The Second Son of the Marquis Wants to Laze Around
Chapter 117: Cedric’s Waves

Chapter 117: Cedric’s Waves

(Leon’s POV)

___

It’s been a month since Young Master Eren was kidnapped.

In the last four weeks, a lot has happened within the Valmont household.

Right after the incident, the Marquis ordered a full-scale manhunt for the bandits who had attacked us during our return journey. Thanks to the help of several hired adventurers and experienced mercenaries skilled in tracking, the knights of Valmont managed to locate them fairly quickly.

Turned out, the group was just a bunch of low-tier, small-time bandits, hiding in a camp somewhere between the borders of the Aisman Kingdom and the neighboring Kingdom of Nerwyn.

When the knights launched a raid on their hideout—led by Commander Gareth—Kristoff, myself, and a group of elite knights accompanied him. The battle was swift and clean. We overpowered them easily. But despite capturing every last one, and even rescuing a few prisoners kept in cages, we found no sign of the Young Master.

Even after interrogating all the bandits and their leaders, no one seemed to know where Eren had been taken.

In the end, we reported everything to the Marquis.

The news left him in a difficult state—angry, worried, and overwhelmed. His wife, the Marquess, collapsed from the shock. Her health took a turn for the worse, and the Marquis found himself torn between caring for her and managing a crisis that was rapidly spiraling out of control.

Thankfully, Master Cedric—the Marquis’ eldest son—returned from his long trip just in time. He came back with his personal knight squad, wasting no time in stepping up to assist.

He quickly convinced his father to leave the search efforts in his hands, while the Marquis stayed behind to care for his wife and manage pressure from the other nobles.

Because, yes... word had spread.

The second son of Marquis Valmont had gone missing—and the news had already reached beyond the Aisman Kingdom.

Even worse, the reward offered by the Marquis for anyone who could find Eren was enormous. So enormous, in fact, that it could feed an entire kingdom for a year. It was no wonder the nobles were stirred into a frenzy.

Some even started criticizing the Marquis for reckless spending. Others, especially his political rivals, used the opportunity to attack the Valmont family’s credibility.

But the backlash didn’t last long. The Royal Family stepped in and publicly defended the Valmont household. After all, the Valmonts were so wealthy that their fortune rivaled the crown’s treasury itself.

So, with authority in hand, Master Cedric officially took over the search operation.

He reorganized the Valmont knights, handpicked a team of skilled adventurers, and even deployed his personal knight squad—known as The Waves.

At first, I thought "The Waves" were just an elite force of private soldiers. But then I learned the truth.

They were actually members of Shadow Wave—a covert organization that specializes in gathering intelligence and secrets. Very few know of its existence, and even those who do mostly believe it’s a rumor, or a conspiracy theory.

Even I didn’t believe it... until I saw it for myself.

To my surprise, I discovered that Shadow Wave wasn’t officially part of the Valmont household’s forces. It was an independent intelligence network founded by Master Cedric himself when he was only twelve.

Twelve!

That’s when I realized just how terrifyingly competent the eldest son truly was.

Members of the organization are referred to as "Waves," and their leader—the "Shadow"—is none other than Cedric Valmont.

What’s even crazier? The King himself knows about the Shadow Wave and gave his approval for it. The organization regularly supplies the Royal Family with deep-level intelligence and sensitive reports.

Only a few high-ranking nobles know about its existence, and even fewer are aware that the leader is Cedric.

How do I know all this?

Because Master Cedric personally recruited me to join the search operation... as a temporary member of Shadow Wave.

Commander Gareth already knew Cedric’s secret identity. And when I asked Cedric why he told me everything and let me in, his answer was simple:

"Because you’re trustworthy enough."

After that, I temporarily stepped down from my post as squad captain of the new elites and joined Master Cedric’s personal squad. Thanks to my past experience as both an adventurer and mercenary, I was seen as a useful asset.

Over the past few weeks, the entire Valmont knight order has worked tirelessly with the Shadow Wave operatives—disguised as Cedric’s elite knights—to investigate Young Master Eren’s disappearance.

But even now... we haven’t found him.

Not yet.

(End POV)

-----

Elsewhere, approaching Master Cedric’s office were three individuals.

At the front was Leon, flanked by two senior knights: Mrs. Reka and Mr. Elbow. They were there for the daily mission report.

Both of them were not only trusted subordinates of Cedric—they were high-ranking "Waves" within Shadow Wave itself.

Mr. Elbow was a composed and meticulous man in his late twenties. He had sharp blue eyes behind thin rectangular glasses, and his long white hair was tied neatly into a ponytail. Always dressed impeccably, he radiated the calm precision of a scholar—but had the presence of a seasoned knight. He was Cedric’s right-hand man, handling everything from strategic planning to scheduling, and he rarely smiled on the job. Still, he cared deeply for his comrades and often reminded junior knights to eat well and rest properly.

He was also the one who explained the inner workings of Shadow Wave to Leon and introduced him to its members.

And then there was Mrs. Reka.

Short red hair framed her sharp, determined face, and her piercing blue eyes seemed to see through lies in an instant. She stood tall and proud, her movements crisp and deliberate—like a blade honed for battle. In contrast to Elbow’s quiet demeanor, Reka was loud, blunt, and fiercely opinionated. She never sugar-coated her words, and if someone disagreed with her, she would argue—sometimes with her fists.

Tough on her subordinates, she believed kindness bred weakness. She wasn’t heartless, though. Her harsh attitude came from a place of experience—she had seen too many good people break under pressure, and she wanted to make sure her juniors survived.

Both wore the same sharp, navy-and-black knight uniforms as all of Cedric’s squad members—stitched with a subtle crest resembling an echo wave.

—Knock knock—

Elbow knocked politely on the large oak door.

"Come in," came Cedric’s calm voice from within.

Opening the door, the three stepped inside.

Behind the grand desk sat Cedric Valmont, the eldest son of the Marquis. Papers were stacked high on his desk, and a few maps lay open across its surface. He didn’t glance up immediately, focused on the document in his hand.

"...."

The room fell silent.

After a few moments, Cedric finally set the document down and looked up with a sharp, focused gaze.

"Report," he said curtly, his expression unreadable.

...

...

Cedric sat silently behind his desk, hands intertwined, elbows resting on the polished wood, his sharp gaze scanning the report laid before him. His expression was unreadable, but the frown etched between his brows deepened as Elbow, his white-haired assistant, concluded the daily briefing.

"...That’s everything we’ve found, sir," Elbow said, voice steady—but there was a noticeable twitch in his brow, a bead of sweat threatening to slide down the side of his temple.

Cedric remained still, eyes narrowing at the document.

Still nothing.

No signs.

No trails.

No leads.

His annoying little brother was still missing.

"...Is that all?" Cedric’s voice was low, clipped.

Elbow stiffened. That frown on his boss’s face—it wasn’t just irritation anymore. It was the kind of frown that made grown knights and even hardened adventurers rethink their life choices.

"Y-Yes, well... after we discovered that the Greenhorn household had connections with several illegal operations, including black market trades and slavery networks," Elbow began, adjusting his glasses nervously, "we dispatched several Waves to investigate all of them discreetly."

By "Waves," of course, he meant the elite agents of the Shadow Wave—Cedric’s covert intelligence force.

"We infiltrated twelve major slave trade operations across four territories... but none of the young master’s traces were found in any of them."

Cedric closed his eyes and leaned back in his chair with a long, slow sigh. He rubbed his temples with his fingers, as if trying to push away the ever-growing headache that had made a permanent home there over the last few weeks.

And while the room remained still and silent, his thoughts drifted back—rewinding everything to the moment this mess began.

So. let’s try recalling back from his perspective.

....

A Few Weeks Ago...

It all started when Cedric was in the Dwarf Region, deep in the mountains, handling a delicate trade negotiation. At the time, he was in a high-level meeting with one of the most well-known dwarven merchants in the eastern continent.

Things were going well—negotiations smooth, prospects bright—until one of his knight, practically breathless and soaked in sweat, barged in and handed Cedric a sealed letter from his father.

The contents were short but urgent: Come back immediately.

Cedric had frowned in displeasure. He didn’t like being interrupted—especially not when he was in the middle of securing a valuable trade route involving dwarven-forged steel and rare minerals.

Still, he was the eldest son of the Valmont household. Family responsibilities always took precedence.

With a sigh of professional regret, Cedric politely apologized to the dwarven merchant, who, fortunately, understood the situation with remarkable grace.

Not only did the dwarf agree to postpone the negotiations to a later date, but as a parting gesture of goodwill and thanks, he even lent Cedric and his knights several wyverns for fast travel.

(Yes, those same wyverns that happened to fly right over Eren’s camp during his relaxing on the mountain. Funny, isn’t it? Neither brother even knew how close they had been at that moment.)

Upon returning to the Valmont estate, Cedric was met with chaos.

The mansion looked as though it had been struck by a storm. Servants were running back and forth, knights gathered in huddled discussions, and the air was thick with tension.

From the ever-faithful butler Oswald, Cedric learned everything—the kidnapping, the attack, the chase, and the fruitless search. His father, the Marquis, had deployed nearly every knight under their command and even hired adventurers and mercenaries to scour the region.

But Cedric? At the time, he wasn’t particularly moved.

In fact, his first internal reaction was: Good riddance.

That annoying, talentless, Lazy, pathetic little brother of his—finally gone.

It almost felt like a blessing.

...But that relief didn’t last.

He soon realized just how wrong he was.

Eren’s absence had caused absolute havoc.

His father looked like a ghost. Pale. Sleepless. Unshaven. His eyes sunken, his posture tense. He hadn’t rested properly in days, and the worry was eating away at his normally commanding presence. The man who once intimidated the annoying nobles with a glance now looked like a crumbling statue.

The money spent on the search? Astronomical. At this rate, they’d hit the billion gold mark by the end of the month.

And that much gold being thrown around had, naturally, drawn attention.

Big attention.

From nobles.

Merchants.

Adventures

And some foreign powers.

Everyone wanted a piece of the Valmont family’s overflowing coffers. Like a hungry dogs.

...

...