Edea: Hero Summoning Conspiracy

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It has been a week since Acht and Neun were tasked to watch over the western gates for any signs of the hero's return. Unfortunately for them, they didn't know that Kazuya decided to take his time as there were currently no pressing matters for him back at the capital.

"Is it you this time Neun?" a voice called out to Neun who was standing near the edges of the tall walls of the western gates.

For the past week, people were surprised and curious when they saw two maids hanging around the tall walls. Some of them even tried flirting with the pretty maids but they were harshly rejected without a care. Everyone started wondering which young master was actually lucky enough to have two beautiful maids like Acht and Neun to wait for him and even started cursing him a little.

"Yes, vice-captain Laura. Acht was the one on duty yesterday so she is assigned to help out Sodina-sama today." She politely replied.Find authorized novels in Webnovel，faster updates, better experience，Please click www.readwn.comfor visiting.

Acht and Neun were trainees considered to join the Steel Wolves unit. The unit was currently only made up of 4 people, but it originally started out with just one person. That person was the current leader of the unit and the one who has the final say on who can join their elite unit.

To outsiders, this was a famous unit who had not known failure. Every time their appearance was noted, there would be no stopping whatever it was that they had intended to do. This was how great and difficult the missions they were known to be involved in were.

Of course, to those who were aware of some inside information, things were a little different from what the eyes of the public could see. This special unit was indeed very powerful and they were also very mysterious. An elite member of 4 people who did not often move together as a unit is something that many aspire to be part of.

Neun had a different reason for wanting to join them though. As a person who didn't have any family herself, she greatly admired the elite unit's sense of independence.

Each member of the elite unit was known to be lone wolves. Although this was true, they were given priority over taking command whenever it was needed for them to do so. This made them able to reject commands that they didn't agree with as long as it did not come from people like Elrich, Zwei and Sodina.

To the members of other elite units, the steel wolves were a band of misfits whose members did not fit in with any of the organized units. An invisible barrier existed between them as they never thought they would get along with such a unit who had been given so much freedom. 

While this remained true, one of the main reasons that they tolerated such a thing was because none of them could deny the steel wolves' abilities in getting things done. Their skills spoke for themselves. They were the ones who always cleaned up for any missions that any of the other elite units couldn't complete.

"Is there something you need from me?" she was puzzled. Currently, Laura should be at the estate with Elrich and Sodina.

"Currently, that annoying guy is having a meeting with Elrich-sama again." Laura sighed. 

"With Zwei-sama?"

"He sure is persistent. Even the guards at these gates can attest that Julia Tisdale had left the capital with the hero." Neun frowned. Julia's father had been coming to the Eberbach estate frequently to talk about his daughter's status.

"He is trying to persuade Elrich-sama into siding with him when he confronts the hero. Which brings me to why I have come here. I didn't have much time to talk to you because of the things I had to do in Zwei-sama's absence. I wanted to talk to you about the hero Kazuya." Laura stated her purpose.

"What do you want to know? Have you asked Acht?"

"I have asked Acht-san but… though I am familiar with talking to people like her. I am more inclined to listen to what your opinions are."

Though Acht was capable, she was more like a person who relied on basic instinct. Though Laura had taken note of what her opinions were, this was not the kind of words she was looking for. With Neun who she felt was similar to her, Laura wanted to know more about the hero so she would have a guess on what to expect once Kazuya returns.

"Kazuya-sama is a person that is very difficult to describe with words. We haven't spent much time with him for me to say things about him confidently but my opinion of him is that he is strange." Neun spoke.

"Strange?" Laura's interest was triggered. From what she heard from Acht, she described him as brave, funny and kind.

"He is certainly not like anyone I have met before. I don't dare say my description of him is a hundred percent accurate but he is unpredictable, a little reckless and in my own opinion, unfathomably deep."  

"Unfathomably deep you say? Why do you say so?" Laura was intrigued. Hearing about the current things that the hero had done ever since his arrival had indeed made her curious. Why? Why did the hero chose to do things like that?

"Initially, I thought that he was like Acht in a way. I thought that he acted based upon his feelings without considering the consequences afterwards. That was until I met him." Neun thought back to her time observing the hero.

"From an outsider's perspective, it may seem like he's reckless, but so far, everything has been moving as if it had been carefully planned. I don't know why, but the hero treats the nobles like he knows exactly how they would act."

"That is an interesting perspective." Laura's showed an interested grin. Neun's analysis was not too different from the one she heard from Elrich. From the looks of things, the hero was someone she might get along with.

"In my opinion, Kazuya-sama is a little similar to you vice-captain." Neun added.

"Me?" she felt a little puzzled. "How so?" Laura wondered if the expression she showed betrayed her.

"To outsiders, Kazuya-sama may seem cold and ruthless, but to those who he considers as people he gets along with, he is not afraid to show kindness. Acht can also attest to this as we have seen him treat commoners more courteously than the nobles from the kings faction."

"And that is similar to me?" Laura felt a little puzzled.

"You may appear cold and strict vice-commander, but anyone who has seen any member of the steel wolves with Sodina-sama can attest that you have a kind side. Sodina-sama may be our young lady, but you treat her more like a younger sister as you are able to be strict with her at times."

"That's because…" she wanted to continue saying that it was obvious to be nice to Sodina because she was the duke's daughter, but she would be lying if she said that it was the only reason.

She had been like everyone when it came to how she treated the young lady at first. Even with her neutral cold personality, Sodina's status had spoken for itself so initially, she tried to be as respectful towards the young lady as best as she could. Laura would be lying if she said that their leader's soft nature towards Sodina hadn't influenced her to change on how she interacted with the little lady.

"Regardless of your reasons, I am only being honest. I apologize if I offended you, but I don't think I should lie when I know that you are doing this for the sake of the duke and the young lady." Neun expressed.

"One last question… do you think he can be trusted?" Laura was a little grateful that Neun did not continue with the topic.

"As long as we do not harbor any bad intentions towards Kazuya-sama. He will be at most, neutral if the forces of the king's faction were to move against us. I'm sure I don't need to tell the vice-captain about the people who showed hostility or acted shadily in front of the hero so far?"

"Indeed. That was what Elrich-sama said as well."

The more she heard about the hero, the more Laura was interested in meeting him. Not only had he gained the confidence of someone like Elrich, who was an extremely cautious and strict person, the hero was also able to stump the king's faction into making concessions in his favor.

This was not something as easy as saying it would do. The experienced politicians were hated by everyone in Elrich's faction because of how sly and hard they were to handle. Even their leader was someone who tried to avoid it as much as she could. She would have already beaten up or killed a few of them if she had not tried hard to restrain herself.

"Ah!" Neun's reaction immediately snapped Laura out of her thoughts.

She followed the maid girl's gaze and saw two people heading for the gates while mounted. Since she was one of the people that stuck close to their young lady, there was no way that she could mistake Julia Tisdale for someone else. She was one of the princess' most loyal followers and had often been rude towards Sodina because of the rivalry between their masters.

"Julia Tisdale…" Laura couldn't help but grow a grin on her face. "(If only the you who I saw last time could see this scene now…)" she tried hard to stop herself from giggling.

"I should head down to meet with them. What about you, vice-captain?"

"I guess I can go with you. I want to speak with the hero and his 'slave' so I'll leave it to you to introduce us."

"Understood!"

The two headed down and waited near the gates. When they were finally able to see the duo coming up, they got off their mount and Julia had once again put her hood up.

Usually, the guards inspecting those who enter the capital would have forced her to take off her disguise. When the guards try to block her path, Julia immediately flashed a token that belonged to the Tisdale family, so the guards immediately made way.

"Excuse me ma'am but we need to verify the identity of your companion. There has been strict orders to observe those who come in and out of the capital recently…" the guard hesitatingly said as he looked at Kazuya.

To ordinary people, Kazuya looked to be one that came from the eastern continent. Though he didn't hide himself like Julia did, because of the recent orders that were passed down, they had no choice but to say this to Julia. It was only this way that they could avoid taking responsibility in case this stranger caused trouble at the capital.

"Will this be enough?" Kazuya held up a token that was similar to what Julia had taken out.

""(That's…!!!)"" Neun and Laura who were observing nearby immediately looked at each other.

There was no doubt that it was a token from the Eberbach family. What's more, the token itself was a rather special one since it had come from none other than Sodina herself. This had disproved their doubts that there could have been another group who saved their young lady. The fact that the token was in Kazuya's hands had proved it.

"I do apologize for my rudeness!" the guard immediately backed down. There weren't many people who could have possessed a token infused with such mana.

The guard wasn't stupid. He wouldn't have survived at the capital for so long if he didn't know how to take hints. There was only one unfamiliar person in the Eberbach household who could hold such a token; the mysterious hero who hadn't made an appearance after his welcome parade.

The guard shuddered as he understood why there had been no news about the hero. He probably went out of the capital to train himself like the other heroes in the past. With the princess' most trusted guard, there would be no problem. It immediately made sense to him as he humbly bowed. This was a great thing for him!

"It's no trouble. I'm glad that there are people like you who take your job seriously even though there might be a chance to offend someone." Kazuya comforted. "I would much prefer to have someone like you as a subordinate rather than someone who only knows how to kiss ass."

"T-thank you! It is an honor!" the guard was immediately touched. It was the hero of their generation praising him right now, so he was over the moon.

"Just please, don't spread the word around because I might have to continue moving in secret like this. I won't ask for something unreasonable as not telling your superiors but please limit it to only those people that need to know." Kazuya leaned in and whispered.

"Y-yes!" the guard immediately complied.

Kazuya was satisfied with his reaction. He patted the soldier's shoulder and moved towards the side of the gates where the gazes that stuck to him and Julia since they came close to the gates came from.

"It's been a while, Neun-san." He smiled at the maid who seemed to have been waiting for him as if he was expected.

Beside her was a beautiful lady who was taller than Neun and wore glasses. Kazuya didn't know who this person was, but he was definitely familiar with the unique uniform she was wearing. There was no way he would mistake it for something else. The only difference from the uniform he was familiar with was the difference in rank. 

"You sure have taken your time, Kazuya-sama. Do you know what kind of troubles have happened in your absence?" Neun didn't hold back as she was also glad to see the hero safe and sound.

"Trouble?" Kazuya feigned ignorance.

"Allow me to explain." The lady beside Neun entered the conversation. "Your slave's father has come to negotiate for her freedom. He has been relentlessly coming over to the duke's place to ask for assistance in voiding the contract between you and your 'slave'"

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