Ch.291291. Six Clock Hands (11)

-Whoosh.

Despite activating the sacred art, instead of becoming energized, only the sound of air deflating could be heard.

Erica knew what this sound meant. A state where divinity no longer dwelled in the flesh. Michelle had reached a condition where no power or healing could affect her fallen body.

How long had it been since they lost Goden, and then Senia? Now another comrade had departed from this world.

That sound was proof of it.

-Whoosh.

-Whooosh.

But she wanted to deny it.

Of course she wanted to deny it.

Though she screamed with desperate determination, Erica remained there, repeatedly trying to infuse divinity into Michelle.

Unable to let go of her lingering attachment, even after Aris had left, hating Junon.

“So this is where you were, Miss Erica.”

Had someone heard her desperate screams nearby? Someone entered the cave.

The man who stepped into the cave opened his mouth in lamentation, apparently having seen Michelle’s condition.

“So that worthless bastard went through with it after all. Not knowing his place.”

It wasn’t a voice that should have been reaching her ears. Because he wasn’t someone who should have been here in the first place.

Kelnur, the scribe of the Tembris Party.

As a non-combat role, he hadn’t been suitable for the operation Michelle had proposed.

Though Kelnur was asking her questions, Erica didn’t respond regardless.

It was such a shocking event. The death of a comrade—a reality difficult to accept.

For Erica, who couldn’t let go of Michelle before her eyes, she was in such a state of deep resentment that it seemed she wouldn’t hear anything Kelnur might say right now.

But this was her only chance.

When Erica showed no reaction, Kelnur frowned deeply and bluntly grabbed her attention.

“What Junon did wasn’t surgery at all.”

“…What are you saying?”

“Exactly what I said. He didn’t perform surgery—I’m telling you he directly killed Michelle.”

At the words “wasn’t surgery at all,” her brain sparked. Her head turned instantly and her ears opened.

Erica’s eyes flashed as they met Kelnur’s. Kelnur, now certain that Erica was in a state to listen to him, continued.

“I suspected him from the beginning and kept watching. I didn’t tell you directly, but that guy had many suspicious aspects.”

Suspicion about Junon. Suspicious behavior.

Kelnur said it was suspicious from the start that someone with insufficient capabilities would take on the role of bait.

And then.

“I saw everything. What that bastard did to Michelle under the pretense of mana circuit surgery!”

He brought what appeared to be the remains of herbs he had used and showed them to Erica.

At that, Erica’s pupils dilated. Within them, flames seemed to momentarily engulf everything.

***

‘Now you’re finally listening to me, Miss Erica!’

Kelnur excitedly ran his mouth, confident that he could now remove the filth clinging to the rare gem that was Tembris.

Kelnur wasn’t an official member of the Tembris Party. But as a scribe, being solely responsible for the paperwork of this formidable party made him likely to be targeted by nobles.

So Goden had nodded at Erica’s suggestion and accepted Kelnur, who, though fallen, could at least take care of himself.

However, not being an official member was still a point of dissatisfaction. He was merely a scribe, yet why was that man, who seemed completely useless as a combat force for the party, an official member?

He couldn’t understand it.

Compared to the other members whose skills were growing day by day, Junon seemed pathetically useless, taking on a vanguard role with just one unimpressive unique magic. That position absolutely didn’t suit Junon.

No. Rather, it seemed it wouldn’t be strange if the roles were reversed and he himself replaced Junon in that position.

In a place already of different caliber, having trash like him mixed in seemed to lower his own dignity as well.

Therefore, Kelnur had spread rumors to make Junon leave Tembris, whether voluntarily or involuntarily, and had escalated issues whenever incidents occurred.

However, Tembris never expelled Junon. That was what bothered him.

But now it was fine.

Soon, he would be definitively expelled from Tembris.

No. He might pay an even greater price.

Erica herself would punish him for the karma of not stepping down from the ridiculously excessive positions of Tembris Party leader and Imperial Army commander.

“I saw everything. What that bastard did to Michelle under the pretense of mana circuit surgery. I confirmed every single thing he did from beginning to end!”

He used deadly poisonous herbs on Michelle. Feeding deadly poison to someone already dying. Is that surgery?

“I was suspicious from the start. Could someone like him perform mana circuit surgery that would require someone of Professor Dahlia’s caliber? No. It’s obviously impossible. So what did he do after sending the two of you away?”

He adds speculation.

The kind of approach a incompetent person would choose, one that would avoid responsibility.

“Because he caused trouble and couldn’t handle it. If he could at least claim that she died during treatment, he could deceive others with that three-inch tongue of his, however clumsily!”

He exaggerates by adding another assumption.

To make the punishment as severe as possible.

“The fact that he gave separate instructions to Charlotte and Cain, who were following him, to leave this place was to reduce the number of witnesses. If Senia had been here, she would have noticed quickly. He did the same thing here, eliminating witnesses. Then… can’t you guess what his goal is now?”

Erica is listening intently.

Kelnur, laughing inwardly, drives in the final nail.

“It’s the downfall of the Tembris Party.”

Unable to bear his inferiority complex, he harbored dark intentions to ungratefully destroy this party.

He abandoned and tried to avoid the heavy weight of responsibility that a commander should bear.

That’s how Kelnur drove in the nail.

Some of it was lies, exaggerations, and mere speculation.

But whether it was true or not, Kelnur didn’t care.

“It was all planned. This is the result of not accepting his own inferiority and being jealous and envious of others!”

The fact that this trash who didn’t know his place needed to be punished remained unchanged.

The final step.

Anticipating judgment, he reveals Junon’s location.

“Junon is currently up on that hill path.”

It was time to dispose of the trash.

***

Drip. Drip.

Blood falling beneath the blade. It was obvious whose blood it was.

The man collapsed lifelessly against a rock showed clear signs of having his chest pierced by a blade.

Aris, taking a sharp breath, asks with a trembling voice.

“E-Erica… what on earth are you doing…?”

Until he turned around, he thought it wouldn’t happen—even though he himself had been aggressive, even using magic recklessly, he didn’t think she would go as far as killing him.

After all, he had been their comrade.

But Erica’s answer was cold.

“Why? What’s wrong with killing someone who deserves to die?”

“What…? You… what are you saying?”

“He’s the one who ruined our party. Senia died because this incompetent human tried an absurd operation. Charlotte went berserk again, and somehow disappeared with Cain, following Junon’s instructions. And finally, he directly killed Michelle. Isn’t that, reason enough to die?”

In the sacred artist’s already-inverted eyes, a streak of flame was flickering.

It was a look of distrust, as if she wouldn’t believe anything Junon said.

But even setting that aside, this was wrong.

“Reason to die… that’s, that’s absurd!!”

It’s murder, after all.

The act of stabbing and killing a person with a knife.

“It’s not too late. We can still save him now. No matter what he did wrong, it’s right to let the law punish him, isn’t it?”

Trembling, Aris told Erica they should save Junon.

But Erica didn’t seem to have any intention of doing so.

“What are you talking about? This bastard should have been killed long ago.”

“What are you…!”

“Kelnur told me everything. From using poisonous herbs on Michelle instead of performing surgery, to everything about Cain, Charlotte, and Michelle.”

“What you said earlier is all just speculation. Some of it is exaggerated…! Interpreting it as you please is…!”

Yes. Reason to die? That was nonsense.

Some of it was speculation, and there were absurdly many exaggerations.

Aris tried several times to persuade Erica before Junon’s last breath.

But…

-Thud.

“Ju-Junon!”

The cold, stiff corpse collapsed, vomiting blood.

Rushing over to check his pulse, it was already after his heart had stopped.

And then.

-Clop, clop.

The sound of horses began to be heard.

Not one, but two horses.

The owners of these approaching hoofbeats from the bottom of the hill path were none other than.

“What… is this? What’s going on…”

“Se-Senia…”

Senia, whom they thought was dead. And Cain and Charlotte who had brought her.

-‘Senia will… be back soon. Charlotte might not be visible right now, but he’s helping her recover! And Cain is…!’

He thought it was a lie. But it was too meaningful, as if he was certain that Senia was alive.

And now, one more person before his eyes.

“Ju-Junon!!!”

-‘They will definitely return. The three people I sent to Schütt, and Michelle’s condition…’

Michelle, whom they also thought had died, was standing right there.

‘Everything… was true…’

Junon had never lied, from beginning to end.