CH 10

“YOU, SO YOU WERE THE FIRST PRINCE’S ESCORT!!?”

After his ninth life, Klein once again woke up in his bed.

And that was the first thing that came out of his mouth.

‘——this is a friggin mess’ Thought Klein as he held his head.

The gentle-eyed assassin’s identity is actually the Royal Knight in service of the First Prince.

This means that each time he was actually killed by the Royal Family.

Just by counting the number of times alone, that always-smiling knight was the one who killed him the most.

Currently, his grudge against the Royal Family is more intense than against Marquis Laguna who launched a surprise war on him and destroyed his territory. In frustration, Klein started twisting his body on the bed.

After a while, he managed to calm down.

“No, wait a minute here. The prince said something before he had me killed right. It was about Marquis Laguna’s conspiracy or something along that line.”

Klein was confused by the suddenly escalated situation that led to his death but as he calmly recalled what the prince said and wrote their conversation down on the note at his end table, he gradually recovered some hope.

“Eh? This…..does this mean that the Royal Family and Marquis Laguna are not necessarily on good terms?”

Following the purge that took place the other day, Marquis Laguna was reaping all the benefits.

Klein doesn’t know about the King or the Prime Minister but at least the First Prince is aware of that.

That’s why he was being wary about houses that may join side with the Marquis.

He had Klein killed because of that.

After arranging the facts, Kisei’s expression brightened.

“Fuhahahahahahaha! That’s right, I can do it! If it’s like this then I definitely can survive!”

The enemy of your enemy is your ally.

If the Royal Family and House Laguna are going to collide in the future, there is a high possibility that he will survive if he takes the Royal Family’s side.

With hope for the future, Klein did a guts pose on his bed.

“In other words, I can just keep answering the prince with the same answers as last time and bash the Marquis in the end huh. That’s easy! Hahahahaha!”

If he can solve this, he won’t have to worry about the all-smiling assassin anymore.

“No, being careful is still a must huh.”

Said the man who’s doing a guts pose on top of his bed.

Come to think of it, why did Marie still haven’t come to wake me up yet?

Thinking so, Klein noticed that the door to his room was ajar a little so he hurriedly jumped into the hallway.

“NOOOOOO! KLEIN-SAMA HAS GONE MAD!!!!!!!!!!”

“NO, YOU’VE GOT THE WRONG IDEA, MARIE!! I WILL RAISE YOUR SALARY SO JUST WAIT A MINUTE!!”

The lord of the mansion is desperately chasing after a maid in his nightwear.

On the other hand, fear seems to outweigh her desire for money so Marie never even considers stopping her legs.

Hearing the commotion, the Head Butler came to stop them and sit both of them down in the hallway before he started giving them a sermon.

From the moment Klein jumped out of his room, the chase continued for around 5 minutes.

Alright, it’s a rematch with the prince!

Naturally, he didn’t say that out loud, he was merely pumping himself up in his mind.

“Thank you, Marie. I will make sure to raise your salary later.”

Klein finished his audience with the King and repeated the thing he said last time.

“Who’s Marie?”

“Oh, She’s a maid in my service.’

Just like last time, the First Prince started a conversation with him.

He’s a person with a slim bodyline and sharp gaze, the kind of person that would make you feel a little nervous around him.

“Hmm? I thought that I erased my presence but you’re not looking that surprised huh……….well, no matter.”

After having the nearby maid brew tea for us, the first prince sits down across from Klein.

The prince did not say a word during the audience and he had never exchanged any personal conversation with him either.

However, through the memory of his previous life, he managed to grasp what kind of person he is a little.

As long as he knows what kind of hand his opponent is going to play, he should have some leeway in this conversation.

“…..So, you were saying?”

“No, it’s nothing, Your Highness. My maid simply told me that I would fail if I acted too greedy. I thought about what she said and came up with the proposal I presented to His Majesty this time”

“I see. You are a good lord that listens to his people huh.”

There was a mysterious pressure emanating from the prince as though he was trying to judge Klein’s character.

With the information he obtained from his previous life, Klein assessed that the prince might be trying to see if Klein is going to side up with Marquis Laguna, using the newfound influence he obtained from the silver mine.

The prince proceeded to sip his tea with a bored expression before continuing the conversation.

“It seems that you properly took care of your horizontal relationship but what about your vertical ones?”

“My parents have already passed away and I do not have any connection with other great houses.”

“Is that so?”

With the same exchanges, the tension that hovered over his previous conversation with the prince would naturally be there.

Knowing that an uncomfortable presence is inching closer to him because of this very exchange, Klein still chooses to give the same answer.

“Then, what do you think about the Vanaut house?”

The prince appeared to be aware of the Count’s lolicon tendency.

That’s why he can boldly defuse this landmine.

While thinking so on the inside, Klein intentionally uses the same answer he gave last time and acts like he’s about to reveal a shocking truth as much as possible.

“Umm, this is a story I heard from my distant relative but, well, it seems that the head of the Vanaut house has been passionately pursuing a marriage talk with them recently.”

“Then he would eventually become your relative as well, right? It’s not like you are making more enemies, what are you not satisfied with?”

How long does he have to pause before continuing this?

While considering such a thing, Klein continued.

“…….the young lady who the Count has been courting, she is only 11 years old, Your Highness.”

“……Ahh, I see. Come to think of it, that guy certainly has that kind of hobby huh.”

Klein managed to detect these after a careful observation of the prince but he could see the creases between his eyebrows deepen and the muscles around his eyes also quivered a little.

Now they will get to the main topic.

Detecting those signs, Klein readies himself for the challenge.

“Then, what about House Laguna?”

The question about the person who is the source of Klein’s hardship finally came up.

In addition to his murder and the slaughtering of his people, Marquis Laguna was responsible for the surprise war that razed his ancestral home to the ground.

Naturally, his impression of the Marquis is the worst.

However, from what he knows, it seems that the Marquis hasn’t started anything yet and the relationship he has with the royal family is not a bad one either.

Badmouthing him here would accelerate the destruction of his house.

That’s what he thought but the prince in front of him seems to be wary of House Laguna, no, of the Marquis himself.

The prince is probably not expecting him to badmouth the Marquis either.

Guessing so, Klein———-tries speaking ill of the Marquis without any restraint.

“Even with its prestigious reputation, I think that the Laguna house’s ambition is too transparent. Even I who is not familiar with the circumstances of the Royal Capital could tell that House Laguna is planning something. However, when things are so simple like this, it makes me anxious about the future.”

“Hou, what made you so anxious then?”

Seeing the prince urging him to continue is a good sign.

That’s why Klein immediately continues.

“The Marquis himself did not do anything to prevent the poisoning and took advantage of the turmoil to expand his influence. It’s quite easy to see which house benefited the most from the incident. However, is he truly the kind of person who would resort to a plot that is so simple even I can see through? This is what I can’t wrap my head around.”

With his mouth on rapid-fire, he thoroughly stated his opinions about his enemy.

If he went that far then the prince wouldn’t think that he would side with the Marquis in the future.

After finally venting everything out, Klein’s expression looked refreshed.

“…….Hm, you have a good head on those shoulders. I guess I can think of you as a well-rounded man.”

He was able to say what he wanted and get recognized by the First Prince.

Thinking that he has completed all the missions he set out to do, ——Klein enjoyed his tea in satisfaction.

On the other hand, the prince lightly spun the saucer under his teacup and casually continued speaking.

“But you are too blunt.”

“—-KILLING INTENT!”

Just like last time, a slash flew toward Klein’s neck.

Klein avoided it along with the second slash that came after that.

He did well evading so far but that was it.

“Guh, Ugh…..argh.”

“You said all those things without even trying to clear the room first, what a careless person you are. You seem to have a brain but……..it seems that the mouth is truly the source of misfortune huh.”

Klein managed to avoid two consecutive slashes but the smiling knight did not completely swing her sword.

The trajectory of the knight’s sword changed mid-swing and its tip pierced Klein’s throat.

“Indeed, Your Highness……..ahh, this won’t do. I made him suffer.”

As he thought that everything was going well and let his guard down, Klein collapsed with a stunned expression.

The moment before the smiling knight delivered a finishing blow, suddenly, the prince muttered something in a small voice.

“Well, the knights and maids here are all my confidants…….I don’t think that anyone here would betray me but, well, you can never be too careful.”

With this, their conversation will not be leaked to the outside.

‘In the first place—–You didn’t have to kill me for that right?’

With such a thought in mind, Klein’s consciousness faded away.

Kingdom Calendar Year 500, April 22nd.

It was announced that on his way back from the royal palace, Viscount Asgard was attacked and killed by a group of bandits

As a result, the entire Asgard territory was transferred to the royal family’s direct control.