“So what exactly is this place, and why are you here again? Dressed so sloppily and shamelessly?”
Ileil’s face flushed slightly as she looked up at Gro standing on the second floor and questioned him coldly.
“This is a bathhouse, of course.” Gro shrugged and answered seriously.
“As for why I’m here… I was in a private room here, bathing with some acquaintances and discussing a few important matters along the way. After all, the camp reconstruction needs to be put on the agenda, and information about the heretics needs to be collected. I’m very busy.”
With that, Gro took a sip of the red wine in his glass and looked at Ileil with an amused gaze.
“So now it’s my turn to ask you, kid. Shouldn’t you be by Princess Prinshitt’s side right now? How did you end up here?”
“This really is just a bathhouse…? You still haven’t explained clearly!”
Ileil still looked unconvinced.
Seeing this, the madam leaned close to her ear and whispered an explanation.
After hearing the madam’s words, Ileil’s face instantly turned bright red, and her expression toward Gro sharpened.
“So you came running to a place like this to seek pleasure… you bastard.”
“No, no, no, you’ve misunderstood, Miss Ileil.” Although the madam ran a rather improper establishment, she was at least a proper businesswoman. She quickly explained on Gro’s behalf.
“I can testify for your father, Miss Ileil. He really didn’t order any special services here. I even introduced him to several fine girls, but he rejected them all.”
Father… father… fucking father again…
Ileil clenched her fists tightly.
During this period, Gro seemed addicted to playing this role, casually claiming to be her adoptive father to any passerby. Because of the contract, Ileil had no choice but to cooperate and play the daughter.
Ileil had already been in a bad mood after accidentally entering this “bathhouse,” and now it had reached its absolute worst.
“Exactly, exactly. Just as this sensible lady said, I really am here on official business.” Gro lazily swirled his wine glass and spoke unhurriedly. “Since the kind madam has already answered your questions for me, it’s your turn to answer mine now, right?”
Ileil took a deep breath and forcefully suppressed the anger surging in her chest.
“Her Highness the Princess told me to leave temporarily. And Mr. Saint believes I need… to adjust my state.”
“I see. It seems you must have said something wrong and offended Her Highness.”
The silver-haired girl froze for a moment.
The reason for leaving the princess’s side had indeed been guessed almost perfectly by Gro—Ileil’s overly sharp comment calling Prinshitt a “flaw” had made the princess unable to maintain her composure any longer, leading directly to an argument with Ileil.
But Ileil herself was also a stubborn person.
Faced with the princess’s anger, she had not yielded even an inch.
Ileil believed that in serious matters like this, flattery and polite words had no place. The heretics lurking in the shadows were brewing unknown schemes, and they would not give Prinshitt the kind of respect reserved for playing house.
And so, Ileil and Prinshitt had argued just like on the night they first met.
The argument escalated until Prinshitt even shed tears and said things like “You don’t understand anything at all…”, “What do you know about me?”, “You’re only thinking about yourself…”—words that sounded almost like coquettish complaints. Her emotions had nearly collapsed—until Dorias interrupted the quarrel.
But even now, Ileil could not understand why Prinshitt had thrown a tantrum just because she had spoken the truth.
As the princess, Prinshitt should clearly bear far heavier responsibilities than she did.
If someone had evaluated Ileil that way, she would have silently put pressure on herself and gritted her teeth to work even harder at becoming stronger.
…
“Gro…” Kaze saw the timing was right and finally walked through the door.
Kaze had intended to look Gro in the eyes, but that damn morbid curiosity kept drawing his gaze to Gro’s exposed chest.
“Have you seen Kol’s group here? Alyssa said they weren’t at their posts, so I’ve been asking around everywhere and came here to look for them.”
“I have.” Gro replied. “To be precise, they ran straight into me right after arriving at the bathhouse—Kol greeted me awkwardly when he saw me and then left.”
“……”
Kaze fell silent.
It was obvious that “Black Edge” Gro, as the mercenary group leader, carried far more intimidation than Kaze.
Although Gro always looked cheerful, those who had seen him get truly ruthless almost never dared to offend him.
Kol’s group might not listen much to Kaze, but they were not bold enough to keep slacking off after running into Gro while skipping duty.
“Judging by your expression, the situation doesn’t look good.” The frivolous look vanished from Gro’s face.
He set down his wine glass and leaped lightly down from the second floor.
“Tell me the details, Kaze.”
Seeing that the two had begun discussing official matters, the madam tactfully moved aside.
Ileil, still holding her wooden basin, was forced to listen in on their conversation.
What Kaze wanted to convey was simple: today it was Kol’s group’s turn to patrol, but they had not returned on time to report to Alyssa. That was why Alyssa had subconsciously assumed they were slacking and asked Kaze to find them.
But after exchanging information, they realized the incident was not simple at all.
—Rather than saying Kol’s group had gone off to slack and play, it was more accurate to say their whereabouts looked more like a disappearance.
And at this critical moment, no less.
……
“This is troublesome now.” Gro stroked his chin. The matter seemed far more serious than he had imagined. “Kol’s batch… I’m afraid they’ve met with some misfortune.”
“Then what should we do?” Kaze felt his brain struggling to keep up. He lowered his voice. “Should we call more people to search for their tracks…? You don’t think Kol and the others were really caught by the Mor believers, do you…?”
“No need to alert the enemy.” Gro quickly gave his answer. He glanced at the greatsword behind Kaze and patted his shoulder with clear intent. “Just the three of us will investigate Kol’s patrol route—the faster the better.”
At this point, Gro grabbed Ileil, who had been about to follow the madam into a private room.
“Please, Ileil, lend a hand.”
Ileil’s wooden basin dropped to the ground with a clang!
She had originally sensed trouble and planned to slip away quietly.
She had just arranged with the madam to simply enjoy a proper bath, even specifying lavender in the bathwater—but unfortunately, she still could not escape Gro’s grasp.
“…Can I refuse?”
“I believe you won’t refuse me, Ileil.” Gro rarely put on a serious face and spoke earnestly.
Damn it. Ileil sighed.
If Gro insisted on making her work overtime, the contract meant she could not refuse at all.
Ileil slapped his hand away and said helplessly, “I don’t really have a choice anyway, do I?”
Besides Ileil and Gro, even Kaze knew nothing about the contract between them.
To outsiders, Ileil looked exactly like a tsundere adopted daughter who said one thing but meant another.
The madam chuckled lightly behind Ileil.
“Miss Ileil, your father is right. At times like this, an extra pair of hands is always good.” The madam somehow produced a set of light leather armor. “This belongs to my niece and was left here. Would you make do with it for now?”
“Ileil has always been my pride. She has almost never let me down.”
Ileil’s hands trembled slightly as she listened to Gro’s words.
The statement left her somewhat dazed.
The silver-haired girl stared into Gro’s deep blue eyes, unable to understand what kind of feelings lay behind his words—she felt confused about how much sincerity was in what had come out of Gro’s mouth… or whether it was merely his usual rhetoric for deceiving outsiders.
She could not tell.
Gro had already fastened his cloak and casually tossed a pouch of silver coins to the madam.
“Madam Martha, about tonight’s matter…”
The madam caught the pouch skillfully. “I saw nothing and heard nothing. The three guests simply came for a cup of tea.”
Gro nodded in satisfaction. As he turned, his black cloak drew a stylish arc.
He looked back and reminded Ileil, “Don’t forget to bring your short swords, kid.”
Ileil sighed and could only take the set of leather armor and walk into the changing room.
Hypocritical man. Disgusting.
Just as she was fastening her wrist guards, a familiar voice poured into the girl’s ears.
“You…” When Ileil reflexively wanted to say something, the voice quickly stopped her.
Do not make a sound, my kin. Do not let that cunning old fox notice anything unusual about you.
—It was precisely the voice of the unnamed black-haired witch who had caused the black-gold fire.
We will meet again soon, as long as you follow my arrangements…