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That evening, the dinner was served with the Strike Boar meat that Letina hunted. Maxwell ate it with relish, and after he sent her home, he started working on the documents of the aftermath.

But then, Mateus showed up. He only just started working on it, so he hadn’t ordered tea or anything. In other words, he came here because he had something to talk about.

“What is it? You have quite a serious expression.”
“Well, I had something to ask you, can I, old man?”
“There are things I can and cannot answer. I am working in secrecy now, after all.”
“Oh, I don’t mean that stuff, okay?”

The documents Maxwell was dealing with now were related to how to deal with the Lamech household’s assets. It was an urgent matter for the territory.

The Methuselah domain had dense forests. That meant it offered abundant forest products. And despite their dense forests, the highways were well maintained, had big human traffic, and had strong cash flow.

And the domains with strong cash flows would cause problems if the lord was absent for too long.

“We have to send a manager to the Methuselah domain quickly.”
“My business won’t take time. Hey, old man?”
“Yes?”
“About Nicole, just who is she?”

Mateus’ straight question made Maxwell’s hand stop. He slowly turned towards Mateus, and gazed at him as if glaring him down. His gaze contained an unusual pressure that was closer to bloodlust.

“What is it about Nicole?”
“—!”

He asked in a somewhat slow, collected voice. But Mateus was petrified just like a frog stared down by a snake. Mateus was still a warrior who had gone through many difficulties. He wasn’t so weak mentally to be seized by fear from a little coercion.

But Maxwell’s pressure was on another level. It was a pressure emitted by someone who had not only gone through battles, but also gone through waves of schemes as a noble, and even overcame matters of life and death.

“There are only two thread users visiting this mansion. Nicole and Reid.”
“Oh? And?”

Mateus’ usual joking tone disappeared, and he forced his stiff throat to move and posed a question. Maxwell also removed his usual amiable expression and glared at Mateus with a sharp, hawk-like glare.

“It was the same before too, but aren’t there too many events where these two are simultaneously involved in?”
“…And so?”
“So I had this thought: Maybe Nicole is actually Reid?”

Mateus declared it, feeling as if he was jumping off a cliff. Hearing his words, Maxwell slowly stood up from his chair. It was very slow, as if a ghost was seeping out of the ground. Mateus felt his life was in danger.

He gulped his saliva, and reached out to the sword on his waist, but he hesitated to grab it. If he grabbed the hilt, he would certainly die. He was convinced of that fact.

Maxwell was old, and also a magician. Being a swordsman, he couldn’t imagine losing at this distance. But even so, he couldn’t believe his own assessment.

They glared at each other for several minutes, and eventually, Maxwell opened his mouth.

“Have you told that to anyone else?”
“No, not yet. What of it?”
“That barely saved your life. Or maybe I should silence you here and now?”
“Please don’t! I’ve really not told it to anyone, and I don’t plan to either!”
“Really? Alright then… I suppose it would be best to explain the situation to you.”

After pondering for some time, Maxwell came to a conclusion. At present, only Maxwell, Gadius, Finia, Den, and also two gods were aware of Nicole’s identity.

Gadius, being a member of the Six Heros, was to be trusted, and Den also respected Nicole as his master, so he was not a problem either. As for the gods, it was hard to figure out what they were thinking.

Putting it differently, only those people were told about it. But for Nicole’s future activities, she would need more allies. Thus, Maxwell decided that it wouldn’t be so bad to get Mateus, who had a shady background and worked under him, involved too.

“I am making you do behind-the-scenes work already anyway. Alright, the answer to your question is, yes.”
“So it was like that, after all. I knew she wasn’t a normal fellow. She outwitted me when we first met too.”
“Reid was never someone with a robust body. To make up for his lack of power, he had many trump cards piled up since the previous life.”
“So ingenuity is his forte, huh. No wonder I couldn’t win, eh?”
“It goes without saying, but not a word to anyone about this. Especially to Cortina, Lyell, or Maria.”
“Why not? Shouldn’t you be telling them instead?”

Maxwell looked away at his argument. Then he shrugged lightly and sat down again.

“From Lyell and Maria’s perspectives, she’s their treasured child they earned after ten years. They would feel very conflicted if they suddenly found out she was their former comrade.”
“Well… I suppose?”
“As for Cortina, her friends’ daughter will turn out to be the man she fell for, you know? Not a son, but a daughter.”
“That would be extremely awkward indeed. I see, you want to say but can’t huh?”
“It cannot go on like this, of course. Reid does not seem to be willing to talk, but if we keep it from them forever then, at least Cortina, would be pitiful.”

He turned his back on Mateus, and explained while resuming his paperwork. What he was talking about and what he was doing were completely different things, but that didn’t slow him down at all. He was just that used to doing paperwork.

“As for Lyell…Lord Lyell and Lady Maria… Do you plan to keep it from them until they die?”
“That would be too much. I am laying some groundwork in regards to that.”
“Groundwork?”
“I plan to make them develop some resistance towards the truth by giving them faint clues that would make them ponder the possibility.”
“Sounds like that will be a very gradual process.”
“Well, I am an elf, after all. The problem is not just his old comrades but the situation is even spreading to Letina and Michelle and others too.”
“His circle of friends is growing, huh?”
“Yes. He and his “everybody’s a friend” act. He keeps increasing friends and believers to no end. I will not say anything bad, but I wish he would also consider my position, who has to clean-up after him.”
“Old man, did you reveal the truth so you could complain to me?”

Maxwell glanced back at Mateus over his shoulder. There was no hint of his intimidating air anymore, instead, he was smiling in his usual impish way.

“It is better to have more hard-working allies. You should resolve yourself.”
“Come on…”

Mateus could only shrug heavily at Maxwell’s frank answer.