CH 65

“In the end, I couldn’t ask Renalge about something…”

“Come to think of it, what were you going to ask of him?”

After the tea party, which had been a difficult time in many ways, Mika and I were relaxing on the couch in the parlor of our bedroom.

“Ah, …I wanted him to help me with everyday magic.”

“Hmm…That’s the class with Machina in it, right?”

“Right, right. Machina wants to simplify water generation, and I thought I might be able to help.”

“You don’t have to help him.”

I smiled bitterly, thinking of the oddly prickly way he said it.

It may be because there is a swordsmanship tournament that Mika will be participating in this semester. I thought Mika was definitely holding back all this time, but still, he has always been in third place and Machina has always been in first place, so he must be bothered by it.

Still, Machina had been such a big help in the summer. If there’s anything I can do to help him, I’d like to help.

(Either way, I have to do something in class.)

If Renalge could help, there was a magic I was considering. However, since that is unlikely to happen at present, I secretly thought that it would be a good idea to make it a joint research project with Machina. After all, the magic type that Machina is good at is, I believe, lightning magic. I’m sure he would have a hard time simplifying the water magic method.

Hmm… As I thought about it, Mika asked me a question as if he just remembered something.

“Ah, right. How was Patriel Faure?”

As he told me that, I tried to remember Patriel from today.

He was a friendly person with an ever-changing facial expression. He talked well with Miss Yoshino, with Gislette, and with me. I think he has a natural talent for brightening up the place.

I thought he was a very nice person, …that was what I’m about to tell Mika. But then, I suddenly remembered something. That reminds me, when Miss Yoshino asked Patriel the name of a magical plant, he wrote down the name of that difficult plant for her in a notepad that she had with her.

That image that popped into my head bothered me.

(What was it… There’s something about that handwriting, I’ve seen it somewhere…)

I have some kind of momentary memory that lingers in my head in weird places. I don’t remember everything, but once I see something, I don’t forget it quickly. The cat in the morning after I returned from death, the lessons at the academy, and especially in this second life, I spend a lot of time paying attention to the differences. I’m sure that if something bothered me, it means I saw it somewhere in the first life.

Where was it…?

It’s about handwriting, so it must be from some kind of document. What kind of document? I never had a class with Patriel in my first life, so it must be an office-related document. Written report… What report? Faure… His father is Gillian Faure.

Gillian Faure.

Viscount Faure, as I recall, was the head of the department that dealt with the problems of the commoners. No one wanted to work for commoners, and the image of a good-natured viscount must have been imposed upon him.

The report about the issue of commoners brought up by Viscount Faure… The issue of commoners.

The moment I thought that much— a chill ran down my spine.

(No way…it was that. The report about the Taurus mine.)

Seeing me freeze up, Mika looked at me questioningly and asked, “Are you okay?”

I held up my palm at Mika as if telling him to wait a moment, and thought about it. Mika was pouring water from a jug into a glass.

(Wait. The report about Taurus Mine. That’s the one in which the information inside was tampered with, wasn’t it?)

Does this mean that it was written by Patriel and not by Viscount Gillian himself? I will have to check other reports and Viscount Faure’s handwriting later. As a general rule, it is strictly forbidden to take documents out of the castle, but do they ever bring them home?

However— in the first place.

(Why? Why did Patriel do something to the document??)

What does this mean? I recall the contents of the document as I think about it.

Originally, I think it was supposed to be “To protest about improvements in working conditions, Baroness Tessier was kidnapped during a chance visit to the mines, where a cave-in occurred and people died.”

However, the report on my first life instead said, “A riot broke out and a ‘noble’ was kidnapped in the heat of the moment. Ackerson used great magic in order to suppress it, and people died.”

This is what is being done here.

– Concealing the possibility that Brother Vincent was there (If what Vivienne said about the rescue by a hero with the highest affection meter is correct).

– Making up an incident that a riot by commoners occurred (Actually only an attempt).

– The lie that Ackerson unleashed great magic on the commoners who protested against the harsh working environment.

The result of this was as follows.

– The composition of “commoners vs. nobles” is presented vividly in the form of a “massacre” in the country.

– Increased hate against the royalty and nobility by commoners who learned about the solution used, by violence.

– Increase in the price of magic ore, domestic turmoil.

– Lowering Ackerson’s image.

– (They seem to not want to bring the existence of the second prince to light.)

I’m sure they had something prepared originally, but the people who made up this incident very likely had forced a cave-in that should have been just an accident to turn into a riot (unless they knew about the cave-in incident, like Vivienne).

Because Vivienne, who knew the future, was quick in her escape, Leon was the only one who was eventually caught in the cave-in and no one died this time. In addition, Tillois would have changed the mayor and revised the system, so there should have been no riots in the future.

(I haven’t received any strange reports from Leon either…)

But if it was Patriel who wrote that report, then the supposedly neutral Faure family was, for some reason in the first life, probably aiding and abetting the Rubrum empire who were behind them.

What I have to think about is why Patriel wrote the document and not Gillian Faure.

I tried to remember the situation in the first world.

At that time, the country was in terrible turmoil. The department undertaking the problems of the commoners was probably extremely busy.

(Wait. When was the information tampered with?)

The Dukes of Ackerson are, generally, all serious people.

For example, if the report came up to Tillois in the first world, it is very likely that he believed the report of the riot because the territorial army was really in motion and such at the time the report went to him.

And if it was indeed Brother Vincent who was involved in the “kidnapping of a noble”, Ackerson, a member of the second prince faction, might have been forced to conceal the fact.

(Because it would have been an ugly story that while on a secret trip with Baroness Tessier, his lover was kidnapped by commoners and involved in a riot… This is just my hunch, but Vivienne in the first world would have been furious with jealousy, so…)

Hmm, I put my hand on my chin.

Tillois is still having a hard time because of his reckless sister, but even in my first life, his position is crushing my stomach just thinking about it. It must have been a difficult decision.

Then, the wrong report arrived at the royal castle as it was.

(Actually, that’s where Gillian’s department was supposed to go to confirm the facts…)

If the name of the party involved is hidden as “a noble” there is no way the document will pass inspection. Besides, it was a case that caused so much trouble in the country. At the very least, it’s the usual arrangement to send someone over.

Even if someone was dispatched and found something was wrong or unclear, and if a true report existed, but it was falsified when it got to me, then the person who wrote it would likely have been erased. Or maybe that person ended up on their hands too.

—I wonder if it was really Patriel who did it.

I wonder if that righteous Gillian Faure was unaware of this. But, as I recall, he became ill because he was extremely busy with this case, and after that, the person who handles the commoner issues changed.

If I remember correctly…

Wait, no way. A chill ran down my spine.

(I-It was Baron Tessier! No one wanted to take Gillian Faure’s place, so the lower nobility pushed it to each other, and then…!)

This is terrifying. Too Terrifying. Wait, since when are they setting this up?

Could it be that from the beginning, everything was meticulously planned, from the riot to the false report, all to get Baron Tessier in that position?

Honestly, …I couldn’t believe it.

Does that mean even five years before I was executed, this country has been so thoroughly corrupted?

(Rashed Rubrum…)

A sickening sweat dripped slowly.

Because, if that was the case, then the subsequent reports on the commoners’ riots could have been tampered with. This is not good. I must avoid having Gillian Faure withdraw from the Commoner Correspondence Division at all costs.

I can’t let Baron Tessier take his place.

I have a new thing I need to look into. I need to investigate the surroundings of Gillian Faure. I don’t know at what point in time. But someone is going to instigate Patriel.

But… not yet.

Yes, but, not yet…

(…Surely, it hasn’t happened yet. Patriel should have done nothing either.)

No, Mika is on guard with him, after all. Maybe there is already something wrong with him. It was right to invite him to the tea party to find out what Patriel would be up to in the future.

That falsification of information was on this winter’s report. It’s already October now.

Mika said, “Hm?” and asked me with his eyes. I gasped at the realization that I had been silent for quite some time.

No, it doesn’t matter. I should have done the right thing.

I can’t tell Mika about this. Then I said to Mika with a smile.

“…I think I need to get to know him better and see how things will be going.”

“Hmm. Is that so?”

For some reason, Mika’s eyes narrowed and he stared at me for a while, as if he was probing me. But then Mika said again, “Hmm,” as if to convince himself. After that he went, “I’ll look into it, too,” and he didn’t seem to want to continue this conversation any further.

Perhaps thinking of changing the subject, Mika asked me about the continuation of what I had just said about Machina.

“What about you, Nagi? What are you going to research?”

“Yeah, l…”

It was when I was about to answer him. There was a sense of tension as Mika twitched and searched for a presence. Then, I was told.

“Nagi, …there’s an intruder.”

“Huh?”

“In your greenhouse. I know because my wind barriers are over there.”

“…What? In the greenhouse?”

Who in the world would break into that greenhouse, even though we just had a tea party there this afternoon, and for what purpose? Could it be that Gislette wanted to see the magic plants at night…? Or maybe a raccoon wandered in? That and other irrelevant thoughts were going through my head, but eventually, I got curious and decided to go with Mika to see what was going on.

Then, I quietly peeked into the greenhouse from behind a tree and saw someone with fluffy, chick-colored hair standing there. I exchanged glances with Mika.

“Huh…that’s…”

“Renalge Pomfrey.”

As Mika said, we could see Renalge standing there alone.

That area is where the Clown Vine was located…I thought about that and noticed something. When I looked up at the night sky, the beautiful full moon was shining brightly.

“Ah!”

“Do you know something about this?”

“Maybe he’s here to see the flower that only blooms late at night.”

“What, seriously?”

I don’t know how he got into the courtyard of the royal castle.

But this is… an opportunity!

It was clear that Renalge was here with an interest in magical plants. We ended up only exchanging a few words during the day, but if we could talk to each other again, it might give us a chance to get to know each other better.

I ran into the greenhouse.

“Sorry, Mika. You can watch me from over there. I’ll go talk to him!”

“Huh, wait! What?!”