Chapter 412
As soon as I stepped out of my room for my early morning exercise, I was met with a scene that made me hesitate about whether to speak up or not.
However, the two outsiders seemed to be involved in a serious issue. Upon hearing the word “murder,” I acted before I could think.
“We need to conduct an important investigation regarding a murder that occurred at the Imperial Magic Department. We’ve already secured the Temple’s cooperation.”
Harriet looked back and forth between me and the investigators. There was no way Harriet could have done something like murder.
“May I stay with her?”
It seemed clear that Harriet had gotten involved in something unusual.
***
The investigators from the Magic Department seemed to know who I was. Despite the gravity of the case, they allowed me to accompany Harriet without much fuss when I offered to act as her guardian.
Fortunately, their questioning took place not outside the Temple but within the Royal Class dormitory, in one of the vacant duty rooms.
Harriet seemed completely unaware of what was happening to her, and I was just as clueless about the situation I had suddenly been thrust into.
Harriet had been at the Imperial Magic Department until late the previous night. She had seemed a little frightened yesterday, but had dismissed it as her imagination.
Was something indeed amiss?
“What is... going on?” Harriet asked, her lips trembling slightly, and one of the investigators slowly explained the situation to her.
“Last night, three staff members were murdered in the research archives of the Imperial Magic Department, and several tomes were stolen.”
Murder and the theft of tomes... Harriet’s pale complexion turned ashen.
“The prime suspect at this point is Rother Dwin, the officer in charge of the 8th research archive, who is currently unreachable.”
“Th-that... that person?”
“Yes, Rother Dwin, the officer in charge of the 8th archive, is suspected to be the main perpetrator of the incident.”
Rother Dwin... It was a name I had never heard before. He was the prime suspect, and he had disappeared after committing the crime.
Harriet was terrified, but she nodded blankly as if something finally made sense to her, and slowly began to explain what had happened to her the day before.
“There wasn’t anything particularly strange... I was just... looking at research materials related to the warp gate... Oh. Come to think of it...”
Harriet seemed to recall something and hesitantly began to speak to the investigators.
“H-he mentioned that some magic tomes had been brought in from somewhere... Are those the tomes that were stolen?”
Visit freёwebnovel.com for the 𝑏est n𝘰vel reading experience.
“Yes, that’s correct.”
“He seemed unusually curious about the source of those tomes... It was... strange, almost as if he was rambling...”
“Are you saying Rother Dwin was acting differently than usual?”
“Yes... Normally, he would just be there, helping me with whatever I needed... But that day, he talked a lot... Oh, and he said it would have been nice if he had met me earlier...”
Harriet muttered blankly, then trailed off as if she realized something.
Harriet shared a few more details with the investigators, but there weren’t any particularly significant clues in them.
The imperial authorities had already identified a suspect, and since Harriet wasn’t a suspect, the investigators didn’t interrogate her further. However, Harriet seemed to be in shock.
After all, the person she had casually conversed with yesterday, someone akin to a librarian, had killed three people and then calmly escaped from the palace.
“Thank you for your cooperation in this investigation.”
The investigators concluded their brief discussion and stood up, indicating that they had no further business. They likely hadn’t obtained any meaningful clues from Harriet.
However, the fact that Rother Dwin had said something akin to a farewell to Harriet the night before probably solidified their suspicions that he was prime suspect.
“Will you be able to catch him?” Harriet asked, her voice tinged with fear.
The investigators did not respond positively or negatively.
“We’ll do our best. Well then, thank you for your cooperation. And it was an honor to meet you, Mr. Reinhart.”
“Uh? Oh... yes.”
They expressed their gratitude to Harriet and added a rather embarrassing remark about it being an honor to meet me before leaving the duty room.
A sudden murder and theft case...
“...”
Harriet’s fingertips were still white, indicating she hadn’t yet recovered from the shock. Unable to just stand around, I brewed some tea in the duty room and poured a cup for Harriet.
“Oh, um... Thank you, Reinhart.”
Harriet, still trembling, cautiously sipped the tea. She slowly drank the entire cup, and eventually let out a deep breath.
“What on earth is going on...?”
It was clear that Harriet had experienced something strange the day before. She had thought it was just her imagination, but it seemed that the mage she had thought was acting oddly had committed a crime in an unexpected place and then disappeared.
“That was him yesterday, right?”
“Yes...”
A mage who had suddenly stolen a significant number of magical tomes... Harriet took a deep breath, which seemed to calm her down a bit.
“I don’t know why he stole the tomes, but there were certainly a fairly large number of them.”
Was that enough motive to drive an elite mage, who usually went about quietly doing his job, to kill people and flee with them?
“He seemed to covet those tomes... but to think he would actually steal them and even kill people in the process...”
I didn’t know who Rother Dwin was, but he must have been a mage who had helped Harriet quite a bit thus far. Even if they weren’t particularly close, hearing that someone she frequently encountered had killed three people would naturally be shocking.
“I should have realized it sooner...” Harriet murmured, furrowing her brow.
She seemed to think that, if she had recognized Rother Dwin’s intentions earlier, this wouldn’t have happened.
“There’s no way you could have known that at the moment.”
“... I suppose, but...”
Was she blaming herself?
If she had quickly noticed that Rother Dwin had been acting differently, could the deaths have been prevented?
It was impossible to deduce something like that just because someone was acting a bit strange. Harriet’s self-reproach was pointless.
Harriet lowered her head, fiddling with the teacup.
“Even if I couldn’t do anything, I could have told someone that something was off. But I just got scared and ran away...”
She let out a deep sigh.
“I feel a bit... pathetic.”
The person Harriet thought was a stalker had actually committed murder and disappeared.
I didn’t think it was Harriet’s fault, and I didn’t believe Harriet believed it was her fault either.
She seemed to regret her decision to run away the day before without trying to understand just how strange that person was. Her guilt and regret stemmed from that choice.
What was I to do? It wasn’t Harriet’s fault, but it felt wrong to just do nothing when such an incident had occurred.
Moreover, a murder inside the imperial palace was significant.
“... If you want to, perhaps we could try to investigate on our own?”
“... Huh? Us two...?”
“We shouldn’t expect any grand results, but there’s no rule saying we can’t find out anything at all, right?”
There was no harm in trying. I was recognized as a hero of the empire and had the authority to interfere in almost all matters, and Harriet had a brilliant mind.
More than anything, I wanted to do something for Harriet, who was feeling down, since I hadn’t been able to do anything for her so far. Although I wasn’t sure if investigating a murder was the right way to help.
And... Somehow, now that things were developing in this way...
[New Event Update - Murder Case Investigation]
[Description: A murder and theft incident has occurred inside the palace. Investigate the case.]
[Reward: Achievement Points 5000 + ???]
I had a feeling that an event would be triggered, and indeed, it was.
***
It was Saturday morning.
Ellen’s usual routine was to spar at the advanced combat training grounds on weekends, but she noticed Reinhart leaving the dormitory with Harriet. They were discussing something, and both wore serious expressions.
Ellen didn’t know what had happened the day before, but she realized that Harriet and Reinhart were back to being on good terms, more or less like before. She had been worried that Harriet and Reinhart were drifting apart.
Even if it wasn’t exactly like before, seeing Harriet and Reinhart talking and heading off somewhere together was reassuring.
Harriet seemed to be okay for the moment. While Ellen felt relieved, she couldn’t fully embrace the feeling due to the complex emotions within her that she couldn’t quite accept.
As she observed the two of them leaving the Temple from her window, Ellen felt a mix of relief and unease.
She felt good, yet was unable to be entirely happy. The very fact that she felt this way made Ellen feel guilty, but she couldn’t help how she felt.
As a result, she found herself trying to be more friendly towards Harriet when the three of them were together, despite her feelings. The more she did so, the harder it became to endure her own feelings.
She would not be able to train at the advanced combat training grounds without Reinhart around. Sabioleen Tana was also unavailable on weekends due to her duties with Shanapell, so Ellen couldn’t rely on her help either.
She hoped that whatever business Reinhart had wouldn’t take too long.
Ellen pondered how she might train alone.
“Hey.”
But then, Charlotte came to the Class A dormitory.
“Let’s talk for a moment.”
Though they couldn’t be considered close, they were bound by an oath of loyalty.
“Okay,” Ellen replied.
Thus, Ellen followed Charlotte without hesitation.
***
Charlotte led Ellen outside the dormitory. Charlotte looked serious, and Ellen knew that it was not going to be an easy conversation.
“I don’t know you well, but you seem like someone who can keep a secret. What do you think?” Charlotte asked her.
“I’m not sure.”
“Right. The way you are, you don’t even think about such things.”
Ellen was the type to be so tight-lipped that the concept of being loose-lipped or tight-lipped didn’t even exist in her mind. She was not only insensitive to rumors, but lived without the notion of spreading them.
Charlotte took a few deep breaths. She intended to share a secret known to very few with her knight, who was unlike any other knight.
“You know I was kidnapped, taken to the Demon King’s Castle, and then released, right?”
“Yes.”
With the threat of the Demon King growing and potentially endangering Reinhart, Charlotte had finally made up her mind.
“There was a child who escaped with me.”
“... You escaped together?”
“Yes.” Charlotte nodded. “And I believe that child is the current Demon King.”
Ellen was startled.
It was a secret known to only a handful of people, and Charlotte had shared it with Ellen.
Very few knew about Charlotte’s escape from the Demon King’s Castle. Among the Temple students, only Charlotte, Vertus, and Reinhart knew the details, so it was only natural that Ellen was shocked to hear Charlotte’s confession.
Charlotte explained to Ellen the entire sequence of her escape from the Demon King’s Castle. From the Vertus’s minions and their attempts to kill her to the child who had brought her a teleport scroll and rescued Charlotte and Dyrus.
Ellen, of course, only knew that Charlotte had suffered hardships during her imprisonment within the Demon King’s Castle. She had no idea that a child had escaped with her and that this child was now the Demon King shaking up the continent, so she couldn’t help but be shocked.
“At the time, I didn’t know anything about him being the Demon King. He was probably using some kind of disguise magic. Of course... Well, it’s not important now, but it’s almost certain that he’s the Demon King.”
Charlotte bit her lip. Having decided to speak, she felt she had to reveal everything, but still she hesitated, wondering if it was even right to reveal this next bit.
After making up her mind, Charlotte looked around. It was early morning on a weekend, and there was no one around the park in front of the Royal Class dormitory.
“Since you’re now my knight, you need to know this, so I’ll tell you.”
“Okay.”
“You know I’m a supernatural power user, right?”
Ellen nodded. She knew Reinhart was aware that Charlotte was facing some serious issues and that Charlotte had been experiencing some sort of aftereffects after returning from the Demon King’s Castle, but Ellen didn’t know what Charlotte’s supernatural power was.
Charlotte quietly extended her right hand.
Ssss...
A swirling darkness began to emanate from her hand, and Ellen felt as if she might faint. Just seeing her power manifesting was enough to give Ellen an ominous feeling.
The words that followed left Ellen even more shocked.
“The soul of the Demon King resides within me.”
“... What?”
“When I was trapped in the Demon King’s Castle, the Demon King did something to me. At the time, I didn’t understand its significance, but now I do. The Demon King, in preparation for any eventuality, implanted a part of his soul within me to ensure his resurrection.”
Even Ellen, who was indifferent to most things, found it hard to believe the shocking revelations coming from Charlotte’s mouth.
She had escaped the Demon King’s Castle with the heir of the Demon Realm, and now, a part of the Demon King’s soul lay dormant within her.
The words pouring out of Charlotte’s mouth had long surpassed the scope of what Ellen had imagined. She’d thought that maybe it was an incurable disease, but it was so much more than that.
“Basically, the point is this: the current Demon King, the child who escaped with me, didn’t save me to save my life, but to preserve the soul of the Demon King within me.
“I was somewhat aware that the child might be a demon, but I deliberately pretended not to know. I even ignored the clues I had about how to find that child.
“I admit it—I was foolish and weak. I wanted to believe that the child’s actions had been for my sake, but I don’t believe that anymore. Reinhart has saved me from succumbing to this state several times, but now the Demon King might target Reinhart.”
Charlotte took a deep breath.
“I don’t know if the Demon King is truly behind this, but now, even the demon god cultists are appearing. So I’m going to revisit the clues I deliberately ignored and missed, and since you’re my knight, I’m telling you all of my important secrets. Besides, you have your own relationship to the Demon King.”
Just as Ellen had decided to protect Charlotte regardless of personal feelings, Charlotte also acknowledged Ellen as her knight, regardless of personal feelings.
“I don’t want to burden Reinhart with more knowledge. Reinhart tends to handle everything on his own. While he’s helped me out many times because he’s that kind of person, I want to avoid such situations going forward.
“So, if you’re okay with it, I’d like you to work with me to track down the Demon King. I can’t rely on anyone else. These matters are related to my sensitive secrets, so I have to investigate them myself.
“Of course, the likelihood that we would discover the Demon King’s whereabouts isn’t high. But doing something is better than doing nothing. I’m going to try doing something now.”
Charlotte looked at Ellen quietly.
“Will you join me?” she asked.
Investigating the clues about the Demon King... Charlotte intended to reconnect the severed links she had cut off in regret.
Now that the Demon King’s presence was beginning to threaten the entire continent, Charlotte realized she had to do something.
She could not let the situation continue to spiral because of her foolishness. Charlotte had resolved to do something—not to become the empress, but to fulfill her minimal duty as a member of the royal family.
Even if it was a small clue, even if it was a clue she already missed, she might be able to gain something from it.
Ellen quietly nodded in response to Charlotte’s proposal. “Yes. Let’s do it.”
Ultimately, if doing this could lead to the Demon King, it would be a way to protect Reinhart. There was no reason for Ellen to refuse.