After leaving Lobelia’s mansion, Woodhorse clicked his tongue in an exaggerated way.
His trusted subordinate seemed unsettled as well.
“…She clearly suspects us.”
“Yes, I’m glad I came here to check for sure. That damn princess. She was glaring at me like she was sure I diverted those ancient magic stones.”
“What should we do?”
“Call the assassination experts Zero Division.”
The subordinate seemed excited, as if the time he was waiting for had finally come, and his mouth covered in cold sweat turned into a grin.
“You’re going to assassinate Princess Lobelia.”
“Yes. But someone else needs to die first. That Qualia.”
Woodhorse crossed his arms and frowned.
“We can’t underestimate him. It was him who actually stopped the ancient magic stones. And he even figured out that the ‘real one’ is far from here. That ‘technology’ or whatever Princess Lobelia talked about might be real, and if it is, it’s only a matter of time until they find the ‘real one’. If they get it, the ball will suddenly be in their court.”
“But we can’t ignore how strong he is. He annihilated the fifth division. Even the Zero Division might fail.”
“You’re right, but I have an idea.”
Woodhorse was not underestimating Qualia. He had the utmost caution ever since he heard that he destroyed the fifth division, and joined Lobelia’s Hello World guard knight order.
He knew Lobelia would not rope in some random civilian, and his caution came from the high estimation he had for Lobelia in his own way.
“Tell the Zero Division to watch Qualia, but to not move right away. Wait for the right timing.”
“Timing?”
Woodhorse recalled the ‘tragedy’ that would befall Qualia, and seemed amused as he continued.
“When Backdoor takes action, and Qualia meets the results of that ‘tragedy’. Any human would be unable to think straight, even if only for that moment.”
■ ■
“Analyzing situation. There are some contradicting points, but not enough to back the theory that Woodhorse diverted the ancient magic stones Black Hole.”
In the end, they were unable to find decisive evidence. But there was enough for Qualia to treat Woodhorse with suspicion.
“But the original suspicion also cannot be denied. Will continue analyzing Woodhorse.”
Meanwhile, Lobelia invited another noble, as she judged Woodhorse to be the main culprit behind the diversion of ancient magic stones.
Since that was not as dangerous as the meeting with Woodhorse, Lobelia was enough to guard her, and Qualia only noticed the noble when he was leaving.
He noticed that knights of Clearance were guarding him, and they gave off the feeling that they were guarding someone important.”
“Lobelia, request explanation. How is that human categorized?”
“That’s Viscount Testarossa, Marquis Ortgray’s younger brother.”
Qualia consulted past records. Marquis Ortgray was the father of Edwin, the one who commanded the fifth division of Troy, and started a fight with Qualia when he was doing mock battles with Spirito.
He had heard that since he used his influence to gloss over his son’s bad behavior, Lobelia and Kernel crushed their house, and Woodhorse discharged them.
“Edwin and Woodhorse died shortly after.”
“Request explanation. Why were their vital activities stopped?”
“On the surface, they were wandering around in the street, when they were attacked by a group of bandits or something and were killed… But those two were crafty, so they had previously planned to make their escape, even if their titles were taken from them… Their deaths seemed too simple.”
Qualia and Lobelia looked at Viscount Testarossa again, and the knights at his sides.
It seemed he had fear painted on his face, and his cheeks looked very slender for a noble.
“Around that time, Viscount Testarossa became a shut-in. And since uncle Kernel had questions, he took him in. That’s what I just heard.”
“Request explanation. What did you and Testarossa talk about?”
“This is important.”
Prefaced Lobelia as she lowered her voice.
“At this rate, he will be killed by Woodhorse.”
She said that according to Viscount Testarossa, Viscount Edwin and Marquis Ortgray were up to something with Woodhorse. Viscount Testarossa was not sure what it was, since he had no relation to Troy, but apparently he heard Marquis Ortgray say the following when he was alive.
‘With the power of the ancient magic stones, we can carve a new age into history.’
“But after he was defeated by you, Woodhorse basically cut them off like a lizard sheds its tail.”
“Are Testarossa’s words proof of Woodhorse’s unlawful doings?”
“…It’s still weak, but it should be a start.”
Lobelia nodded strongly, and told Qualia about how the situation was progressing.
“…If we wait for decisive evidence, that Black Hole will swallow everything. We need to pile up enough evidence that he won’t be able to talk his way out of it, even if it’s circumstantial. I’ll be using all the contacts I’ve been building all this time to expose Woodhorse.”
Lobelia said as she turned to a corner of the backyard, where there was a cross.
“I’m not letting this capital fall victim to Black Hole.”
“…”
“Well, you can leave this to your older sister here. You should continue your date with Ina, that was interrupted. Didn’t you say you wanted to go somewhere?”
And speak of the devil, Lobelia saw Ina and Ace walking towards them.
“Qualia, request that you accompany us.”
“Request explanation, where?”
Ina responded with a serious expression.
“I want to do something in my own way, even if it’s hypocritical. After yesterday, and the day before that… First, I want to offer some flowers.”
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