Chapter 51
“What nonsense? I didn’t kiss him. We didn’t roll around in bed either.”
“Ahaha! That may be true. Poor thing… Actually, that might be better. If you don’t know love, at least you won’t end up as miserable as I am.”
Ophensia said with a somewhat bitter expression.
“The Baron Cerfelia family betrayed me and poisoned me. Just let me take revenge. If I use the Crown Prince to wipe out that family, I’ll stop there.”
“After you stop, do you plan to go back to the demon realm and expose my position?”
“Haah. No way. I don’t like living with a foolish Crown Prince, but I dislike going back to the demon realm even more.”
Ophensia looked up at the vast sky. Clouds slowly drifted in the blue expanse.
“…Since I came back to this place I loved, I want to stay here a little longer.”
“If you came back, you shouldn’t have made me drink Rilkana tea.”
“True. If I had known the witch next to the Duke was you, I wouldn’t have done it. I thought you were a mid-to-high level witch who came to interfere. I’m practically a traitor in the demon realm. I’m not chasing you or trying to bring you back.”
“Enough. Make a contract with me. Promise to only touch the Cerfelia Barons from now on. And that you won’t reveal my position in the demon realm. In return, I’ll spare you.”
“Alright.”
“Contract concluded.”
Gremory’s eyes glowed red. A translucent restraint appeared on Ophensia’s neck and quickly turned transparent.
“Wow, this feels disgusting. I’ve only ever put these on others.”
“Now get lost. If you’re not the culprit, I’m going to get busier.”
“…You’ve really changed a lot, Gremory.”
Ophensia left, leaving a meaningful remark behind. Gremory turned into a crow again and flew out of the palace.
She felt uneasy and bad somehow.
Since Ophensia wasn’t the culprit, the case fell back into a maze. Cheshion strengthened the security of his domain, and his information guild operated covertly.
Gremory moved secretly too. Since it could be another witch’s doing, she acted without Cheshion knowing for safety.
She ordered the black beasts to investigate the disappearances of vagrants and unregistered people.
The cries of black crows, black wild dogs, and black rats gathered as they spread out through the empire following Gremory’s orders.
About two days later, a suspicious site was found.
In the middle of a cold, windy desert stood ancient ruins. A man wrapped in black cloth was there, wearing a brooch shaped like two crossed black spears on his chest. When he pressed a hidden button, an entrance to underground opened.
A black rat chasing the man tried to enter the underground, but—
“Snap!”
As if not allowing even a single rat inside, the man immediately kicked the rat away.
‘Location confirmed.’
The red brooch with two black spears. Gremory now tracked those wearing this brooch.
Finding them wasn’t difficult. They disguised themselves as ordinary shopkeepers, citizens, or officials and operated throughout the empire.
In a dark back alley, several of them tried to kidnap an unconnected woman and send her to the ruins.
‘That can’t happen.’
“Bark! Bark!”
Black wild dogs chased away the brooch-wearers on Gremory’s orders. The kidnapped woman struggled with her hands and feet tied. Gremory sent black rats to chew through the ropes, and the woman escaped safely.
At the same time, Cheshion’s information guild also found the symbol of two crossed black spears.
“Duke, this looks like the Abyss Sect’s mark, doesn’t it?”
“It’s a bit altered, but yes.”
The Abyss Sect was a trivial cult that had appeared occasionally. Skilled guild members captured the Abyss Sect’s tailor shop owner and kept him in a torture chamber.
The dark torture chamber was full of mold. Cheshion stared silently at the tailor, who struggled tied to a chair, sensing the pain to come.
“Tell me. What is your real purpose?”
“I-I told you earlier! We need people as materials to revive a dead witch…! Ugh!”
“Pfft.” Cheshion kicked the man’s shin.
“Typical nonsense from a cult member.”
“It’s true! To revive the poisoned witch, our leader summoned a demon…!”
“Haven’t you had enough?”
“I-I really don’t know more! I’m just a low-ranking member who delivers people to be used as materials and gets paid. That’s all I know!”
At that moment, Gremory appeared beside Cheshion.
“The leader is a noble.”
“…!”
“You get paid a huge amount for the kidnappings. For someone like you to have enough wealth to pay your minions, the leader must be a noble.”
The man’s eyes trembled helplessly. Gremory smiled.
“I just threw that out there, but it really hit a nerve. Cheshion, the leader is a noble. That narrows the search a lot.”
“N-No! A noble? That’s ridiculous!”
Cornered, the man denied excessively. Cheshion’s eyes narrowed. Gremory threw another bait.
“And the leader… is a man?”
“I-I don’t have the chance to see the leader’s face, so I don’t know! I told you everything I know, so please release me now! I can even act as a double agent if you want! Please!”
The man shed tears pleadingly. Cheshion seemed merciful and released him. Gremory quietly observed as they questioned him thoroughly.
“Thank you! Really, thank you!”
To hide the guild’s location, the man was blindfolded and dumped in a back alley. Once free, he ran off somewhere. A guild member skilled in stealth followed and eliminated him discreetly.
Gremory stared at the torture chamber for a long time. Even though they could leave after handling the man, something weighed on her mind.
“Mori, what are you doing?”
Cheshion approached, looking curious.
“Just thinking it’s bigger than the place where I was imprisoned.”
“Why are you bringing up bad memories all of a sudden? Come on, let’s go upstairs.”
Cheshion pulled Gremory’s hand, and she followed, stepping outside to the vast open sky.
While the information guild members worked diligently,
Gremory enjoyed chewing jerky Anna had made in a rocking chair in the Duke’s garden. At the same time, she efficiently fulfilled Cheshion’s role as the ‘bamboo forest’—a covert informer.
“Mori. Do you believe witches or demons exist? The idea that humans summoned a demon to revive a poisoned witch is ridiculous! I just can’t believe it.”
“I believe.”
“…Mori, you’re more naive than I thought.”
Though he said that, Cheshion was unconsciously shaken. The phrase “witch poisoned to death” reminded him of Mori vomiting blood after drinking Rilkana tea.
‘No, it can’t be. Maybe witches are real, but demons? No way.’
While Cheshion’s head spun again,
Gremory scratched her side and asked,
“So, you quietly handled the tailor because he was useless?”
“Uh, yeah.”
“Good, got it.”
She munched on jerky and went upstairs to her room. Seeing an unfamiliar box on the table, she guessed Anna had placed it there.
Inside were piles of invitations, likely because of her remarkable appearances at the royal banquet and Crown Prince’s victory celebration.
Gremory grabbed the box and brought it to the fireplace but suddenly stopped.
‘Wait. The culprit is a man and a noble. If I attend parties where many noblemen gather, I could come into contact with the culprit, right?’
This was Gremory thinking cleverly for the first time in a while!
She put the box back on the table and neatly organized its contents. Then she called Anna.
“Where would be the event with the most attendees? Especially with many men.”
“Oh, finally going out? Let me see. The Marchioness Margareta’s place recently had some bad incidents, so few will attend… If I had to pick, it’d be the dance at Duke Ortega’s house. Lots of men attend Ortega’s balls, and it’s so crowded that it gets hard to get in if you arrive late.”
Just as Gremory was about to answer,
Isollen rushed over, shouting fiercely,
“Ortega? No way! Mori, you didn’t forget that Catherine’s last name is Ortega, did you?”
