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Etsu's POV
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The night I showed Captain Ryu's letter was the night I was told to start packing.

Captain said that he was planning on heading to Greif soon after this assassination plot had been resolved, or at least, mostly resolved.

But of course, Captain is surprisingly cautious, so he's sending me there ahead of time in order to get enough information for when he arrives.

He had said that he didn't expect to be stuck in Richt for long, maybe 2 or 3 weeks at most, but that's plenty of time to go all the way to Greif and back.

But, I'm not one to ignore orders, and it gets me away from politics, so I can't be more grateful.

I had finished packing relatively quickly, considering we had only returned from Alzibria not long ago, so we hadn't had much time to rest.

I was already off by the morning, a long journey ahead of me.

With a horse, I expected the journey to take around a week or two, depending on the weather.

It also depended on whether my horse had enough stamina, but that wasn't my biggest concern.

Greif was near the north of the Kingdom, which is around the center of the continent, which is typically just grassland.

This means that water will likely be hard to come by, so I'll have to make some stops at different villages and towns on my travels.

Though, I could get lucky and encounter some travelling merchants who could be kind enough to let me buy some water, but I shouldn't hope for it.

I could already tell that it was going to be a long journey.

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Astrid's POV
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Duke Boule's Estate was unkempt to say the least.

It had moss covering the mansion, with cracks insulting its former beauty.

Weeds climbed and slivered up the walls that surrounded the area, full of freedom, yet still constrained, unable to escape from the estate.

It wasn't a place that I thought would be habitable. It reminded me more of a graveyard than it did a home, with a solemn mood covering every inch.

The entire estate was similar, with it looking like it had been abandoned for years.

But connected to this decrepit house was the doorway, a clean doorway. One that didn't look real when looking at it in view with the rest of the building.

No moss tried to infect the doorway, instead it shied away, as if repelled by some sort of force.

It was clearly well-kept, unlike the rest of the house, and through my {Magic Awareness}, I could see a dull green emenate from the door.

Earth magic had been cast on the door to prevent anything from touching it, or the door was enscribed with a dwarven rune.

Well, either way, it wasn't something entirely important, but it did atleast show that someone lives here. I doubt anyone would go to the lengths of putting magic, or even better a dwarven rune, on a door to a place no-one lives.

To the right and left of the door were windows, both too dirty to see through, but the one on the left was broken, shattered as if something had been thrown at it.

And, on closer inspection, a single, small hole could be found on the door, no bigger than an arrowhead.

Seeing this, I immediately place a mana shield over myself, preparing in case anyone tries to attack me.

It's a simple spell, if it even was one. I simply just wrapped mana around my body so that physical attacks wouldn't affect me, but since it's mana, any spell thrown at me would be amplified.

But judging by the hole, it seems likely that it'll be physical, though there is the chance that it was caused by a [Magic Missle].

Taking this into account, I put my hand on the handle and twist, pushing the door open.

What I saw when I entered was a pristine lobby room. Not a single speck of dirt to be found.

It wasn't grand like the Palace, but it was certainly in a class of its own.

"... As expected of a Duke..." (Astrid)

It surprised me so much that I accidentally murmured it out loud.

"Oh? Another visitor?" (???)

To my right a man, no older than 60, approached. He was clearly of a high manner, because of how he held himself, and beneath his clothes you could see a well-built body.

"Another?" (Astrid)

For some reason, I felt little hostility towards him, a strange instinct telling me I could trust him.

"Yes, I had one not too long ago, maybe a day or so." (???)

"Were they, by any chance, an elf?" (Astrid)

"Ah, so you know them." (???)

"Probably." (Astrid)

Answering him, silence seemed to pass across us, before he speaks up again.

"Ah, my apologies, I suppose introductions are in order. I am Duke Haede Boule." (Duke Boule)

He bows with such graciousness that it seems to make him glow.

"... As expected of a Royal... Ah, I'm Astrid Poiul, it's nice to meet you, Your Highness." (Astrid)

Despite being a commoner, I still know some basic etiquette, since I was taught because I'm in one of the King's Squads, so I bow slightly towards the Duke.

"... That's quite a modest courtesy." (Duke Boule)

"It is? I wasn't taught any others since I was told this is the only one I need." (Astrid)

"Who said that?" (Duke Boule)

"...? The King, apparently." (Astrid)

"... Ah, so you're in one of his squads. Seems he thinks of you as his equals." (Duke Boule)

"Is that so...?" (Astrid)

"Well, enough of this. I suppose you're here to see your elf friend... Kana, right?" (Duke Boule)

"Is she still here?" (Astrid)

"Oh, yes, she is. I'll take you to her. Follow me." (Duke Boule)

He turns away from me and starts walking the way he came, and I follow behind him.

We walk for a bit until he turns and enters a room, to which I see is a kitchen, a bit larger than the size of the rooms we were given in the Palace before the banquet.

"Here we are." (Duke Boule)

As he diverts my attention back to him, I hear a clunk and the floor the kitchen starts to move, revealing a hidden staircase.

"Down we go. And don't worry about light." (Duke Boule)

He says this as we start walking down the staircase, when all of a sudden the hatch we had entered from starts to close, slowly enclosing us in darkness.

Except, it doesn't. Instead of darkness, a small, golden glow appears around the Duke, originating from a small golden orb that floats in his hand.

"Is that...! It is! Holy magic! This is my first time seeing it! What's it like? What can it do? I've only heard rumours, but is it true it can regrow limbs? And how'd you get it to float like that? Isn't that pure mana? How'd you do it?" (Astrid)

When I see the ball of light, my excitement gets the better of me and I start hurling questions at the Duke, clustering him.

"...! Calm down. Yes, it is holy magic, I'll show you more when we reach where I wanted to be." (Duke Boule)

"Ah, oh, yes. Ahem, sorry..." (Astrid)

After that, we walk in silence for a few minutes, before the Duke whispers an incantation and I feel a burst of mana, revealing a large open room.

"Astrid?" (Kana)

From the left side of the room, I hear a familiar voice and turn to see Kana walking over to me, drenched in sweat with a bow in her hand.

Just beyond her I could see a training ground of sorts, with both a dueling ring and an archery range.

"You're ok? Why haven't you come back?" (Astrid)

"Hm? Oh, I'm protecting him, I guess?" (Kana)

"'Him'? The Duke? From what...?" (Astrid)

"Who knows, but what are you doing here?" (Kana)

"Ah, Captain told me to check on you, since he hadn't heard back from you." (Astrid)

"Well, I'm doing fine. What about up there?" (Kana)

"... The assassination may be a diplomatic issue with Jaird, but it's still being investigated. Oh, and Ryu's sister has been found." (Astrid)

"A diplomatic issue? And where was Ryu's sister found?" (Kana)

"He wrote a letter to her, telling her to be careful in Greif. Oh, and to stay hidden with someone called 'Old Man Frien'." (Astrid)

"I see..." (Kana)

"So... Are you coming back?" (Astrid)

"Probably not, but I'll still be some help with the assassination plot." (Kana)

"I see. Well, that's all I needed to know, so I'll be off." (Astrid)

"Huh? Oh, sure." (Kana)

Finding out what I needed to, I turn back towards the stairs, before feeling a twinge at the back of my neck, alongside the familiar feeling of mana.

With that feeling, I turn back around again and see a burst of mana from what seems like a laboratory at the far end of the room.

I suddenly forget all feelings of wanting to return, and start heading towards it.

It shouldn't hurt if I stay for a bit, right?

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Author Notes
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Another chapter done!

This one may seem a little repetitive, especially since I had to repeat many of the same descriptions that I wrote in Kana's POV, since it's the same place.

That's also why this chapter took so long to write. I had to keep quitting out of this chapter to go to chapter 67, 68 and 69 so that I didn't contradict myself while writing.

But anyway, I don't have much else to write, and I'm tired, so I hope you enioyed this chapter, and please continue reading!