The task of investigating the Crown Prince’s death was assigned to Han because of suspicions of black magic.
An anonymous request had ordered Han’s guild to kill the ‘Emperor.’ When they refused, the people around the guild leader were harmed, and eventually, the guild leader was killed.
So, Han killed the ‘Emperor.’
However, the next day, it was announced that the Crown Prince had died.
This led Shekina to deduce.
‘The Crown Prince is pretending to be the Emperor using black magic.’
Therefore, Han was sent to the capital to investigate the truth.
“I saw the Crown Prince’s corpse,”
Han said with a serious expression.
“And? What did you see?”
“Hmm.”
In response to Shekina’s question, Han crossed his arms and shook his head side to side.
“Mmm.”
He seemed to be debating whether to say something or not.
Shekina quietly observed his strange behavior. Although Han was odd, he wasn’t stupid. He must have had a plan.
How much time passed?
Han seemed to have organized his thoughts and clapped his hands, his eyes sparkling.
“Alright, everyone.”
He glanced at Shekina, the twins, Arthur, Dehan, and Yuriel.
“Do you trust me?”
“No.”
“Han is a bit…”
“I trust Yuri more.”
Their responses came without hesitation.
Han let out a bitter laugh.
“Oh. You give such tasks to someone you don’t trust and then treat them poorly. Wow, you really don’t trust me. It’s so extreme that it’s chilling.”
These terrible people.
Han sniffed and spoke again.
“I was confident you would take responsibility even if I did something illegal.”
“So you did something illegal?”
“Exactly!”
Shekina smiled slightly.
“Arthur.”
“Yes.”
Immediately, Arthur wrapped his arm around Han’s neck. Rather than embracing, it was more like strangling him.
“Ah! Ouch! Wait! I did it all for the Margrave’s Daimon!”
“Be quiet.”
“Ah! You’ll be surprised when you hear what I found out! Ow! Stop hitting me!”
Still strangling Han, Arthur glanced at Shekina, seeking a decision.
Shekina gestured with her hand.
“Speak.”
Arthur released his grip slightly.
“If it’s nothing, you’re dead.”
“Yes!”
Han confidently replied and ran to his bed, pulling out a box from underneath.
“Here!”
The twins, who had stepped forward, tilted their heads.
“What is this?”
“What is it?”
As they reached for the box, Shekina sensed a strange energy.
Despite being sealed, a faint aura emanated from it.
This is definitely…
[SYSTEM]
It’s black magic!
Oh, it’s been a while, System. How have you… no, that’s not important.
“Hey! Are you crazy…!”
“Ahh! What is this, damn it!”
The twins reacted faster than Shekina’s warning, screaming and throwing the box. Amazingly, it landed in Yuriel’s arms.
“Uh, um… This, this…”
“Yuriel!”
Dehan, seeing the box’s contents along with the twins, ran to Yuriel, but Yuriel’s gaze was first.
“Oh my… a, a human wrist… why, why…”
He foamed at the mouth, staring at the severed wrist neatly placed in the box. He looked ready to faint.
Oh… life is really not easy. Shekina held her forehead.
“Priest, you have a weak heart. You’ll see worse on the battlefield, so why faint over this…”
“Han. You better keep your mouth shut.”
“Yes.”
Han cautiously opened his mouth, glancing around nervously.
“The, the reason I brought this is really important.”
“Speak. If it’s useless, you’re dead.”
“……….”
Han swallowed hard, looking back and forth between Shekina’s glare and Arthur cracking his neck and knuckles.
“I really worked hard and found the Crown Prince’s body. When I opened the coffin, something was strange.”
He continued speaking.
“It felt like magic was used, but after a closer look, it didn’t seem like it. I was puzzled.”
“And your solution was to bring back a severed wrist?”
“It wasn’t a wrist at first! It was hair!” Han shouted defensively.
“I cut the hair, and it changed color immediately.”
He then took out the cut hair from his pocket.
“It changed to the color of the former emperor’s hair.”
Shekina narrowed her eyes.
The previous emperor’s hair was almost white blonde, while the crown prince’s hair was a brownish blonde. Both were blonde, but distinctly different shades.
So Shekina was sure that the hair in Han’s hand belonged to the previous emperor.
“I thought, ‘Oh, this isn’t the crown prince, it’s the emperor!’ But I needed more solid evidence.”
“Ah, so that’s why you brought the wrist?”
“I was going to use a finger, but I thought bigger was better.”
“Hahaha.”
“Hehehe.”
“You’re dead.”
“Aaah!”
Struggling against Arthur, who had grabbed his neck again, Han screamed but Arthur didn’t let go.
Haaa. Shekina sighed and organized her thoughts.
Fine. Having a part of the body would help identify who it was and determine what kind of magic was used.
But, seriously, a wrist is a bit much.
Even though I’ve been through a lot, the kids shouldn’t see such things…
“Oh, so cutting a dead person’s body makes it look like this. Interesting.”
“Han’s swordsmanship seems pretty good. The cut is clean.”
Ah, right. These guys are strange too.
Shekina shook her head, thinking that they could watch a horror movie rated 19+ and still laugh.
It was then.
“Wha-what is all this? You cut the crown prince’s body, and the hair turned out to be the emperor’s color?”
Yuriel, who had barely regained his composure, stammered.
Dehan, supporting Yuriel, also looked somewhat bewildered. He gave a sharp look to everyone, as if asking for a proper explanation.
Shekina sighed again and approached Yuriel and Dehan.
“What you thought was the crown prince’s body was actually the emperor’s. The current emperor is the crown prince.”
Yuriel’s eyes widened in shock.
“How… how is that possible?”
Does that make sense?
Even if, by some chance, Shekina was right, other priests and nobles would have noticed the switch in the body. Even with high-level magic, there would be signs! Why!
Yuriel denied the reality. But Shekina didn’t allow his denial.
“Arthur.”
“Yes.”
Arthur, after discarding Han, approached and handed the box with the wrist to Yuriel.
“You check it yourself.”
Yuriel’s trembling gaze slowly lowered to the box. Inside was the wrist of an old man, wrinkled and clearly not that of a young crown prince.
“This… can’t be…”
“It’s possible. It makes sense.”
Shekina took a deep breath. Then she looked at the twins, who were still discussing, Han rubbing his neck, and Yuriel and Dehan, who were in shock.
“Everyone gather around. I have something serious to say.”
Everyone hesitantly gathered around Shekina.
“This…”
Shekina slowly closed her eyes and then opened them again, looking directly at everyone.
“It’s black magic.”
Ring!
[SYSTEM]
You have discovered the ‘Secret of the World’!
[SYSTEM]
Proceeding to Scenario 2!
