Interrogation Trap (2)
Why did the Saint choose me as her legal advisor?
At first, I don’t think the Saint had high expectations of me.
Of course, how well could a 19-year-old who had only studied law a little and worked as a market deputy know the law?
Perhaps she chose me because I was a woman like her, but I was tight-lipped.
Perhaps she had someone else to seriously consult with about the law.
I thought she came to me because she thought we would get along well.
It turned out to be true.
“I just rented a room in Cologne. I told my superiors that I was on a business trip.”
“You don’t have to do that. I have an office and a mansion.”
“Hmm. I don’t like it. I’m embarrassed to sleep in the house where the mayor lived. I didn’t like that man because he seemed gloomy. Oh, no. I was too harsh on my late husband.”
“No, I didn’t like him either.”
“Did you say he was abusive?”
“Yes. He hit me whenever he had the chance. I was nothing more or less than a tool to him. I think it’s a good thing he’s dead.”
We quickly became close.
In no time, we had developed a relationship where we could confide in each other.
I think it was because we felt a sense of kinship.
I saw myself in the Saint.
I have thought more than once that I resemble her.
The legal consultations continued.
As our meetings became more frequent, the Saint’s defenses gradually weakened.
Before I knew it, the Saint, who had completely opened her heart, began to tell me things she had been hiding.
“Eugene was my knight escort. When I came to Hameln, I didn’t have time to get an escort knight, so I put out a recruitment notice. Eugene was the first person to show up. He was clearly wearing a decent sword at his waist and his clothes were neat, so anyone could tell he was middle class or even a nobleman. But when I looked at his face, I realized he was a laborer I had seen at a construction site before. I had said some terrible things to that laborer and then shut him up. It was a bad start. But after that-“
The story the Saint told me was quite surprising.
This was a story I had not heard from Eugene.
I had only vaguely known that the two of them had been close in the past and that Eugene had left.
This was the first time I had heard the details.
“I was so selfish. I guess I took Eugene for granted. I thought Eugene was always by my side, and no matter how much I annoyed him or got on his nerves, he would always smile and support me. I never thought it was possible for Eugene to leave. I saw Eugene not as a person but as a tool.”
“There will be a chance to make things right. I will definitely find Eugene, or rather, Sir Eugene.”
“Will you? If you find him, if I meet Eugene again, I’ll apologize first. In the past, I never apologized for my mistakes because of my pride. What the hell was that pride? I’ve decided to be honest now. If it’s good, it’s good. If it’s bad, it’s bad. I’m going to say it all. I’m not going to wait forever for Eugene to confess. What can I do? The person I love more should hold on. Don’t let me go. I’ll do better. I’m not a child who just demands affection anymore. I’ve realized that if I receive, I have to give back. I want to tell Eugene this. Face to face.”
“······.”
The reason I felt a sense of kinship.
I think I understand now.
Because I used to be the same as the Saint.
I wanted to be the best in every relationship, and I wasn’t honest, but I wanted a lot.
From Noble mtl dot com
That was me when I was in college.
The difference is that I went through several incidents and my arrogant personality was broken.
In the Saint’s case, she grew up through heartbreak.
And another difference is that I can meet Eugene.
But the Saint cannot.
The Saint and I are really just one step away.
If things had been just a little different.
If I had been a little less or more fortunate.
I wondered if the two of us would have been in the opposite positions by now.
Of course, I don’t intend to be swayed by sympathy.
The Saint is in trouble, but if the Saint’s existence is a hindrance to Eugene, I have to stop her.
I feel guilty for deceiving and betraying the Saint.
But my promise to Eugene comes first.
Because Eugene, who saved me, always comes first.
I’m sorry, Saint, but there was nothing I could do.
“Market Deputy! I’ve come up with an amazing way!
That was one day.One day, when the Saintess came to visit me with a smile, I couldn’t help but smile back.
However, when the Saintess told me her ‘method’, my smile quickly faded.
“It’s an unannounced immigration inspection. First, we’ll create a fake ID for Eugene. We’ll register a non-existent person as an existing person on paper. And then, we’ll fabricate an incident. For example, we’ll say that a man named Eugene attempted to rape the Saintess and then fled. That would make it difficult to conduct a public investigation, right? The manhunt would also be conducted in secret, so it would be difficult for Eugene to notice. Since this is a serious matter where the Saintess’s sacred body was almost defiled, the immigration inspection will be conducted without prior notice. Then, Eugene will be caught as soon as he sets foot in the Holy Kingdom.”
“Uh, this. This is illegal.”
“I know. But we’ve already tried all the legal methods.”
“If the Saintess commits a crime-“
“I’ll take responsibility. I didn’t come here to ask you to dirty your hands. Don’t worry, I’m not that cowardly. I just came to ask you how likely it is to succeed.”
“······.”
The likelihood of success?
100 percent.
Eugene will definitely fall for it.
He’ll have to come to Cologne someday to get a check from me when he runs out of money.
Since there will be no prior notice, the news that the Holy Kingdom is conducting strict immigration inspections will only spread by word of mouth.
Even if the rumor reaches Eugene’s ears, it will be difficult for him to guess that it’s a trap for him.
What kind of crazy woman would falsely accuse someone of attempted rape and put the entire country on alert?
Even Eugene wouldn’t expect this.
“Saintess. Please reconsider. I don’t know if I should dare say this, but I consider you a friend. As a friend, and as a devout believer of the Holy Church who deeply respects you, I think you shouldn’t do this.”
“I’m sorry. I’ve already made up my mind. I’m that desperate. You wouldn’t dare to interfere with me, would you?”
The Saintess’s eyes had never looked so terrifying.
They were eyes that forced me to answer.
“Yes······. Do as you wish. Since it’s the Saintess’s decision, I will fully support you. I want you to be happy.”
“Really? Thank you so much, Deputy Mayor! hahahahaha! As expected, you’re the only one for the job!”
No matter what I said, she wouldn’t listen anyway.
That’s what I thought, and I decided to support the Saintess’s ridiculous plan.
Of course, only on the surface.
Behind the scenes, I planned to secretly sabotage it.
‘Please. Eugene. Notice it. You have to notice it······.’
As part of my plan, I stopped sending letters to Eugene.
The sudden cessation of letters from someone who had been writing almost every day would be unusual.
Eugene would notice my message.
Of course, I could have sent a letter directly warning him to be careful because the Holy Kingdom was conducting immigration inspections······.
But I decided to refrain from doing so.
It was too dangerous.
Even though the Saintess was close to me and trusted me.
Since she had already committed a crime, there was no guarantee that she wouldn’t inspect my letters.
I decided not to do anything risky.
And I did something else.
I wrote a letter informing the Vatican of the Saintess’s illegal activities.
Of course, the chances of this being effective were low.
First of all, it was an anonymous letter, and there was no evidence.
The Saintess was (although it was perjury) claiming attempted rape with clear evidence and requesting an investigation, but I was accusing her of false accusation without any basis······.
In the end, what I feared happened.
The Holy Kingdom began conducting surprise inspections of everyone entering and leaving the country.
They even sent a composite sketch that looked exactly like Eugene to the checkpoints······.
‘Don’t come, Eugene. Please. Don’t come······.’
He mustn’t come.
He must never come.
I prayed and prayed every day that Eugene would not reach me.
.
.
.
“We’ll just turn around and go.”
“Oh, wait a minute. Please wait just a moment. It will only be a moment.”
“No, I said I’m not entering the country. Isn’t this immigration inspection? Why are you holding me? Give me the legal basis for detaining me.”
“hahahahaha. There’s someone who wants to meet you. Please do this. Just wait a moment while you have a cup of tea.”
This is f*cked up.
Judging by the way they surrounded us and pushed me down on the sofa, this was not a request.
It wasn’t even semi-forced, it was just forced.The atmosphere was so tense that it would have been useless to try to leave.
Before I knew it, the soldiers who had gathered pushed Mijeong and me into an inner room.
In the end, I was forced to sit down without having a chance to fight back and was surrounded.
“That’s it. That must be the wanted poster.”
Outside the door, soldiers and officers were taking turns glancing at a piece of paper.
Judging from the situation, it was obvious.
That must be a montage depicting my face.
“I never thought they’d pull a stunt like this.”
I knew that Jill was after me.
I had heard that the Holy Kingdom was conducting a thorough investigation and identity checks.
However, I never imagined that they would go to such extreme lengths as to issue a secret wanted notice during immigration inspections.
In this world, with the exception of a few closed-off countries, immigration was rarely strictly controlled.
The Holy Kingdom, in particular, was a center of culture and trade, so if they were to conduct immigration inspections, the transportation network would be thrown into chaos.
Nevertheless, the fact that they were conducting immigration inspections meant that the Holy Kingdom was in a state of emergency.
Perhaps Jill had abused her authority as a saintess.
She had decided to shake up the entire country in order to catch me.
“This is a pain in the neck.”
The person they said they would bring in.
As expected, it was the saintess, Jill.
If I just sat here quietly, I would be able to come face-to-face with Jill, who had cried and begged me in the first playthrough.
So what should I do now?
Woong! Woong!
At that moment, I felt the scabbard vibrating.
Was the magic sword making a sound?
I didn’t know it could transmit vibrations.
I lifted the blanket slightly and put my finger on the scabbard.
-Draw me! Draw me and swing me!-
“Shut up, demon…”
“What did you just say?”
“I was talking to myself.”
I shut my mouth and covered myself with the blanket.
I dismissed it as not worth listening to, but what the magic sword said was one of my options.
It was to subdue all the guards and escape.
I was surrounded by numerous soldiers and knights, but I couldn’t ask if it was impossible to get out of here.
If I were to fight the knights, it would take a lot of time.
However, if I attacked the side with the soldiers, I could escape without killing anyone.
However, if I did that, a big problem would arise.
Unlike before, when I was wanted for a crime that could not be made public, I would be turned into a public wanted criminal.
Then I wouldn’t be able to show my face outside the Holy Kingdom.
I was in a dilemma.
‘Is there no other way than a head-on confrontation?’
If running away was the worst, I had no choice but to choose the lesser of two evils.
The problem was that the lesser of two evils was to face Jill.
But there was nothing I could do about it.
I had to accept it as my karma.
What I had to do now was simple.
I had to figure out how to face Jill without getting a game over.
Should I tell Jill that I hate her so much that she should stop bothering me?
That’s a good idea.
If I want to further provoke Jill and be imprisoned or even executed.
Then should I be friendly to Jill?
That’s dangerous.
Jill is a heroine who, compared to Julia, has a low 攻略率, so her judgment is rather lenient.
If I make a mistake in a few lines of dialogue, the 攻略率 will quickly reach 100% and the ending will come.
What should I do?
Just as my head was throbbing, the knights and soldiers outside the door all stood up stiffly.
Oh, damn.
Here it comes.
“I apologize. Did you have to wait long?”
“You are…?”
“Greetings. I am Nicholas Dietertraum, the Archbishop of the Southern Diocese and a Cardinal.”
A completely unexpected person appeared.
Nicholas Dietertraum.
Where did he come from?
Did he appear in the story?
He was an extra with such little importance that even I barely remembered him.
If there was one thing I could remember about him, it was that he was killed by a paladin in the middle of the story.
Instead of a fancy robe, he was wearing shabby civilian clothes.
He was a middle-aged man with big glasses and a gentle face.
However, his clothes and his scruffy beard and unkempt hair were far from the typical image of a cardinal.
“That’s a difficult name.”
“hahahahaha. You can just call me Cardinal Nicholas.”
Nicholas offered me a handshake first.
Is it common to shake hands with a cardinal?Although we had exchanged handshakes in a daze, the pupils of the soldiers surrounding us were shaking, so it seemed that this was not a common practice.
Nicholas shook hands with Miso with both hands and sat down on the sofa on the other side.
“Oh my. You look so shabby. Don’t worry, I washed my hands.”
“Oh, yes.”
“I ran here in a hurry… Sigh. I heard that I made you wait for a long time. I’m sorry to waste any more of your time, so I’ll get straight to the point.”
“Thank you for that.”
Nicholas said that and gestured for the soldiers and knights to leave.
The soldiers who had been looking at us with suspicious expressions left the room.
Soon, I sensed a strange magical power surrounding the entire room.
It was definitely a barrier.
A barrier that prevents sound from escaping.
The moment the barrier was fully deployed.
Nicholas’s smiling expression hardened as he leaned towards us.
He clasped his hands together.
He whispered in a soft voice.
“Do you know that the Saintess is looking for you?”
“Yes?”
“The Saintess has accused you of attempted rape. I have determined that this is false and have come to help you. If you are innocent, please cooperate.”
“hahahahaha. Attempted rape…”
This. This was not an ordinary matter.
It seems that our Saintess is determined to kill me socially.