Cooperation Request
After school.
Rudell and Leje were walking somewhere.
"Leje, can you tell me what's going on now?"
"Not yet. There might be eyes watching."
"Hmm..."
Just how important could this be if it needed to be kept this secret?
Rudell let out a low groan at her unusually cautious reaction.
And so, after walking for a while along the hallway bathed in the golden light of the setting sun streaming in through the windows…
At the end of their walk, in front of Leje, stood a large door adorned with antique decorations.
"This is…"
"It's the student council president. Leje El Lagrind."
It was none other than the academy's main building, the student council president's office.
Leje lightly knocked on the door, it opened, and the two of them stepped inside.
"Welcome, you two. Did you have a good vacation? It's hard to ask that considering everything that's happened, hasn't it?"
"It's been a while, Princess Cayley."
"It's been a while, sister."
Rudell and Leje bowed their heads as they looked at Cayley, who greeted them warmly.
"Must have been a tiring journey. Have a seat."
At Cayley's invitation, the two headed to the reception table, and she also rose from her desk and took a seat at the table.
"I heard the news. Your family was promoted to Count? You've made it big."
"It's nothing much, just burdensome."
"Have some more confidence. You saved the Princess's life! You can be a little more proud of yourself."
"Right? Sometimes it's frustrating even for me."
"Ahahaha…"
Cayley and Leje.
Rudell let out an awkward laugh, along with a cold sweat, at their pointed remarks.
But only for a moment…
"Let's see… Young Master Weinstein hasn't heard about this yet, has he?"
"No, he hasn't."
Rudell nodded at her question.
Convinced that it must be no ordinary matter if Cayley was involved, Rudell looked at her.
At his gaze, Cayley seemed to be lost in thought for a moment, then, as if she had made a decision, she opened her mouth.
"First of all, let me make it clear that this is a request for cooperation, not an order. It's your choice whether to cooperate or not."
"A request for cooperation?"
What could it be that she was being so formal about?
As Rudell thought this, Cayley pulled a letter sealed in a purple envelope from her pocket.
The seal on the envelope was none other than the royal seal.
"This is…"
It wasn't difficult to guess who had sent the letter.
There was only one person in the royal family who would send them a letter.
It was the Kingdom's first Princess, Jade Elizabeth Perun Prussel.
"This is a letter from the Princess to the two of you. Read it."
"..."
At her words, Rudell picked up the envelope and carefully opened it to check the contents.
And…
"Hmm..."
Rudell, who had been reading the letter with a serious face, let out a short breath and put the letter back in the envelope.
"So… cooperate with the Security Guard and apprehend the serial killer known as the [Thorn Carpenter]. Is that it?"
"Precisely."
Cayley nodded with a faint smile at Rudell's following question.
Cutting out the extraneous details, the letter simply requested them to assist the Security Guard in apprehending the serial killer, the [Thorn Carpenter], who had recently become the talk of the Royal Capital.
"The Thorn Carpenter…"
Thorn Carpenter.
Rudell had heard of him in passing.
A mysterious being who was said to operate mainly in the Back Alleys, killing people and drinking their blood.
From the description alone, he sounded like a vampire, but no one had actually seen him, and rumors only whispered about whether he was human or monster.
Since he wasn't a character who appeared in the original story, Rudell had patrolled every night for several days, but perhaps coincidentally, the Thorn Carpenter never appeared when Rudell was on patrol.
"So, what do you think? Interested?"
"Even if you say so… are you sure this is alright? We're just students."
No matter how unmatched they were in terms of combat prowess, they were only barely adults…
Technically, Rudell hadn't even had his coming-of-age ceremony yet.
Common sense dictated that entrusting such a task to them was unnatural, no matter how you looked at it.
"I knew you'd say that."
Letting out a short sigh as if she'd anticipated his reaction, Cayley looked at the two with a serious face.
"What I'm about to tell you must not be spoken of anywhere. Do you understand?"
"..."
Rudell and Leje nodded at her words.
If she was being this serious, it
must be something that shouldn't be disclosed.
After a brief pause, Cayley slowly began her story…
"The Death Eater Cult. Have you heard of them?"
"…!!"
At her completely unexpected words, Rudell held his breath and stared at her.
Why was that name coming up here?
Outwardly, he tried to remain calm, but Rudell's mind was more chaotic than ever.
That was because the other characters weren't supposed to know about their existence until much later.
At this point, Rudell should be the only one aware of them.
"Never heard of it. What is it?"
"Hmm… Where do I even begin to explain this…"
With a troubled voice at her bewildered response, Cayley began her explanation.
The mythical age, the Celestial War, the evil god Thanatos' scheme and the existence of his followers, as well as all the atrocities they had committed in history and the truth behind the recent Sabbath festival incident.
Her story didn't deviate much from what Rudell already knew.
"Oh my god… Is that true?"
"At least the Princess and I believe so. And you two are involved, whether you like it or not."
After Cayley finished her story, Leje's eyes widened in disbelief.
Who could easily believe such a story if they heard it out of the blue?
What she had thought was simply a heated and radical political struggle was actually related to the gods…
It was an event that could only be described as mythical.
However, knowing that Cayley, of all people, wouldn't tell a fabricated story, Leje had no choice but to believe her.
"The Princess and I believe there's some connection between the Thorn Carpenter and the Death Eater Cult."
"Why do you think so?"
"A hunch."
"..."
Leje stared at Cayley with a dumbfounded expression.
Is this sister joking…
That's what her face seemed to say.
'She probably means she can't fully trust us yet...'
Rudell understood the underlying meaning of her answer.
If their pawns were planted even in the academy, a core facility of the Kingdom, would the royal palace be any different?
With even a loyal professor who had worked at the academy for over a decade revealed to be one of their minions, it was natural for anyone to be wary in such a situation.
Considering that, Jade and Cayley's vigilance was reasonable.
"So? What will you do? I'll say it again, but I'm not forcing you. It's your choice."
"Hmm..."
Leje let out a low groan at her question.
Naturally, it wasn't an easy decision for her.
With the Duke already on edge because of the incident at the County, would it be wise to jump into another dangerous situation?
If the Duke found out, this time it wouldn't end with just confinement.
This time, she might actually be imprisoned in the Duchy.
Therefore, this was a difficult decision for Leje.
"Rudell. What do you think?"
"I… think it's alright. We're already involved, so we might as well. Besides, it's the Princess's request, so we can't refuse."
Unlike Leje, Rudell nodded, showing a positive reaction to the proposal.
The Princess's request.
He answered that way, but Rudell had another motive.
'This would be a good opportunity to uncover the Thorn Carpenter's identity.'
If he was in league with the Death Eater Cult, it would be best to nip it in the bud, and if not, it might be an opportunity to recruit a new ally.
New allies were always welcome.
Of course, whether he would truly become an asset was something he could only find out by meeting him face to face.
"Alright, we'll cooperate."
"Good thinking. The Princess will be pleased."
After much deliberation, Leje seemed to have made up her mind and answered.
Cayley responded with a bright smile and rose from her seat.
"I'll tell your homeroom teacher… that is, Count Fernand, the details. If you go to his office tonight, you'll be able to hear the full story."
"Got it. We'll do that."
"How about some tea since you're here? I just got some pretty good tea leaves."
"I'll get going. I'm busy."
Leje smiled faintly at Cayley and headed towards the hallway.
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Sometimes he is not that brilliant.
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