39.2 Monologue of A Certain Marquis 5
“Agreed.”
“I understand.”
“Wait a minute, I just realized that you guys might just be exaggerating this matter a little bit too much. I mean, it’s still only a probable revelation, right? One without any proof or weight behind it, right?”
Bates-dono suddenly added. However, from his expression, I could surmise that it wasn’t that he doubted the authenticity of the revelation. It was probably just his distaste over the fact that things would become too strict for him.
“―― Four years ago, my daughter did something completely unbelievable. She snatched gems right in front of me and smashed them apart. At that time, I was worried whether there’s something wrong with her, but ever since then she has never acted like that again, so I put the matter away from my thoughts. Still, I always wondered what caused it. It is only when Lord Goldberg arrested Baron Geyson – the one who personally gifted those gems to me – from his territory due to the violation of illegal magic tool control law that I understood what happened.”
The duke recounted the incident that happened four years ago to him, looking straight at Bates-dono unswervingly.
“After that, I had others examine those gem fragments and found out that a terrifying magic formula that would eat its wearer’s mind was hidden in it. Hearing that, I immediately questioned my daughter whether she knew of that matter or not. However, she had no idea about that magic formula and only destroyed it because she felt that the gem was dangerous. In short, her action at that time is purely… based on her own intuition. And this time, it is likely that what she did tonight was the same thing as that time. Although you may think of me as an overly doting father by stating this, I really believe that we should not disregard my daughter’s remark. I think we should raise our vigilance.”
The duke stated his opinion honestly, still staring at Bates-dono to convey his sincerity, belief, and seriousness. I myself also agreed with the duke’s opinion. After all, raising one’s vigilance would not bring you any trouble and might prevent future trouble. Furthermore…
“―― Four years ago, a swindler entered my house and tried to trick my wife into handing over the Saint’s Tiara to them. That person even went as far as using a magic tool that converted one’s life force into mana in order to trick us. That magic tool is really dangerous since it doesn’t have a limiter installed in it. After that, I asked my subordinates to investigate that magic tool and its origin. Alas, the trace went cold. Anyway, in my opinion, there is no way that the event that happened to me and the duke are unrelated, especially considering the source and timeline. Someone must be pulling the string behind this.”
“That was why we told every house that received the Saint’s Ornament to raise their vigilance. So a similar incident won’t happen again. Anyway, after he finished dealing with that matter and warned all of us, Lord Goldberg then returned the tiara at the end.” Count Greenwell added, causing me to nod in agreement.
“Thanks to that swindler, my house was in complete chaos at that time, and I judged that this matter was too much for me to handle on my own. That’s also the reason I had yet to find a breakthrough about the perpetrator behind this incident. In the end, I could only rely on various guesses and hypotheses according to the evidence I managed to gather so far.”
After saying this, I proceeded to divulge the conclusion I came up with after investigating various scattered clues I unearthed, “Additionally, I found that the people who invested in Geyson were all small-time figures. He had been selling those dangerous magic tools on that scale of operation, yet when I investigated at that time, I discovered there’s not much money involved on the research side, which I find strange. So, I conclude that some big shot nobles must be the one who backed him in secret.”
“Perhaps, the real culprit wanted to set me up as that ‘Big shot noble’. That should be their intention from the type of magic formula etched on that gem they gave to me.” The duke muttered with an irked expression on his face and I looked at him sympathetically.
“Additionally, Geyson who was arrested vanished from his cell – a cell that should have been tightly guarded. And now, though the investigation that’s led by General Crimson is still ongoing, we have yet to find another lead to this case.”
Yes, that Geyson indeed just vanished from his tightly guarded cell just like that. And up to now, I still had no idea just what kind of method he employed to escape from such a tightly guarded place.
“Maybe he used some sort of lost magic that has yet to be discovered to escape. For example, a magic tool to manipulate space? I had investigated the cell, and I don’t think he simply vanished from his cell like that, so magic tools of some sort must be used. Furthermore, when I investigated, I detected a strong trace of demonic pulse that should not exist in a normal human. Its density alone is comparable with the demonic pulse of the demon race that was recorded in ancient legend.”
Count Greenwell stated, his tone clearly irritated.
“Magic tool that manipulates the human’s mind… magic tool that robbed one’s life force… Vanished Geyson and then my daughter’s actions. With all these factors, as well as the report from the grand temple, His Majesty judged that the demon king’s resurrection is close by. So, he sent a decree to continue our preparation in secret, appointed my daughter as the saint and judged Geyson as part of the demon race.”
The duke sighed as he continued, now lamenting, “I personally do not want to blindly believe that my daughter is a saint, but I have no way to refute the fact and what she showed me either.”
“According to the legend, the saint will receive her oracle when she grows into adulthood. If, just an if, Miss Katrina is really the saint―― then we absolutely cannot let her show up with the Saint’s Ornaments, which has yet to regain its function. Thus, His Majesty ordered us to research a way to revive the Saint’s Ornaments, yet… even after four years of research, we have yet to find the clue to revive it.”
Count Sphene heaved a sigh as he lamented about the grim result of their research.
“―― If what Miss Katrina said really comes true, there’s a high chance that Bates-dono will be the one who restores the Saint’s Ornaments to its prime state. In that case, that’s even more reason for us to protect him.”
“Please wait a minute! I haven’t even had a vaguest idea how to do that yet. Aniki and Count Greenwell are equally brilliant researchers as I am. There’s a chance that it’s not just me who needs the protection.”
Indeed, it was just as Bates-dono had said, Count Greenwell and Count Sphene were also people we couldn’t afford to lose. After all, together, the three of them were the three most prominent researchers Serendiaz Kingdom currently had.
Everyone had to be protected.
“Bates. Our research institute is right inside the castle, as is the Saint’s Cane and Tiara, which is placed inside the treasure vault. Your place, on the other hand, is loosely guarded. Furthermore, though we did establish your store as an independent institution to bait the demon race that has never appeared on the surface until now, this kingdom also cannot afford to lose you.”
“In conclusion, we will have to prepare more powerful escorts for the three of you. I’ll immediately propose this matter to General Crimson and His Majesty tomorrow. I think you should have no problem with this, right, Bates-dono.”
In the end, everything was decided with a single sentence from the duke. So, although Bates-dono was clearly dissatisfied with that, he couldn’t complain either since the other party was a duke and he… was not.
“―― Well then, let’s prepare a trap to protect our kingdom from the demon race.”
◇
Kevin had already been waiting for me when I returned from the evening party. It was time to hear his report about what Theodore did today in my office.
Although I could already guess the general situation from Bates-dono’s story, I had yet to know about the matter of him being conned by Luke-dono in an argument… It seemed that Theodore had finally snapped out from his relaxed state thanks to that event.
Still… Dear me, I wonder from whom did he inherit that easygoing and never get discouraged attitude from?
Well, then again, I was really glad that he finally realized the importance of his status and the duty that came with it. Really, my son’s growth was something that couldn’t be underestimated.
And I hoped he could get along with the other children after this.
After all, the one who would carry the duty to protect Miss Katrina – the Saint – might be one of them, the child of the same age as her. Though, naturally, if possible we – the adults – should prevent such a situation that will endanger our children’s life from happening.
39.2 Monologue of A Certain Marquis 5
“Agreed.”
“I understand.”
“Wait a minute, I just realized that you guys might just be exaggerating this matter a little bit too much. I mean, it’s still only a probable revelation, right? One without any proof or weight behind it, right?”
Bates-dono suddenly added. However, from his expression, I could surmise that it wasn’t that he doubted the authenticity of the revelation. It was probably just his distaste over the fact that things would become too strict for him.
“―― Four years ago, my daughter did something completely unbelievable. She snatched gems right in front of me and smashed them apart. At that time, I was worried whether there’s something wrong with her, but ever since then she has never acted like that again, so I put the matter away from my thoughts. Still, I always wondered what caused it. It is only when Lord Goldberg arrested Baron Geyson – the one who personally gifted those gems to me – from his territory due to the violation of illegal magic tool control law that I understood what happened.”
The duke recounted the incident that happened four years ago to him, looking straight at Bates-dono unswervingly.
“After that, I had others examine those gem fragments and found out that a terrifying magic formula that would eat its wearer’s mind was hidden in it. Hearing that, I immediately questioned my daughter whether she knew of that matter or not. However, she had no idea about that magic formula and only destroyed it because she felt that the gem was dangerous. In short, her action at that time is purely… based on her own intuition. And this time, it is likely that what she did tonight was the same thing as that time. Although you may think of me as an overly doting father by stating this, I really believe that we should not disregard my daughter’s remark. I think we should raise our vigilance.”
The duke stated his opinion honestly, still staring at Bates-dono to convey his sincerity, belief, and seriousness. I myself also agreed with the duke’s opinion. After all, raising one’s vigilance would not bring you any trouble and might prevent future trouble. Furthermore…
“―― Four years ago, a swindler entered my house and tried to trick my wife into handing over the Saint’s Tiara to them. That person even went as far as using a magic tool that converted one’s life force into mana in order to trick us. That magic tool is really dangerous since it doesn’t have a limiter installed in it. After that, I asked my subordinates to investigate that magic tool and its origin. Alas, the trace went cold. Anyway, in my opinion, there is no way that the event that happened to me and the duke are unrelated, especially considering the source and timeline. Someone must be pulling the string behind this.”
“That was why we told every house that received the Saint’s Ornament to raise their vigilance. So a similar incident won’t happen again. Anyway, after he finished dealing with that matter and warned all of us, Lord Goldberg then returned the tiara at the end.” Count Greenwell added, causing me to nod in agreement.
“Thanks to that swindler, my house was in complete chaos at that time, and I judged that this matter was too much for me to handle on my own. That’s also the reason I had yet to find a breakthrough about the perpetrator behind this incident. In the end, I could only rely on various guesses and hypotheses according to the evidence I managed to gather so far.”
After saying this, I proceeded to divulge the conclusion I came up with after investigating various scattered clues I unearthed, “Additionally, I found that the people who invested in Geyson were all small-time figures. He had been selling those dangerous magic tools on that scale of operation, yet when I investigated at that time, I discovered there’s not much money involved on the research side, which I find strange. So, I conclude that some big shot nobles must be the one who backed him in secret.”
“Perhaps, the real culprit wanted to set me up as that ‘Big shot noble’. That should be their intention from the type of magic formula etched on that gem they gave to me.” The duke muttered with an irked expression on his face and I looked at him sympathetically.
“Additionally, Geyson who was arrested vanished from his cell – a cell that should have been tightly guarded. And now, though the investigation that’s led by General Crimson is still ongoing, we have yet to find another lead to this case.”
Yes, that Geyson indeed just vanished from his tightly guarded cell just like that. And up to now, I still had no idea just what kind of method he employed to escape from such a tightly guarded place.
“Maybe he used some sort of lost magic that has yet to be discovered to escape. For example, a magic tool to manipulate space? I had investigated the cell, and I don’t think he simply vanished from his cell like that, so magic tools of some sort must be used. Furthermore, when I investigated, I detected a strong trace of demonic pulse that should not exist in a normal human. Its density alone is comparable with the demonic pulse of the demon race that was recorded in ancient legend.”
Count Greenwell stated, his tone clearly irritated.
“Magic tool that manipulates the human’s mind… magic tool that robbed one’s life force… Vanished Geyson and then my daughter’s actions. With all these factors, as well as the report from the grand temple, His Majesty judged that the demon king’s resurrection is close by. So, he sent a decree to continue our preparation in secret, appointed my daughter as the saint and judged Geyson as part of the demon race.”
The duke sighed as he continued, now lamenting, “I personally do not want to blindly believe that my daughter is a saint, but I have no way to refute the fact and what she showed me either.”
“According to the legend, the saint will receive her oracle when she grows into adulthood. If, just an if, Miss Katrina is really the saint―― then we absolutely cannot let her show up with the Saint’s Ornaments, which has yet to regain its function. Thus, His Majesty ordered us to research a way to revive the Saint’s Ornaments, yet… even after four years of research, we have yet to find the clue to revive it.”
Count Sphene heaved a sigh as he lamented about the grim result of their research.
“―― If what Miss Katrina said really comes true, there’s a high chance that Bates-dono will be the one who restores the Saint’s Ornaments to its prime state. In that case, that’s even more reason for us to protect him.”
“Please wait a minute! I haven’t even had a vaguest idea how to do that yet. Aniki and Count Greenwell are equally brilliant researchers as I am. There’s a chance that it’s not just me who needs the protection.”
Indeed, it was just as Bates-dono had said, Count Greenwell and Count Sphene were also people we couldn’t afford to lose. After all, together, the three of them were the three most prominent researchers Serendiaz Kingdom currently had.
Everyone had to be protected.
“Bates. Our research institute is right inside the castle, as is the Saint’s Cane and Tiara, which is placed inside the treasure vault. Your place, on the other hand, is loosely guarded. Furthermore, though we did establish your store as an independent institution to bait the demon race that has never appeared on the surface until now, this kingdom also cannot afford to lose you.”
“In conclusion, we will have to prepare more powerful escorts for the three of you. I’ll immediately propose this matter to General Crimson and His Majesty tomorrow. I think you should have no problem with this, right, Bates-dono.”
In the end, everything was decided with a single sentence from the duke. So, although Bates-dono was clearly dissatisfied with that, he couldn’t complain either since the other party was a duke and he… was not.
“―― Well then, let’s prepare a trap to protect our kingdom from the demon race.”
◇
Kevin had already been waiting for me when I returned from the evening party. It was time to hear his report about what Theodore did today in my office.
Although I could already guess the general situation from Bates-dono’s story, I had yet to know about the matter of him being conned by Luke-dono in an argument… It seemed that Theodore had finally snapped out from his relaxed state thanks to that event.
Still… Dear me, I wonder from whom did he inherit that easygoing and never get discouraged attitude from?
Well, then again, I was really glad that he finally realized the importance of his status and the duty that came with it. Really, my son’s growth was something that couldn’t be underestimated.
And I hoped he could get along with the other children after this.
After all, the one who would carry the duty to protect Miss Katrina – the Saint – might be one of them, the child of the same age as her. Though, naturally, if possible we – the adults – should prevent such a situation that will endanger our children’s life from happening.
