The pendant was engraved with a black dragon spreading its wings around an elaborate ice spear. This intricate engraving was the emblem of the absolute power of the North, the House of Kalschmitz.

And Ante Kaltz was a very famous distant relative of the Kalschmitz family, known as the Grand Duke’s right hand and strategist.

Those two men were obviously knights sent to find him.

I had thought they were incompetent because they kept collapsing so easily.

Why on earth are people from the family that protects the North and the Asmodea Empire such weaklings?

It’s utterly absurd.

I also understood why the two newly amnesiac men had shown no intention of attacking us.

Who would attack their own superior, and who would expect their superior to suddenly beat them with a shovel?

Looking at the two people in front of me with innocent, terrified expressions, unable to grasp the situation, I felt a headache coming on.

“Ante, your name is Ante Kaltz. You’re a distant relative of the Grand Duke’s family and likely a vassal of Kalschmitz. Probably.”

“Then these men must be knights who came looking for me.”

“I suppose so. Since you hit them with a shovel and they lost their memories, we can’t verify that now.”

“Haha.”

Amid everyone’s confusion, I stared at Ante. Then, I quietly spoke.

“So, since when? Since when have you been deceiving us?”

As I finished speaking, he tried to steady his uncontrollably shaking eyes and denied it.

“Deceiving? No, I haven’t.”

But it was completely unconvincing. Why else would he have shouted so urgently when I raised the shovel?

I snorted and gripped the shovel tightly, waving it in front of his face.

“You’d better speak honestly. Otherwise, this shovel will be aimed at you.”

I smiled brightly as I held the shovel right in front of his nose, and Ante squeezed his eyes shut.

“Well! When I saw them, I vaguely remembered something, but I haven’t recalled everything yet. Please believe me!”

Finally, Ante confessed.

…To think someone so easily intimidated is the right hand of Grand Duke Kalschmitz.

Aren’t people in such high positions usually equipped with the tenacity and determination to keep their mouths shut even under severe torture?

Ante was remarkably devoid of any such qualities.

All his troublesome stories flashed through my mind. I began to feel heat rising.

“So you’ve been pretending to have lost your memory?”

“No, it’s just that the timing to speak…”

As Ante fumbled for words, the four people in my household began to speak up one by one.

“Plus, he hit his subordinates.”

“Without any mercy.”

“Those people seem to have really lost their memories. What should we do?”

“Mister, you’re bad!”

Ante broke into a sweat under their successive attacks.

He opened and closed his mouth several times before finally gathering his excuses.

“No, I was so flustered then, and I really did lose my memory, but it came back after a day, and it was difficult to say…”

But we all treated him like a scoundrel.

Especially Lionel, who had been particularly displeased with him, spoke with a gaze bordering on contempt.

“Deceiving innocent citizens, how dare you.”

“That’s right!”

“Well, um.”

“Mister, if you deceive people, you’ll be punished!”

I was watching with satisfaction as Soho nodded vigorously in agreement when Lionel coldly declared:

“The Grand Duke’s family is trash.”

“That’s right!”

I flinched at his calmly excited words.

Wait, is it okay to talk about the Grand Duke’s family like that?

Well, it’s true if you think about it.

In the midst of my internal conflict, I decided to mediate the situation, fearing that unfiltered harsh words might cause trouble later.

If I were alone, I would join in and go all out, but now I had many people I was responsible for.

“Lionel, Soho. That’s enough. It’s already late today, so let’s go inside and take some time to think individually.”

Ante looked relieved, but the others had faces full of dissatisfaction.

I shrugged my shoulders and reasoned with them.

“Kalschmitz is a noble and essentially the guardian of the North. These people are his family members. So no matter how angry we are, we should be careful with our words.”

“I’m sorry.”

“I’m sorry.”

Both Lionel and Soho apologized upon realizing their mistake, and I smiled calmly. Then I turned to Ante and the knights and bowed slightly.

“I apologize. My family members have been rude. I hope you can overlook what happened, considering our circumstances.”

“No, I am the one who should apologize.”

“I don’t know what’s going on, but no, it’s fine.”

“It’s alright.”

The three from Kalschmitz bowed back awkwardly in response to my apology.

Ante was one thing, but the apologies from those two who knew nothing and had lost their memories due to getting their heads cracked somehow sounded pitiful.

After this warm moment of mutual repentance, we sorted out the situation.

I looked down at the knights, still tightly bound and sprawled on the floor, as I spoke.

“Everyone should rest for a while and then have dinner. The two knights from the House of Kalschmitz…”

“Yes?”

“Yes?”

“I’ll untie you and show you to your rooms. Although I wasn’t the one who hit you with the shovel, I’m sorry.”

“No, it’s fine!”

“It’s alright!”

They didn’t look fine at all, but the situation seemed somewhat resolved. Lionel and Sion approached to untie them, and Irena guided them to their rooms.

But isn’t the attic the only room left?

Well, never mind.

I turned off my concern and looked at Ante one last time.

“Contact the Grand Duke’s family tomorrow when we go back to town.”

“Tomorrow?”

“I don’t have any means to contact the Grand Duke’s family right now, so I’ll have to send a letter tomorrow.”

“The crystal ball…”

“Do you remember the Grand Duke’s family’s crystal ball number?”

“No.”

“Exactly. Ante, you should go rest, too.”

After finishing my words, I clicked my tongue and headed to my room.

Seriously, how is he the Grand Duke’s right hand with that brain? The future of the Grand Duke’s family looks bleak.

By the way, what should I tell the Grand Duke’s family?

Ante is one thing, but those two with cracked heads…

Right, Ante hit them with the shovel, so I’ve done nothing wrong.

I decided to forget about how I was about to hit them with the shovel again just moments ago. Thus rationalizing myself, I collapsed onto the bed.

“Ah, I’m tired.”

And everything went dark.