Middle-Aged Man Isekai Summoning - Chapter 20

 Suspect

While eating with everyone, Irene approached us with a stern expression.

"Lord Dai, Lady Sharon, do you have a moment?"

"Yes, of course."

"Last night, an intruder entered Lady Carla's room. Fortunately, Lady Carla was unharmed, but while searching for anything suspicious, we found traces indicating the ceiling of the guest room had been removed. Since there were testimonies placing Lord Dai and Lady Sharon in the guest room around noon yesterday, may I ask you both for details?"

I knew nothing about what happened last night, but I did know about the ceiling.

"Understood. I'll tell you."

"Dai..."

Unusually, Iris spoke in a worried voice.

"Don't worry. We're just going to talk."

...

..

.

We moved to the guest room in the detached villa and were shown the ceiling.

"This is it. Does anything come to mind?"

"Yes, it does. I removed it and went into the attic. My reason was to look for a hidden room."

"Ehh?! Dai-san?!"

"You're quite honest. Did you infiltrate from here last night?"

"No, that's not it. In the first place, infiltrating from the roof carries too high a risk."

"Did you not think that hearing this story would make me suspect you two as the culprits?"

"I didn't sense anger or suspicion from your words or body language, so I answered honestly."

"...Fufufu, as expected, it wasn't you two. Actually, I had you come here to swear you to secrecy regarding the hidden room. That room is a shelter, so only the King and a select few know about it."

I usually judge a woman's words and attitude carefully before deciding if I can take her to a love hotel. Therefore, I knew from Irene's demeanor that she didn't suspect us. However, I didn't expect the King to turn a shelter into an affair room.

"Is Lady Carla alright?"

"She was down, but she's doing fine. Would you like to see her?"

"Yes."

...

..

.

"Lady Carla, do you have a moment?"

"Irene-san, what's wrong? Oh? Lord Dai, Lady Sharon?"

"I was questioning these two to confirm if they were last night's intruders."

"Eh?!"

"No, it's fine. The suspicion has been cleared, so we just came to see you because we were worried about you, Lady Carla."

"Is that so? Thank you very much."

"If you don't mind, could you tell us the gender and outfit of the intruder?"

"It was a woman, and she was wearing clothes I've never seen before."

"I see. Did she ask anything or threaten you?"

"Yes, she asked me, 'Where are the demons?' But when I answered that there are no demons because this is a human kingdom, she shouted, 'That can't be!' Hearing that, the guards came and she fled. It was dark so I can't say for sure, but her skin wasn't dark, so I don't think she was a demon."

Is she looking for demon slaves just like I am? Since they invaded as far as the mines once before, it wouldn't be surprising if a scout came. Still, the difference in skin color bothers me.

"Hmm. Irene-san, I have a request. Could you put me and Sharon into the detention facility acting as if we were the intruders?"

"Eh?"

"I think she's looking for demon prisoners. She's probably finished searching the poorly guarded areas in the royal castle and is now searching the heavily guarded ones. After this place, I think her next target is the detention facility, so we'll catch her from the inside."

"If that's truly her goal, we might be able to catch her off guard... Let's head to the detention facility right away!"

"Thank you very much."

As expected of the Vice-Commander. Quick judgment!

...

..

.

Bound by Irene, we arrived at the detention facility.

"Is it here?"

"Yes, it's here. Let's go inside."

Upon entering, two guards stared closely at us before realizing Vice-Commander Irene was with us.

"! Vice-Commander Irene! Good work!"

"Good work. These two are the intruders from Lady Carla's attack the other day. Escort them to an open cell!"

"Eh! Y-Yes, ma'am!"

On the way to the cell, I checked the appearances of the prisoners giving Sharon sleazy looks, but all of them were human. It seems there are no demons here either.

"It's this room."

"You may go now. Also, hand over the key to this cell."

"Yes!"

After the guards left, Irene spoke in a low voice.

"Here is the key. If anything happens, please lend a hand. If nothing happens, I will release you tomorrow, so don't worry."

"Understood. We'll handle it if something happens."

After Irene left as well, I talked with Sharon about what comes next.

"Sharon, I'm sorry for getting you dragged into this. Also, there really aren't any demons in the castle."

"It's alright... I'm glad there weren't any demons."

"For now, let's sleep until night! Sharon, you use the bed!"

"I won't be able to get any rest like that, so let's sleep in the bed together."

Urrrgh. Can I hold myself back? Still, what she says makes sense.

"Got it. Just don't do anything naughty to me, okay?"

"Fufufu♪ Don't worry."

Since it was a single bed, we slept side-by-side facing away from each other. Midway through, Sharon rolled over and her soft chest bumped into me, waking me up in an excited state. Regretting my choice, I wondered if the floor would have been better...

Midnight arrived, but nothing out of the ordinary happened.

"Sharon, are you awake? Come to think of it, since we came here without consulting everyone, do you think they're worried?"

"I'm awake. That might be true. Someone like Maya-chan might misunderstand and think I eloped with you."

I thought that was very plausible. If I don't explain properly, who knows what she'll do out of jealousy.

"At any rate, I hope everything ends smoothly."

"Yes, indeed."

Just as I was thinking of going back to sleep, I heard a voice from afar.

"Who's there! Guhah!"

"...That sounded like someone's voice..."

"Yes, did someone get attacked...?"

"Haaa. Just when we were relaxing... Shall we go take a look...?"

"Yes, let's."

Sharon and I opened the door and slowly moved toward the direction of the voice. Peeking around the corner of the wall, a guard was lying collapsed on the floor. Unable to see anyone besides the fallen guard, we approached cautiously.

"He's not dead..."

"Yes. I'll cast recovery magic on him."

"Yeah, please do."

While Sharon was casting recovery magic, I kept watch on our surroundings when Sharon suddenly called out:

"Dai-san, above you!"

"Eh!"

A woman wearing black cotton panties attacked from above. I rolled away, dodging just in time.

"That was close. Thanks, Sharon."

"I'm so glad!"

Looking at the woman, she was dressed in a ninja outfit. Readying Gungnir, I squared off against the ninja.

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