Violant of the Silver - Chapter 83

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translator: mii

editor: ASplashOfMusic

When Vio saw Cheval wearing a disguise, the face of the Knights of the Green Flash’s captain flashed in his mind. “Does Sir Fion need to be this wary of me? To the point where he even had you disguise yourself to monitor me this far from the royal capital?”

“N-no, that’s not it… I’m currently on a mission—different from what you mentioned, Lord Violant—and just happened to meet you here. But when I saw Miss Rille about to be injured, I didn’t think much and jumped to help out of instinct…” Cheval avoided Vio’s gaze, looking around with restless eyes as though trying to search for a reasonable excuse in the air. But Rille’s heavy stare had him at wit’s end. 

Cheval released a sigh. “This is why I’m not good at missions like this. It’s impossible for me to completely dedicate myself to the mission and ignore an acquaintance who’s in danger, not when they’re right in front of me…” he said. “But the pay cut and the captain’s lectures I’m going to get later is nothing as long as Miss Rille is safe. Anyway, I’ll take my leave now.” 

But before Cheval could leave, Rille vigorously jumped and clung onto his left arm, stopping him. “W-wait! Please wait!” Her white rabbit ears drooped down in remorse. “Um… Uh… T-thank you… very much…” forced out Rille, bowing down.

Rille’s stilted thanks brought a wry smile to Vio’s face. But it managed to make Cheval break into a wide smile. “No, what’s important is you’re not injured. I know you’re strong, but please don’t be so reckless all the time. Please don’t forget that you have people who’ll feel crushed if you ever get yourself hurt.”

“My… So that’s how you trick women, huh. How nasty.”

“Huhh?! Did I say something wrong just now? Why are your eyes so cold?!” exclaimed Cheval, frightened by Rille’s frosty reply. 

However, Vio noticed how Rille’s cheeks gained a red hue. She probably said that to conceal her embarrassment.

“Thank you for saving Rille, Sir Cheval. I won’t pry into the specifics of your mission, but I noticed that you seem to be accompanying that carriage. I wish you a safe journey.”

“Yes, that is a great help to me. Thank you…” Then Cheval noticed the amulet of Sophie, the Goddess of Wisdom, in Vio’s right hand. He asked, “By the way, can I borrow that for a short while?”

“Hm? Yes, sure. This seems to be the amulet mercenaries often carry with them. I believe this amulet resembles the one Sir Fion showed me before, but that’s probably just a coincidence.”

Vio had a premonition when he had spotted this amulet on the bandits. But he made sure to hide his unease and handed the amulet to Cheval.

Other than Rupheus, the only people with  a personal motive to target Vio would be Sarg Villan, who Vio had embarrassed and beaten at his own game, and Viscount Fores, whose plans to forcibly make Yuan his page boy were foiled by Vio. But unfortunately, the Lesserhain family had so many enemies, some of which might also want to see him dead. Thus, it was hard for Vio to determine who had sent these bandits to kill him.

As Vio glanced to the side, Jill and Hauser dragged all the bandits who were still alive to a nearby tree and tied them to its truck with rope. The rest of the bandits on the ground remained unmoving, having already died.

Although Vio recognized that these bandits had attacked first and that they had only retaliated to defend themselves, this scene still discomforted him.

Then Cheval said, “Um… Do you mind if I take this with me? This is interesting evidence, so I plan to show it to the Knights’ Order later.”

“Sure. I don’t mind. But… my family has numerous enemies. Such incidents aren’t a rare occurrence when I’m traveling, so I don’t think this will be very helpful in your investigations.”

“Just in case. We can never be too sure, can we?” Cheval placed the amulet in his pants pocket and bowed to Vio. “Then I will return to my duties. Please excuse me.”

“Take care.”

Vio took a shallow breath as he watched Cheval energetically rush back to the other carriage amidst the light drizzle.

He shot another glance to the side, where he noticed that Rille’s face was still red for some reason. This worried Vio. “What’s wrong, Rille? Do you have a fever?”

“Hu… Master, I feel strange. Why is my heart beating so fast?”

“Uhh…”

To her genuine confusion, not only Vio but also the other three men turned to her in shock.

Everyone was shaken by Rille’s words, but they decided to stay quiet about it for now. She might currently appear to be a maiden in love, but they had yet to ascertain that this truly was the cause. 

After all, it was also probable that the palpitations were caused by the adrenaline from being in critical danger. They couldn’t rule that possibility out. 

“I tried to threaten some information out of the conscious ones, but they don’t seem to know much about their client. However, it is certain that this is an act of revenge for the previous humiliation he received from Lord Violant.”

“I embarrassed them? Hmm. If I had directly embarrassed the culprit behind this incident, then I only have two people in mind. If it is someone who I had unknowingly embarrassed in the past, then…” Vio shook his head. “I’m not sure.”

Jill raised his right hand. “If this was caused by Viscount Fores, then Yuan could be in danger. I think we should leave at once.”

“Right. Then let’s go.”

“As always, I will bring the bandits to the nearby village and have the soldiers there handle them.”

“Yes, do that.”

Upon hearing Vio’s reply, Jill opened the carriage door and urged, “The rain is growing heavier. Please enter before you catch a cold.”

Vio nodded and climbed into the carriage. Afterward,  the party resumed their trip once again.