Chapter 75

Whether or not he knew how troubled I felt, the protagonist on the screen took the hand of a stiff, nervous Edelina and whispered tenderly to her.

“The Saintess will surely believe in your innocence, too. It’s just too absurd, for you to be…”

There was a reason Edelina was trembling like this. It was because she was facing a certain crisis. And that crisis was…

“Heresy? That’s not even a funny joke.”

“Do you really think so?”

“Of course.”

‘So, Edelina is being accused of heresy.’

I recalled the heresy episode involving Edelina from Chapter 4 in my faint memories. After losing her father, Edelina had been engrossed in her research at the Academy. One day, she was confronted in her laboratory by several individuals dressed in the formal vestments of the Order of Ralphican.

“Professor Edelina. You are under emergency arrest on charges of heresy.”

“Pardon? Me? There must be some mistake…”

“According to the report, it is definitely you.”

They were the Inquisitors who had mobilized after receiving a tip.

‘If I let them take me like this…’

Predicting that only death awaited her, Edelina had thrown a smoke bomb she’d been researching to escape the lab and headed straight for her reliable friend, the protagonist.

“Hereis!”

“E-Edelina? How did you get here…?”

“You believe me, don’t you?”

“Uh…?”

“Answer me!”

“I-I do.”

“Then please, hide me!”

The protagonist, unable to turn a blind eye to his childhood friend’s crisis, eventually proves that the heresy charge was a frame-up through various means and the help of others. That was the story.

‘Well, setting that aside.’

The difference from the original game story was that the Marquis was with her. As soon as he’d heard the news about Edelina, he’d rushed to find the protagonist immediately.

‘They’ve arrived.’

Ilian was standing in front of a halted carriage. I had previously asked Ilian to personally bring the protagonist’s party to me. It was to ensure they could bypass the checkpoints.

Knock, knock—

“Saintess. Sir Hereis has arrived.”

I put down the book I was pretending to read and headed to the drawing room attached to my private quarters.

“Greetings to the Saintess.”

As I entered the drawing room, three figures stood by the door and bowed low to me. There was the protagonist, whom I’d seen not long ago, and behind him were a brown-haired woman in a servant’s uniform and a black-haired man with a thick beard.
Naturally, these were disguises. The names floating above their heads were honest, after all.

“Be seated.”

When I gestured, Ilian closed the drawing room door. In the room where only the protagonist’s party, Ilian, and I remained, the protagonist was the first to speak.

Actually, that was likely the protagonist’s internal monologue.

-It is a tough thing to bring up.

-But doesn’t the Saintess already know everything?

-You’re already here, stop overthinking and just spill it.

…I beat him to the punch so he wouldn’t have to worry.

“I am roughly aware of the circumstances. After all, aren’t the two people in the back familiar faces to us?”

“Ah…”

Ding!

-Gasp.

-I knew I could count on her.

Had they finally gained the certainty that I would help? Edelina and the Marquis let out sighs of relief simultaneously.

“As expected, you know everything. Just how…”

“O-O Saintess of Ralphican!”

Before Edelina could even finish her sentence, the Marquis had already grabbed my legs and was blubbering incoherently.

“Ugh, p-please, please s-save our Edel, save our Edel…!”

Seeing him look far more desperate than Edelina herself made me think that this must be what a father’s heart feels like.

-Daddy! T_T

The chat window was also flooded with people moved by the Marquis’s paternal love.
In contrast, Edelina seemed to have regained her composure to some extent and appeared to be choosing her words carefully.

“Ugh, hic.”

“Sir…”

Following his monologue, the protagonist immediately helped the Marquis, who had collapsed at my feet, to stand up. I instructed the three of them, who were standing there awkwardly, to take a seat on the sofa first.

“Ah, it’s just us here, so feel free to take off those bothersome things.”

At my words, they finally began to strip off their disguise tools one by one. From the strange swirly glasses covering their eyes to the fake beards and wigs—once removed, matted violet hair stuck messily to sweat-drenched foreheads was revealed.

-The father and daughter are both so elegant, damn.

-Genetics really is everything.

-Even in a mess, their beauty can’t be hidden.

-As expected of the True Heroine.

-Uh-uh, the Saintess is the True Heroine. Put ‘Former’ in front of Edelina’s name.

“You will be staying in my private residence. Access is restricted here, so you can put your minds at ease. If there’s anything uncomfortable, let Sir Ilian here know. He is also aware of your circumstances.”

“I-it is an honor!”

“Thank you…”

“I’d like to let you rest since you’ve had a difficult journey, but assessing the situation comes first.”

Well, even if I told them to rest in this state, it’s not like they actually could. I brought up the main point to the three across from me, who finally seemed to have calmed down.

“So, how did you end up being reported?”

Edelina shook her head and spoke.

“I’m not really sure myself…”

“Do you have no idea who might have reported you?”

A look of hesitation appeared on Edelina’s face.

“Well. I think there might be a few people…”

“Who?! Who bullied our Edel?!”

-LOL

-Just what kind of life have you been living…?

-This is why you shouldn’t make enemies.

“…A colleague from work is likely the strongest candidate.”

-Gasp.

-Internal whistleblowing, damn.

“What! Who the hell is that guy?!”

“Father. Stop interrupting.”

“Sir. Let’s listen for now.”

“O-okay…”

Leaving behind the Marquis, who had shrunk back at the fierce momentum of the protagonist and Edelina, the protagonist asked calmly.

“Are you talking about a professor from your academy?”

“Yes. Professor Brandon is suspicious. He’s a professor of Magic Beast Ecology… and he used to nitpick my papers, calling them ‘sinister’ and ‘vile.’ Since the surveillance on heresy has tightened lately, I think he might have reported me in a fit of pique, thinking this was his chance.”

“Just what kind of paper was it?”

“Well, you see…”

Edelina’s eyes sparkled, and she spoke with a flushed face.

“It was a thesis on the research that Magic Stones and Holy Relics possess similar properties.”

“What?”

She continued her explanation with excitement, like someone who had been waiting for this exact question.

“I’m almost certain! While collecting and researching the Magic Stones used in the beast terror incidents as much as possible, I happened to conduct a comparative analysis with a Holy Relic sample I had by pure chance!”

-???

-Excuse me??

She was so thrilled that her speaking speed was twice as fast as usual. The faces of the Marquis and the protagonist turned pale simultaneously. Leaving behind the stunned Marquis who couldn’t grasp the situation, the protagonist urgently tried to stop Edelina.

“Wait, Edelina. You’re not trying to say Holy Relics are similar to Magic Stones, right? Just stay calm and think carefully before you speak…”

“It’s almost a match! Even if they aren’t exactly the same, this means a new hypothesis can be presented: Magic Stones might be able to function similarly to Holy Relics! Do you know how incredible this is?”

-It’s already over.

-Those are not the eyes of a sane person.

Indeed. Edelina’s eyes had long since flipped.

“If this succeeds, it means a groundbreaking method for exterminating magic beasts—one that has never existed before—will be created!”

“…”

-Blasphemy right in front of the Saintess, lol.

-The protagonist trying and failing to shut her up is hilarious.

“That is quite remarkable. But, where did you obtain a Holy Relic? I was under the impression that civilians cannot collect them.”

“Ah…”

-Why the silence?

-Seeing her unable to answer, was it through the black market?

-Oh boy, you might as well just say ‘please arrest me.’

-Edel, Edel…

“Haha. Well, actually, among the research requested by the Imperial Family in the past, there was an investigation into the components of Holy Relics. I secretly skimmed a few pieces back then, but—but really, no one will ever know!”

“…Did you do that with the Church’s permission?”

Ilian, who had been staying silent, couldn’t take it anymore and cut in. I understood his reaction, but the already faint-hearted Marquis was now practically half-dead. I gave Ilian a look, and he pouted before turning his gaze back toward the door.

“S-Saintess! Our Edel is j-just a bit too curious! Never! She never intended to commit an act against Ralphican with some strange conviction!”

-Didn’t she do it in secret because she knew it wasn’t exactly a ‘righteous’ research?

-Lmao, hitting her with the facts.

“Lady Peyers.”

“Y-yes!”

Edelina, who seemed to have realized what she had just said and looked soulless, snapped back to attention at my call.

“You don’t need to be stiff just because you spoke the truth. Falsely testifying just to watch your step around me will only worsen the situation.”

…!!!

The expressions of the trio sitting across from me brightened all at once.

“Thank you!”

“I don’t know how to thank you for your broad-mindedness, Saintess…!”

-Ohh, she’s cool.

-Looks like she still plans to help.

After checking the notification that the affection of all three had risen, I asked Ilian, who was standing guard behind me.

“How far has the investigation progressed?”

“Since a heresy report was filed under Professor Edelina’s name, an investigation team has been dispatched to determine the truth. They are currently in the process of investigating her tracks, and originally, an interrogation should be conducted alongside it, but…”

Ilian glanced at Edelina and shrugged.

“As you can see, the party involved is right here.”

-LOL

-For now, she’s desperately extending her life.

“Then there is no decisive evidence of heresy yet?”

“Fortunately, that is the case.”

Ilian added that if there had been, Edelina would have been unable to avoid the hardships known as ‘guidance.’ At those chilling words, Edelina gripped her knees tightly.

“As of now, since there is only the testimony of Professor Brandon Krohl as Professor Edelina suspected, it is most likely that the case will proceed to a trial.”

“A-a trial?”

The Marquis, who had regained his senses, asked back, and Ilian delivered the finishing blow nonchalantly.

“That is, if no further evidence is found. If there is evidence, it will be difficult for even the Saintess to grant leniency.”

“They won’t find any evidence. I ran away with all the Magic Stones and Holy Relic fragments used in the research.”

-Bragging about destroying evidence, how bold.

“Hmm… what about the thesis?”

“I burned that all on the way here too. Even if it existed, there was room to argue that I just wrote it for fun.”

-So Edelina had a plan after all.

-She’s thorough, damn.

“If you are that confident, you could just go and turn yourself in. You wouldn’t even need the Saintess’s help.”

When Ilian asked with a smirk as if he found it absurd, Edelina fell into thought for a moment. She seemed to be ruminating on what her answer should be.