Chapter 37

Lucas slowly closed and opened his eyes again and again.
While he organized his thoughts in his own way, Frost quietly watched his reaction.

‘It has been a while since I felt like this.’

Frost was surprised to find herself nervous.
Of course, there had been quite a few times she had felt nervous over the past six years.
When she saw the emperor of the empire, or when she saw a magician of a higher class.
But that had been closer to a trembling feeling than nervousness.
Nervousness from having her life threatened like this was something she had not felt in exactly six years.

‘Back then, truly…….’

Frost squeezed her eyes shut.
The day of Helena Liberator’s accident.
The image of Lucas, consumed by rage, rose from deep within her memories.

Whenever his greatsword cut through the air, the bandits’ flesh tore and blood spurted.
It was not simple killing.
It was a scene of slaughter that inflicted the greatest pain a human could feel.
Lucas did nota even allow the bandits to die easily.
The words coming from their mouths as they died were not “spare me,” but “kill me”……
It was no wonder that people could not bear to watch that sight and all turned their heads or squeezed their eyes shut.
And Frost herself had been among those people.

‘I feel sick.’

The wretched corpses of the bandits left behind in the fragments of her memory.
Frost covered the rising retch with a forced cough.

“Tell me your grounds.”

Lucas asked, his focus now quite clear.
Frost found those eyes even more frightening.
Because either way, it meant he had made his own judgment.

“You said you investigated, reviewed, and confirmed it over the past six years. Tell me how you reached the conclusion that someone ordered the murder. Everything, without leaving out a single thing.”

Lucas slung his sword onto his back.
It meant he would not threaten Frost, but it didn’t help ease her tension in the slightest.

“Quite a number of people had doubts about that incident. The carriage Helena rode in was an imperial carriage, and those guarding it were fairly skilled knights.”
“I was one of them. But even after investigating for months under Kerum’s authority as emperor, nothing came out.”
“That is true. But there was exactly one clue that remained unresolved.”

Lucas’s eyebrow twitched.

“……A clue?”

Frost nodded and lightly gestured toward the air.
Cold ice crystals slowly gathered.
Transparent pieces of ice gathered and formed an object shaped like a mirror.
What the mirror reflected was Frost’s memory.
A cruel sight too terrible to put into words was being reproduced on the mirror.

“…….”

Lucas quietly stared at the man inside the mirror.
A man covered in blood from head to toe.
But not a single drop was blood he had shed himself.
It was blood that had stained him in the process of slashing, breaking, and cutting down countless times.
Even so, the man’s eyes held only rage.

-Please kill me! Please, kill me!
-Kuaaaaargh!

The screams of countless people could be heard, and the man cutting them short could be seen.

Had a long time passed like that?
When the murderer’s sword stopped.
The bandit who had survived until the end looked at the murderer with one remaining eye, unfocused.

-……God will impose severe punishment. Re-

Was it his final words?
They seemed grand, but even those were cut off.

In the middle of a land made of blood and corpses, the man standing alone looked up at the sky.
After his rage ended, the only thing left in his eyes was emptiness.

Sssaaa-

The ice mirror disappeared.
Frost and Lucas did not speak for a while.

“It was not intentional. Since it is magic that brings out memories, unnecessary parts were shown in the process.”
“It’s fine. Memories are not something you can recall only as you wish.”

Lucas silently went over the contents of the magic.

‘God will impose severe punishment.’

In truth, Lucas had no memory of hearing those words.
After all, people usually couldn’t remember the times when they had lost their reason.

“At the time, I also thought they were simply religious words. But around four years ago, on a battlefield against monsters, that thought changed.”

Frost let out a sigh.
She had prepared herself, but touching all sorts of unpleasant memories didn’t feel good.

When monsters first surged in number. Many people of the empire, including me, were deployed to the battlefield. Since all kinds of talented people had gathered, victory was easy, and after that, we continued to win-”
“Enough of the circumstances. Tell me only the conclusion. What clue was it?”
“……God will impose severe punishment. Repent, and prepare for the day He comes.”
“…….”
“Around the time the battle was ending. It was a sentence spoken by a knight who had been dispatched to the same battlefield.”

Frost took a small badge from the pocket of her blue coat.
Aside from faint scratches, it could have been considered new.
It was a badge shaped like two crossed swords, one black and one white.

“I asked, wondering if it was a coincidence, but they said it was a phrase used only by people of a certain family.”

The badge left her hand and went to Lucas.
The small badge now in his hand.
Lucas looked at the badge.

“……House Levvels.”

One of the most influential families in the current empire.
It was a family with a long history that had stood with the empire since its founding, and a house of swordsmen that had produced many talented figures.

“Even if it is a phrase only people of the family use, considering the influence of the Levvels family, there is also the possibility that it became widely known among people.”

Frost gave a bitter smile.
She had hoped that was the case as well.
She had thought it had to be.

“A phrase even those of us who fought across the battlefield together had never heard before, used by commoner bandits?”
“…….”
“Of course, I considered that possibility as well. But the more I investigated over the years, the fainter that possibility became.”

Lucas fell into deep thought with the badge held in his hand.
What he had just heard was, in any case, mere speculation.
With this alone, it was unreasonable to suspect the Levvels family.

It was not that he could not trust Frost.
But because this was a matter where emotion must not be involved, he needed to be even more cautious.

The greater the matter, the more necessary it was to exclude emotion as much as possible.

“If what you say is true, then in the end, it means House Levvels was behind the deaths that day.”

Frost quietly nodded.

Lucas stared at the badge for a long time, then put strength into his grip.
The hard metal was faintly crushed inside his hand.

“This alone is not enough. Of course, I want to go to the Marquis family immediately. But…….”
“From that point on, the matter will grow larger.”

Lucas’s eyes narrowed.
He also considered going to see the emperor.
But it didn’t seem as if it would be of much help.
Considering what he had done when he went to see him before, there was no way he would treat him kindly.

‘The opponent is the Levvels family…….’

Girium Levvels, the current head of the Marquis Levvels family.
It would not be wrong to say his position in the empire was right below the emperor.
Even the emperor sometimes sought his advice.
Turning him into an enemy without clear evidence was also a troublesome matter for Lucas.

“How certain are you that the Marquis family is behind it?”
“To be honest, I have already made up my mind.”
“……I see.”

Lucas quietly gripped the blade of the sword slung on his back.
Crushing them by force was not impossible.
If Frost’s words were true.
There were several comrades who would be enraged over Helena’s death.

“…….”

Lucas lightly bit his lip.
His wife’s face, now faint.
Only her smile, which had made everyone around her smile, remained in one corner of his memory as if it might disappear.

‘Yes, that was the kind of person you were.’

Strength entered Lucas’s hand.
A twisting of emotion he had not felt in who knew how many years.
Lucas himself and Frost. Lars Musica and Sean.
If they stormed in right now, they could go beyond shaking House Levvels and annihilate it entirely.
But that would spill a great deal of blood.

He could not allow the private emotions of a few to harm the empire.
Because conflict with them would create countless innocent victims.
Lucas knew best that this was not the path his wife would want.

Lucas kept his silence.
Instead, a faint vitality returned to his eyes.
Not hope, but anger.
Contradictorily, it was the driving force that broke Lucas, and at the same time, keeping him alive.

“First, please check this as well.”

Frost took a new document from the air and held it out to Lucas.
Lucas quietly accepted it and began reading.

“It is a record tracing the flow of funds among several nobles connected to the Marquis Levvels family after Helena’s death. The fact that large sums of money disappeared through several routes after the incident. The fact that those nobles’ ranks suddenly rose. It is a document compiled only from verified information gathered over the years.”

Lucas’s eyes quickly scanned down the document.
Records of large sums of money.
A list of connected nobles.
And even the recent movements of the Levvels family.

Aside from thoroughly concealed information, it was evidence close to perfect.

“……These circumstances are enough to warrant suspicion.”

Frost nodded.
After rubbing a hand over her face, her gaze became even colder and firmer.

She spoke in a firm voice.

“Whether we dig deeper, or stop here, must be decided now.”

Lucas folded the document and put it deep inside his sleeve.

“You ask a useless question.”

Frost laughed lightly.
Lucas looked at her while feeling bitterness.
His wife’s smile reflected in her.
With that final surge of emotion from deep inside him, Lucas’s eyes regained reason as if drying out.

Then he looked into the air and cast a sidelong glance.

“You were listening, were you not, Lars Musica?”

Serpens couldn’t hide his confusion.

The moment he came out of the training ground.
A huge crowd of people swarmed over the boy.

“What are you? You’re a complete monster!”
“A genius has appeared in the world!”
“Thanks for stepping on those noble bastards’ pride!”

Dozens of Academy students.
It was a group made up mostly of commoner-born students or children of minor families.

Serpens’s face gradually distorted.
The crowd drawing closer and closer.
It felt as if he would be buried under the crowd if things went wrong.

But the boy couldn’t stop the corners of his mouth from rising.

Was this the reward for all his effort?
It was burdensome, but it did not feel entirely bad.
The cheers and admiring gazes directed at him.
He was now experiencing things he had given up even trying to imagine.

“Geez. This is all nice, but an important conversation is happening inside, so please be a little quiet.”

Serpens, who had become all smiles before he knew it.
For a boy who had never received praise, the current situation was a temptation difficult to shake off.

‘To think I’d live to receive this kind of treatment.’

The training of the past days came to mind.
Swinging, rolling, getting hit, dodging, blocking.
Various efforts had created his current joy.
Serpens smiled brightly and thought of Lucas.

If it had not been for him, could he have experienced something like this?
It was certainly impossible.
Waking up in a bed, receiving cheers, being able to grow.
Serpens knew that all of it was thanks to Lucas.

Right when he was immersed in happiness.
The surroundings suddenly became quiet, and Serpens came to his senses.

“……What is it?”

The crowd parting left and right from afar.
Along with the startled sounds of the students, someone was approaching.

Serpens blinked and stared that way.
Just who were they, for people to react like this?

Eventually, she stood in front of Serpens.
Even after that, Serpens only blinked without saying anything.

A girl with long red hair shining like the sun.
A pretty girl who looked four or five years older than Serpens approached with relaxed yet confident steps.
Eyes filled with unwavering confidence.
A dark red coat worn over the Academy uniform.
A warm and even radiant smile looked down at Serpens.

“Hello. My name is Lia de Evgenia. I am the Academy’s student council president, and the daughter of His Majesty Kerum de Evgenia, emperor of Oratio.”