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She stood her ground for quite a bit, but she eventually succumbed to my locking techniques. She had no way to counterattack, simply lying on the floor with her arm being stretched to extremes. If she was face up, there might still have been something she could have done, but with a ground pushed to her face, there was nothing she could do.

After she admitted defeat and promised not to run, I finally let her go. After she realized that I had no intention to kill her, she finally turned obedient. I stood imposingly in front and fired my questions.

“Now then, who are you? Why did you follow me? Why did you attack me?”

I had her kneel on the ground and removed the mask that hid half of her face. What I saw was the face of a girl even younger than I initially assumed. I thought she was just someone that sounded young, but looking at her appearance, she wasn’t even 20 years old.

“H-Huh? Umm, err, I can’t answer everything in one go…”
“Then, start by introducing yourself, will you? I am Nicole. However, you should know that by now. How about you?”
“Huh? You were being so manly earlier…”
“Kindly shut up.”

Since I had her kneel, her face was before my eyes. I shut her up with a good smack on the head. She didn’t have to poke her nose where it didn’t belong.

“Ouch!? Ugh… So this is the shame of a loser…”
“So? Your name!”
“Ah, right. I am Priscilla. I am King Elliot’s guard…”

I saw her eyes swimming around at that declaration, so I gave her another smack to reveal what else she was hiding.

“A lie… It may not be, but there’s something else you aren’t saying, isn’t it right?”
“Ugh… Raglan is my last name.”
“So, Raglan from the United Alliance… Hmm?”

I remembered hearing that name. In my previous life at that.

“Wasn’t Raglan quite a distinguished household?”
“Well, we are counts of the former Stolla Kingdom. But after the alliance, we act as King Elliot’s guards.”

Priscilla explained proudly while still kneeling. You were hiding that info until now, so what are you acting so proud about it? I retorted on reflex.

Then… I remembered something. Raglan of the Stolla Kingdom, huh? Their count status did not give them much influence, but they served the kings as their personal fight specialists for generations.

Naturally, they could fight more than just humans too, so they were quite useful as stealth corps. Thanks to them, it was very difficult to assassinate big shots of the Stolla Kingdom.

“Okay, that’ll do for your background check. Next… Why were you following me?”
“I mean, I had to check what kind of person was the girl that King Elliot has fallen for. I am his guard, after all.”
“Ah, well, yeah…”

Despite everything, Elliot was still the sole king of the United Alliance. And if we spoke strictly in terms of territory, the United Alliance that emerged from three kingdoms was by far the largest on this continent.

To add to that, we used to protect him since his infancy, so he was always in a maelstrom of power struggle. It was natural to investigate who his companion was.

“But you should be more than aware of who I am, though…?”
“Assuming you are really her.”
“I am as real as it can get!”
“For a ten or so years old kid to have mastered the art of combat to that degree… I suppose that was expected from the daughter of the heroes?”
“And you just tried to kill that ‘daughter’, didn’t you?”
“Eek!?”

It seemed that she finally realized the mess she was in, she got goosebumps and started trembling. It appeared that while her combat skills were quite high, her assessment skills left much to be desired.

Perhaps she was dispatched as Elliot’s guard to gain some experience. They probably judged that they didn’t need him to be overguarded, given Maxwell and Cortina resided in this country.

“Good grief, making me babysit people in their place …”
“Y-Young lady, you seem to have quite a sharp tongue…”
“It’s dad’s influence. I tend to act like a boy at times.”

I was actually a man, so it couldn’t be helped. So I let Lyell take the blame here. I’ve been studying the sword under him all this time, so that excuse worked perfectly.

“Is that so. So you are quite wild contrary to what your appearance suggests.”
“How about you, you are quite something to be chosen as Elliot’s guard at such a young age. You shouldn’t even be 20 years old, right?”
“Indeed, I’m still 18. Because of that I’m still inexperienced in many things and always make trouble for others.”
“You did exactly that earlier.”
“I apologize about that with all my heart!”

I pointed it out while squinting my eyes, and Priscilla prostrated herself on the ground in apology.

“Okay, next. Why did you attack me?”
“That’s… because I did not think that Lady Nicole would be such a fighter. You even lured me into an alley and did not even flinch at my killing intent, merely smiling fearlessly at me…”
“Ah, that isn’t normal, huh…”
“So I judged that someone disguised themselves as Lady Nicole and tried to get close to King Elliot…”
“So you attacked me?”
“I judged that they should have been hiding the real Lady Nicole somewhere after they replaced her.”
“I see now.”

Her logic wasn’t bad. However, she was thinking too inside the box. Seeing an exception like me and judging myself to be suspicious was by no means a mistake. However, it was too hasty for her to use force to ascertain it. She made such a blunder because she trusted her judgment too much.

“So that’s where her inexperience comes from.”
“Eh?”
“Just talking to myself. Anyway, there was no ill will behind your attack, so I can let this matter go.”
“Thank you from the bottom of my heart!”
“But my friends are quite skilled themselves, so don’t go attacking them, you hear?”
“I shall engrave it to my heart!”

Michelle, Letina, and Cloud who fought together with me were quite a bit stronger than appropriate for their ages. If I left her be, Priscilla could very well attack them too.

It was wise to warn her in advance.