episode_0215

‘Awning Stone, Earning Stone… .’

As Sargela said, I was heading to the academy to find an investigator named Earningstern, and strangely, I frowned at the name of Earningstern that lingered in my head.

Why is this name lingering in my head? Why does this name keep coming to mind? Was he someone precious to me? Could this be someone related to the distorted voice that was bothering me?

No, no. I was sure. It’s definitely a name I’ve never heard before, and a person I’ve never met. Even if I didn’t know anything else, I was sure of that much.

So it was even weirder. So it was even more frustrating. It was so unpleasant to not be able to get the name of a being that had nothing to do with me out of my head.

“Ha… .”

I didn’t really have any hard feelings toward that investigator.

just… . When I picked up a pen to do an assignment, when I was stuck and couldn’t write a single word for hours, the only feeling I had was to vent my anger on paper.

It was so frustrating and overwhelming, and there was no way to solve it, so all I could do was get annoyed. To put it simply, he was just a fool.

“Are you okay?”

I shook my head and said as Jin’s voice came from next to me.

“That’s it. It’s just because there’s something that bothers me. You don’t have to worry about it.”

“If you don’t mind, I will help you.”

He said he would help… . I don’t know how I feel, but how helpful would it be if I asked someone else to help me?

After thinking for a moment, I sighed and shook my head.

“It’s really okay. It will be resolved soon anyway.”

okay. This crazy frustration will eventually be relieved when I meet that guy who is called Earnings Stone or something. The distorted voice that echoed in my head must have been like that.

… Unlike the investigator named Earningstern, the problem is that we don’t know who the owner of that distorted voice is.

No, it’s done. Let’s not think about it. It’s a problem that has no answer anyway, and thinking about it just makes my head hurt.

“… Is that so?”

Jin nodded at my words and took a step back, and I sped up to get to the academy before thoughts filled my otherwise empty mind.

“I can see it over there.”

As we arrived, the front door of the academy was, of course, tightly closed, and someone was guarding the front door.

Fortunately, that someone was someone I knew very well.

“Grandpa!”

“Sir Germa… ?”

This is Grandpa Germa, who was once my swordsmanship teacher.

The old man, who was standing upright with his huge sword stuck in the ground, probably heard Jin and I’s voice, and opened his eyes.

“Um… ? Princess… ? Lord Carter?”

Grandpa looked at me and Jin in turn with an expression on his face that said he didn’t understand why we were here.

“I heard you went on a trip, wasn’t it? Why, why here… .”

“I couldn’t go. On the day I tried to leave, the rebels attacked and I was left stranded.”

“That… . ha… . God, why are we experiencing this ordeal… .”

I understood my grandfather’s feelings, but I didn’t have time to go along with them right now.

I went in front of my grandfather and tapped his arm and said,

“Grandpa. I’m a little busy right now, but can you open the door?”

“Phew… . yes. Of course, all you have to do is open the door. But before that… . This.”

Grandfather ripped off his cloak and wrapped it around my waist.

Ah, now that I think about it, I tore my dress with my own hands because I was running so fast. I forgot about it because I didn’t have time to pay attention to the dress.

“If you go to the supplies room on the second floor of the main building, there will be some remaining school uniforms, so it would be a good idea to leave your torn dress there and change into your school uniform.”

“Thank you, grandpa.”

“Whatever, it’s just an old man’s nonsense. Well then, I will open the door now.”

The old man smiled faintly at me and put his hand on the tightly closed door of the academy, and light leaked out from the door.

The light that leaked from the door scanned the grandfather’s body as if checking something, and then opened of its own accord with a heavy sound.

“Thank you. I’m busy so I’ll just go.”

“Princess.”

I was about to go straight inside, but I stopped for a moment and turned around when I heard my grandfather’s voice calling me.

“Why?”

“I don’t know what the princess is trying to do. I have a vague idea that it is the right thing to do. However, please do not overdo it.”

Please don’t overdo it… . That’s a difficult request.

I thought about what I was going to do in the future and smiled bitterly as I answered.

“――I’ll try my best.”

After hearing my answer, my grandfather looked at me for a moment and nodded slowly.

I smiled vaguely and turned my back on his actions, which seemed to indicate that he would trust me. As I was about to enter the academy, a thought suddenly occurred to me and I stopped for a moment.

If you want to find someone in the academy, you just have to ask someone in the academy.

“Grandpa. Can I ask you something before you go?”

“Yes. Anything.”

“I heard there is an investigator here named Earningstern. Do you know where it is?”

“Awning Stone… . hmm… . Ah, yes. I remember it. I definitely remember it was on the 3rd floor of the west building.”

“West Building 3rd floor. West Building 3rd floor… . good. Thank you, I’m really going now!”

I turned my back and started walking away.

“Jin.”

“Yes. Princess.”

“I’m going to go see Earnest Stone or something. Jin, please go to the supplies room Grandpa told you about and bring me some school uniforms to change into.”

Jin bowed his head at my words and headed straight to the main building, and I headed to the west building.

After passing through the main building passageway where there were no students left and entering the west building, I went straight up to the third floor.

As my grandfather said, the guy named Earningstern must have been on the third floor. As soon as I entered the hallway on the third floor, I felt someone’s presence.

[――. ―――?]

[―, ――.]

Not one, but two? Well, that’s it.

I walked in the direction where the voice came from and opened the tightly closed door to the classroom.

As the door opened with a rattling sound, the eyes of the two people in the classroom naturally focused on me.

“… Why is the princess here?”

“Ugh… . uh… . This, that… . What is this? ?”

The two of them, who were talking in the center of a room full of documents, blinked and became as hard as stone as soon as they saw me.

These idiots are investigators… ?

No, no. There must be something I don’t know about. I shook my head and opened my mouth.

“Which of the two is Earnings Stone?”

It was the man who raised his hand at those words.

“Uh… . I am.”

“Really? Then only you remain and you go out.”

“Yep. That, senior. Good luck.”

At my words, the woman blinked, scratched her head, nodded, bowed her head, and left the classroom.

After confirming that she was leaving the classroom, I closed the classroom door.

The man who called himself Earnings Stone cleared his surroundings and stood up and lowered his head.

“Hmm. My name is Terra Earningstone, a royal investigator. Please forgive me for not knowing you would visit and not preparing anything――”

“Ah. It’s enough to say hello. Because that’s not why I came.”

“Is that so? Then may I ask what brought you to see me?”

When Earningstone said that, I looked straight at him and said,

“I’ll ask you straight. Charlotte La Rochelle. Do you remember?”

“… Princess, that’s… .”

“No need to say much. remember? Can’t you?”

Erningston, who hesitated for a moment with his face set as if speechless by my words, answered with a sigh.

“I remember. How could I forget my mistakes.”

“Mistake… ?”

“You framed the other person as the culprit based on several suspicious circumstances, and as a result, you caused irreparable harm to the other person. If we don’t call it a mistake, what else should we call it… .”

Erningston laughed bitterly, shook his head, and continued speaking.

“So this time, I was preparing in various ways to relieve her of the injustice of being accused of being a criminal… . The situation was difficult and I had no power to do anything, so I just talked with my junior about Lady Charlotte until the rebellion was over.”

“… … .”

” Still, seeing as the sound of the siege weapons hitting the shield has stopped, it appears that the rebels have either retreated or are undergoing maintenance――”

From the looks of it, Earningstern seemed to have no idea what was going on outside.

Well, how can we expect a story about a mutiny happening and not long after the battle begins, mud comes flooding in, and the rebels who run away from the mud are accepted?

… It’s true, but when I think about it again, it’s really nonsense.

“Um… . As I was talking, I ended up talking about myself too much. Sorry.”

“No, it’s okay. Before I talk, I need to tell you a few things.”

“Yes?”

I summarized what had happened so far to Earnest, who blinked.

The disaster of the rebels and the dark red mud, the rebels fleeing the mud, and after combining all the information, it turns out that Charlotte is the owner of the mud that caused the disaster and the source of all evil.

As my story continued, Earningstern’s face became more and more distorted, and at the end, he burst into laughter with a face filled with despair.

“Huh… . If all that is true… . The reason why the reasoning I’ve done so far kept going around the same spot and couldn’t get out of it, and why the reasoning continued strangely even though it didn’t make sense, it all makes sense… . ha ha ha… . crazy… . double? No, it’s a triple or quadruple trap… .”

Seeing Erningston laughing while holding his forehead, I clapped my hands loudly.

Earningston, who was startled by the sound, looked at me with a blank face.

“It’s not over yet. Come to your senses.”

“Ah… . Yes. yes… . sorry. I was so shocked that I think I lost my mind for a moment… .”

Perhaps because he still hadn’t come to his senses, Earningstern frowned while pressing his temples.

“Anyway, the reason I came to you is because I need what you have.”

“You mean something I have?”

“They say you have something like a fetish. Is that right?”

“Casting… ? fetish… . ah. Yes, there is. Please wait a moment.”

Earningstern randomly dug through the mountain of documents and pulled out a small box from under the pile of documents.

“This is it.”

After saying that, Earningstern carefully opened the box, and inside was an ominous-looking black-purple piece of paper.

Seeing that anyone could tell that it was a fetish, I nodded and held out my hand. Earningstern closed the box and handed it to me.

Is this everything you need? . After thinking about it for a moment, I remembered that the strange feeling left by Earningstern had not yet resolved, but I decided to ignore it.

Because that’s not what’s important right now.

“Okay. Then I’ll just go.”

“Please wait a moment.”

Earnings Stone suddenly stopped me and took out a notebook from his arms and handed it to me.

“Why are you giving this to me?”

“This is a notebook containing information about Charlotte La Rochelle, her whereabouts, and other suspicious information. Since it no longer has any meaning to me anyway, I hope it will be of help to the princess and crown prince… .”

I blinked for a moment at those words, and although I felt nervous, I accepted the notebook Earningstern handed me.

And the moment he held that notebook in his hand, he felt the strange feeling that had remained in Earnings Stone disappearing.

For a moment, I was startled by that feeling. I slowly blinked and opened my mouth.

“… okay. I’ll write well.”

I said that and put the notebook in my arms.

I felt like I had regained something I had been missing, the last missing piece of the puzzle.