"Good day, Lord François. May you be blessed by divine miracles."
I respectfully bow to Uncle François. Uncle François has quite a reputation around Rothschild and Hurst—otherwise he wouldn't have become captain of the guard. I've heard that Uncle François participated in many wars and is a crusader who returned from the Great Holy War. The local guards all respect him greatly.
Although he's getting on in years and always complains about wanting to retire, Uncle François's laid-back attitude is just surface-level—he just doesn't want to live such an exhausting life.
"Haha... Father God letting this old man return from a hundred battles is already the greatest blessing. I don't ask for much more, just want to reduce my working hours a bit. Who can handle a 996 work schedule day in and day out..." (TN: 09:00 to 21:00, 6 days a week.)
Uncle François jokes, and the guards behind him all laugh too. Although the workload is heavy, everyone following Uncle François has no complaints.
"But we all know that Lord François always actively responds to the lord's calls. It's you and the guards who protect Rothschild's peace."
The Kingdom of Michel isn't actually a country with high work intensity, but recently, it's been a chaotic period. The undead are becoming increasingly restless, and towns and villages near the kingdom's borders—especially those near undead territories—have had to increase their vigilance. Sir Ivanhoe of Smylie told me about all this.
Rothschild is actually quite far from undead territory, so this high-intensity surveillance can only be called preventive measures. Uncle François patrols Rothschild, which has extremely high [Stability]. In fact, although he complains verbally, he hasn't actually slacked off when dealing with the unstoppable adventurers or responding to the lord's recent calls.
"Give me a break. When a young, pretty girl compliments this old man, my wife will twist my ears when I get home tonight."
François rubbed his nose with a sigh.
The guards behind him join in the teasing.
"Boss, how about we go spend another night at Hurst's tavern?"
"Get out of here. You little rascals dragging me to the bathhouse to find girls—aren't you afraid my wife will come at me with a cleaver?"
"We've been to Hurst's bathhouse several times already. Isn't that getting boring? I'm telling you, there's this secret place where the girls have really great figures..."
"Hey, be serious. Anna's here."
"Uh... ahem."
The guards' faces turn red and they stop discussing these enthusiastic topics.
Actually, I wouldn't mind.
"Lord François, were you satisfied with the pastries I baked a few days ago?"
"Pastries? I didn't receive any pastries..."
Uncle François glances back, and two guilty-looking guards immediately pretend to be looking at the scenery.
"You two... fine, you're both on patrol duty for the rest of the month."
"Come on, boss."
"Boss, you might not believe this, but Anna's pastries made the first move..."
It seems my goodwill didn't properly reach everyone. Is it my fault for making them too delicious?
Just as the guard unit is about to get rowdy again, Uncle François waves his hand, signaling everyone to quiet down.
Usually laid-back and joking around, but Uncle François's authority within the unit is unquestionable.
"Enough fooling around. I have some business with you."
Uncle François generally doesn't make house calls. Before my transmigration, I heard that occasionally police would come to investigate records, and as long as you cooperated obediently, everything would be fine.
"Of course, I'll definitely cooperate with Lord François."
"Don't be so serious, it's not a big deal. A few days ago, Count Montefeltro summoned us and said he wanted to conduct a simple investigation. We've finished with the whole village except for your household..."
After Uncle François finishes speaking, he takes out what looks like a wanted poster from his storage space.
The Lemoria continent doesn't have photography technology, but among daily skills, there's a skill called "Thought Drawing" under [Painting]. As the name suggests, this skill allows you to reproduce what you're thinking about in your mind almost exactly. Another function is similar to listening to eyewitness accounts and creating criminal portraits.
"Thought Drawing" is the highest-level skill under [Painting]. If [Painting] skill reaches Lv. Max, the portraits created have extremely high fidelity. Nobles with refined tastes have a fondness for artists, so the position of court painter exists. However, Chris's father Count Montefeltro rarely shows interest in painting, if I remember correctly.
Uncle François shows me the front of the wanted poster.
Depicted on the wanted poster is a small girl with disheveled clothing. Her beautiful golden hair is quite eye-catching, and her face is dirty with mud, but not to the point where her features can't be recognized. Her left and right pupils are different colors, with the left eye lacking any light—it seems that the eye cannot see anything.
I recognize the girl on the wanted poster.
"Her name is Amaryllis. Have you seen her?"
"Lord François, I have no recollection of her."
I steady myself and answer with complete composure.
To ensure I don't reveal information disadvantageous to my master, I have the ability to answer with an unchanged expression no matter what humiliating treatment I receive.
Uncle François taps his shoulder with his gun handle.
"I figured as much, but we still have to do house-to-house investigations, so..."
"—No, mya!!!"
"Wait for me~"
"...Oh my?"
For the first time, Uncle François, who always wears a lazy smile, loses all trace of amusement from his face.