Volume 18 - CH 9

The next morning, with Frederick and Serina, the three of us, headed back to the Rubidoux Castle.

This time, Frederick accompanied us, so there was no need to spread the tail.

「...... Damn it!」

「Calm down, Frederick. It's not a good look for a important person to be squirming around.」

I say to the guy next to me, who is holding out his right hand and right foot at the same time.

「How can I calm down! Elisa could be executed today or tomorrow, and even if she survives, she could become your fiancée.　Last night I couldn't sleep because I heard a woman's strange voice coming from your room. ...... Damn it, this guy is!」

「Ehh? Y-You heard us. ...... Oh my God!」

The woman who was making all the weird noises last night (Serina) blushed.

「But that doesn't change the fact that you're her childhood friend. And even though Elisa has been stripped of her position, she is still a former Templar Knight. She won't be executed so easily.」

「How can you be so sure?」

「I asked around yesterday and got some information. I also talked to some of the high priests.」

Serina said.

「With the high priest? I don't mean to be rude, but I don't think a stranger adventurer can get a meeting with him right away.」

「That's true. But I'm an another world hero, and I know the secrets of the forbidden zone of Austin Academy of Magic.」

Serina gave a reason.

「Forbidden zone? I don't know much about it ......, but if the information is good enough for the High Priest to see, wouldn't the Austins be reluctant to let us in on their secret?」

「Yes, I'm sure they would. So it's worth it. It's a good deal.」

With a wink, Serina must have successfully faked the information about how to enter the Forbidden zone.

It doesn't matter if you only know what's inside.

「..........I don't like it.」

「Frederick, you seem to like integrity, but is it higher than Elisa's life?」

「Kuhh, yeah, for Elisa's sake, fuck integrity.」

「That's the spirit.」

I smirked.

Sometimes you have to prioritize things.

Even if you don't like something a little bit, don't lose sight of your main goal.

And while we're at it, let's make sure Frederick finds something more important than Elisa, like NTR attributes, kuku.

We could see the castle floating on the lake, and we took a small boat parked at the pier on the shore to cross over to the Rubidoux Castle.

「Well then, I'm going to go see Elisa.」

Frederick said in the lobby of the castle, and he headed there as fast as he could.

「Oh, yeah. We'll wait here.」

The Inquisition is scheduled to meet at 10 a.m. today. I'm not sure how the Holy Kingdom, which seems to hate magic tools, measures the exact time, but I'm sure there are plenty of seeds and tricks, like skills and divine miracles.

「Then I'll go ask around.」

「No, wait, Serina, don't move too much here.」

If the adventurers move around in the heavily guarded prison, they will be thought to be snooping around, which will cause unnecessary alarm.

If the Inquisition is postponed, or if you get caught, you'll be in trouble.

「Yeah, I got it」

「But I'm bored. Even though I couldn't get in here without Frederick,......, Tsk, I still have two hours. Hey, guards, do you have a room here where I can lie down?」

I ask the guards there.

「There is no such thing.」

Yesterday, when I went around here, there was a bed over there in the corner, but I can't tell him to let me use it because it's there. Damn it.

「Don't be so formal. There's a bed over there. I'll let you use it.」

A middle-aged man's voice came from behind me.

「You bastard, what a selfish thing to do ...... Ah, Sir E-Edgar, I-I beg your pardon! I didn't know you were member the White Holy Knights.」

「Whaat, sometimes I forget who I belong to, so it's a mutual thing. This way, Alec. Serina.」

A middle-aged man with a beard grins and invites us in with his finger.

I didn't expect to see Elisa's party members here.

「Have you moved up in the world, Edgar?」

I ask, wondering.

「No, originally, it was the White Holy Knights that served the Templar Knights. Although, the head of the order is currently a prisoner.」

「But it seems like you're able to move around freely, right?」

「Not really. Whenever I go out, I'm followed. They're swimming in it. Come on in. And don't worry about the wiretapping.」

Edgar took a small parrot-shaped ornament out of his pocket and placed it on the table in front of him.

I can feel a faint surge of magic, but it's a magic tool. It must be a magical device that muffles sound or allows people listening outside to hear other words.

「I'm glad. I can't speak freely, it's choking me.」

「You're wrong about not being able to pant freely, Serina.」

I teased her with a grin.

「Excuse me, you can't do that in front of other people.」

Edgar grinned at an angry Serina with a straight face.

「You two seem to be getting along as well as ever, don't you?」

「I wonder. It's been a while, Edgar. But it's unusual for you to be sober.」

「Of course it is. My captain is in this kind of trouble, and as a person who turned to the papists, it's my life if I lose my backing.」

Edgar shrugged his shoulders with a reluctant look.

「Speaking of which, didn't you say you were going to pretend to be dead and become an adventurer?」

「I was going to, but the captain and Howell did a good job of talking to the higher-ups. That party all ended up in the Pope's camp on good terms.」

「Hou. That's great. But did that convince the Privy Council?」

「I heard they had a little trouble with Howell, but that's because I'm like this. I was sarcastically told by the Senate leaders that they were rather relieved to get rid of the trouble. My boss, Verzon, is ...... responsible for all of it, and this is what he gets.」

Edgar kept his mouth agape and mimicked slicing his own neck with a hand knife.

「But it was probably the inexcusable idiot who tried to assassinate Elisa. He deserved to die.」

「Yeah, well. But apparently there's someone else ......  in the papacy who's trying to make Elisa disappear.」

「What?」

「You have a lot of enemies, Elisa. Is the position of Templar Knight that big of a deal?」

「No, it's true that the guard knights are right to be jealous of her. ...... But it's a little odd that the high priest and the senate are trying to eliminate her. As you know, our captain is a good puppet who, when asked to go to the Labyrinth of No Return, will honestly and quietly do the task she is told. She is also popular among the people in her own way. That's what....」

「There is no reason to dislike a loyal dog. Is there something else I'm missing?」

「Maybe. Well, it's not really the place for a drunk to be inquiring about that. You can ask Howell for details. I'm sure he'll show his face soon.」

Edgar waved his hand and said annoyingly.

「Edgar, I want to ask you one more thing, what kind of person is Lord Bodine, the head of the Inquisition, from your point of view?」

Serina asked.

「Oh, that guy, in a word, he's out of his mind. I can see it in his face.」

「Ugh. Well, that's a bit of a statement. ......」

「You asked me what I thought. Well, look at him, his eyes are wide open and his expressionless face is unforgettable.」

「Who is the crazy one, the papists or the privy?」

「The Privy Council. But it's customary to apportion the Inquisitors so that there are equal numbers of papists and priby. Bodine can't interfere in the appointment. I don't know if it's because of that or not, but he's really hard at work. I'd say he works at least ten hours a day.」

「He's a crazy hard worker. ...... That's the worst.」

「Yeah, it sucks. Since he took over as chief inquisitor, they've started executing priests. Crazy.」

「Hey, you two, stop saying that! You can't say words with "Cra" in them!」

Serina waved her hands in the air to stop both of us.

「Yeah, yeah. Well, he's still a big shot.」

「Serina, even if you shut down every single word, it won't erase the madness itself.　Nor will suppression.」

「That's ......」

「Well, if you're mentally ill, you should get medical treatment, and if you have a bad personality, people will hate you. It can't be helped. If their behavior is excessive, it would be better for everyone if they were removed from the board.」

The point is that the existence of heretics is not the problem, the essence of the problem is how to deal with heretics for us.

「I agree. Even if we both recognize the other as a heretic, what do we do from there?」

「Right, executing someone requires discretion and, at the very least, a reason that many can accept. If you can get away with not executing, so much the better.」

If they just execute people because of their religion, ideology, or preference, they'll end up killing each other and having a war in the mud.

However, I have no intention of saying that we should take a long time to exonerate even the most obvious criminals such as murderers.

This is not an easy thing to do, because people have feelings. Fairness is also necessary.

There are times when the majority is wrong, like Copernicus with his geocentric theory.

I don't care about the Last Judgment. It's just a question of what we should do in this world.

That's what I think.

「That's a good point, Alec. I can have a drink whenever I want, as long as I have a good reason.」

「No, Edgar, you're an alcoholic addict. You should refrain from doing that.」

「What the hell is that?」

Why does alcohol have to be involved in this conversation now? It's a complicated.

「I thought you said your health was important.」

Serina smiled.