The Hero Party Couldn’t Kill Me

Chapter 3: Trap (6)

“Wow, really Calia is crazy.”

Around the end of Marquis Grenouille’s interrogation, I stuck out my tongue.

Aside from conspiring to assassinate the princess, he committed all sorts of corruption including embezzlement and assassination of political opponents.

Of course, the minimum death sentence is confirmed just for attempting to assassinate the princess.

“But at this point, I have a question. Why were you so loyal to a b*tch like this?”

“Yeah… Because I was chosen by the holy sword.”

So I became even more curious.

What the hell was the goddess thinking when she handed down the holy sword to Calia?

Well, I guess that doesn’t matter now? Even that, the time of glory given to Calia is coming to an end.

“So, what are you going to do with me now?”

“As promised, I told you about Calia’s misdeeds, so I’ll try to save her. Later, when exchanging prisoners, I’ll let you go back to the Empire at that time. Oh, of course, I don’t know if that’s necessarily good for you.”

Since Marquis Grenouille is also an accomplice, he will not escape death. Rather, continuing to be caught here might be the way to live longer from that point of view.

Anyway, I put him in jail and came out.

And then I went to find the protagonist of the desperate screams I had been hearing earlier.

It wasn’t hard to find because the screams were still heard.

I followed the sound and arrived near the shore of a lake with high mana concentration.

And eventually I was able to find the source of the sound.

Godfrey was lying in the middle of the familiar magic circle.

Breaking out in a cold sweat, he was screaming incessantly with his back arched. At the same time, white smoke was escaping from his body.

Rafaela stood in front of him and continued to chant her spell, the smoke absorbing into her body.

“… What are you doing?”

I approached Rafaela asking, but she hurriedly raised her hand to block her access to me.

Looking at Godfrey again, he saw that his toes were growing.

Only then did I realize what kind of magic this was.

It was the body copy magic that was used on me.

Eventually, when the magic ended and his toes grew back, Godfrey broke out in a cold sweat and gasped.

Rafaela approached Godfrey and cast a spell.

Then Godfrey’s eyes opened.

“… Follow me. I am a sinner.”

“I… I am a sinner.”

“I am the scum that abandoned the Empire.”

“I… the empire… Thrown away garbage… No see.”

“Louder. I am not worthy of remaining in the Mage Tower.”

“I am not worthy of remaining in the Mage Tower!!”

“Now I can talk a little bit. Then you know what to do if you go back to the Empire, right?”

“Confession… I’ll do it. And I will come out of the magic tower.”

“I must declare that I will never use magic again.”

“Never again… I will not even use magic.”

“Right.”

Looking at it, I felt like my mind was going crazy.

Those are mind controlling skills no matter how you look at them.

But what’s even creepier than that is Rafaela’s expression.

She seemed genuinely happy.

“Then, get some sleep.”

As Raphaella commanded, Godfrey fell asleep.

And when he saw me with a blank expression, he made a shy expression.

“This is why I didn’t really want to do it in front of Edmund… I can’t do anything.”

“… Huh?”

“Why are you so bruised? Are you really worried that I might do something like that to Edmund-sama?”

I hit right in the middle.

“Don’t worry, it will never happen. It was just because that bastard needed a true education.”

“… I didn’t know that body copying magic could be used for torture.”

“Certainly, it is true that pain relief magic was completely excluded this time, but it is not necessarily the case. Just like a wizard, I wanted to hone what I had learned. Thanks to that, mana consumption has definitely decreased.”

“Still, I don’t think I’ve done this once or twice. Do you still have mana left?”

“It worked because I used that bastard’s mana.”

Ah, the identity of that white smoke must have been mana.

“But Rafaela.”

“Yes?”

“I tried not to ask, but what exactly are you?”

But at this point, I was curious.

How the hell did she start with mind-controlling magic, so she could use various difficult magics?

And… How did she wake up to sadism?

I had a lot to say, but I condensed it into one question.

Rafaela, who was pondering this, smiled broadly and said,

“I’m just a wizard banished from the empire.”

***

That evening. I held the crystal ball and weighed it until the end.

How will the princess react?

This is so funny that now I have information that is of great benefit to the empire, especially the princess.

But from the perspective of the Empire, my sins are by no means light. Obviously, they attacked the nobility and magic tower wizards of the empire, and now they are cooperating with a country that would be classified as an ‘enemy’.

So, it can be said that the key is which part the princess pays more attention to.

Ah, of course, no matter how the princess reacts, it doesn’t change that Calia will perish today.

After arranging what to say to the princess for a while, I sent a message to the princess.

For reference, the princess has two crystal orbs, one for public conversations and the other for secret conversations. Among them, she sent a crystal ball used for public speaking.

First of all, I sent all the information I received from Marquis Grenouille to the princess. Of course, I did not forget to mention the evidence and witnesses as well.

Soon after, the princess replied with her own secret crystal ball. It was a request to have a face-to-face conversation.

Since there was no one to listen to me right now, I complied with the request.

The face of the princess was soon visible in the crystal ball.

Why was she a princess with a sad expression?

“Your Highness, I apologize for contacting you late.”

“Goodbye. First of all… She is glad to see you again.”

The half-crying princess. Was she really that emotional? She seemed genuinely happy though, so she felt good.

“I want to say thank you. She thought Calia might have planned to kill me, but she couldn’t punish her because she didn’t have this hard evidence. But thanks to you, I can now punish her.”

“That’s too much praise.”

“Oh, and he sent it to my official crystal ball. Does that mean that he is also going to send it to Calia and the saintess?”

“I’m thinking of sending it to the entire warrior party.”

“I’m glad.”

So far so good. I held my breath and waited for the next word.

“However, this makes it clear. Edmund, are you collaborating with the people of Speth?”

“They saved my life. I mean, I’m in debt. Besides, am I not already excommunicated by the Empire? What options do I have?”

“… I know your situation well enough. But apart from that, people will now consider you a traitor to the Empire.”

“Then Her Highness, what do you think I should have done? Do you think you should have chosen to keep running away? Anyway, there is no way to hide me in the empire.”

“Of course I know. It’s just sad. People like you are branded as criminals.”

The princess made an expression of genuine regret. Seeing that, my annoyance subsided.

Actually, as the ruler of the empire, it doesn’t make sense to help me. Even now in a situation where you can wage war against Speth.

“… Where are Marquis Grenouille and the wizards?”

“I put you in jail now. Oh, and the people of Speth have a reason to lock them up. They were rude and, in fact, threatened to release me.”

“There is a way to stop the war even now. Free them If so, I will try to prevent war as much as possible. I might be able to clear up some of your false accusations.”

“I can understand Her Highness’s desire to stop a war, but the war has already begun.”

“… Are you going to fight in Speth?”

“Isn’t that the right thing to do?”

“…….”

The princess pondered for a while. She thought maybe she too was conscious of the revelation of her goddess.

If I truly become a great threat to the empire, as the saintess said, all of her efforts will be in vain.

Rather, he will be taken as the main culprit that brought disaster to the empire.

“You’re worried. I’m afraid I’ll become a real threat to the Empire.”

“…I couldn’t help but be conscious of it.”

“But doesn’t Her Highness the Princess know what I want?”

“Are you talking about getting revenge on the warrior party?”

“Yes, I am. And don’t you know what else I want?”

“Live in peace…Isn’t it?”

I nodded at the princess’ words.

“Yes. That’s why I think so. The reason why I am a great threat to the Empire is that in the course of my revenge, I have touched the warriors, the Rossier family, and the Etoiles.”

“Maybe.”

“And I promise you right here. Once I get my revenge, I will live like no one in this world.”

And I was sincere. After all, all I ever wanted was a quiet, peaceful life.

The princess is still worried with a distraught expression on her face. Then, as if she had finally made up her mind, she opened her mouth.

“How are you feeling right now?”

“I’m not in good shape, but I can fight.”

“Okay. Then I will do this. As the Imperial Princess and acting princess, I will regard you as an enemy and attack Speth. Even if you survive this time, I will pursue you to the end.”

“… ….”

“But human Marceline Arue, I will support you and help you. As long as it goes unnoticed by the Etoiles.”

“Thank you.”

I felt something hot somewhere in her heart at the princess’s words.

… To be honest, I still can’t fully trust her, but I’m grateful that she said that.

The princess still has a sad face. But she smiled very faintly.

“… Please, I will pray that the day will come when you find peace.”

With that said, the princess ended her communication.

“… I hope that day will come too.”

I muttered as I held the crystal ball tight.

And the next task began.

***

“It should have come out like this a long time ago. In the end, it will be like this, it was just a waste of time. Even “

At the same time, Calia and the saintess were having another meeting in the Great Sanctuary.

After entering Speth, not only Marquis Grenouille, but also Rachel and Godfrey lost contact.

Calia, fully armed and waiting to fight Edmund, was wasting her time again.

And she really doesn’t have much time left. Only the Goddess knows exactly when the holy sword will disappear, but judging from past precedents, it was three days at the most.

“How much longer do you need to prepare?”

“I am summoning all the 17th, 18th and 19th corps of the Empire. We need at least two days.”

“Hurry up as much as you can. Now that this has happened, the church will also send combat priests.”

“We will also send support from Rogue Mage Tower.”

“The Blue Mage Tower will also support the wizard.”

Still, it’s not necessarily a bad situation.

Since the wizards of the Rogue Tower and the Blue Tower have been arrested, the owners of the Wizard Tower are now seriously involved in this issue.

Therefore, they planned to send the mage with the most combat ability from each Mage Tower.

If you add the support of the battle priests, who use divine power as a weapon, killing Edmund is by no means impossible.

Assuming, of course, that her Holy Sword remains with her until then.

Shaaa….

At that moment, the color of the crystal spheres that Calia and Saint Lucy had shone brightly.

‘What is this… ….’

After checking the crystal ball, the saintess’ face turned white. Seeing that, Calia quickly took out the crystal ball.

The sender is Edmund.

‘I’m about to reveal myself now.’

Calia, who confirmed her message with a snort, almost dropped her crystal ball in shock.

Her message from Edmund contained detailed information about her conspiracy, the witnesses, and details and evidence of her evil deeds.

Calia, who was checking her message in a half-mad state, saw her last sentence and was furious to the tips of her heads.

-Now, who’s the villain?