Proof

Proof

At the mention of rumors from the Academy, I had no choice but to keep my mouth shut.

No matter how I thought about it, the rumors circulating at the Academy were nothing but unfavorable.

‘This is giving me a headache.’

As I was pondering where to begin explaining and how to deny it,

Contrary to my expectations, Sien’s father slowly released my hand and ended the conversation.

“Let’s discuss this matter later.”

It seems he’s reluctant to speak with Sien present.

Thinking it’s for the best, I nod in agreement.

Sien, after reading the atmosphere for a while, pulls me towards her and says,

“Father, please don’t torment Lord Deren too much.”

“……”

At that one statement, he looked at us with a somewhat complicated expression.

Then he closed his eyes tightly and sat down as if collapsing in his seat.

Seeing this, I thought the situation was becoming even more troublesome and sighed inwardly, when Sien pointed to a nearby chair and said.

“Lord Deren, please sit down. Although he didn’t say it, your father would have said the same.”

Finding it difficult to respond, I just nodded and sat down, and Sien smiled at me and said.

“Then I’ll bring some refreshments, so please talk comfortably.”

“Please do.”

“Yes.”

As I watched Sien leave, I was about to open my mouth to start talking about the Heaven God Cult.

But before that, the head of the Fer family spoke first.

“It seems you’ve come because of the Heaven God Cult. Am I right?”

It seems he already knew the reason for my visit.

I nodded at his question and met his eyes.

He looked straight into my eyes and asked one question.

“Why do you want to fight a battle that’s not only a meaningless sacrifice but also one where you can’t expect any gain?”

A fight with no gain, yet still wanting to do it.

Thinking that others who don’t know the original novel would indeed see it as meaningless and unprofitable.

I answered rather directly.

“It’s something that someone has to do.”

“Why is that?”

“It’s because their true identity is that of demons.”

His body freezes at the mention of demons.

It seems he hadn’t even anticipated the possibility that the Heaven God Cult could be demons.

As I silently observe his reaction, he fiddles with the handle of his sword and responds.

“Evidence?”

To this question, I hand over the magic book prepared by Espin as evidence and continue speaking.

“Here it is.”

He takes the magic book I offer and slowly begins to open it, reading through it one by one.

I watch this, and when he has read through a fair portion of the magic book, I slowly open my mouth.

“The reason I came here is to make a proposal.”

“What is it?”

Hearing this, I smile calmly and explain the reason.

“Please draw out an executive from the Heaven God Cult. At least a bishop or higher.”

He continues reading the magic book and expresses a doubt to me.

“If I draw them out? What can you do?”

“I plan to capture them alive.”

At the mention of capturing them alive, he stops reading the magic book and looks at me.

He chuckles, shakes his head at me, and says.

“That’s impossible. Their power is far stronger than you imagine.”

It seems that while negotiating with the Per family, they demonstrated the power that the Heaven God Cult possesses.

I pondered his reaction for a moment before taking out the mace.

“No, it’s possible.”

Then I showed him a small part of the bishop contained in the mace and explained the reason.

“I’ve actually already done this before.”

He probably didn’t expect that I would have captured another bishop.

He looked at me with somewhat surprised eyes, then soon sighed and said to me.

“I’m not sure where to start, but I now understand that you certainly have the ability to do so.”

“Yes.”

“However, speaking as a father-in-law, it’s also true that I’m not pleased with my son-in-law doing such things.”

“……”

“As you said, it may be something that someone has to do. But that someone doesn’t have to be you. Don’t you agree?”

“That’s…”

It was difficult to argue against that.

To be honest, just knowing the original novel wasn’t reason enough to help Rumi.

Moreover, there was no reason to defeat the Heaven God Cult.

‘Of course, by now, bad blood has accumulated so much that I could say it’s because of that.’

If I handed over Rumi, it would be possible to offset that bad blood through a deal, so it wasn’t an appropriate answer.

Just as I was hesitating, finding it difficult to give an exact reason,

Sien, who had brought snacks, answered on my behalf.

“There’s no need for it to be Lord Deren, but that doesn’t mean it can’t be Lord Deren.”

“… Sien.”

“Father. I don’t want to see Earl Deren put in shackles because of me.”

“……”

Sien’s father wrapped his forehead as if Sien’s words were somewhat troublesome, then sighed and said.

“Even so, we can’t put your future husband in danger.”

“It’s alright. If Earl Deren falls into danger, I can save him.”

“……”

Seeing Sien speak somewhat triumphantly, he sighed deeply again, closed his eyes, and then.

As if this whole situation was quite troublesome, he said to me.

“To be blunt, I’ll refuse. Even though he’s still a prospective son-in-law, I can’t put my son-in-law in danger no matter what.”

“Father!”

Sien protested on my behalf.

He waved his hand as if it wasn’t worth listening to and stood up from his seat.

“Don’t do anything unnecessary, focus on your academy life, study hard, and then marry Sien and live happily.”

Sien hesitated for a moment, wondering if those words weren’t so bad, but soon gathered her thoughts and protested again.

“Father! As I said before, I…”

He looked at Sien like that, and then cut off Sien’s words in the middle and said.

“Can you keep saying that even if Deren dies?”

“That, that’s…”

“You can’t, can you? You just want to take Deren’s side, you don’t understand Deren’s beliefs.”

“……”

He looked at the quieted Sien, then turned his head to look at me and continued speaking.

“As I said before, you don’t need to handle such matters. No, rather, you shouldn’t do it. You have too many things on your back to do it.”

Looking at him speaking more like a father than Deren’s own father.

He sighs and gestures to me.

“The inspector Espin you saved… and recently, you’ve also formed a deep connection with Delia while saving the Herdi family.”

I couldn’t help but pause at those words.

I never expected those two names to come up.

As I suppress my surprise and harden my expression, he continues to speak while looking at me.

“As a father-in-law, I’m quite angry, but I understand that those two are also people you need to continue to take responsibility for. No, if it’s not you, there’s probably no one else who can take responsibility for them.”

“……”

“But what if you, who bears such responsibility, were to die? How do you plan to resolve the situation without you?”

… Of course, I wouldn’t be able to resolve it.

Even if we consider Delia from the Herdi family.

In Espin’s case, the moment I die, all protection will disappear.

‘I wish the Lercier Family would continue to help, if I had my way.’

But that’s just wishful thinking.

If I die, they would probably cut her off without a moment’s hesitation.

As I see these conclusions naturally coming to mind, I let out a hollow laugh, then slowly open my mouth.

“There’s no need to resolve it. Because I won’t die.”

At those words, he smiles bitterly and says.

“I know your abilities are exceptional. But as always, there are no certainties in this world. Even the most powerful archmage has been assassinated, and the sword saint died of illness. I think it’s too early for you, who hasn’t yet attained that level of power, to give such a definitive answer.”

It’s unavoidable that he doubts me.

The only official information about me would be what I did at the Academy.

So in the eyes of Sien’s father, I probably have the image of a promising Academy student who created an excellent modification formula.

‘Of course, that image might have been shattered when I showed them the captured bishop earlier.’

It’s unclear how I caught him, or if I did it entirely on my own.

It was a situation where they couldn’t help but be suspicious.

So while I was contemplating what could be done to resolve this,

Suddenly, I came up with a decent idea.

‘Instead of trying to persuade with words, why not just fight?’

That might convince them.

So a duel… no, that might be going too far.

At the last moment, I came to my senses and thought of an alternative.

‘It might be better to show them the magic I’m using.’

If I demonstrate my magic to the magicians within the Per family, they should be somewhat convinced.

So, deciding to try that, I slowly opened my mouth.