“Ugh!”
What happened next proceeded in an instant. Kiers swiftly pinned Erne against the wall and grabbed her wrists, lifting them up.
He’s treating me like a full-blown criminal!
It was true that she had illegally performed a demon-god summoning ritual, but being treated like this still pissed her off.
At the same time, Erne thought:
What the hell is with Kiers? Was he always this tall? And why are his hands so huge?
Come to think of it, this guy was over 185 cm tall.
Of course he felt huge now that she was in a smaller body. In her previous life, Erne herself had been quite tall.
“What are you doing? Who are you?”
Once both her hands were restrained, Kiers released them.
“Someone who is here to arrest you.”
Kiers spoke quietly.
“Ha. What kind of crazy person are you? Who are you to arrest someone, and on what grounds?”
“I don’t like repeating myself.”
Kiers instinctively glanced toward the sheath of his sword.
Crazy bastard. Is he really going to kill someone just on the basis of a charge?
Erne thought that, but she already knew the answer.
He absolutely would.
“Demon-god worship is a grave crime.”
Ah, as expected.
Erne shuddered.
I knew I’d get caught somehow!
My super-instinct based on all my past experiences hasn’t failed me today either.
“I-I’m exercising my right to remain silent.”
Erne continued acting.
Operation: I know absolutely nothing.
Kiers looked at Erne as though she were some bizarre animal.
A faint contempt appeared over his deep, winter-sea-blue eyes.
“You have no right to remain silent, no right to resist arrest, and no right to resist the sentence handed down. Demon-god worship can be punished immediately.”
“……”
“That means I could torture you to death right now, and you wouldn’t be able to say a word.”
Erne cursed inwardly.
Wow. The Crown Prince of an entire nation is pressuring a petty criminal like this. You crazy bastard!
The Kiers Erne knew was an absolutely ruthless man despite his seemingly privileged background.
From childhood, Kiers had been persecuted by the Chancellor and driven outside the Imperial Palace, where he grew up miserably.
As a result, he harbored an enormous hatred toward the Chancellor from the Nirm Duchy and certain Imperial nobles.
I need to buy some time. Please, please tell me the mansion hasn’t been searched yet.
From Kiers’s perspective, Erne de Medina was probably just an easy target—the infamous half-wit young lady. He must have thought that simply taking her away and intimidating her would be enough to make her confess.
If I can get rid of all the evidence, there’s still a chance I’ll be released as innocent.
It wasn’t a crime until you were caught.
Erne’s lips curled slightly.
But seriously, this bastard Kiers.
Does he still tie people up with a structural knot when restraining them?
“If you cooperate quietly, I won’t cut you.”
Crazy bastard. Does that mean you’re planning to kill me later?
Nevertheless, Erne pretended to obey and obediently lowered her head as she followed him.
When they emerged from the alley, they came upon an empty intersection.
Hmm. There aren’t any subordinates waiting nearby?
Then, even better.
This was clearly an impromptu arrest and ambush rather than something deliberately planned.
Which means there’s probably no arrest warrant either.
Before long, they were standing on one of the cloud bridges crossing the river that flowed through the heart of the capital.
“Wait!”
Erne turned around.
“This is strange. I followed you without really thinking about it, but… Demon-god worship? Do you have any evidence?”
“……Evidence?”
“Article 315 of the Imperial Special Act. An immediate arrest and summary punishment are only permitted when evidence of demon-god worship remains on the body or when the person has personally performed the ritual.”
Erne’s expression hardened.
“The more I listen to you, the more ridiculous this sounds. I know exactly what you are.”
“What do you think I am?”
Kiers asked quietly, his tone strangely gentle.
This bastard’s voice actually gets prettier when he’s at his craziest?
Erne thought that but kept a straight face.
Still, having the reputation of a half-wit young lady makes it convenient to say ridiculous things.
“You’re a fishing scammer.”
“……Fishing?”
“I’ve heard about it. Scammers who trick people by claiming they violated demon-god worship laws or Imperial security laws, then demand fines from them.”
“……”
“You look perfectly normal, so why do you live like this? You should be ashamed of yourself.”
“You’re treating me like a scammer.”
“……”
“Interesting.”
Kiers understood.
There was no longer any reason for him to indulge her.
He drew his sword with a sharp shing.
Yikes!
Erne stepped backward and dodged.
Whoosh!
Her golden hair fluttered through the air.
Part of it had been sliced off.
And then—
Thud.
The rope that had been binding Erne’s hands fell to the ground.
Wow. I almost died.
“What are you? A thug?”
Erne said.
“Did you just cut the rope?”
Kiers stared at Erne’s now-clean hands.
Their gazes awkwardly met.
“Of course. You were trying to act like a government official while being a scammer. You should’ve tied it properly.”
Kiers stared at Erne as though he couldn’t believe what he was hearing.
“You’re quite the troublesome village idiot.”
Then Kiers swung his sword again.
“I won’t kill you. I’ll merely knock you unconscious and give you some time to reflect.”
“I don’t want to! Please, spare me!”
Even as she said that, Erne deftly dodged Kiers’s sword.
Kiers’s brow furrowed.
He thought:
I’ve felt this before.
These movements. And……
Tap!
Erne eventually lowered herself close to the ground and aimed a kick at Kiers’s ankle.
Her skirt fluttered through the air, revealing her pale leg.
“Haa… haa…”
Ah, seriously. This is way too different from my previous life!
She had kicked with all her strength, yet her own foot hurt as though she had kicked a tree trunk.
“What are you doing?”
Kiers looked down at Erne as though she were ridiculous.
Then he reached toward her.
With his large hand, Kiers grabbed Erne’s wrist and pulled her toward him.
Under the brilliant moonlight, Erne’s small, pale face was revealed.
She bit her lip.
“Your movements are familiar.”
Kiers stared intently at Erne as he spoke.
At that moment—
Whoosh!
Erne threw the sand she had been holding in her other hand directly into Kiers’s face.
Kiers’s grip loosened.
Life is all about real-world experience, you bastard.
Erne thought.
Kiers expressionlessly brushed the sand away.
The remaining grains of sand stopped in midair around Kiers’s face, as though frozen in a painting.
It was an extremely refined technique for controlling mana.
A technique only a High Master could use.
Thud!
But in that brief instant, Erne kicked Kiers’s ankle again.
“……!”
He had let his guard down slightly this time, and his body staggered.
Huh?
Before she knew it, Erne found herself pinned beneath Kiers as he fell over her.
Is my face seriously between this guy’s arms right now?
What kind of awkward situation was this?
Just as Erne swallowed nervously and thought that—
Kiers’s sapphire-like eyes met Erne’s violet ones.
And then……
“Who are you?”
At that moment, Kiers thought:
I can’t explain why, but strangely……
I’ve felt this before.
Oh, no!
Erne bit her lip.
Then—
Whoosh!
She swung her fan toward Kiers’s face.
I’m screwed.
It seemed Kiers had noticed something.
Without even realizing it, Erne had used one of her butterflies because of the sudden sense of danger.
“I’m sorry, but I’m not interested in persistent men like you. Goodbye!”
Erne immediately threw herself over the edge of the bridge.
Whatever. I’m done thinking.
Did she just throw herself off the bridge right in front of me?
Kiers touched his face and thought.
Something had definitely flashed before his eyes.
A familiar-looking glimmer.
Kiers leaned over the bridge.
A loud commotion could be heard below.
Several pleasure boats carrying drunk revelers were passing beneath the bridge.
But the woman was nowhere to be seen.
“Your Highness!”
Orun came running over.
“You ordered the carriage to stop while we were on our way back to the Imperial Palace. Then you suddenly disappeared without saying anything. You startled me.”
“I happened to find some prey.”
“Prey?”
“The village idiot.”
“That half-wit young lady? Then…… did you catch her?”
No matter how free-spirited the atmosphere of the Imperial capital was, a young noble lady wandering around at this hour?
That went beyond foolishness.
It was sheer insanity.
Did His Highness really see her?
It was only natural for Orun to look at Kiers suspiciously.
“No.”
Kiers said.
“Then… did you perhaps kill her? If so, we can take care of the aftermath……”
“I don’t know that either.”
Kiers stroked the hilt of his sword.
“You… don’t know?”
It was the first time Orun had ever seen Kiers, a man who was precise about everything, say something like that.
Kiers smiled coldly.
“Send the Inquisitors to the Medina family. If they find evidence that the suspect purchased demon-god worship materials or committed an act equivalent to it, arrest her formally. I don’t care if it’s dawn. Do it immediately.”
How dare she say something reasonable right in front of me.
“And it’s rather interesting.”
A tingling sensation at his fingertips.
A chill in his heart……
That sensation only one woman had ever been able to give him.
It had been a long time.
“And if you find evidence, restrain that half-wit young lady of the Medina family and bring her before me. I’ll handle everything from beginning to end.”
“……”
“I’ll personally interrogate her in every detail.”
Kiers turned away.
Orun had many questions.
But knowing that Kiers disliked being contradicted, he simply nodded.
At the same time, Orun realized something.
It was the first time in nearly half a year that he had seen such a lively expression on Kiers’s face.
Splash……? No?
Erne felt her body floating gently upward.
Huh?
This sensation……
It felt as though someone else’s mana was ignoring gravity and lifting her body.
Someone was carrying her somewhere.
A boat?
Several pleasure boats came into Erne’s view.
Small pleasure boats with cabins, usually used by nobles on the river running through the Imperial capital.
Among them, the most eye-catching was a beautiful boat whose deck was decorated with red banners.
Erne’s body was carried onto that boat.
And then……
Whoosh!
She was placed directly in front of a man sitting on the boat.
Flutter.
“I’ll hide you.”
Someone whispered.
As though trying to conceal Erne’s identity, more than a dozen red umbrellas suddenly opened one after another, completely hiding her from view.
She felt the boat slowly drifting along.
Had they passed beneath the bridge?
Or had her pursuer disappeared?
Rustle.
The next moment, all the umbrellas were lowered from her line of sight.
The red light shimmered so intensely that it made Erne’s head spin.
And through it, Erne discovered a man staring at her.
“Hello, young lady.”
The man spoke.
He had black hair falling loosely down his back and wore a distinctive long robe fastened at the front.
He looked like a handsome man in his mid-to-late twenties.
Delicate features contrasted with broad shoulders……
Those are mysterious light-purple eyes.
Erne knew someone with eyes like that.
Across the sea, on the Eastern Continent.
It was said that all members of the royal family of the Hwaran Kingdom possessed light-purple eyes.
Which meant this man was……
Raizen Luo!
The very man Erne had been looking for was right here.
