Slave Harem in the Labyrinth of the Other World (LN)

Volume 5 - Ch 1.09

When the Duke saw me bowing down to him, he quickly approached me and said that to me in a whisper. Ooooh, so he was actually going incognito, meaning that he specifically did not want anyone to notice that he was here?

Does that mean that I have royally fucked up just now? That I have ruined the dukes plans of inspecting how the operations were proceeding in a secretive manner because that way he could see how everyone would be behaving naturally without trying to keep up appearances if they knew that the lord of the entire Duchy, the person who organized this entire quest was right next to them?

Oh God, oh fuck, this is even worse than what I was being afraid of!

I quickly glanced around us to see if my gesture did not bring unnecessary attention to the both of us, but apparently no one noticed that the Lord of the entire Duchy was here, or they noticed but just did not care about it. Or maybe..

Yes, that might be it. The Lord praised my sharp senses for noticing him even though he was going incognito, but in truth I noticed that it was him not thanks to my sense, but because I have used Identifyon him when I heard that someone entered the hall through the back door, so I guess you could say that in this particular case, the combo of my own curiosity and my Identify Skill worked against me instead of to my benefit. God damn it, why does this always happen to me?! Why is it that every time when I want to do something that I think is right, it ends up backfiring against me so horribly?! Okay, uhm. What can I do now in order not to make this situation any more of a trainwreck than it already is? Oh, I know, for the time being, maybe it would be best if I apologized for almost blowing his cover? However, when I was about to open my mouth to offer my heartfelt apology to him, he stopped me with the gesture of his hand and indicated me to sit back down, so I did exactly like I was told.

If it is okay to ask, then have you seen me somewhere before?

The Duke sat on a chair next to me, and it looks like he became quite interested in me noticing him despite his best attempts to remain unnoticed. And since he went so far as to cover his face with a hood and trying to sneak around in his own castle, then being bowed to and recognized by a total stranger must have been the last thing that he was expecting to happen to him today, so if only I had pretended that I did not see him at all, nothing would have happened and he would have carried on with his business, but no, I just had to go and ruin that for him. Great. Standing ovation for me, please.

Uhm, yes, I have seen you before. But only briefly and by pure chance.

I had no choice but to lie to his face about this matter, but can you really blame me here? It was either that or saying that I have never seen him before, which would then cause him to grill me about how did I know that he was the Lord of the entire Duchy if I have never seen him before, so it was either that or lying to him, and I would rather take my chances with lying than having to come up with some other explanation and hope that it would sound believable enough for him to buy it.

Is that so? I see.

What? What so you see? Have I stepped onto a landmine of mine own making? I hope that this is not going to be the case, but now that I think about it, there is a possibility that this lie of mine can backfire against me as well, because I just assumed that since he is the Duke of the Hartz Duchy, then he has to make at least some public appearances, and there fore it would not be all that strange for random people to see him if they just happened to pass by whenever he was out on the town, but the possibility that I have not taken into account is that even though he is the Duke, he might actually dislike showing himself to the public and just rules the Duchy from the safety of his castle while his officials handle all the other matters, just like it was with our briefing for the supply delivery mission. So depending on which breed of a government official he is going to be, I might be safe, or I might have just dug up my own grave.

Your Excellency.

Suddenly, somebody came running to us and called out to the Duke.

This is not an appropriate place to talk. Follow me.

The Duke checked his surroundings by turning his hooded head left and right for a few times, and then stood up from his chair and left. Because I bowed to him and got his attention, it is very likely that I probably interrupted him while he was on his official business, so if at all possible I would not want to take up any more of his precious time, so I secretly hoped that our interaction would end then and there, but apparently that was not how it was going to go, because apparently he expected me to go with him.

My name is Gozer, and I am the leader of the Knight Order of Hartz Duchy. If you could please come with us, that would be greatly appreciated.

The person who ran up to us introduced himself to me. He then bowed his head lightly and made a gesture as if he wanted to escort me by hand.

He is an elf. I realized that immediately because his ears were also sharp, just like the ones of that Elven hottie who I was ogling before The Duke came in here. Aaand of course he was not only handsome, but he also had this aura of coolness around him. However, it is not that he just looks cool, but rather that everything about him, from his posture and presence all the way to his gestures and the way he was speaking such fine lines that a host in a host club could be using to woo women around his little finger was exuding such a chad alfa energy that it instantly began to irritate an introvert like myself. Pretty guys like that should take a page out of the book of every normie and just go blow themselves up.

Okay pretty man, let me use Identifyon you to see just who you are and what are you bringing to the table.

Gozer North Braun Anhalt

Sex: Male Age: Fourty Six

Job: Grand Wizard

Equipment: Staff of Offerings, Sacrificial Misanga

As expected of someone who holds the position of the leader of an entire Knight Order. The Level of his Grand Wizard Job is really high. Not only that, but he is also not just a simple Mage or a Wizard, he is a Grand Wizard, which probably means that he should be capable of using some really amazing magic. I wonder what he must have done to even unlock that Job in the first place?

Understood. I will come with you.

Since he asked me to come with them with such cool words and gestures, then I just could not find it within myself to say no to this man, or rather, something was telling me that he is that kind of man who would not have taken no for an answer even if I wanted to.

I will be borrowing this Adventurer for a while.

As you wish, Sir!

Gozer the Knight Captain told that to the Knights who were together with me in the team that was delivering supplies, so after giving them a light nod I proceeded to follow after him and the Duke. When both of them left the hall where I was resting, they proceeded to go down the long hallway. Even though the torches were placed in regular intervals on the walls, the corridors themselves were still pretty dark, to the point where it is basically even darker than in the caves of the Labyrinth that are basically only lit up by the natural light emitted by the fluorescent fungi. Also, while we were walking, none of these two ever looked back at me or seemed to be wary of me in any way, even though such darkened corridors would have been an ideal place for an assassination attempt.