----------------------------------------

“At ease,” I replied quietly to the soldiers who had lined up expectantly in front of me, taking a moment to consider the aftermath of the situation.

Nothing ever resolves itself, you know. You have to think about response and recovery after a significant event like a demon fight… even if it was ostensibly orchestrated.

“That wall…” I pointed to it and the gaping hole the men had poured through. “Is it load-bearing?”

A ripple of confused murmuring and shrugs passed through their line.

I made eye contact with a young man near the front of the pack. “Find someone who can assess the damage and another who can rally those who can repair it.”

“Yes, Captain!” he saluted, running off through the very rupture I was worried would collapse. A few trickles of dust fell after his passing.

I facepalmed, wiping away some more black goo from my forehead.

“What else should we do, Captain?” another soldier asked.

“First, let’s get out of here by using the doors carefully! Then let’s make sure no one else gets near that unless they’re in the business of fixing it.”

After cordoning off the mess, my armored entourage and I headed towards the inner courtyard, where the nobles and other attendees had gathered after evacuating.

I fell in step with the most decorated soldier just before approaching the buzzing mob. “Any significant injuries?”

He shook his head. “Not really. A few nobles are being quite vocal, but Father Irijah has only been healing bumps and bruises.”

“What about Count Mathis?”

The soldier stopped walking. “That traitor is scheduled for execution at dawn. He’s being held in the dungeon.”

“Traitor?”

“Allying himself with a demon, of all things!” another soldier spat in disgust. “I always knew he was treacherous, but to forfeit the Eternal Covenant… He’ll burn forever, just like them!”

A chill crept down my spine, causing goosebumps to rise on my skin. My right hand throbbed with a dull ache as if issuing a silent warning. “He confessed to that?”

“Confessed? It’s obvious!” The soldier crossed his arms, his armor rattling loudly with the motion. “He made a pact with that demon to get revenge on His Majesty!”

It wasn’t all that obvious to me since nothing he said was tied to any physical evidence. “Humor me for a minute. Why would Count Mathis want revenge?”

“His army arrived too late after the mob… lost his wife back when the world went dark. Afterward, he cut ties with the rest of the nobles. He drank himself to despair… Now, he’s sought solace in the arms of seductive strangers! Those sorts of stories only end one way.”

It was quite a jump to a conclusion, but I didn’t have time to argue with him. We had arrived in the courtyard, and Duke Chadwick and Prince Mito were flitting about the various nobles, trying to calm them and question them simultaneously.

“Did you get a view of the dark mage?” Duke Chadwick asked one noble.

“Do you recall how tall he was?” Prince Mito inquired of another. “We all heard the baritone in his voice, but none of us recognized it.”

He? Baritone voice?

Certain it had been Nora’s voice telling them to escape after she blew up the wall, I glanced around dubiously. Nora, hanging on the sidelines, locked eyes with me for a brief moment. She smiled mischievously and put her index finger above her lips, faking a mustache.

She can disguise herself and her voice? But I guess it didn’t work on me, at least. Heh. It was a bit of a relief to know she couldn’t prank me with that! Goddess only knows what sort of illusions she’d create if she could!

I walked over to Prince Mito. “I’m sure that dark mage is long gone by now. We have more important things to concentrate on.”

“No,” he objected. “We must find him! An unregistered dark mage in the castle is just as bad as a high-level demon!”

I began to wonder what the technical difference was between a stress headache and a migraine, seeing as how a burning pain was settling into my temples that started to blur my vision. “You’re referring to the same unregistered dark mage who blew a hole in the wall to allow you to escape? Oh yes, let’s waste our time on the magical phantom who saved you instead of interviewing our best witnesses.”

Prince Mito sniffed and made a disapproving expression. “And just who are you referring to?”

“Count Mathis and King Saulus,” I replied, folding my arms. “Let’s start with the count since everyone’s so eager to off him without even asking him his side of the story.”

This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road. If you spot it on Amazon, please report it.

Prince Mito’s face relaxed into a concerned frown. “Why my father?”

“He knew its name,” I reminded him. “And he seemed to think he was already sent to Naught.”

If demons could escape Naught…

His highness covered his mouth with his hand, his eyes darting back and forth. “Count Mathis first, Captain. Leave father for later.”

“Let’s bring Lady Nora, too,” I advised, pointing to her. “She’s pretty good at this sort of thing, and I don’t think he’ll want to talk to either of us freely.”

We were, after all, apparent representatives of the law that had decided he was already guilty.

Nora, obviously observing our conversation, wandered over. “I’m up?”

“Yep. We need a statement from Count Mathis.”

Nora nodded. “Lead the way, Your Highness.”

----------------------------------------

“I’ll be fine in there alone,” Nora assured Prince Mito. “Just stay here and keep quiet, okay?”

“What if he tries to—”

“Then I’ll just have to teach him a lesson,” Nora interrupted, her eyes flashing dangerously.

“Lady Nora…”

I put my hand on his shoulder. “She can handle the likes of him. Trust me.”

Nora entered the small, stone-walled interrogation room, shutting the creaky wood and metal door behind her. I sighed and sank to the floor, leaning back against the wall.

“You must be exhausted…” Prince Mito murmured.

“Yes,” I admitted, resting my head on the cool stones. “All I wanted was a good meal. Is that too much to ask?”

Prince Mito chuckled. “We’re lucky he attacked during the appetizers. At least the main course is still safe.”

“Maybe my appetite will come back…”

Prince Mito didn’t sit on the dusty floor with me, but he did lean against the same wall.

From inside the interrogation room, Count Mathis’s voice was muffled at first, but then we heard a loud buzz and it began to echo loudly, as if it were being broadcasted just for us. “My estate was ransacked the day after the sun went dark. I tried to get Ophira to leave out the back with me, but she was adamant about bringing her jewels with us. She ran deeper into the main house and…” He started to sob. “She never came out!”

Prince Mito inhaled sharply, his hand going for the door. “An auditory enhancement spell?! She’s the—”

I bolted up and yanked his hand off the door before he could open it. “She’s with me, remember?”

His eyes narrowed angrily, and then he whispered harshly, “Didn’t you learn your lesson the first time around? Dark mages aren’t to be trusted!”

I made a show of rolling my eyes through an entire rotation. No wonder Relias wanted to keep Lady Nora’s skills under wraps.

“His Majesty sent soldiers to quell the mob, and because of that, many servants survived. I’m truly thankful for that. But they were traumatized, and I understood why they resigned shortly after. I couldn’t walk through the halls without thinking about what had happened. Eventually, it was just me in that accursed place, and I knew I needed to leave. Otherwise… I would have…” He continued to cry.

“Doesn’t sound like straight-up revenge to me…” I muttered.

Prince Mito snorted. “Just wait. His villain arc hasn’t happened yet.”

“Take your time,” Nora murmured.

There was a rustle, and then I heard him blow his nose. “I tried staying with friends, so I wouldn’t… but I was just a burden. I started to hang out in bars just to be around people. But I had nothing I could talk about, so I started to drink…”

“The last thing I remember is walking home. I was smart, you know. I only brought enough money with me to get tipsy. Then I’d walk home in the morning, timing it so I would fall asleep as soon as I went inside. I didn’t want to think. I just wanted to sleep. But on the way home, I found a crow. It was this ugly thing, old-looking, hopping on one foot with one wing bent out of place. I couldn’t help but think it was just like me, a little messed up and all alone. It let me pick it up, and I said I’d take care of it. I thought… if I had something that needed me, then I had a reason to keep on living. But next thing I know, the Chosen One’s back and shaking me awake.”

“The demon did have such a form,” I reminded Prince Mito. “Up in the chandelier.”

“Maybe…” he replied vaguely, a frown creasing his features.

“So, if I understand you correctly,” Nora began to summarize. “You made a nightly sojourn to the bars for a few years before picking up a strange pet by the side of the road?”

“Not for a few years, a few days,” he corrected, blowing his nose again.

“How long ago did the sun go dark?”

There was a long pause. “I think it was about a month ago, right? Right after Euphridia’s cry.”

“Count Mathis,” Nora said softly. “It’s been over seven years.”

“No!” he shouted as the sound of his chair toppled over. “That can’t be right! How is that possible?! Ophiria! I haven’t tended to her grave in—”

His sobbing became uncontrollable, but Nora tried her best to manage the situation, offering several comforting words that also advised him not to blame himself.

“Here,” Prince Mito handed me a handkerchief. “It would look strange if you were as teary-eyed as he is when we release him…”

“Protective custody,” I cautioned as I sniffled. “There’s no real difference between a group of angry nobles and a mob, except they may have better access to weapons.”

“We’ll have to search his house in the meantime,” Prince Mito mused. “And we’ll verify the part about Countess Ophiria’s grave. It’s circumstantial but significant. He was well known for his love of her before he was… probably possessed against his will.”

I nodded, surprised at how easily it seemed he was suddenly capable of independent thought. “Thank you for giving him a chance to explain himself.”

Prince Mito shrugged sheepishly. “It should have been standard. I don’t know what came over me…”

The door creaked open. “Mob mentality,” Nora said as she stepped out of the makeshift interrogation room, shutting the door behind her again. “It’s quite common after a disaster. Your father screaming for blood didn’t help either.” She sniffed before looking at me sharply. “Are you going to be able to keep it together when we talk to His Majesty?”

I wiped my face with the handkerchief, noting that I still had black ichor here and there. “Yes…”

“No directly challenging his statements,” Nora warned. “I’ll start with some open-ended questions and move on with some clarifying ones. Try not to overreact, okay?”

I stamped my foot in annoyance. “Well, excuse me!”

“Yes, let’s avoid outbursts like that,” she pointed out. “Just listen calmly, okay?”

Prince Mito looked between the two of us for a moment. “Lady Nora… Perhaps you should try reverse psychology next time.”

“If you use it too much, they’ll catch on!” she warned playfully as we returned.

At least, I hoped she was playing.

----------------------------------------