The investigation into the current situation regarding the older sister of a man named Enrud was quickly completed. …Well, it seemed like she was trying hard to find a husband, but it was hard to say that things were going well. She was originally the daughter of a weak noble family. Considering her age, it seemed she was approaching a dangerous point for a noble...
So, well, that's how it was. He said that he was getting revenge on Mileisha-chan, a foreign student from that country, for what his sister had experienced while studying abroad. Even though it had nothing to do with Mileisha-chan... Moreover, rather than doing this alone and under his own responsibility, he instigated other sons of noble families and got many other children of noble families involved...
"...Okay, death sentence!!" (Mitsuha)
"Dear Sister, that's a bit..." (Sabine)
Sabine-chan stopped me, pulling back a little.
"No, I won't kill him! Sabine-chan, who do you think I am..." (Mitsuha)
"No, based on past examples, I thought that you might do something like that, Dear Sister..." (Sabine)
"Shut up!" (Mitsuha)
Well, certainly there were a lot of things that happened, but they were all cases where the other side was trying to take our lives. If someone attacks you with money instead of violence, hit them back with money. If an opponent challenges us to information warfare, we will crush them through information warfare and espionage. ...Oh, when I say 'hit back with money' I don't mean actually hitting them with a leather bag full of gold coins!
"In any case, there is not the slightest bit of room for leniency or extenuating circumstances in the actions of either the instigator or the instigated! I have determined that this is nothing more than a despicable plot and an act of venting one's anger on those who were not involved!!" (Mitsuha)
"Yep, I totally agree with that!" (Sabine)
Sabine-chan agreed. So...
"Next up is a not-so-important party at the home of a young lady who is not a member of Society but is on our side. And I'd like to invite Society, the other side, and all the other gossipy ladies... And……" (Mitsuha)
"Let's all have fun and party!!" (x2)
It was a party. It was a birthday party for the daughter of a marquis, who had friendly relations with Society (us). She knew there would be a commotion, but she agreed with a laugh. Even though it might ruin her birthday party... That's very generous... Just as you'd expect from the daughter of a marquis.
She even said, "I think I'll be able to laugh out loud for the first time in a while, so please go ahead and do your best." When asked if her parents would be upset, they said that they would be very happy if all the members of Society would attend the party, as it would also show their close relationship and help them out... As expected of the Marquis family, they have a good grasp of the pros and cons.
That was why the full lineup was here at the party today. ...Enemies, allies, and even speaker ladies who spread neutral rumors...
The other side probably didn't have the option of not attending the birthday party invitation from the daughter of the Marquis either. So they attended as expected. That would be the case even under normal circumstances, but now that his position had been strained by the rumors, refusing the invitation of the daughter of a marquis who had no connection to Mileisha-chan and was not a member of Society would clearly be a poor decision.
You should proactively attend parties held by high-ranking noble families and try to dispel the bad rumors. This was a rare opportunity, especially now when party invitations were becoming increasingly rare. And the opportunity to form a bond with the daughter of a high-ranking nobleman was one he could not miss. A normal third son of a count would think that way...
Of course, the two people in his entourage were also invited. And they didn't know that we would be participating with our full members, an all-star cast. The invitation didn't include a list of other attendees.
They were arriving early, but on our side, everyone was supposed to arrive a little later. In this country, parties were not started with greetings at the beginning, just like in Kingdom of Zegreius, but rather people would start eating and drinking as they came in, in order of arrival. The host would give greetings after some time had passed. ...Not Japanese style, but Western style.
In a world like this, it would be impossible for everyone to show up exactly on time. There were no accurate clocks and there were many things to consider, such as carriage trouble and the horses' moods... Also, there seemed to be a tendency to think that arriving earlier than the scheduled time would be rude. Apparently, arriving before preparations were complete could be criticized as causing trouble for the organizers.... So, it was normal to arrive a little late. Therefore, it would be highly unlikely that all the guests would be there at the scheduled start time. So, even if one of our members was late, it would be no problem. It would not be considered rude to the organizers.
Furthermore, when our party arrived, they were not to enter the party venue directly, but to wait in a separate room. ...Everyone was doing this so that they could sneak into the party venue individually and without attracting attention later. Right now, I was the only one wearing a wig to disguise myself a little and I was secretly watching the situation from the shadows, muttering "Hiouma..."[1] After this, we had to time everyone's entrance and gave the signal.
A man named Keidith seemed to be actively talking to the children of influential nobles one after another in an attempt to deepen his ties with them, but... the situation did not seem to be going very well. Well, that was understandable. The rumors had widespread enough that no man or woman would ever want to get involved with anything dangerous. Especially since today was the birthday party for the daughter of a marquis. There was no way someone stupid would be invited. ...Unless there was some intention behind inviting them...
And since the majority of the attendees at such a party from the Marquis family were powerful nobles, Keidith, the third son of a not-so-powerful Count family, was probably working hard to make connections...
...Is it about time? Ok, let's go back to the waiting room where everyone is waiting.
"The operation has begun! Everyone, please proceed to the venue one by one without attracting attention! Mileisha-sama, prepare to action!" (Mitsuha)
"Yes!!" (x6)
As I removed my disguise wigs and returned to my normal appearance as Viscount Yamano, everyone responded enthusiastically to my instructions. Well, they knew that Society was on Mileisha-chan's side, so if all the members of Society were to be at the party venue from the start, they might have realized something. Our members tended to attract other people quickly, so they would stand out... Therefore, we decided to sneak into the venue little by little later, so as not to be noticed.
Even so, it would still be noticeable and obvious right away, but if they could get to a situation where they had more important things to worry about before that happened, then it wouldn't be a problem. ...Yes, it's time for Mileisha-chan to take action!
Translation Note
[1] 飛雄馬 not sure what it is.