Chapter 56

Episode 56

Suspicious Acts

The sight of terrified people kept drawing my attention. Should I help them? As I was hesitating once more due to pity, Anakin said quietly.

“I’ll go if Master orders it. I’ll probably be able to defeat it….. but my master’s safety is my top priority.”

“…Can the academy defeat that?”

“Magic Engineers are not just people who do research. They are also trained for war in case of emergencies. Right now, they are just bewildered by the sudden situation, but they will find a solution soon.”

That’s right, it’s the two of us that matter. They’ll catch the monster on their own. There is no need for me and my Anakin to go out.

“…Yeah. Then… let’s go back.”

“Yes.”

I accidentally found something that looked like a pistol rolling around on the floor. Someone must have dropped it because they were confused. I picked it up without thinking about it and hid it in my arms. It might be useful if I picked it up.

We quickly descended the stairs and headed for the back door of the academy. The door was open, but the magic field was a problem.

After touching the round magic field that surrounded us for a moment, Anakin grabbed his sword and caught his breath. A delicate blackness fluttered over Anakin’s sword.

He concentrated and slashed the magic field with a single move. Anakin, who made the hole, sent me out first and then followed.

As soon as Anakin came out, the hole in the magic field was filled again.

While we were looking at it, our eyes met someone that was watching us from over the magic field. In the meantime, the person ran away into the academy.

Who was it? My heart was freaking out. Even when I tried to think that he would just be a student at the academy, a corner of my heart kept on worrying.

“Did you leave something behind? Shall I go back?”

“No… no. Let’s go, Anakin. As soon as possible.”

Bad premonitions were not always wrong, but wanted it to be this time. I grabbed Anakin’s hand and ran down the back road.

There was a lot of commotion outside the academy because of the few monsters that had escaped before the magic field was cast.

Because of the people running out to the carriages, it seemed difficult even for a horse to run. Anakin

pondered for a moment, then knelt down on his knees and positioned his back towards me.

“I’ll carry you on my back.”

“What? I can run!”

“I know. But you have to run non-stop to the mansion For many reasons, it will be better for me to carry you on my back.”

Of all things, I was wearing shoes with some heels, not flat shoes. If I have to run to the mansion, not walk, will never be able to endure it and will collapse.

I chose it because I thought I would ride a carriage when I went back, but it was useless to blame myself from the past.

I didn’t know if the monster might appear right away, but I couldn’t waste time here, so I let Anakin carry me without hesitation. Anakin put his wrists on my thighs and got up.

“If I run, it will shake a lot and it will be very uncomfortable. Please be patient.”

And he started running at a fairly fast pace, but unlike me, who was gasping even after a little run, he didn’t slow down.

It was when I could see the outer gate leading into the mansion. Suddenly, I heard a strange cry, so I grabbed Anakin’s shoulder and turned my head.

A monster was flying towards us at high speed. Anakin couldn’t raise his sword because he was carrying me. unconsciously pulled out the gun from my arms.

And shouted to Anakin.

“Anakin! Turn around!”

Anakin immediately turned to my command, and with my legs tightly wrapped around his waist, I pointed the gun at the monster.

I pressed the hammer that stuck out, gripped the pistol firmly with both hands and pulled the trigger. Bang! At the sound, a magic sphere went out instead, of a bullet, but it was wrongly aimed.

Without a moment of regret, I pulled the trigger again. Bang! This time I also missed. I’ve never shot a gun in my life, it was only natural, so I gritted my teeth.

Please, please, please! If I don’t get it right this time, it’s over. I pulled the trigger one last time when it was almost in front of me. Bang!

The monster’s head exploded in front of my eyes.

Thank God. I’m really happy. My hands were shaking and I dropped the gun, but neither of us cared and ran again.

When we managed to reach the mansion, Anakin bent his tired legs, and I headed to the bathroom with my trembling legs while supported by the maids.

After a brief bath, I came out and suddenly there was a commotion downstairs. I looked down with my wet hair, wondering what was going on, and it was the Imperial Palace Knights.

“Marquis Misérian is urgently arrested on charges of opening the gate without permission and unlocking demonic monsters at the Academy Graduation Ceremony! Marquis, hurry up and get dressed!”

“There seems to be some misunderstanding, and I need to see His Majesty right now. I’ll explain it to His Majesty directly.”

“Carnival Misérian! The culprit who opened the gate with your fortune has already been arrested! How dare you want an audience with His Majesty when the gold coins you gave him in the yard were also obtained as proof!”

(QC/N: I think that’s his name. If I’m not mistaken + based on later sentences.)

The marquis gritted his teeth in response to the knights’ statements. He seemed to barely hold back what he wanted to shout.

However, knowing that any further fuss was meaningless, he changed his clothes and quietly followed the knights out the door. The attendants were whispering and stomping their feet.

Something was suspicious. The marquis was one of the academy’s biggest patrons. Of course, his support of the academy was not in the public interest.

That was because, in addition to opening up connections with people who are the talents of the country and could become powerful people in the future, he could also implicitly pressure them.

If he did so, he could permanently lose the sponsorship of the academy, the goose that lays golden eggs, so would he open the gate and raid the imperial palace?

The marquis was not such a reckless person, and there was no return benefit for the marquis.

The real culprit was different and he wanted to cover it up with the marquis. Since monster terrorism was not productive, the purpose may have been to eliminate the marquis.

The marquis had too many political enemies. Who would have thought of that, even if I tried to think about it, there were more than one or two.

I kept getting worried about the one that came out of the academy today and found Anakin and I.

It was as if my intuition was telling me that he was the culprit.

I thought about it until my hair was dry, but I couldn’t come up with an answer.

Since he’s the Marquis of Misérian with great resourcefulness, he’ll get out of it somehow. As I was trying to relax and lie down, I suddenly heard a knock on the door again. When the maid opened the door, the attendant, who had been carrying an Imperial Order, was guided by the head maid and came to me,

“Lady Misérian. There is testimony that you were in the academy at the time of today’s incident, is that true?”

“…I went there with a personal escort to watch the fireworks.”

“His Majesty has ordered you to attend the palace because he has some questions regarding the charges against Marquis Carnival Misérian. Please get dressed quickly.”

To be honest, I was scared, but at times like these shouldn’t make it obvious. I politely nodded my head, stood up from my seat and said to my maid.

“Tell Anakin to get ready for the palace.”

“…Are you going to enter the palace with a personal escort? The Imperial Palace Knights will escort you.”

“Aren’t they the ‘Imperial Palace Knights’? I feel comfortable with my escort.”

I asked the servant, who seemed somehow troubled, with a smile on my face.

“Am I not allowed to take my escort? I’m not a suspect anyway.”

“…No. The lord’s daughter can do what is comfortable for her.”

Anakin got ready and came out at the maid’s call. I got into the carriage and looked around the road leading to the Imperial Palace, but it was quiet as if everything had already been organized. As if they knew this was going to happen.

Did the imperial palace not notice something that even I could easily deduce? I suddenly thought of that People who want to get rid of the marquis, people who will not be harmed even if they open the gate, and summon monsters, people who know all of this and can get things sorted out quickly….

The real culprit is one of the royal family members. The emperor, the empress, the crown prince. Which one of the three is it?

The empress and the crown prince originally had a deep resentment towards the marquis. However, it’s impossible to exclude the emperor from the list of suspects, one of the emperor’s biggest political

opponents was the Marquis of Misérian. It’s been a while since they called a truce and held hands.

Why did he want to investigate when the marquis had already been determined to be the culprit? Why did he call for me? There were more than a couple of doubts that arose.

But now I couldn’t get off the carriage. Even if I fell, I couldn’t escape. I clenched my fists and hid my trembling hands.

“Get off, Lady Misérian.”

I got off the carriage and went into the room led by the attendant. When Anakin tried to follow in, the servant stopped him.

“His Majesty will be arriving soon. This is not a place for an escort to join.”

“But-”

“Lady Misérian, His Majesty will not be accompanied by a knight either. Please understand.”

I couldn’t be stubborn in saying that. Above all, now that the marquis was taken into the palace, I, the daughter of the marquis, would not benefit from refusing an imperial order.

Anyway, if anything happened, Anakin would run to me if I whispered even a little, so it was fine.

Alone in the room, I sat on the sofa, drank tea and waited. Looking around, it was closer to a bedroom than a drawing room, because there was a bed behind

After a while, the door opened.

“I see Your Majesty.”

When I finished speaking and looked up, the man at the door was not the emperor, but Alecto.