"Have you heard? It is rumoured that Master Calvin is a member of Acheron— The heretic cult." A maid whispered.
"It's not just that, I even heard that he killed his fiance because she became aware of the truth and was about to reveal it when Master Calvin pushed her in front of a horde of Arecnites, which led to her demise and Master Calvin named it as an unfortunate incident that occurred during dungeon exploration." The other maid responded.
"What are you two talking about?" Another maid joined in.
"Shhh! Keep your voice down." The second maid said and looked around a bit before continuing: "We were talking about the rumours regarding Master Calvin."
"Oh! You guys are also talking about it! I just heard some other servants whispering among themselves, discussing the rumours..." The new and the third maid uttered.
"There sure are a lot of rumours regarding Master Calvin these days." The second maid asserted.
"So what do you think, are the rumours true?!" The third maid asked excitedly.
"Shhh! Keep it quiet. Why are acting you acting and shouting like a kid? Do you want us to get executed?" The second maid argued.
"So-sorry." The third maid apologised.
"I feel the rumours are true." Suddenly, a male servant interjected after hearing their conversation.
"Wh-why do you think so?" The third maid asked nervously.
The man looked around a bit before he whispered:
"Didn't you know that Master Calvin's growth stagnated at D-Rank for a couple of years? But in the last six months he made great progress, not only did he break through the chain of the C-rank, but he even became a full-fledged B-rank..... Don't you think there's something wrong with that?"
The end phrase uttered out of his mouth was barely audible. He was afraid that if one of the guards were to hear him, speaking ill of Master Calvin, he would become a means of wealth for that guard.
"Now that you said that, it does feel wrong." The second maid said in contemplation.
"But don't you think, he might be similar to Madam Kathryn in that aspect?" The first maid speculated.
"It can be... However, there are just too many instances which substantiate the authenticity of rumours. After all, not all of them can be coincidences." The male servant confessed.
Hearing his words everyone nodded in understanding.
There might be one or two rumours that might overlap each other. However, in this situation, every rumour was interlinked with one another, which is just too much of a coincidence. Everything makes perfect sense and is absurd to be cast away as mere rumours.
'It has to be the truth.' Is what they thought.
"D-Do you think The Inquisition will make an appearance hearing these rumours?" The third maid questioned.
However before anyone could reply, they heard a voice yelling at them:
"THE FUCK ARE YOU SHITHEADS DOING, STANDING AT THE CORNER LIKE A BUNCH OF MORONS?"
Hearing his deadly voice, everyone grew silent while their body turned pale, no one dared to make a response.
Heeding no response the man continued:
"TSK. FUCKERS, STOP WASTING TIME AND GET BACK TO WORK."
The man was Millicus Kalthy, One of the handful B-rank's in the territory of Clan Ulfred. He was wearing light armour and has the appearance of a 40-year-old man with red hair and dreary eyes.
There was a huge scar on his face cutting right through his left eye, which was why he was wearing an eyepatch. His voice was crude and the words quite vulgar. However, no one complained.
How could they? He was the Captain of Eternal Knights, one of the deadliest Corps that Clan Ulfred possesses.
"Ye-yes, Sir Millicus." Everyone answered and bowed in unison before they left for their work.
....
In a luxurious compartment, a man could be seen sitting on a chair, clutching his head in pain. Before him was a pile of paper, scattered on the desk.
—Click.
With a click sound, a door opened and a figure walked into the compartment.
The man was about to lift his head to have a glimpse of the anticipated visitor, but before he could do that he heard a voice:
"Why did you call me?"
The voice asked, it belonged to a female; a cold distinctive voice.
A deep sense of hatred can be sensed in her voice.
Hearing the question the man raised his head and looked at the woman with a peculiar gaze, with an expression which practically screamed: 'Are you mocking me? Aren't you aware of it?'
The girl can discern what the man wanted to convey. However, she decided to act oblivious seemingly unaware of his intentions and said:
"Speak. Before I leave."
"Tsk. Still that arrogant." The man jeered until he inquired:
"....Are you the one spreading the rumours?"
The girl contemplated for a bit, before asking back:
"Which rumours you are talking about? I have heard a lot in the past few days."
"The ones related to me." The man asserted calmly.
"Every rumour that I heard in the past few days is somehow related to you, one way or the other. So, which one are you talking about?"
"...You don't need to go to the specifics and just answer my question as a whole... Are you the one spreading the rumours?" The man asked in an annoyed tone.
"Are you dumb?! Why would I accept the accusation even if I was the one who spread the rumours?" The girl argued.
What she said was true. Why would she accept it even if she was the one who spread it?
However, the man wasn't in the mood to contend.
"STOP. WITH. YOUR. BULLSHIT. AND. ANSWER. MY. QUESTIONS!" The man announced and continued after he recollected his calmness.
"Now, I will ask for the last time. Are you the one spreading the rumours?"
"No."
That's all the girl said and that's all the man wanted.
For the next few seconds, silence permeated the room before the girl said:
"If that was all, I am leaving."
This time the man didn't say anything nor did he try to stop her, and just reclined on his chair.
After the girl left, the man adjusted his seat to the left side of the compartment, just for a wall to come into his view. The man continued to look at the wall and asked:
"What's the reading? Were there any fluctuations when she answered?"
"There was none." A voice answered from the wall.
And after a few seconds, a figure appeared before the wall after he deactivated his C-rank skill Camouflage; a skill that can hide one's presence from low-rank individuals.
"Does that mean she was telling the truth?" Calvin contemplated.
"Niktus, show me the reading."
"Yes, Master Calvin."
After he said that he walked toward Calvin, handing him a small device in the shape of a rectangle, which was silver in colour with a Green-coloured crystal, embedded in the middle of it.
It was a C-rank artefact, which showcases the reading of an individual's emotional fluctuation in the form of a graph. It was quite a rare artefact, and only a handful of people has the capabilities to possess it.
After he checked the reading, he too confirmed that there were no fluctuations.
"Is she really not the one behind it?" He questioned himself.
Hearing his question, Niktus interjected:
"From the very start, I didn't think Miss Alisha is the one behind it. After all, even if she possesses the mind to form the scheme, she certainly doesn't possess the personnel required to execute such a task. She only has a handful of people by her side, who don't have the abilities to execute such a difficult operation while showing extraordinary flawlessness."
Calvin knew what Niktus said was true, however, he just didn't want to believe that there is someone out there who can execute such an operation without leaving any marks.
Someone who is after him and his standing.
And if it continued he might lose his chance to be the next head of Clan Ulfred.
And even though, he hates to admit it, but in terms of schemes, only Alisha is the one he knows capable to produce such a sinister scheme.
As he continued to contemplate for a few seconds, he could only come to two conclusions.
Either, it is someone else who has both, the means to perform such a task with extraordinarily flawlessness as well as the brain to form such a scheme.
A contrast he doesn't like.
And it is one of the reasons why he didn't want to believe that it is the work of someone else other than Alishia.
Since if it is Alisha then he at least is aware of his adversary and can hinder her movements.
But if it's someone else, he is like an open target whose weakness is in the hand of the opponent and he has nothing to restrict the other party.
That's why the second conclusion he came was that Alisha got backing from someone else.
If that was the case, he can at least justify the origin of the scheme but the execution was still something that made him conflicted.
But it is still the best outcome he can hope for.
"Keep a close watch on her."
"Yes. Master Lykus."