Reincarnated into a Game As the Hero’s Friend Chapter 89

I was sure that no one here expected Mazells question. Representing our confusion, the Supre Priest asked, What do you an?

The black gem on the right side is the one which my companions and I picked up after defeating the demon commander in the Great Temple.

Although the shape of the two gems was a bit different, I honestly couldnt tell which one was the one Mazells party had got from defeating Beliulace and which one was the one I brought from Alea Village. Maybe the reason why different colored clothes were placed below the 2 gems was to differentiate them.

As I thought about this, Mazell continued.

The black gem on the left side was the one which my companions and I picked up after defeating the demon commander in Veritza Fortress.

WHAT?

The place imdiately turned silent and the one who broke that silence was Duke Grunding.

Are you sure about that?

Yes, sir.

Right. Mazells mory was so good that he never forgot sothing he heard once.

Sir Welner, are you sure that you picked up this gem in the Alea Village?

Yes. I have already reported everything I know about this gem.

I answered Grand Duke Seyfarts question without any hesitation.

There was only one explanation for this situation. Soone smuggled the black gem out of the palace and gave it to the devil that I t in the Alea Village.

Understandably, the face of the captain of the Mage Unit looked pale. After all, if the black gem was really smuggled out of the palace, he would be held responsible.

The face of the Duke, the Grand Duke, and the two knight captains looked grim. The Supre Priest advised to close the box for now since staring at it for too long might cause so of us to lose our rationality.

Just what exactly happened here? Did I miss sothing? Amid my confusion, Laura started to talk.

Supre Priest-sama, for now, I would like for us to organize all the information we currently have.

That would be for the best. We might have missed sothing important.

Yes, then, lets do so

The Duke imdiately replied to Laura and the Supre Priest nodded and picked up a pen.

First of all, the black gem Mazell found after killing Dreax in the Veritza Fortress sohow ended up here when it was supposed to be in the middle of an investigation in the mages laboratory. I was sure that the Duke already knew this.

The person in charge of the gems investigation was chosen directly by the mage captain and the mage captain also guaranteed the persons character and ability.

Mazell suddenly asked the mage captain another question, I would like to confirm whether the black gem from the Stampede is also in the midst of an investigation by the royal mages?

Of course.

Are you sure that the black gem is currently in the laboratory?

It was a rude question. After all, asking that question ant that he doubted the royal mages. However, it was a reasonable question in the current circumstances. It would be rather strange to assu that this black gem was the only one that had been smuggled out of the palace.

The mage captain replied with a voice full of hesitation, In the current situation, it would be difficult for to answer your question with I am sure but Sir Puckler, the one who is in charge of the gems investigation, is definitely trustworthy

Sir Puckler?

I blurted out that na. Yes, that was his na. He was an unpleasant person that I had t once once?

Wait. At that ti, I rember he felt strange, but why? What did he say at that ti? Hmm.. he said This is my first ti eting you. but that should be our second eting.

Fogto-san also said He wasnt so unsociable before. Yes, before, not usually.

If Sir Puckler had actually been replaced by the demon, then he would be able to smuggle the black gem out of the palace. Just by the circumstantial evidence, he was our pri suspect.

Sir Welner, whats wrong?

I didnt have any evidence but

Since the Duke asked , I need to answer. He probably asked because he noticed the change in my expression. It seed like my poker face had cracked completely. What I had was only a suspicion without any evidence but in the current situation, it would be better for to talk about it.

Plus, I thought that it was better for to be the one that said it here. What Mazell had said was just an obscure suspicion but what I wanted to say was slander, a problematic statent, since I didnt have any evidence.

If the result of the investigation showed that Sir Puckler was innocent then I would be the one that bears the consequences, not Mazell. That was better for since I couldnt let the relationship between the hero and the mage unit deteriorate. As for , I have many ways to recover later.

I think Sir Puckler is a bit suspicious. Actually

Since Laura looked at for a second with a gaze as if she wanted to say sothing, she probably understood the aning of my action. I didnt mind being the one who would take all the burn so Mazell, you just need to focus on defeating the demon king.

It will be for the best if everything is rely my groundless fear. However, just in case, we should launch an investigation.

I could not directly tell everyone here that the personality of a person who had been replaced by a demon would change because I only knew this from the ga and didnt have any evidence to support it.

Therefore, I just told them about our strange conversation and Fogto-sans words. I carefully chose my words so it would look like I advised them to be careful around him, but I didnt accuse him as a demon. Since he was our only suspect now, my request to investigate him would be granted. Probably.

But honestly, I didnt know if I should hope for my suspicion to be proven true. If my suspicion was proven true, that would an that the demons could even infiltrate the rank of the royal mages but if it was proven to be false, that would an that I had slandered Sir Puckler and our relationship would beco sour.

Either way, the result would make my stomach churn. However, if my suspicion was true, things would be far worse than getting a stomachache.

As I expected, so people here showed complicated expressions but in the end, the mage captain nodded.

I understand. In the current situation, it would be better for us to be safe than sorry. I would launch an internal investigation about Sir Puckler.

Thank you very much.

I bowed my head again. Well, if this was only my overthinking then it would stain my honor. To be fair, even if that happened, I was sure that I would figure sothing out!

I would have to contact Father and warn him to be careful. Then, I would also need to send a letter to tell Frenssen to submit all results of the Mangold investigation to the palace via Father.

Still, I didnt know if I should be happy about the fact that Father was a civil officer. On one hand, because my Father was a civil officer, he stayed at the capital with weaker protection since all of our Houses armies were stationed here, but on the other side, chances of devils attacking my Father were very low because devils thought that power was everything and my Father was puny civil officer in their eyes. I didnt know if I could call this a blessing in disguise.

After this, the Duke and the others were kept busy by reports, etings, and stuff. It seed like Laura had sothing else to discuss with the Supre Priest and the Duke though.

In any case, it looked like the investigation would begin even before I returned. That was good.

As the tension began to leave my body, I finally noticed how out of place I was in the group composed of the hero, princess, dukes, and captains. I ended up writhing alone in the night. I have to make sure I dont carry this attitude tomorrow morning.