Although Kaze didn’t understand Gro’s intention in saying that, seeing his expression, it seemed Gro had a reason why he had to say it.
So Kaze had to hide his doubts in his heart for now.
The changing room door was fully pushed open, and Ileil walked out with neat steps.
She had changed into a dark hunting outfit—a high-collar shirt with a leather vest over it, the waist-cinching hem just covering the roots of her thighs, pants of the same color tucked into knee-high boots.
Most eye-catching was the wide leather belt embedded with metal buckles at her waist, with a short sword hanging on each side.
Ileil’s silver hair was simply tied into a high ponytail, a few stray strands hanging by her ears, making those golden pupils even sharper.
If not for her conspicuous long silver hair, she could easily be mistaken for a capable young man.
Gro let out a sigh of relief.
At least this outfit looked much more normal.
“Not bad,” he nodded, his tone carrying a bit of approval.
“Thanks, everyone. I’m very satisfied with the outfit you picked for my daughter.”
Whether it was Ileil or Kaze, hearing the word “daughter” come out of Gro’s mouth gave them some degree of shock.
“But we have some private matters to discuss next. Could I trouble you two to leave first?”
Gro quickly sent away the maids and briefly explained to Kaze why he had called Ileil that.
“I see. I understand.”
Kaze clutched his chest, saying with relief, “I thought this title was your twisted way of provoking her.”
“Sigh, even you think that…”
Gro couldn’t help but facepalm.
After hearing Kaze’s comment, he felt a bit off inside.
……
“Then let’s get back to business,” Gro sighed, returning to his usual tone of speech.
“What else did Alyssa say, Kaze?”
Kaze’s expression became serious again.
“Then let’s finish the business quickly while we have time, since Ileil is here too.”
And so, Kaze started from the female mage Alyssa’s discoveries, retelling their findings.
Gro listened quietly.
Although Kaze had brought quite a few clues, to Gro—the effective information wasn’t much, and it was largely the same as the intelligence he had probed from the princess.
…
“Mor is the incarnation of slaughter. Even if His fame surpasses the Dawn Goddess, He doesn’t have the ability to create living dead like the ones from yesterday.”
After hearing Kaze’s information, Ileil came to this conclusion.
“I think so too,” Gro shrugged, continuing, “But the people you killed yesterday were genuine Mor believers.”
“You said this fire was set by a witch. Could it be a case of black eating black—the witch framing the Mor believers?”
Kaze was thinking along the same lines.
Unlike his burly appearance, Kaze was surprisingly detail-oriented in this regard.
“Possible,” Gro agreed, “But I’m not sure. I didn’t sleep all night last night; I went to Renn Town’s church to flip through materials related to witches—but I didn’t find any witch with such authority. Even if a witch who can control flames really exists, her fire is a highly destructive weapon, very different from the situation we encountered yesterday.”
Ileil silently listened to Kaze and Gro’s conversation without speaking.
…
Kaze and Gro also briefly discussed matters related to the losses.
Ileil looked at Gro’s face; when mentioning these, his expression couldn’t help but become pained.
“Then let’s leave it at that for now.”
Gro took a pocket watch out of his pocket and looked down at the time.
“It’s 6:55 now. Estimated at around 7:15, Ileil and I will have breakfast with the princess’s people and exchange new information.”
“Then I’ll head back first,” Kaze rubbed his somewhat stiff shoulders.
“Alyssa is still busy over there. I need to go help her quickly; we’ll exchange information another time.”
“Tonight, then. If nothing unexpected happens, you can find me in that room from earlier.”
Gro stood up straight, yawning as he spoke.
He looked truly drained.
“Let’s go, Ileil. It’s time to formally meet that princess…”
“Can I not go?”
Ileil didn’t move her feet; she raised an objection.
“I can go help on Kaze’s side.”
“No.”
Gro’s tone allowed no refusal, completely different from his lazy, tired self just moments ago.
“Not only do you have to go, I want you to temporarily stay by the princess’s side and assist them in eliminating the hidden heretics—this is an order; you have no choice.”
“……Understood.”
“Don’t make that face, kid.” Ileil agreed verbally, but her tone was clearly reluctant.
“I’m not deliberately making things hard for you. Right now, everyone is watching the sole survivor of this bizarre fire. If you suddenly disappear—”
“I understand the stakes,” Ileil interrupted.
She lowered her eyes, her fingers unconsciously rubbing the sword hilt.
“I just really don’t want to face that princess.”
“Everyone has things they don’t want to face. Or are you saying you’d rather work with me next?”
Gro raised an eyebrow, looking into the girl’s golden eyes as he said this deliberately.
As expected, hearing this made Ileil frown—people always compromise, Gro thought; saying this should make Ileil behave a bit.
Right, that’s the expression.
Gro knew how much Ileil hated him… especially after forcing her to sign that contract yesterday.
If not for this contract, she’d probably stab him with her short sword without mercy the moment they met.
Gro showed a self-mocking smile; in these eight years—he had been non-stop playing the role of the “villain” in front of Ileil.
…
But Ileil didn’t show the disgusted expression Gro had expected.
Instead, she seriously considered Gro’s words and answered earnestly, “If I have to choose, I’d choose you.”
“Ha……?”
It was a completely unexpected answer for Gro; he even suspected if Ileil’s brain had been burned silly by the witch yesterday.
“At least by your side, I don’t have to deliberately hide anything.”
“…Haha, is that so?”
Hearing Ileil’s answer, Gro quickly recovered.
Rationally speaking, Ileil’s words made sense—staying with him, she at least didn’t have to worry about her witch identity being exposed or some unintentional action offending someone and stepping on their toes.
“You’re right.”
Gro continued in a light tone, “Aside from the fact that I killed your beloved father—I’m actually not that讨厌, right?”
Ileil’s pupils contracted, her fingers gripping the sword hilt tightly.
The air seemed to freeze for an instant; even Kaze subconsciously stepped back half a step.
“Are you provoking me?”
Although Ileil was furious inside, her reason forcefully suppressed this emotion.
Gro’s words were absolutely not said casually.
Ileil stared into Gro’s eyes; she couldn’t read the emotions in them.
He had said this deliberately, more like he was probing something…
Or perhaps…
Gro’s smile froze on his face; he saw the killing intent surging in Ileil’s eyes, something he was all too familiar with.
“Ah, sorry, sorry,” Gro raised his hands in a surrender gesture.
“Blame me for speaking without thinking; after all—”
“After all what?” Ileil stepped forward, her boot heel knocking a crisp sound on the floor.
Gro suddenly retracted all expressions and, rarely sincere, said a true word, “After all… this is the first time I’ve heard you say something good about me to my face.”