I am very sorry for the extra long wait time between updates. This has probably been one of the longest so far, but life got a bit hectic and writing kinda took a backburner. Thankfully I'm finally back and can write again for this story.

Big thanks to Qinlongfei for beta reading this chapter and providing important feedback and critique.

With that said, let's get this chapter started!

Chapter 64: The Truth Hurts

Mein rode through the night on her steed at a fast pace, ignoring the telltale signs of fatigue start to become more noticeable after she just finished successfully infiltrating Reichnott Manor to discover the identity of the late lord Reichnott's bastard. Her filorial steed was similarly whining earlier about being awoken at such a late hour to suddenly be pressed into riding in the dead of night, but Mein was in no mood to deal with its whining so she made some promises to give treats that may or may not actually come true, which managed to motivate the bird to push on. Mein's passive enhancements allowed her to see better in the dark and there was some measure of moonlight to illuminate the path in front of her as she felt the wind blow on her face.

Mein couldn't even bring herself to enjoy the feeling of the wind on her face as she rode at incredibly fast speeds, since her mind was far too preoccupied thinking about the information she had found in Lord Reichnott's box. She had went through a lot of trouble to recover that information based on the simple tip she had received from the Outsider and Mein hoped that whatever she found would be worth it...

What she found instead was not like anything she could have expected. The information found in the box felt too hot for Mein to hold, which was why she was racing back to Silver Keep to speak with Eclair urgently about this matter.

The princess turned agent of the Outsider had some level of expectations and anticipation about the identity of Lord Reichnott's bastard. The fact that the late Lord Reichnott had an affair at all was downright shocking to say the least. Did he have an affair with one of the other ladies from high society? Its quite possible. If there was one thing that was consistent with the nobility aside from backstabbing and making power plays, it was plenty of political drama between the noble houses of Melromarc. And there was nothing more juicier than a sordid affair of a noble lord having a bastard or affair with another lady from another house, especially if the two of them were already married. Not that it was especially uncommon since marriages between nobility was always more about expanding their respective sphere of influence and territory rather than love.

There was an old saying among some of the ladies of high society that if you can even somewhat tolerate whoever you're betrothed with, than they are a keeper. If you like them, even better. But if you actually love each other than you are one of the lucky few in your generation who managed to find a happy marriage in the Game of Thrones. It was well-known that Lord Reichnott was in the last category as he seemed to genuinely love his wife to her deathbed. It seemed those were exaggerated considering he had a bastard with some unknown woman.

Mein didn't particularly care about the messy details, she merely wanted to know the identity of this bastard for the possible political clout it could give her. Information was an essential aspect of the game and obtaining a vital piece of it can completely flip one's position. She hoped that perhaps she could use this information to her advantage, perhaps blackmailing whoever this bastard was into joining her side and giving her more allies on the board.

But what she found instead was unlike anything she could have imagined. She just knew that she had to speak to Eclair about it.

She didn't know how long she spent riding as she didn't bother to count the minutes in her head, but after riding at incredibly fast speeds she could eventually see Silver Keep come into view and she felt a brief sense of relief. But that was quickly gone in an instant as she remembered what she had to do as soon as she got inside, Mein only hoped that Eclair was still awake to talk. This was not the sort of thing you wanted to hear first thing in the morning.

As she got closer to the gate, she could see torches at the top of the gatehouse where the portcullis was controlled and as she stopped in front of the gate, she could hear a voice shout down at her.

" Halt! Stay where you are traveler! Identify yourself." A commanding voice ordered her as she saw a few knights standing at the top of the gate wall that led into Silver Keep.

" Its me! Open the gate! " Mein didn't a miss beat as she quickly shouted back, pulling her hood down to reveal her identity to show that she wasn't some bandit scout or roaming mercenary. The sight of her face seemed to get their attention as the knights scrambled to get the gate open and within a few minutes the portcullis were raised allowing her to ride inside, continuing at a somewhat slower speed.

Within no time at all, she finally arrived back at the stables where she dismounted her steed who was letting out several tired breaths from the long-night of riding. It seems even the great stamina of filorials have a limit to them. Mein felt a twinge of guilt at making the filorial run so late in the night, while she is firmly dead set in the camp that raptors and dragons are the superior steed compared to the overgrown chickens(Filo's bratty attitude playing absolutely no part in her opinion), she will admit that she was grateful to this filorial for getting her here in record time.

" Get this one some food and rest. She's earned it." Mein said to the stable hand who approached her. She gave the filorial a gentle head pat as thanks." Well done."

The filorial let out a tired but happy squawk at that, as Mein turned her attention to the small squad of Silver Hands that approached her, likely wanting to know what the hell she was doing riding in the dead of night. That was a question she was wondering herself actually.

" Um...excuse me miss, but you're a member of the Shield Hero's party correct?" The supposed leader of the squad asked her.

" Yes, I am." Mein nodded." Where is your lady? I need to debrief with her immediately, I have important information to deliver regarding the bandits plaguing Silver Pass." Mein came up with an easy lie and cover for why she needed to speak with Eclair, which she was certain the knight wouldn't question it. It was around early midnight give or take so Eclair should probably still be awake.

" Y-You do?"

" Yes, inform your lady to meet me in the war room immediately." Mein ordered with a sense of authority in her voice that left no room for discussion.

" Of course, we'll arrange it immediately." The Silver Hands bought her lie as they went to go arrange the meeting, but the leader did turn to her for a brief moment." Do you need an escort to the war room?"

" Its fine, I know the way there. Just get your lady there soon." Mein waved off the offer. She may be a princess in disguise, but she can walk by herself.

And she wanted a few moments to think about the knowledge she now carries with her. The very same knowledge that she is about to curse Eclair with in a short while, never before in her life has carrying a secret felt so heavy. Every step she took that brought her closer to the war room made that feeling all the more heavier and she can only imagine the look on Eclair's face when she tells her about Reichnott's secret bastard.

She knows that its going to hurt, maybe even more than shattering the honorable image of Mother and Father that Eclair had in her head. But Mein needed to do this.

It did not mean that it was going to hurt any less.

Knowledge can be a gift, power and a horrible curse all wrapped into one. It simply depends on how we use it that defines whether it falls into any of those categories.

She recalls Uncle Aldretch saying that to her during one of their lessons and she never fully understood what he meant until this moment. Mein knew that knowledge could be a gift to teach others or it could be a great power whether it came in the form of enemy intelligence, magical spells or even simple know-how that gave someone an edge over an opponent. But knowledge being a curse? That was a concept she had never been familiar with until now.

Mein had taken Reichnott's box out of her inventory earlier and despite how light it was to hold in her hands, the secrets it contained made it feel like it was made out of pure titanite as it weighed on her.

The princess turned agent ponders over how she's going to do this. She had never hesitated to be brutally blunt when she could get away with it, but even she knew when tact was needed when dealing with a situation like this. The kind of situation that she was by no means prepared or trained to handle in any capacity, she was about to purposefully walk into of her own volition.

I should break this to her gently, shouldn't I? That's how it should be done right? Eclair has already been through so much in the past month alone with Uncle Uther's death and Lord Reichnott being viciously killed...and I'm about to drop another weight on her shoulders out of the blue. This feels cruel at this point.

Mein thought about how to break the news the whole way to the war room, and she was still thinking about it as she reached said war room where two guards were posted.

" Our Lady is inside and shall see you now." One of the guards said to which Mein could only respond with a simple nod.

Mein took a deep breath as she prepared herself mentally, she had done worst things than this and she had survived. She would get through this as well.

Didn't mean she was going to enjoy watching Eclair's reaction to the news.

The two guards present opened up the doors to the war room letting her walk inside before shutting it behind her. She could see that Eclair was already present with the two mouse knights, Aslatiel and Lucatiel there by her side.

" Your majesty, it is good to see you return safely." Eclair looked relieved at seeing her come back in one piece. It just made Mein feel even worse for what she was about to do." I wasn't expecting you to return with information regarding the bandits though, I was wondering if this should wait until morning to share with the others."

" Yes...I apologize but that was a lie I told to your men to meet you." Mein admitted. The small lie she told will seem insignificant in a few moments." Though I assure you that the information I have is much more important than the bandits."

And this is not the sort of news you want to hear first thing in the morning.

Eclair looked a bit surprised at that but composed herself." Oh, I see. What is the information you bring then?"

Don't. Don't look at me like that when I'm about to break you.

Mein willed herself to open her mouth to speak." Before I tell you this..." Mein turned her attention to the mouse knights." Sir Aslatiel, Sir Lucatiel, both of you need to leave."

" Wait, what?" Both mouse knights said in shock at the sudden order.

Eclair looked similarly shocked at the order." Y-Your majesty, I must ask why? I trust both Aslatiel and Lucatiel with my life, why do they need to leave?"

" This is...strictly need to know. Believe me, this is not the sort of thing multiple people should be in the know about." Mein tried to explain, fully aware that her vagueness wasn't exactly helping here.

" With all due respect, your majesty both my brother and I know how to keep our mouths shut. What could be so important that we cannot be here for it?" Aslatiel questioned.

More important than you could ever be allowed to know.

Mein held her tongue from saying that and instead just said something else." Its for your lady's ears only." She gave a pleading look to Eclair that told her that she had a good reason for this.

Both the mouse knights looked at their lady who seemed to think in contemplation for a moment. After a short while, Eclair gave a nod that signaled for the two mouse knights to leave the two of them alone. Mein noticed Lucatiel giving her...well not quite a dirty look but hardly a trusting one, not that she could really blame her considering the circumstances. The door to the war room closed once more and Mein was left alone with Eclair.

" Your majesty, now that we have some privacy, what is it you wish to tell me about?" Eclair repeated her earlier question.

Now or never.

" I wanted to tell you...about this." Mein took a deep breath as she placed Reichnott's box on the table in front of Eclair.

" What is this?" Eclair eyed the box with curiosity in her eye.

" A box that originally belonged to Lord Reichnott." Mein answered making Eclair turn to her in shock so she quickly elaborated." I was passing through Reichnott county on my scouting run when I heard some...unsavory rumors about him. I didn't want to believe them, so I asked a contact of mine to look into it and they returned with this box that they somehow managed to acquire." Mein came up with a simple and believable lie for how she obtained this box as there was no way she could tell Eclair how she actually got it. Thankfully it seemed Eclair was less critical of her story and more focused on the box as she opened it up and grabbed some of the papers.

" This is...this is Uncle Reichnott's writing." Eclair said in shock as she read a few of them.

" Yes. But that is not the most concerning part of this box." Mein spoke in a gentle tone as she took the recording crystal out of the box and activated it. The crystal ball projected the deceased Lord Reichnott in front of them much to Eclair's shock.

" U-Uncle Reichnott?" Eclair muttered in shock at seeing somebody she considered family again. Mein couldn't blame the Lady Seatto since the last time she saw him was when he was a mutilated corpse.

" Hello Cute...I suppose if you've found this crystal and the box then it means that I am dead." Lord Reichnott says with a soft smile." I was actually pondering whether I should make this or not, but I figured with the Wave of Catastrophe starting that I should leave something behind for you to find. Now what I'm about to tell you might make you hate me but I think its time you learn the truth..."

" The truth? What is this?" Eclair asked turning to her.

Mein said nothing as she let the recording play.

" I-I know I should have told you all this in person, I hope that if you find this recording than I already have but if I hadn't then I'm sorry I didn't when I had the chance." Lord Reichnott apologized." I wanted to tell you for so long but I never could find the words to say it, how could I say it really? In a way that wouldn't leave you hating me for what I had done so dishonorably to your mother's memory and after so many years I still haven't. But I just want you to know that I loved you and your mother sincerely, the day she died was one of the worst days of my life since I knew you would never get to know how wonderful of a woman she was...and how I betrayed her."

" Betrayed? What?" Eclair sounded deeply confused as Mein felt a sense of dread creep in as it built up to what was going to be said next.

She had watched the recording previously, and she still couldn't say that she was going to be fine with what happened next. What Eclair's reaction was going to be.

" I know what I'm about to say next is going to make you furious at me Cute so I'm just going to stop dancing around the issue and get to the point...but I am truly sorry for what I did and I love you."

Mein moved to stand closer to Eclair as she knew what the next words would be.

The words that would break her.

" Jean is your half-brother."

And there it was.

Mein glanced at Eclair whose expression froze in what could only be described as a mixture of shock and horror. Her mouth hung open as if she wanted to say something but couldn't force the words out of her throat.

" I know, I know, you can't believe it. Its all a lie or something but I'm telling you the truth, I had an affair with one of the maids, Tilda. Two years before you were born. Your mother and I were going through a rough patch at the time and I just...I looked for solace wherever I could find it." A guilty expression passed the projected face of Lord Reichnott, as if it physically hurt him to confess all this." I know that isn't an excuse for what I did, but its the truth. I panicked and I didn't know what to do but cover it up...but I couldn't just send Tilda away to take care of a child on her own so I took Jean in. His name was actually what we would have named you if you were a boy."

" I understand that you're probably feeling a swell of emotions right now, but please Cute no matter what, don't hate Jean. Hate me for what I did, Jean is still your brother and regardless of his status, he is also a member of House Reichnott." Lord Reichnott said with a tired and sad smile on his face.

" I love the both of you. Goodbye."

With those final words, the projection ended and the Lord Reichnott disappeared once more.

A deathly silence passed over them as Eclair turned still as a statue. The only audible noise that Mein's sensitive ears could pick up was the sounds of their own breathing, though she noticed Eclair's was shallower by comparison. The Lady Seatto's face was frozen in shock as the agent of the Outsider could practically hear the gears turning in her head to process this information and it was not going well.

After a few minutes of dead silence, Eclair opened her mouth to speak her voice shaky the whole way. " T-This is...Uncle Reichnott couldn't have, he didn't-" Eclair sounded like she wanted to deny it all, to pretend it was just some very bad joke. But she couldn't, not when the literal image of Lord Reichnott confessed everything to her face that it was all true. There was no denying any of it and that reality was hitting her harder than she could have anticipated.

" Uncle Reichnott...he really cheated on his wife...Chief god above..." Eclair muttered as sat down on the chair, her hands running through her hair as she took all this in." And Jean is his illegitimate child."

" Yes. I'm sorry Eclair." Mein apologized as she put her hand on Eclair's shoulder. She wasn't sure why she was apologizing, its not like she made Lord Reichnott cheat on his wife and have an illegitimate child.

Perhaps she was more apologizing for being the one to break the news. Somebody else probably could have been more comforting.

"W-Why did you tell me this?" Eclair turned to her with desperation and sadness in her tone that it almost made Mein take a step back. It wasn't an accusation but it felt like one.

That was a good question. Why did Mein feel the need to tell Eclair about all this? Why did Mein curse her with this knowledge?

The cold and harsh part of her being told herself it was because it was an easy way to endear herself to the Lady Seatto this way by uncovering a dastardly secret that would tear the young Lady Cute from the inside out if she ever found out. There was no benefit in using the information to blackmail Jean when the boy himself had nothing to offer her really. But the other side of herself...well, it was less cut and dry.

" Because you are...the closest thing Cute has to a family member right now and I thought it would be best for you to know first to figure out what to do with this information." Mein said telling half the truth. The other half she still wasn't sure honestly.

" I...I thank you for telling me first your majesty, but I don't know what in Chief god's name to do with this information either." Eclair confessed in a scared and uncertain tone." I've known Jean for as long as I've known Cute and learning that the two are related are just...fuck. What do I even do with this information? I can't tell Cute that would destroy her, but Jean deserves to know. Does he even know Lord Reichnott was his father?"

Eclair rambled off and Mein she had to put a stop to it before she spiraled deeper down this pit of worry and shattered images of those she once held in high regard.

" Hey, its okay Eclair. Take a deep breath..." Mein instructed which seemed to calm Eclair's breathing at least." I'm so sorry for springing this on you but I figured you wouldn't want to hear this news first thing in the morning and I understand this is a lot to take in right now but please stay calm. This is a delicate situation and we need to handle this with calm minds. Take some time to think about it, collect your feelings and thoughts and rest for tonight."

" Okay..." Eclair nodded as she turned her attention to the box." Take this away from me please, I don't want to see it."

" I understand...get some rest Eclair, its been a long night."

A quiet nod was all the response she received as she collected the box and left the war room. She got the feeling Eclair wanted to be alone for a bit.

When she finally got back to her room, she let out a long and tired sigh as the fatigue had reached a critical stage and she collapsed on her bed. Mein glanced at the box laying on the bed beside her before putting it back in her inventory for later storage, just like Eclair she did not want to deal with that right now.

Mein just stared up at the ceiling for what felt like an eternity as she felt the weight of everything that had happened tonight, her own actions and what would come next culminate in a single thought.

Oh fuck me.

Mouse's POV

To say Mouse was not in a good mood would be the understatement of the fucking century to say the least. Her day and the ones before had been fucking terrible to be honest that it made her want to both hit something or scream in frustration from the shit days she's been having ever since she took over as the new leader of her group. She honestly wanted to do a bit of both.

What was supposed to be a simple task from the Hound Lord to abduct some man-animals from the Shield's party had turned into one gigantic waste of time as they stood around with their dicks in their hands hoping one of them would show up. And when that red haired bitch actually did show up, they weren't prepared in the slightest and she had a head start on all of them because her filorial was fast. Mouse wouldn't give up though, she wasn't going to let the past day of waiting go to waste and quickly got her boys on steeds to chase after her, confident that they could catch up and overwhelm her.

It was just their fucking luck that they wound up running into an armed escort of man-animals along the way that they ended up fighting and losing to, forcing them to run away with their tails between their legs. The memory of it pissed Mouse off to no end at their bad luck, the bastards were dressed like knights and escorting what looked like one of those noble carriages. She figured if they couldn't capture that red haired bitch, than they might as well try to make some money by capturing whatever noble brat or merchant was in the carriage to ransom off for some hefty coin.

Unfortunately, the bastards were much tougher than they looked and they managed to drive them back after killing a good chunk of her men in the process. Mouse felt anger rise up in her chest at the humiliation and loss of so many of her men. If there was one thing Mouse hated more than anything, it was losing.

The bitter taste of defeat made the bottle of ale she was chugging barely do anything to numb the anger she was feeling. She glanced over at her men huddled by the campfire, a few of them making glances at her who was sitting further away from them every so often when they think she's not looking. Mouse's face scrunched up into a deep frown as felt her anger shift from the man-animals to her own men.

I know what they are thinking. They must think I'm some incompetent idiot who's going to get them all killed, if the losses we took was anything to go by. Well, how the fuck was I supposed to know that we were going to run into a full armed-escort? That's hardly my fucking fault!

Mouse scoffed as she tossed her bottle of ale aside as she went to go be closer to the fire. Let's see them talk shit to her face.

None of her men said anything to her as she walked to stand by the fire, though she did notice a few of them giving her either blank or annoyed looks. Little shits aren't even bothering trying to hide it anymore. Roy at the minimum was at least looking at her with more disinterest than anything else which wasn't that much better, but it was preferable to the annoyed looks the others had so he was the closest thing to a friendly face among these assholes.

" Roy, how many men did we lose?" Mouse asked. Roy was the one who was in charge of counting their dead and who they lost to the man-animals.

" 28, I think?" Roy gave an uncertain shrug." A couple dozen more of us were wounded and are in no shape to get into a fight."

" Just fucking great..." Mouse could already feel a headache come on after hearing that. The 28 they lost was already more than half the group she set out with from the base and in their current state, they are going to get their asses kicked if they even encounter another knight patrol or even an especially dangerous monster." We're going to need to get more boys out here from the fort."

" Great...more of us to die so you can kiss ass with the Hound Lord on this stupid errand." Mouse's ears picked up one of her men, Kane mutter on his breath and it made her anger jump a new level.

" The fuck did you just say?" Mouse dared him to repeat it.

Kane did seem to dare as he jumped to his feet and glared at her." You fucking heard me. How many more of us are going to die just so you can kiss ass with the Hound Lord!" Kane's shouting seemed to get the attention of pretty much all the others who were quietly nodding or at the very least not bothering to defend her.

Mouse wasn't just going to sit still and take it as she shouted back." The Hound Lord was the one who chose me! If you got a problem with it, than you can-"

" Oh yes, the Hound Lord 'chose' you. How much did you have to suck his dick to get him to give you the role as our 'leader' when you're still just a glorified lackey!" Kane shouted in anger as a vicious smirk played on his lips." Let's not kid ourselves Mouse, you've always been a glorified ass kisser either to Butcher or whoever the fuck was the real one with power and now you think you can just name drop the Hound Lord and we're all going to follow you like good little puppies? Fuck that! You're still nothing more than the same smug bitch who kisses ass and thinks she's way smarter than she actually is!"

Kane's words hit her where it hurt: an ass kisser. The one thing she knew was true about herself but also something she absolutely loathed more than anything else. She knew that as a mouse demi-human, that was all she could do. Kiss ass with those stronger and hope they throw her a bone every once in a while like a good little doggy. And she hated it more than anything else. She wants to say Kane was wrong, but deep down she knows that she was an ass kisser back then to Butcher...

But now that was no longer the case. She had power and damn it all if she was going to let some asshole like Kane talk down to her like that!

Kane didn't seem too focused on her as he turned to speak to the rest of the crew." I say we cut our losses and leave this bitch- URRK!"

" SHUT. THE. FUCK. UP!" Mouse cut him off as she grabbed Kane by the throat and lifted him up into the air.

" UUURRKK!" Kane choked as he was held in the air by her hand.

It took Mouse a second to realize that she was actually doing this and being astounded that she was physically capable of doing this considering her level wasn't even that much higher than the others. Kane was a bull demi-human who was a good head taller and bigger than her, yet here she was holding him by the throat in the air like it was nothing. Mouse realized that it was one of the rune's powers that gifted her with superior Strength than even that of men 10 times bigger than her. Mouse knew that when she 'inserted' the runes into her soul, she felt stronger and more invigorated than she did before but this?

This is true power.

And Mouse finds that she likes it as she sees her men backing away in fear and cautiousness as she held Kane in her hand and pulling him close to look him dead in the eye with a smirk on her face.

" Listen up you little shit, the Hound Lord put me in charge of this group. Butcher was a fucking idiot who reached too high, but I'm sure as hell not! And I'm NOT a fucking ass-kisser anymore! You will listen to me or I swear I'm going to kill you before the fucking man-animals do!" Mouse sneered at him before throwing Kane away to the dirt. The bull man coughing as he rubbed his throat." And that's boss to you. Speak like that to me again and I swear you will wish it was the Hound Lord killing you!"

" That goes for the rest of you bastards! The Hound Lord is on my side and if any of you think you can kill me, you better be prepared for the blowback! And if any of you want my chair now, than step up!" Mouse threatened all of her men who were staring at her now. None of them dared to step up as they all looked at each other uncertainly." That's what I thought."

Mouse turned to probably the only neutral face here to give her next orders out to." Roy, take one of the birds and head back to the fort and gather a few more men. We lost too many to the damn man-animals and I don't want us getting killed by some wayward monster pack or knight patrol."

" Got it." Roy didn't argue as he very much looked like he wanted to exit himself from this conversation. Mouse didn't care as long as he got the job done.

Mouse walked away so she could get some personal alone time and gather her thoughts. She felt a rush of excitement mixed in with pride swell up at putting that bastard Kane in his place and it was all thanks to those lovely runes the Hound Lord gave her. She hadn't really put much effort into training some of the powers she had gotten from the runes since she had only gotten that transversal and this strength power from the runes.

If just two runes had made her this much more powerful...what would a few more do?

Mouse was more than eager to find out and she couldn't help but wonder if she would end up even more powerful than the Hound Lord by the end of it.

Only one way to find out.

Mein's POV

The first princess of Melromarc turned Agent of the Outsider was more than used to pushing through fatigue when it counted. She can still vividly remember spending many of her nights going into castletown to mingle and mix with the local criminals, raising a bit of hell along the way and enjoying the night life while making back to the castle in time before daybreak. Those were always good times to her since she could say she felt more at home in the seedy underbelly of Melromarc than at court, at the least criminals don't try to put on a pretentious air around them before they backstab you.

But holy fuck, was she still tired as hell the morning after coming back to Silver Keep. She had gotten a good night's rest and she was still feeling tired after the night she's had. Mein realizes that she was both physically and mentally exhausted after her mission last night infiltrating Reichnott manor, and it made perfect sense why she was still exhausted.

Sneaking into a well-defended manor, finding out the identity of a noble house's secret bastard, breaking the news to Eclair...yeah, that will do it.

" You okay Mein?" She heard Naofumi ask her as she heard both him and Raphtalia sit themselves down beside her. They were presently in the mess hall where they were getting their breakfast." You've barely touched your food."

" I'm fine, just had a long night." Mein didn't technically lie, she simply chose not to elaborate as she forced herself to take a bite out of her bread that was dripping with melted cheese. It tasted pretty good but it did little to quell her tiredness.

" I can imagine. Why did you come back last night instead of wait till morning?" Naofumi question wasn't so much of an accusation, but idle curiosity.

" I didn't want to be away from the Keep that long and there were more monsters in one of the areas I was scouting, so I decided to just hightail it back to the Keep." Mein came up with a quick lie to excuse her coming back in the dead of night instead of just waiting till morning. Though in hindsight, Mein can understand Naofumi's confusion over why she came back during nighttime.

Thankfully Naofumi didn't press on it any further as he shrugged and continued eating his breakfast, leaving Mein to her own thoughts as she pondered what had happened last night and her own actions.

She had left no evidence behind of her infiltration into Reichnott manner and was able to safely secure the information of who the late Lord Reichnott's bastard is without anybody being the wiser. Mein realizes that she may have helped avert a potential scandal with what she did, considering how distraught Cute is right now and the state of Silver Pass, finding out Lord Reichnott had a bastard child would have added more fuel to an already burning flame that is yet to be put under control.

Mein would almost feel proud of herself...if it wasn't for the fact that she has burdened Eclair with the knowledge about what Lord Reichnott did. She can't even imagine how Eclair must feel right now, finding out that one of the people she looked up to had done something like that and had lead to the current situation that she was now responsible for taking care of without any guidance from him.

The agent of the Outsider thinks about Thomas and how he freed those Vallerie slaves all those years ago...was this simply the consequences of his actions that she now had to take care of?

Perhaps she has more in common with Eclair than she initially thought.

Mein was shaken out of her thoughts when she felt a small hand tug at her arm and she turned her gaze to Raphtalia who was looking up to her with hopeful eyes.

" Now that you're back, does that mean we can go on that training trip you've talked about?" Raphtalia asked gently and while Mein was able to maintain a calm exterior, she was internally floored by that question.

Oh right, I was supposed to be out scouting for a place where I can take Raphtalia out for survival training...shit.

" O-Of course Raphtalia, we'll go in a few days time. I found the perfect spot just for us..." Mein gave a simple smile as she patted Raphtalia on the head, making the raccoon girl smile happily.

It shouldn't be too hard to find a suitable spot for them to their survival training and Mein was good at improvising if nothing else.

This chapter was a bit shorter than the usual ones but it came with some very important revelations. The secret of who Reichnott's bastard is finally comes to pass and it turns to be none other than Cute's very own bodyguard: Jean.

If you feel this reveal is kinda lackluster than I would have to agree with you in hindsight. Reichnott isn't really a huge character, heck I killed him off mostly because I couldn't figure out what to do with him. But I do hope the identity of who it was at least interesting for you all as this allows me to write some more complicated and fun relationship between Cute and Jean, the former of whom I'm sure will take this information very well if she ever finds out.

Not gonna lie, I actually chose Jean to be Reichnott's bastard because Qin said he looked so much like him.

XD

Now let's reply to some reviews shall we?

To EXCUBITORE:

Yeah, I'm definitely happy Malty is getting to use more of her powers more often. I noticed that she doesn't really get much mileage out of them, so I wanted to fix that problem. Possession really is a fun power, it would be a shame if one of the bad guys got it, huh?

:P

To lord Martiya:

Yeah...the problem with Goblin Slayer is that his genocidal ideology is quite frankly insane if it was applied to literally any other sentient race that wasn't bent over backwards to be made irredeemably evil to justify what is quite frankly an extremist as hell ideology.

Rabier is definitely trying to be more merciful to bandits and criminals to gain more cannon fodder for his slave army. Though the whole impalement thing is certainly that may or may not happen in the near future with a certain Agent.

With all that said, I will see you all in the next one.

Angel Out.