3-06: The Unreasonable Palm IV (1/4)
It was such a brief question that did not even include subject, yet what a loaded question it was.
The air, that had loosened, tightened once again, and while no anger could be seen on the boys face, no gentleness could be seen on it either.
That was the face of a judge, calmly awaiting the girls answer.
By this point, there was not one among them who did not understand what the boy was referring to.
How were they going to deal with all the problems related to the murder of the Tenkorius?
In a sense, this was a conversation they were having before the lich appeared, and now, they were merely continuing it.
As the people responsible for the Tenkorius death, they could not escape blame, and neither did they intend to; however, they were powerless before the magnitude of the problem, so The question begged itself, now, what?
Within Lilishas mind surfaced many solutions, only for her to reject them all, then she thought of the things shes heard and experienced here.
What kind of person is he?
Princess?
Someone called out to her, but she ignored her and stepped forward.
She was so fearful earlier, but there was no other answer.
It wasnt the perfect answer, or the best answer. It wasnt even the next best answer; but, it was all that they could do.
To be more precise, this whole time the boy had basically been telling them that he himself was their answer.
The princess almost laughed at that realization, for what a sweet yet harsh judge this boy was; however, she made sure that none of that showed on her face. Instead she adopted a serious expression as she got on both of her knees.
Lilisha-sama!?
She ignored the cries all around as she resolutely prostrated herself before the boy low enough that her head rubbed against the ground.
As the boy said, she could not take responsibility for this mess, and indeed, someone who could not even ask for help from someone who could was no different from a bug that ought to be crushed; therefore, Lilisha prostrated herself before the one person who could solve this problem.
Everything I have, everything I can have, everything I can offer, I will offer to you, so please lend us your power and wisdom!
Then with a powerful voice, she begged him for help.
Everyone was speechless. Time seemed to pause for all the maids as they looked at the princess in disbelief.
My apologies, the princess said.
Why would you attack without even checking your opponents strength?
Everything was because of my lack of foresight.
Had you checked first, everything would have gone much smoother.
My apologies for making you needlessly work.
Blaming me for everything wasnt a bad line too.
Huh?
Perhaps because they wanted to avoid angering him, the girls just nodded to everything he said, but then he mentioned something strange, and they found themselves doubting their ears.
In a casual voice, the boy suggested something unbelievable.
Since killing me was impossible, then you could have just asked nicely. Something like, please make it out as though you were the one who killed the Tenkorius and take the blame for us. Something like that.
Ehhh?
Everyone was in disbelief. Was he really suggesting that?
Even the Tenkorius on his shoulder was shocked.
Amidst everyones shock, Lilisha came out to represent everyone and spoke.
I-I beg your pardon, but thats a bit problematic
Dont worry, I understand. The problem is that there arent any witnesses, so why dont you use illusion magic to make it look like theyre alive and put on a show of me murdering the Tenkorius in a huge fight in Lilisto. You might not know it, but Im pretty good at acting out horrific spectacles.
I-Its not a problem of if youre good at it or not
It didnt make sense. It was just such a stupid proposal. But the person proposing it was both indifferent and so full of confidence, so really, the girls couldnt be blamed for being confused.
But the boy seemed to be unable to understand that, and he just tilted his head.
I see this gentleman has a penchant for the unpleasant, Stella said.
It was curious if he was just airheaded, or if he was just someone who didnt care about his reputation.
Regardless, the more Stella got to know the boy, the worse her head ached.