A Gentle Noble's Vacation Recommendation

Malcaid was facing an unprecedented crisis.

Contrary to its usual liveliness, the streets were empty of people, and the country’s trademark deafening cries of hawkers had disappeared.

In this city now, the voices tirelessly issuing evacuation and defense orders rang out steady and imposing as they tried to restore things to normal—but who would notice that they were just a little faster than usual?

As a lord, he could not show his agitation on the surface. Shadow’s brows drew together in irritation.

“Here, a little souvenir. Please share it with everyone.”

“Oh, much obliged.”

In the midst of all this, Shadow shot a downright hateful look at the pair exchanging such cheerful greetings.

Fatigue colored his handsome face; the dark circles under his eyes were making a fierce claim to existence.

It was only natural. There was no way to have prepared for a sudden great invasion of monsters, and on top of that, the monsters were moving with coordinated precision.

He did not have enough hands to do everything a lord ought to do.

The sudden visit of a familiar man made Shadow feel as though his exhaustion had doubled.

“Seems my grandchild was in your care the other day.”

“Not at all, I just lent a small hand. It’s only thanks to Judge-kun noticing the shortage of supplies.”

“My grandchild is a capable one. Hm? I see an unfamiliar face here.”

“Name’s Eleven, nice to meet you.”

“What a suspicious fellow.”

Unlike Judge, Insai never minced words.

Seeing Eleven laugh out loud after being cut down so bluntly, Insai’s intuition that the man was shady clearly hadn’t dulled.

Given the situation and timing, he’d figured it was something connected to the bandits, but it didn’t occur to him that this was the bandit leader himself.

Whoa, Judge’s grandpa is young! Eleven’s noisy voice was cut off by a loud bang as someone slammed a hand on the desk.

“Who let you in?”

“It’s been a while. There was a clerk downstairs from Insai’s shop, the one we met before, so we were let through with no trouble.”

“Insai!”

“Oh right, I told them that if these guys ever showed up they could come through anytime. You did well finding this place.”

“If we assume the lord is here, it’s actually pretty easy to guess.”

When Lizel smiled, Insai let out a hearty laugh.

In fact, Lizel had assumed that Insai and Shadow would be together now, and he had also guessed that it would not be at the lord’s mansion.

The plaza in front of the lord’s mansion, located in the center of the Commerce Nation (Malcaid), was now overflowing with refugees. The streets leading to it were also packed with people, and even messengers couldn’t move freely.

Shadow, who didn’t want his true identity exposed, had a limited number of places he could use as a base. Among those, the one where people could come and go without raising suspicion, where messengers and supplies could move unhindered, and where information could flow in easily from all directions, was Insai’s merchant house.

Gill casually cast his gaze around.

He had thought that since this was a merchant’s home, security would be lax, but of course it was different with the lord present.

The same people who had monitored them before, and those who guarded Shadow when he walked the streets alone, had now formed a tight cordon.

He had assumed that, as an ex-merchant, Shadow would be weak in combat knowledge, but apparently the man understood the situation he was in.

The brief opening and closing of the gate just earlier had also been handled well; at least this was not a lord who could do nothing in a time like this.

The reason his thoughts were this uncharitable was probably for Lizel’s sake. It would be troublesome if someone Lizel went out of his way to cooperate with turned out to be incompetent.

“They seem smart enough to lay a siege, but have there been any other unusual behaviors compared to past invasions?”

“Request denied. That’s not something to tell an adventurer.”

Shadow cut him off. Eleven’s mouth twisted into a crooked grin and he looked ready to make a sarcastic remark, only for Gill to smack him on the head. The meaning was clear: stop snapping at people regardless of who they are.