Chapter 53: Unsolicited Harassment

The discussion about the divine soldiers was over. The three began preparations from their respective positions.

Liselotte, as the lord. Landvald, as the representative of the Imperial Army in this matter.

He was doing his utmost, yet calmly. He was moving to fulfill the role assigned to the camp he was leading.

The same goes for the Grand Duke, Lute. Unlike the other two, however, Lute’s preparation was to take advantage of his convenient position.

“──I’ll get out of your way.”

Lute visited a room in the Duke’s residence. It is a room where education such as etiquette is carried out for the siblings.

“Oh, your Excellency the Grand duke. How can I help you?”

“I need to talk to them. Today’s teaching is over, so leave the room.”

“……Understood”

The content is concise. But that is enough. The servant playing the role of teacher, who looked surprised at the sudden visit, bowed neatly and then left the room.

The only ones left were Lute and the siblings, who froze in their tracks, unable to comprehend the sudden situation.

“It looks like you’re being taught by a very talented person.”

“Uh, ah, yes! I’m doing my best!”

“The teacher teaches me very carefully!”

“….glad to hear things are going well.”

Lute lightly shrugged his shoulders at the firmness of their reaction as usual. It was the beginning of the education process, so it was inevitable, but he could not imagine how the sister and brother would grow from this point on.

But that is irrelevant to this case. Immediately changing his mind, Lute sat down near the siblings.

“Well then, let’s get into the main subject…But before I do, I’ll tell you something. Make yourself comfortable. You can forget about etiquette for once.”

“Eh, is that okay?”

“From an educational point of view, it’s not good at all. But what I’m about to tell you is rather important. I’d rather you not be distracted by something you’re not used to thinking about. Are you guys confident that you can do it right? You’re not very good at it, and I’m in front of you.”

“Uh. No…”

“It’s okay to be honest. If you understand, listen carefully.”

The content regarding the divine soldiers is extremely important. Therefore, even Lute wanted to avoid being distracted by other things and miss something.

Prioritizing the immediate and important matter of this time, rather than the education that can be recovered in the future.

“Natra. You, come with me to the city tomorrow afternoon. We’re going to thank the owners of Uminekotei.”

“… Eh? What!?”

“What’s so important about that?”

The two of them looked at each other with a blank expression on their faces. Lute’s words were so unexpected, as he had been reminded of their importance.

“What’s the matter? Heinrich told me you wanted to thank them for taking care of you.”

“No! It is a thing that I do not even hope for, but ……”

“We’re not supposed to leave the mansion…”

The two of them looked at each other while remembering the conversation they had just the other day, a discussion in which their lives were literally at stake.

The otherworldly knowledge of the siblings, especially Rick, is classified as top secret. Therefore, it is treated with the utmost strictness, and various freedoms are restricted.

The one who instructed it was Lute in front of them. The siblings were not sure what he meant by that, since he was the one who suggested the idea.

“Of course, this is not a proposal made in good faith. This is for a good purpose, and I don’t intend to let you do anything you don’t want to do.”

“Purpose, huh…?”

“Oh, yeah. I won’t go into details, but there are some troublesome people in this town who are working very fast. This outing is to harass them. To put it simply, it’s a decoy, and Uminekotei is just a pretext.”

Yes. This is exactly what Lute proposed in the discussion earlier. It was a petty harassment in the name of an undercover operation.

“Decoy!? Grand Duke, why does my sister have to do such a thing!?”

“It seems the other party is looking into the duke’s family. Naturally, you who have suddenly been taken in are also subject to them. And I’m going to use that to my advantage.”

According to Landvald, the agents of the Republic state also frequent the Uminekotei.

Without warning, a young sister and brother who worked in a tavern were assigned to the service of a new lord. It was a big story, and from the outside, it was a great promotion.

Many of the people associated with the siblings and the Uminekotei would have no hesitation in speaking out about the rumors.

There’s no way an intelligence agent would ignore that. The sister and brother are the devoted followers of a demi-god and former princess, whom the lord has taken the trouble to summon.

Its importance is expected to be set quite high, and that’s why it functions as a decoy.

“But such a dangerous thing…”

“Idiot. There is no such thing as danger. Who do you think is next to you, this guy? I’m here, and there’s no way anything can happen to her. That’s why I’m taking her out.”

If Natra is the bait that lures the enemy, Lute is the trap that finishes off the enemy in case of emergency, and is the escort for the bait, Natra.

A demi-god wizard. The absolute strongest person in the world protects them directly. The safety of the place is guaranteed at a level that competes with the best or second best in Sandelica, or even in the empire.

Otherwise, he would not have made this proposal. It is because he is absolutely confident that he can protect Natra, one half of the most important secret, that he takes her out.

“…Then I’ll go instead! If it’s about the grand duke, it shouldn’t matter if it’s not my sister!”

“Rejected. It’s a virtue to care about your sister, but you should understand your own position a little more. Natra and you are too different in importance. I have no intention of screwing up, but I’ll keep the danger to a minimum. You, I can’t take you out.”

It is Rick who has the knowledge of another world. Without choosing words, Natra is nothing more than Rick’s accessory.

If asked which one to take out, the main unit or the accessories, Natra, which is an accessory, would be the only choice.

Even if you are sure that there is no problem, there is no reason not to hedge the risk.

“And Rick, you also have a role to play. That’s why I’m not taking you out.”

“… a role?”

“Yeah. As I said earlier, the main purpose of this outing is to harass the other party. To be honest, if you ask me if it is necessary to do it, it is not something that I have to do.”

“Then why are you doing it!?”

“That’s what harassment is all about. If the other party gets caught, it’s a disadvantage. If they don’t get caught, that’s that. We’re just trying to get our official business done. Then there’s no reason not to do it, right?”

That’s the key to this harassment.

If the other party takes some direct action on Natra and Lute disguised as servants, he succeeds. He will induce the situation to take the form of a crime against the grand duke and secure a name for a forced entry into the Chamber of Commerce, even if somewhat forcefully.

On the other hand, if there is no direct action, it fails. But even so, there is no particular problem since it will not have much impact on the main mission that is waiting behind the scenes. They just have to visit the Uminekotei in a dignified manner and resolve the sister and brother’s regret as conveyed to him by Heinrich.

Profitable if successful, no risk if unsuccessful. That is why Lute proposed the idea, and Liselotte and Landvald nodded their heads in approval.

“But harassment is harassment. Personally, I’d like to give it a little more meaning. So I’d like to do a little experiment, something I’ve been thinking about for a while.”

“… is that my role?”

“Yeah. Your enthusiasm about not putting your sister in danger is worthy of your enthusiasm. It’s harder this way than it looks from the side. Well, it’s just the appearance.”

“What is it…?”

The words naturally stuck. Rick felt a cold sweat running down his back.

That’s how disturbing it was. Lute’s dialogue, and above all, the smile on his face.

“──Rick, you’re going to have to undergo a little of my magic. Simply put, I want you to get yourself frozen while we’re out.”

──The report was so shocking that even the word “disturbing” was too lukewarm to describe it.

“… Eh? What!?”

“That, Grand Duke!? What the hell do you want to do to my brother?”

“Experiments and proofs. And it’s one of the safety measures in this case. I’m sorry, but you can’t refuse it. I have the permission from your master, Liselotte.”

The order was equivalent to an execution sentence, and the siblings were so surprised that they crowded around Lute.

They frantically protested and pleaded, wondering why such an order had to endure the same kind of tampering that happened the other day.

However, Ruto simply continued his words without paying attention to the frustration of the two of them.

“Calm down. I’ll explain everything to you right now. And I guarantee your safety. You’re not going to die.”

Then, they shrugged their shoulders and looked at each other in disbelief.

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