“So here we are.”

Arturia and Reinhard stood outside Karsten Mansion in the capital of Lugnica. They were here because Reinhard had found that the Karsten family brought a lot of weapons such as swords and spears from the blacksmiths.

With Subaru’s information about Hakugei and Witch Cult, Reinhard instantly knew that Karsten’s family was targeting one of the two. But, Reinhard told Arturia that Karsten Family would surely target Hakugei.

Arturia didn’t know where Reinhard got his confidence, but she trusted him.

In front of the entrance gate of Karsten Mansion, a butler with white hair came out from the gate and looked at Reinhard with a frown on his face.

Arturia glanced at Reinhard and saw he had a difficult expression, but he steeled himself and stood while looking at the butler directly.

The butler closed his eyes and said, “I saw that you had changed a little bit, but that doesn’t mean that I forgave you yet.”

He then turned to look at Arturia and bowed his head a little, “Arturia Pendragon-sama. If I may ask, what’s the purpose of your visit here? To be walking to this place, I thought that would be a bit inappropriate for a person such as you.”

The butler raised his head and put his hands behind his back.

Arturia was impressed by his professional attitude. Even when he was clearly hostile towards Reinhard, for the reason that Arturia didn’t know, but he was able to be polite towards Arturia.

Arturia looked up at the butler’s face and said, “I am sorry about my sudden visit. But, I wanted to meet with Crusch-sama if she’s free right now. I had something, a proposal more specifically about hunting some beasts.”

The butler narrowed his eyes and asked Arturia, “Beasts, right?” He glanced at Reinhard for a second before he looked back at Arturia.

“I believe my Lady will be happy to see you. Please come inside, Pendragon-sama.” The butler stepped to the right and allowed Arturia to enter the gate.

Arturia had yet to know the butler’s name but from his hostility towards Reinhard and the story that she heard from his Knight a few days ago, she could conclude something. That butler was Reinhard’s Grandfather, Wilhelm van Astrea.

Arturia and Reinhard were following the butler, Wilhelm as he took them inside the mansion to meet Crusch. They were escorted in a room with long table and 2 chairs on each side of the table.

“Please take a seat, Pendragon-sama. I will call Crusch-sama for a moment.” Wilhelm bowed his head towards Arturia and exited the room.

Arturia sat on one of the chairs while Reinhard stood behind her. Because Wilhelm had exited the room, Arturia gestured Reinhard to look away for a second and changed into her battle dress. She didn’t wear any armor as this occasion was a meeting for a discussion between two candidates, not a fight.

After changing into her dress, Arturia looked at Reinhard and asked, “Are you okay?”

Reinhard looked at Arturia with a wry smile and answered her, “I’m fine. Please just concentrate on your discussion, Milady. Don’t mind me.”

“I can’t do that.” Arturia shooks her head, “If you, who is my Knight as well as my friend is in trouble, it is natural if I am worried about you.”

Reinhard’s eyes widened in surprise when Arturia called him her friend. His wry smile turned into a soft smile and he scratched his cheek.

“I see. I will tell you later, Milady. It seems that Crusch-sama has arrived.”

As soon as Reinhard said that, Arturia looked at the only door in the room. The door was opened shortly after that and Crusch alongside her Knight Felix Argyle entered the room. But, the one who entered the room was not only the two of them. Surprisingly, Subaru was also present as he followed the two of them from behind.

Arturia narrowed her eyes at Subaru. He looked around the room until finally, he realized her gaze and shook his head repeatedly.

‘So he didn’t tell them yet. Or he did tell Karsten Family but they didn’t trust him.’

Crusch looked at Arturia with calculating eyes and a stoic expression. She was confused when she looked at her because from Wilhelm’s report, Arturia was wearing Lugnica’s Knight uniform, but now she was wearing the dress that she used in Royal Selection.

But, as an experienced noble, Crusch decided to ignore it. She sat on the chairs across from Arturia and Felix stood behind her. Subaru was confused at first, but he decided to stand near the table between Arturia and Crusch.

“Well then, Arturia Pendragon. How should I call you? You can call me Crusch if you wanted to.”

“Please call me Arturia, Crusch-sama. I’m sorry for my sudden visit.”

“It is no problem. I heard from my butler that you had something to talk to me about? Regarding Beasts hunting.”

Crusch narrowed her eyes at Arturia as she put her elbow on the table and put both of her hands in front of her mouth.

While Crusch was busy talking with Arturia, her Knight was making a tea on the side and the only sound in the room came from crushing a tea leave for a moment.

“That’s true. We had planned to hunt a beast before the start of the Royal Selection. Earlier this day, we managed to locate one of the Great Beast with the help of someone. But, when I asked Reinhard to look at the market, he found out that Karsten Family had bought almost the entire stock of the weapon. That was why we are here, to propose cooperation to take down the beast.”

“If I may ask, who was the informant about the location of that beast. Also, which beast was it?”

Arturia smilled at Crusch and said, “Unfortunately I had to hide the informant name. But, I will tell you this. Anastasia-sama’s Knight, Julius had made a move to eradicate the Witch Cult that was seen around Lugnica. For the beast, it seems the one that currently in Lugnica is Hakugei.”

“Are you serious?!” Crush lowered her hands and asked with a surprised tone. Her Knight that was finished with the tea was also surprised and almost dropped the trey that he held in his hand.

Arturia nodded her head at Crusch’s question to confirm that she was serious, “The informant said that he saw a big whale. The only whale that could fly is…”

“Hakugei.” Finished Crusch.

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