Without even looking at it, he handed the letter straight to Hedmilton.
After making a full round around the table like that, the letter ended up back in his possession.
Next, Hedmilton briskly held out the documents tucked under his arm.
“Oh, and since you asked before about House Gloria, I put together a brief summary.”
As Eren naturally took the documents, Hedmilton blinked.
And usually, at moments like this, an extensive explanation followed.
“Since I did not know exactly what you would need, I organized it by categories. Broadly speaking, it covers the estate layout and the structure of the servants, as well as business partners and even a list of the Duke’s drinking companions. As for emergency secret passages, I only saw them on the layout drawings, so their practicality may be questionable. Please treat that as reference only.”
“You know about the secret passages?”
Was that not something only the Head of the House was supposed to know?
When a flustered Liselotte pointed out the inconsistency, he stared blankly.
“I just came across it while digging around.”
In other words, he had looked without permission.
‘You’re really…’
“Impressive.”
“It is nothing.”
When she praised him sincerely, Hedmilton placed a hand over his chest and bowed his head with exaggerated pride.
Liselotte genuinely admired his speed and accuracy, as well as his proactive attitude that stopped at nothing.
No wonder he needed bread. Thinking that, she handed him the dessert she had set out for tea time.
Accepting it politely with both hands, Hedmilton stuffed it into his mouth in one go, cheeks puffing out.
For some reason, he reminded her of a squirrel.
‘It might actually be fun to raise him.’
Eren had already fixed his gaze on the documents and showed no sign of leaving.
Judging by their thickness, the amount of material was considerable.
Pulling her chair closer to sit right beside him, Liselotte made herself comfortable.
Eren lowered the documents to match her eye level so she could see them more easily.
Even a casual glance was enough to tell how extensive the investigation materials were.
Certainly, he really was the ace of House Gloria.
From the history of searching for Diana’s treatment medicine to the structure of the subjugation force and the servants, everything was densely recorded.
It even included information like how Duke Gloria made the sound of a godrak monster when he drank heavily.
“What is a godrak?”
“You know, that one. The monster that makes a grrrrk sound.”
Hedmilton, who had been imitating a monster, blinked and then glanced sideways at a cupcake.
Since the reason was obvious, Liselotte let out a small laugh.
“You can eat it. Why are you being so cautious?”
Replying without taking her eyes off the documents, she watched as Hedmilton promptly picked up the cupcake and took a bite.
“If you point out the areas that need reinforcement, I will bring an additional report.”
While quietly looking at the page listing the subjugation force members, Liselotte pointed to the name of the mercenary commander listed on the retirement roster.
It was Taebon, from Lergo Village, the very person she had been searching for.
“This person. Can you contact him?”
“Ah, should I send a letter? He has a good personality, so he will probably reply quickly.”
At the readily given answer, she nodded at once.
“That is a relief! I even sent a letter to the Magic Tower to contact him, but I still have not received a reply.”
“The Magic Tower is always like that. Especially the Tower Master, who is rather timid, so he probably does not even read letters personally and has an assistant mage read them instead.”
When one thought of mages from neutral territories, the image of mysterious eccentrics came to mind.
Perhaps because of that, Liselotte couldn’t quite form a clear image of the Magic Tower Master.
It was curious that such a person would have ties with a mercenary commander who went on harsh subjugation missions.
Carefully, Liselotte asked about information that might be sensitive.
“I heard that he left House Gloria suddenly with subjugation members. Do you know why?”
“For a similar reason to mine. The Duke has not cared about subjugation for a long time, and the knights lack motivation.”
At the mention of subjugation, Eren reacted.
“Did this Taebon handle subjugations continuously?”
“He was already there when I first joined House Gloria, and that is what I was told. Whenever praise is heard for the Eastern subjugation force, it is always Commander Taebon’s team.”
“And fifteen years ago?”
“Uh… as far as I know, not that far back.”
The green thread Eren was looking for was made from a monster byproduct.
Naturally, if someone had been a subjugation member at the time, they would know which monster it was, how it was used, and for what purpose.
Unfortunately, it seemed Taebon didn’t fit that criterion.
Hedmilton continued stuffing bread into his mouth steadily, blinking as he did so.
“From what I know, fifteen years ago, would have been when Duke Gloria himself was directly commanding the subjugations.”
“Are you certain?”
“Yes. Considering how he constantly nags, saying things like, ‘Back in my day, we could not even breathe during subjugations, things are so easy now,’ I am sure.”
Fifteen years ago wasn’t actually that long ago.
It was not a short time either, but it seemed likely that it wouldn’t be difficult to find people still alive who had gone on subjugations back then.
Yet for some reason, in the list of subjugation members Hedmilton had compiled, everyone from around fifteen years ago was marked as deceased.
Pointing at the list from fifteen years prior, Liselotte asked,
“But are there no members or knights who were in the subjugation force around fifteen years ago?”
“None.”
“None?”
“Yes. None.”
“There were, though?”
“They are probably all dead?”
At the unexpected answer, Liselotte’s eyes widened.
“Did they go out somewhere one day and then disappear?”
Could they have been gathered and sent North as assassins?
The possibility was slim, but she asked just in case and Hedmilton blinked.
“That would be impossible. Because around fifteen years ago, one subjugation member went mad and killed his fellow members.”
“All of them?”
“Not all, exactly. Some. But since the Duke’s response was poor, people started quitting one by one, and in the end, not a single original subjugation member remained.”
Considering Duke Gloria’s current behavior, it was an easy process to understand.
It was said that subjugation force members shared an especially strong bond, entrusting their lives to one another more than other knights.
Anyone who witnessed the death of such comrades would inevitably be traumatized.
Still, there was an unresolved doubt.
“Then there should be people who left.”
“It seems they fell ill from the shock after seeing their comrades massacred, and then all died off. There is probably no one still alive?”
It was a rather tragic ending.
With no other choice, she would have to focus on Taebon, as originally planned.
Liselotte tilted her head slightly and checked Eren’s expression.
“For now, let’s at least find Taebon and ask him. If subjugations were carried out under Duke Gloria, he might have heard something here and there.”
“That would be best.”
“At the very least, it should be usable as rebuttal material for the damages claim made by the East.”
Even just obtaining Taebon’s witness statement wouldn’t result in any loss.
Hedmilton, having already caught on to what needed to be done, briskly raised his hand and replied,
“I will send a letter to Commander Taebon.”
Gulp. After swallowing the last dessert, he held out one remaining sheet of paper.
This time, it was directed not at Liselotte, but squarely at Eren.
“I was told the Master needs to have this notarized.”
At the form of address “Master,” Eren’s eyebrow twitched briefly.
As if wondering what the issue was, Hedmilton hesitated for a moment before carefully asking,
“Am I perhaps eating too much bread?”
“No.”
“You were staring so intensely.”
Snatching the paper, Eren gave a short nod.
“Everyone, leave.”
“Yes.”
Knowing that when the Word of Command was to be used, no one but Liselotte could approach, Hedmilton and Marsha had no choice but to leave the terrace as if chased away.
By that point, astonishingly, Eren’s teacup was completely empty.
“See? I told you it was subtly addictive.”
Liselotte looked at the empty cup with satisfaction.
***
In the morning, Duke Gloria’s office was bustling.
Anix moving back and forth nonstop was enough to make anyone watching feel anxious.
In contrast, Diana, seated on the sofa, remained quietly silent.
