CH 33

Duke, Please Repent! chapter 33

8. The Duke's House without the Duke (4)

" why do I have to do that?"

With your right foot slightly back, you are ready to run away if you leave the car. No, you have to run away right now... .

That's because your family is in our hands.

He said as he lifted up his lantern, which he had placed on top of the black-clothed box.

with empty hands not holding a lantern

Gently stroking the fabric, he deliberately folds his fingers slowly and grabs it.

family ?'

I thought maybe I would never see them again.

When I think of it, I miss it infinitely and I feel lonely again. Because of that, I tried to shake it off somehow and not to think about it, but I couldn't.

Because they are family, even the smallest things contain memories with them.

No matter what I see, I unconsciously associate it with the things I did with them.

It made me think, it made me smile, and it made me sad.

Even now.

Even though he knows that this cannot be the case, he first thinks of 'I' and his family, not Zion's family. He caught the footsteps he was about to run away from.

Among them, the one that came to mind most clearly was the figure of the older sister who spent the most time.

'Now that I'm gone, what if I don't have anyone to run errands for?'

Saying I'm late for a date on the weekend, wake me up with my feet up to dry my hair

I remembered her giving me pocket money and a hair dryer and putting on makeup.

'Now you look late every day... . Wouldn't that make a difference?'

Ever since I was little, I was afraid that ghosts would come out if I washed my hair or bowed my head to wash my face, so I forced myself to stop in front of the bathroom door and tell me to talk.

It eventually became a habit even when I grew up, and when I was in the military, I was the girl who came to visit and grumbled that she was bored while washing .

I wondered who would take such an older sister, but I didn't know until the end.

While I was immersed in thought, the tantalizing man thought he was ready, so he took off the fabric at once.

...Huh? ...Wait, this is nonsense.

After the cloth was removed, the first thing that caught my eye was a square iron fence.

And the being lying there with his hands and feet tied in it. It was a woman of a familiar body, with long black hair hanging down.

Yeah, you wouldn't want to believe it.

He said in a hoarse voice as he saw me peering through the iron bars, lost in his mind.

'For Zion, the only brothers are an older brother and a younger brother.'

And Zion's green-brown hair is her father's inheritance. His mother, the only woman in the family, was blonde.

No matter how dark it is, there is no way you can't tell the difference between blonde hair and black hair.

"Daddy, what ?"

At the question close to my own self-talk, the woman in the iron cage flinched as if reacting.

In the movement, the long hair that covered her face fell, revealing the hidden face.

'How could [sister] be here?'

This is impossible. It was absurd.

How could she exist in this world? And how did they know she was my family?

Could it be that they were the ones who caused me to enter the body of Zion?

If that's the case, since when has she been held captive?

How is it? It's a family reunion after a long time... Isn't it nice?

"What the hell did you do ?"

The voice in my ear was trembling.

The words of my voice, full of anxiety and impatience in a panic, he giggled and laughed with satisfaction.

Don't worry, I haven't done anything yet. And aren't the words a bit short?

Unknowingly, I took a step forward in his act of kicking the iron fence with his foot.

Why don't you come and see me a little closer? It's been a few years, isn't it nice to see you?

I reflexively tried to take another step forward, but stopped.

'some year? What did the author just say?'

He completely stopped walking at the sense of disparity in his words.

As I no longer come closer, he illuminates the lantern a little closer to get me to see her face properly.

The exposed face was also 'me''s older sister.

Although he looked exhausted, it is the same face that I saw on the evening of the day I entered Zion's body.

Didn't you keep in touch so often? Don't just send money, go down and see your face.

Something is out of focus.

As he says, in that cage

Doesn't it sound like the person trapped in the room is 'someone from Zion's family'?

二]

Oh.

now it calms down The spirit I had left came back.

It's ridiculous that he was deceived even though he knew this world was like this.

And I realized that I missed my family more than I thought.

'Oh , this was a fantasy.'

The reason he deliberately took the time to collect the cloth after mentioning his family was,

It wasn't just to make fun of me.

So that I can clearly picture the image of my family. In addition, it must have been to buy time for the magic to be cast.

Perhaps the original plan was to trick me into believing that Serpence was the bad guy.

At the same time, they handed over fabricated information saying it was their investigation, and I would have thought that if I, his aide, disclosed it, other people would believe it too.

If I don't believe it, or if I'm afraid of the aftermath, this is the hostage play that I prepared to use when trying to get rid of it.

You're really mean...

For the last time this time, I took a look at the face of my older sister, whom I might not be able to see any more.

Even though I noticed that it was fake, I thought it was like a photo. .

It's really heartbreaking to see you care for your family more than you think.

" well. I didn't know either."

"Then you know what to do now.

ok? Announce these at dawn this morning, before Duke Prasidus returns. After all, today is Wednesday... . If possible, it would be nice to have a seat at the advisory council, but I wouldn't be able to go in alone. Yes, the main gate of the Imperial Palace would be nice.

He picked up a briefcase that was hidden behind the cage and pushed it out this way.

I couldn't see it, but the face behind that mask was sure to be laughing at me.

His behavior to deceive me and my family], annoyance rushes in.

Nope?

Therefore, I purposely raised one corner of my mouth and opened my mouth.

what?!

"No. Why do I have to do that?"

He got up from his seat and kicked the iron bar hard.

Someone inside, whose identity is unknown, groans in pain with his teeth clogged by a gag.

Can't you see your family is being held captive here? If you don't follow my orders, you'll lose interest!

Ah, yes. I've been thinking about it. Using black magic to inflict on me, brainwashing me. Leaving such a simple method aside and using such a troublesome method... If I detect black magic, I will Is it because you know that no one will believe you if you reveal it?"

If this is the case, the reason why the hostage play is a more effective method than trying to deceive me with fabricated documents can be explained.

It won't leave black magic in your body like brainwashing, but the remnants of it may be buried, so use it if you can.

Maybe you didn't want to?

And that explains why they didn't kidnap the real Zion's family.

If you suddenly disclose such information as soon as your family is kidnapped, it will be easy to find out that you are lying because you are being threatened by the kidnapped family.

Do you think that will give you the upper hand? As long as you have hostages, that doesn't change anything.

And to spread this kind of false information. For now, the Duke is powerless.

There is nothing to be done from the enemy side, so it seems like they are trying to isolate socially. that's right?

You just shut up and become our puppet!

I didn't mean to ask with the intention of getting an answer.

It seemed to be understood just by looking at the reaction, but rather, the purpose of organizing my own thoughts was greater.

". Are you going to kill me anyway?"

If you follow our instructions, I will release your family safely.

Are you saying I'm going to kill you in the end?

And is this the end of this plan to be blamed on the Duke even for that?"

Not all demon worshipers are warlocks.

These are the people who were kidnapped as a child, trained in stealth, assassination, and swordsmanship, and were brainwashed into following their doctrine.

Perhaps one of them was the one who broke into my room and left the letter.

'If you use them, you will be able to kill me without leaving behind any black magic... .'

In addition, when demons are later summoned, they are promised to receive power or other benefits, and knights, nobles, merchants, etc. who support them.

'Are you trying to instigate that Serpens, whose truth (?) was uncovered using them, killed me?'

This must be the end of the demon worshipers' plan.

Nevertheless, I will release only your family here safely. With all my mana, I swear in the name of the devil.

For now, I ignored that bullshit and continued my thoughts.

'In the original history, how did Serpence get through this without a fuss?'

Since there was an official writer, it was obvious that Serpens killed Shion.

In other words, their plan did not come true.

Let's review the situation first.

In my case, I left it in the duke's family, but if it was Zion, wouldn't it have been better to go back to my hometown on a vacation?

Since he wasn't stuck inside the duke's mansion like me, it is possible that he approached it directly rather than a letter.

And .

'I have no idea!?'

From here on, it's not about reasoning or anything, it's just the realm of creativity, right?

Even a reaper wearing a blue jacket and a red bow tie can't untie it.

Besides, I know that Shion's death was disguised as a wagon accident, but I don't know if he died from an overturning while riding a wagon or was hit by a wagon.

"If I turn down the offer, will you kill me right away?"

Of course. I can't just let those who know the plan go...

Ummm... is it like that?

That said, it seems unlikely that Zion would have rejected this offer.

It must have been Serpens who killed him... .

'This is purely my brain, but .'

first. Zion accepted that offer, but the place was not the capital, but the Rivelon estate. Or on the way there or on the way up the capital.

second. Sion, who accepted the proposal, returned to the capital before Serpens with the documents they had fabricated.

third. While on the way to the place to publish the contents of the document, for some reason, I was killed by a Serpence who returned earlier than I did... ?

'Is the third obviously weird?'

Aside from Serpence's return earlier than planned, why did he kill Shion as soon as he returned?

Did you even add a tail?

If I can guess based on my memory, the original Sion was just a stupid and simple guy who made a lot of mistakes and trusted others well.

The corner is suspicious enough to be followed...

' Come to think of it. As soon as I became Serpens's aide, of course there was a person in the duke's residence who was monitoring everything and reporting to Serpens, of course.'

I did a little bit of something suspicious... Although, Hans was before that.

On the second day of work, having lunch at a restaurant

He was a person who spoke at the speed of light, even talking about friendship.

And now he had his eyes turned on, hoping that I might be doing something wrong.

'If you do this well ?'

What are you constantly thinking about? The life of your precious family and the honor of an unknown stranger. You don't even need to weigh which one is more important?

He threatened again and kicked the barbed wire. That 'Kang-Kang' noise is very annoying!

Ah, I'm thinking, please stop talking.

Oh!

"Well, don't think that this guy ? If he doesn't harm you, he will do the same to your family."

That was really true. In this situation, why are you quietly kicking the iron bars?

Shouldn't it be threatened by throwing magic through the grates or stabbing it with a knife or something?

...Uh, is that so?

Come to think of it with a calm mind, that guy had never shown any advance moves to use magic.

According to the original setting, the conditions for the activation of the installation type magic were very difficult because it was a group of prayers that activated the pre-installed magic.

It was established only when the target unconditionally fell within the specified range.

In other words, there is a very high possibility that I, who is still standing at the door, will not fall into that range in the first place.

seemingly inconsistent. One assumption flashed through my mind.

'...these bastards, aren't they together?