Betrothed to My Sister's Ex

The men, warmed by alcohol and in a good mood, accepted the existence of a wandering minstrel far more easily than I had expected, perhaps thanks to their drunkenness.

They burst into applause and urged me to play a song.

"Hey, not bad. Sing for us!"

"Yes, leave it to me."

I said that with a smile, but inside I was thinking, "Now what should I do...?"

Because, of course, I had no talent for singing while playing the lute. That was only natural. I wasn't a noble, after all.

But there was no helping it. I had to capture their attention somehow.

"Yes, then here I go. My first song—'Tenya Wanya de Dongara Don.'"

I casually made up a song title and, with great confidence, strummed the lute just as carelessly. Jang-jang, jang-jang—some kind of sound rang out nonstop, music or maybe something else entirely.

In the back, the innkeeper was covering both ears.

They had been drinking, so they didn't suddenly get angry, but even their dulled heads must have found the dissonance unpleasant. Before they could complain, I cut in and said:

"This is the cutting-edge music currently popular in Sphain, the City of Music. What did you think?"

"Huh... wha?"

"Cutting-edge... I-is that so? This is Sphain's... huh?"

"Not bad at all, sis!"

...Good, they believed it. Idiots are easy to handle.

The men broke into laughter and all at once began applauding. Well then, that was stage one complete: contact successful. I breathed a sigh of relief and, with a frivolous smile, casually sat down in an empty seat.

"Thank you very much, gentlemen. Are you all here for some kind of gathering?"

"Nah... just a bunch of drinking buddies."

He brushed it off smoothly. In other words, they were the kind of group you couldn't talk about openly. I pressed further.

"If you're buddies, then maybe you're part of some kind of competition—fighting or martial arts, perhaps?"

"...Why do you think that?"

For a moment, a sharp tension ran through the air. I kept smiling and clapped my hands.

"Am I right?! Well, you all look so sharp! Even while sitting here and drinking, I can tell you must be quite skilled!"

It was blatant flattery that nobody sober would have fallen for, yet the men all softened.

So simple. They might have strength, but they lacked brains.

...The other day at Granado Castle, when they said they would rather take me instead of lady marie, they completely froze up. Something unexpected—no, something outside their orders—had happened, and they hadn't known what to do, so all they could do was retreat.

There was definitely a brain behind them. A ruler who could earn the trust of these muscleheads and make them act according to orders.

—I needed to find out who that was. If I could, it would surely help master...

I lifted the lute again.

"I'd like to turn your tales of valor into a song. Tell me something recent."

At that, they looked at one another. Scratching the backs of their heads awkwardly, they shook their heads.

"Well, see... we're not exactly the type who can just go blabbing about everything."

"It's fine, I'll only sing it here. I'll make an improvised song out of your tales of valor, so tell me."

"If you say so... let's see..."

The corners of the men's mouths lifted.

"How about the story of how we brought down Granado Castle, Dilz's strongest fortress? Want to hear that?"

"...Wonderful. Please do."

I smiled, lute in hand.

The slender young man beside the musclehead snorted with a chuckle.

"'Brought down' is exaggerating it. We just roughened up the gatekeeper."

"Oh? The gatekeeper of Granado Castle? That's amazing!"

I urged him on excitedly.

"How brave. The castle's lord is Duke Granado, one of the most powerful men in this country, isn't he?"

"That's why we're dressed like this. It'd be bad if we got recognized."

"Yeah, no problem. That family's going to fall from grace soon enough."

They laughed carelessly and drained their drinks with obvious enjoyment.

I called the innkeeper over and asked him to bring the finest drink and food for them. Once the dishes arrived, I leaned in.

"The Granado Family is going to fall? How?"