<b>56.</b>


    Dale Bergman looked around. The ce where he was at was Bernhardt’s mansion.


    <i>Bernhardt is really something!</i> A family that produced several knights, who were great men of the country, and a prestigious family that defended the royal family from generation to generation. It was quite moving that he, who had been knighted for more than 20 years, could also set foot here.


    There were so many people who snooped around trying to step onto the threshold of the mansion. However, only a few outsiders were able to sessfully enter the mansion.


    Especially since he heard that the owner had an unsociable disposition, hence didn’t mingle with people. So it isn’t strange that rarely someone was invited by him.


    “This way, Sir Bergman,” the servant politely guided him to the reception room. Embarrassed by the VIP-like hospitality, the unrefined man scratched his head.


    “Madam will arrive soon, so please have a seat and wait.”


    He hesitantly sat down on the sofa pointed to by the servant. Dale liked everything. He liked everything, but…


    <i>‘What’s with the mood here?’</i>


    He felt very ufortable with the servant guarding the door. In fact, he had never received such great attention. It was surveince, not just attention.


    <i>I had heard and known that Duke Bernhardt and my lord were not close, but didn’t expect it to be this bad.</i> Dale busied himself in quenching his oddly parched throat. So, in order to avoid looking around, he tried to appear aloof. He didn’t want to be misunderstood as tired.


    “Duchess Bernhardt has arrived.”


    Dale stood up when the servant announced. The Duchess, who opened the door and entered the room, had grown up a lot from what he saw her as a child.


    Apparently, she had grown taller, and her hair…wrapped into a chignon was probably grown as well, and her face belonged to apletely mature person. She still looked very young for her age, but the girl of that time was nowhere to be seen.


    <i>‘s!’</i>


    He didn’t raise her, but seeing her all grown up made his heart ache. <i>She was so cute when she followed Lord Caron around wanting to learn how to curtsy!</i>


    Dale snuffled, moved by how much she had grown up. Tears did note out as his master was so rigid that his emotions had dried up.


    Regretting that he could not produce a dramatic reunion, he put his hand on his chest and politely greeted, “Dale Bergman. It’s a great honor to meet the Lord of the great Sannar.”


    Unlike his quivering heart, his greeting was very formal. Dale was proud that he kept his dignity in front of Bernhardt’s servants. But something was weird.


    The maid’s gaze had suddenly turned fierce!


    <i>‘Wh-what’s wrong?’</i>


    Dale wondered about his mistake. He scurried through his memories, but nothing stood out. Perhaps finding it simrly strange, Erce turned her eyes to her. Then, much to his surprise, the maid’s ferocious look disappeared in a blink.


    <i>‘Huh?!’ </i>


    Dale was dumbfounded, but hemented to himself that he couldn’t tell on her. It was then.


    “Say it.”


    “Y-yes?”


    When Erce suddenly asked, the maid asked back.


    “Don’t you have something to say?” She seemed to have caught on to the dissatisfaction mixed with the maid’s expression. Dale was d he didn’t reveal his expressions.


    “How dare I—” Desperate, her maid shook her head. However, as Erce didn’t avert her eyes, she hesitantly spoke in a crawling voice, ” But if you grant me permission to speak—”


    “Granted.”


    “Then…despite the topic…” with her lowered body, the maid carefully chose her words, “In my humble opinion… I don’t think Sir Knight used the correct greeting. While it’s true that Madam is the owner of Sannar, this is not Sannar, and she is thedy of this household, so it is only right to put Bernhardt’s name in Sir’s greeting.”


    Dale amusingly watched the maid who quietly said everything she had to say. Although he lived like a carpet knight¹ under the support of the marquis and had a careless personality, he quickly noticed the maid’s intentions with his usual sharpness.


    Dale’s discourtesy of calling her the ‘Lord of Sannar’, not the ‘Duchess’, seemed to imply that he prioritized the ‘Lord of Sannar’, which belonged to the Marquis, over Bernhardt’s ‘Duchess’.


    Meanwhile, Erce felt strange. The maid always disappeared as soon as she finished her work and never spoke to her before.


    But now, she insisted that Erce belonged to Bernhardt. Erce found it a little fascinating. <i>I never realized she thought that way because she never expressed her fondness.</i>


    The maid was obediently and stubbornly looking down. She must have brought it up expecting to be scolded. The situation became increasingly difficult.


    This is because she could not rebuke Dale, who came as a guest of the marquis, and even more so, could not scold the maid who said the right thing.


    Eventually, Erce turned to Dale, “That’s right, Sir.”


    <i>She is implying that I should finish this since I started it.</i> Thought Dale.


    <i>‘I got knocked out.’</i>


    <i>And that for a mere maid.</i> He wondered how Caron would react when he heard this story. <i>Sadly, instead of being upset, I think he’d justugh it off and move to the next report. </i>Dale gave up his insipid imagination and greeted again, “My bad. Dale Bergman. I greet Madam Erce of Bernhardt.”


    Only then did the maid withdraw in satisfaction. “Please call me if you need me.”


    For a long time, Erce’s gaze remained on the door that the maid just closed. An unknown sense of incongruity lingered under her feet. However, since she could not keep the guest standing for long, she decided to sit down.


    “Long time no see, Sir.”


    “Yes…truly.”


    Dale looked impressed at Erce, who greeted him with a mischievous grin. Erce sat down, and Dale sat opposite her.


    “How’s everything?”


    “Nothing special. How have you been, Sir? My brother said he’s a <i>wee guest</i>… And rightly so.” Erce looked at Dale. When she was a child, he was someone who made Erce smile cheerfully whenever he called her, ‘Our Little Lady!’


    Dale could see Erce when she used to be at the marquisate, but not after she got married and Caron seeded the previous Marquis.


    <i>‘Sir Bergman?’</i>


    <i>‘Have had work to do. He won’t be back for a while, so don’t wait too long.’</i>


    Whenever she asked where he went, Caron would casually say he would note to the capital for the time being.


    “Yes, well… I’m doing fine.”


    Contrary to his words, Dale looked very emaciated. <i>What on earth did Caron make him do to make his face look like that?</i>


    “Looks like Brother has been troubling you.”


    “Haha! His Excellency believes in me so much that I’m struggling here and there.”


    “Aren’t you struggling too much? How about resigning, Sir?”


    “How can I do that?” Dale had the same face like that of a warm uncle. She was half-serious, but in truth, Erce knew Dale would not abandon Caron.


    It wasn’t money or fame that moved him. Thete Marquis reached out to him when Dale was an orphan, and Caron helped him learn swordsmanship and be a knight. Dale’s loyalty stemmed from there.


    “Anyhow, I didn’t expect Brother to send you over. Do you know how shocked I was when you disappeared without a word? You never even said goodbye before leaving. I missed you a lot.”


    “I’m sorry for meeting you only now. But I rushed over at the thought of meeting the Duchess.”


    When Dale wiggled his eyebrows humorously, Erce pretended to be unfazed, “Seems like I bothered you for nothing.”


    “No! Never! Thanks to you, I got to enjoy the capital after a while.”


    “I’m d if that’s the case.” Erce’s smile was calm. To the point where Dale felt sorry. She was a lovely youngdy with a mischievous smile. Is that what it means to mature as you get older? But rather than being mature…


    “First of all, I want to know what’s going on with Conradtely.”


    Dale hurriedly put the teacup and straightened his posture. “ording to the advance party that reached the castle, Duke Garten sessfullypleted the diplomacy without any problems.”


    “Do you know what kind of deal was made?”


    “Of course. The request was to <i>open</i> Selmon, the Northernnd of Grania for trade purposes.”


    At the same agreement as before, Erce took a deep breath. <i>The present and the past surrounding me had changed, so I was a bit hopeful, but there was no unexpected change. So, will the rtionship between countries not change after all? Then, will I eventually die, too? If I die, Vicente…</i> Her thoughts followed one after another and dragged on.


    “I see.”


    “Currently, we have an ongoing exchange but it seems Conrad wants to expand their trade. In response, Duke Garten proposed to increase tariffs on imports from Conrad. And when the Duke expressed regret over this, the King of Conrad graciously acknowledged it and even gifted fifteen of his cherished horses to His Majesty Grania. I think it’s a tribute disguised as a gift.”


    “Wasn’t there any talk about Azrel?”


    “Yes, there wasn’t. Thend has been under our control for more than a hundred years. They can’t afford to beg for it anymore either. However, as Conrad’s exchanges with other countries have developed these days, it seems that they are trying to be broker agents for those countries instead… Most likely, in an attempt to gain profit as the middleman.”


    “Then again, we haven’t fully mended our rtionship with Lenart yet, and it’s difficult for Rentua and Ludelcia to interact with us without going through Conrad…”


    <i>Conrad would definitely make a profit from this. But Grania did not suffer any loss. Instead of epting Conrad’s request, we remained unbending regarding raising the tariffs, and King Conrad readily gave away 15 of his beloved horses— no matter how small the gesture, the meaning behind it was significant.</i>


    <i>This way the damaged pride by the early dispatch of the officials was also restored to some extent. </i>At that time, Erce and the others did not care because it seemed like a harmless transaction.


    <i>Then, what is the reason for the rapid deterioration of their rtionship with Conrad? In view of the future, Conrad did not give up on Azrel. Did something happen in between?</i> As far as she knows…


    “You don’t look very good. Are you worried a lot?” Dale was looking at Erc with a worried expression.


    “Just something on my mind. It’s okay.”


    “All right then… Please don’t worry too much. The Marquis added that he would be more vignt towards military training and our rtions with Conrad.”


    “…I see.”


    <i>Was I lucky that Caron listened to me without asking anything?</i> She doubted if that alone could prevent the war, but unlike her, Caron was sitting in a key position. She wondered if his actions would change their rtionship with Conrad.


    She was d she had her brother, but Erce was disappointed that there was still nothing she could do. Warfare was an area she could not afford to meddle with— unless she obtained a title and stepped into politics.


    <i>‘Obtain a title…’</i>


    <i>Isn’t it already tough as it is?</i> She felt frustrated.


    “By the way, I remember you had something for me to do.”


    Hearing his words brought her back to reality. Bringing a halt to everything she had been thinking about, she looked at Dale, “I want you to find out the name of a disease.”


    Completely caught off guard by Erce’s words, Dale was immensely bewildered, “Di…disease? A-are you sick somewhere?” Dale made a huge fuss and hurriedly examined Erce’s condition.


    Erce shook her head, “Not me… It’s someone else, Sir.”


    She had no way to exin the future, so Erce arbitrarily created a fictional character. Dale looked at her worriedly, so she told a white lie.


    “<i>Sigh</i>, I see,” Dale breathed out in relief knowing it wasn’t Erce who got sick.


    “In that case, isn’t it better to see a doctor instead of me…”


    “It’s because even the doctors don’t know of the disease.”


    “So, what are the symptoms?”


    “It starts with asional vomiting of blood, but after a few months, the body shrivels up. The lungs dry up, making it painful to breathe, and a persistent pain hammers on the chest.”


    Dale’s face wrinkled grimly, “…Goodness! It’s terrifying just to hear.”


    “This is all I know of it. Will you be able to find it?”


    “Well…” Dale could not readily answer. “I’m not a doctor, and looking at the symptoms only, they’re moremon than you think…”


    “…”


    “It could be poison. Over there, Ludelcia is said to have rare poisonous herbs. If that’s the case, the doctors here might not know.”


    “That can’t be. The blood was still red during bloodletting.”


    <i>If you drink poison, your body undergoes certain changes. It’s impossible that the doctors could not point out symptoms rted to poison.</i>


    “Hm, then it’s unlikely to be a poison. Are there any other distinctive features?”


    “Let’s see, except that the blood is slightly viscous…”


    “Viscous, you say?”


    <i>‘The blood is viscous and dries up faster than normal. However, it may vary for each person, so it is difficult to confirm the diagnosis. Even if it’s a disease, it’s my first time seeing such symptoms… My apologies, Madam.’</i>


    Among the countries derived from the Leones Empire, Rentua, which had the most advanced medical council, couldn’t find it either.


    “Pardon me, but may I know who is suffering from this disease? Perhaps everyone is keeping it hushed, and it may be a hereditary disease continuing through generations of families.”


    As Dale said, it could be a disease passed down from generation to generation. And it wasn’t that Erce didn’t think of it at the time, and under Caron’s permission, she scoured Visaride’s archives, but she couldn’t find a record of an ancestor that suffered simr symptoms to her.


    “I can’t tell you who it is for personal reasons, Sir. But it’s not hereditary.”


    “Is that so…” Dale seemed disappointed.


    Erce felt sorry for Dale because she didn’t seem to know as much as she thought, “I’m ashamed that I don’t know much.”


    “Ne-nevermind that. First of all, since it’s a disease that doesn’t exist in Grania, I’ll look for it in other countries. We have enough manpower to do that. Even right now, I have my people set in other countries…”


    “Other countries?”


    When Erce asked back in surprise, Dale pounded his chest proudly, “As I said, I spent a harsh time under the Marquis. We’d gather only the top-ss men…” Dale hesitated for a moment.


    “Is he creating an information guild?”


    “Huh?”


    At Erce’s question, his eyes rolled around nervously. He seemed to be trying to figure out how to get out of this situation. However, in order to be natural, he feigned ignorance. But, it was toote.


    “You must have a lot on your mind, Sir.” A soft voice wrapped around Dale’s ears.


    “Haha. It’s a secret,” Dale immediately affirmed, knowing it was already useless to deny. Erce sighed.<i> Father was Father, but Caron is a step further.</i>


    “Isn’t it risky?”


    “Very! But it’s safe, so don’t worry.”


    <i>No. It’s actually very, very not safe. It’s not umon to be stabbed while infiltrating the enemy camp to get information.</i>


    But, how could he bring this fact up to the Duchess? Even he was a knight. It was natural to live in the war. Although the social status was different, war was war. Dale thought of changing the subject first before Erce said anything else. “However, we don’t know how long the search willst, and I expect that we’d need to expend a significant amount of resources. It will cost quite the sum.”


    Certainly, it will be useful to collect information from a guild spread all over the world. However, there were practical limitations to it. Money was an important factor when working on anything. It’s the most basic thing in human life…


    “Is 10 years’ worth of Sannar ie enough?”


    Important factor…


    “Huh?!” Dale’s mouth opened wide. <i>What…? 10 years’ worth of Sannar’s profit? Did I hear it correctly? </i>He doubted his ears about five times.


    “If you need more, I think I can manage up to 12 years…”


    He didn’t hear wrong. Erce even added two more years’ worth of ie to it. Dale’s head pounded as if he had been hit by a hammer.


    Sannar is a fief that ounts for as much as 30% of Grania’s gold mine. In addition, there were several mines, so the gains and losses were enormouspared to other areas. Sannar’s 12-year ie? Aside from that, it was more than enough, it was an amount of wealth he couldn’t dare think of.


    That was already surprising, but Erce even added. “…If it’s not enough, I can sell my jewelry.”


    <i>She’s even wasting jewelry after offering so much money!</i> Dale was slowly losing it from the absurdity of it.


    However, at Dale’s nirvanicughter, Erce opened her lips feeling hopeful. “Perhaps…more?”


    “No!” It was so devastating to hear that Dale struggled to shake his hands.


    “No, that’s enough… I can do it.”


    He wanted to turn his back on Caron and work for the Duchess. <i>It’s easy work and I’ll be making lots of money!</i> Dale looked at the Duchess, still eighty percent sure that it was a joke.


    “They must be a very precious person.”


    “What?”


    “That the Duchess is willing to give this much to help cure their illness.”


    “Ah…” unable to find words to answer, she just smiled. Erce could have sold the whole Sannar to Dale if she could.


    She didn’t do this thinking she would be precious to Vicente. She had been neglecting Vicente for fifteen years. Even if she couldn’t fill in for those fifteen years, she wanted to love him for at least half of it. Three years was too short a time.


    “You’re right. It’s someone important. That person wants to do a lot of things. I don’t want them to die without fulfilling their wishes. So, please help me, Sir.”


    Her blue eyes filled with determination shined eagerly. Dale couldn’t refuse his littledy even when she was young. Dale Bergman ced his hand on his chest and bowed silently.


    “I, Dale Bergman, pray that their dreams be reality and I’ll dly offer my help.”


    * * *


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