[V8C19] A Fun Chat Between a Princess And a Con Man
Translated by Jodas 8: The Witch of the BoundaryThe third-rate con man Smoke Fox, better known as Caspar Hütter, opened the door and looked around the room.
Inside was a bed, on which Wren was sound asleep. It must have been rough for him in that time when he was missing.
Sevil sat on a chair by the bed. Her trademark curved sword rested beside the chair, easily within her reach.
No one else was in sight. That was only to be expected. This Hamlet was in a huge panic given the Monster attack going on. They needed every set of hands they could get.
“How’s Wren doing?”
“No obvious injuries. I believe the exhaustion has simply caught up to him.”
“Ah, that’s good to hear. Great.”
Not putting much thought into his response, Hütter moved a seat from along the wall and sat down beside Sevil.
(Alright, so what do we do from here…)
Just about all of the people in this manor had deployed to the defense of the village.
Rukiye, with her impressive handiwork, was helping out to make the incense that the Monsters hated, while Oliver was flying around to relay messages. Tia, who could use the Magical Leaping Device, was sent out on such missions as well.
Meanwhile, at times like this, it was hard for people to bring themselves to make a job for Sevil.
She was probably raring to get into the fight herself, but no one could send an Imperial Princess to the front lines in good conscience. Everyone present agreed that it would be best for her to stay back and watch over Wren.
“You know, Otto and the other people in this manor asked a favor of me.”
“Oh?”
“You’re pretty clever, so I’ll tell it to you straight: they told me ‘Keep an eye out so the Princess doesn’t get outside.’”
In short, Hütter came here to keep an eye on Sevil.
Sevil folded her arms and harrumphed. Her expression looked like she wanted to test Hütter.
‘Stop that, don’t test your instructor!’
“Do you think that your honesty would persuade me to behave?”
Simply being honest wasn’t enough to keep her from leaving.
She was subtly telling him ‘Give me something that’s worth stealing the time of an Imperial Princess.’ This selfish princess.
Hütter exhaled sharply from his nose and scratched his head.
“…In that case, why don’t we have a little chat? Something interesting enough to keep you here in this room.”
A faint smile arose on Sevil’s lips.
Her confident smile waited in anticipation for what card he would play next. In that case, how about this?
“Have you uncovered the Tower’s secrets yet?”
Sevil’s smile did not falter. But she did pause for a breath before replying.
“Whatever are you referring to?”
“I know you’ve roped Tia and Wren into poking around for something… and you’ve been teaming up with Julius as well, haven’t you? I’ve seen through your tricks.”
This was not something that he’d noticed by himself from Sevil’s body language. He only figured it out by accident because he’d been observing Julius as part of his mission.
The three students of Hütter’s class had teamed up with Julius to sniff around for the Wedge Tower’s secrets.
Julius’ objective was clear. He wanted to find out the reason his father Samuel was exiled.
But what reason could Sevil possibly have for working with him?
(I honestly don’t have a clue!)
Maybe she just suddenly became all buddy-buddy with Julius one day, or maybe she was just doing it out of pure curiosity.
He was completely in the dark over those circumstance, but for the time being, he put on a face that said ‘I know everything.’
(Now, how will she answer?)
Sevil crossed her legs with confidence and tossed her black hair away from her cheeks.
“I figured it might suit me in my attempt to challenge my brother for me to take control of the Wedge Tower. To that end, I’ve been on the search for Headmaster Möbius’ weaknesses.”
“And you’ve roped Tia and Wren into that?”
When he tossed that question back at her without missing a beat, Sevil’s mouth paused.
Hütter made a disappointed expression on his face.
“It looks like I’ve overestimated you, then. I thought you weren’t so foolish as to involve Tia and Wren in those kinds of reckless schemes.”
Keeping up an attitude that says ‘I’ve lost interest in you,’ He paid close attention to her reactions.
Sevil remained silent.
As expected she wouldn’t fly into a rage over a cheap provocation like that. Still, her aura was cold and extremely sharp. Bringing up Tia and Wren’s names seemed to be rather effective against her.
Hütter retracted his expression of disappointment, winked, and shrugged his shoulders.
“Surprisingly, it was you who got roped in to this, wasn’t it, Princess?”
The reason he said that with a casual tone was because, if he said it seriously and ended up being wrong, it would be so embarrassing for him he’d rather die. So he chose a tone that he could pass off as a joke if he had to.
Sevil expressionlessly evaluated Hütter. It felt like a lioness sizing him up to see if he’d be a tasty dinner. It was truly nerve-wracking.
Hütter was a bit of a coward, so he decided to back off and do some damage control.
“Well, no matter. What I wanted to say was… You should rely on your teacher a little more.”
Sevil blinked and the venom in her gaze evaporated.
He’d led off with an accusatory ‘I know what you’re up to,’ but then followed it up with ‘You should rely on your teacher.’
This way, he could avoid making an enemy of Sevil, and if he played his cards right, maybe he might get his hands on some of the information Sevil and Julius had managed to gather.
Sevil retracted her cold demeanor and spoke, seemingly impressed.
“As I expected, you are an outstanding instructor, Mr. Hütter.”
“All I have done is put my all into doing my job. I said it before, didn’t I? I’ve been asked to keep an eye on you and stop you from leaving.”
“You pay attention to your surroundings well. You would be an excellent spy.”
(Aw, close but too bad! I’m actually a con man!)
Perhaps it was because of his past as a con man that he found himself enjoying this discussion so close to the line of danger.
Feeling satisfied at having pulled off a good deception, Hütter secretly clenched his fist as the responded with the air of a calm and collected adult.
“I’m an Instructor, after all. It’s only natural for me to look out for my students.”
Sevil said nothing about her circumstances or what she was planning by teaming up with Julius.
Well, that was within expectations. For now, all he needed to do was to communicate that he knew Sevil and the others were planning something, then if he could get her to think of him as an ally, all the better.
“You were right, this is an interesting little chat, Mr. Hütter. Your chirping is far more useful than the little birds in the palace.”
“I appreciate the compliment.”
“So, what discussion are you going to entertain me with next?”
(Come on, why don’t you stick to that topic just now a little longer!? You impatient princess!)
…Grumbling internally, Hütter pulled a small notebook out of his pocket and tried to look meaningful as he flipped through the pages.
There was no meaning to this action. He was just buying time.
Regardless, projecting the appearance of checking some important info from his notebook, he thought.
The next topic. Topic. Come on, any topic.
“Oh, right. Then, how about I give you a lesson, as an Instructor should?”
“No need if it’s about Imperial history. I’m sure you’ve seen my grades?”
Indeed. While Sevil’s grades had their low points, she was head and shoulders above the rest in Imperial history. As she should be, being the Emperor’s sister.
“Then, let’s think of a problem that fits this situation perfectly. For instance…”
A topic that was appropriate for the situation, and one that would catch Sevil’s interest… Coming up with ideas on the spot was this third-rate con man’s specialty, so he immediately voiced the first idea that came to his mind.
“How about: ‘If a Monster were to disguise themselves as a human and infiltrate the Wedge Tower, where do you think they would be?’?”
It only just popped into his head, but it really wasn’t such a bad topic, was it?
It was timely, and it really sounded like the kind of thing Sevil would enjoy.
“We now know that Monsters have been leaving the Crystal Territory. It’s not impossible, is it? In that case, I think it might be a good idea to imagine the possibilities.”
Hütter spoke a suitable intro, to which Sevil glared at Hütter’s face.
“…I see. That sure is an interesting topic.”
Great, she took the bait!
Hütter imagined himself pumping his fist. This topic should buy him plenty of time!
“Where do you think they’d hide, Sevil?”
“Good question. First, the closer someone is to the powerful players, the more suspicious they are.”
“Sure, sure.”
“I assume it would be difficult for Monsters to imitate humans for extended periods of time. As such, I would realistically suspect those who came to the Wedge Tower relatively recently…”
“Uh-huh.”
“In fact, I have a clue as to one person who has arrived at the Wedge Tower recently and managed to ingratiate themselves with the powerful players.”
Sevil stood up, stepped in front of Hütter, then bent over at the waist to peer directly into his face.
Clearly communicating that she wasn’t about to let him run away, she grabbed the back of his chair with her right hand and, with her left hand, snatched Hütter’s notebook out of his hands and tossed it behind her onto the bed.
…From an outsider perspective, it would look like he was being cornered by a beautiful princess. Yet he felt more like a carnivorous animal was aiming for his throat.
(Is this… Could it be…)
Someone who came to the Wedge Tower relatively recently and who had managed to more or less get in the good graces of the powers that be with alarming speed… Of course there was such a person. Right here.
“Oh? What’s the matter, Mr. Hütter? Your face is looking rather pale. Could it be that you have a clue?”
“I’m human, I swear!”
The third-rate con man abandoned his act and screamed from the bottom of his heart.