He shot a reproachful look toward Virki, who was hiding behind him, gesturing at the cage.
“Release them at once.”
“I am releasing them.”
Perhaps sulking because he hadn’t taken his side, Virki’s reply was curt.
At a single gesture from Virki, clang, the cage door opened.
Hedmilton came running in one stride and pulled Taebon toward the sofa placed in the center of the room.
Thump—no sooner had he set the papers he had been waving down on the table than he promptly placed a fountain pen into Taebon’s hand.
“All right, you can write now. The witness statement goes up here. In large letters.”
Without a word of complaint, Taebon silently wrote down the words as instructed.
Watching him, Liselotte asked without much thought.
“We went looking for you after hearing that you’d left House Gloria. I never imagined you’d be at the Magic Tower.”
“You can’t very well expect them not to look for me in the East if I weren’t here.”
Even in Taebon’s reply, there was a faint sense of wariness toward House Gloria.
When Liselotte and Eren took seats on the opposite sofa, Hedmilton, who had been chewing on bread while watching, widened his eyes and asked,
“Oh, Commander, did you also get dumped outright even though you weren’t planning to confess?” (by Diana)
Taebon’s reply, however, was cold.
“There’s no way that would be the case.”
“Ugh. That’s even worse.”
Hedmilton’s eyes widened as if he had been shocked.
Still, perhaps because they were friends, Virki crept up behind the sofa and desperately tried to explain.
“Taebon left because the ducal House was strange… That’s why I hid him.”
“You can’t summarize it like that. Hoo…”
Letting out a deep sigh, Taebon furrowed his brow.
At last, he calmly explained the reason he had resigned as if fleeing.
“The reason I left House Gloria is simple. While carrying out countless subjugations, I had never seen a place where as many people died as in the East.”
Eren, who would know more about subjugations than anyone, reacted immediately.
“Isn’t it common for subjugation force members to get injured?”
“Do you know what rumor circulated among us mercenaries?”
After a brief pause, Taebon said firmly.
“If you do subjugations in the East for a long time, you end up going insane.”
In that moment, Liselotte recalled the report Hedmilton had once delivered when they were in the Capital.
– About fifteen years ago, a subjugation force member went mad and killed all his fellow unit members.
Eren seemed to recall the same thing, his eyes narrowing.
A rather sharp question flowed from his lips.
“For all that, I heard that House Gloria’s general knight commander led the subjugation force for a long time.”
“Actually…”
Taebon’s gaze shifted briefly toward Liselotte.
It looked as if he was steadying his resolve after looking at her.
“How does House Keilos treat subjugation force members when they are injured?”
“We use healing magic stones. Most subjugation forces would prefer magic stones.”
At Eren’s answer, Liselotte nodded as well.
Usually, the cost burden of calling a priest was high, and in terms of convenience, healing magic stones were far more effective.
Although they were consumables and required participating in periodic bidding competitions held by the Magic Tower, that drawback seemed to be outweighed by their popularity in the North.
Hedmilton, who was actually from the East, blinked as if hearing this for the first time.
“Oh, really? In the East, the priests and Lady Diana handle everything.”
Taebon agreed, as if he had been waiting for the chance.
“That’s right. Because of the Young Lady’s health, priests often stay at the Ducal estate. As a result, they take charge of the treatment.”
“Lady Diana? With that stamina?”
At the utterly unbelievable statement, Liselotte tilted her head.
Not long ago, hadn’t Diana volunteered to perform treatment at the banquet, only to turn pale and leave?
Of course, Diana wasn’t someone who never used her divine power at all.
But it wasn’t exercised on a wide scale like with subjugation force members.
“Not frequently. However, when I recently observed the mad members more closely…”
Taebon hesitated.
The pen that had long been writing the witness statement at Hedmilton’s instruction had already stopped.
Virki, who had been listening beside them, suddenly cut in.
“Why can’t you say that a lot of the ones she treated went mad?”
At the innocent question, utterly devoid of suspicion, Taebon took a deep breath.
Finally lifting his head, he looked at Liselotte and gave a bitter smile.
“Since Your Highness wasn’t on good terms with House Gloria to begin with, I suppose I may speak freely.”
…All this time causing trouble, and now she was actually getting help because of it. No wonder he kept glancing at her and watching her every move.
It seemed he had been weighing whether they might side with House Gloria.
Judging by how strongly Virki also avoided nobles, even without saying it outright, the chances were high that he felt much the same.
Liselotte pretended not to notice Taebon’s gaze and asked again.
“…Are you certain?”
Diana’s divine authority was healing.
There were already several people who had experienced her power firsthand, making it impossible for it to be a complete fabrication.
‘That was also why Diana became famous.’
Given the Perida Empire’s nature, where monsters were common, healing ability could only be considered a top-tier power.
Perhaps conscious of this, Taebon lacked conviction in his claim.
“It’s an assumption. However, it is certain that some members weren’t in good condition after receiving treatment from Lady Diana. Because of that, I thought the mercenaries under my command might also suffer problems, so I resigned.”
From how he took care of everyone under him, down to even Virki, who was like a troublesome five-year-old, he seemed to have a strong sense of responsibility.
It would already be difficult enough just to look after himself.
And if he were the Tower Master’s closest aide, wouldn’t it be natural to try to exploit that advantage?
He seemed like an honest and upright person.
But personality was one thing.
‘There’s far too little evidence.’
Still, she couldn’t categorically deny it either.
To begin with, the very fact that Diana, who wasn’t even of royal blood, had received divine authority was itself unusual.
‘Then again, I didn’t receive any even though I’m royalty.’
Perhaps sensing her careful scrutiny, Virki suddenly burst into tears.
“Don’t doubt my fragile friend. Taebon has incredibly sharp intuition…”
If it was someone who had served as a subjugation commander for a long time, there was also the possibility that it was an instinctive sense.
And usually, instincts like that tended to be accurate.
‘I should look into this.’
While Liselotte carefully pieced together the circumstances in her mind, Hedmilton was indulging in reminiscing with an acquaintance he hadn’t seen in a long time.
“Now that I hear what you’re saying, Lady Diana does seem to have something a bit off about her.”
“Why? Did you see something?”
“Strangely, whenever I talk to her, I get irritated and feel heat rise to my face.”
Taebon, who had initially looked intrigued, turned serious when he saw Hedmilton blinking innocently.
“Rather than that… have you ever seen Duke Gloria’s wife?”
“No?”
Hedmilton answered promptly, then froze in place for a moment, only his eyes rolling around.
After a brief silence, Hedmilton asked back,
“Come to think of it, I don’t remember ever hearing the Duke talk about his late wife either.”
At the unexpected conversation, Liselotte slipped in lightly.
“Oh, really? In high society, there’s a widespread rumor that Duke Gloria dotes on Diana so much because she looks exactly like his late wife.”
There was no one in the Capital, including Valen, who didn’t know this.
A daughter already suffering from a terminal illness—people said he fretted constantly, afraid she might leave the world early like his wife had.
Because of that, Liselotte had been pointed at even more by people, so there was no way she wouldn’t know.
Hedmilton agreed.
“That’s true. Duke Gloria absolutely fawns over the Young Lady.”
“For all that, isn’t it strange that there isn’t a single portrait of the Duchess in their mansion?”
Taebon furrowed his brow as if finding it odd.
It seemed Hedmilton had once harbored the same doubt.
“I asked about that once, and he said that seeing it only made him feel sadder.”
“Knowing his personality, that honestly sounds a bit fake.”
“Actually, I think so too.”
By the time the conversation was winding down, the drafting of the witness statement had also concluded smoothly.
***
The next day, morning.
House Gloria was experiencing the eruption of its long-foreseen retribution.
[Complaint
Lawsuit for Contract Termination
Plaintiff: Virki Baskerville
Defendant: House Gloria of the East, Duke Anix Gloria
Claim: We hereby notify that the magic tool supply contract between the plaintiff and the defendant has been terminated on the grounds that it constitutes an unfair contract.]
