< 46. Erosion (2) >
#46
Ronan said. The gaze was fixed on Dolan.
“Duke.”
“hmm?”
“Have you ever heard of the coming of the stars?”
“The arrival of the stars…?”
The duke tilted his head. Surprisingly there was no change in Dolan’s expression.
However the mana rising above his shoulders again showed that he was agitated.
Whatever it was it seemed certain to be related to Nebula Clazier. Ronan continued.
“I’ll just tell you because it’s a story that will soon spread throughout the empire anyway. First of all the arrival of the stars is the day when the end comes down from the sky. “The one who destroyed Gran Cappadocia was an organization called Nebula Clazier.”
“Nebula Clage…?”
“yes. It is a gathering of imbeciles who believe in nonsense that even a three-year-old child would find embarrassing such as the coming of the stars that we just talked about. The problem is that they are violent imbeciles and continue to commit crimes.”
Ronan spoke based on his own experience and the information he heard from Interrogator Karaka. From controlling cave giants with evil magic to the fact that they were behind major incidents that were previously thought to be accidents.
“that….”
As the story progressed the duke’s face became serious. He was the head of Grancia and he seemed unable to believe himself that he had not noticed such a huge secret. he asked in a doubtful voice.
“How did you find out all that? “I heard that the arrest was made after the Sentai Sword Saint intervened but was there any torture before that?”
“Oh I got caught.”
Ronan laughed humorlessly and covered his mouth. Of course most of the information was obtained from Karaka but he didn’t need to reveal that he had gone to Lodolan himself. He glanced sideways at Dolan and opened his mouth.
“yes. “I made him spit it out myself.”
At that moment the two people’s eyes met. A fierce murderous spirit was stirring in Dolan’s seemingly calm eyes.
I got caught. Ronan continued his story.
“Both of them were ridiculously dishonest. All villains are like that but those kids were bad. “You said something about cutting off some limbs?”
Asher and Marya’s faces turned pale. It was a story I had never heard of. Ronan deliberately exaggerated the story. Karaka’s interrogation was as if he had done it himself.
“Well anyway that’s how I found out that elves value her ears. He didn’t even hold a knife but he was struggling and urinating? “It was so ugly…”
“stop. That’s enough. “Anyway an official letter will come from Lodolan so I’d like to talk about something else.”
The Duke raised his hand to cut off Ronan’s words. Ronan nodded his head with a smile. The Duke who was smoothing his chin sighed.
“I felt it ever since I heard that you killed so many cave giants by yourself but… you are far from ordinary.”
“Old Doron and his apprentice were friends. “I was very angry.”
“It’s not that I don’t understand how you feel but… hm? “Where is Dolan uncomfortable?”
“yes? Oh no. “Duke.”
“Mana is rough. “If you’re tired take a break.”
For the first time a look of confusion appeared on Dolan’s face. The driver who came with him was also looking at Dolan strangely. Dolan politely declined the duke’s offer.
“no. It’s really okay. “Duke.”
She was desperately trying to keep herself together but Dolan’s mana was now so violent that others could feel it. Without fail it contains her ticking sparkle.
‘Looking at their reaction it seems like they were quite friendly.’
Ronan did not address Dolan directly. The information wasn’t reliable yet so it was all over if Dolan figured out what it was and threw it away.
If he acted rashly Ronan could have been suspected. He is a suspicious guy who is suspicious of loyal knights. At that time the duke took out his pocket watch checked it and sighed.
“hmm. It’s already time like this. “I should just give my award and go.”
“yes? “Didn’t you just give it to me?”
“I was just delivering what Master Doron gave me. “Did you really think that was Grancia’s reward?”
The duke frowned. His expression seemed as if he was talking nonsense.
Now that I think about it one of the three boxes the knights brought was placed in front of the duke. When the Duke opened the box brilliant light came out.
The eyes of the three people who saw the contents widened as if they were about to pop out. It was Marya who showed the most explosive reaction.
“This…!”
“Do you know? “Well since you are a merchant it would be strange not to know.”
The box contained nine shiny platinum-colored metal cards. The front of the plaque was engraved with the image of a knight stepping on a dragon.
A note from the Grancia family. In fact it is a one-time free exchange ticket that can be used throughout the entire imperial territory. It was an even more familiar item to Ronan who had already used it once.
“Take it.”
The duke handed out three bills to each person. Asher and Marya’s hands trembled as they accepted the cards.
“Can I really accept something like this…?”
“Considering what you all protected that day even one hundred pieces is not enough. “It is awarded in consultation with the vassals so use it at your discretion when necessary.”
Ronan also laughed and accepted the note. I thought I would never touch him again unless Schlieffen’s dementia relapsed but I never thought I would get it again so soon.
But what was important now was not the bill of exchange. The duke who delivered the reward was preparing to return. Ronan suddenly got up from his seat and started rummaging through the drawers under his desk.
“hmm? “What are you doing?”
“Ah I was thinking of showing the Duke something but just wait…Oh I found it.”
Ronan took out a notebook. And he quickly began to look through his pages. His inner paper had something written on both the front and back. he asked as if the Duke was intrigued.
“What is that?”
“I wrote down the information I found out through torture. “I thought it would help the investigation even if only slightly so I thought I’d show it to the Duke first…”
Of course it was a dirty lie. The notebook was actually a scribbling pad that Ronan usually used.
Ronan looked at the trivial information such as the picture of Sita breathing fire and how to make tea that Lucy taught him with a serious expression on his face. Eventually Ronan closed the notebook and shook his head.
“It won’t work either. It’s so messy. “I’ll just organize it by tomorrow and send it to you by mail.”
“It’s bland.”
“Once you see the content your thoughts will change. There was quite a bit of interesting information extracted from the screams. chamberlain…”
Dolan’s gaze was clearly fixed on Ronan’s scribbling pad. Ronan who had been deliberately dragging his tail grinned.
“Something like information about the being called Ahayute.”
At that moment Dolan’s eyes widened. For a moment I saw sparkling mana oscillating as if it were boiling. Ronan put the note in exactly the same spot. The duke tilted his head.
“Ahayute? “That’s a strange name.”
“I agree. “It’s a name you would give to a monkey with hemorrhoids.”
Dolan gritted his teeth. With that conversation the Duke of Grancia left. Before leaving his room he expressed his gratitude for saving Gran Cappadocia one more time.
“Then I guess I’ll just go. “I’m looking forward to your progress.”
“See you again Duke.”
Ronan sighed as soon as the door closed. I did everything I could. All that was left was for things to work out as expected. Asher and Marya who were dumbfounded approached Ronan.
“Ro Ronan…I don’t know what’s going on….”
“Hey what are you talking about torture? “Did you kill someone?”
They were dazed by the story of a secret organization they had never heard before and that they had been face to face with the Duke of Grancia since early morning.
“Hmm….”
Ronan stroked his chin and pondered. Asher and Mary. There was a need to tell them the truth at some point since they were going to be with us until the end anyway but I thought it was too early to get them involved in what was going to happen today.
‘They said that this guy named Dolan was definitely an Auror.’
Ronan having made a decision stood up. The most important thing now was to secure irrefutable evidence. He calmed Asher and Mary down enough to send them away and left the room.
Ronan’s destination was the top floor of the Navardose Pavilion. As he wandered through the wide hallway he stopped in front of a particularly ornate door. After a rough knock on the door it wasn’t long before the familiar waiting table appeared.
****
That night.
Dreary dark clouds covered the sky. The full moon that rose behind the clouds was emitting a feeble light like a candle behind a curtain. The guards watching the castle tower were betting on whether the moon would appear before sunrise or not.
-Hung!
At that time a shadow crossed the walls of Phileon. The shadow quickly passed the guards and headed straight to the depths of the site. There was no sound as the shadow walked hiding its presence.
“…”
The shadow finally reached its destination and raised its head. The Navardose pavilion immersed in the shadow of the night gave off an eerie atmosphere like the roar of a vampire.
The shadow moved to the side of the building and began counting the floors with a wink. Fortunately the light was not on in the room he had chosen as his destination. The shadow leaped at once and landed lightly on the balcony of a room on the third floor.
There were no curtains on the windows. Inside the room which was clearly visible I could see all kinds of luxurious furniture and the back of a sleeping boy with a blanket all over his head. Shadow who was rummaging through his arms took out a piece of parchment with a geometric pattern drawn on it and stuck it on the window.
-Shuaaa…
Within seconds the huge window began to melt as if it were ice. The shadow entered the room before the window completely melted. The boy was still asleep.
“Puuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuu….
The snoring sound was vulgar. Shadow opened the drawer under the desk trying to keep his presence as low as possible. As I pulled out the second compartment from the top a tattered notebook came into view. Wow. There was a sound of something breaking inside the shadow’s mouth.
Shadow quickly grabbed his notebook and turned to the sleeping boy. Before he knew it he was holding a sharp dagger instead of a notebook. He approached the boy with his dagger raised.
Jerk.
Jerk.
Jerk.
“…?”
It was the moment when the shadow reached a distance of three steps from the boy. The shadow suddenly felt something strange and hurriedly lifted the blanket. Four thick pillows appeared.
“Geogeeogeeokeuk!”
At that moment the sound of snoring rang out again. Only then did the shadow realize that the sound was coming from above.
The shadow that raised its head could see a boy with black hair making snoring noises hanging upside down from the chandelier and a strange creature with red eyes.
“Big…hehe I told you man. “He said he was coming tonight.”
fault! The boy who was hanging turned around and landed in front of the window. It naturally took the form of blocking the shadow’s path of retreat. In his hand was a sword of a type I had never seen before.
Ronan said.
“There are too many reasons to kill me.”
The shadow calmly took its next action. He put his dagger back and placed his hand on the hilt of his longsword. Someone else’s voice came from behind.
“Can you explain?”
“…!”
Goosebumps ran all over my body. It was a familiar voice heavy and low like the deep sea. The shadow’s mouth opened for the first time as it turned its head.
“Why…here….”
“I asked if you could explain.”
A human figure was slowly approaching from the darkness. Then the clouds cleared and moonlight came into the room. A boy with dark blue hair appeared under the quiet rays of light.
“I will ask you for the last time.”
In the boy’s hand was a longsword made of mithril. The bluish tip of the sword was aimed at the shadow. Schlieffen Sinivan de Grancia opened his mouth.
“Can you explain the current situation? Dolan.”
“…master.”
Dolan pulled at the hilt of his sword. A white sword body appeared under the moonlight. Eerie flickering mana was blooming over Dolan’s shoulders.
