I Became a Dark Knight the Empress Is Obsessed With

193 – Side Story: Afternoon in Freesia – (2)

“Ouch, it’s cold… … .”

“I told you I would be cold.”

“I didn’t know it would be this bad.”

Milia smiled bitterly at the sight of Assistant Professor Merta shivering, holding her shoulders, in the stronger-than-expected cold wind.

Although the season still had some time left until winter, Eisenward was the northernmost territory of the Empire. The extreme north weather that I visited when I was young, holding my father’s hand, was truly biting.

In fact, merchants wearing fur-lined winter clothes were already holding sacks of warm water in their arms. This must be their own way of enduring the cold.

“Adadduk.”

Merta, gritting her teeth and writhing in the cold.

Millia had no choice but to take off her coat and wrap it around him.

Merta looked at me with a bright smile, as if she was touched.

“Professor, aren’t you cold?”

“I can hold out.”

“As expected! Professor Millia!”

Merta’s eyes lit up as she flattered him. This caught the attention of passersby, and Milia quietly looked away.

To Milia, who had actually lived nearly half of her life as a knight, this level of cold was nothing.

“… … By the way, I didn’t know the professor would take a vacation.”

Merta muttered.

Milia also kept her mouth shut.

Although she told her older sister, Seira, that she was not interested, she ended up jumping on the horse bound for Eisenward.

There was a reason to look for the full moon, and there was also a thought to capture the winter scenery that Eisenward welcomes.

Whatever it was, it was true that she had been running around like crazy for nearly two years. She also needed time to catch her breath.

“Enough with the nonsense, shall we go now?”

“yes!”

The place where Millia and Merta are currently located is the gateway town connecting Hylings and Eisenward.

There were many small towns formed around the border, and post stations were set up along the road, so many peddlers used to pass through here.

In fact, there was certainly a convenient way to do it, using the carriage of the Liantur family, but Millia was still skeptical.

That’s why I was thinking of going to Eisenward by borrowing a peddler’s carriage.

“This is the person I contacted you about before.”

Millia took out her pass and approached the carriage she had promised.

“Aha, is that so?”

“… … .”

I opened my eyes wide when I saw an unexpected person sitting in the carriage.

“……you are.”

Milia muttered and looked at the woman sitting in the audience.

An exotic silver dress with a veil. Copper-colored skin and red-wine hair.

Millia was also someone I had seen before.

Didn’t we meet in the culvert before, when we were traveling with Fried?

“Hilda, was it?”

“Yes, that’s right.”

Master of the Thieves’ Guild, Thistle Hilda.

She greeted Milia with a sad smile.

*

“I hope you’ve been well. Your complexion looks good.”

“Well… … I guess that’s what it is.”

A rattling carriage.

Milia, sitting by the window with Merta by her side, raised her head and met the eyes of the woman in front of her.

When my eyes met with Thistle Hilda’s, she smiled brightly and said:

“I’ve heard the rumors. The new divinity of Hylings Academy. The Magical Swordsman, Millia Liantour. Oh, should I call you Professor now?”

“Stop saying such embarrassing things.”

Milia shrugged.

Hilda also chuckled and changed the subject.

“By the way… … What brings the noble of the Liantur family here to Eisenward?”

“I’m more curious as to why the Master of the Thieves’ Guild is here. Shouldn’t he be in the sewer?”

Hilda narrowed her eyes at Millia’s sharp question.

To Millia, who had even served as a guardian knight of the empire, Hilda was nothing more or less than a criminal. If a knight with a strong criminal spirit like Uriad had seen her, it wouldn’t have been strange for him to immediately draw his sword.

However, Hilda, who seemed to be thinking for a moment, smiled and took out a piece of paper.

It was a document that Millia was familiar with. It was an invitation that had also been sent to her older sister, Seira Liantour, and it was the one that Hilda was holding proudly in her hand.

“How did you… … .”

“I guess you haven’t heard the news. The Thieves’ Guild is no longer a criminal organization.”

The corners of Hilda’s eyes curve seductively.

“We were pardoned for our loyalty to the Empire. We are no longer thieves. We have simply become the Empire’s greatest information guild.”

“……hmm.”

Now that I think about it, I remember reading a similar story in the newspaper a while ago.

There was a story that several criminal organizations in the underground sewers had become guilds under the Empire.

This would really make Lord Yuriad furious if he heard about it, Millia thought.

“So you’ve received an invitation from the so-called head of the Empire’s top intelligence guild?”

“That’s right. The full moon flower that blooms once every 600 years in Eisenward. The moment you obtain it, you can sit on top of all the riches and honors.”

Hilda looked at the illustration of the silver flower on the invitation with greedy eyes and her mouth watered.

“So, why did Professor Millia come here?”

“It’s the same reason for me.”

“……yes?”

Hilda frowned.

Milia sighed and took out the invitation.

“Isn’t that an invitation to the Archmage… …?”

“Unfortunately, my sister wasn’t very interested, so I came.”

Hilda slapped her forehead as if in despair at Millia’s answer.

At the expected reaction, Milia smiled slightly and asked.

“Are you disappointed? You’re not an Archmage?”

“Can I answer honestly?”

“Of course.”

“I was very disappointed.”

Hilda clicked her tongue and looked out the window.

A pure white landscape was flowing by.

At that cold response, Milia’s face hardened.

Well, it’s not like I don’t understand.

This event by Eisenward, to which only the continent’s key figures were invited, was a microcosm of imperial politics. In a political event, every move had some kind of meaning, so its influence could never be ignored.

In other words, it could be seen as an opportunity or a place for socializing.

From Hilda’s perspective, it would be understandable to feel bad about missing the opportunity to become close to the Archmage who would eventually lead the Liantur family.

But isn’t it too rude to show such a disappointed expression in front of the person involved?

Milia sighed deeply and snapped.

“You are straightforward.”

“To be honest.”

Of course, Hilda also had no intention of losing even a single word.

*

After traveling for nearly half a day, we finally arrived at Seville, the capital of Eisenward.

Seville was one of the most impressive cities I have ever seen.

The streets were formed as if in layers around the so-called Ice Palace, a royal castle towering over the highest hill in the city.

The city, half-buried in snow, exuded a sense of melancholy, but at the same time, it gave off a strange feeling.

“… … It’s been a while.”

Hilda, however, was looking at the scenery with a bored expression.

For Hilda, who had visited Eisenward several times for work purposes, it was just a somber sight.

however.

“Wow! Is that the Ice Palace?! It’s so cool! Doesn’t it melt? Doesn’t it just melt in the summer?”

“Assistant Professor Merta. That’s not a palace made of ice, it’s a palace made of crystal.”

“Oh, that… … really? Then why is it called the Ice Palace? It’s strange.”

“Well, it’s the Ice Palace, since that’s where the Winter Duke resides.”

“……aha!”

This kind of boring conversation was lingering in Hilda’s ears.

It was a conversation between Milia Liantour and the assistant professor.

Hilda twisted her lips.

‘I knew the Archmage would come.’

Hilda sighed deeply and glanced at Milia.

A younger sister who is infinitely lacking compared to her older sister.

That was the public opinion of Milia Liantour.

In the past, the Thieves’ Guild considered him a very important figure and put a lot of effort into investigating him, but now his importance has long since been lost.

He lost his fighting ability due to injuries sustained during the attack on the religious order, and his relationship with Fried and Iscoval, which was the biggest reason, has been frozen for over two years.

In other words, the figure of Millia Liantour was already being treated as a figure who had been pushed back to the back of history in the imperial political world.

There was no need to become close to him. If we were to judge his political value, Hilda guessed that he was at least at the level of a city councilman.

“He, Mr. Thistle.”

“You can call me Hilda.”

“Where do you plan to stay, Mr. Thistle?”

This woman doesn’t say a word.

Hilda answered, frowning.

“I’m planning on staying at our guild’s branch. As the guild leader, I should be able to rent a room with some difficulty.”

“I see. Then I have a favor to ask.”

“What is it now?”

“Please rent a room there.”

“… … .”

“That’s because we didn’t prepare anything like accommodation.”

Does this woman think that everything she says makes sense?

As Hilda turned her head in bewilderment, Milia took out an invitation from her bosom and showed it to her.

Millia continued, waving an invitation card with the elegant words “Seyra Liantour” engraved on it.

“I am merely a representative of Archmage. If you do not treat me well, wouldn’t that be problematic in its own way, head of the legitimate information guild?”

“… … .”

Milia chuckled, and Hilda gritted her teeth.

But I clenched my teeth.

I have nothing to say since it is the correct answer.

“Okay. Then… … .”

Hilda was about to reluctantly offer to give her a room in the Thieves Guild branch.

Doo-wooong!

A huge bell rang from the direction of the gate.

The son-in-law was suddenly silenced by the signal. The sound of the bell tower in the city, especially if that city was Isenward, the northernmost city on the continent, meant that a monster attack was imminent.

That’s why everyone was nervous.

however.

Doo-wooong!

The sound of the drum did not end with just one blow.

Doo-wook! Doo-wook!

It rang twice more before it finally died down.

“… … This is.”

Four bell rings.

Both Milia and Hilda, who lived in the capital, knew the meaning well.

It means that a member of the royal family has visited.

“What the heck.”

Hilda frowned and looked at the gate.

At the same time, a carriage came in.

Although simple, the golden key emblem symbolizing the imperial family was clearly visible on the head.

“… … .”

Before I knew it, saliva flowed down my throat.

The fact that a royal figure came to Eisenward was most likely due to the upcoming full moon event.

Even though the Thieves’ Guild had come out into the open, meeting the royal family was not a very pleasant thing for Hilda.

I opened my eyes wide in tension and looked at the figure getting out of the carriage.

“… …Why are you coming out of there?”

My eyes widened as soon as I saw the gray hair that resembled the snow piled up on the roadside.

Likewise, the shock grew even greater when he saw the moonlight eyes.

Although he was dressed like a nobleman, he couldn’t hide his frivolity. The man placed his hand on the imperial sword Ernst hanging from his waist and got out of the carriage, looking around.

“Uh, um.”

A sharp-looking handsome man who scratches the back of his head while running his fingers through his unkempt hair, as if he feels uncomfortable with all the attention focused on him.

The hottest potato in the empire for nearly two years, known to everyone present.

It was the national secretary, Fried Iscobal.

“… … Why is that kid here… … .”

Hilda muttered in embarrassment.

“*hic*”

I heard a hiccup behind me.

When I turned my head, there was Millia Liantour with a pale complexion.

“… …Why is that?”

“Ah, no… … *hiccup* That’s… … .”

“… … .”

Hilda narrowed her eyes, and Milia slowly averted her gaze.

Only Merta looked back and forth between the two with a blank expression.

Like that, there was an awkward silence for a while.