“Everyone, try to focus for a moment. It seems like there’s a fresh perspective emerging here.”
At Lowell’s words, the children’s gazes naturally shifted toward me.
She must have intended to embarrass me, but unfortunately for her, that didn’t quite work out.
‘I know the correct answer.’
And not just any answer, but the perfect one at that.
“As I mentioned earlier, there is something that rallied those knights together. And I believe that something is Nade.”
“I see. A new central figure stepping in for Baron Kelven… and that would be Nade?”
“Choosing his son as the new leader like that. Now the true intentions behind Nade’s actions have become all the more crucial.”
Did the knights follow him of their own accord after hearing his words, or were they dragged along against their will?
But that assumption holds no real meaning. Because.
“They went willingly. No, in fact, it’s more accurate to say they ‘took the lead.’ That phrasing fits best.”
“Pardon?”
“Nade is the true culprit behind this entire incident.”
“!?”
The children all flinched in surprise. Even Lowell narrowed her eyes as if she had just pieced something together.
“A guy who made a pact with a demon… not one of the knights, but Nade himself?”
“Keke, that’s right.”
Of course, even this was.
“Only half the complete answer, though.”
“Pardon? What do you mean by that?”
“Nade… he’s actually the real Baron Kelven.”
“???”
Question marks seemed to float above everyone’s heads.
It was only natural. The idea of Nade and Baron Kelven being the same person.
It would have been stranger if they accepted it easily.
“W-What on earth are you saying? How could Nade and Baron Kelven be the same individual?”
“The Baron Kelven currently in the mansion is a fake. Nade is the true Baron Kelven.”
“That’s exactly what we’re asking you to explain! There’s no way someone so young could be Baron Kelven!”
No, it’s possible. Incredibly so, and he could regain his youth quite effortlessly at that.
“What if he harnesses the power of a demon?”
“Ah…!”
Yuridia’s mouth fell open in astonishment.
Right now, in Yuridia’s mind, everything that had transpired so far was likely unfolding like a panoramic scene.
— Had Baron Kelven’s demeanor always been that gentle?
— Lord Nade seems far more composed than his age would suggest.
— Outwardly and inwardly, he harbored grand ambitions. It’s hard to imagine that fiery spirit extinguishing so easily.
— His appearance even resembles the old Baron Kelven strikingly. That’s why it came as such a shock.
Assuming Nade is Baron Kelven, all those conversations fit together perfectly.
And decisively, when the Trash Sprout Defense Squad hurled those rotten eggs, Pjol had clearly shouted.
— My Lord!
“Ah… I remember now too. He called Nade ‘My Lord’ while wrapping him protectively.”
“Keke, in desperate situations, it’s impossible to hide the truth completely.”
A distinguished knight like Pjol wouldn’t make such a basic slip-up in addressing his master.
In other words, the Nade who claimed to be Baron Kelven’s son.
“Baron Kelven has undergone a rejuvenation.”
Baron Kelven regained his youth.
And in exchange, the demon formed a pact to receive a steady supply of souls from him.
This was the full truth behind the Trash Village disappearance case.
“So then, who is the Baron Kelven in the mansion right now?”
“One of the knights must be impersonating him. The way he walked was remarkably refined, after all.”
Not a single person in the village knew what the elderly Baron Kelven looked like.
The nobles were the same. A Baron from a fallen noble house. It would actually be more surprising if anyone remembered his face.
“If Baron Kelven was a fake… then it makes perfect sense why my ‘Inquisition of Heresy’ had no effect.”
“Keke, exactly. It was Nade who made the pact with the demon, after all.”
“Still… isn’t this all a bit too speculative?”
Yuridia muttered under her breath. She wasn’t wrong in her assessment.
After all, there was no concrete ‘evidence’ proving Nade was Baron Kelven.
‘But Adonis will handle providing that evidence in my place.’
Now Adonis would step forward and back up my claims.
That’s how the story was supposed to unfold.
“…”
But no matter how long I waited, Adonis didn’t make a move.
As I scanned the surroundings, I finally realized one crucial fact.
Adonis wasn’t even here. He hadn’t been from the very start.
‘Did some hidden piece I wasn’t aware of activate?’
Adonis, who always stayed by Victoria’s side, had vanished? It had to be a hidden piece coming into play.
Yet here I was, in a situation where I needed to push my argument forward somehow.
No choice then. I’d have to rely on the counterfeit(?) instead.
“Keke, at this point, I suppose it’s time to call in a witness.”
“You have a witness?”
“Indeed. Witness, please step forward.”
As my gaze turned toward Rezé, the children’s attention followed suit.
Perhaps sensing the eyes on her, Rezé glanced around left and right before jumping back in shock, hopping like a startled rabbit.
“M-Me?”
“That’s right. Come over here for a moment, if you would.”
“E-Eh!?”
The witness rabbit… no, Rezé stepped forward hesitantly.
I pushed up my nonexistent glasses with a finger and began the questioning.
“Every time you saw Nade, you were trembling and trying to hide as quickly as possible. Why was that?”
“W-Well… it just… f-felt off to me.”
“Rezé, you’re quite sensitive to mana, aren’t you? Could that be the reason?”
“I-Is that so? I-I’m not really sure myself……”
“Think carefully about it. For instance… perhaps the quality of his mana felt strange?”
“U-Uuu……”
It was right then, as Rezé kept shrinking further and further.
As if something had suddenly clicked, she puffed herself up again and cried out.
“R-Right! It was weird! How should I put it… the m-mana had this… somewhat aged feeling to it?”
“You mean his mana felt old?”
“I-It’s just a feeling! I-It might be my imagination! No, it definitely is! P-Please don’t pay any attention to my silly opinion!”
Perhaps any further prodding was too much for her. Rezé bolted away and hid behind Luna.
Well, that testimony ought to suffice for now.
“That’s Rezé’s way of putting it. To explain it in terms a layperson might grasp more easily……”
Nade possesses a quantity and quality of mana far beyond what suits his apparent age.
“-or so we could say.”
“I see. Accumulating mana inevitably requires time, after all.”
“Nade is in his early twenties, correct? If he possessed mana equivalent to someone in their forties or older, and Rezé happened to notice that discordant energy……”
“That would serve as proof that Nade is Baron Kelven. It’s settled now. After all, even I acknowledge Rezé as a prodigy when it comes to mana.”
“So that’s it. Nade, that kid, was the real Baron Kelven all along!”
A shout from the protagonist, Alex. At the same moment, a holographic window popped up before my eyes.
[You have uncovered the culprit behind the ‘Trash Village Kidnapping Incident.’]
[Thanks to your flawless deduction, the stats of your party members ‘Luna’ and ‘Rezé’ will increase dramatically!]
Not just a slight boost, but a dramatic one.
It was a success. Factoring in the incremental gains from earlier, we’d achieved around 95% of the maximum possible rewards.
Where did the remaining 5% go? …Well, getting tangled up with Lowell made that inevitable.
‘This is exactly why I said not to mess with the Mad Lion.’
But I wasn’t disappointed. I planned to extract an even greater reward through Lowell, after all.
“It’s urgent. Deliver this message right away.”
Lowell sent a note to Caron via a Rat. Then she stared piercingly at Rezé.
“You can sense the quantity and quality of someone’s mana? What an intriguing child. What about me? Do I have more than average for my age? If so, how old would you guess I am?”
“Eek, eek!”
Thud.
Rezé stuck out her tongue and fainted flat on the ground. She was a proper pufferfish rabbit through and through.
Well, facing off against the Mad Lion, that reaction was understandable.
“To gain youth as the price of a pact. How astonishing.”
“It’s not entirely unprecedented…… but it’s unusual. Typically, wishes like that come from women.”
Just as Yuridia said. Those who wished for ‘youth’ were mostly older women.
There were men who did so as well, but they were exceedingly rare.
Especially among the nobility, a class that engaged in frequent public activities.
Venturing out with a rejuvenated appearance often invited suspicions of demonic pacts.
As a result, the number of male nobles wishing for youth could be counted on one hand.
“Why would he wish for something like that? Usually in these cases, people seek ‘great power,’ don’t they?”
The children’s doubts. The answer to that was straightforward.
“Because it had worked once before.”
All eyes turned toward me.
“He probably thought the second time would be even easier. Becoming the overlord of the central and northern regions—he attributed it all to his own power.”
Even though it was the combined efforts of fellow nobles, knights, soldiers, servants, and countless others.
Baron Kelven believed every achievement was solely his own doing.
That’s why he wished for youth this time. Not as a defeated man.
But as a conqueror.
“What should we do now?”
“For starters, it’s certain they haven’t left this area. The paths from the abandoned mines don’t extend to distant places. They all lead underground right beneath the village outskirts.”
“They’re probably hiding in the abandoned mines, waiting for us to grow weary and drop our guard before making their escape. That seems the most likely scenario.”
“Exactly. But we can’t have a small team searching each and every mine one by one…… this is a real headache.”
Lowell scratched her head vigorously in frustration. Then she looked at me and asked.
“Got any bright ideas? No, probably not……”
“I do.”
“See? This whole thing is way too tricky for—wait, what did you say?”
“There’s a way. A method to figure out exactly where they’re hiding.”
Lowell’s eyes widened, along with those of the other children.
Even for geniuses, there was no obvious solution to break through the current impasse.
I hadn’t known it at first either. But after replaying this game over and over, I discovered the method.
A thoroughly reliable one at that.
“What is it?”
“We conduct a trap investigation.”
“Huh?”
“Baron Kelven hasn’t been able to absorb souls for quite some time now. With his body already failing, his mind must be starting to crumble too, so he’s likely feeling a profound sense of crisis.”
“We exploit that and set a trap?”
I nodded. If we placed one or two people in various spots around the village and mines, the knights would come rushing in desperately to attempt a kidnapping.
“I’m against it. It’s dangerous enough on its own, but if he is this ruthless, he must have already absorbed a knight’s soul by now. He won’t be desperate for souls just yet.”
“You’re right. He has probably already taken care of at least one.”
“So how can someone who knows that propose such an absurd plan?”
“Because the knights are the ones who’ll be desperate.”
A few quick-witted children brightened with realization. Lowell was among them.
“Hmph~ That makes sense. In a way, they might crave sacrifices even more than Baron Kelven does.”
“Keke, precisely. They wouldn’t want to be absorbed themselves, after all. So they’ll be frantic to find offerings.”
Vitality returned to the children’s faces.
I continued without pause.
“Using signal flares and tracking incense, we can easily pinpoint their hideout. However, since it’s a perilous endeavor, skilled individuals need to serve as the bait.”
“Hold on, you don’t mean…… you’re not suggesting we use students as bait, are you?”
“Keke, that’s exactly what I’m suggesting. No matter how urgent they are, they won’t risk abducting an instructor. Students are the ideal choice.”
“No, even so, this won’t do. It’s far too dangerous.”
It required willingly stepping into the heart of enemy territory, and a single misstep could lead to being used as a sacrifice.
It was truly a life-or-death gamble. Of course Lowell would oppose it.
As no one spoke up, someone suddenly thrust their hand high in the air.
It was Rodelin.
“Leave that role to me!”
“Put your hand down. Before I burn all your empire merchandise.”
Rodelin shrank back instantly. Just what kind of existence were empire goods to her?
“Keke, even so, students remain the most suitable option.”
“I said no? Caron would never allow it.”
“Wouldn’t he, though? What if there’s an instructor who looks like a student? He might approve then.”
“An instructor who’s strong yet appears young, like a student……”
As they all exchanged glances, their eyes converged on one spot.
Standing there was…
“What? Why are you all staring at me like that out of nowhere?”
Lowell.
–TL Notes–
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Huh,I thought it would be doppleganger,Split body or Demonic impersonator but turn out it just plain old body double
And Baron Kelvan way too arrogant! He plan to climb up to overlord just with 50 injured knight,some iron mines and a single village?!