CH 110

Characters in this chapter:

Sapphiras Perfectio, 2nd son of the Earl of Aldridge

Percival Belisario, 3rd son of Margrave of Vanderwall on the Eastern Frontier

Aurora Steinfeld, daughter of the Duke of Bloomfield

Veritas Perfectio, 1st son of the Earl of Aldridge, Sapphiras’ former older brother

“Goodness gracious, what’s next after stealing credit, a false accusation? And then you go on to humiliate people with vulgar language, which is appalling.”

“What?”

When I surprised him, Veritas glared at me. No matter how much he glared, Veritas’ glare was no match for a magical beast rat.

“The rumours that you are the one who subjugated the demonic beasts in the royal capital, wasn’t that you?”

“……What makes you think that, that’s ridiculous.”

“I have evidence. Because I’m the one who did it.”

“Ha! What are you talking about?……”

For a moment, Veritas looked impatient, but as soon as I said that I was the one who subjugated the magical beasts, his expression mixed with superiority and contempt appeared. I guess he thinks I can’t do that. I think it’s time for him to change his perception of me. I can’t let him make that face forever.

“As I recall, the one who defeated the magical beast wore a black cloak, rode a two-headed black beast and wielded a black wand, right?”

I draw my wand and at the same time, drew a summoning circle.

“Come, Orthus!”

Orthus appeared from the summoning circle while roaring. The ferocious-looking phantom beast that suddenly appeared surprised even the knights, and immediately reached out for the hilt of their swords.

“Don’t draw your sword. That is his summoned beast. It won’t go on a rampage unnecessarily.”

On my behalf, Percival informed the knights that Orthus is not a dangerous beast. Despite his frightening appearance, Orthus immediately got down quietly and stayed by my side. Orthus is a good boy who listens to what I say.

“……And here. The black wand, you see?”

I wave the tricorn wand as if to provoke Veritas, and a glint of gold light gushes from the tip of the wand.

“Also, the black cloak is in the room.”

“None of that will prove anything. It was a subjugation in the darkness of the night. No one could clearly see the subjugator. Even the two-headed beast can look like that if it was two horses. Do you want to claim that you subjugated magical beasts with something like that? How lowly you are.”

“I’ll return those words to you in its entirety. This is not the only evidence. The magical beasts corpses should have been burned and disposed of……”

That’s right. The corpses were all burnt and left behind. How are you going to prove that you killed them?

Veritas thinks I have no way to prove it. That’s why he thought he could take credit from whoever had taken it down, but he’s not thorough enough. It’s true that Perfectio has a heroic tale from the past, so when it was said that Veritas had subjugated magical beasts, many people believed it. But the heroic tale itself is a lie to begin with.

“I can prove it. I wanted materials, so I hunted magical beasts. I went to sell the materials I got to a materials shop in the capital, but they suspected it was stolen because there was so much of it. I couldn’t get them to buy it in the capital. So I had no choice but to sell them to a material store in Vanderwall. After all, I can transfer, so it’s no problem for me to go back and forth between Oriens and the royal capital, right?”

When I emphasised the transfer, Veritas’s expression faded slightly, as if he had felt something. But you’re the one who brought up my transfer.”

“……Vanderwall again……you can get your stories straight as much as you want. That land in question is very friendly with you. It is said to be the shield and sword of the kingdom, but if you support someone like you……”

Percival twitched and I patted his arm. It’s true that he looks hateful and extremely unpleasant, but it’s not worth Percival’s effort to deal with him. Leave this to me.

But still, I thought Veritas was a little smarter, but I didn’t think he was this stupid. He has no idea of the importance of Vanderwall in this country. Moreover, the Belisario family has a strong family unity, unlike the Perfectio family. He doesn’t understand at all that if his disrespectful remarks about Percival reaches the ears of Margrave and his wife, it will be a big deal. Even though the Earl’s family is a decent noble, he doesn’t know that. You’re a stupefyingly third-rate aristocrat.

“I think you understand, but the people of the territory pay taxes to the lord of the land.”

“What’s the point of that?”

Good grief. Probably because he couldn’t think of it, he came up with such things as light capture, shallow planning and reckless robbery. My ancestors managed to hide in the chaos of the Calamity Dragon, so they have never been caught out until now.

“That’s why, if you’re a decent merchant, you’ll have to record what you bought and how much you bought and how much you sold it for. I’ve sold materials to a materials shop in Oriens a lot of times. It wasn’t that long ago, so if I went to the material shop and asked them to show me the ledger, you will know that I brought in the materials during the rampage period of the royal capital. If the shop doesn’t have anything to hide, I think they’ll show me the ledgers. If the evidence is still not enough, I can go around to each of the places where the magical beasts were killed, if you want. I’m sure there were traces of the corpses being burned, so the Second Order of Knights should be aware of it. I remember where I hunted and what I hunted. If you say that you also subjugated magical beasts, of course you remember where you worked, right?

“Th-that’s……”

He can’t say anything, because he didn’t subjugate the magical beasts. Veritas, how would you argue?

“If that’s the case, the Duke of Bloomfield, who is supporting Sapphiras-san, will take the responsibility of corroborating this.”

A dignified voice echoes.

I noticed that there were quite a few people gathered around. It was because I had unintentionally blocked the corridor by summoning Orthus. Those who don’t care about this situation and want to pass through here are quite fierce. The wave of people that had stagnated because of me quickly cracked open and Miss Aurora appeared. This is an unexpected reinforcement.

“Miss Steinfeld…….”

“If Sapphiras-sama has been falsely accused and even deprived of his achievements, wouldn’t that mean that our ducal household has been insulted? Of course, the honour of the Earl Aldridge’s family is also at stake. In order to be fair to both parties, let’s have the kingdom appoint a priest from the central temple to act as a witness.”

Aurora’s words caused a stir in the surroundings.

Veritas has completely lost his colour. He was supposed to be trying to bring me down, but he never thought he’d be the one to be hanged.

“……If Aurora-sama says that much, does that mean that it really wasn’t Perfectio-sama who defeated the magical beasts in the royal capital?”

“No, it can’t be……the Perfectio family are the heroes of the past, aren’t they?”

“But I heard that the Second Order of Knights, who are guarding the area around the royal capital say that there is someone else who subjugated the magical beasts……”

The suspicious eyes of the students, who have begun to rustle, turn to Veritas. Veritas, with his high pride, would not be able to stand this situation. But I’m not going to let it end like this.

“……Then again, you’ve been relentlessly insisting that I blew the dragon flute, but could it be that the one who blew the whistle was actually Veritas? After all, you’ve been making an enemy of me, haven’t you? Did you deliberately cause a commotion at the academy to bring me down?”

“No! I didn’t play the dragon flute!”

“Hmm? Then where were you during the wyvern riot?”

“I was in the dormitory!”

“Who can vouch for that?”

“! You can ask the……dormitory superintendent and he’ll tell you I was in my room.”

“But it’s not impossible to sneak out after you’ve entered the dormitories, isn’t it?”

In fact, whether he blew the flute or not, there’s no doubt he was trying to trick me. Even if Veritas really didn’t do anything, without someone to back up his testimony, there will be those who suspect him. I’m sure the story will spread throughout the academy before its true nature is revealed.

Veritas, his fists clenched, is shaking and trembling. He’s been making a fool of himself a lot, he must be simmering and boiling over.

“Aah……come to think of it, there’s an oversized crawler in my room right now that eats everything. Isn’t the 4th dormitory building a bit careless? I’ve been kidnapped in my sleep before and I’ve learned my lesson, so as long as my room is vacant, the crawler stays in there. So if someone were to enter my room without permission, they could be in a lot of trouble……they might get away with just losing an arm or leg or two……but will it be ok?

“!”

Veritas gasped as his face stiffened.

melon: Haha! That was so satisfying.