If anything gets caught, the tail has to be cut off.

That was Carlon's theory.

It was Carlon who ordered the merciless killing of even Lanella and Rayburn, who had been collaborating with him for a long time.

In fact, Lanella and Rayburn must have believed that Carlon would save them.

There was no way such a person would keep Bellinock connected to the enemy alive. They'd already got all the information they could get from Bellinock.

The origin of the last black magic was in the Smaho Forest, and only Annabelle could recognize it.

It was said that they were quite embarrassed because it was different from the time they expected.

Most importantly, Annabelle said she didn't have the confidence to beat him.

How could he escape by hiding behind Carlon? All he had to do was testify that Carlon has been with him the whole time.

After all, they were mere commoners and had no power to overturn the Prince's testimony.

But this time, because the temple was full of people who would testify that he wasn't there.

In any case, killing Bellinock was a no-brainer.

"Oh yeah..."

Lagian muttered as he handled Bellinock's corpse.

"Although he was strict about not leaving a single tail... This is because he did not spare his own people."

Even when Richard was injured, Carlon, who was only worried about his own safety, only clicked his tongue.

"Well, I don't know."

After all, it was just a matter of getting money.

Oh, there was one more.

Killing the cheeky Annabelle Rainfield who used him from the warehouse to the end somehow.

Money was money, but just the thought of her made him grind his teeth once more.

~*~

"Huh?"

Cessianne, who was being held by Aaron, was startled.

"My thoughts are disconnected!"

At her words, Aaron and I exchanged glances.

In fact, this was a series of surprises. Carlon's temple collaborator was High Priest Bellinock.

No, he could have worked with Carlon in the first place to become the High Priest.

"...Something must have happened with the High Priest!"

The innocent Cessianne exclaimed, and I replied with a sigh.

"Perhaps Lagian killed him just now."

"What? Aren't they on the same side?"

"Honey, villains usually betray each other easily."

Aaron told her as I rubbed Cessianne's back in shock.

"It was the same for me and Reid."

In fact, Cessianne couldn't have guessed it, but that was what me and Aaron expected.

Of course, she was a nice, but strong character, so she quickly got over the shock.

"Phew... They really are bad people. But will you be okay?"

She said looking at me again with her worried eyes.

"They know that you can determine the origins of black magic..."

"Ah."

I replied with a smile.

"I'm sorry. I haven't been able to tell you for a while because I was afraid you would get caught. In fact, I calculated this."

"What?"

"I'm sorry for deceiving you, Saintess."

I said with a bashful laugh.

"But the saint's thoughts would be passed on to them... I couldn't explain it all until the connection broke up like this."

To be honest, my brain cells were overworked.

'I can only use my brain to an extent. This isn't it.'

That was why I didn't plan on taking too long.

'I'd rather spend a lot of time at once than spend a little time on my brain!'

So I decided to do it all at once.

When searching for the origin of black magic, it was my purpose to inform them of Carlon's atrocities and send them together.

'When it's all over, I will give my brain a long vacation.'

To do that, I had to make sure they came to me unconditionally.

So, just before figuring out what the origins of black magic were, I had Cessianne cut off her divine power.

What they were going to do was now obvious.

'They think that Lagian's skills are better than mine...'

They would follow me and try to kill me after somehow finding out the origin of the third black magic. Of course, I was trying to take advantage of that loophole.

"Oh my, my!"

Cessianne blinked her eyes.

I didn't actually tell Cessianne everything I did because she would share her thoughts with Bellinock.

Of course, there was also a way to kill him immediately if he was reluctant. That was Carlon's choice.

"I have no confidence to win against Lagian... So on that day, we will not fight properly and only the saintess will be rescued immediately."

I'd been saying that to Cessianne all this time. She then asked, with her eyes wide open.

"Then, was it a lie that you didn't have the confidence to win against Lagian?"

"Ah... Yeah."

I replied shyly.

"Actually, I think I can win."

"Oh my gosh!"

Cessianne jumped up and grabbed my hand.

"As expected, Annabelle, you are so cool."

"Huh?"

"I almost passed out when the warehouse door opened earlier. I knew it, but it was cool."

Aaron shrugged his shoulders at Cessianne's admiration. And she muttered from behind as if it were a pity.

"I think it was not enough to say a nice line at the end."

I looked sad at the sight of Cessianne looking at me and her eyes twinkling.

"After all, people have to look cool... The day will come when you will know my skills."

"Oh, Aaron. I don't care if I don't know Aaron's swordsmanship skills well..."

"Don't lie, Saintess."

Aaron narrowed his eyes and stroked Cessianne's hair.

"Because I already found out that you like strong people."

As I watched Aaron and Cessianne looking happy, I forcefully swallowed a bitter smile.

'Cessianne likes strong people...'

According to the original story, she would have had the honor of receiving Ian's medal of victory in the upcoming swordsmanship competition.

I was glad that she looked happy now, but it was a pity that she couldn't receive that great honor.

'That's right... The swordsmanship contest.'

The swordsmanship competition was really ahead.

It was the timing of this trap that deviated from one expectation.

'Carlon's movement was later than expected... I thought he would move as quickly as possible because of the audit by the Ministry of Finance.'

It couldn't have taken so long to manipulate such a frivolous letter.

In the end, there was only one conclusion.

Now was the best time for Carlon to judge.

Right now, the swordsmanship contest between me and Ian was just around the corner.

He seemed to have decided that we were both tied to this swordsmanship competition. If we were to pay attention to the swordsmanship competition, we couldn't move freely.

I was also concerned about Ian on the coast of Banafarim.

'He won't have enough time to get to the capital from Banafarim. I think it's a bit rushed...'

What I expected for him to move as quickly as possible was a slight mismatch.

Of course, that calculation was also wrong.

I had no attachment to the swordsmanship contest. So at least I wasn't swayed by that schedule.

After all, after remembering my past life, I gave up on the idea of ​​winning. I even planned to abstain.

I didn't have the goal of winning the title now.

'Perhaps destroying the origin of the third black magic will make Ian and I...''

But now was not the time for me to care about the swordsmanship contest.

If I didn't blow Carlon off this opportunity, I might have ended up living in the Duke Wade's residence for the rest of my life.

"Anyway."

I said, forcing myself to put off complicated thoughts.

"The origin of the third black magic is in the Smaho Forest, right?"

"Yeah. It's a really surprising place."

Cessianne answered, tilting her head.

"If it's the Smaho Forest, it's a restricted area."

The Smaho Forest was close to the capital. It was only a 'forest', and it was not a large area.

However, the Smaho Forest has not been open to civilians for a long time.

I was told that the forest could only be entered with the Imperial Family. Otherwise, the monsters that inhabit the forest would attack.

"There... It's not an imperial-family-friendly forest."

That said, it wasn't like the Imperial Family went there either.

This was because in the document left by the first emperor, the words "never go to the Smaho Forest" were left behind.

The reason has not been revealed so far. Even though it was not well known to the public in the first place.

"Oh."

Cessianne murmured as if she had realized something.

"His Majesty the first emperor must have known something. Perhaps it is because of the origin of black magic that he left such words?"

In fact, civilians like me have never thought deeply about the Smaho Forest itself.

Because there were so many places in the world to go to play, I didn't really want to go to the gloomy forest.

Even when breaking the rules, there were even fewer people whose hobby was meeting monsters.

"Anyway, then I will go to Prince Robert as soon as the sun rises."

I said thoughtfully.

"Now we should discuss what to do next. Even in the Smaho Forest, nothing can be done without the help of the imperial family."

I had to meet Robert the next day to discuss what to do next.

Just in time, as soon as we arrived at the Duke of Wade, Robert's dove flew in.

[How are things going? Also, Richard Abedes' disciplinary action has been decided today.]

As for Richard's discipline, Robert once briefly explained the plan when he was making it.

He said that if it was found that he had tampered with public documents, he would be sentenced to quite a long prison term as well as released from his post.

He would not be detained right away because he was injured and there was no risk of escaping.

'For now, I have to meet Robert tomorrow, so that's good.'

I wrote a brief reply, tied it to the pigeon's leg, and sent it back.

[I will enter the palace tomorrow morning and explain.]

I looked at the Imperial Palace where the pigeon was headed.

Tomorrow morning, I had to enter the palace alone. In the past, Ian escorted me.

If you thought about it, it seemed that the fever rose when I held his hand from then on.

I rationalized it alone because of that strange carriage, but honestly, there was no way it was because of that. Because it wouldn't be exciting for anyone to ride in such a carriage.

'I do not know. Don't think about it, let's go to bed early.'

I muttered in my mind, trying to erase thoughts about Ian.

'Let's go in the morning. We need to solve everything quickly.'

However, my plan to enter the palace in the morning went awry. Because as soon as dawn came, there were two other people who came to visit me at the Duke of Wade's residence.

The first of the two to come was the Marquis of Abedes.