Ch.148147. The Culprit (1)

# 147. The Culprit (1)

-Pitter! Patter!-

For some reason, the dark clouds in the sky had not cleared even after the battle ended.

And now, rain was falling from those dark clouds.

The atmosphere had become gloomy because of it…

‘Or perhaps not…?’

More accurately, the already gloomy atmosphere had become even more depressing because of it.

The incredibly somber atmosphere of this place.

It was certainly fitting for something called a funeral.

‘He’s trying to act like it doesn’t affect him…’

Raicle, dressed in black mourning clothes, stared at his father’s memorial portrait.

He was trying his best to pretend he was fine, but it showed on his face.

What else could he do?

Raicle barely swallowed his rising tears as he took care of his mother, who was weeping sorrowfully.

‘How pitiful…’

His father, Ray, had sacrificed himself to save all the powerful warriors on that battlefield.

He had made the best decision in a situation that could have easily resulted in total annihilation.

Ray’s heroic death.

It was a death worthy of applause from the entire nation, and indeed, many people applauded his decision and mourned his passing.

And of course, I felt the same way.

‘Really… that was a close call…’

Although Ray’s death was deeply regrettable, this was the best outcome.

If he had tried to save everyone halfway, they would have all died instead.

Ray had noticed the moment he saw Bael and immediately made the right decision.

He truly possessed the wisdom and decisiveness befitting the position of a Knight Commander.

“Isn’t it magnificent? To sacrifice oneself for everyone else…”

“I think so too.”

As the Emperor said, it was indeed a magnificent death.

It was the honorable death that any warrior who fights for their country on the battlefield would wish for.

‘The Empress died like that too… though somewhat differently…’

Though somewhat different, it was similar in that she had sacrificed herself for the country on the battlefield.

“I wish I could die like that too…”

“It’s still too early for that.”

“Far too early.”

The Emperor, who had shown no reaction at first, displayed a completely different response when she spoke up.

“I’m just saying, just saying. I have no intention of dying before you ascend to the throne, no matter what happens.”

“Don’t die even after that…”

She said those words in a gloomy voice while looking at Raicle.

She seemed to have felt many things watching Raicle grieve over his father’s death.

“Yes, I’d prefer if you lived until this country falls, if possible.”

“Are you telling me to live forever?”

“I’m just saying.”

If the Emperor were to die at this point when Ray had just passed away, it would truly become dangerous.

Fortunately, there shouldn’t be anything that could cause the Emperor’s death now.

In terms of ability, he was equal to or greater than Bael, so it would be fair to say that dying in battle was impossible.

‘Only Bael at his peak condition could manage it.’

Since Bael had the spatial constraint of needing to be in his own kingdom to maintain his peak condition, there shouldn’t be any problems as long as no one thoughtlessly invaded that place.

And that’s also why Bael doesn’t participate in battles directly.

No matter how powerful a Demon Lord might be, without being at peak condition, he couldn’t gain the upper hand against the Empire’s strongest.

‘But how did he know…?’

However, this time Bael had come to the battlefield in person.

He clearly did so because he knew that the Emperor and Merlin weren’t nearby.

Bael isn’t one to enjoy gambling.

This incident was all the more meaningful and ironic because he was someone who valued his own life and his country’s existence above all else.

‘There are two possibilities.’

Either Bael truly took a gamble, or someone told him about the situation.

It had to be one of the two.

But considering what I knew about Bael until now, the probability of the former was close to zero.

So someone must have informed Bael of the fact…

‘But who?’

I did have a few people in mind.

People who abandoned the Empire when the Emperor committed suicide and Merlin died of natural causes in my previous life, causing the Empire’s power to plummet.

The names of such people came to mind.

As I was going through those names one by one, her voice reached me.

“Do you… know something?”

It seemed she had a rough idea of what I was thinking.

Of course, given the location, I couldn’t answer her question right away.

“Let’s talk about it later, somewhere else.”

“Yes… that would be better.”

Today was not the time for such conversations, but rather a time to bid farewell to a hero who had sacrificed himself for the country and for us.

I looked at the portrait of the brave and benevolent hero and thought:

‘I hope you’re happy there.’

The high position of Knight Commander and the expectations of countless citizens.

The pressure and responsibility that came with that position and those expectations must have been difficult for him.

Still, he lived up to those expectations as if to prove himself.

Just like the ideal hero in our imagination.

***

The day after the hero’s funeral, the sky remained dark.

That sky seemed to reflect the current atmosphere of the Kainis Empire and Raicle’s heart.

I looked up at that sky as I made my way toward the academy.

‘Not much of the vacation left…’

The summer vacation had only about a week left.

Perhaps because of all the major events, the vacation had passed by too quickly.

Heading to the Persian Kingdom to form an alliance, the second Battle of Eden, and Ray’s funeral.

Quite a lot had happened to impact the Empire.

“Hey! Hey!”

“Huh…? What?”

“Why don’t you answer when I call you?”

“Ah… I was just lost in thought for a moment…”

It seemed she had been calling me for a while, but unfortunately, I hadn’t heard her right away.

Aelin, whose words had been ignored several times, was looking at me with a pouty face.

“What is it?”

“What was that thing you mentioned before?”

“What thing from before?”

“At the funeral, what you were talking about with the Princess. When she asked if you knew something.”

“Ah…”

Aelin had been behind us at the time, so she must have overheard our conversation.

“Well… do you know why that Bael guy doesn’t appear on the battlefield in the first place?”

“I do know that.”

This was actually common knowledge applicable not just to Bael but to all Demon Lords, so it was a famous story that everyone in this world knew.

“But this time was different, right?”

“That’s right.”

“I was just talking about that, nothing special.”

“Do you know why it happened!?”

“There are only two possibilities anyway.”

In truth, all I knew were the names of those people from back then.

And I wasn’t even sure if they were really the culprits.

“I don’t know for certain either.”

“You don’t know?”

“Yeah.”

Still, just in case, I told her about what had happened then and the names of those people.

Because of that, she would probably be gathering information, either by herself or by having Riel do it.

And I was also trying to collect information through Lilith.

‘But…’

Unfortunately, even Lilith didn’t know who had provided that information.

She didn’t even know that Bael would come to that place.

It seems it was Bael’s independent decision.

“And it’s not like we can do anything even if we know.”

“You’re the Princess’s boyfriend.”

“So what?”

No matter what, I’m just one of many students.

If someone like me were to say that the culprit might be among the high nobles, no one would believe it.

“Of course, it would be different if the Princess said so, which is why I already told her.”

“So the Princess isn’t coming today?”

“What are you talking about…”

“With everything that’s happened, she might be busy.”

“She’s still a student, you know.”

It was still too early for her to be involved in such matters.

And knowing the Emperor’s personality, he wouldn’t entrust her with work at such an early stage.

Of course, in terms of ability and mental strength, she was more than capable.

“She’ll probably be here soon… actually, she’s already here.”

Two female students were waving at us from quite a distance away.

They were wearing training clothes provided by the academy and even had hats on, but I could immediately tell it was her because of the enormous magical energy unique to mages.

And the person next to her was probably Riel.

I headed toward them with Aelin, and she greeted us with a bright expression.

“You came quite early?”

“I had nothing else to do. More importantly, about what we discussed before?”

The one who answered that question was Riel.

As I expected, Riel had investigated on her behalf.

“Among the people who knew we went to the Persian Kingdom, there were a few that you mentioned, but other than that, there’s not much to go on.”

Riel then listed those people’s names.

Indeed, they were people who had betrayed the country when the Empire was struggling.

But there was one strange point.

“None of those people are mages, right?”

“That’s right, they’re all ordinary people. Why does it matter if they’re mages?”

“It’s important.”

Unlike Riel who asked me why it mattered, she already seemed to know the reason.

“The demon race doesn’t have things like phones, right?”

“Ah… it’s a communication issue.”

“So they probably used magic or an item to communicate…”

Ironically, most of those people were either office workers or nobles with no connection to magic.

So the possibility is…

‘Who did it for them? Who? In the first place… someone who could… huh?’

Along with that possibility, I realized something.

Even if magic was used, it would need to connect from our country to the capital of the Babylon Kingdom.

We can’t even get close to that area in the first place.

And there are no items that can connect over such a long distance.

So magic would have to be used, but there are very few people who can use such high-level communication magic.

In the Kainis Empire, it would be limited to someone like Merlin.

‘But that doesn’t mean Merlin is the culprit.’

Saying Merlin was the culprit was less believable than saying the world would end tomorrow.

It was that unrealistic.

Then it means the culprit is not from our country.

I voiced this thought.

“I think we might be looking for the culprit in the wrong place.”