Chapter 68
10. April is the cruelest month – 14
“So… To sum up what the Count said, it means that I joined hands with the demons.”
Watching the count move just as I thought, it’s hard to bear the twitching of the corners of his mouth.
“And the evidence the Count is talking about is that the Count has risen to the level of a Master in his 30s and I have only reached the level of a Master in his early twenties, so it’s just ridiculous… It’s just something similar to a herd of children.”
Just now, when the Count said the same thing, he wrapped it up as if it would bring great suspicion, but when I took off the wrapping paper, all I could hear was that the Count was just jealous of me.
“… It’s not a bunch of children, it’s a reasonable doubt, Archduke. Not only for me, but throughout the history of the Empire, no human has reached the level of Master in their twenties. There is only one exception, humans who sold their souls to demons and gained strength.”
As he said that, the Count’s eyes shone brightly. No matter how you look at it, that person was the one who was frantic to turn me into a demonic contractor.
“So that’s prejudice. It’s a bit embarrassing to say with my own mouth, but I might be the protagonist who might be rewriting the history of the empire, isn’t it?”
“… Stop talking nonsense, Archduke. Who wouldn’t know that logically, the Grand Duke, who didn’t stand out in any way until he married Her Highness, has no chance of being a genius of that century?”
“Is that so? Does it really make that much sense? In your opinion, is it impossible to obtain this kind of power without making a contract with the demons? Yes?”
Awkward.
And at that moment, as if the earl who was holding my horse caught something, he instinctively showed me a wary mind.
No matter how you look at it, something is strange. It’s because I’m not actively protesting my words, but rather, I’m going to go to the middle of the day, and I’m going to go somewhere.
The Count stared at my face, wondering what the hell I was up to, but there was no way that his gaze would change my expression in any way.
‘What are you going to do if you come all the way here and become suspicious? Do you really think you can get away with a subject that has spread the game to this point? Huh?’
Anyway, the count was now politically on the verge of a precipice.
It was impossible to overturn the game and get out of here and now just for the trivial reason that it seemed that something was going wrong with one’s intuition.
During a very brief moment of time, the Count, who seemed to be struggling with something, eventually bit his lip as if he had made up his mind.
And that was, without question, something that could be said to be the worst move for the Count.
… Of course, all of this could be said to be the result of me pushing the Count’s back hard.
“Yes. I can say for sure. From my point of view, it is clear that the grand duke must have joined hands with the demons in some way. Otherwise, it would be impossible to acquire such strength at that age. I swear I’ll give it my all. The fact that the Grand Duke is holding hands with the demons in some way.”
‘Caught.’
That was the line I so longed for to come out of the earl’s mouth.
The other day, in the presence of all the high-ranking nobles of the empire, he swore an oath to his words.
In other words, he could never take back what he had just said.
“Is that so? If His Excellency the Count thinks so… I can’t help this. At this point, I think I have to make a concession.”
“… Yes?”
“Isn’t it? My heart wants to split me in half and show me what’s inside me to prove how innocent I am. That is why I hereby declare that I will accept all the requirements that the Count just stated.”
“… What did I say, the requirements?”
“Please call the priest. Wouldn’t it be fine to determine the color of my soul right here and now?”
The count’s face contorted at my confident attitude. And something urgent begins to take shape.
That would be natural. He thought he had driven me into a single shot, but instead of being impatient, he was rather declaring that he was going to fall into the trap he prepared with his own feet.
As a person whose body is astonishing, he may not know exactly what is about to happen here, but he must be thinking that there must be something.
And I don’t know exactly what I’m hiding, but I’m sure you’ve guessed to some extent that it’s a trump weapon that can turn this situation around.
However, it is impossible to step back and say that everything has happened.
If he did, it would be tantamount to disproving the fact that everything he had been claiming so far was a conspiracy to harm me.
In the end, there was only one path the Count could choose.
“… Call the priest At this spot, we will hold the Grand Duke’s ceremonial ceremony.”
“Yes.”
The count’s spokesperson steps out of the courtroom for a while, and then brings a woman covered in an all-white outfit inside.
And I knew very well who she was.
‘Saint Erendia.’
To be honest, I was a little surprised. How did the count bring this woman to this place, who was always stuck deep inside and never came out?
“I came here because I heard that someone hopes to receive a ceremonial reception.”
Although all the high-ranking aristocrats of the empire were gathered in this place, Erendia said that in a blunt tone, as if it were her part-time job.
“This is me.”
I didn’t want to mess with her just yet, so I cautiously raised my hand, and Erendia flashed her eyes and looked at me with her curious gaze.
“Whoa… you are that… “
“… Why?”
“Nothing. Ruler… Then give me her hand.”
At her Erendia’s urging, I hold out my hand to her without a word.
“As I’ll tell you all in advance, the ceremony is actually not that big of a deal. It’s just a ritual to indicate what color the owner of the soul has. There’s not much you can learn from him. For example, if you come into contact with demons, the color of your soul will be black and muddy, and if you have been blessed by a heavenly god, it will become pure white.”
“That’s enough. No, it is full.”
Perhaps he thinks there is no need to hide his true feelings now, the count mutters to me with bloodshot eyes.
I looked at the count quietly, then muttered in a very small voice so that no one else could hear.
“It’s not too late. Even now, if you get down on your knees and stamp your head on the floor for making a mistake, I will forgive you at this point.”
“… What?”
“Is your ear canal blocked? So, stop trembling, rub your stomach like an asshole, flip it over, and flatter me.”
“… Crazy guy I don’t know what the hell you believe in and run wild like a thunderclap. Do you think your mistress will guard your neck?”
Even though I was having a pleasant conversation with the count, Erendia opened her mouth to me without changing a single expression.
“So, are our social conversations with each other over? Then, let’s start the ceremony from now on.”
Ugh-
As Erren Dia closes her eyes and concentrates on her, something of her light begins to leak out of her hand, which she is holding tightly.
Paaah!
In an instant, a light burst from her body that was more than enough to light up the entire judge.
“Ohhh, this is…” “
“You mean the divine power of a person recognized as a saint of the time… !”
Just then, when the nobles burst into admiration for Erendia’s enormous divine power, something resembling a transparent drop of water slowly began to form on my palm, and the color slowly began to change.
Chi-Chi-Tsu-
The water droplets, which were transparent at first, suddenly start to turn black and muddy, as if someone had smudged them.
And in the count’s eyes as he watched the scene, joy that could not be hidden was lingering around.
“Look at that! Wasn’t I right! Reiner von Yohrha! I knew what your filthy identity was from a long time ago! You must have been a traitor to humanity who joined hands with the demons-“
But it was then.
Paaah!
The water droplets, which had been dyed black and muddy, begin to change their color again.
With brighter colors than anything else in the world.
No, beyond the level of being simply bright, to the level of light itself.
As a result, just when everyone in this place is at a loss for words while looking at the light itself floating in my hand, Erendia looks at me and quietly opens her mouth.
“This person… You have the purest soul color of all the people I know. No, not quite like that. This person is… light. No, two are the light, and this is the light!”
As I listened to Erendia’s words, I smirked and lifted the corners of her mouth at the earl, who was opening her own mouth like her back body.
From now on, it’s time to condemn and judge the evil demons who dared to frame the light.