A Mastermind? No, I'm just the Live-In Son-in-Law-Chapter 94: Slave Knight

“Uh, hmm.”

In the suddenly awkward atmosphere, I blinked blankly for a moment, scratching my head before smiling and opening my mouth.

“So you had a sibling, Lunelle?”

“M-My apologies.”

Startled, Lunelle—who had been looking down nervously—responded in a fluster.

“I should’ve reported it beforehand... but the timing didn’t align. I’m sorry.”

“No, there’s no need to apologize for that.”

Lunelle, who was normally blunt and stoic, was visibly flustered for once, and not wanting to make the situation any more awkward, I gently coaxed her with a soft voice.

“If it’s you, Lunelle, I’m sure you judged them strictly without favoritism, even if they’re family. In that case, there’s nothing to worry about.”

“......”

“Oh? Why the silence? Don’t tell me it was nepotism?”

But the moment I said that, Lunelle flinched and held her tongue, making me tilt my head and question her further.

“...What is nepotism?”

“Ah, well. I mean... you didn’t go easy during the evaluation, right?”

A term from my past life had slipped out, but thankfully no one seemed to find it strange.

“...I’ve already severed ties with my family.”

“So that means...”

“To me, there is no longer a sibling. If you so wish, Master, I can even abandon the Misthylene name.”

After a brief pause, Lunelle responded in a solemn voice, and the tone was so dark that everyone’s attention naturally turned to her.

“Haha, there’s really no need to go that far. I was only asking about the evaluation process...”

“...Once again, I apologize. I was merely caught off guard.”

As I tried to patch up the increasingly awkward mood, I tilted my head slightly at Lunelle’s words, digging through my memory.

‘Now that I think about it, the Misthylene family—Lunelle’s family—was also a count family, like ours. And now their children want to join our knight order?’

If we were a renowned martial family with a long-standing knight order, or if it were the ducal knight order or the imperial one, this wouldn’t have been surprising.

But no matter how much the Ringaarden count family had been rising in status lately, for the children of another count family to apply to our knight order?

Legally, there was nothing wrong with it, but within the current noble society of the Empire, it was definitely not considered normal.

“Master, in case you didn’t know, the Misthylene count family is currently on the brink of bankruptcy.”

“Huh?”

As I tilted my head in slight confusion, Parsha, who had been quietly reading my expression from the side, suddenly leaned in and whispered the information into my ear.

“To explain a little more, they’re in the same state our Ringaarden family was in about a year before I arrived.” freewebnøvel.coɱ

“So...”

“Yes, meaning no one knows when they’ll collapse.”

It stung a little to hear it, but honestly, even just a few months ago, the Ringaarden family had been in such dire straits that we could barely keep up appearances as nobles.

So if that same state had persisted for a year, it was easy to imagine the kind of decline the Misthylene family had suffered.

But how the hell did Parsha know that? Usually I was the one who had to piece together information from noble gatherings and whisper it back to her, wasn’t I?

“How did you know about that?”

“...Turns out the servant contact network my grandfather left behind is pretty useful.”

“Hmm.”

Curious, I asked Parsha, but she only deflected with a shameless smile.

‘Surely she hasn’t already set up her own information network?’

In the original game, she had created a hidden network even Meredia didn’t know about and nearly got purged for it, so I couldn’t help but feel uneasy—but that was several years later in the game’s timeline.

She’s only been under my employment for less than half a year. There’s no way she’s already built something like that.

‘There’s no way... right?’

The image of Parsha with that villainous smirk from the original game flashed through my mind, sending an unnecessary chill down my spine—but for now, I decided to let it go.

“Then the reason the children of the Misthylene family applied to join our knight order...”

“Isn’t it obvious? They’re trying to use whatever strings they’ve got left to at least secure one final lifeline.”

I mean, I turned that Meredia villainess into a tsundere noble lady—there’s no way I can’t manage one Parsha, right?

“Parsha... your language is rather harsh sometimes.”

“......”

“A bad child doesn’t deserve to be my subordinate.”

Smiling quietly at that thought, I gently chastised her—and the corners of her lips, which had been slightly lifted, began to twitch.

“...I’m sorry.”

And then, she quietly lowered her gaze and offered a meek apology.

“I really can’t tell if you’re a good kid or a bad one...”

Lady Meredia, watching us from the side, muttered something under her breath—but unfortunately, I couldn’t quite make it out.

“Y-Young Master... all of the interviewees are ready...”

“...Ah, I see.”

Just then, Sasha entered the makeshift interview room with her usual timid expression and asked me the question.

“Sh-Should I let them in one by one?”

“No, bring them in two at a time. I have something in mind.”

As Sasha turned to hurry out of the room with quick steps, I added one more thing in a gentle tone.

“Oh, and when I give the signal... bring a stretcher.”

“...Excuse me?”

“Never mind. You don’t need to come. Give the task to a maid with a tight mouth.”

If an assassin were to try something in this interview space, which currently had two war machines inside, I’d need to be ready to handle the aftermath swiftly.

“Please take care of it, okay?”

“...Got it.”

Thankfully, Sasha—recently promoted to head maid—had become much more competent. Instead of bursting into tears like she used to, she simply nodded with a slightly somber expression and left the room.

“At least it’s just one today...”

“...What exactly do you do all the time?”

“Pardon?”

Meredia narrowed her eyes and questioned Sasha’s mumbling with deep suspicion—but I, too, had no clue, so I simply gave her another helpless look.

***

“Ah, hello. I’m Johan, graduate of the 113th class of the Byework Knight Academy...”

“......”

Thus, after a short preparation time, the knight order interviews finally began—but I never expected such a combination right from the start.

‘Johan, with the highest Luck stat, and an assassin sent to kill me. Now that’s an interesting pair.’

Two of the people I was most keeping an eye on during these interviews were already standing before me.

‘Still, that assassin is impressive.’

Even though Parsha could see through them, there wasn’t a hint of murderous intent coming from the assassin standing before me.

Well, if they had leaked even a trace of killing intent here, they might have been folded in half by Meredia, standing next to me.

Still, to completely erase their killing intent with the target standing right in front of them—this assassin might be as skilled as Bergen.

‘But how did Johan end up entering with someone like that...?’

One thing puzzled me: Johan, who should be blessed with incredible luck, ended up grouped with a terrifying assassin.

As far as I knew, Johan’s stats were average across the board, except for Luck, making him no match for the assassin beside him.

For them to be paired together—did that mean some unexpected event was about to happen right here?

“You there.”

As I kept a cautious eye on the situation, the sharp-eyed Lady Meredia spoke first.

“Y-Yes, yes ma’am?!”

“No, not you.”

Johan, frozen stiff at the realization that the Empire’s only princess was an interviewer, quickly answered first—but Meredia’s words weren’t directed at him.

“How long do you intend to keep that robe on?”

“......”

“If you came for an interview, at least show the minimum courtesy.”

At her stern command, the unidentified assassin who had been covering their face finally lowered their robe and spoke.

“...Understood.”

And then, a flurry of different expressions swept across everyone’s faces.

“A beastkin?”

The moment the robe was pulled back, a pair of sharp, pointed wolf ears popped into view, immediately revealing the individual’s origins.

“...Another woman?”

Though somehow, a different sort of comment slipped from Meredia’s lips.

“You’ve certainly come a long way from the Eastern Continent.”

“......”

“But why did you decide to apply to the Ringaarden Knight Order, of all places?”

As the interview room lapsed into silence again, it was once more Lady Meredia who broke it.

“I merely followed where the winds carried me.”

“That wasn’t the kind of abstract answer I was looking for.”

Despite the sharp question, the wolf-eared beastkin maintained an expressionless face before slowly turning her gaze to me.

“I’m certain the recruitment notice said you would not ask about backgrounds.”

“......?”

“I fail to understand why you keep prying into my personal history.”

Hearing that, Lady Meredia, momentarily stunned, turned her gaze toward me just like the beastkin and asked:

“Is that true?”

“...It is, actually.”

“Haah, unbelievable.”

The moment I answered with an awkward smile, Lady Meredia’s mouth launched into a fierce tirade.

“What kind of idiot doesn’t care about the background of the blade that’s going to serve them?”

“...Right here, apparently.”

“This isn’t a joke, you know?”

Of course, I wasn’t in a position to be picky, so I had decided not to care about backgrounds—but it seemed Lady Meredia’s philosophy was quite different.

“Even giving you the benefit of the doubt—a knight academy graduate with no history is one thing. But a beastkin from who-knows-where?”

“......”

“Are you trying to form a mercenary band instead of a knight order, Whitney?”

Though her words included some dangerously controversial remarks, I trusted in the growth Meredia had shown so far.

“Lady Meredia.”

“What?”

“...Discriminating based on race is wrong.”

Saying so with a slightly serious expression, I watched as Meredia, briefly frozen, finally whispered in a low voice.

“That’s not what I meant to say...”

“...Lady Meredia.”

“Haah, fine. I get it. I’m sorry.”

Thankfully, seeing me maintain a firm stance, she finally backed down this time.

“But female beastkin tend to shed a lot, and they have certain periods where they get... troublesome...”

“......”

“...Tsk.”

Still, no one would mistake her for anything other than the villainess she was. Seems like some fundamental issues will need to be corrected little by little.

“Hey, I won’t ask about your past. But at least tell me your name.”

Watching nervously as Lady Meredia’s words teetered on the edge, I let out a sigh of relief when they stayed within acceptable /N_o_v_e_l_i_g_h_t/ bounds and turned my attention back to the interviewees.

“...I can share that much.”

But that moment of relief didn’t last long.

“Please call me Ferris.”

“...Ah.”

At the name that came from the wolf beastkin’s mouth, I immediately recalled the identity of the assassin who had brazenly shown up at the interview.

“Ah, uh... I see.”

“...What’s wrong?”

Because according to my memories, the wolf beastkin who introduced herself as Ferris—

“...It’s nothing.”

—was none other than the slave knight and right hand of Maier, one of Lady Meredia’s most hated enemies.