The Damn Family Is Back Again - Chapter 297



297. Explicit Goal (3)

Even Arina could see that it was clearly a bad situation.

Flames were rising from the room they stayed in.

What could be said about being injured, engulfed in flames spreading around the hotel?

It wasn’t strange to claim that not only Karsein but also the other siblings and their mother would need time to recover both physically and mentally if they were in such a situation.

Yes. That much was understandable.

As Flora had said when they last met, it was confirmed that they were injured, so it couldn’t be a lie.

However, it was about time to return.

A full fifteen days had passed.

Even if they had suffered burns, it was more than enough time to recover.

Moreover, this was not just any other duke’s schedule, but a day to honor the royal family. Wasn’t it the Founding Festival?

As some vassals argued, it was absurd to miss it.

So, I brought it up.

“…Big sister. Was it really necessary to talk directly in front of the vassals?”

“I… don’t know. The royal side couldn’t find the real culprit, so it remained an unsolved case. Isn’t it understandable?”

Flora too.

Claire too.

And…

“Couldn’t you think a little, just a little, about your sister, Arina?”

Even mother.

Focusing on Karsein’s convenience, Arina had to endure harsh words from her family.

‘Haah. Enough.’

Familiar.

Such things have happened in the past anyway.

Even being hit by mother because of Karsein.

—

—

There was no need to suddenly worry about it now.

Returning to her place and finishing her tasks before the Founding Festival began was the priority.

Then, as she passed through the corridor, Arina’s steps halted for a moment at the sound she heard.

“Did you hear? What Prince Carsein said.”

Creak.

Here and there, everywhere, it was all about Carsein, Carsein.

The entire place was plastered with talks of Carsein.

It was getting to the point where it was infuriating.

Arina tried to ignore it and hasten her steps, but her steps stopped again.

“Hmm? Did Prince Carsein say to bring self-defense items?”

“Yes. I thought he might have prepared something for this Founding Festival, so I asked for a hint… but that’s what he said.”

“Are you sure? He recommended bringing self-defense items.”

“Oh, come on. Are you doubting me? It’s true!”

Arina doubted her ears, but seeing how it was emphasized again, it wasn’t a joke. It was certainly not a misunderstanding.

Arina clicked her tongue.

‘Ha. Self-defense items at the Founding Festival.’

It had to be something plausible.

It was understandable that he recognized the possibility of an organization opposing the royal family causing trouble on a day meant to honor the royal family and the empire.

But that was the extent of her understanding.

Assuming something big would happen here was truly laughable.

Moreover, the Founding Festival was not a children’s event.

It was an event hosted by the royal family and the largest ceremony that drew the eyes of the entire empire.

Of course, they would have made thorough preparations. Why would they order the vassals to bring self-defense items?

‘Tsk. Fine. Since spilled water can’t be gathered back, I’ll have to handle it if anything happens.’

*

Not long after returning to the mansion, the duke’s family received a letter from the royal family.

The content was.

It was something quite familiar to me as well.

“Hmm. I feel a bit sorry for you all, but it seems there will be no time to play at the Founding Festival.”

“What do you mean, mom?”

—

—

“The royal family has requested that we take charge of this year’s Founding Festival.”

“Hmm… Then can’t we just do it as usual? I don’t think we’ll be too busy to have some fun.”

“I agree, Mother. If we all finish quickly, we’ll have time to enjoy the festival, won’t we?”

Flora, who was filled with thoughts of enjoying the festival, nodded vigorously in agreement with her two sisters.

“…It would be best to read it yourself.”

With that, Isabella handed over the letter in response.

What on earth is this about?

The two sisters, puzzled, received the letter and began to read it. Even Flora brought a chair and jumped up, so the royal letter was fully visible to the three sisters.

Well, I don’t really need to read it, but still.

The unprecedented situation made the sisters’ eyes widen.

“The Founding Festival will be solely managed by the House of Bagrande this year… What?!”

“Until now, the Peselos royal family has divided the tasks among various families…”

“We’re doing it alone? From the opening to the closing?”

“I don’t understand why. Although the House of Bagrande holds a high status in the empire, there’s no justification for entrusting it solely to us. The nobles are bound to express their dissatisfaction…”

“…There is a justification. It’s not entirely unexpected.”

Isabella muttered softly, as if she had anticipated this reaction.

“As you all know, the Founding Festival is a time to honor achievements. Typically, the tasks are divided among the distinguished families of the year.”

“No way…”

“This year… the influence of the House of Bagrande was simply too overwhelming.”

Yes, there was such a background to the Founding Festival.

The Peselos royal family would be in trouble if they were accused of favoring a particular family. They wanted to prevent the concentration of power and maintain a balance by having the various factions keep each other in check.

But this time, the gap was too wide.

There should have been the Carseine family, which always maintained a low profile, but they didn’t.

Having revived Shatren after Rusmire, and having conquered not only the symposium but also the martial arts tournament, what more could be said? The royal family had no choice but to entrust the tasks to the House of Bagrande, as the only blemish that had tarnished their reputation had disappeared.

The overwhelming influence that no other family could easily surpass was largely due to the changes in Carseine, who had been designated as a player.

‘This is why waiting for free action time is a trap.’

Whether it’s the background of the game.

Or the power of the creator to force the progression of the episode.

Either way, I had to come back like this.

“It’s bewildering. We’ve never had such a monopoly before…”

—

—

“It looks like there’s a lot to do. We need to move busily.”

“Yes. Unfortunately, Flora, we’ll play next time. Okay?”

“Mm…”

And then.

It’s time for me to make a decision.

-Ding!

▶A choice appears.

I avoided the trap.

Through the background of the episode, I figured out why it was a trap.

So, what is the way to clear this episode?

I must answer this question.

‘Everyone’s gone, so I can speak now.’

I glanced at the choices and found the correct answer.

[ 3. I have something to tell you about the Founding Festival, Mother. ]☑

“I have something to tell you about the Founding Festival.”

*

Saying there was a lot to do, Arina excused herself and left.

Like Arina, Claire also left, saying she had a headache from all the work.

Flora, disappointed that she couldn’t enjoy the festival, dragged her feet as she left.

But one person remained in the room.

It was Carsein, who was left alone.

‘This child usually doesn’t show much interest in the Founding Festival, does he?’

Such a question was understandable, but it had been a long time since Carsein had proactively said anything.

Isabella gestured for him to speak comfortably, deciding to listen to her son’s opinion.

“I want to manage the deployment of guards and sentries for the Founding Festival.”

“…The deployment of soldiers?”

“Yes.”

Isabella blinked in surprise.

“If it were Arina or Claire, they would have a lot of work to prepare for the Founding Festival. But I don’t have much to do. All I can do is manage the territory and wield a sword. This is the least I can do.”

“Carsein. You don’t have to do that. Just waiting with Flora is enough for me.”

—

—

“Flora can be excused because she is young. But I will be an adult next year. At this age, I don’t want to shamelessly just play around.”

“…”

At that moment, Isabella felt a pleasant throb.

How joyful it is to know that one’s child is helping their parents.

She felt proud, clever, and admirable.

But she couldn’t entrust such a deep matter to him.

“I appreciate your intention. But Carsein, this is too difficult for you to handle.”

Then Carsein started placing darts and flags on the map one by one.

The darts and flags accurately pointed to the placements Isabella had tried in the past.

“You probably used this arrangement. Considering the wide range and the presence of major ceremonial sites, you would have compared it to a large-scale festival. But this year’s Founding Festival is different in many ways from last year. The preparation site has changed to accommodate foreign dignitaries, so it doesn’t revolve around a single building. Therefore, a different method from the existing arrangement must be used.”

“What?”

“As you can see, this year’s Founding Festival will be divided into zones around a large square. This is because merchants gathered from all over for business will enter the interior. That means if we arrange it the old way, the width will narrow, and the likelihood of contact accidents will increase.”

“…”

It was an accurate point. The royal family predicted that the number of people flocking to this year’s Founding Festival would double.

However, the majority of them were merchants.

Because of that, Isabella had been racking her brains this morning, unable to prevent the crowding in one alley.

‘He pinpointed it in one go.’

Isabella nodded slightly.

“Can you continue?”

Perhaps Carsein had found a solution here.

*

As soon as permission was granted, he retrieved the flags and held the arrangement.

He created a rough layout with appropriate explanations from the options that appeared and added his intentions.

Then Isabella readily handed me the document.

That was the reward for solving Isabella’s problem through the options.

-Ding!

▶You have obtained the layout and command management rights for the soldiers’ zones through the options.◀

‘This will do.’

The Founding Festival episode had already indicated the direction of progress.

The monster attack. It clearly displayed on the status window that it would occur during the Founding Festival.

—

—

Therefore, just as it appears on the surface, it seems like we can easily clear this if we can fend off this air raid…

‘But that’s not the case.’

I have defined it this way for now.

The Founding Festival episode is the hell episode of Chapter 3.

The monsters are launching an air raid?

That information has been confirmed. But that’s all.

From noble mtl dot com

According to the six principles of journalism, who, when, where, what, how, and why are not known.

The monsters’ air raid might have been predicted from a distant foreign country.

Or it might have been suddenly predicted on the battlefield.

And then, out of nowhere, a large-scale terrorist attack occurs during the Founding Festival.

In other words, we are in the worst situation where no information is given, to the extent that it can be considered an empty can.

Because of that, I faced dozens of bad endings.

The only information I could get was that it happens during the Founding Festival, but even this does not mention when.

No matter what I do, problems arise from strange places.

If I prepare for that next time, an incident occurs in an unexpected place.

In the next round. In the next round. I kept retrying like that.

Just when I was wondering how on earth I could clear this episode.

I went back to the beginning and found a clue from a strange phrase.

▶However, the location and the target are not disclosed.◀

Date, time, location.

All of those could be possible. But, the target?

When approaching according to the six principles of journalism, the ‘who’ was usually not determined.

So I was able to find the answer.

The only way to clear this episode is to find and save the ‘target’ in the episode.

“Sir Carlton.”

“Yes, Young Master Carsein.”

“On the day of the Founding Festival, make sure to distribute this deployment plan to all the knights.”

The end of Chapter 3 was creeping closer.

*

▶All soldiers and knights have been deployed.◀

—

—

▶Changes can be made through the UI if necessary.◀

[ Note that it will only take effect after a certain period of time. ]

The day of the founding festival had arrived.

Carlton followed my orders, which held the command of the knights, to the letter.

A panoramic view that could be seen at a glance.

Knights were appropriately positioned at every corner, allowing us to see any incidents that might occur.

“If Arina sees this, she’ll be horrified.”

It’s such a poorly thought-out arrangement that it wouldn’t be strange to curse whoever set it up. In fact, I think so too.

However, there is an advantage.

Even if it’s not visible to the soldiers, I can see everything.

By using mana to enhance my vision, I could even see through blind spots.

But.

“…I’ve been looking around for 3 hours, and still, nothing has happened?”

Despite the passage of 3 hours, nothing had actually occurred.

“No, I must not be impatient.”

The target is not easily revealed.

I had to steadily carry out the sub-episodes that occurred in due time, or if I saw small signs, I had to preemptively stop them to obtain clues.

Even if I was anxious, I had to endure it.

A single rash judgment could cost me my life.

Just as I was feeling frustrated.

The sound of a horn announcing the arrival of the Peselos royal family echoed.

-Toot.

─Waaah!

The royal family appeared to the cheers of the people.

The cheers of the imperial citizens were so enthusiastic that they drowned out any other noise.

And then, I.

Caught it.

-Thud!

“Ugh?!”

“Where do you think you’re going?”

—

—

“Ahhh!!”

▶We have apprehended the man with the explosives!◀

▶We will now display the information about the target to be protected in numerical form!◀

[ Achievement: 7% ]