episode_0155

000

The time when the sun was at its zenith. The same time when Kleon and his party were acting to rescue Eustace in the back alley.

Detective Grey was walking the streets of the kingdom to complete the commission he had received from Layla. What Grey was following with his eyes was Sethos Tromayer, the younger brother of Defense Minister Percys Tromayer and Grey’s target of investigation. With each step he took, it could be seen that the kingdom’s people around him recognized him and greeted him. Sethos, as if accustomed to this, did not react to each one, but roughly raised his hand or nodded and went through the crowd.

“Indeed, he’s impressive. The prestige of Tromayer.”

A male voice came from Grey. A very quiet, mechanical tone. A voice so small that it would never be heard by others around, but it was clearly heard by Grey’s ears. Grey nodded and answered the words of `it` sitting on his shoulder.

“Sir Percys is quite an impressive person as a hero, but… Sir Sethos is also someone to be reckoned with.”

His usual voice. If so, from whom did the voice from before come?

`It` was a mechanical device in the shape of a mouse. Eyes made of glass, body made of brass. A wind-up key on its back. A tail made of iron wire. Powered by magic stones. Judging by its nature, it was similar to an automata, but no matter how you looked at it, it didn’t seem to have any combat ability.

“Suppression of the rebellion, huh. The incident where Sethos, who had been overshadowed by his brother, began to show his mettle.”

“That’s right. If it weren’t for Sir Sethos’s efforts, the owner of the throne might have changed by now.”

As the mechanical mouse said, Sethos was an unfortunate nobleman overshadowed by the all-too-brilliant light of Percys, who was hailed as one of the heroes of the nation. Even in the war with the Empire, although he did not have the Holy Sword, he assisted his brother and ran around the battlefield. As a rare pro-commoner member of the nobility, he also carried out cooperative operations with the Volunteer Army, but there was a legendary figure named Palanathea in the Volunteer Army. And the existence of `Resia`, the golden hero who achieved such great achievements as to surpass Percys and Palanathea, made Sethos’s image weak.

If he were to be buried in the backwaters of history in such a way, without being recognized for what he deserved, he might have felt a bit aggrieved. But Sethos simply assisted his brother, a senior official of the nation, and continued to play the role of a hidden contributor. This was because when Sir Percys led his soldiers to strike at the base of the remnants of the Empire, leaving the royal capital, it was Sethos who stopped the queen’s younger brother from raising troops to take the king hostage. He, who was a friend of the instigator of the rebellion and a long-time acquaintance, contacted the commander of the rebel army under the pretext of talking with him, and beheaded him on the spot before suppressing the rebellion through hired adventurers.

As a result of that incident, Sethos also received much praise from the people as a guardian of the kingdom on par with his brother, and the Tromayer family became the most powerful authority in the kingdom in name and reality.

“But the top student of the Magic Department of the Academy is saying that Sir Sethos has a relationship with the criminal hero `Albein`. It seems like he has thoroughly erased traces of his past lover… What do you think, Hermes?”

“Indeed. According to my calculations, I think the hero Albein and Sethos Tromayer are related by blood. If that’s not the case, there’s no need to specifically link the two and tell us to investigate.”

The mechanical mouse – Hermes answered Grey’s question like that, and Grey nodded as well. Because he was thinking the same thing.

Grey’s appearance, following Sethos while maintaining an appropriate distance, was truly that of a detective himself. But Hermes sighed from Grey’s shoulder.

“…If it’s this kind of investigation, you can leave it to me. You just have to wait at the office for the reports I bring.”

“A detective must run on his own feet. I’m too young to be an armchair detective.”

“…Remember that your body is not your own….”

At Hermes’s words, Grey stuck out his tongue and made a face, then watched Sethos enter the building.

“…The Great Temple. So, he’s meeting with the Pope….”

Grey, who had been near Sethos’s mansion since early in the morning, saw a temple knight visiting his house. Although she was unarmed, she wore a badge with the trinity symbol, the symbol of the Pope’s direct temple knights, on her chest. He tried to use Hermes to see if the two were having a conversation, but she simply handed him a scroll without a word.

After confirming the contents of the scroll, Sethos immediately threw it into the fireplace and burned it, and soon made preparations to leave the mansion.

“Wait, I’ll go alone from here.”

Hermes said that and climbed down Grey’s arm to his hand. Grey hesitated for a moment, then nodded and took out a reptile-like exoskeleton of the same brass color as Hermes’s body from his bag. With natural movements, he removed the original exoskeleton attached to Hermes’s body and replaced it with a new one. Hermes disappears as if blending into the surrounding scenery.

[Then, I’ll be back.]

After feeling the sensation of his invisible partner falling from his hand, Grey also went to the alley near the temple and concentrated. The magical passage connected between her and Hermes transmits what Hermes sees and hears to Grey.

Hermes skillfully avoids people’s feet and moves forward, confirming that Sethos goes to the front of the Pope’s office. After talking to the people guarding in front of the office for a while, the door opens and he enters. Hermes succeeds in entering the office by moving his feet in time with the timing when it was briefly opened for him.

The Pope – Holy Mother Eska was sitting at the desk, doing her work with a benevolent expression as always, welcoming Sethos.

Her clear sky-blue hair was tied up and styled differently than usual, and the Pope’s robes were also set aside, having taken off the cumbersome robe that was a bit of a hindrance for sitting and working. But the atmosphere emanating from her, and the undisguisable wave of divine magic, caused tension even for Sethos, and Hermes, who had a mechanical body.

“Your Holiness. May I ask why you have called me here?”

Sethos seemed to be a little uncomfortable with her, as he tried to get straight to the point after a brief greeting. In this country where royal authority and divine authority are separated, even if the Pope is the highest person in the Saint’s Blessing Order, the relationship between the two is not a superior-subordinate relationship but a horizontal relationship, so there is no problem with Sethos’s attitude. However, to quickly tell Eska, whom even the king is cautious when opening his mouth to, to get to the point may mean that Sethos does not have even a shred of respect for her.

“Why are you so unkind to me? Aren’t we comrades who fought together for the peace of the kingdom? And aren’t we still cooperating in many ways?”

Eska speaks as if a little sad, but Sethos answers without caring.

“That was more than 30 years ago. Now… We are cooperating, but don’t we have different goals?”

“…Hehe. Well, that’s fine. Today, I had you come here to deliver news that Sir Sethos will be pleased to hear.”

Sophia said that, leaned back in her chair, and opened her mouth. Her expression was truly happy, smiling brightly. Sethos, who felt a little uncomfortable with that, could only sigh.

Sethos had learned from past experience that when this woman makes this kind of expression, things are going the way she wants.

Regardless of Sethos’s reaction, Sophia opens her mouth.

“Be happy. I have news that you have a son.”

“… … What-”

At Eska’s words, Sethos made a face as if he suspected that his ears had briefly gone wrong. Then, he thought that Eska was joking and chuckled. But seeing that Eska’s face did not change, his face gradually hardened.

“About 20 years ago, the shrine maiden from a remote village with whom you ended your relationship… Setsuna, was it? She returned to her hometown and gave birth to a blond-haired, blue-eyed child.”

“Setsuna…!?”

Sethos unknowingly reacted to Eska’s words and repeated her name, then, with a `ha`, looked at Eska’s face with a sense of ‘oops.’

Eska was still smiling brightly, but with narrowed eyes, she was observing Sethos’s reaction as if it were amusing.

This woman – it was said that the Pope had eyes that could see through people’s hearts to some extent.

She must know what I’m thinking right now.

Sethos thought that and answered her, sweating profusely.

“…Thank you. Your Holiness. To think you would find my child for me without me even knowing.”

“That’s right. But, unfortunately, it’s difficult to meet that son of yours right now.”

Eska suddenly makes a regretful expression and speaks. With a slight exclamation and a sigh, as if she really regretted it.

Sethos instinctively feels it. This is definitely not a pleasant story. He could easily tell, from his long political life, that this woman was trying to use him as a pawn by conveying this to him.

But even so, human curiosity sometimes overrides reason.

“Why is that?”

With the painful sensation of his mouth being pierced by the baited fishing hook dangling in front of him, Sethos clenched his fist and asked Eska.

And. Eska smiles inwardly at the feel of the shaking hand and answers.

“Does Sir Sethos know the name of the hero Albein?”

“…? Albein…? Ah, is that the hero who was escorted to the royal capital a few months ago and put on trial? The one who harmed his comrades despite being a hero, and caused damage to the city by causing the Holy Sword to go berserk….”

Sethos said that, recalling the results of the trial that took place a few months ago. The trial itself was a formality, and the charges against the hero Albein were so clear that he didn’t feel anything even when forced labor was decided.

But. The problem is why her name is coming out of her mouth now. Doesn’t that mean that it has something to do with this?

“-Could it be.”

“That Albein is your own flesh and blood. His mother is Setsuna… She left for Elesia with Kuon, a clergyman from the same village, and lived there.”

The face of the girl who resembled Setsuna, whom he had met at his brother’s mansion a while ago, came to Sethos’s mind.

“… …”

Sethos couldn’t say anything. He had several answers he could give her in his head.

That alone does not prove that Albein is his child.

He could be a child she had with another man after she broke up with him.

But – even before he could say such a thing, he instinctively understood. That what she was saying was. An undeniable truth.

Setsuna. It was certainly he who kicked her out, but he couldn’t imagine her entrusting herself to another man.

She was a woman so dedicated that it was a waste for him. So, he didn’t want to drag her into the world of the nobility anymore, so he broke up with her as if severing ties –

“…God…”

Sethos unknowingly called out the name of God and covered his face. Eska was just smiling with crescent-moon eyes and mouth as she watched the scene. With her face in the shadows, backlit by the office window pouring in light, her expression was one of pure enjoyment.

“…Why, tell me this….”

“As Pope, I have only practiced the teachings of the Order. Isn’t connecting families who don’t even know of each other’s existence the very teaching of God?”

`What convenient words…`

Sethos clenches his fist tightly, takes a deep breath, and looks at Eska.

“How about it, do you feel like meeting him?”

“…Even if Albein is my own son. He broke the laws of the kingdom and became a criminal.”

“But the woman you abandoned must have raised him alone.”

“Keuk…”

Sethos barely suppressed his trembling fist at Eska’s words. If he had a sword, he might have pulled it out on the spot. This woman is enjoying watching him suffer.

All sorts of ominous imaginations continue to pop up in Sethos’s head. The younger brother of the Kingdom’s Defense Minister made an illegitimate child and kicked out the pregnant woman. And the boy born that way became a hero, but he caused the Holy Sword to go berserk and is now doing forced labor. That fact itself was a politically fatal weakness for Sethos.

If this woman, who hates him, uses this to threaten him –

“Well. That’s all I wanted to tell you.”

However, Eska smiles and speaks in a gentle voice as if trying to reassure him. With that, the tension that had been flowing in the room disappeared in an instant. Sethos made a face as if he couldn’t believe it for a moment as he looked at the Pope, but soon shook his head…. Nothing had changed. She was still holding onto this fact.

Sethos calmed his trembling body and bowed to Eska.

“Thank you for telling me this valuable news…. Your Holiness.”

“You’re welcome. As I said, I just wanted the peace of your family.”

Sethos turns and leaves the Pope’s office. Eska was still looking at his back with a smile, but the moment the door closed-

“Pfft-”

And, laughter burst out.

“Ahahahahahahaha!! Sethos Tromayer! His face was amazing…! He was so desperate to cut me down…!”

She laughed so hard that she leaned back in her chair, and after laughing heartily for a while, she seemed to calm down a bit as she sighed, “Haa…”

“…To think that I would find out about this while investigating that bug…. I feel a little better…. I should be grateful this time, Miss Kuon… Hehe…”

Just as Sethos hates her, she also hates Sethos. This was because there was a grudge between the two that could never be washed away.

That’s why Eska, who felt a little relieved to see Sethos’s despairing face, calls her aide in a gentle voice.

“Berastol.”

“…Yes, Your Holiness.”

The armored temple knight who guards her like a shadow reveals herself at her call.

She was the only person who could hear the sounds inside the office, even from outside the office.

“There’s a mouse.”

“…A mouse, you say?”

When Berastol tilts her head as if she doesn’t understand what she means, Eska looks at her with a smile. Then she opens her mouth-

“Outside the Great Temple, behind the stacked boxes in the east alley. A boy with gray hair.”

[Grey! Run away!]

The next moment, a lightning-like spear flew and pierced Hermes’s transparent body. Hermes, who sparked and crackled, was completely burned black on the spot.

“I’m in a good mood today, so you don’t have to kill him. However, I’d like to let him know what it’s like to peek into the Pope’s private life.”

“…Understood.”

001

Brestol uses transfer magic to move to the place the Pope spoke of in an instant. Although she is wearing heavy armor, her specialty, the chantless transfer magic, can protect the Pope no matter which direction the enemy appears from, and also never misses any of the Pope’s enemies.

The place she transferred to was the east alley. When she falls to the ground like lightning, a powerful shock wave occurs, blowing away the surrounding objects. She reveals a crazed glint in her eyes from the gap in the helm she wore on her head and looks around, but there was no sign of a boy there.

At that time, at the exit of the alley. Looking at the swaying hair, she once again uses transfer magic to catch up with the owner of the hair and grab the hair-

“Kya, Ack…!”

A girl screamed.

What she grabbed was not gray – but hair that was close to silver. And the owner was not a boy, but a girl. She was wearing a dress. A silver pendant around her neck. No matter how you looked at it, she seemed like a child from an aristocratic family, and she looked back at the full-body armored temple knight who had grabbed her with a terrified face.

“W, What are you doing…!”

“… …”

Berastol’s glint quietly watched her, then released her hand and bowed her waist.

“…I’m sorry. I was trying to catch a rat that had sneaked into the temple.”

“Are you saying I look like a rat!? You’re a temple knight directly under the Pope, right!?”

At the girl’s voice, which seemed to be quite angry, Berastol took off her helm and bowed even deeper. Her pink hair swayed and fell down with gravity, and the eyes of the surrounding people gathered.

“…I’m, sorry.”

“…That’s fine. I will tell my father about this and file an official complaint.”

The girl left Berastol in front of the temple and walked away with dignified steps. Berastol was filled with despair that she had not fulfilled her master’s orders.

And at the same time, she could not move from that spot for a while, with excitement that she might receive a `punishment` from her master.

002

“… … Haa…!”

Grey goes into the back alley, far away from Berastol, and quietly presses the button on the pendant. Then, magic sweeps through her whole body, and her silver hair turns back to gray. The dress turns into overalls.

“That was close… I didn’t expect her to transfer….”

“Ah. I didn’t expect the stealth camouflage to be detected either. As expected, the Pope is in a different class.”

Hermes, who had been destroyed by the Pope, was also able to safely escape from there thanks to having transferred his mind to the jewel of the pendant, which was a spare body, just before his body was destroyed.

“The Pope was more dangerous than I thought. And what happened to Sir Sethos was as expected, I guess…”

Grey strokes her chest, puts on her hat, and walks towards her office. The pendant sparkled as if agreeing with Grey’s words.

“But, there were more worrying words. She said they’re still cooperating. They don’t seem to be on good terms, but…. Is the matter that important that they’re burying that?”

“…Is that something we have to investigate too?”

“Yes. I could feel a faint aura of `dark magic` from Sethos. …It’s clear that he’s involved in something bad.”

“…How do you know?”

“Because I was created to prevent such things. Now. Let’s go back to the workshop. We need to replenish the damaged body and prepare for the investigation.”

At Hermes’s words, Grey makes a disgusted voice, like `euhee`, and walks down the street.

`Should I just switch to being an armchair detective?`

While thinking such convenient thoughts.