Lugard mistook Emperor Attila’s voice, which was not coming through clearly, for Rakan’s. This was partly because the operator had connected without much explanation.

“It’s Lugard. Lady Scáthach is in danger. And, someone seems to be targeting Lady Scáthach, Sergeant!”

“In a forest inn near Isnak…!”

Click.

The image of an upper staff member yawning and hanging up the phone was visible.

“?”

Faced with Lugard’s stunned expression, the office staff explained, forming a circle with his finger.

“You can only use this much with the money you paid. If you want to use more, you have to pay more.”

Lugard lowered his head. He had said it was a forest inn near Isnak, so they should understand. There was only one inn in the forest, belonging to Callan.

Perhaps it would be premature to suspect Count Agnomon.

Somehow, leaving behind the staff who couldn’t take his eyes off Lugard’s wallet, Lugard quickly exited the building.

He didn’t know how much Scáthach’s hospital bills would cost, so he couldn’t waste so much money on a single phone call.

(This is a time delimiter.)

Throughout the journey bringing a woman named Princess Erwin to the mansion, Cassard’s gaze was fixed out the window.

Lindcoem’s mansion was as boring as it was when Cassard was sixteen, twenty, and now twentythree.

The iron gates painted seasonally with oilmixed paint to prevent rust, the climbing vines on the high walls, the paved road stretching to the mansion’s front gate, the wellmaintained grass on both sides of the road, and the like.

But now, holding Scáthach’s necklace worn smooth in his ungloved hand, every scene looked different.

He had ordered Rakan to investigate, but he had already concluded that Scáthach was Erwin Del Adneil. The investigation was merely a confirmation.

Hence, he was never bored for a moment, thinking that perhaps Scáthach had seen the same scenery.

As a child, you must have played happily in the grassy lawn, laughing innocently. You must have also played with the water at the edge of the splendid fountain in one corner of the garden.

With those thoughts, it seemed as though Scáthach was everywhere in the mansion. She had lived in Eberun Castle until she was about ten. That fact alone made his heart race madly.