Don't Burn Them! Even Witches Have Value!

The entire world seemed to stand still.

One second. Two seconds. Time froze right there.

”Your... Your Highness.”

Fenrir’s nostrils twitched.

As Ai’na’s personal guard, he was battle-hardened and experienced, having seen everything— but this, he truly had never seen before.

The terrifying odor assaulted the demi-human’s brain, while the reality before his eyes made his mind go blank for an instant.

It was the same for Iyanna, but Lynn’s shout made her react first, so she immediately jumped out through the room’s window.

”Good girl, it’s okay, it’s okay. I’ll protect you.”

Lynn, who had safely landed, patted the money pouch in his arms, soothing the emotions of his money.

”The odds are against us, let’s retreat!”

Seeing that his Security Captain had also jumped out, he unhesitatingly signaled for Iyanna to carry him on her back, and then they fled into the distance.

Only at this moment did Ai’na finally accept the present reality.

”Ah... Ah...”

Her voice trembled as she looked in disbelief at her hands, which were covered in yellowish-brown filth.

And immediately after, a scream loud enough to shatter glass and even cause the moisture in the surrounding air to instantly condense into ice shards finally pierced the night sky of White Pine City.

”Ahhhhhhhhhhhhh!!!!”

Contained within this scream wasn’t killing intent, but a kind of collapse from the depths of her soul.

Ai’na Knut, Princess of the Frost Kingdom, future Queen of Dragons.

Even when facing assassins several times her number in her youth, she had never flinched.

Even during her coming-of-age ceremony, when she had walked barefoot on the extremely cold ice fields, she had never shown emotion.

But at this moment, she heard the sound of her unshakable pride shattering.

”I’m going to kill you! I’m going to tear you to shreds! I’m going to pull out your soul and roast it on the Netherfire for ten thousand years!!!”

A terrifying magic fluctuation ran rampant through her body.

The temperature of the entire inn instantly dropped to the freezing point.

But it was of no use.

Because the perpetrator had already run away.

————————

”Iyanna, were those the people who attacked your hometown?”

Lynn, who was riding on the girl’s back, asked seriously.

”Mmm, no. Mom and Dad said that those bad guys were all humans...”

It was also possible that they were human mercenaries hired by the other party, Lynn guessed. This practice had once been extremely popular in the Frost Kingdom, especially during the time of the Snake Tribe’s rule.

Families in the northern border of Milan had also cooperated with the Snake Tribe, sending troops to slaughter tribes that threatened the latter’s position, and in exchange, they received new territories— this was how White Pine Fief, including Blackstone Fief, had been absorbed into Milan.

He had thought that the new royal family that overthrew the Snake Tribe wouldn’t do this, but now it seemed that the nature of the strong preying on the weak was hard to change.

The most important thing now was to find a place to lay low.

So, where was the most suitable place to do so?

Naturally, it was the mansion of the Viscount of White Pine.

As the ruler of the White Pine Fief, although Viscount Milangell’s status was lower than that of the royal princess’s, this was, after all, Milan.

Moreover, the other party was clearly traveling without having announced her presence, which in itself violated diplomatic principles.

Thinking rationally, as long as he hid in the Viscount’s home, the other party wouldn’t come knocking on his door.

This was a conclusion that could be easily analyzed from a cost-benefit perspective.

Lynn was just a minor Baron, but when it came to diplomacy, he represented the Milan Empire. Furthermore, he wasn’t just a Baron. His actual identity was very complex.

But even if the other party only knew the former piece of information, if they had normal thinking, it would be impossible for them to blatantly enter the Viscount’s mansion to kill him at the risk of rupturing relations between the two countries.

Thus, he once again arrived at the door of the Milangell family.

”Oh, Your Excellency Lynn, are you... here to have dinner at our place?”

Looking at the Viscount, whose expression was a bit strange, Lynn waved his hand.

”That isn’t our main purpose.

In fact, I’m hiding from danger.”

As he spoke, he told the Viscount the news of his attack, but he didn’t specify who the attacker was.

It was the same reasoning as before: matters involving diplomacy had to be handled with caution.

Listening to Lynn’s vivid description, the Viscount’s cheeks twitched.

Although he believed that such a detailed process wasn’t fabricated, the other party’s actions still left him deeply shocked.

‘Grand Duke of the Imperial Shore, your grandson... It seems like he didn’t inherit your glorious family bloodline.’

However, since it was to escape with his life, the Viscount still maintained his understanding.

Besides that, he also thought of one more thing, and his expression immediately became serious.

”Your Excellency Lynn, you may indeed be involved in some incident.

Do you remember that you asked me to go talk to Dawson?

This afternoon, I did indeed send someone over.”

Speaking up to here, he paused.

”But we went too late.

Dawson’s already dead.”

Hearing this sentence, Lynn was immediately unsettled.

”How did he die?”

The Viscount glanced outside the door, then he signaled for Lynn to enter first.

When Iyanna was once again sitting at the dining table and sweeping through the food like a whirlwind, the Viscount lowered his voice and said to Lynn beside him.

”His throat was pierced by a small knife, a single fatal blow.

My Captain of the Guard inspected the scene and found fluctuations of magic and Battle Aura.

Many people had fought there, but only the bodies of Dawson and his bodyguards were left.”

Lynn was greatly surprised. Then he took a fierce bite of the roasted chicken they were having for dinner and continued to ask.

”Are there any more clues?”

”None... Except that Your Excellency Lynn was also attacked.”

Lynn began to think.

Should he reveal the identity of the person who attacked him?

With Battle Aura and magic, it seemed like it could only have been done by the Frost Princess’s party.

But was it really that simple?

Didn’t he himself also have a witch and an employee who knew Battle Aura?

Although such people were rare, they weren’t necessarily only found by the side of the upper echelons.

For example, didn’t Dawson’s shop also have an apprentice with D-Rank Battle Aura...

Wait, what about that apprentice?

”I know an apprentice in Dawson’s shop, he looks roughly like this...

Is he also dead?”

Listening to Lynn’s description, the Viscount shook his head.

”There was no body of a thin, slender young man as you described.”

This was truly... interesting.

Lynn realized that he might know some inside information.

That poisoned apprentice, that expert who concealed his true identity, was very likely an important part of these incidents.

However, he remained silent.

He still remembered that the other party’s evaluation of him was ”low-threat individual”.

If he spoke carelessly here, then there might be a throwing knife piercing his own neck later on.

To avoid bringing trouble upon himself, he should just continue to observe while laying low.

As Lynn continued to eat, he suddenly saw that among the servants serving new dishes, one was holding a plate of plain congee and, instead of heading towards the dining table, she was heading towards the corridor at the back.

He looked at the sparsely populated dining table. Besides him and Iyanna, he still didn’t see the Viscount’s family.

Thus, a guess formed in his mind.

”Lord Viscount, are your family members ill?”

Hearing this sentence, the knife and fork in Milangell’s hands stopped.

In his dim eyes, Lynn saw a deep—

Pain.

——————————————————

T/N - Well, the MC can be observant and can analyze situations properly when he needs to, and if it doesn’t involve money. That bait and switch with the MC consoling someone, only for him to be consoling his money pouch caught me off guard. 😅

Also, a valid crash out from Ai’na. I really hope she closed her mouth in time back then, for her sake.