Chapter 429 – Letter from the Instigator

“Sir, if I may ask… did they have any visitors?”

“Not to my knowledge, no.”

…Hmm. I thought if the mastermind or their messenger had visited this place, we might obtain other information… But they might have arranged letter exchanges elsewhere or used some special method to avoid leaving eyewitness accounts.

“Then one more thing. If there were no visitors, the danger decreases, but just to be safe, it might be better to take precautions.”

“What do you mean?”

“If the mastermind learns the perpetrators have been captured, they might come here to destroy evidence. So while I’ll investigate the room, it might be wise to have the Knight Order come to this inn. Given the possibility of arson and such, having them stay here as guards might be a good idea.”

Since we’ve secured the Thieves Guild’s cooperation, our response has been quite swift… but I want to be thorough.

“I see. What do you think, innkeeper?”

When Isabella asked, the innkeeper nodded.

“No, I appreciate your consideration. For the knights staying here, I’ll prepare my finest dishes.”

It seems the innkeeper has no objections either. No damage to facilities, plus increased income from the knights’ stay – nothing to lose.

The innkeeper bowed slightly, came out from behind the counter, and showed us to the room.

“They were staying in this large room here.”

It appears they rented out one large room and used it as their base of operations.

It’s a reasonably spacious room. Several beds lined up, with one set of chairs and a desk for writing. The window faces the back alley, so the sunlight isn’t very good.

Since they didn’t want to stand out, this room facing the back alley was probably more convenient than one facing the main street with good sunlight.

“What are we looking for?”

“Letters and documents, I’d say. Like I mentioned earlier, there’s a chance enemies might appear, so be careful about that too.”

“Understood.”

After giving Sheila additional precautions about searching for evidence, we began the room search. Meanwhile, I’ll contact the Knight Order using the communication device.

“Their belongings – after checking the room, I’ll line them up on the beds, so leave them untouched.”

“Mhm.”

Sheila nodded. First, probably the bedside cabinets and the desk drawers. Well… given the nature of these items, they might be stored in hard-to-find places.

Sheila lightly knocked on walls and floors, tapped with her toes to check sounds and textures, and looked around the room. She thoroughly checked if anything was stuck to the underside of tabletops or behind drawers, whether drawers had false bottoms – her thoroughness was impressive. Is this kind of room search method also taught by the Thieves Guild?

I also used Levitation to lift the beds and the bedding on them, carefully examining even the undersides.

Lavigne moved their travel bags and luggage to more visible locations.

“Theodore. Here.”

Sheila called out to me. It seemed she’d found something suspicious.

She lifted the edge of the carpet and was examining the floorboards.

“Did you find something?”

“The floorboards were cut and processed later. The wood cuts are relatively fresh.”

As Sheila said this and moved the floorboard, it rattled. After sliding it two, three times, a gap appeared, and when she lifted the floorboard from that gap… sure enough, there was a bundle of papers.

“…This is it.”

I unfolded the letter and examined its contents.

The content… as expected, it’s instructions.

It noted that the Duke and his children would be visiting Termwills, along with the timing.

…It incited them, saying that carrying out attacks for the Duke’s family and preventing reconciliation was justice. To be careful with the attacks so the Duke’s family wouldn’t get a bad reputation. To send threatening letters blaming the Duke’s family afterward. To make the Duke’s family think it was the work of radical factions opposed to reconciliation on the Grand Duke’s side, etc… Various details were recorded. And finally, Curtis’s signature was written.

The handwriting seemed intentionally distorted. It appeared written with something like a ruler pressed against it, creating unnatural letter forms. Only the Curtis signature part was neatly written to appear normal… This suggests they might have practiced only the pseudonym while changing their handwriting. Thinking they’ve cut off evidence leading to themselves with this?

What concerned me more was another letter.

Its content contained all sorts of bad rumors about Grand Duke Debonnis.

The tone suggested the Grand Duke was responsible for Marlene’s assassination attempt. But… there wasn’t a single mention of the actual culprit, Prince Roy.

Grand Duke Debonnis certainly assisted Roy when he established territory in the south, but… he didn’t know everything Roy was doing or planning to do.

Much less could he have been involved in the assassination attempt. This was clearly established during Roy’s Magical Inquisition.

Yet it was written quite plausibly that Grand Duke Debonnis had plotted the poisoning.

…And precisely because of this, it incited them, saying that building up the Duke’s family and weakening the Grand Duke’s family’s power was for the Duke’s family’s sake, and ultimately for the Verdgar royal family and kingdom.

“…Cowardly.”

Sheila, having read the text, murmured quietly but with suppressed anger.

“…Indeed.”

They probably know nothing of Marlene’s feelings or Grand Duke Debonnis’s regrets. Inciting others’ righteous indignation with false charges to make things go their way. That’s what the mastermind behind this incident is like.

I carefully folded the letters and put them in a bag. Since these are evidence, I’ll take custody of them.

“Well then, let’s inspect and collect their luggage too. We need to leave this room in a state where official investigation isn’t necessary.”

We’ll hand over the collected luggage to the arriving knights and arrange matters to cause minimal inconvenience to the inn, which should maintain Isabella’s dignity.

“Mhm. I’ll check the remaining unchecked areas with Lavigne a bit more.”

“Understood. I’ll also check if there’s anything suspicious in the luggage.”

Well then, let’s divide the remaining tasks and finish up.

“Did you find what you were looking for?”

When we returned to the first floor after entrusting the rest to the arriving knights, Isabella asked.

“Yes. I think we had some gains.”

“That’s good to hear. I pray for your good fortune.”

Isabella nodded, returned to a serious expression, and bowed.

“Thank you.”

“Sheila, be careful too.”

“Mhm. Isabella, see you next time.”

“Yeah, see you.”

Exchanging such words, Isabella smiled and saw us off.

But… the enemy didn’t set any traps. Do they think we can’t trace the evidence, or do they have some plan? If Leslie is the mastermind, he might be counting on the fact that we can’t take action without definitive evidence, even if he does something somewhat blatant. That said, we shouldn’t be optimistic thinking the enemy’s foresight or response is simply lacking. We must properly discern the enemy’s aims.

“What’s the plan after this?”

As I walked toward the Royal Castle while pondering various things, Sheila asked.

“I’m going to disguise myself and infiltrate the Duke’s family villa, but before that, I plan to meet up with everyone at the Royal Castle.”

I explained the subsequent strategy and schedule to Sheila. After receiving necessary items from everyone at the Royal Castle, the plan is to send Ambrum home as my Shadow Clone while I myself disguise and go to the Duke’s family villa.

“–And since I’ve booked an inn near the Duke’s family villa, I’ll have everyone move there.”

When entering the central district inn, having them use Marlene’s Lantern to cover themselves with Illusion Magic and disguise their appearances should cause confusion even if there are scouts.

“If something happens at the villa, we’ll rush to support you.”

“That’s likely. If they still intend to pose as the Grand Duke’s family assassins, they might send personnel to the Duke’s residence in unit formations. And… they might attack using magical setups. Since as the mastermind, it would make sense to strike before the reconciliation date… The danger will probably start around tonight, right?”

If the enemy attacks in large numbers, we must consider properly protecting the escort targets. The escort targets alone are one thing, but the mansion has servants too. Having everyone stationed nearby will make dealing with large numbers easier.

The same applies for preparations against magical setups. Even if it’s a Spell Formula I don’t know, our range of response will broaden.

Simultaneously, we must consider the possibility of diversions. I’ll also send Marlene’s Eclair to Grand Duke Debonnis’s villa, and if problems occur, we’ll deploy combat forces using Claudia’s Teleportation Magic to handle them.

Ambrum will be stationed near our home, Lavigne will remain at the Royal Castle. And I’ll be stationed at the Duke’s family residence. This way, even if abnormalities occur throughout Termwills, we can respond more easily.

“Do you have everything you need?”

Meeting up with everyone in a room at the Royal Castle’s Guesthouse, while explaining what happened at the inn, I immediately checked the items everyone prepared when Grace asked.

After confirming all the items bought at the Market and the types of medicinal liquids in the glass bottles Rosemary prepared, I nodded.

“Yeah. This should be fine.”

“What in the world are you going to use those for, I wonder?”

“Hmm. I think it might work for shaking things up–“

I explained to everyone what I intended to do.

“Such a method…”

Ashley’s eyes widened, and Marlene blinked rapidly. Claudia and Rosemary too… judging by their reactions, they didn’t know about it.

“If it’s a method even everyone doesn’t know, I’m thinking the mastermind won’t have any countermeasures either.”

“I see…”

Claudia nodded admiringly. If this becomes… the decisive blow, that would be good.

Putting on the Disguise Ring, mixing Ouroboros, Chimera Coat, and Balor into the luggage… changing into servant clothing would complete my preparations.

“Theo, be careful.When I tried to解除 Grace’s Cursed Tool, she said that and hugged me tightly… Yeah. Once I解除 the Cursed Tool’s Seal, for Grace, even hugging normally like this would become difficult.

“Yeah.”

Nodding, I wrapped my arms around Grace’s body and stroked her hair. After hugging for a while, when we separated, Grace smiled with a peaceful expression. After releasing Grace’s Cursed Tool Seal, I hugged everyone else the same way.

“Please don’t get hurt.”

Drawing Ashley and Marlene close, hugging Claudia… pulling Rosemary close. Then Seraphina happily clung to me. Seeing this, Sheila and Irmhild looked at each other and smiled slightly, so I ended up hugging both of them too.

…Alright. I’m fired up. Activating the Disguise Ring, I transformed into Mathius for the first time in a while.

“Well then, I’m off. Everyone, please don’t let your guard down.”

“Yes. Have a safe trip.”

And so, seen off by everyone, I left the Royal Castle behind.