What I had ‘found’ were ripped up pieces of paper, which I had reassembled.

“Young Master.”

“Yeah?”

“...Why are you presenting me used toilet paper?” He looked at me with a dumbfounded look on his face.

I rolled my eyes at him, “No, that’s not it!”

‘What is his opinion of me?! Is it so bad that he thinks I would do something like that...’

I glared at him and placed my clenched forwards, gesturing at him with my chin, Ian put his hand forwards with his lips pressed in a line; I opened my hand and the contents fell onto his palm.

“Check it.”

Ian, who had been carefully looking at the bundle of paper on his hand, carefully opened it--there were no brown stains.

His sigh made me feel a second of annoyance.

“Hm?” His eyes narrowed as he looked at the words written on the paper--his face paled as he seemed to recognize the handwriting, “This handwriting…?”

“Do you recognize it?”

Since the paper was originally ripped up, and I couldn’t find all of the pieces, but it did contain a certain ‘ingredient’.

The familiar handwriting, coupled with the ingredient which was most likely put into the soup recently--one one person comes to mind.

I knew in advance, but Ian seems incredibly shocked, he mutters swearwords under his breath.

***

If you were to grab any random bystander and ask who the strongest combatant in the Iphelleta House, nine out of ten people would say that it was the Master of the house, Count Stein.

“I’ve got to admit, you’re a sly rat.”

“...”

Surprisingly, a lone hooded man could last against him in single combat for quite a long time.

Naturally, the hooded man was Tes--who was the chief of all of the invading hooded men.

Whenever Stein’s Mana Blade was fired, Tes would dodge it by a hair’s width and simply harass him from a distance.

‘As expected from my son-in-law.’

If this were a close-quarters-combat situation, Tes would definitely lose.

‘There’s no way I can beat my son-in-law.’

It was obvious who the winner was in the aspect of pure combat skills, but Tes’s objective was not Stein’s head.

Were he seriously trying take Steins life, he would much rather ambush him, or poison his food, rather than brazenly fighting him out in the open.

His current objective was simply to buy time. While his subordinates retrieved their comrade’s corpse from its location somewhere in the mansion, he would keep the attention of the strongest swordsman.

‘We’ve got the dagger. Now I just need to wait for them to retrieve the body.’

Tes spun his wrist, to ease the ache caused by redirecting Stein’s powerful lunge. If things went according to his expectations, he would need to withstand two more minutes and he would win.

Stein clicked his tongue--the hooded man’s agile evasive maneuvers were beginning to annoy him. He had figured out what his opponent was aiming for, he was buying time.

Tes didn’t reply. He hadn’t changed his voice, so if he was overheard--he could be easily identified. As the master if the Tres Trade Guild, he had seen Stein once in his life.

Their second meeting was during Tres’s daughter’s wedding.

Although they only met twice, Stein would be able to recognize Tes’s voice.

I had to be careful because he will still my father-in-law.

Stein suddenly changed combat styles, and he spoke with lowered brows, “I can tell that you lack the ability to kill me. A pathetic man skilled only in fleeing.”

His objectives changed from capture, to death.

‘Shit!’

He had to be careful, because Stein was still his father-in-law.

Right now, he wasn’t acting as the Master of the Tes Trade Guild, but as the Guildmaster of the Assassin’s Guild.

Tes could feel cold sweat dripping down his face as he realized that the situation has suddenly changed for the worst, and all of his nerves were on all on high alert.

A moment of carelessness would be the end of him.

‘One bad move and I might actually die,’

Tes made a decision and was about to use the Smoke Screen Device that was hanging on his waist when…

“Hmm?”

Tes flinched as he heard the anxious footsteps originating behind the door. None of his subordinates would make so much noise.

“...Master!”

Bang!

The man who came barging through the door was an old man in the impeccable suit of a butler. His wrinkled face was covered in sweat, it was obvious that he had been sprinting all the way here.

“Ian?” Stein sounded surprised, since the old butler had been assigned to look after Riley.

As Stein was getting worried, he looked behind Ian and saw the familiar face of the person following along behind him.

“Hm?”

“...?!”

The people who entered Stein’s weren’t only Ian, and although it seemed to be an unexpected surprise, there was one more visitor.

“Ian? W-What are you doing?”

Wearing a dress, her pride on full display, her orange hair tied back; Lady Orelly was the second visitor.

It seems that she was forced to come, since she was struggling to escape Ian’s grasp. She seemed  desperate to run away, unable to hide her look of inconvenience.

“Master” Ian bowed, his hand still not releasing the woman’s dress, “Lady Orelly…is the poisoner!”

Stein’s eyes widen at the words, then glanced at the hooded man, before sheathing his sword.

As though he was even more surprised, the hooded man stood perfectly still--he lost the will to fight.

***

“Riley! Are you okay? You’re not hurt are you?” Iris spoke quickly as she hugged me tightly, I could feel  her arms trembling.

“Don’t worry mother, I am fine.”

“Dear lord, what a disaster…”

As soon as I came to Iris’ room, I sent Ian to Lady Orelly--after which, I hugged my terrified, and crying, mother.

Glancing around, I could see the maid Sera watching our reunion with warm eyes, as she guarded us.

Thankfully, no assassins had entered this room.

“Uh, Sera.” I slowly turned towards her.

“Yes, Young Master?” She quickly came back to reality and bowed her head.

“Do you have any popcorn?”

“Huh?”

“Popcorn.”

“Pop…corn?” Sera tilted her head, unable to understand my question.

Oh right, Popcorn was a snack from my first life--of course they wouldn’t have it here.

“Riley, what is popcorn?” Iris asked me.

“Ahh…it’s something like a snack. You make it from corn and butter.”

“A snack?” Sera looked at me with widened eyes.

A snack when assassins had invaded the mansion? There was a limit to being carefree. Sera’s face looked empty, her slim shoulders drooping. She had heard complaint after complaint from Ian, and she finally felt as if she could understand a little, a bitter smile twisted her full lips.

“Riley…A snack isn’t bad, but, do you have to eat it now?”

Even Iris, who would reply with a smile to everything related to me, didn’t seem like she was going to let this one go. Her face turned stern and she looked like she was preparing to scold me.

As the two women’s eyes turned towards me, I felt like I was acting a little too flippantly.

“But, there’s going to be some entertainment soon, I’d like to eat something with it…”

“Huh?”

“What did you say?”

It seems that they hadn’t heard my muttering, so they asked me to repeat myself.

“Ah, no. It’s nothing. I’m sorry, I’ll think about what I’ve done. I’m sorry Sera, for bothering you like this.”

With women, it is easier to just apologize than to explain yourself.

Because of my quick and suddenly apology, both Sera and Iris looked at each other in confusion.

“But, Sera…There’s some corn in the kitchen right?” I asked.

Her jaw dropped.

It seems that she could now understand, at least a little, Ian’s feelings.