Chapter 28

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Translator: Harry Potta
Chapter: 28
Chapter Title: More Ways Than One to Instill Fear
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Redius Argenta was widely known as the teacher of the family’s head.

“Good day, sir!”

“Ah, off to train?”

His unpretentious nature and his tendency to mingle freely with people, regardless of their status, were also famous.

This was despite being the younger uncle of the current head, Diello Argenta, and serving as a de facto advisor to the knighthood.

He deserved respect, but whenever people tried to keep their distance, he would approach them even more warmly.

Because he was not the lord.

And because he knew that the closer he was to people, the more truthful the information he could obtain.

“Sir Redius, didn’t you go to the battlefield?”

That was why he heard the news faster than the other Argentas.

The news, of course, came from the people residing on the fourth floor of the Argenta estate.

“The battlefield? I just came in to report.”

“No, not the one you were at. The one the Lord went to handle himself.”

“...The Lord?”

His ash-gray hair, still damp from the bath he’d taken after just returning from the front, swayed.

Was there a battlefront so urgent at this time that the head of the family had to go himself?

An unexpected piece of news fell before him as his expression grew serious.

“Yes. They say he went to pursue Mirta.”

“But there were already people pursuing him, weren’t there?”

The Argenta from the fourth floor replied to his question.

“Yes, but he said he would handle it personally.”

Redius Argenta tilted his head slightly at those words.

He wasn’t the type to act so impulsively.

As he felt a sense of puzzlement, a shocking statement reached his ears.

“But it seems the Madam also went to the same place.”

“What?”

Croire Alloje.

No, the one who was now Croire Argenta.

He didn’t know when she would leave, but for now, she was certainly the lady of this house.

As a blood relative of the main Argenta family, Redius, who knew of the fake Pero plan, was lost in reminiscence.

*Diello!*

He recalled the woman with deep violet hair who had shouted that name as she galloped toward them on the battlefield.

She was an impressive person.

So much so that he wished her fearlessness in charging into battle meant she was the real Duchess Argenta, not just a fake Pero according to the plan.

“...It would be good to send people to welcome them back.”

He said, tilting his head.

He was growing more and more curious about what kind of person this Madam was, who could make the Lord act so impulsively.

* * *

“I heard Mirta betrayed us.”

“What? Didn’t he just leave after signing a blood contract?”

“That’s why the Lord punished him himself, they say.”

News of Mirta’s betrayal soon began to circulate through the Argenta estate.

“The atmosphere is unsettled.”

“This is the first time I’ve seen a traitor emerge.”

“Back when the previous Duke was here...”

“Shh, be quiet.”

The servants residing on the third floor and below were especially loose-lipped.

But the fourth floor and above remained as quiet as ever. Unshaken.

“It’s not a serious wound.”

Diello waved his hand at my suggestion to look at the wound he’d given first aid to as soon as we returned.

“Still, it needs to be treated.”

I ignored his words and grabbed his arm.

As I undid his cufflink and rolled up his sleeve, a longer and deeper wound than I’d expected was revealed.

“...Good heavens.”

This wasn’t a serious wound?

Seeing my surprise, Diello gave a troubled smile.

“This is common on the battlefield.”

He even brought over the first-aid kit himself.

He’d reacted so sensitively to my own injuries.

“I should call a doctor.”

That looked incomparably deeper than my own bruises.

It didn’t look like it would heal easily.

“It’s fine.”

But Diello shook his head.

“I don’t want to cause a fuss.”

At his words, Pielle, who was standing near us, bowed her head and stepped back.

“There’s no good that can come from letting people in the castle know I’m injured.”

Diello’s gentle words jolted me to my senses.

Right, Mirta couldn’t possibly be the only traitor in the estate.

A traitor had come from the fourth floor, of all places. There must be others who hadn’t been weeded out yet.

As long as they remained, no good would come from news of Diello’s injury getting out.

“Then I’ll take a look.”

I have to return the favor of being treated, right?

Saying so, I took the bandage from his hand.

After thoroughly disinfecting the wound, I wrapped the bandage around his arm.

Of course, I couldn’t do it as neatly as a doctor, but the treatment ended with a reasonably presentable result.

As he watched me close the first-aid kit, Diello suddenly spoke.

“...I thought he would make a wiser choice.”

When I looked up at him, his eyes were downcast.

“Mirta?”

Diello gave a slight nod.

“Yes. He... we’d known each other for a long time.”

For a moment, I wondered what to say to that.

Should I tell him that you can never truly know what’s in someone’s heart?

Or ask if he thought traitors had a certain look?

But his face showed genuine heartbreak, so I couldn’t say such things.

“...Did you think that someone who had known you for a long time wouldn’t betray you?”

“Yes.”

His clean-cut answer left me speechless.

Oh, this man!

It seemed there was a lot I’d have to teach him, using this incident as an opportunity.

Since I’d chosen the strongest head in history—who was also far gentler than I’d expected—as my hidden card.

I had to teach him a little about how the world works, or our plan would be in jeopardy.

“There must have been others planning to leave for Cartiel. Have you found out who they are?”

At that, Diello nodded.

“The informants will find out soon.”

It was a relief that Argenta’s intelligence division, at least, wasn’t a soft, fluffy pudding.

Just as Pielle was Argenta’s sharp claw.

Besides, according to the original novel, the head of Argenta’s intelligence was a man utterly devoted to Argenta.

He would weed out the traitors on his own.

But it was a problem for Diello to just stand by.

Of course, his personality was perfect for making Duke Alloje let his guard down...

But this had to be an act. It would be a problem if it was genuine!

“Let’s find out through other means as well.”

The so-called "Project: Spice Up Diello!"

Very fortunately, the methods the original Croire had used in situations like this were detailed in my memory.

Diello’s eyes widened at my words.

* * *

With Mirta and the Cartiel who led him dead, there was no one left to interrogate directly.

But there were surely others who had planned to move with Mirta.

The way to catch them was simple.

Spread a rumor.

“Did you hear? Cartiel was just planning to use the Argentas who fled.”

“That’s right. They say they were going to squeeze information out of Mirta and then kill him.”

“Vicious bastards.”

...a rumor like that.

They had prepared to flee to Cartiel because Argenta was unstable, only to find out Cartiel had no intention of letting them live?

Then there were bound to be those who would become anxious.

Argenta’s intelligence division couldn’t spread such false rumors without a direct order, so they were weeding out traitors through other, more cumbersome procedures.

Thanks to that, as soon as I spread the rumor, they quickly rounded up the traitors.

“What a brilliant idea.”

While Diello was expressing his pure admiration, Argenta’s intelligence division brought two traitors before us.

Of course, they looked as if they had been beaten up somewhere.

“They refuse to speak.”

The informant reported. It seemed they had asked if there were other traitors.

“Hmm.”

They were forced to their knees in front of the sofa where we sat.

Diello looked troubled.

“...What should we do?”

The informant looked up at Diello, the head of the family.

Diello had a slightly troubled expression.

“Shall we take care of it ourselves?”

The informant asked. It seemed this wasn’t the first time something like this had happened.

Right, with Diello’s personality, he would never order them to be tortured. But this could lead to the Lord being underestimated.

I raised a hand to stop the informant.

“If it’s all right, I’ll ask them. How about it?”

I turned to Diello, who tilted his head slightly.

“...They won’t talk easily, even if you threaten to kill them.”

He said cautiously.

He was right.

Despite the mention of ‘killing,’ the captured traitors showed no sign of wavering.

“...”

I looked at the traitors.

In Croire’s mind, remedies for people like this were neatly stacked.

“There are many ways to instill fear in a person besides killing them.”

At my words, not only the Argenta informants and Diello, but also the captured men looked up at me.

“Watch carefully.”

I’ll teach you how to make a person talk without having to cut them yourself.

Diello gave a faint smile at my words.

“I’ll take it to heart.”

“Take it to...”

...heart? You don’t need to go that far, I started to say, but stopped.

Yes, he did need to take some of this to heart.

I felt like I was corrupting the only truly good person in this novel, but it couldn’t be helped.

If he continued to live so softly, he’d get stabbed in the back and die.

In a novel where every character had a screw loose and was viciously intense, he was the complete opposite—pure as milk.

I knew just how insidious and cruel Duke Alloje and Pentas Alloje from the original novel were.

At this rate, we’re finished!

“Prepare two rooms. It would be best if they were separated by a glass wall. If not... at least make it so the sound can travel between them.”

The informants looked at each other at my words.