In the end, after I returned to the Zeavert armys camp, I gave Lauras letter to Schunzel, who in turn submitted it to the Duke.
I was finally granted a eting with Duke. Laura could have just told the Duke in person, but if she did that, it would have put the Supre Priest in a bad position. Laura did tell the Duke about wanting a eting via the Supre Priest, though. Thanks to Laura, I got to et the Duke today, not tomorrow.
Princess Laura Louise Weinzierl, Welner von Zeavert, and Mazell Hearthing have arrived. (Welner)
Please wait a mont. (Guard)
I beca the one who reported our arrival to the guard. Laura was a princess, so unless she was the one who was being summoned, she would never report her arrival herself. She would have an orderly or soone in that class report her arrival for her.
As for Mazell, although he had the support of the royal family, he was still just a commoner. Therefore, unless it was so ergency or Mazell was the one being summoned, he would not have the authority to report our arrival.
That was why I ended up becoming the one who reported our arrival. By the way, even though we were going to et a Duke, Laura as a princess had a higher rank than the Duke, so that was why when I reported our arrival I called her Princess. Since my rank was lower than the Duke, I just stated my na while I said Mazells na the last since he was a commoner.
This kind of etiquette was really annoying.
I apologize for making you wait. Please, co in.
The guard was being respectful because Laura, the princess, and , the viscount, were here. If it was only Mazell, he probably would straight up say, Co in!. Being a guard could be pretty troubleso too, huh?
I entered and gave a bow. Whoah. Even Laura seed to be surprised. Other than Duke Grunding, there were also Grand Duke Seyfart, the 1st and 2nd division knights captains, the Supre Priest, the captain of Mage Unit, Marquis Norporth, and Marquis Schramm present.
It was a full gathering of army commanding officers! This was better for . Actually, they were all accompanied by their own adjutants and guards, but here, their adjutants and guards would probably be treated as thin air. That was just how a noble eting was.
Your Excellency and all honorable personnels, thank you very much for your willingness to spare so of your precious ti to co here. (Laura)
It was a perfect ti since we were also in the middle of a talk. (Duke)
It was Laura who opened the conversation. In this kind of setting, the speaking turn was important. In private, they were grandfather and granddaughter, but in public, they were a princess and a Duke, so Laura, who had a higher position, talked first. The Duke answered next despite his position being lower than the Supre Priest and the Grand Duke because he was actually the one we asked for a eting.
Huft.. The etiquette was really annoying.
A talk?
Let us talk about that later. I heard that there was sothing urgent you need to talk to about?
Yes. The Viscount will explain the details.
Yes. Do allow to explain.
It was finally my turn. I bowed once and started my explanation. Because it was urgent, I jumped right to the core of the issue and skipped the flamboyant words needed for etiquette.
I dont have any tangible proof, but I think that the capital is currently in great danger. As such, I would like to investigate the situation in the capital as soon as possible.
For a mont, everyone beca silent. A while later, the Duke finally spoke out.
Why?
I will explain it step by step. As you may already know, demons managed to infiltrate the Great Temple by disguising themselves as humans.
Yes, I am aware of that.
The Supre Priest replied in a hurry. No, I didnt an to bla you or anything.
We cannot simply assu that other demons will not be capable of doing the sa thing. No, it would be better for us to assu they can do it.
Since a demon disguised as a human had actually appeared in the ga.
Continue.
Do all of you sirs know about the incident where Viscount Goslich Knap brought several of his people to attack the Veritza Fortress?
I asked this since I thought that the Supre Priest might not know about it, but it looked like I was worried for nothing since the Supre Priest nodded.
I had launched an investigation into it before and found that there was a witness who saw Sir Mangold leading tens of people outside of the capitals wall.
I had also heard about that. From the information I had gotten, the walls guard witnessed the scene when he was patrolling.
The 1st division captain, Vilsmaier, said so. So that was how the witness saw Mangold. I wanted more detailed information, but for now, lets put that off for later.
However, I had heard no story about many soldiers, adventurers, or rcenaries disappearing. I tried to investigate it in more detail, but the result was the sa. There were also no witnesses who saw Sir Mangold and his people leave the capital. Therefore, who exactly were the people being led by Sir Mangold outside of the capital was still a mystery.
Everyones expression changed imdiately. As expected, no one here was stupid. When I told Mazell and his companions about this possibility, they were also shocked.
With the tone of wanting confirmation, Grand Duke Seyfart asked, So you want to say that they can be demons?
Yes, or rather, I believe demons had replaced them.
How Mangold got so many people to follow him wasnt important. The problem here was that many people had disappeared, but the adventurer guild, rcenary guild, and even the capitals census officer noticed nothing.
There was one plausible explanation for this. The second they left the capital, the demons disguised as them replaced them. If that was what happened, then the fact that no one noticed their disappearance made sense.
In the first place, there were many people who went in and out of the capital. If so people left the capital saying that they wanted to go on a trip, et an old friend, or take a long vacation, no one would bother searching for them. Heck, no one would probably even think that they had, in fact, went missing.
If my guess was right, that would an that there were currently tens of demons freely roaming in the capital with weapons. This was dangerous. Adding to that
Previously, Sir Mangold had borrowed soldiers from the nobles of Marquis Knaps faction. There is a possibility that these soldiers have been replaced by demons disguised as humans. That would an that there is a possibility that demons are roaming freely among nobles.
In the worst-case scenario, these demons might enter the palace as a nobles guard. Of course, there was also a possibility that the demons could only copy the appearance, not the mory so a simple test would make them get caught and there was also the possibility that the palace had a barrier so the demon wouldnt be able to get in, but here, we need to assu the worst-case scenario.
But I heard that the capitals gatekeepers didnt see Sir Mangold or his group, said Marquis Schramm.
We can trust the gatekeepers word if they are humans.
My tone might be a little too rude but it was possible. Eliminating the witnesses was a basic course of action. If after killing the gatekeepers, they were then replaced by demons We couldnt trust them anymore.
So you are saying that Sir Mangold and his group were used by our enemy?
Yes. That was a guess I made based on my impression of Sir Mangold.
Based on how arrogant Mangold was, he would feel that their identity, aim, and such didnt matter as long as they were obedient. That bastard was the type of person who thought people following his order was the most obvious thing in this world.
There was also a possibility that Mangold himself had also been replaced by demons, but it was impossible for to know the exact details now. Co to think of it, Mangold t up with an unknown person several tis before, right? This unknown person was also suspicious.
In any case, I doubt Mangold was still alive, so lets offer a prayer for him.
The fate of the people who followed Mangold was also a mystery. If the demons gathered them, using so random excuses and then drugged them or used magic to make them lose their consciousness, the demons would be able to easily bring them outside of the capital.
The incident with Lily-san was a good example. The demons used debuff magic on her, which rendered her helpless. Maybe demons did similar things to the people who followed Mangold.
In the ga, magic which gave a confusion debuff causing our enemies to attack their allies existed. Co to think of it, equipnt with a confusion curse also existed in the ga. The value of the equipnt was higher than the magic, I think.
In any case, the demons suffered an unexpected defeat in the demon outbreak. Maybe that was why this ti they wanted to carefully plan their moves and that was how they ca up with a plan to send so demons disguised as humans to the capital.
Surprisingly, there were many humans who barely knew anything about the surrounding people, causing them to not notice any abnormalities. Even in my past life, stuff like enemy soldiers infiltrated your camp existed.
Plus, the capitals guards didnt know that our enemies could disguise themselves as humans. Even if they noticed that a person had beco unsociable recently, the thought that he was a demon disguised as a human would never cross their mind.
By the way, this world didnt have a tradition to pray for the souls of the dead. People of this world believed that once a person died, they would enter Gods trial. If they got a verdict of being a good person, they would enter the divine world. If they got a verdict of being an evil person, they would beco the demons food in the demon world. I didnt know if this would actually happen, though.
The difference between this world and my previous world was that the usage of sacred magic by the Shinto priest was a clear evidence that God did exist in this world.
I see. So you ant to say that they have beco soones doll for a long ti now. Its true that such a possibility existed.
Its really an ergency. Good job for noticing it, Sir Welner.
I just hope everything is just overthinking it.
The Duke and Grand Duke glanced at each other and nodded. Then, they both turned to the two knight captains.
Under the na of Duke Grunding, I order the captains of the 1st and 2nd division to select 10 people under your command to send a letter to His Majesty.
Understood.
The ssengers from the 1st division will use the main road, and the ssengers of the 2nd division will use an alternative road. Make sure the letter reaches His Majesty!
Yes!
Duke, please wait a mont.
The Mage Unit captain interrupted the Duke. He glanced at Mazell for a mont, then redirected his gaze to his back. After that, a person who was probably his adjutant placed a box on the table. There seed to be a paper stuck on it. Was it a seal or sothing?
We should check this as well.
The Mage Unit captain opened the box and there were two black gems laying inside it. One of them looked like the one I picked up at Alea Village. Was the other one the gem that Mazell found after killing Beliulace?
I rembered I got an ominous feeling when I picked up the gem at Alea Village, but now that there were two of them, I got an even worse feeling. This strange, anxious feeling I got when looking at them was hard to explain.
Duke Grunding and the rest also had the sa expression as except for Mazell. He had a complicated expression on his face. I rarely saw him with that kind of expression.
As I had explained before, there were several people who lost their minds after they examined these two gems.
Lose their mind?
The Dukes words felt more like a confirmation than a question. The reason he asked that question was probably so that the captain would explain the details to us.
Among the people who had explained these gems, several of them showed behavior as if they had lost their rationality.
They didnt just show disgust or discomfort?
Their behavior was closer to a fascination or possessiveness toward these gems.
The Mage captain answered Grand Duke Seyfarts question. Since the Supre Priest also nodded, did that an the priest who examined these gems also showed the sa behavior? I couldnt understand how soone could beco fascinated with these ominous things.
Sir Welner, you were the one who picked up one of these two gems. Did you or any of your people who had seen the gem show a similar behavior?
No. Well, I did not stare at the gem for a long ti or carefully examine it, so that might be the reason.
Maybe because I felt the gem was ominous, and I was also physically and ntally tired, so after I got the gem, I just left it alone in its bag.
Neurath and Schunzel also didnt show any strange behavior.
Is that so? How about you, Sir Mazell?
Before I answer, may I ask another question?
Usually, you would get scolded as being rude if you answer a question with another question, but the Mage Unit captain nodded, perhaps because of Mazells grim expression.
But Mazells next question left us all in a further confusion
Why is that here?
T/N: A rare cliffhanger! Anyway, I rember soone was wondering in the comnt why Mangolds na kept popping out so here is your answer!
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