Ch#79
He unwittingly let out a chuckle.
'I had a feeling.'
The lukewarm energy seeping in from his back was unmistakably holy power.
He slowly pulled away from the child.
Then, toward the child who bowed her head powerlessly for some reason, he parted his lips.
"Holy......"
In truth, what he had meant to say was simple and direct.
He had intended to ask the Sovereign King, 'Are you planning to erase my memory with that relic you haven't reported?'
But for some reason, upon seeing the child's face as she lifted her head, his mouth closed on its own.
"......Oh dear."
Sad tears were rolling down the Sovereign King's cheeks, drop by drop.
"Lumenen Uncleee...... I'm really really sorry......"
And the eyes brimming with guilt.
At the completely unexpected reaction, Valentis furrowed his brow.
Meanwhile, Tie was sniffling for a very obvious reason.
'I really went and did it.'
She had hesitated dozens of times before doing it.
After all, erasing someone's memory wasn't a light matter.
Until now, Tie had only erased the memories of her squad members and Governor Marianne's.
But that had all been with their consent,
'It only erased when they betrayed Tie, so it was self-defense.'
Her gaze turned to Valentis before her.
He was still staring at her with an impassive face, but now with a slightly peculiar glint in his eyes.
'What Tie just did to the Lumenen Leader was completely......'
Words like swindler, greedy cheat, sneaky fraudster flashed through Tie's mind.
Moments ago, Tie had secured the promise to show her the organization chart and then promptly erased Valentis's memory.
To be precise, all the secrets she had just spilled to him.
Her lips pursed again on their own.
Until now, Tie's tree of conscience had been laden with plentiful fruits.
At this moment, for the first time in her life committing such a fraudulent act, sad-face stickers were piling up a hundred per fruit.
"......Tie is a really bad kid. A total bad consumer."
Her voice grew even more aggrieved.
A faint look of bewilderment crossed Valentis's face.
* * *
Meanwhile, Veil's eyes snapped open.
His hand, stretched out in his sleep. Something that should have been there was missing.
Sitting up, sure enough, the spot beside him was empty.
"......Emergency."
Veil rushed to the wall, lit the mana lamp, and shouted.
"Emergency! The kid's gone!"
At his words, Basto shot up from his spot like a spring.
Then Nordics, Raoul, and Enzo all frowned and opened one eye.
"Astie's gone?"
At Basto's question, Veil urgently gestured to where Tie had been lying.
"I don't know. She was there just a bit ago, but in that short time......!"
Before he could finish, the door opened.
Basto had kicked it open and charged out.
"Basto! If you rush out like that!"
Nordics called urgently, but
"I'm coming too!"
Veil had already followed after him, leaving the room.
Nordics alternated between the empty bedding and the door, letting out a short sigh.
'Everyone is to remain in the lodging as much as possible until the investigation ends.'
He recalled the Lumenen Leader's order delivered through the blacksmiths the previous evening.
Of course, there was no reason for mercenaries to absolutely obey his command.
Mercenaries were, after all, a separate organization free from the Holy Knight Order.
But.
'Right now, Agavert needs to avoid ruffling his feathers as much as possible?'
"Old man, what do we do?"
Raoul asked.
Nordics groaned as he rose from his spot.
"You lot stay here first. I'll go fetch them all. Astie probably hasn't gone far."
In his view, Basto and Veil were making too much of a fuss.
Thinking about it, there were reasons Astie might leave her bed.
"She's a kid, so maybe she woke up thirsty."
Or perhaps needed the bathroom urgently.
In that case, she wouldn't have gone far.
At most, to the common room on the first floor of the lodging building.
Nordics threw on his unit uniform and stepped out the door.
Then he began walking down the hallway after Basto and Veil.
Whatever the case, he had to sort things out before those two caused an even bigger commotion.
'Krazar's core remains unaccounted for.'
Nordics had already heard the details of yesterday's meeting from Basto.
'Silvar's Scream suspects Tie. Since Krazar is such a big deal, they think she might have taken the core.'
Up to that point, it was perhaps inevitable.
Krazar's core had long been coveted by many.
Sudden news of its disappearance might not convince everyone.
Thus, Nordics thought the Lumenen Leader's announcement of searching the Weapon District was quite justified.
'I just hoped it would wrap up quickly.'
That was before seeing that thing briefly emerge from Tie's bag and vanish just before sleep.
"Haa......"
His head throbbed, and another sigh escaped his lips.
At first, he thought it was some kid's toy or doll.
But it had undoubtedly been alive and moving.
A small, plump body.
Round eyes, cute mouth, and an unusually shaped nose.
'I wondered if it was a summon for a moment, but......'
When it peeked out from between Tie's bag and then scurried back inside.
Only then did Nordics instinctively sense something was wrong.
'Did Astie have time to summon a new familiar?'
Before being trapped in the subspace, Tie had only one summon.
That black, young dragon-like thing.
Once trapped in the subspace, summoning a familiar would have been impossible.
You couldn't wield that much mana inside a subspace.
Thus, the time Tie summoned her second familiar must have been after escaping the subspace.
The problem was that since emerging from the subspace, Astie hadn't activated anything with her own mana.
At that point, a single suspicion began to grow uncontrollably in Nordics's mind.
No way.
'Krazar's core remains unaccounted for.'
What if......?
'Silvar's Scream suspects Tie.'
The previous night, he had tossed and turned, unable to sleep.
The sudden disappearance of Krazar's core.
And at the same time, Tie's new second summon.
Was this a coincidence?
Whatever the case, one thing was certain.
'If Tie is hiding something, it's over the moment it's discovered.'
Tie had already publicly announced to everyone that 'Krazar's core was destroyed.'
In such a situation, if the core's whereabouts came to light differently, Agavert would undoubtedly be in trouble.
Moreover, the Weapon District now hosted the Holy Knight Order's leader and the Church and Imperial Family's loyal servant, the Lumenen Leader.
'If we get tangled in something like deceiving the Church......'
A four-year-old child's minor mishap had a high chance of not ending as just a mishap.
'Where the hell did they all go.'
As Nordics walked the hallway, anxiously scanning around, it happened.
Finally, he spotted Veil and Basto standing at a corner in the distance.
"Veil, Basto!"
Calling softly, he quickened his steps.
Then, only after nearly reaching the corner did he stop in his tracks.
"Astie?"
Astie, whom he thought had gone downstairs to the first floor, was standing in her pajamas before Veil and Basto.
And behind her,
"Lumenen Leader?"
An utterly unexpected figure.
Valentis Lumenen was looking down at Basto and Veil with an expressionless face.
