episode_0012

“Aria… ?”

Aria averted her gaze from Eugene, who was looking at her with a mixture of bewilderment and faint anger.

‘I’m sorry for disappearing without a word, Eugene. It was my fault… Please don’t hate me.’

I knew he would be looking for her after she disappeared without a trace.

And in the meantime, I’m sure you were even more worried because such a noisy incident broke out.

‘… But I also like the way Eugene looks so angry.’

Even I thought it was a tight fit… but what do you think?

Rather, it was Aria who harbored the desire to keep Eugene’s various sides hidden from everyone and keep them to herself.

“Master Julian! Are you okay!?”

“Everyone, make sure the safety of the VIPs is your top priority!”

“Is anyone injured or in need of medical attention?”

Behind her, servants, including the knights of the Dustin family, rushed in through the wide open banquet hall doors.

They ran to where the heirs of the family and the northern children were gathered.

At this, Julian opened his rabbit eyes as if surprised, but then smiled as if everything was okay.

“Thank you, Floris Youngae. Thanks to you, I was able to enter the banquet hall.”

A man checking the situation at the end of the long line to see if there was any remaining danger.

The Knight Commander of House Dustin approached Aria and bowed his head slightly in greeting.

To those who were unable to enter due to being blocked by a barrier that was presumed to have been installed by the warlock in advance.

Because Aria personally dismantled the barrier, allowing them to enter.

“I just did what I had to do, so no thanks are needed.”

At this she waved her hand lightly.

I didn’t want to hear useless words of gratitude from the Knight Commander whom I was meeting for the first time.

More than anything, I didn’t want to be seen talking to another man in front of Eugene.

“But Youngae, there is a problem that needs to be addressed.”

“Ha… What is it?”

“About this man that Young-ae took out of the dungeon without permission.”

The commander looked down at Aria with a cold gaze, then lifted up the man holding the back of her neck with one hand.

His limbs were cleanly severed at the lower joints.

There was a clear trace of the bleeding area having been roughly cauterized with fire.

“Why did Young-ae, who was just a guest, enter the dungeon without permission? Also, why did you make the prisoner who was being held by the Dustin family look like this?”

When Aria first encountered them, she was walking around with prisoners floating in the air using levitation magic.

At the time, the situation was so urgent that I couldn’t ask about it, but it was clear that it was something that needed to be asked about now.

“You said you were the Knight Commander of the Dustin family, right?”

“Yes, that’s right. What’s the problem?”

“No, but I think it would be a good idea to re-examine the security system. Don’t you think it’s too lax now?”

The Knight Commander looks upset at the sudden provocation.

Aria coldly sneered at him.

Instead, this time Aria tilted her head and asked.

“Do you know what the first priority is when allowing an intruder into a noble’s mansion?”

Ensuring the safety of the Gaju family? Repelling the intruders?

“Of course that’s important, but it’s not everything. So what else do you think we should do?”

Aria continued speaking softly, as if referring to a student.

“It’s to prevent prisoners from escaping from prison.”

In case an emergency occurs and the prisoner succeeds in escaping.

Because he will hold a grudge against the person who locked him up and cause an even bigger accident later on.

The Knight Commander, who was responsible for the safety and security of the Dustin family, could not help but object to Aria’s assurance.

“We, the Knights of House Dustin, do not make such elementary mistakes. Prisoners never escape.”

“Oh my, you’re talking so well when the banquet hall is already empty.”

“… If you are deliberately beating around the bush to avoid questioning, then please stop.”

Aria looked at the knight commander who was glaring sharply with an expression that said, “How can someone be so pitiful?”

“Go to the basement before you question me. I wonder how you can still be so confident.”

“… What on earth are you talking about?”

“Ha, do you really think that the intruder was only targeting the banquet hall? After causing such a commotion?”

“No, really…?”

Aria coldly rebuked the knight commander, whose face turned pale as if he had imagined a certain situation from her words.

“When I got there, the basement was already breached. They were trying to get the prisoners out.”

“That can’t be! Not only did they breach the banquet hall, but they couldn’t have breached the dungeon as well… .”

“There will be a corpse left in the basement as evidence. I killed him. The reason the prisoner was left in such a state was because he rebelled after that.”

“… … .”

“I just did what you were supposed to do… Well, do you have anything else to say?”

Aria laughed at the Knight Commander, who eventually chose silence and stopped questioning her further, as if she found him indifferent.

After that, she turned around and spoke to him without even looking at him.

“Ah, do as you please with that prisoner. Just kill him, or cure him and save him. He was originally a human you were keeping, as you said.”

Aria passed the Knight Commander and thought to herself.

‘Well, it’s not a complete lie.’

It was true that when I was trying to leave the prison with the prisoners I had tortured, an intruder barged in.

I just changed the order of events.

If she hadn’t been there, the prisoner would have escaped while everyone in the banquet hall was distracted.

Aria’s expression hardens coldly as she thinks about the future that might have gone according to the will of the Demonic Cult.

But she quickly relaxed her expression and ran towards Eugene, who was still looking at her with a slightly angry, but worried expression.

‘Still, I’m really glad, Eugene. This time, you won’t make such a sad expression.’

Well… apart from that, I committed a mistake.

After a while, as planned, she was so angry that she ended up looking like a puppy with her tail and ears drooping.

***

As time goes by.

The raid incident has come to a close, but the results have left an unpleasant feeling that cannot be said to be good or bad.

It was a good result in that there were no casualties, only wounded or lightly wounded, despite the surprise attack.

Well, after going through something like that, they couldn’t stay there forever, so they each returned to their own families.

The meeting, which was the original purpose, had already been concluded.

Conversely, the bad outcome was that all the attackers inside the banquet hall were eaten by the tentacles, regardless of life or death.

Because of that, the loophole for obtaining information disappeared into the maze.

“The words Shinkyo and Mashin that the guys occasionally uttered during the battle. After comparing the results of the interrogation of the spy we captured earlier, we found out that the mastermind of the attack was an unknown group called Mashinkyo… but that’s all.”

Julian sighed as if his head was hurting as he was blocked in front and behind.

Above all, since the incident occurred at Dustin’s mansion, he, as the heir to the family, must have had twice as many worries as others.

“If I had known this would happen, I should have investigated the spy from the Demon Church that I caught beforehand more thoroughly.”

Julian kicks the ground as if he is angry.

“She recovered from the wounds that Floris Youngae inflicted on her… but she completely lost consciousness, perhaps because of the aftereffects. Anyway, that woman is real!”

He ground his teeth as he thought of Aria, but… I was in a position where it was difficult for me to take either side.

It wasn’t just because they were close friends, but because both of them had a point to make when it came to judging who was right and who was wrong.

“Sigh… .”

Julian also seemed to know this fact, as he stopped complaining about Aria any further.

Instead, I kept sighing deeply.

‘I certainly wish I could get some information about the Masin Church. I can’t just let them wreak havoc in the North like this.’

But no method came to mind.

“Eugene! I wondered where you went, but you were here?”

“… Even a tiger will come if you call it.”

Then, like a puppy that smelled something, Aria came to me and found where I was.

At this, Julian muttered to himself so that no one could hear.

“I have something to say, is that okay…?”

“What do you want to say? Right now?”

“Yeah! Oh, Prince Dustin, can you excuse me for a moment? It’s a private matter.”

Aria politely apologized, but… .

Julian, who usually looked down on her, would never have obediently accepted such a request.

“Me? Why? Don’t you think about leaving me out of our family’s mansion, and why don’t you just get out of here? Okay, that’ll do.”

“… You, you’re not as tactful as I thought. When your fiancée tries to talk to you, don’t you usually just move away? Did you put a metal plate on your face?”

“We haven’t even finished our conversation yet, so shouldn’t you have put off your business? Oh, is your fiancé the type that keeps you from talking to your friends? Wow… Just imagining it makes me hate her.”

After that, the two stared into each other’s eyes in silence.

For some reason, I couldn’t just intervene, so I watched and swallowed dryly at the scene where it felt like electricity was flowing from my eyes.

… But Julian, since when did he stop talking to Aria? Did something happen between the two of you while I was away?

I wanted to ask, but unfortunately, I didn’t feel like it was the right time.

“… Okay. Well, it’s something I don’t really care about hearing. I’ll give you special permission to be there. Consider it an honor.”

Surprisingly, it was Aria who raised the white flag first.

I was slightly surprised by that fact, and let out the breath I had been holding in due to the tension that was even higher than during a battle.

“Why are you two like that? If you two get along well, there’s nothing wrong with it.”

As soon as they faced each other, the sight of the two engaging in a war of nerves was a headache.

I am making this suggestion out of concern that this will continue to happen in the future.

““I hate it.””

The two of them have the same serious expression on their faces, like twins.

It was only at times like this that I saw their breathing become so tight that I began to suspect that they were being rigged.

What should I say, it seems to me like you two could get along? Am I the only one who thinks so?

“Okay, let’s put that aside for now. So, Aria, what do you want to talk about?”

“Yeah, that’s it… I figured it out.”

“Find out… What?”

Her words, which were like a question and answer, made me tilt my head, and Julian frowned as well.

At this, Aria took a deep breath, puffing out her already large chest as if choosing her words.

I wonder how important this topic is that they are taking so long to talk about it.

“The next target of the Demon Church is… the Academy.”

… Oh, I see.

Sure, this is a bit confusing.