The next day, there was no incident in the morning.
Liebe’s appearance was not detected in the range of their search, so they assumed he had not revived yet.
And so, that case did not move too much, and not much happened.
“Request explanation. Why is Woodhorse coming to this mansion?”
Woodhorse, the supreme commander of the guard knight chivalric order Troy, was visiting Lobelia’s mansion.
It was Spirito who informed Qualia of this, just as he was watching from the second floor as Ina put the laundry out to dry and taught Ace how to do it.
“Apparently he wants to say hello. I guess because of all that happened with Azure Skies, Ddos, Ina’s brother…”
“Analyzing situation. No contradictions found in reason.”
“But…”
Spirito looked serious, as she expressed her misgivings about Woodhorse.
“From the first time I saw him, I thought that Woodhorse man… Was not very trustworthy.”
“Request explanation. Why is that?”
“Sorry, I don’t have any concrete proof. It was just my first impression. Call it a swordsman’s instinct.”
It was not because he was the supreme commander of an order with an extremely bad reputation.
“Ever since he took the post of supreme commander of Troy, he’s been improving that rotten climate, and cutting away putrid nobles like that Edwin. His achievements are great, but…”
Spirito hesitated to say it, but continued.”
“…My master often said that first impressions about this sort of person are often right. Sometimes the second impression tells us they might actually be all right, but first impressions often show things that would be later smoothed over in the second impression.
That’s why I trust my first impression and my instinct as a swordsman, and why I’m keeping an eye on Woodhorse.”
“Request understanding. Qualia cannot give Woodhorse a low estimation based on his current level of trust. Will need analysis.”
“I know. You watch him your own way. You don’t have to copy your master… But I will tell you this.”
Spirito squinted, and said why she was wary of Woodhorse.
“My sister’s investigation came up with a theory that it was him who diverted the ancient magic stones Black Hole.”
“Request explanation. Does that information carry a high degree of trust?”
“There’s some circumstantial evidence, but no definite proof… Of course, it’s not like he carried them himself, so he had knights working with him. It would be simple if we got them, but… They all died.”
Ddos bribed a knight to let beast people out, but Woodhorse took the knights that helped him divert ancient magic stones, and turned them into corpses, so to speak.
But there was no definite proof.
They were considered to have committed suicide because of guilty consciousness. But if someone else killed them…
…Assassination.
One of the negative concepts not existent in artificial intelligence.
“I’m going to be present during the talk with Woodhorse, as my sister’s guard. I want you to attend too. I’ll look after my sister, and you get a good look at Woodhorse.”
“Request accepted. But if an abnormal situation occurs, maintaining your vital activities and Lobelia’s takes precedence.”
“..All right. Thanks.”
Qualia detected some ‘tasty’ in Spirito’s reassured expression that she directed towards him.
Spirito’s leg was hurt by Liebe’s attack the previous day, but she displayed a healing ability that even Qualia deemed irregular.
The wound was bad enough that a regular person would be unable to stand, but Spirito even showed him her Shikushi earlier.
Still, she was not at a hundred percent, so she could not hide that she was happy to have Qualia along.
“Ah, but I’ll say this. Don’t suddenly go all ‘request explanation, did Woodhorse divert Black Holes’. Leave that for after you find decisive evidence.”
“Registered as a prohibited topic.”
Maybe Spirito was starting to understand Qualia, so she warned him about some rule breaking an artificial intelligence might do.
After inputting that, Qualia and Spirito turned to the two people on the grass.
Ace tried to hang the laundry on a pole but could not reach it, tripped, and got herself covered in a sheet. And Ina rushed to help her while laughing.
“…We should have Ace stay with Ina. That way she can protect her if Woodhorse does something.”
“Affirmative.”
“And Ina seems calmer when she’s with that ace too. Don’t you think they get along? They’re kind of like sisters.”
Qualia saw this as well. The worrywart and caring Ina and the Ace that seemed to have her own way of doing things gelled well.
The previous day, Ina took a bath with Ace, because the magic doll did not even know how to do it. Although this was also a way to not leave Ina alone.
But they seemingly got closer then, and Ace started following Ina around.
After detecting ‘tasty’ from that sight, Qualia accompanied Spirito to the room where Lobelia and Woodhorse would be meeting.
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