Ouroboros Record ~Circus of Oubeniel~

The revolting mob in the city. The outbreak of fires in various locations. The illegal trespassing of the noble district by the rioters. Due to the various abnormalities occurring in Broussonne, the Lavallee residence was thrown into an uproar.

“Report the situation! What in the world is happening in the city!?”

“Look at the number of them coming here! Are they targeting some noble!?”

Lavallee’s retainers and trusted confidants were busy contacting the places in question to gather information, but their progress was slow. There were two main reasons.

‘How is our contact with the palace!? The telepathy with the court magician...“

“It’s not working! There isn’t any jamming, but the other side is not responding! Could it be because of what happened to Count Cartan!?”

“Grr...Damn magician, how can they let personal emotions interfere at this time!”

That was the first reason. Due to Lavallee’s ploy, the former court magician, Count Cartan, lost his standing. The High Court found Cartan guilty of misconduct, but it was already well known that Lavallee and Tullius Oubeniel had a secret feud and Cartan was simply collateral damage.

The current court magician could no longer find Lavallee trustworthy ever since he sold out a fellow comrade and abandoned him when the plan failed. Now, in times of importance, he could not make contact with the magician.

The other reason was…

“Now that it has come to this, shall we call back the spies at the Oubeniel’s?”

Yes, it was Tullius Shernan Oubeniel. The culprit responsible for Count Cartan losing his place in society and for damaging Marquis Lavallee’s name. A dangerous existence who created so much trouble for a slave. In order to keep up surveillance on him, he had split up a large portion of his espionage team. Lavallee had started the espionage way before the trial ever started; the day after the wedding when Uni came under his control. The measure to keep up surveillance on Tullius had backfired, causing Lavallee to lack the ability to gather sufficient information in an emergency.

Thus, his retainer was considering pulling back the spies.

“No. Let the people monitoring Tullius remain.”

“My Lord, but this...!”

“Because the capital is in dire straits? All the more reason to keep our eyes on him.”

Lavallee looked stern. It was the timing. Tullius had taken back Uni and no longer had a reason to stay in the capital, and yet, this situation was happening. He could not help but feel that this event was connected to Tullius.

If that was the case, that man was trying to start something. That was Lavallee’s prediction.

“We won’t know if that chap might see an opportunity and ride on the chaos.”

Even if he was not the mastermind behind the riots, he might still attempt to take advantage of the situation. With that possibility in mind, he did not think it was the time to pull back surveillance on him.

Lavallee’s retainers reluctantly lowered their heads.

“As you wish. However, our information is coming slowly...”

“I know. I will not find fault in the delay as long as it is reasonable.”

As he said, Lavallee touched a tool hiding in his bosom. It was a communication tool powered by magic that he had imported from, as much as it annoyed him, St. Gallen. He should receive word from the spies through this if they spot Tullius taking action.

And he had two of these.

The first was for communication between him and the group that was observing the Oubeniel residence. The other was between him and the group observing the slaves at the inn. Either one of these would report back if that person was indeed planning something. With this, he could easily catch him by the tail.

(He was an alchemist too. Surely he would have a similar tool. There was no way he would overlook such a possibility.)

It was a favourite trick of alchemist to make magic-infused tools. It was likely that Tullius knew how to do it. He had already seen the report by the spy that Linus sent to Marlan. Apparently Tullius had made a giant freezer. Aside from its usefulness, it was a complex product that could only be created by a high level of skill. Thus, it would hardly be surprising if Tullius possessed a similar communication tool.

Which meant that he would order the slaves he brought to the capital with this tool if he wanted to do something amidst the chaos in the capital. Else, Due or his other combat personnel, including Uni who he got back the day before, would take action from the Oubeniel residence.

(I might have been overly worried...Well, just in case.)

Naturally, Tullius might be completely unrelated to the riots. The rioters have murdered some of the residents and attacked the noble district...Nobody would bat an eye if they were executed based on rebellion. If Tullius was found connected to this incident, he would not be able to escape the death penalty. It was extremely risky for him to try anything now. The moment Tullius’ plans are found out, he would face doubts and unwanted scrutiny.

Still, Lavallee’s years of experience told him that Tullius was behind this incident. Hence, he did not reduce the surveillance on Tullius.

In addition, even if he failed to deal with the violence that was probably incited by Tullius, he would not be inconvenienced in the slightest. Lavallee was without a position in the palace. The ones that have their responsibilities were the current prime minister, cabinet ministers and generals.

Furthermore, he heard that most of the members of the rioters were some noisy people called activists. They mostly came to the capital to complain about the tyrannical acts by the local lords. The more violence that erupts from this, the more material he could use against the decentralist faction. Of course, he would be troubled if the King meets with mishap by attacks on the palace... but Lavallee did not think the rioters would amount to much fighting power. Their security forces in the capital were not weak and fragile. In fact, a bunch of commoners taking up shabby arms might not even be a match for the private bodyguards of nobles.

He had nothing to lose by not taking action. As such, Lavallee could prioritise plans against Tullius.

His decision was in some sense correct, yet in some sense, a mistake.

※※※

The activist started off their attack with Viscount Dorian’s mansion. One after another, they broke in either from climbing over the wall or breaking in from the front gates. They raised angered chants, trampled upon the plants and smashed whatever sculptures or statues they encountered in the garden.

“Open up!” Get outta there! Corrupted nobles!”

“Come out obediently to pay for your crimes!”

The owner of the mansion looked at them from above, through a window on the second floor. The Viscount was wearing his sleeping gown, as though he had finished a meal and just took a leisurely bath. He clicked his tongue in displeasure.

“...What are these disgusting people up at my house for?”

While talking to himself, he held out his hand. A woman standing idly nearby carefully passed a cup of whiskey to him. The woman wore a silver collar on her neck. She was a slave.

Normally, a noble would not have slaves near him. They had to consider the damage to their reputation if there was a person of such lowly status by their side. However, it was a separate matter altogether if the slave was an outlet for their desires. This was only limited to beautiful slaves. They were usually made inconspicuous on formal occasions, though there were some nobles who would openly present their slaves in private gatherings with nobles of similar interests. In fact, it went beyond presenting and the slaves might be loaned out for a night. Just one facet of the degeneracy in the privileged class.

Dorian was also such a noble. He set a high tax rate on his land and only attended to the royal capital once every few years. He interacted with similarly degenerate nobles and bought slaves. He was the stereotypical corrupt noble that these activists hated.

Brow arched in frustration, he slurped on his cup of whiskey. The ice hit the sides of the cup and made a clang sound. The luxury of enjoying liquor with ice was reserved only for nobles.

“How long are the nobles going to let these people do as they want?”

The men lined up in the room looked sternly at Viscount Dorian’s back as he said. They were private bodyguards hired by this family. He was about to have his fun with his slave when the incident happened. The representative of the bodyguards spoke.

“Yes. We will now repel them. So that no undue harm comes towards my lord, please wait for us here.”

“Cut to the chase...hurry up and go!”

“Yes!”

The men quickly moved after being sent off by their master, who was obviously irked. As they were walking in the corridors, one of the bodyguards asked.

“Boss. We finally have something to do but are we going to be paid as per our contract?”

Their master, Dorian, was angered by the rebels laying waste to his garden. At times like this, there were some stingy nobles who would take this out on them by refusing to pay according to the contract. The mansion had been damaged, so you cannot claim to have performed your job was the excuse. From the perspective of the bodyguards, they were employed to protect the noble, so under circumstances like this, obviously they should be paid. However, there were some narcissistic nobles who prioritised their own feelings and refused to listen to logic.

The boss of the bodyguards sighed.

“Don’t worry, let’s go wrap it up. Even now, surely he would be increasingly angered.”

“Hehe. Oh boy, we might have picked the wrong master.”

In any case, it looked like getting paid here would be tough. However, all of this was putting the cart before the horse. They would never have to worry about their pay from now on.