Chapter 91 (1/2)

Chapter 91

That was a bitter decision for Harold. While the Sumeragi territory was not a direct threat to his life, it still had flags as devastating as the ones raised by working under Justus. Because that place held a bomb of a critical threat level, called Erica.

Furthermore, considering that Justus had a complete grasp on Lifa’s actions, he would likely find out that Harold was accompanying her. In short, he was undoubtedly going to discover Harold’s connection to the Sumeragi family.

The reason Harold was heading towards the Sumeragi territory despite being aware of all the above was solely because, if he had let Lifa take care of herself, chances were that she would have been killed. Harold could not tell what kind of changes would occur to the original story if that were to happen.

And judging from Liner’s and the others’ progress, there were likely several months left before the game’s final battle. But from here on, as Liner’s group would become more active, things were going to reach a point where Harold would not know how to deal with Justus anymore. Harold’s goals so far had been to obstruct Justus’ moves while planning things from behind the scenes, and he had assessed that he would be able to escape before there would be any grounds to prove his actions. But was taking that risk really the right choice?

The honest truth was that Harold had long figured that he would end up being suspected. He did not feel anything that would suggest that from Justus’ behavior, but if he looked at his own behavior objectively, he was evidently quite suspicious. Justus would not overlook that.

Plus Harold had carelessly led Justus to surveil Lifa’s actions. In other words, he was just paying for his own, numerous mistakes.

However, even so, Justus still kept Harold around, probably because he had no conclusive evidence against him yet, or because he believed that he could still be of some use to him. If so, then Harold just had to keep himself prepared for the worst and to do what he could while not exposing himself too much.

At present, Lifa was the last piece necessary to bring down Justus. If Harold made her join the protagonist’s party, then at the very least, his own work would be done. After that, he would just collect the remaining treasured objects while pulling some strings and giving Frieri the instructions they would need so that things would progress smoothly.

If Justus wanted to suspect him, then so be it. There was hardly enough time left for those suspicions to lead him anywhere anyway.

As long as Harold survived until the last battle, and as long as he carried out his essential role until the very last moment, then Justus’ evil deeds would be brought to the light. Even if he did end up being chased by Justus, Harold would not mind staying on the run for a few months.

So, Justus’ suspicions did not really matter to Harold. Because, as long as Lifa did not change her mind, then her life would be in danger unless Harold or Liner were nearby. Moreover, Harold knew that it would be no use talking to her.

So, if words were useless, the only way left was to show her the way through actions, by putting together a team like the one in the original story.

That was why he had taken Lifa and had come all the way to the Sumeragi territory with her. The most he had been able to do to deal with Justus regarding this matter was to use an obvious lie. “It would be too troublesome to kill her, so I’m taking her back to her village”; he just scribbled that on some piece of paper and sent it to him.

Harold was probably going to be questioned and drowned in sarcasm anyway no matter what he wrote, but he would just have to say that he does not fancy killing a kid who was just asking questions out of curiosity, and then, even someone like Justus would find himself with fewer ways to be on the offensive regarding the whole matter. And in case Harold was asked why he had taken Lifa through the Sumeragi territory, he would just have to say that he happened to meet an acquaintance there. It was possible to pass through the Sumeragi territory to go from the royal capital towards Lifa’s native place, the Weiss village, so while this was suspicious, it wasn’t unreasonable.

【”Ooh, so this is the Sumeragi territory. What a peculiar townscape.”](Lifa)

It had been a while since Harold had last entered the Sumeragi territory. As for Lifa, having entered the residential area, she was restlessly looking around the vicinity with curious eyes.

lifa’s current appearance reminded Harold of her first visit to the royal capital, at the time when she was sightseeing the capital’s main street.

【”What? Is it your first time here? It’s pretty close to your village though.”]

【”I didn’t have anything in particular to do here before. Besides, I’ve secluded myself at home for a long time to focus on my research.”]

Saying that, Lifa lightly shrugged her shoulders.

Certainly, in this world, even when a town was in the vicinity of another and when it wasn’t far at all, there were still some dangers, such as being attacked by monsters on the way. Nobody would bother to visit another town or village without a clear purpose. Well, still, the main reason was probably Lifa’s shut-in lifestyle.

【”So, you said we have things to do here but you didn’t say what. I need some explanations.”]

【”First, we’re going to look for some people.”]

【”People?”]

Indeed, the current mission was to find Liner, Colette and Hugo and to set Lifa up with their group.

As for the pretext to get her there, it would probably be enough to just say he wants her to collaborate with Liner and the others. While their team was currently trying to get back the treasured sword, they were also working on solving accidents and other anomalies in various places, giving full play to their soft-hearted natures.

And as one would expect from a man who was aiming to become the leader of the knight order in the future, Liner, who was in nearby town, was going to come to the Sumeragi territory upon hearing of the mysterious miasma problem that was occurring there.

This was why Harold had not entirely solved the miasma problem before. Because it was at this point in the original story that Erica had become a part of the protagonist’s party.

For the time being, the ideal choice was to just tell Lifa to join Liner’s team without Harold having to show up personally. As a last resort, Harold was also willing to stand before Liner as himself, to avoid any unnecessary trouble.

【”They’re three people, one with red hair, one with golden hair, and one with blue hair. First we’re gonna check if they’re in the Sumeragis’ streets.”]

The group stood out a lot due to the weapons they were carrying and their colorful hair. If they had already visited this town, many people would remember.

That would not be strange since they were supposed to soon arrive to the Sumeragi territory, or at least, that was the case based on the calculations Harold had made from Elu’s latest regular report. Hence why his first move was to start searching for the team.

However, even so, he was thinking that it would be better to increase the frequency of Elu’s reports even more. There were no phones or emails in this world, so naturally, when communicating with someone far away, it was inevitable for the responses to come with a delay.

That delay was one of the reasons why Harold had not been aware of Lifa’s absence from the Weiss village before.

【”Say, Harold.”]

As Harold was losing himself in his own thoughts, Lifa called out to him.

【”What?”]

【”Wouldn’t you incidentally also be looking for a a black and white haired pair of people?”]

【”…What the hell are you talking about?”]

Unable to understand the intent behind Lifa’s question, Harold’s voice sounded dubious.

However, Lifa did not care about that, she directly raised her right arm and pointed it behind Harold.

【”Well, I’m telling you that because――”]

Before Lifa could finish her words, two hands were put on both of Harold’s shoulders.

And then, voices, that Harold did not want to hear, came from both sides of his head.

【”I think the people she’s referring to…”]

【”Are the two of us.”]

Both of the voices were ridiculously refreshing.

However, when Harold heard them, his heart was far from being refreshed, in fact, they made him so consterned that cold sweat was coming out of his body. He slowly looked back behind him, despite knowing that the sight waiting for him was one that he did not want to see.

【”It’s been a while, Harold.”]

【”But going out with any woman other than Erica is absolutely not okay.”]

【”And he’s doing that in the middle of the Sumeragi territory, too.”]

One of them was Itsuki, who had an overpowering smile on his face; trademark of the Sumeragi siblings. The other one was Francis, who was exaggeratedly shaking his head in disapproval.

These two were a bad combination. They were condemning Harold as if he was a cheating husband caught in the act by an eye-witness, however, rather than that, there was something else Harold had to ask about.