"Has the cause of the fire at my father's mansion in the royal capital been determined?"
"That is... not yet, Your Excellency."
The son, who had been managing the Julius family's domains south of the capital in his father's stead, was shocked by the sudden news of his father's death.
The cause of the fire remained unknown.
Even when questioning the few survivors, they could only say that flames had erupted suddenly and without warning.
The flames were also exceptionally fierce—far too intense to be a natural occurrence.
They had consumed the count's residence utterly, leaving behind nothing but ash.
Because the identity of the dead could not be ascertained, priests from the capital had to be mobilized en masse, using [Appraisal] on every charred body they could find before they finally determined which had been his father, the butler, and so on.
The question of who could have done such a thing remained.
However, the most critical issue was that the ceremonial sword, which had been securely stored in the basement, was missing.
The fire had not reached the basement.
Therefore, it should not have been burned.
Was the perpetrator's objective the ceremonial sword?
But that blade held no value to anyone outside the family save for the gemstone set in it.
Only the head of the house and those directly related to him, along with the royal family, knew its true worth.
It was an heirloom bestowed upon the Julius family long ago by the royal family as a token of their fealty, required during a change of heads of the house.
With his father, the head, dead and a succession now necessary, if the ceremonial sword was gone...
'The Julius family is deemed to have forfeited its loyalty to the royal house. Its domains are hereby seized, and the title of count is abolished. Henceforth, the name of Julius may not be borne. In recognition of the mercy shown in sparing your lives from execution, you shall remember your duty to the crown even as commoners.'
Because they could not present the ceremonial sword, a letter arrived from the royal family. The former members of the Julius family, now stripped of their status and made commoners, were scattered to the winds.
And before long, the territory was granted to the Silver Castle family, who had been on close terms with the First Prince.
The former eldest son of the Julius family, who snuck in believing the Silver Castle family must have the ceremonial sword and intended to reclaim it, was captured, tortured, and killed.
◇◇◇
Two consecutive fires of suspected arson had the city in a bit of a stir.
Guard patrols had increased—though only in the noble district, mind you.
Well, anyway, I figured I'd take on some jobs and aim for Silver rank.
That's when my eyes landed on a standing commission—one that had been sitting there salted away for who knows how long.
It read: "Gathering Spirit Medicinal Herbs."
Spirit medicine is what's known as an elixir.
Spirit medicinal herb is one of the key ingredients.
Elixirs are actually surprisingly easy to come by.
Well, at least for me.
All you need is the empty low-grade potion bottles that adventurers toss aside everywhere, or the potions the alchemy guild sells at dirt-cheap prices like they're scamming you.
"Hey, trash boy!"
I heard a voice shout at me like that, but it was probably just my imagination.
"Over here, you beggar scum! I'm a Silver-ranked Works, bronze-boy!"
Guys who spout off their own rank without even being asked, trying to assert dominance like that—none of them are ever any good, and their actual skill is never anything impressive.
"You listening to me, you little punk?! You picked up the potions I threw away the other day, didn't you?! That's disgusting! If you want to scavenge trash, take it somewhere else! You're making the guild stink!"
Even from the onlookers who had gathered to listen,
jeering laughter.
I could hear it all.
Okay, sure, I do pick up the occasional bit of trash — but calling me "smelly" and "horrible" is just cruel.
I take proper baths, thank you very much.
The inn I recently rented doesn't have a bath, so I went and built one inside a pocket dimension. Went out of my way and everything.
At first I was borrowing water from the inn, but that got annoying, so I picked up [Water Magic]through the [Reverse]skill.
It ended up as [Ice Magic].
So yeah, I really don't want to hear that from some adventurer who looks like he's never so much as heard of taking a bath.
"Uh, so where exactly would this 'appropriate place' be?"
"The dump, obviously! The royal palace is where I'd put him!! Gwahahaha!"
Alright — destination decided.
I'll use [Space-Time Magic] to teleport that Works guy, the so-called silver rank, straight into the palace.
Oh, but first I should lay down some [Intimidation].
I glare at Works and activate Intimidation.
"H-Hieek?!"
Liquid comes streaming from between Works' legs, and a terrible stench fills the air.
And while everyone around us is gagging about the smell, I activate [Space-Time Magic] Transport.
Destination: the royal palace.
◇◇◇◇◇◇
Skills: [Reverse], [Divine Eye], [Sword God], [Gentleman Thief], [Dark Magic], [Rock-Iron Magic], [Holy Magic], [Space-Time Magic], [Scorching Magic], [Ice Magic]
Rank: Bronze
Thank you for always reading! 😊