Time has already passed since Lucy formally inherited the title of Baroness
from her father. But, unknowingly, it was also the same time when the
attacks on her began.
The first was when I picked her up from the commander's barracks one
morning, where I found something strange lying in front of her room's door.
"...What is this?"
It was the size of a man's fist and looked like a clump of rags, but I
immediately realized what it was when I got closer.
"What the hell? A dead mouse, how did it get here?"
At that moment, I thought it was a stray cat or something that had dropped
its prey.
The officer's barracks is a large building with many gaps, where rats and
other small animals lurk.
When I found this fact in the barracks I was staying in, I really wished that
day that we could get rid of the vermin along with the monsters.
There was already a smell of decay coming from it, so I could not just leave
it be.
I borrowed some cleaning supplies and after cleaning up the carcass, I
knocked on Lucy's door.
After waiting for about ten seconds, she came out. She seemed to have
already prepared herself for the day.
"Good morning, Yuushin. Oh, is there something wrong?"
Lucy, who was smiling when she came out, tilted her head slightly.
I was trying to keep my face as usual, but she seemed to have intuited
something.
"Actually, I saw a dead rat on my way here. So I thought it was a bad omen
for the morning."
I didn't lie. I just blurred some of the details because I can't bear to have
Lucy in a bad mood at the start of the day.
"I see. Then I'll give this to you instead. For good luck."
Lucy approached me and kissed me on the cheek.
"What if someone sees us?"
"Don't worry, I've already checked. Are you feeling better now?"
She smiled at me, and I could see the ease in her expression.
Has she become slightly more mature since she inherited the title?
Well, if she is growing up, then it's all good for me.
"Yes, I feel perfect now. But we've got a full schedule today, so let's hurry."
I urged her to hurry up and took her to the mess hall first.
Thankfully, the rest of the day went without a hitch.
Lucy became busier now. After all, aside from her duties as a commander,
she also had to work as the head of the family now that she had officially
taken over her title. If yo u ar e able to re ad this me ss age, you ar e rea di
ng from an u nauth oriz ed ag regat e si te. Read at my Wo rdP ress at stab
bing with a syr i nge. hom e. bl og to sup port me and m y t ransl ati ons.
Most of the work is handled by her mother and butler at home, but many
documents still required her signature.
I started to help her as her adjutant in the army and also with that work.
The documents were a valuable source of information for me, as I could
read many things about the current situation in the noble world.
After all the work was done, I dropped Lucy off at the officer's barracks,
which was the end of my shift for the day.
However, the next day, and the day after that, Lucy began to experience
some unnatural misfortunes around her.
For example, when I was helping Lucy with her paperwork in her office.
Suddenly, the window glass shattered, and a stone flew into the room.
"Kyaaa!?"
"Lucy!? Are you okay?"
I always try to call her by her last name when I'm on duty, even when we're
alone, but this time I called her by her first name.
I immediately ran over to her to make sure she is okay.
At the same time, I moved her away from the window to ensure her safety.
"I was surprised by the suddenness. But I'm fine. I'm not hurt."
It seems that she only screamed in surprise and is not injured.
But Lucy's seat is close to the window, so she is covered in shards of
broken glass.
"Please don't move. I'll get rid of it right away."
I removed the glass from her head and looked out the broken window.
But there is no sign of the person who had shot the stone.
"Damn it, who did this? Do they know that this is a nobleman's room?"
Even if it is done out of mischief, they will not escape punishment, even if
the culprit is a nobleman.
As the war against the monsters rages on, the value of the military will only
increase.
As such, it would be unacceptable to do any harm to any commander of the
army.
"Yuushin, I'm fine."
Lucy is acting coolly, but I can see that she is more than a little shocked.
Then again, it's not as if anyone can act unconcerned if they are suddenly
attacked.
Especially since this was not a battlefield but a safe base.
"Shall we call it a day, Commander Finlay? And while at it, go home and
rest for a while?"
As for me, I am planning to find the culprit while she rests at home.
The monster appearances have been slowing down lately, making their
attacks on the city slow down as well, so there's plenty of time.
However, Lucy shook her head on my proposal.
"No, we can't take any action that would be considered running away from
them."
When she said that, she looked at me, then gave a brave nod as if she knew
exactly what I was thinking.
Well, if that's what Lucy says, I guess I'll have to comply.
We then began to devote ourselves to finding the culprit while we were at
work.
But it wasn't just rocks that started assaulting Lucy.
Sometimes they were buckets of water, sometimes pits, with the danger
level gradually increasing.
A pit would be cute, but in reality, it was already about two meters deep and
could easily entrap a person.
If you are to fall in unexpectedly, you can injure your body, which will be
far more dangerous than simply getting wet with a falling water bucket.
"It's getting serious now."
I said to the girl beside me as I filled in the hole where she had almost
fallen.
"That's true. But if they're playing so many tricks on us, they might have
left some evidence behind."
"I hope so too, but..."
As I filled in the holes, I noticed that there was no evidence of the culprit
either, as far as I could see. Th is cha pter tran slat ion is mad e poss ibl e by
sta bb ing with a sy ri nge tra nslatio ns. check on ly up-to -da te trans lation
s on my Wor dpr ess si te.
But at this point, this was already a piece of evidence.
The people who are harassing Lucy are either the same military people or
aristocrats with influence in the military.
In order to trap her with this, they would have to find out her behavioral
patterns, which were already far from their capabilities if the culprit is not a
soldier. Also, this area is near the commander's barracks. It would arouse
great suspicion if those of non-related occupation would walk through here
and dig a hole this big unnoticed.
Furthermore, I've been keeping a close watch on my surroundings for the
past few days and haven't been able to find anyone suspicious. They are
probably using multiple people to take turns watching us to reduce the
chance of us noticing.
And even if we catch the suspect doing these harassments, it would be for
naught as the prime culprit would only just cut their tails off the matter and
continue doing it using other people instead. After all, the aristocrats here
treat their adjutant as mere servants and nothing more.
When I mentioned these speculations to Lucy, she nodded her head in
agreement.
"Indeed. This is not something a commoner can do. The question is, why
are they targeting me?"
"The most likely explanation is a grudge, but can you think of anything,
Lady Finlay?"
"No, not that I know of."
Lucy said apologetically, but I had expected that answer.
As far as I can tell, I've never seen her in conflict with anyone else.
On the contrary, I've seen more than a few commanders who are friendly
with her.
In addition to being a commander directly related to Lucy's predecessor,
she had a good reputation for her good cooperative management during
troop exercises.
You can find no reason to resent her.
"Then what is it that made them do this?"
"Maybe they have a grudge against your predecessor, or maybe they have a
personal grudge against you without your knowledge."
Human emotions are irrational. Sometimes they act without reason, which
is terrifying.
"If this continues, it will only escalate further. However, the more brazen
their behavior, the more chances we get a solid evidence. One more breath
of patience, Lady Finlay."
I said encouragingly to Lucy.
And that prediction soon became a reality.