Quint's Anomaly

"Have you heard? Apparently, a professional has been spotted in the Kayas region east of the city lately!"

"Come on, tell us!"

"My brother's a caravan guard. I heard that when they passed through the Kayas region, a cave on the outskirts of the three-headed dog gathering grounds had been wiped out."

"Really!? That's wonderful news!"

"Your brother's caravan will have an easier time of it now. If only that lord could clear out the entire three-headed dog settlement. Maybe they could even open a new trade route!"

"Hiss!"

One of the bearded men was about to continue, but when he glanced over and saw Lister, who had just ridden into the city, he immediately sucked in a breath and shut his mouth.

Lister had draped other clothing over himself, hiding his blood-soaked leather armor.

But the bloody stench of slaughter on him was still hard to conceal. Even the outer city guards' first reaction upon seeing Lister was to draw their blades.

The commoners around him seemed to have noticed the unwelcome newcomer as well, and they all moved away from him.

Little did they know that Lister was the professional they had been talking about, the one who had wiped out the three-headed dog cave.

And by now, he had cleared out more than one cave; he had wiped out the three-headed dogs across a small area on the outskirts.

"My lord Baron, since the day you and Lord Quint arranged your duel, Lord Quint has not met with Miss Anna again."

"Miss Anna has not gone out recently. I only heard that she has taken a liking to painting."

"For that reason, Viscount Anbeite recently hired a painter especially to teach Miss Anna."

Lister was eating while Butler Anke stood beside him, reporting the information he had been asked to investigate.

But this was not the information Lister was most interested in.

He was not his predecessor, much less a simp with any other thoughts about Miss Anna.

Even in the one meeting he had had with her that day, it had been obvious that Miss Anna was no easy character.

A woman like her, who had made him fight a duel that would cost him an arm in the future—if he got the chance, he would have to teach her a lesson sooner or later.

So he did not care about the relationship between Quint and Anna, either.

He had asked Butler Anke to investigate Quint so he could learn his opponent's exact strength.

As for Anna, he had kept an eye on her mostly because he had some questions.

But hearing Butler Anke's report, Lister keenly sensed that Quint, the duke's son, did not seem particularly interested in Anna either.

It had been four days since Anna last met with him, and five days since the duel had been arranged.

That was not long, but if a man had truly been so infatuated with a woman that he had arranged a duel over her, he would not have gone that long without visiting her once!

"Besides that, is there anything else? For example, any specific information about Quint's strength, or his situation within the ducal family?"

"My lord... our family is short of manpower. I'm afraid it would be difficult to investigate the ducal family."

Anke looked troubled. Lister's safe return had set his anxious heart at ease, but the in-depth investigations he had then been assigned had given him another headache.

This was the ducal family. How many powers in the city would dare investigate their affairs?

"Forget it! Just have someone keep an eye on things."

Knowing that his own family had long since fallen into decline, Lister did not make things difficult for old Butler Anke.

"However... my lord..."

Seeing Anke hesitate, Lister quickly urged him to continue.

"It's like this, my lord. Other information about the ducal family is hard to come by, but most families in the city have long heard rumors about Lord Quint. Perhaps you never paid much attention to them before."

"Oh? Let's hear them!"

Lister swallowed his last piece of beef, wiped his mouth, and stopped eating.

He looked at Anke beside him with interest. Information that everyone in the city knew might not necessarily be reliable, but it would still help him understand his opponent.

"I've heard that Lord Quint is the duke's least favorite youngest son, and also the last in line among the ducal family's heirs."

"Why is that?"

Lister turned it over in his mind. His memories of the later expansion could not be wrong.

The name of Duke Will III was definitely Quint Will. There was no mistake about that.

In other words, the man dueling him was certainly the future third duke.

Yet word in the city now was that he was Duke Will's least favorite youngest son. That took Lister completely by surprise.

His place at the very bottom of the line of succession puzzled Lister even more.

"I've heard that Lord Quint's mother was not the current duchess, but a maid in the duke's castle."

Stumble!

Lilian, the maid behind Butler Anke, suddenly stumbled and took quite a while to steady herself.

When she saw Lister and the others looking at her, she panicked at once.

Fortunately, the baron said nothing more and soon turned back around, allowing her to breathe a sigh of relief.

"Though many households in the city have passed these rumors around, they have never been confirmed."

"On the other hand, at the duchy's major ceremonies, Lord Quint is the only one of the heirs whom the duke has never brought along."

"Since his birth, there has actually been very little news of him. It was only after word spread of his duel with you, my lord, and of the duke personally witnessing it, that everyone began paying attention to Lord Quint again."

The more Lister heard, the more complicated his expression became. What Butler Anke was telling him simply did not match his absolutely accurate memories of the game.

The duke's son Quint was currently unknown, and he was neither valued nor favored by Duke Will II.

By rights, Quint, having grown up in those circumstances, should have been keeping his head down. How could he possibly duel Lister over a viscount's daughter?

Was he not afraid of making a laughingstock of himself? A duke's son acting like a foppish young master? Would that not make Will II like him even less?

Yet Duke Will II had actually agreed to witness the duel, making it known to almost everyone in the city.

Even quite a few powers in the duchy's borderlands were watching the duel.

Lister felt as though he were currently shrouded in a layer of fog.

Duke Will II and his youngest son Quint in particular seemed somewhat unusual, both in their actions and in the information about them.

He could not shake the feeling that the duel had been planned for some time.

The only situation Lister could judge now was Viscount Anbeite's.

At the very least, Viscount Anbeite should genuinely be on his side, and was even willing to marry his daughter to him.

Otherwise, he could not have given Lister the rare Turquoise Liquid, which increased all of one's attributes.

Lister made a simple guess: most likely, Anbet thought that Quint, the youngest son, was not favored by Will II.

Whether his daughter would have a good life if she married Quint was one thing, but at the very least, she would not remain in the capital of the Duchy of Will in the future.

More importantly, marrying his daughter off would bring Anbet himself nothing, and might even displease Will II and the other ducal heirs.

On the other hand, if she married Lister himself-

Although the Merick Family had fallen into decline, its inherited ultimate techniques remained, and it was a true hereditary noble family that had lasted for generations.

The family's inherited foundations, along with the resources and connections it controlled in Will City, were precisely what people like Viscount Anbeite, who had gained their noble titles through governing positions, lacked most.