Chapter 80
Richard put Elisha in the wagon first, then flew back to the Duke’s mansion. For the time being, he decided to stay in the northern annex to keep a distance from Elisha.
Returning to the room, she looked worriedly toward the annex where he was. His empty seat already showed its absence.
‘Richard…’
At that moment, the child in her belly moved. The movement seemed to comfort her. Dad is over there, but I’m with mom, so don’t be lonely. A warm smile bloomed on Elisha’s face as she caressed her stomach.
“Ngh. Mom will save dad.”
In order to bring him out of the annex, she had to first know what the ominous power he was using was. But before that, there was something else to be done. Elisha recalled the story Richard had told her before going to the annex.
“Onyx are monsters that live deep in the forest. It has a timid personality, so it doesn’t come out of it unless it’s time to move to the southern end of the continent in the late fall.”
“Then why did monsters with such habits come to the village?”
“Perhaps something happened that forced them to come out of the forest.”
Timid monsters who suddenly came into the village where people live, and showing such strong aggressive tendencies different from their usual behavior. After combining the two pieces of information, Elisha came to a single conclusion.
‘Someone deliberately dragged the onyx monsters into the temple.’ She didn’t know who did it or with what intentions, but one thing was certain. Currently, it was Richard who was in charge of cleaning up and preventing the invasion of monsters on the outskirts of the island. If something went wrong, there was a high probability that blame would fall on Richard.
‘If something happened to the forest, there is a high probability that there is evidence of it still there.’ After thinking about it, Elisha pulled the rope of the servant bell so she could give an order to dispatch someone to investigate the forest. After waiting for a while, Anne came in with a knock. On the day of the foundation ceremony, Elisha had given the maids, including Anne, some free time and pocket money to enjoy the festival. As soon as Anne got home, she ran to find Elisha right away, she was still in her outing clothes.
“Madam!”
Anne came over with a worried expression on her face and looked at Elisha’s condition.
“Are- are you okay? I heard that monsters attacked the temple.”
“Mh, I’m fine.”
“What a relief! I was so worried thinking that–”
Elisha smiled because of Anne’s pure heart, who was worried about her. Then, she found something in Anne’s hand. At first glance, it was something that looked like perfume.
“What is that? Did you go shopping?”
“Ah, this. It’s a monster repellent, they were selling it all over the square on my way home.”
“Monster repellent?”
“Yes. It’s made with incense that monsters avoid. I only bought a few, just in case, but I was wondering if it would be good to buy them in bulk if the effect is good. It was very difficult to buy because there weren’t a lot of them.”
Elisha looked at the monster repellent with doubtful eyes. It was natural to sell umbrellas when it rained and parasols on sunny days, but monster repellents were not something normally commercially available. There was a high probability that they were simply using people’s fears to sell fake products that have not yet been proven effective.
“Anne, your heart is wonderful, but this must be something fake that doesn’t really work. It’s just a trick of a scammer trying to get a share at the moment.”
“Bu- but at the guild, they showed His Majesty’s certificate for the product.”
“You said it had the Emperor’s certificate?”
Elisha was surprised by Anne’s words. Anyone who pretends to impersonate the emperor’s name will be punished with death. For that reason, no one, no matter how brave the scammer, would dare to impersonate His Majesty the Emperor. In other words, it meant that the emperor’s certificate that Anne saw where she bought the monster repellent was genuine.
‘Suspicious.’ Monster repellent is not a commonly commercialized product. But, as if they knew the situation would be like this, a monster repellent that received the emperor’s certificate appeared out of the blue. It was quite dubious.
After thinking for a moment, Elisha spoke to Anne.
“Anne, can you call Sir Thompson for me?”
* * *
The next day, the emperor summoned all the nobles to a meeting. It was to discuss the monsters attacking the temple the day before. Richard tried to avoid contact with others as much as possible, but he responded to the call as if he didn’t have an unstable shoulder or pain. However, the moment he arrived at the audience, he realized that the ‘real purpose’ for which the emperor had summoned the nobles was different.
“Lord Rubellin, I* had entrusted you with the security of the outskirts of the capitol. I did it because I trusted you, Rubellin.”
All the nobles’ eyes were focused on Richard.
“However, this unfortunate tragedy happened because the Lord betrayed my faith and neglected to maintain public order.”
“…”
“I will hold Duke Rubellin responsible for this.”
Marquis Dion raised the corner of his mouth when he saw the emperor pushing Richard away. In front of this many nobles, publicly holding him accountable for his wrongdoings would seriously damage Rubellin’s reputation. Nevertheless, Richard looked at the emperor with indifferent eyes and opened his mouth.
“Before you hold me responsible, there is something Your Majesty should take a look at.”
The Emperor looked at Richard with puzzled eyes.
“Thompson.”
Instead of answering, Richard gently called Thompson, who was waiting nearby. Then, Thompson took a box of something and set it down in front of the Emperor. Then he opened the box and took something out. It was an egg about the size of an adult woman’s fist.
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“It’s an egg of a bird-type monster called Onyx that lives deep in the eastern forest. In early winter, it flies south to spend the winter, but it usually doesn’t leave the forest.”
“I understand the habits of that monster. Why did you bring this egg? Does it have anything to do with this situation?”
“Yes, because this egg was found in the grass near the temple. The onyx came into a village, where they would not usually go, just to find their eggs.”
That meant that someone deliberately hid the monster’s eggs near the temple. At Richard’s words, the nobles’ whispering became louder. As if confirming their doubts, Richard added a conclusion.
“Someone deliberately planned this.”
At Richard’s words, the emperor frowned.
‘I thought this was just a coincidence.’ Still, he thought it would be a great opportunity to knock Richard down a peg, but he couldn’t hide his disappointment when his expectations were shattered. The emperor asked in a slightly annoyed voice.
“What kind of crazy bastard would come up with such a thing?”
“There is currently only one person who would benefit from doing something like that.”
“Who is that?”
“Viscount Magenta, who is making the biggest profit from this monster’s appearance.”
When the name ‘Magenta’ came out of Richard’s mouth, Marquis Dion’s expression hardened visibly.
“He drew monsters into the temple and created a sense of fear. Just to sell the monster repellent he invented.”
“…”
“It would be much more profitable to target the wealthy nobles rather than the poor commoners living on the outskirts, so the foundation festival, where the nobles came to the temple on the outskirts of the capital, must have been a golden opportunity.”
It was close to impossible for monsters to attack the residences of the nobles living inside the capital.
“On the eve of the foundation ceremony, there is testimony that Viscount Magenta borrowed a large number of wagons. It had rained quite a bit the day before, so if you examine the composition of the mud on the wheels of the wagon, you will find out that the origin of the mud was the eastern forest.”
The nobles who heard the story expressed their anger towards Viscount Magenta, who was not present.
“Magenta Viscount? Who the hell is he?”
“He dares to put His Majesty and us in danger to satisfy his own interests!”
Viscount Magenta was not able to attend meetings of the nobility due to his low status, and he did not have much influence among the aristocrats due to his business being shut down, so many people did not know him.
Then suddenly, someone spoke up.
“Oh, perhaps… Isn’t he Marquis Dion’s uncle?”
When the nobles heard that he was Marquis Dion’s uncle, they looked at the Emperor and suddenly shut their mouths as if holding back their resentment. Because Marquis Dion was the Emperor’s son-in-law. Amid the silence, the numb Marquis Dion rushed in front of the emperor.
“Your Majesty, the Duke is making a great leap! It’s just a coincidence of circumstances. How dare you do this to slander my uncle, who has gone out of his way to reassure people from the fear of monsters?”
“Slander you say.” Richard, who was quietly listening to the words of the Marquis, spat out as if provokingly. “From here on, let me take a ‘real leap.’”
Richard looked back at Marquis Dion and continued.
“Where did Viscount Magenta, who ruined his businesses one after another, get the money to do something like this?”
“…”
“Where did he get that kind of money right after he met with Marquis Dion?”
Realizing that Richard was suspicious of him, Marquis Dion jumped.
“Are- are you doubting me now?!”
“You probably wouldn’t have lent it to him without knowing where the money would be used.”
“I didn’t know! He just needed money to spend on his business–!”
Before Marquis Dion finished speaking, Richard pulled something out of his inner pocket. Seeing this, Marquis Dion’s face turned white.
“This is a ledger with details of where and how much Viscount Magenta used that money. Marquis Dion must have a ledger with the same contents.”
“You- Your Majesty! That ledger is false. It was fabricated to frame me!”
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The usually collected Marquis Dion fell down on his knees in front of the emperor. At that moment, the door to the audience room opened and two knights of Rubellin entered. They brought someone with a bag over his face and knelt him in front of Richard. The Emperor’s eyes as well as other nobles were focused on the unidentified man. Marquis Dion stared at him blankly.
‘It can’t be…?’
When Richard nodded slightly, Thompson removed the sack from the man’s head.
The face that was covered by the bag was none other than Viscount Magenta’s.
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