Volume 3 Town Tetomburgh’s Madness, Chapter 1: Secret Talk Three Years Ago
This even happened three years prior to Lambert’s resurrection as an undead knight.
A strange visitor came to visit Viscount Le Gael’s mansion.
It was a girl with a bizarre appearance. She had tears painted beneath her eyes, and she wore a colorful clown’s hat and clothes.
Frightened that a big shot had come to visit them, Viscount Le Gael and his subordinates had cramped smiles on their faces upon seeing the one who came was a girl.
Even Viscount Le Gael’s subordinate’s eyebrows twitched as if to say “Who the hell is this lass?”
「Ya~, it’s such a bother since this child is always hesitating whether to lead me here or not. Maybe I should just cut off his head, Viscount Le Gael-chan.」
Viscount Le Gael’s fat face frowned upon hearing the clown’s remark.
「Hahaha, that’s a joke, you know. Rather than that, aren’t you going to let me sit?」
The clown girl pointed at the desk and chair with her finger that was wrapped in a white glove.
「WHAT THE HELL IS THIS BRAT DOING HERE!! SOMEONE THROW THIS BRAT OUT OF MY MANSION!!」
Le Gael shouted angrily at his soldiers while tapping the floor with the walking cane in his hand.
「B-B-But… she hasn’t aged at all since the last time she came… She must be…」
「BRING IN THE REAL GUEST IMMEDIATELY! YOU GUYS HAVE NO IDEA WHAT THEY’RE GOING TO DO ONCE YOU PISS THEM OFF! AND THROW THIS FU*CKING BRAT OUT OF MY MANSION!」
Viscount Le Gael shouted angrily while brandishing his cane at the subordinate who brought the clown girl.
His poor subordinate fell right there with his head drenched in blood.
「M-My apologies! R-Right away…!」
The clown girl saw this scene with a bored look on her face, but then, she suddenly clapped her hand as if she realized something and took out a bright red metal rod.
「Heed my call and came to this world, Dancing Guillotine: Portal Scissor.」
The thing that appeared in front of Viscount Le Gael from the deployed magic circle was a giant scissor with three eyes on each blade.
It was summoning magic… a magic to call the contracted spirit from the spirit world.
「Fu…? H-HIIIIIIII!」
Viscount Le Gael fell on his rear due to shock.
His subordinates raised a commotion upon seeing the bizarre scissor.
Summon magic was a magic that interfered with reality; it was also extremely difficult to master since it was hard to please the mood of the spirit.
Only a handful of sorcerers could use this magic.
「Will you understand if I show you this? I’m one of the Eight Sages of 『Devil’s Piper』, Le Look Le Look. How can you call such an adorable girl a brat. I might have lost control and killed those who dared to say that to me, you know. Even though I came in person since this is an important matter, you’ve ruined my mood.」
「P-Please forgive our foolishness for failing to recognize you, Sage Le Look-sama!」
Viscount Le Gael bowed down with a flushed red face.
「Ahaha, well don’t mind it. It’s just mood swings anyway. All is well, all is well. I mean, you’re such an important person, after all, I’ll be the adult here. I can’t blame you for mistaking me for a mere brat due to my young appearance. I always had a hard time thanks to this youthful appearance, too.」
Viscount Le Gael finally raised his head and heaved a sigh of relief after he heard such a remark.
「N-No, we still have to offer our apologies since… we’re also at fault for mistaking you for someone else…」
「Don’t be that stiff. Relax yourself. I’m pretty straight-forward after all. This is the main reason I was chosen as the negotiator. I mean, aside from boss and I, the others are pretty much quirky people.」
「Ahahaha… I-I see now, Le Look-sama.」
Viscount Le Gael replied while wiping the sweat on his face with the handkerchief brought by his subordinate.
「Well, that’s enough for the chit-chat. Let’s start immediately…」
When the clown girl, Le Look, twisted her walking cane, the portal scissor spun in midair, beheading the subordinate of Viscount Le Gael who just got beaten.
Blood spraying from his decapitated neck, creating a crimson rain as his head fell into the corner of the room.
The portal scissor then turned into particles of light after it had finished its duty.
「Now, let’s begin the discussion.」
Le Look calmly took a seat as the room fell into silence.
「A-Ah… why…?」
The subordinate who wiped Viscount Le Gael’s sweat muttered.
「Why? Isn’t it because it’d be bad if I beheaded the viscount, you know?」
No one in that room could understand Le Look’s logic.
After a brief silence, Viscount Le Gael asked his subordinates to clean the room with a pale look on his face.
「Le Gael-sama! But, but…!」
「Don’t worry. Even that mysterious figure of noble society, Count Aubock, had a connection with 『Devil’s Piper』. They’re serious about overthrowing this kingdom. If Count Aubock is in cahoots with them, this move is definitely the right thing to do. Whichever the choice is, it’s already too late to back down at this stage.」
「Y-YES…」
After seeing that Viscount Le Gael had finished instructing his subordinate, Le Look coughed once as if to gain their attention again.
She stopped tapping the floor impatiently, and the scorn in her eyes was replaced with a serious look.
「Well then, I think you already know about this. The nobles of Regios Kingdom—with Count Aubock on the top of the list—have already agreed to work with us, 『Devil’s Piper』. Our final goal is to capture the current royalty of Regios Kingdom. After we overthrow Regios Kingdom and establish the new Regios Kingdom, we promise to appoint an important post to you for your cooperation, Viscount Le Gael.」
Le Look, who spoke like a completely different person, handed over the official document which had been in her hand for a while toward Viscount Le Gael’s subordinate.
The contents of the document were the more detailed version of what she just said a while ago.
「In addition to basic support such as helping with the funding of our organization, I also want to ask Viscount Le Gael to entrust the management of a small town called Tetomburgh to me, Le Look.」
「Tetom… burgh?」
Viscount Le Gael frowned upon hearing that.
「Are you dissatisfied with our terms, Viscount-dono?」
Viscount Le Gael felt like he was being glared at by a monster.
「N-No, of course not! It’s just that, uhm… that small town, Tetomburgh, is a mining town. It’s built right beside the mine so that we can use the vagrant youth as our miners, but… it was filled with poisonous gas, and no important ore could be found there. We’ve yet to make a profit from that mine. For that reason, it has literally turned into a ghost town right now. My apologies for telling you such an embarrassing failure.」
Viscount Le Gael folded his arms as he spoke as if trying to curry a favor with Le Look.
Le Look, who was tapping the floor with her feet, suddenly stood up.
「Yes, that’s good enough. We finished the preliminary investigation a long time ago. But there was no place more fitting than that place. Well that’s the reason we’re asking for Vviscount-dono’s cooperation.」
Le Look’s voice suddenly returned from an adult tone to a childish tone as if mocking the viscount.
After Le Look left the mansion after the end of their negotiation, Viscount Le Gael was barraged with questions from his subordinates.
「Honestly, is it really okay to work together with those fellas? I mean, even now the prosecution is…」
「…That’s not an option. Do you still remember the big fire in Baron Hilnis’ territory half a year ago? Maybe that’s how 『Devil’s Piper』 retaliated to show their persecution. We shouldn’t underestimate them.」
「But to give a facility to the big shot of the organization which is filled with those kinds of madmen is…」
「Those kinds of facilities are the reason why they managed to hide for so long in this kingdom. They completely excluded the piece that might retaliate against them, including the royal family. They’re an extremely terrifying organization, but… that’s even more reason for us to work together with them. We just need to bet on the winning horse and enjoy the final glory. In this case, those people don’t choose their allies from the nobles who have a close relationship with the royal family to prevent unforeseen problems. That’s why they have no choice but to work together with us. Let them do all the dangerous stuff. If they win, I don’t think that they’ll spare anyone in the royal family.」