Chapter 160

“……If you are not going to merge with Agabert, then quickly disband Trevaga. Otherwise you won’t be able to take that off. At this rate, you’ll really be badly hurt.”

Tesetan clenched his fist beneath the desk.

After the duel of honor ended, he had shut himself inside the base and done nothing.

Perhaps because he had run on without rest for the past several years, being still felt nothing but awkward to him.

“You shouted loudly that you would never merge even if it killed you. But it seems that when it comes to actually disbanding Trevaga, something is weighing on your mind after all.”

In the end Tesetan glared savagely at Aleric.

“Get out.”

Aleric shook his head from side to side.

“I was going to do that anyway.”

After setting down food and drink on Tesetan’s desk, he withdrew.

Coming outside, Aleric let out a deep sigh.

“What in the world is he trying to do……”

But he stopped in the middle of going down the stairs and froze in place.

“Really? Two more came in yesterday?”

In front of the entrance, which was in a terrible state because it had not been cleaned in a long time.

Livia was bent over, talking with someone.

The other party was the Necromancer King.

* * *

‘……Cute, isn’t he?’

Watching Astie chattering away in front of her, Livia thought.

“So I just came to tell you that. Agabert only needs one more person now to become a large-scale mercenary company. The person who came yesterday is Mister Rio. We decided to make his nickname Nemo.”

“Really?”

“Yes! Then I’ll be going now.”

You could tell it was a disguise, but to be honest, it was a good disguise.

Suddenly he remembered the disguise Aleric had used in the North Continent while dealing with the Order bastards.

Back then, Aleric had disguised himself as a woman. When Livia saw that, she had quite literally nearly thrown up from how grotesque it was.

While she was thinking, the Necromancer King, who had bent her waist all the way to greet her, spun around.

But then he immediately caught on the messy clutter by the entrance and staggered badly.

“Why are there so many openings?”

Livia spoke as she grabbed the Necromancer King’s hand without thinking.

Steadying himself, the Necromancer King looked at Livia with a strangely shy face.

“Th-th-thank you, Auntie!”

Then he hurried right outside.

“Auntie……?”

Livia was looking at the closed door when Aleric approached from behind.

“So you’ve betrayed us already?”

Flinching, Livia stood up. Then, wearing a wronged expression, she said,

“What do you mean betrayed?”

“Our leader is shut inside his room like that. Exchanging information with the very person who made him that way is betrayal.”

Livia’s mouth fell open.

Aleric lightly pressed his palm to her forehead.

“Behave yourself, Livia.”

Watching Aleric as he walked away, Livia suddenly came to her senses. Then he hurried over and grabbed Aleric’s arm.

Aleric slowly turned back around.

“What.”

“Aleric.”

Lowering her voice, Livia whispered. Aleric furrowed his brows.

Livia pulled him along and dragged him into one corner of the kitchen. In the kitchen, food the company members had eaten and left behind was scattered carelessly.

To Aleric, whose nose wrinkled at the smell, Livia quickly continued speaking.

“You too, honestly, don’t you think it’s not bad?”

“……What.”

“Combining households with Agabert, I mean.”

The frozen Aleric let out a sigh. Shaking his head, he looked into Livia’s eyes.

“What would it matter if we thought it was fine. When the leader is opposing it that strongly.”

“Honestly, same for you, right? You like the Necromancer King.”

Aleric shut his mouth.

Did he like the Necromancer King? To speak honestly…… it kind of was that way.

After all, the one who had been doing crazy things all this time was Tesetan, not the Necromancer King.

“Do you know what the Necromancer King said when she came today? That if their side gathers just one more member now, they’ll be a large-scale mercenary company.”

“……”

“And do you think he came only today? He came yesterday, and the day before, and the day before that too.”

In truth, Aleric knew too.

For some reason, the Necromancer King came over the fence and into Trevaga’s base every single day.

One time, one of Agabert’s members, some Veil or whatever his name was, had come over the wall and taken the Necromancer King back.

And since the bases just happened to be neighboring houses too.

The fact that conversations between the Necromancer King and her company members in the garden were heard all too clearly was also a problem.

‘You, seriously, what is wrong with you?! Did they spread honey over that house or something? Try taking care of our company members like that a bit. There are even ones among the newly joined guys who still haven’t adjusted!’

‘Jeez, why does Brother Veil always only nag me?! Nagging is bad! Even children have rights!’

‘Rights?! Hey, it’s enough that we’ve respected this much already, what more do you want! We do everything you ask and yet you really know how to make it sound hurtful!’

‘Tie feels hurt too! Do you know what turns a good child into a bad child in an instant? Adults’ nagging!’

‘Just because you’ve seen something somewhere……!’

The conversations the Necromancer King and her company members exchanged were somewhat ambiguous.

The fact that they did not call him leader. The fact that they kept calling the Necromancer King kid and child……

But as always, they had just let it pass as nothing important.

It was hardly a new rumor, after all, that the Necromancer King was deeply immersed in the game of hiding her identity.

“About the Necromancer King. He’s extremely friendly to us, isn’t he.”

Aleric came back out of his thoughts.

“Honestly, shouldn’t this have ended the moment our leader flatly said he wouldn’t merge. This whole matter, I mean.”

“……”

“But the Necromancer King keeps coming over and acting friendly even now.”

“……”

“And from what I heard earlier, I think even the reason they’re increasing the size of their side is because our side is bigger and he thinks we’ll lose face?”

“……Did the Necromancer King say that?”

“No. It’s just my feeling.”

For a moment, Aleric fell speechless and into thought.

Then Livia grabbed Aleric’s sleeve and shook it.

“So, hey, Aleric.”

“……What.”

“Let’s coax him once.”

“Who.”

“The leader! Let’s try persuading him once.”

Livia gestured with her eyes toward the stairs outside the kitchen.

“Have you ever seen the leader acting like that? Have you ever seen a man who always pushes ahead first acting like that? Don’t you remember even the duel of honor?”

“……”

“But a man like that says, ‘I won’t merge! I’ll disband no matter what!’ and then drags things out like this? While showing all over that his thoughts are complicated, shut up in his room all alone?”

“……”

“He doesn’t have confidence in it himself. He’s definitely thinking, is disbandment really right, or is merger what we should do.”

“……”

Livia caught Aleric’s cheeks in both hands.

“So you and me should do it.”

“……Do what.”

“Make the leader change his mind ourselves. If, when they merge, the leader’s position goes over to the Necromancer King? It can’t be helped. Who told him to have a duel of honor with the Necromancer King?”

Aleric pulled his face out of Livia’s hands. Then he frowned.

“I get it. But did you cut up meat again?”

A startled expression appeared on Livia’s face.

“Huh? Uh…… the company members said they wanted pork, so I did a little dismantling.”

“Can you not get through even one day without dismantling something?”

“……We haven’t been able to do any besieging lately. You know that’s the only thing I know how to do. Anyway.”

Livia wiped her palms back and forth on her clothes.

Then this time he shoved her face close to Aleric’s.

“I was thinking, how about we make a situation where the leader and the Necromancer King can have a cozy talk together.”

“A talk? Cozy? As if our leader would do that with the Necromancer King.”

“Hey! That’s exactly why we have to do it! What’s the reason the leader refuses the merger? It’s purely because he doesn’t like the Necromancer King. Well, there are probably other reasons too, but.”

“……”

“We force the two of them together. Make them face each other and talk, whether they like it or not. Then won’t his thinking change? Better than dragging time out while grinding his wrist away into the ring of covenant.”

Aleric’s expression darkened. He set his mouth tight, then let out a long sigh.

After the silence that followed.

“……All right, for now.”

He gave a small nod.

* * *

A few days later.

At the sunlight striking his face, Tesetan opened his eyes atop a chair.

When he stood from his place, a stiff sensation wrapped around his body.

“……Dammit.”

When he looked outside the window, he could immediately see Agabert’s base.

With his face hardening, he habitually looked for his sword, which he had leaned against the wall.

However.

“……Where did it go.”

It wasn’t there. He had definitely leaned it there last night.

Tesetan opened the door and came outside.

As he went down the stairs, he saw Livia, Aleric, and Victor standing awkwardly at the entrance.

“You lot. Have you seen my sword?”

Just in case, he asked, and Livia gave a loud fake cough.

Victor, for some reason, avoided his gaze, and silent Aleric answered.

“Ah, that.”

“……”

“The Necromancer King took it.”