I Have No Intention Of Training The Male Leads - Chapter 10 Part 4

10. Hidden Events (4)

Translated by: ???

She felt a presence behind her in an instant. Eve quickly drew a dagger from the fallen serpentine’s face, turned her body back, and threw the dagger in one motion. The small dagger and the machete clashed with a fierce metallic sound and bounced off each other. While the werewolf adjusted his grip on the disoriented sword, Eve’s foot forcefully kicked the empty side of the man’s waist.

Thud!

“Argh!”

“You showed a gap in front of me? Are you itching to get beaten? This bastard is going down. So, you want to play the villain?”

With a mocking tone and the corner of her mouth raised, Eve spat and swung her body back before the man could regain his composure, striking the opposite side of his waist. As if being struck by a solid chunk of metal, the man unknowingly bent his body in pain, grimacing and groaning.

William, who happened to witness her beating the werebeast from behind, had a momentary blank and confused expression on his face.

“… Senior?”

The man’s muttered words were drowned out by the loud clanging of metal and the screams of pain that stained the air. By the time Eve had plunged the knife into the man’s throat while stomping on him, she turned around to survey the surroundings, and his gaze had already vanished and was nowhere to be seen.

Eve casually scratched near her ear, as if it was bothering her, and swung the knife in the air to shake off the blood.

“You, you fucker! Drop your weapon! I said drop your weapon!”

A voice crazily shouting reverberated. Eve turned her head towards the unpleasant mix of clanging and shouting.

A snake-headed werebeast, who had forcibly dragged a woman out of a carriage, was fiercely pinning a young woman of petite stature and thrusting a dagger into her neck.

“I know you came to save the women! F-Fuck…! Don’t come any closer! I’ll kill her! This bitch will die!”

The man’s yellow eyes, attempting to threaten with a somewhat unclear pronunciation, seemed completely devoid of any threat. Eve narrowed her eyes slightly, teasingly ran her tongue across her lips, and slowly looked around. After indiscriminately slicing through the charging men who had lost their senses, there were only a few werebeasts left. The one who sensed the diminishing number of his comrades seemed to have seized the opportunity to take a hostage.

“That lunatic bastard…”

Eve gritted her teeth, her longsword hanging limply on the ground. In an instant, the battle entered a stalemate. The remaining werebeasts held their weapons up and slowly closed in on them.

“What should we do?”

“… There’s nothing we can do.”

“No, there’s always something we can do! If you talk nonsense, I’ll start with you!”

Whispering among themselves in hushed tones, their words tickled Eve’s ears. Unable to contain her anger, Eve let out a low growl and interjected into their conversation.

“So, are you suggesting that you all kill yourselves like this?”

“Hold on a second.”

Eve clicked her tongue and tapped the hilt of the sword she held in her hand with her index finger. William, who had been quietly observing her from the side, directed his gaze downwards towards her fingers and then back up towards her face.

In an instant, Eve’s pupils rapidly narrowed and then widened again, sensing something. Reacting agilely like a beast, Eve suddenly exhaled and let out a laugh, as if sighing, and then exerted strength in her abdomen and let out a loud shout.

“Oh! Look at these bastards! Do you know who this person here is! Look carefully!”

Pointing to William with an open palm, Eve yelled with a bark-like sound, causing William and the men standing on both sides of him, as if escorting him, unable to hide their bewilderment.

“What…”

“Wait…!”

“Hey! You impertinent bastards! Do you think you’ll get away with this? You, I remember you clearly! Huh? Absolutely, just completely, without a doubt!”

It was a successful provocation. The attention of everyone nearby turned towards Eve and then rolled back towards William.

“What the hell! What’s this bastard doing!”

One of the werebeasts surrounding Eve and William growled and shouted. In response to his words, everyone looked back at Eve with suspicious eyes.

“Oho! How dare you call me a bastard! You must really think today is your lucky day. Do you know who this person is? You impudent bastard! Let me tell you who this person is! Right now!”

Even William and his escorts were looking at Eve with tense expressions. After a brief pause, Eve took a deep breath and shouted loudly.

“Ah, what are you doing! I’ve set it up this much already, so come out quickly!”

As soon as the sound burst out, the neck of the werewolf who had been holding the woman hostage near the carriage snapped with a dull sound. The dagger he had been holding in his hand fell to the ground, its blade stained pale red long ago.

“I apologize.”

Castel apologized, dirt smeared in places on his clothes as if he had been galloping a horse to death to follow her. After confirming that the woman who had been held hostage was safely back inside the carriage, Eve turned her gaze and smiled mischievously at the bewildered werebeasts.

“You all have no fucking idea what this person can do.”

With Eve’s refreshing conclusion, the situation was quickly resolved. The remaining werebeasts were soon subdued. At Castel’s suggestion that they should interrogate the captured werebeasts to find out where the information had leaked, Eve, with an expression of resignation, sheathed her sword in the scabbard and began to pummel the werebeasts with her bare hands.

After giving the werebeasts seven backhand slaps each, the last one groaned and lost consciousness with foam at his mouth, Eve laughed heartily and stretched her body. Behind her, Castel and Archduke William were pretending not to notice Eve’s merciless thrashing of the werebeast with the heel of her boot as they engaged in conversation.

“How is it that Your Highness is in such a place?”

“It seems I’ve shown an embarrassing sight.”

The man with long navy blue hair tied back into a bun smiled softly out of the corner of his drooping eyes, trying to hide his disheveled appearance.

“Actually, it’s been a small hobby of mine to disguise myself whenever I’m down in the capital and wander east of Plumen…”

According to the Archduke’s version of events that followed, one of the women kidnapped by the gang was the daughter of a regular shopkeeper whom William had befriended through his usual travels in disguise. He awkwardly smiled as he mentioned that while he was separately chasing after her, he discovered the involvement of the werebeast mafia in the back alleys.

“Then, by chance, I ended up receiving information about the details of the investigation. However, it seems that there is a difference between that information and what I know, so I am separately taking action in case an unfortunate incident occurs.”

“What difference…”

“Wolves and snakes are said to be polar opposites. However, strangely enough, there were indications that the Sidus family had joined hands with them. It was reported that the Sidus family had secretly leaked the progress of the investigation and is providing support to the Viper family, including magical weapons such as the magic gun.”

“It would have been better if you had given us that information.”

“Well, I can’t just fully trust the police when I don’t know where the information leaked from.”

The soft voice carried a strange sense of distrust. Castel took a step back, keeping his lips tightly sealed. No matter how much he intervened haphazardly in the investigation, he couldn’t interrogate the royalty. Moreover, hadn’t they practically received no assistance?

“If I have offended you, I apologize. Would it be possible for us to cooperate in drafting a witness statement once the investigation is concluded?”

“Sir. What do you think the reason is for me to have such a conversation with you?”

“… Understood.”

Castel’s face hardened even more, but he bowed without any further resistance.

Watching from a few steps back, Eve shook her head surreptitiously, observing the employee who was being bullied by their superior as if she were watching someone else’s business.

‘Aww, how pitiful. So pitiful. I should never get a job in the Imperial Palace.’

“By the way.”

William’s head turned halfway towards Eve. Eve widened her eyes in surprise at his sudden gaze and locked eyes with him. Then, as she recalled being properly introduced to his status, she quickly lowered her gaze. It was a world of dirty social hierarchies.

“Raise your head. Aren’t we an acquaintance?”

“Oh, thank you. That… It’s been a long time since we last met.”

“Indeed, I was correct.”

“You have a very sophisticated way of speaking, so I didn’t recognize you.”

“Ah.”

The man chuckled, his laughter bursting out like a blooming flower, and he spoke again without losing the smile on his face.

“I never knew you became a knight. Well, considering your skills, you’re more than deserving of the ordination.”

“… Yes. Thank you.”

Eve nodded slightly, furtively glancing at Castel to gauge his reaction. She still wasn’t used to having a man who was supposed to be cold enough to be called the Ice Flower of the North address her in a friendly manner. To put it more bluntly, it made her feel extremely uneasy and uncomfortable, as if she were seeing something she shouldn’t be seeing.

Eve, upon seeing the mounted patrol who had hurriedly arrived in response to the signal she had set off with a flashbang, discreetly excused herself.

“Well then, please continue your conversation…”

Watching Eve’s retreating figure, as if she were avoiding an uncomfortable superior, William kept his gaze on her and quietly asked.

“What’s the lady’s name?”

“She is Evelyn Vermell, the niece of Count Vermell.”

“Ahh.”

Even if they were to fabricate lies, considering the skills of the informants employed by the ducal family, her true identity would have been exposed within a day. Castel willingly disclosed Eve’s name. William, with an attitude that implied he should go and do his job, dismissed him, observing Eve as she checked on the women near the carriage.

“Does it concern you?”

“Find out as much as you can.”

“Yes.”

As one of his subordinates approached him from behind and asked in a low voice, William’s face, with a cold and stern expression as if his laugh beforehand was just an illusion, gave a quiet command. However, despite his cold and rigid expression, his gaze was trembling slightly, as if confused about something.

“Right. There’s no way…”

?

Maria returned to the mansion. Despite hearing from the doctor that she should exert caution for a while, she was insistent on wanting to move her body.

Thanks to Eve’s strong insistence, Maria was able to continue working at the mansion. To Eve, it was simply unthinkable that the victim should lose her job just because of such an incident.

Supported by the other maids, she came to greet Eve, and as soon as she saw Eve’s face, tears burst forth from her eyes.

“Ah, young miss…”

“I’m glad, Maria. Welcome back safely.”

“Sob…!”

Maria sobbed, saying that if it weren’t for the young lady, the disappearance of the commoner women would not have been resolved so quickly. Anna and the other maids beside her also expressed their gratitude, their eyes reddened with tears.

It turned out that among the abducted women, there was also the younger sister of another maid working at the mansion. Tragedies of this kind were not distant stories for them. Everyone had been living in fear, holding their breath, uncertain when sudden misfortune would befall them, and they were filled with anxiety.

Eve, overwhelmed by Maria’s sobbing like a child, approached her and patted her back, unable to collect her thoughts.

It was undoubtedly lucky that they were able to come back alive. And Eve couldn’t deny the fact that her own strength and connections had influenced that luck. Even if the world she lived in had turned upside down, the world of human interaction remained the same. The case seemed to have ended with a happy ending, but it left a bitter taste in her mouth.