Chapter 31
By the time Jake and Jessica finished setting up the workshop, the Duke of Lutetia was in the middle of frowning deeply.
He had just finished meeting with a secret envoy from another territory.
And that envoy had left him with a headache.
"This is troublesome."
"Wouldn't it be better to simply refuse?"
Baron Andrew, his longtime advisor and relative, offered the suggestion from beside him.
But the Duke shook his head.
"I'd like to, but it would be difficult to simply ignore them."
"If we help them and are discovered, we could incur the new emperor's wrath."
Andrew's argument was perfectly reasonable.
But the Duke still felt uncomfortable accepting it.
"That's the problem."
"Still, they were struck down despite not committing any serious crime."
"This has happened whenever a new emperor ascends the throne, but this emperor is especially severe."
"At least he doesn't seem to be a fool."
Andrew replied.
"It seems he's controlling things enough to prevent it from turning into a full-scale civil war."
The Duke let out a quiet scoff.
"They call him the Omniscient Emperor."
"Do you think he'd expose an opening that easily?"
He tapped his fingers against the armrest.
"Either way, we can't let them remain inside our territory forever."
"It would be better to help them leave before they become a source of conflict."
"Then shall I prepare troops?"
The Duke shook his head.
"No."
"We can't openly assist them."
He thought for a moment.
"The boys are currently in the Great Forest, aren't they?"
"Yes."
Andrew nodded.
"Both the First Young Lord and Second Young Lord are leading Ranger units while clearing monsters from the Great Forest."
The Duke nodded.
He knew that well.
He had personally sent them there.
The Rangers of Lutetia periodically reduced the monster population inside the Great Forest.
They needed to eliminate as many monsters as possible before winter.
Otherwise...
The later monster waves would become much worse.
The Duke had sent both of his sons on this campaign.
Anyone who might one day govern the territory needed that kind of experience.
Since both sons were absent...
The remaining candidate would have to handle this matter.
"Hmm."
The Duke rubbed his chin.
"Then I'll leave this one to Rachel."
"What?"
Andrew looked surprised.
"Will that be all right?"
"She doesn't have any private troops of her own."
"We couldn't use the Rangers openly anyway."
The Duke shrugged.
"Even if I gave it to the First or Second, they'd have to use mercenaries or personal troops."
"There's no reason Rachel should be the only one relaxing while her brothers work."
"Tell her to figure it out herself."
"Mercenaries, private soldiers, whatever she wants."
"That's rather harsh for the Princess after everything she's been through..."
Andrew began.
Then he stopped.
"Ah."
"I understand."
He had served as the Duke's advisor for more than ten years.
There was no way he could fail to understand after being given this much information.
The Duke had just informed Andrew that Rachel was being added to the pool of potential successors.
And the fact that he had deliberately allowed Andrew to understand...
Meant he intended to make that fact official sooner or later.
A short while later...
Rachel was summoned.
After hearing her father's instructions...
She agreed to carry them out.
And Baron Andrew quietly began recalculating everything now that a new candidate had entered the succession race.
The next day.
Jake and Jessica encountered Mage Amber on the first floor of the Mercenary Guild.
"It seems you've left the inn you were staying at."
Amber smiled.
"We almost missed each other."
Jake and Jessica both looked slightly awkward.
"We found a small party residence outside the city."
It was absolutely not small.
But if they wanted to avoid suspicion...
They needed to keep the manor secret for now.
Amber had visited the inn where they used to stay.
Patrick had refused to tell her where the two had moved.
So Amber had gone to the Mercenary Guild in hopes of finding them.
And as luck would have it...
Jake and Jessica had come to the Guild after finishing the manor's renovations to see if there was any new information.
Amber was delighted to run into them.
Jake and Jessica worried that she might ask more questions about their residence.
But Amber was interested in something else entirely.
"I'm glad I found you."
"I was worried I might be too late."
She looked at both of them.
"I have a request for you."
Jake and Jessica tilted their heads.
They had no idea what kind of job would require Amber to specifically seek them out.
Then...
Amber's Message spell reached both of them.
-I need you to escort a group through the Great Forest and into one of the southern kingdoms.
Jessica's expression immediately hardened.
Jake did not yet fully understand.
But Jessica instantly realized what Amber meant.
"We should move somewhere else."
If Jessica's guess was correct...
This was not a conversation they should have inside the Guild regardless of whether they accepted the job.
The three went to an inn near the Mercenary Guild and rented a room for a short time.
Apparently, renting a room by the hour was not unusual.
The innkeeper accepted their money without question.
Soon...
The three were sitting inside a small room.
Only then did they begin speaking openly.
"The request is to guide fugitives, right?"
Jessica checked that no one was nearby before asking.
Amber nodded.
Only then did Jake fully understand the nature of the request.
Mercenaries in Lutetia did more than obvious jobs such as dungeon exploration.
There were also jobs that belonged to the shadows.
Work that could not be done openly.
Some of it was simply dirty.
Some of it was completely illegal.
And one such job...
Was smuggling fugitives from the empire through the Great Forest and into the southern kingdoms.
The empire's power was heavily centralized.
The borders between the empire and southern kingdoms were covered with enormous numbers of troops and surveillance posts.
It was extremely difficult to cross the empire unnoticed and then escape trained soldiers and magical detection.
Ordinary criminals had an easier time crossing the border.
But political fugitives...
Especially nobles implicated in rebellion or treason...
Had almost no chance of crossing the empire and reaching the southern kingdoms.
For those people...
There were only two realistic routes.
The western sea.
Or the eastern Great Forest.
Throughout the empire's history...
Countless fugitives had escaped through the Great Forest with mercenary guides.
It was not common work.
But among mercenaries...
Guiding fugitives had become known as an extremely high-risk, high-reward job.
Jessica tilted her head despite Amber's confirmation.
Fugitives needed guides they could trust.
And judging by the fact that Amber had brought the job...
This request had probably come unofficially from the Lord's Castle.
Surely there were already mercenaries connected to the castle who specialized in this work.
So why ask the two of them?
"This is a personal matter."
Amber answered as if reading her thoughts.
"It has nothing to do with His Grace."
Naturally...
There was no way Amber would openly admit the castle was involved.
"However..."
Amber's tone shifted slightly.
"If you accept this job, Princess Rachel will make good use of you in the future, Jessica."
That statement carried a different implication.
Jessica was still inexperienced with this kind of political language.
She merely looked confused.
Jake understood immediately.
He sent Jessica a Message spell.
-I don't think this job is connected to the Duke directly.
-It seems to be connected more to Princess Rachel.
-You can probably view this request as a test to see whether she can use the two of us...
-Or more specifically, you...
-As her people.
Jessica finally understood.
It seemed Rachel had taken a liking to them.
Or rather...
To Jessica.
That was extremely flattering.
Connections with the Duke's daughter...
A Princess...
Would be enormously valuable to a mercenary like Jessica.
It would also be useful for Jake.
Unfortunately...
The timing was terrible.
They absolutely did not need to become involved in something this dangerous right now.
Jessica had only recently become a Mana User.
