Chapter 126:Release the Dog (4)

Over the past eighteen years, Keldric had become increasingly certain of one thing.

The Church was a mountain. One that couldn’t be dared to be touched.

It wasn’t just a major premise limited to the Empire, but it was the same even when looking at the entire continent.

The Church was absolute. Going against it wasn’t just a matter of getting screwed over.

“I’ll ask only the main point. Do you know what this is?”

So, when he held out the flame emblem to Baron Gottfried.

“…How did you come to possess this?”

Keldric was certain. Baron Gottfried knew more than he thought.

“Do I have to tell you that?”

“This is, no… You wouldn’t happen to be…”

Baron Gottfried kept glancing at Keldric with a serious face. In his eyes, bewilderment was a weight, shaking his pupils wildly.

Keldric waited silently for an answer, still displaying the flame emblem. In the meantime, glancing to the side…

“…..”

Alyssa was there, alternating between looking at Keldric and the disc with a serious expression.

She was lost in thought, rolling her eyes for a while, and then froze when she belatedly met Keldric’s navy blue eyes.

Thanks to the advice of the demon, Keldric already knew that Alyssa was somehow connected to this flame emblem.

However, there was only one thing he needed to know. Was Alyssa in league with those who possessed this flame emblem, or had she been in the past?

‘I don’t know.’

Alyssa was greatly agitated, but at least Keldric couldn’t be sure of anything right now.

Keldric turned his gaze back to Baron Gottfried.

If he couldn’t be certain about Alyssa, it was better to focus on Baron Gottfried, whom he was at least certain knew something.

“Baron Gottfried. I’ll ask again. Do you know this emblem?”

“That’s… the symbol of the Emberflame School.”

Baron Gottfried twitched his eyebrows as he answered. This time, Keldric was slightly taken aback.

He expected at least some hedging or lying, but the answer came out too easily.

“The Emberflame School… I heard it was a prominent magic school of the Xenovella Academia.”

Baron Gottfried continued to speak casually. As if there was no need to hide it, nor any intention to do so.

Thanks to that, Keldric’s eyes were even more filled with bewilderment, but he barely managed not to show it.

“Prominent magic school ‘was’?”

“Because it’s gone now. I heard that the Xenovella Academia expelled the Emberflame School. They didn’t exactly ban the ideology, though…”

Baron Gottfried trailed off. His eyes rolled warily for the first time.

Keldric vaguely sensed that Baron Gottfried had no intention of telling him everything.

It wasn’t exactly an action to find fault with, as it was already something to be grateful for that he had spilled this much, given that he was a defeated and captured prisoner.

“Tell me if you know anything more. It’s quite important.”

“Lord Keldric of the Bellaf Family, was it? Lord. Don’t underestimate the world too much. Surely, there must be something in return for something, wouldn’t you agree?”

Baron Gottfried said with a slight smile. Keldric felt a bit annoyed.

However, he couldn’t harm a captured prisoner, especially a noble who was a lord.

If he did, not only Keldric, but also Lord Lothar, and even Baron Yaben, would be criticized by the public.

“…Speak.”

“First, allow me to pay the price for the defeat in the territory war at my discretion—”

“I’ll pretend I didn’t hear that. You have to say something reasonable.”

However, if Baron Gottfried was this greedy, Keldric had no choice but to be firm.

Keldric had come all the way here solely to take everything from Baron Gottfried. It wasn’t an exaggeration to say so.

In fact, that was what would happen. He would be taking away Baron Gottfried’s position and land.

Position and land were everything to a lord. If those two were taken away, he was no longer a lord. He was just a somewhat noble neighborhood old man.

“Lord Keldric. I’ll overlook the fact that you beat me up before. But if you come out with such a closed-minded attitude, it will be difficult for me, and for you too.”

“There’s nothing difficult about it. You lost in the territory war, and the price will be heavy.”

“At most, I’ll just have to pay some compensation, right? It stings to think about fattening the belly of that guy, Devanu Mikesh, though…”

It seemed that Baron Gottfried didn’t realize the seriousness of the situation.

Keldric wasn’t sure if he really didn’t know, or if he was pretending not to know. It was the second time Keldric wasn’t sure about something.

“Baron Gottfried. Now that we’ve come this far, I’ll be honest. You will soon be stripped of all your positions.”

“…What does that mean?”

Baron Gottfried had a dumbfounded expression.

He really didn’t know anything. At least, that’s how it seemed now.

“The mages of the Emberflame School, you hired them, didn’t you?”

“Th, that’s right. That guy approached me first. He seemed like a useful guy at a reasonable price, so I didn’t hesitate to hire him.”

Baron Gottfried’s mouth opened easily.

It wasn’t because Keldric threatened him or did something, but purely because of the anxiety about his position being threatened.

“Then, the ones you sent to Bogenberg?”

Keldric asked with a seemingly serious expression. Baron Gottfried blinked silently for a while.

As if he was bewildered by yet another unknown story.

“…Bogenberg? Why are you talking about that place?”

“Do you really not know? Or are you pretending not to know?”

“No, I don’t know everything in the world. I’m not some academy scholar.”

Keldric was speechless. It was annoying, but it was true.

A single hypothesis sprang up in his mind like a fountain.

What if, just what if….. even Baron Gottfried didn’t know the identity of these so-called Emberflame School?

‘Does that make sense?’

Before turning that hypothesis into certainty, Keldric thought about it once more. Was it possible? Well, it was possible.

Those who worship demons disguise themselves as the Emberflame School and approach Baron Gottfried, who knows nothing.

Baron Gottfried would have been happy to hire a fairly decent mage. Mages are valuable manpower on the battlefield.

If so, it made sense that he didn’t know about the Bogenberg incident.

Baron Gottfried wasn’t that deeply involved with the so-called Emberflame School in the first place.

“It’s hard to trust your words.”

Keldric didn’t believe it right away. No, he couldn’t believe it.

Baron Gottfried.

Truly a cunning man.

Looting the land of a neighboring lord who was practically an enemy? Everyone did that.

However, the problem was that he had targeted Carlton Village as well.

Keldric intended to protect those behind him.

No matter what, he couldn’t accept that Jacob had died as a result. He didn’t want to accept it either.

“Ah, no. Lord Keldric. More than that, let’s continue the story we were just talking about. What about my position?”

“It will be stripped. Your territory will become unclaimed, and your title will be revoked.”

“What is this…!”

Baron Gottfried seemed to be unaware of the identity of those called the Emberflame School.

And Keldric knew roughly what their identity was.

‘Is it worth hiding?’

Rather than being worth hiding, was it information that had to be hidden?

No. After thinking for a moment, Keldric shook his head.

In terms of the rarity of information, it was rare, but it wasn’t a trump card that needed to be hidden.

“Baron Gottfried. I’ll just get straight to the point. The Emberflame School mage you hired is a heretic.”

“…A heretic, you say?”

Baron Gottfried’s face was filled with shock. His complexion, from which all the blood had drained, was terribly pale.

At this point, Keldric had gained half certainty. Baron Gottfried didn’t know their true identity.

It couldn’t be considered foolish. Keldric wouldn’t have known either if it hadn’t been for the demon’s advice.

If the story went this way, things became a little complicated. Keldric’s brow furrowed slightly.

If not Baron Gottfried, then who ordered Zamash and Jacober, who had carried out the affair in Bogenberg?

Keldric thought of Jacober, who was being interrogated in Bogenberg.

Because he was an idiot during the day and regained his sanity at night, the interrogation was delayed, and he had left without hearing the desired answer in time.

By now, useful information would have been extracted. It was up to the Count of Bogenberg to use it.

Moreover, to be a little cold-hearted… weren’t the events in Bogenberg and Lord Ortwin’s affair none of Keldric’s business?

That was ultimately a problem for the Count of Bogenberg to consider.

Keldric was asking questions to repay the favor he had received. He was also personally curious.

“They are heretics. At least, I can say that they are presumed to worship an evil being.”

“Th, that can’t be… Then, I hired a heretical mage?”

“That’s roughly how it is.”

Baron Gottfried’s face was filled with despair. It wasn’t a fussing reaction.

Keldric, watching it, felt both gratified and somehow uneasy.

What did it mean to be involved with heretics? It meant simply being screwed.

Perhaps, given his position, Baron Gottfried wouldn’t be burned at the stake by the Church.

However, if things continued like this, there was a very high possibility that he would be confined to a monastery for the rest of his life in the name of atonement.

That was a good thing. It was a direction that Keldric found satisfactory to conclude.

He didn’t like the fact that he was maintaining the tenacious life that had caused Jacob’s death, but it would be quite a sight to see him suffer from unwanted asceticism and abstinence in a monastery.

However, the reason why the uneasy feeling didn’t go away was…

‘The Emberflame School…’

The Emberflame School.

He hadn’t found out anything about their identity.

At best, he only knew their name and the story about the academy they had previously belonged to. Even that was practically just knowing their name.

The Emberflame School of the Xenovella Academia. That was the external identity used by those who had this emblem engraved on their bodies.

They had been expelled from the academy for some reason, but the reason was unknown.

Still, finding out their external identity was a decent harvest in its own way, so Keldric soothed his disappointed heart with it.

“There’s no need to hear any more stories.”

Keldric got up. Alyssa, whose expression had been stiff, also stood up.

As the two of them showed signs of leaving, Baron Gottfried even forgot his dignity and grabbed Keldric’s trouser leg.

“L, Lord Keldric! You can intervene in my treatment, right?! Pl, please spare my life! I swear to God, I have never abandoned my faith for a moment!”

“That’s a matter for the Church to judge. Let go of this.”

“I beg you! I’m innocent!”

Apparently, Baron Gottfried was afraid of the hot plate that the Church would prepare.

It wasn’t unreasonable. Burning at the stake was usually the answer for those involved with heresy.

Water knows the answer, but fire burns away even the problem that seeks the answer.

Then you wouldn’t know the answer, but if the problem disappeared, there was no need for an answer in the first place.

“You said you were innocent?”

“Th, that’s right! I didn’t know! I really didn’t know!”

“It would be best not to say that in front of me.”

There was little chance that Baron Gottfried would be burned at the stake.

After all, he was a noble of a territory, and the Emperor and Count Lassau’s faction were backing him.

However, Keldric had no reason to stop Baron Gottfried’s extreme thoughts. Rather, leaving him alone to tremble in fear would be a greater revenge.

“Did Jacob die because there was a reason for him to die?”

“Ja, Jacob…? Who’s that…”

“He was the most precious relationship I had.”

And it was what you took from me.

Keldric roughly shook off Baron Gottfried’s hand and immediately left the room.

Alyssa, still with a serious expression, followed him.

As they walked through the castle in silence, Keldric cautiously spoke to Alyssa.

“Alyssa.”

“…Yes, Lord Keldric.”

“I think we have something to discuss, just the two of us. Discreetly.”

Alyssa swallowed hard.

Keldric’s attitude was more serious than she had ever seen before.

“…Please, come to my room.”

Keldric followed Alyssa as she led the way.

It wasn’t that he greatly suspected Alyssa. He just needed to know, little by little.

What Alyssa was hiding, and even what her connection was to the Emberflame School.