WeTried Translations
Translator/Editor: Ceaseless
Discord: https://dsc.gg/wetried
◈ The Northern Grand Duke’s Mad Son-in-Law ◈
Chapter 98: Estimate
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“What’s the target?”
First asked, his nostrils flaring. His face was full of excitement.
“A high-ranking Demonkin called the Ruler.”
“A high-ranking Demonkin? Interesting.”
“It’ll be different from the Demonkin you saw in the capital.”
“Different?”
“The higher a Demonkin’s mana concentration, the stronger it is. To put it in perspective...”
Galahad snapped his fingers. A transparent Mana Arrow appeared, its size illustrating the concentration.
“About four times as dense.”
“Four times... Hmm.”
First let out a low hum. His neck cracked.
Pumpkin, standing beside him, instinctively took a step back.
“This will be fun.”
First spoke fervently, his voice full of sincerity. Galahad clicked his tongue and chuckled.
“Every Demonkin possesses a different authority. The Ruler’s authority allows it to control those weaker than itself.”
“Heh heh. Then it won’t apply to me.”
First spoke with complete confidence.
‘That might be true.’
A knight’s aura was the power of conviction.
If he raised his aura, there was a good chance the Ruler’s authority would not suppress him. First was no ordinary knight. He was a knight of the Intelligence Bureau.
Galahad, on the other hand, was a mage. He was more vulnerable to the Ruler’s authority.
‘Not anymore, though.’
Galahad flicked ash from his cigarette and continued.
“The Ruler has occupied the Sixth Battalion. It’ll be controlling soldiers too. The place will be full of Demonkin.”
“I see. Hmm, then we should infiltrate.”
“I agree.”
First was a capable agent as well, so the conversation moved quickly.
Then Adrianna stepped in.
“The senses of a high-ranking Demonkin are extremely sharp. It will notice us immediately.”
It was a valid point. Galahad nodded.
“Adrianna has a point. That thing is quite perceptive.”
“Then we must be careful.”
Galahad and First continued speaking rapidly. Adrianna’s brows lowered slightly.
“A high-ranking Demonkin is more than merely perceptive. It will sense our presence and react. We could be surrounded and placed in even greater danger.”
As always, Adrianna was correct.
But...
“...It seems she still doesn’t know?”
First pointed at Adrianna as he asked. He meant whether Galahad had told her about the Intelligence Bureau. Galahad nodded.
“I was pushed out to the North, but I didn’t retire.”
“True, the Inspectorate is troublesome. Ah, don’t worry about infiltration. It’s our specialty.”
After First’s confident declaration, Adrianna looked at Galahad. He quietly nodded.
“It should be fine. Ah, it reacts strongly to magic and aura.”
“Is that so? I’ll keep that in mind.”
First nodded.
Their conversation continued so quickly that Adrianna could not interrupt.
First patted his waist. His thick leather belt rattled.
After a brief silence...
“Then...”
First began.
Galahad flicked ash from his cigarette and nodded.
“Let’s start with an estimate.”
The corners of their mouths rose at the same time.
* * *
“...What is an estimate?”
Adrianna asked Pumpkin.
“Ah, it means exactly what it sounds like. Before a mission, we check the situation and the route.”
“...The situation and route?”
“Yes. For example, we determine how many guards there are, as well as their condition, positions, and combat strength.”
“Ah, scouting.”
“It’s similar, but more detailed.”
Adrianna nodded. The North had its own concept of scouting.
Of course, northern scouting meant the first engagement.
“Won’t the two of them be in danger?”
Galahad had headed toward the Sixth Battalion with only First. Adrianna had tried to follow, but Galahad stopped her, saying she would get in the way.
‘Getting in the way...’
It was something no one had ever called her before. Before Adrianna could say anything, Galahad had vanished with First.
“Ah, they’ll be fine. They’re both the best in the business. Though there’s quite a large gap between them.”
‘...Business?’
It was a very strange word. Adrianna’s brow creased slightly.
She did not know what Galahad had done before. All she knew was that he had once been involved with the Princess, was the Academy’s youngest graduate, and was Count Amberton’s third son.
At first, she had not been curious.
And now...
“...Anyway, First loses his mind whenever Galahad is involved. Did you see how he just abandoned me and left?”
Pumpkin’s question pulled Adrianna from her thoughts.
“I believe appropriate competition has a positive effect on improving one’s abilities.”
She answered a joke with complete sincerity.
Pumpkin was slightly startled, but quickly smiled and continued.
“But First’s obsession is not at an appropriate level. You should have seen him propose to me the moment he heard Galahad was getting married.”
Pumpkin made the remark casually. Adrianna remained expressionless. She looked like a sculpture painstakingly carved by a god.
“Marriage is an important matter. He would not speak of it to just anyone because of a competitive spirit. He must have said it because he has feelings for you.”
Pumpkin was quietly horrified by Adrianna’s serious answer. She had quite a difficult personality.
“Ahem, we’re not like that. He probably said it because there’s a hole in his head.”
“It is not right to joke about marriage. It mocks the person who hears it.”
Why was she taking it so seriously?
Trying to ease the mood, Pumpkin laughed and joked.
“Ha ha, it seems Lady Adrianna has suffered quite a lot too.”
“...”
Adrianna pressed her lips together. The atmosphere grew even more awkward, and Pumpkin hurriedly smiled.
“It was a joke. I apologize.”
“...Yes. He probably would not joke about marriage.”
Pumpkin frowned at Adrianna’s serious reply.
After hearing things like that repeatedly, she could not help but wonder...
‘Could First really...?’
Pumpkin muttered quietly. First had been her first handler. They had been together ever since she became an agent, and agents always walked the line between life and death.
She had never once considered such things.
But...
[Pumpkin, you’re unmarried, aren’t you?]
“Fuck.”
“...Pardon?”
“Ah! No, it’s nothing. A horrible thought came to mind.”
Pumpkin hurriedly shook her head. First was a colleague, her handler, and her comrade-in-arms. He was not a man to her.
A brief silence followed. Adrianna carefully opened her mouth.
“Could it be that Commander Galahad was originally...?”
Pumpkin tensed slightly at Adrianna’s cautious question.
Anything about the Intelligence Bureau was classified. If she carelessly talked about it, the Inspectorate might come after her.
Then Adrianna said something Pumpkin had not expected.
“...A thief?”
“...Pardon?”
“He is skilled at infiltration. He is the best in the business. He makes estimates... Aren’t those words a thief would use? Commander Galahad does not seem like that sort of person, but he may have had his reasons.”
Pumpkin studied Adrianna. Her expression revealed nothing.
‘It must be a joke.’
A joke should be taken as a joke. Pumpkin nodded.
Then...
“A thief? Did he perhaps steal Lady Adrianna’s heart? Ha ha!”
The moment she made the joke, Pumpkin realized it was the sort of joke First would make.
‘First, you bastard...’
Pumpkin covered her face.
The silence stretched on for quite some time. Pumpkin lowered her head deeply.
“A heart cannot be stolen.”
“...Yes.”
“It was not stolen.”
“Yes.”
A little later, First and Galahad returned. There was something strange about the atmosphere between them.
“The walls are packed with soldiers. They seem to be under its authority. They have been standing there without the slightest movement. They react even to the smallest sound, and Demonkin emerge immediately. Maintaining this level of vigilance makes it a very troublesome enemy.”
First spoke calmly. There was no playfulness in his voice.
“That’s right. There are Demonkin among the soldiers too. Demonkin are sensitive to magic, so they’ll react at once.”
“What is the enemy’s estimated strength?”
“At minimum, Adrianna and I would have to be there.”
“Then infiltration is impossible.”
Galahad nodded. First narrowed his eyes.
“What if we go in head-on?”
“There are too many on their side. Even if we drive them back...”
“It could escape.”
“It already fled from a city once. The first time is difficult, but the second is easy.”
They nodded at the same time. First snapped his fingers while Galahad quietly flicked ash from his cigarette.
Slowly nodding, First spoke.
“This mission is likely to fail.”
First made the judgment calmly.
He was serious about his contest with Galahad, but he was not someone who let his emotions cloud his judgment.
“I agree. It’s more troublesome than I expected.”
Galahad agreed.
“Pardon? What do you mean?”
“Exactly what I said, Sir Gilbert.”
Galahad tapped ash from his cigarette.
“It is thorough. It even placed Demonkin among the soldiers. If we use magic on the soldiers, it’ll notice. Then...”
Galahad pushed aside the snow at his feet, gathering it into a small mound.
First continued.
“We’ll have to face all of them. Even if we force our way through...”
“It may escape.”
“This is what we call...”
“The other side holds the hilt.”
First kicked the mound of snow Galahad had made. Snow scattered in a long spray.
“Fighting every Demonkin in the fortress is what we must avoid most. Even if we succeed, the Ruler will flee to another battalion. Or a village.”
“It may attack soldiers on patrol. From what I saw, there are quite a few places patrols do not reach.”
“In the end, it would only be a temporary measure.”
A heavy silence fell over them.
“We requested support from His Grace the Grand Duke, so waiting for him...”
“They did not even notice the Sixth Battalion’s abnormality. Someone around the Grand Duke must be keeping him uninformed. The moment support leaves, the Ruler will flee.”
“If I were the Ruler, I would make every soldier in the Sixth Battalion kill themselves. It would make erasing the evidence easy.”
“I agree.”
First nodded. Everyone was slightly surprised by how different he seemed from before.
“This mission is impossible. Failure is inevitable.”
First spoke firmly.
Everyone swallowed hard.
“Unless there is a second trick.”
First looked at Galahad as he spoke. Galahad smiled slightly at his shamelessness.
Everyone’s eyes turned toward Galahad. He nodded.
“That’s right. There is one more way.”
First smiled as though he had expected that answer. Galahad tossed away his finished cigarette. The butt turned to powder and scattered in the wind.
“The Ruler wants me. More precisely, it wants me and this Golden Scepter.”
Galahad spun the Golden Scepter.
“Don’t we have an invitation?”
Galahad looked behind him as he asked. Gisel smiled broadly and nodded.
“I’ll go in and keep the Ruler occupied. When I send the signal, infiltrate before it realizes you’ve entered.”
Galahad spoke monotonously, as though explaining someone else’s plan.
“I see. You intend to keep it tied down? It’s not a bad plan. No, it’s an excellent one.”
First murmured in admiration, then snapped his fingers as though calculating something.
At that moment, Adrianna strode forward. Her brows were tightly furrowed.
“...You are saying you’ll go in alone?”
“More accurately, there will be two of us.”
“Ah, I see. Understood.”
Adrianna nodded and gripped the hilt of her sword.
But the person Galahad pointed at was not Adrianna.
“Oh my, what a delight.”
It was Gisel.
Adrianna’s brows tightened. Her eyes turned sharp.
“You intend to face a high-ranking Demonkin? It is reckless. It is dangerous. I cannot allow it.”
Adrianna spoke rapidly, her voice slightly raised.
“Did you not say that commanders do not give orders to each other? I do not need your permission.”
Adrianna fell silent at Galahad’s cold words.
“Besides, this method has the highest chance of success. Isn’t that right, First?”
“It is certainly reasonable. If you can keep the high-ranking Demonkin occupied, we can infiltrate from this side. It is a clever move.”
First actually praised Galahad’s plan. Adrianna found their calm conversation strange.
Was that plan truly acceptable? Entering a high-ranking Demonkin’s fortress alone?
No matter how capable Galahad was, this was too much.
“Commander Galahad is a mage. He cannot keep a high-ranking Demonkin occupied alone.”
Adrianna’s usually calm voice had risen strangely high.
“This is not the Demon Realm. I have already prepared a way to deal with it.”
Galahad’s voice remained as calm as ever.
He smiled leisurely, as though this were nothing at all.
“So trust me.”
Adrianna bit down hard on her lip.
He was a truly unfair man.
“The estimate is complete.”
The corners of First’s mouth rose viciously.
* * *
‘They’re late.’
The Ruler frowned. The promised deadline was today.
Something was strange. Fox Mask was a bizarre one, but the Ruler had ties to Fox Mask’s organization.
They would not abandon the Ruler.
‘Did something happen?’
That was the most likely possibility. Fox Mask would not betray the Ruler.
‘I should move the plan forward.’
The Ruler turned its head. There was a hole as dark as a bottomless abyss.
It had built a city in Hellove near the Sixth Battalion, returned to the Sixth Battalion, and received help from that organization for one reason alone.
‘The Boundary Rift.’
Preparations were not yet completely finished, but it could delay no longer.
‘How dare they drive me out?’
The Ruler twisted its lips.
The domain would soon collapse.
Then the Ruler felt a reaction from its authority. Something had happened. When it focused on its authority, it saw the situation.
That bastard was there.
The one who had dared to steal the Ruler’s Golden Scepter stood there looking exhausted. Fox Mask was beside him as well...
The Ruler did not jump to conclusions. It borrowed another’s eyes and examined the situation.
That bastard was alone.
“So it was not betrayal.”
The Ruler’s lips curled into a broad smile.
It moved its authority and opened a path.
Lost in the happy dilemma of deciding what punishment to give...
The Ruler did not see that bastard’s lips curl upward.
Footnotes:
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