Shini Yasui Kōshaku Reijō to Shichi-nin no Kikōshi-Chapter 92: Mysterious Story, 「The Man who Disappeared」

It was a dark night where the moon did not come out.

I guess it was after a long trip. I thought it was a terribly dirty man.

But, looking closely, the clothes themselves seemed awfully expensive.

They mismatched with the guy.

When we secretly put our heads together, there was a jingling sound of coins.

Of course, we turned around in surprise.

There was that guy who seemed like a shopkeeper. He counted a pile of gold coins with a face like a dying fish.

That guy told us with a sharp smile.

“Come on, everyone. Drink and eat as much as you want, it’s my treat.

Today, tomorrow, and the next day as well – as long as I stay here, it’s my treat.

Instead, promise me, if you go outside the bar, never tell anyone about me.

Of course, keep secret of this free drinks story from your scary wives too.”

We soon became friends.

Well, at first that guy’s wallet was my friend.

But well, his stories were funny. Before I knew it, we became real friends.

Before I knew it, his face felt like my childhood friend and he was blending in with my friends.

Oh, certainly, he said this:

“I am the continent’s biggest fraudster.

Concerning obtaining gold, no alchemist is my opponent.

It is my job to get secrets from aristocratic bees and merchant honeycombs without working for the sweet golden nectar.”

Well, that one was a horror though.

I never heard of him talking about cheating money from someone before.

In the first place, he didn’t need to rob money.

He was rich enough to surprise me.

Besides, he was generous and there was nothing I didn’t like about him.

Each and every night, I had a luxurious banquet with that guy.

Oh yeah, I had a good time.

Stupidly expensive wine of the South and East. The fragrant distilled liquor of the West. The strong alcohol that was likely to catch the throat on fire of the North.

Sturgeon eggs, fattened goose liver, white mushrooms, and the finest meat, meat, and meat.

Everyone was eating and drinking without reservations, but without a doubt, the one that ate and drank the most, was that guy.

Without minding what kind of stomach he would have, he ate up the mountain of foods.

Even with that bad habit, his belly didn’t bulge at all.

Ah, just what kind of trick did he do? Was it some kind of sleight of hand, or did he have some kind of constitution?

He had an astonishingly high tolerance for alcohol.

Even if he drank a barrel, his complexion didn’t change.

Oops, right.

It was that day.

That day he came out of the room with a face like a dead man.

Unusually, he said to leave him alone, and silently gulped down the strongest alcohol. ƒ𝓇e𝙚𝔀𝐞𝚋𝓃𝐨𝘷e𝙡.𝒄𝗼m

Well then I became worried.

It was the first time that guy had that kind of expression.

It was about late at night when the customers became sparse.

The ones who remained there were me, Bruno, Gus, well, that Boris guy was also still awake.

Well, it was the usual group.

In the end, that guy told us this:

“I cannot do it. I cannot stay here. That guy found me.”

At that time, the windows rattled with the wind.

He shrunk back on his chair with a face as if seeing a monster, staring at the entrance with bloodshot eyes as if frightened.

Well, I didn’t understand what he meant.

We were just nodding along.

What is so scary, ah—, was it Bruno who said that?

Anyways, everyone asked.

It was worrying.

He wasn’t supposed to be able to get drunk, but only incoherent mutterings went out of his mouth.

Eventually, the only thing we were able to get out of him was that he was being chased by a terrifying thing but we didn’t know what it was.

Then, it was as you know.

Each of us used our connections to make an arrangement for that guy to successfully escape to Karkinos.

On that moonless night, the coachman Boris and I accompanied him.

That guy kept stuck in the carriage.

‘There are voices of a monster’, or something.

‘There are sounds of nails scratching the horse carriage’, or something.

As such things continued to be heard, even if I didn’t believe in things like monsters, I became scared.

I stuck close to that Boris fellow’s body on the coachman bench, looking around while trembling.

Then, when the eastern sky was getting brighter.

Before I knew it that guy also fell asleep.

It had been a long time since the alcohol in our body subsided, and we sobered up from our drunkenness.

Finally, we saw the city walls and we were relieved too.

Looking at the sky, nothing happened.

It was like a lie that Boris and I were scared until a while ago.

We thought about waking that guy up, and looked into the carriage.

Then, there was no figure of that guy.

Stopping the carriage in haste, we opened the door of the carriage.

Ah, I wasn’t drunk anymore.

But……there was no shadow nor figure of that guy to be found.

What we did found were only a handful of ashes and those dirty expensive clothes together.

(From the testimony of Pierre, a regular customer of Whale’s Barrel)

☆

Aurelia Ducal’s Spring Palace.

After a harsh winter, the Aurelia Ducal moved their living space again to this palace.

Erica Aurelia was reading a piece of paper at Wunderkammer that she got permission to use freely from her older brother.

It was a parchment that happened to slide down from the desk when she was looking for a tool for alchemy.

“Oya, is Erica interested in such a story?”

“Huh?”

Hearing a voice from behind her, Erica looked back in surprise.

There was her older brother, Eduart, whom due to him getting around each country from day to day she was unable to meet easily.

“Onii-sama, welcome home. When did you come back?”

“I arrived yesterday at midnight, but I thought that it was not a good idea to wake you up.

Even so, I thought Erica wasn’t good at scary stories, it looks like I was wrong.

If that’s the case, I should have listened to the reserve scary stories from Elric, huh.”

“No, no, please don’t fuss over me. Because I only read it by chance.”

In contrast with Eduart who was extremely fond of this type of ghost story, Erica refused him properly to ensure her peace from hereafter.

Then, Erica noticed something from Eduart’s reply.

“Perhaps, did Onii-sama meet Actorius-sensei?”

“Yeah, because I was going through Knot Reed on the way back. So while I was there I decided to visit him.”

Elric who suffered a serious injury in the autumn incident last year continued getting medical treatment in the Trade City Knot Reed.

Recalling Elric’s painful scars, Erica’s facial expression clouded.

Eduart read Erica’s facial expression, a smile showed on his face to make her feel secure.

“It’s alright, Elric is doing fine.

His recovery is also going smoothly, thanks to the treatment he received, and there is no after-effect. It seems that he can return to Lindis next month.”

“That’s……truly relieving.”

“Yeah, come and visit Lindis together next time, Erica.”

“Yes, I’d love to.”

When Eduart gently stroked Erica’s cheek, she finally smiled.

It was a harmonious image of an older brother and his younger sister.

“Ehem.”

There was a black-haired boy who cleared his throat while looking at the two.

It was Klaus Hafan.

At the coughing sound, Erica finally noticed his existence.

“Eh! Why is Klaus-sama here……?”

“Eduart, it seems that your sister finds it inconvenient if I stay here. I will go back to Hafan.”

“Wait a minute, Klaus-kun. Don’t say such a thing, won’t you help me a little more?”

“Aah, I’m sorry. It’s been a long time, Klaus-sama. Please enjoy your stay in Aurelia.”

Klaus’s attitude became sulky and he turned the other way, spitting out.

Eduart smoothed things over in a hurry, and Erica glossed over her attitude and made a respectful greeting.

“It has been a while since our last contact, Erica. I will be in your care for a while.

Anyway, after this I will be dragged around to another land right away.”

“Hahaha, I will be troubled if you scowl at me like that.”

Compared to the lively Eduart, Erica realized that a strong fatigue was drifting from Klaus.

“Klaus-sama, somehow you look awfully tired today, are you okay?”

“This man here always uses me like a tool on every opportunity. I feel like a debt slave.”

“Stop saying slave, Klaus-kun. I’m always humane, right?”

“Eduart, if you are humane, the demon kinds will surely be humane as well.”

“Ahaha, that’s harsh.”

It was much better than Klaus plucking such things as the plot of lands and ingots.

Since it was to pay for the expensive wands’ cost, it couldn’t be helped that he was somewhat overworked.

Nonetheless, Eduart also acknowledged it, and that was the cause of his excessive exploitation.

“If you are that tired, Klaus-sama, I have a potion for that, so why don’t you try it?”

Saying so, Erica took out a potion bottle from her bag.

Inside the bottle, red, purple, and green marble patterns of the mysterious liquid were swaying to and fro.

Klaus looked at the vicious liquid and lifted his right eyebrow, while Eduart’s smile froze.

“Would you like to drink this?”

“Oh, this is……is this something people can drink?”

“Yes, it seems to be an excellent potion for recovering from fatigue and magical power depletion. Onii-sama, would you like to try it too?”

It was a potion with violent colors that seemed like one would be cursed just by having it.

It was quite poisonous-looking, but Erica, whose danger sense capability was somewhat short, didn’t notice it.

Of course, in Klaus and Eduart’s brain, the danger signal was blinking and beeping in warning.

By the way, this potion was a prototype of the potion master Sergei, a good companion of Harold Nibelheim.

Because it was a great success for those two inhumane people, safety and efficacy were guaranteed only on their side.

However, Erica herself had not tasted it, and she didn’t know that this potion was overflowing with a big problem in its taste.

“Hou, the main components of magical power are the cerebrospinal fluid of kraken, the horn of a unicorn, and an extract from alraune, huh.”

“The effect of the potion seems to be reliable, right?”

Klaus struggled with his answer and his line of sight wandered between the label that was stuck on the potion and Erica’s expression.

Since Erica recommended it out of her kindness, he didn’t want to refuse her.

Klaus opened the stopper of the potion bottle with eyes without light that seemed to have given up, and drank a mouthful after a little bit of hesitation.

“Guh……!!”

“Klaus-kun! Are you okay?!”

“Does it not fit your tastebud?”

“N-no……it has a terribly odd taste, but it’s not that bad. I feel that my magical power is replenished considerably and my body becomes lighter.”

For that reason, Klaus slowly drank the rest of the potion.

Looking at Klaus’ state, Eduart stroked his chest in relief and picked up a potion bottle.

If it was the usual, Eduart would have checked it more carefully.

However, the fact that his cute little sister had prepared it for him had relaxed his vigilance.

“Well, since you are being generous, I will also drink it.”

Eduart opened the stopper and gulped it down without caution.

At that moment, his motion stopped.

Eduart rarely ever changed his complexion, but his face was pale.

“Ukh……! Uuuu~!!”

“Onii-sama!? A-are you okay~~~!!”

“Fuh, Eduart……you’re unexpectedly weak.”

Eduart held his mouth and ran away.

Giving a sidelong glance at the Aurelia brother and sister who were in a panic, a composed smile showed on Klaus’ face.

Erica was looking at Klaus with a complicated expression and opened her mouth.

“Is Klaus-sama okay?”

“Since I have trained myself, this is nothing.”

“Are you also training your tongue and stomach……no, as expected that’s impossible, then how did you do it?”

“It’s a matter of spiritual discipline. If I am perturbed only by this much, I’m not fit to be a mage.”

“Klaus-sama……”

Erica laughed at Klaus who was as arrogant as usual.

Klaus’ cheeks dyed red seeing the rare natural smile of that Erica.

Meanwhile, Erica was distracted by another thing, she didn’t notice Klaus’ changes.

“Ah……that’s right, speaking of Klaus-sama!”

Erica took out two kinds of clear perfume bottles from the small boxes stacked on the long table.

She ordered it via Harold, they were the fashionable perfumes at Knot Reed.

“I was planning to give these perfumes as gifts for Klaus-sama and Ann-sama.

Since you are here, may I hand them over now?”

“Hou, there is also one for me, huh.”

“Yes. It seems that recently men also have an interest in perfumes.”

“Is there something like that going on now?”

Klaus took a bottle in a doubtful manner on the outside, but he seemed not as dissatisfied as he led others believe.

“The bottle is elaborate, huh. The blue of the glass is pretty deep.”

“As expected from Klaus-sama, you have discerning eyes.”

The bottle was a vibrant blue glass with elegant silver to finish off as quality goods.

With that, even for Klaus who was familiar with the sophisticated Hafan culture couldn’t help but admit the craftsmanship.

“First of all, for Ann-sama is this 『Sweet Song of Angels』 for women.

And the next one is for Klaus-sama, 『Sweet Melody of Lovers』 for men, please take them.”

“Angel? Sweet? Lover? What’s with these lackadaisical names that set my teeth on edge.”

“There, there, aren’t they sound pleasant? Charming, right?”

Even with Klaus’ sharp tongue, Erica didn’t mind and kept explaining.

“In the northwestern area where this two perfumes are popular, there’s a rumor that secret love will come true for those who wear it.

If, there is someone that Klaus-sama always thinking of—”

“D-don’t get the wrong idea! I’m—!”

Klaus unintentionally interrupted her with a loud voice, he immediately realized that and closed his mouth.

Erica stared at Klaus with a slightly surprised look.

“I…… that, there is none, that I secretly thinking of.

My creed is to be fair and square. I won’t run and I won’t hide……so there’s none.”

“Really, Klaus-sama, please do not get mad all of a sudden. Isn’t this just a what if story?”

“I-is that so, I’m sorry. That’s right, yeah.”

“Then, while we at it, please try the scent.

Try the one for women, since it’s the one that has already been opened.”

Erica opened another bottle and ran a drop to a white silk handkerchief.

When she flapped the handkerchief in the air, a sweet scent spread between the two.

It was a gorgeous and sweet scent of flowers that mainly composed of roses, along with it there were also the mystical scents of edelweiss and sandalwood.

“This is……”

Klaus’ heart unexpectedly throbbed similar to the mysterious sensation he remembered having.

The saturation of the world rose, everything that appears in his eyes vividly changed.

It felt like there was a pleasant tranquil heavenly melody, like a light rain that drizzled gently.

“What do you think?”

“…….Huh!?”

When he quickly raised his head, there was a golden sparkling fairy princess standing there.

To the extent that Klaus felt like the beauty of the girl in front of him was brilliant.

He shook his head in a hurry and deflected his eyes from Erica.

Until the moment he was called out, Klaus didn’t realize he had blank expression.

“I don’t think it’s just a perfume. It’s comparable to charm magic.”

“I’m glad that you like it.”

Suddenly, Klaus became aware that he was alone with Erica.

‘Secret love will come true’, these word spread quietly like a ripple in his consciousness.

Being swept away by the atmosphere, Klaus felt a sense of crisis and desperately sought an unrelated topic in his head.

“B-b-but, that’s, you know. You know, that Knot Reed’s Cursed Sword seems to have been a major incident.”

“Aah, that was about the autumn of last year.”

“The old aircraft carrier seems to have been a wreck.”

“It was regrettable. Fortunately, the new model aircraft carrier was intact.”

“I heard that you also participated in the launching ceremony. I’m just glad that you were safe.”

Thanks to Erica getting into the change of topic, Klaus gradually regained his condition.

On the other hand, Erica carefully chose the topic to pretend that she wasn’t recklessly deeply involved in that incident.

“If Klaus-sama were in that situation, could you handle it with extensive magic?”

“No, that would be difficult.”

“Oh my, it’s unusual for you to be this timid.”

“With large mass of lava that materializes by forcibly overwriting and eventually destroying matters if it is disassembled, as expected it would be too much for me to handle.”

He couldn’t lay a hand on it before it materialized.

When it materialized, he had to either blowed it away, froze it, or continued to support the Protective Circle in the form of a bowl.

Whatever the case, Klaus’ preliminary calculation said that ordinary mages would find themselves being out of their depths.

“Only by using the cathedral’s spiritual pulse to amplify the magic that it would be enough for me to prevent a cursed sword.”

“If so, do we need about sixteen high-ranking mages that are as powerful as Klaus-sama?”

“It’s possible for me to say this because the mechanism is already known.

Although the behavior of that magic hadn’t been found out, Duke Aurelia held down the damage on the spot at once.

And the son of Earl Nibelheim had devised a way that completely invalidated the 15 cursed swords.

It can be said that each of them has considerably extraordinary abilities.”

Especially the potential of the Nibelheim’s successor is very frightening, Klaus groaned.

Erica couldn’t look directly to his eyes in spite of listening to his words.

“Right. Speaking of Nibelheim, didn’t he get involved in a fraud case too?”

“You know well, Klaus-sama.”

“If you hear that the transition magic was used illegally for the crime, there is no reason to not be worried.

When I arrived in Lindis, I heard about it from the experts of transition magic who were in charge of the investigation.

It seems that a clever concealment was used so it would be overlooked by even mages.”

“It was such a malicious scam. It was fortunate that it could be ascertained before it became a major incident.”

Erica chose her words so that the scandal of the Nibelheim family wouldn’t spread.

While sweeping away a bad topic, she suddenly remembered a particular concern.

“But, while we were able to end the calamity, there is a household whose whereabouts and life and death are still unclear.”

“Isn’t that just the accomplice running away?”

“It is said that the whole family disappeared without leaving any traces.”

“As if they were apparitions, huh?”

“Yes, it’s like something strange hid the whole household, how scary……”

“I see. You are concerned about the disappearance case, because you read this material earlier.”

Klaus picked up a piece of material entitled “The Man Who Disappeared” from the desk and stared at her.

Erica quietly nodded and opened her mouth.

“Everyone disappeared in this way……somehow, it looks like a delusion.”

“Is that so? For example, what if the man who disappeared was the main criminal of the fraud?

Is there a possibility that this aforementioned household disappeared in the same way?”

“No way. For example, with magic, but is there such a way of harming people?”

“I have some ideas……it’s difficult to identify by this alone.

I should be able to check the remaining ashes or at least the site.”

“Such a thing……this, is not a fact but a made-up story……right?”

Erica tilted her head while hiding her impatience with a smile.

Klaus continued his words with his hard blue eyes staring at Erica.

“I hope it’s a fictional story, but if it’s not then it’s a problem.

Beside magic, a similar kind of killing can be done by certain kinds of monsters.”

“What is it, for example?”

“Right, for example—”

Stopping in the middle of his sentence, Klaus silenced his mouth with a click.

The expression of Klaus who was scowling became even more severe, and Erica shrunk back.

“This story ends here.”

“Eh?”

“But, before I finish talking, I will advise you.

Whether it’s this case or the fraud case, do not investigate anymore.

Even if there is a case similar to this, never get involved.

Even if you tentatively get involved, do not get involved deeper.”

“I understand. Do I look that at risk to Klaus-sama?”

Klaus didn’t answer Erica’s question which she said as a joke.

Instead of answering, he kept on a serious face.

“If you cannot escape by all means, come to me first.”

“That’s……”

“This is to protect you. Okay, you must absolutely do it. Promise me this.”

Klaus’ tone didn’t allow any refusal.

After Erica suffered for a moment, she tried to tell him her answer.

But her answer was blocked by a cheerful voice that was heard along with a knock.

“Erica, Klaus-kun, would you like tea?”

Before they knew it, Eduart was standing at the entrance of the room.

The smile showed on Eduart’s face told them that he had regained his condition.

“Onii-sama, are you feeling alright now?”

“I’m still in a critical condition. I may die soon if I don’t immediately cleanse my palate with sweet baked confection.”

“Eduart, are you a kid……?”

“Jeez, Onii-sama.”

To Eduart’s childish joke, Klaus returned to his sour look as if sulking.

As if they were children of the same age, Erica softly smiled.

The atmosphere that was kept up when they were on the topic of the disappearance case was lost, and Erica switched her thoughts to the lighter ones.

“Then, I will go ahead and prepare it.

There is something that I would like the two of you to see.”

That said, Erica headed to the drawing room to prepare for the tea ceremony.

Just a few days ago, a simple yet beautiful tea cup prototype that had its number of colors reduced in order to sell it to Hafan had just arrived.

Since it was the aim, she was planning to hold a porcelain presentation to Eduart and Klaus.

By the time that Erica would have been far enough, Klaus deployed a barrier in silence.

He incorporated several kinds of soundproof spells, it was the magic of countermeasures against eavesdropping.

“Eduart, keep the shady materials under lock and key.”

“Absolutely. I have no excuse to say.”

To the extremely good point, Eduart shrugged his shoulders and received the material presented by Klaus.

Eduart folded the material, put it between the pages of his notebook, and put it away in his pocket.

“The fraud case of Argene territory, were vampires involved?”

“There are possibilities of that.”

“The fraud ring, a mage that did the trick to the transition magic, and the merchant household that got dragged into it.

All of them unwittingly became the underlings of the vampires.

Even if they weren’t imprinted by the blood-sucking action, leaving their temporary life depleted, and died as sacrificial pieces.”

“Although the consistent things match, it is nothing more than a speculation. We wouldn’t know until we examine the remaining ashes or the actual site.”

“If that’s the case, you must have taken it into consideration, right?”

Eduart responded by smiling silently.

Klaus took his silence as a confirmation.

In addition to visiting the ill, he had secretly investigated the mansion of the merchant household who had disappeared, Klaus concluded in his head.

“What do you think is the objective, assuming it is as you guessed? Don’t tell me that the vampires are trying to make money at this point.”

“If I were a vampire, I would aim for the destruction of the County of Nibelheim.”

“There are many other distinguished people in the northwestern part, though?”

“There must be something that they have that the other distinguished families don’t have.

Of course it’s not the genius boy, but something that is attached to the territory itself.”

To Eduart’s point, Klaus nodded slightly.

“I see, there is a tower in the Nibelheim territory, which is one of the essential elements of the ley lines in the northwestern area. They aim for the erosion of the ley lines, huh.”

“The owner of that tower is the Nibelheim family, but Turm family was the one that commanded for the construction of the tower.

Aurelia’s Turm family is a distinguished family that originated from Hafan’s Tour family who was in charge of building magical towers.

If the tower they built were contaminated, the restoration of the ley line is not easy. That would be favorable for the vampires, right?”

“This has to be related to the series of riots last year. How annoying.”

Since spring last year, the attack on the spirit-related facilities repeatedly occurred on Ichthyes continent.

The invasion of magically-made monsters into Lindis’ basement floor which was the core of the ley lines in the heart of the continent.

Simultaneous multiple grave robberies to the tombs of Casketia era sealed by the ley lines on various regions.

If these were the only cases, he would also think that it was just a coincidence.

When there was a fraud to Nibelheim which was the key point of the northern area’s ley lines, there was no way he could dismiss it as coincidence.

“The aim of the guy who was secretly pulling the threads while hiding, is to weaken the magical protection that is spread out throughout Ichthyes, huh.”

“Your answer is half-correct. As expected, Klaus-kun.”

“Eduart, just say what’s the other half already.”

“Outside the incidents involving the ley lines, there were cases that were caused by Casketia’s relics, right?”

Hearing Eduart’s question, Klaus remembered the incident involving himself.

Strangely, it was an incident that happened on the same day as the invasion of a monster into Lindis’ basement.

As a matter of fact, Klaus recalled that the relics of Casketia had been putting people in critical situations.

The necklace with fascination magic that pushed Klaus into the Ruins of Visitor.

The stirrup with intoxication magic that caused Auguste to fall from the dragon.

And the accident that happened at the excavation site of the remains of the Cursed Sword of Fire also confirmed the trace that was caused by a magical relic.

None of these had minimum effect, they were despicable methods that aimed for the worst tragedy.

“Children of a duke, a dragon knight with a promising future, a student exceling in expertise.

They were all aimed to assassinate the people who are beneficial to the nation.

However, they were not the best plan to ensure certain death, they were only unreliable measures.”

“It may be important that although they were dangerous, death was not necessarily the aim.”

“I don’t think there is such a lenient vampire.”

Klaus urged Eduart for the continuation as an indication that he wasn’t fully satisfied with the explanation.

“Friends and family, lover……those who are deprived of their important people cannot survive just like they were before.

The heart of those who have lost love, friendship, and pride are more likely to be twisted and bended with a variation in degree.”

“Taking advantage of the weak spot in their heart, the vampires made them their pawns, huh. For example, that Louis Ode-Ignitia.”

Louis had been imprisoned inside the tower ever since the Advent Festival’s incident.

Even now, he was still under suspicion of being involved with vampires and being their underling, so the interrogation and investigation continued.

He was a royalty who still had his future ahead of him, but he was indoctrinated biased information by someone when he was in a vulnerable state after the mysterious death of his immediate family, and became distorted.

“Pawns……my opinion is slightly different.”

“Well then, what do you think, Eduart.” f𝗿e𝙚𝘸e𝐛𝚗𝐨𝙫𝚎𝙡.c𝒐𝐦

“I’m sure that he was lonely.

I myself have a similar notion, I’m looking for others who operate in the same way.

Instead of pawns, I want a partner whose heart is dyed in the same color.”

Eduart lifted the bottle of potion as a diversion, rocking it so as to look through it.

The red liquid which only remained as much as one drop, spread thinly at the bottom of the transparent glass bottle.

“Heart dyed in the same color, huh……

Speaking of which, we heard similar words at Karkinos.

‘You will become the same thing I am’, was it.”

“……That was a precious testimony to support my hypothesis.”

Eduart turned away from Klaus and said that without emotion.

Klaus thought that Eduart didn’t want him to step into that topic any further and changed the topic.

“But, the way it was done was too unreliable.

I wonder whether the Lunatic King was very much a coward, or an extremely secretive person.”

“I wonder. Anyway, no matter how secretive he was, cowardice is different though.”

Eduart said so and shrugged his shoulders.

“What are you thinking about, Eduart?”

“Well, this hypothesis is still no more than a speculation.

He seems to be in a state where he cannot participate in the incidents directly due to some circumstances.

So, on the contrary, it may not be possible for him to increase his underlings freely.”

“I didn’t know about this. Why do you think so?”

Eduart put down the glass bottle while contemplating.

The red that had spread in the bottle gathered at the bottom with the passage of time and returned to a small droplet.

“For example, he is obstructed somewhere in a state where he cannot move.

Therefore, it was only possible to cause incidents indirectly through his pawns or scattered cursed objects and put up traps.

……I mean, how about that?”

“Even if that was just a hypothetical situation of the Lunatic King. What’s with that miserable situation.”

“It’s absolutely true. To begin with, it’s a matter of who caught the Lunatic King, who was able to pretend to be another person.”

Klaus remembered such illusion as if the enemy had disappeared as smoke the moment he hunted the enemy’s tail.

It was as if the enemy was on the other side of the optical illusion which laid on top of one another.

There was a heavy silence at the Wunderkammer.

At such time, the voice of a girl calling out to them echoed in the distance.

They remembered that Erica was waiting for them.

“Oops, my cute Erica had prepared tea for me.”

“You mean for us, right?”

“Yeah, it’s for me. Aah, speaking of which, were you invited to join us?”

“Eduart, you, I’ll remember this.”

Klaus clicked his tongue and chased after Eduart who went out of the room quickly.

Klaus learned a sense of security somewhat on the smell of black tea drifting with the smell of spring flowers.

End of Arc 3