A mansion that stands in a prime location in King's Landing - Argentea Manor.

　After finishing dinner with Luke White Wolf (later), Garnett went to the Argenteer Mansion, which can be called a family home in a manner, and visited his father Rembrandt Argenteer's study.

　The conversations that take place there are not those of a friendly father-son exchange.

　The conversations that take place there are not friendly parent-child exchanges, but rather a report on the current state of affairs between those who have separated themselves from each other, so to speak, and have drawn a line in the sand.

'...... and what is the current status of Luke, or rather Luke White Wolf, of the White Wolf Forest.

　Lord Rembrandt dropped his gaze to the material at hand and asked without a glance at Garnett.

'If it's enough to raise the profile of my House of Argentea, so be it. If it's not strong enough, then I'm sure you'll be ...... aware of that.

　I didn't need to be asked about it now.

　I've long been very aware that my father (this cousin) has such values.

　Strengthening of the family tree through marriage - a means of prosperity with a view to increasing the subordinate power by marrying a powerful family, but also by marrying a family of lower rank.

　This man stubbornly maintained the values that were common in times of warfare, but which were considered outdated after the progress of unification.

　However, even if he was from a lower ranking family, he would never shake his head if it wasn't someone who brought enough profit to the Argentia family.

　It would not be easy to overturn the values that had been ingrained over the years.
　Perhaps this man is bound to go his entire life without changing his outdated ideas.

　Although the option of disassociating himself from the family was always present, it was not a good idea to aggravate his relationship with the family in pursuing his mother's avenger - the mithril trafficking organization Agart Ram.

　For this reason, disassociating himself from his parents' family had become a virtually unworkable measure.

　However, Luke knew all about it, and he chose himself.

　Just thinking back to that moment always filled Garnet's heart with warm joy.

'Of course. Perhaps in the future we'll surpass the Argentia family.
It's a funny joke.

　Lord Rembrandt neither laughed nor was indignant, but overheard the latter part of Garnett's statement as an insignificant joke.

　Garnett's eyes narrowed in disapproval at this, but he did not offer any further rebuttal or reference and continued with his status report.

''...... The only other knights from the other knights who have arrived at this point in time are dispatched from the rainbow rainbow rainbow scales. Other than that, the purple rainbow knights are also in the process of selecting a candidate, in my opinion, the current candidate will probably be confirmed.

　To those close to Garnett in Green Hollow Town, this may be an unbelievably polite thing to say and do, but it's just that he naturally learns to behave according to the time and circumstances.

　As Luke occasionally uses as fodder for his light-heartedness, Garnett was born as an undeniable young lady and has been raised as a legitimate knight.

''Hmm ...... I guess that's still the case.''

　In response to the topic of dispatching personnel from the various knights to the White Wolf Knights, Sir Rembrandt seemed to show slightly stronger interest than Luke's topic earlier.

'At the moment, two people is slower than I thought it would be, but ......
''It's not unreasonable. Even though it is rare to be seconded to another group, and this is an unheard of new Order. All of them are going to be cautious.

　Even as he says this, Sir Rembrandt's eyes are not on Garnett, but on the documents at hand.

''According to the information we have obtained through our own channels, it seems that the Dragon King Knights intend to forgo dispatching. Because of the role of the Kingsguard, we can't afford to allocate personnel to distant locations, so it's in the name of .......
''On the flip side, if the Dragon King sends a knight, we should consider that there was a lot going on behind the scenes. We will continue to monitor the developments. See you at .......

　Telling him this in a thoroughly clerical manner, Garnet was about to leave his father's study.

　However, Lord Rembrandt's voice is thrown at his back at an unexpected time.

'It's not the Dragon King you should be paying attention to. It's the Duke of Kingswell. You should know that there is always an ulterior motive for his actions.

　Garnett stopped his hand from reaching for the doorknob and quickly turned around.

'...... You mean, the duke could betray the kingdom?'
Not so. That man would never betray you and your kingdom. But ...... it's quite possible that he's trying to achieve his own ends, within the limits of what constitutes a betrayal.
Somehow I knew that ...... would be the case.
Don't let your guard down. Assume more than twice as much skill as you have assumed so far. Because the Duke of Kingswell--

　Lord Rembrandt put down his papers and looked straight at Garnett for the first time since his arrival here.

''-the man who once offered His Majesty a military strategy that led to the decisive defeat of the Silver Wings (us)!










　After Garnett left, he was replaced by another person who visited Lord Rembrandt's study.

　A slender man with no exposed skin at all.
　His hands were covered with white gloves, his limbs were covered with long sleeves and a long hem, dressed as befits a knight's family, and his head was covered with a white cloth like a mask.

　Although it was an unusual appearance, it was accepted as quite natural in this Argentean family.

'Valentine?'
I passed Garnett in the hallway a few minutes ago. From the looks of it, I'm guessing you haven't told her about the case yet.

　Valentine Argentia is the second son of the Argentia family.

　He is the successor of the family after his eldest son's death in battle, but for some reason he has been unable to do so and continues to hide his true face in a white mask.

　Some say that he was severely wounded during the war and was unable to perform his patriarchal duties, others say that he became too ill to bare his skin, or that he was cursed and forced into hiding.

　All that was certain was that it was not he who had taken over as Argentia's governor, but his third son, Carmine Argentia.

'You don't mind, sir?　If a-(a)le knew, he would definitely be excited. After all, from the ingots seized in the workshop of the mithril processor who provided the weapon to the Night Ripper--
''--Impurities of the same composition and proportion as some of the mithril that Agat Ram was selling have been detected. The alchemists in the royal capital are indeed excellent. I didn't expect them to be able to unravel so much in such a short period of time.

　Of course, impurities in this case are not caused by immaturity of refining technology.

　The traffickers (Agat Ram) distribute not only pure mithril, but also low-cost products that are degraded in performance and price by improper mixing.

　The fact that the ingredients were identical means that the processor who made the murder weapon for the serial killer was supplied with illicit mithril by none other than Agat Ram, and furthermore - and this is not the only way to get it.

You're not going to tell it?
"Carmine will tell you if it's necessary. There's no need to take extra steps to create risk.

　Lord Rembrandt slowly turned his chair and cast his gaze out the window to the night scene.

　Watching his rear view, Valentine exhaled briefly under his white mask.

'For me, ...... I'd like to see that thing do better. Do me a favor, .......