「Master, it is done」

Hearing my acknowledgment, the harpy flew away.

The sun is dazzling in the summer. Looking into the distance, the horizon is distorted because of hot air.

The were 10 people in adventurer’s outfits in the stables. I silently stood before them.

It happened during my day-off when it was time for me to relax and enjoy my meal. About 10 red dots appeared on my map. I warned everyone and went on high alert. They split up in three groups in the process. Two groups of four and one group of two.

The group of two headed straight for the mansion, while the other groups headed for the stables and the backyard. Apparently, they planned a pincer attack.

Without any orders, a harpy reported about the intruders. I ordered her to gather everyone and be ready to act.

While we prepared, the intruders assumed their position and the duo stood before my gate.

「So this is the mansion of the barrier master, Rinos-dono!」

I came outside to greet the suspicious people.

「Rinos, the barrier master, do you need something?」

「Princess Ricolette is calling for you. We will escort you」

「Princess Ricolette? What does she want from me? 」

Pyiii!! A shrill harpy cry resounded. I heard the screams of people from the stables. The surprised duo went outside to look. A closely followed behind them.

「Na! Harpy! Why is there a harpy in this place? 」

「Oi, everyone. Don’t kill them yet. I want them alive」

「What the hell…..」

「Are you a demon!?」

One of the adventurers swung his sword at me. I lightly dodged to the side and struck him to make him faint. Meanwhile, the other man was suppressed by the harpies. The group from the backyard rushed here hearing the commotion. In the end, they were defeated by the harpies without being able to put up a decent fight.

「So, what does Princess Ricolette want from me?」

The men didn’t answer.

「It seems that you want to become food for the harpies」

「W-Wait. I will speak! 」

The man who spoke to me at the entrance opened his mouth. I positioned myself before him.

「……..You, the Guremont’s dog, are in the way」

「What is the point of dealing with me? Nothing will change once I’m not around」

「I heard that once you die, the barrier around Guremont will be dispelled. That’s why! 」

Apparently, they want to assassinate His Excellency. A dangerous intention.

「While not being a royalty, he is amassing his influence and aiming for the throne. He cannot be left alive! 」

The man delivered his fervent speech as he was suppressed by the harpies, he seems pretty young. When I asked about his age, he said it was 20.

「The throne huh, the empire should still have the crown prince. It will be difficult to usurp the throne」

「By giving the throne to his grandson, Prince Viras, he will be able to control everything!」

This man is telling some serious ********. For caution’s sake, let’s peek into his past.

「Oi oi, isn’t Princess Ricolette completely uninvolved?~ Stop lying to me」

The man’s body shuddered.

「Ha? Did the emperor die? Use the chaos to assassinate the prime minister and make the princess into a guardian of the new emperor? What did you smoke? You plan is incoherent」

「S-Shut up! Don’t spout nonsense! The current empire can’t fully utilize its numerous talents! The empire will collapse because of Guremont! 」

「And you will seat on the top. Morons. Do you think you can replace the prime minister with your current ability? 」

「Guremont’s dog!」

For now, I tied up the intruders. This was troublesome in a lot of ways, so I put a barrier on them, erased their memories about the harpies, and replaced them with memories where I defeated them myself. After that, I brought them out and proceeded towards the teleportation point. It’s a nice opportunity. I can use them as lab rats to check whether I can transport 10 people at the same time. I activated the teleportation. My store in the imperial capital was my destination. [¹]

Everyone was successfully teleported. I left them here as I teleported once again to the point near the prime minister’s mansion. Following that, I entered the mansion.

The prime minister wasn’t around. When I described the situation to the butler, I was told to wait while he went to the imperial palace to relay the news to the prime minister. The prime minister’s people also headed for my store to fetch the assailants.

Soon enough, they were delivered to the mansion. Maybe because they resisted, they were beaten up rather nicely.

I waited quite a bit, but I was said that the prime minister would arrive at night. I pretended to go to the restroom, created another teleportation point, and returned to my mansion. For now, I told Peris that I might spend the night elsewhere, enhanced the barrier around the mansion and returned to the prime minister’s mansion. I removed the teleportation point and came back into the reception room.

The prime minister came back at midnight. He seemed pretty tired.

「You seem tired」

「Kind of. Many problems surfaced recently. I almost want to have the head of the Versam family by my side」

「It seems that the emperor has died」

「! How did you!?…..I see, they told you. A bunch of idiots. Even though nothing will change with my death」

「What is going to happen to them? Will they be executed? 」

「They are the third sons of nobility. Their chances to succeed the title are extremely low. Either they will become the adventurers or merchants….otherwise, they would have no choice but to live on by relying on their brother’s money. I don’t think that it was their house’s will. Well, it the worst case they will be executed, otherwise, they will be exiled」

「Serves them right」

「First, I need them to tell me the name of the mastermind. Also, I need to know how far their plans have progressed」

「From my interrogation, it seems that they did it on their own」

「Still, I was surprised that they even tried to attack you. They should have someone behind them. They might be planning a grand rebellion」

「Will they speak?」

「…….I will make them」

「Can I meet them once again, Your Excellency? I have something to ask from them too」

「………All right. Follow me」

The prime minister slowly walked down the stairs to the basement. The stairs were quite long. After descending, we walked through the corridor and arrived at the door.

Once inside, I saw them being conveniently interrogated. They were bound and bruised everywhere. It seems that the interrogation was on the harsh side.

「How is it?」

「Nothing substantial to report. They keep insisting that it was their own plan」

「Use any method at your disposal to make them talk. In the worst case, I don’t mind if you kill them」

「Please wait a minute」

I walked towards one of the captives. It was a different one from the guy that I interrogated in my mansion. But unlike the others, he aligned his eyes with me for a moment.

「……..Kurumfar? 」

The man’s body twitched.

「Who is he?」

「D-Don’t know. I don’t know anything about Kurumfar-sama! 」

「Are you attaching「-sama」to every unknown name?」

「Kurumfar…….the private tutor of Ricolette-sama. I see, he also tutored the bunch of you. So the mastermind was the count Kurumfar! 」

The prime minister’s eyes glowed.

「Rinos-dono, good job! With this information, we can cleanse our empire! 」

「I’m glad for you…..It seems that Ricolette-sama is in the dark about it」

「No, we can’t let it slide」

Un? Isn’t she unrelated?

「We will have Ricolette-sama take the responsibility. She will be executed」