88 â The Last Trick â 1
Igor must have noticed that people were looking at him as if he were some kind of crazy person, and he burst out laughing.
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âI didnât say anything wrong, but why are your eyes like that? As long as you donât throw it away after taking it and use it well, there wonât be a problem. Since you are a merchant, you probably know the flow. Oh, that doesnât mean Iâm thinking of using my subordinates either, so please donât be mistaken.â
âI guess my being a member of the Crait family is separate from what you said?â@@novelbin@@
âFundamentally, there is no difference. So, what is the answer?â
âIt is a rejection. âBecause Iâm the type of person who doesnât change sides often.â
The guy scratched his head shyly.
âReally? Wow, this is a shame. They even tried to recruit the queen by arguing with her. âI still couldnât bring it back, so itâs going to be broken when I go back.â
ââ¦â¦ âWhat did you do?â
I asked back, wondering if I had heard wrong, but Igor remained calm.
âDonât you know the Succubus Queen? Her name is Astaroth, and she is the commander of the 7th Corps of the Demon Kingâs Army. âThat succubus wants to kill you so badly.â
I was dumbfounded for a while because my mind couldnât accept the situation, and only after blinking a few times was I able to gather my thoughts.
âWhy are you so confident? âYou think I canât speak?â
This is the first time in my life that I have ever seen a human being who directly confessed that he had colluded with demons.
âBecause there is no evidence anyway.â
The guy still responded calmly and weakly.
âDidnât you do that? They say you canât catch it with just heartache. There is no solid evidence, so why should I ask for it? Even if you suddenly tell me that this guy is in collusion with demons, what is the evidence? If I were to ask you, what would you say? Anyway, he said it himself, is it going to be like this? Just in case, Iâm not stupid enough to say yes with my own mouth, am I?â
âCrown Princeâ¦â¦ No, you could ask the Crown Princess to investigate you.â
âInvestigation? Ha, how is your younger brother going to find out that even the Sword Saint and the Archmage didnât notice?â
I wondered where the confidence came from, but it seemed like he had already gained confidence. Surely, if he hadnât been discovered by the swordsman and archmage, he would have been so confident.
More than anything, Astaroth would have given permission to say things like that because he was confident. How could it be possible for a person possessed by a succubus to reveal the most important secrets without orders?
âI got tested under the pretense of feeling unwell, but they didnât recognize anything. Even though I heard from Queen that I would never get caught, I was a little scared inside. But after seeing that, I gained confidence. Now, back to the main point. âIf you investigate me like you said and no evidence is found that Iâm connected to demons, can you handle it?â
âWell. âI donât think thereâs anything I canât do.â
Of course, even if we investigate, it wonât come up. Because Astaroth would have made sure that her tail would never be stepped on.
I was trying to block him by creating evidence that wasnât there in the first place, so it doesnât matter whether I did that or not. They say they are not going to catch live people, but only those who are clearly on the other side, so what can they do?
âDo I have to carry at least a recording magic tool from next time?â
If I had known that you would reveal a secret like that, I should have taken at least one with you. It was so clearly indicated whether it was working or not, so I didnât think there was a need to carry it around.
I wondered if I should at least request an improvement from a separate workshop. It doesnât show whether itâs working, you can turn it on and off with mana, and itâs not noticeable even if you hide it.
The purpose is so clearly visible that if youâre going to entrust it to someone, youâll have to choose a craftsman with a heavy mouth.
âYou? âI guess so.â
The guy must have thought that was a bluff, so he raised the corners of his mouth as if laughing. He decided to let himself be mistaken. Maintaining that self-satisfied attitude makes it easier to deal with later.
âIâll ask you again. Are you really not willing to stand by my side? If you join hands with me, you can even become a succubus. Wow, Iâve tried it a few times, but it canât even be compared to an ordinary human being. âOnce you taste it, youâll never go back to the way it was before, right?â
âNo need.â
For the first time, Igorâs expression hardened slightly at my sharp rejection.
âShould we choose the difficult path over the easy path? âThink about it carefully.â
âIf the easy road is full of gutter, it is better to take a clean road even if it is difficult.â
ââ¦â¦ âThatâs right.â
He glared at me with a stern expression.
âIâm sorry. âI thought I would be a good match for you.â
Then he paused a little and smiled.
âWould you like to see what your master thinks?â
ââ¦â¦ Master?â
âIgor, if you were crazy, you shouldnât have told me you were crazy earlier. âI should have cut off his head a long time ago before he got this ugly.â
âIâm not crazy, little brother. You guys are the ones who are crazy. âDo you dare to have an affair with the demons?â
Igor fought back without being pushed back by Laura, who was firing nervously. It was a look that gave a sense of the majesty of the royal family.
As students and even professors were gathered nearby, a huge stir spread over the news that Laura was trying to communicate with her demons.
âDid you say you tried to communicate with the demons? Is this me? âI donât know where you are trying to spread nonsense.â
Laura laughed sardonically. She had no choice but to do so. It was Prince Fe who was in cahoots with the demons, not Laura.
âCan you say that even after seeing this? âBring it to me!â
One of the knights roughly threw something in front of us.
It was a succubus. Even just by looking at it, you can tell that he is a fairly high-ranking official. Just by standing still, pheromones continued to leak out.
Four priests were clinging to him and casting divine healing. I donât know if that will help block the pheromones, but since theyâre all possessed anyway, I thought it wouldnât be necessary to block it.
The succubus had her eyes covered with a cloth and her mouth covered with a ball gag. Combined with the succubusâs characteristic provocative outfit, it seemed at first glance that she was engaging in BDSM play.
âWhat does this woman look like?â
âDo I really need to answer with my own mouth to understand?â
âItâs a succubus. Sheâs also a succubus of quite high rank. âHe said he was qualified to sit next to the queen at the banquet.â
âWhat do you want to say, Igor?â
âThis was disguised as one of the maids by your side. I wonât say I didnât know. There is no way that Laura Ercarenziana didnât even know that there was a succubus next to her.â
Lauraâs face frowned for the first time. She had sensed their intentions.
If she says she didnât know, she becomes an idiot who doesnât know whatâs next to her, and if she says she knew, she gives strength to my common opinion. Either way, it was an unacceptable choice for Laura, who had strong pride.
This is just my guess, but I think Laura really didnât know. Thatâs right, all she has to do is follow the plan, choose one person to kill, and then pretend that she was disguised as that maid from the beginning.
These are people who have done enough of such things.
âStop talking nonsense. âIf that were the case, I would have noticed a long time ago.â
âThe Sword Saint himself caught me contacting Queen. Are you saying this is nonsense?â
â⦠â¦.â
Laura closed her mouth and looked back at Sword Saint. Geomsung nodded her head. She didnât have a very good expression. However, it didnât seem to be because of Laura.
âOf course you should say you donât know. Because I was in secret with the demons. âHow do you think I found out, Laura?â
âSuch sophistry-â
âBecause! Because it tried to possess me! âI am the crown prince of the empire!â
The voice suddenly grew louder. Before I knew it, Igor was referring to himself as the crown prince. When Laura noticed that fact, her frown deepened.
The noise around us also grew louder. Laura opened her mouth as if to refute her words, but Igor, with the increasingly strange atmosphere behind her, was one step faster.
âSword Saint!â
ââ¦â¦ Why?â
Geomseong, who was frowning at her while holding a bloody tree branch in her left hand, answered bluntly, as if he was not very happy with the current situation.
âYou have also met people who have been possessed by succubi, so you will definitely be able to tell them apart. Can you feel the energy of a succubus in me? âDo you really think Iâm possessed by a succubus?â
The Sword Saint glanced at Igor in disgust and shook his head with an expression of disapproval.
ââ¦â¦ âItâs not like that.â
âThen Laura! What about my brother! He dared to bring demons into the empire and offer up the entire country to the demon king! How do you feel my brother!â
âWhat do you want to say? âDoes this mean thereâs something wrong with that kid?â
A spooky, murderous sight was spread around. It was so deadly that it made not only the succubus but also the priests and knights next to him hesitate, but Igor shouted regardless.
âI want to reveal the truth! The truth that has been hidden amidst lies and deception! This is what I want to reveal to the world!â
At those words, Geomseong looked at Laura with a cold face, then her eyes widened and she trembled. It was enough of a reaction for everyone here to realize something was wrong.
For the first time, Lauraâs unique cold and overbearing expression broke. Laura was looking at the Sword Saint with her bewildered eyes. The Sword Saint also seemed extremely embarrassed, as if this couldnât possibly be happening.
âWhat is it?â
I looked around to quickly understand the situation and soon realized the cause. It was a succubus lying tied up on the floor.
A pheromone so faint that even I could not notice it unless I concentrated properly was flowing into Laura.
âWas it all a trick?â
Somehow, from the moment it was thrown in front of us, it was leaking pheromones very blatantly, and it was all a ploy for this. If a sweet scent suddenly comes out, the Sword Saint will be suspicious.
Even among them, only the faintest ray of light was heading towards Laura. Itâs not enough to make you excited when you see a man, but itâs enough for Geomseong to notice something strange.
âIt is done, Sword Saint. âThat response alone was enough of an answer.â
ââ¦â¦ âJust because I am, doesnât mean I always give the right answer.â
âBut you are closer to the correct answer than anyone else in the empire.â
Igor bowed his waist as if he was respecting the swordsman until the end. Geomseong ignored the greeting and was only worried about Laura.
Geomseong hates Igor so openly, is there something going on between the two?
âHow dare you set your dirty feet into the empire and what kind of trick you tried to pull! Tell it with your own mouth! âIf there is even the slightest lie, I swear on my name and on my sword that I wonât leave you alone for four years!â
Igor lashed out at the succubus. For me, I felt like I was trying my best at acting. Whether it was gestures or speech, there was a lot of bravado.
One of the knights carefully approached and removed the ball gag covering his mouth. The succubus, whose mouth was free, let out a strange panting moan for a moment and then opened her mouth intermittently.
âWell, Iâ¦â ⦠Under Queenâs ordersâ¦â¦ Together with Her Majesty the Crown Princess, we made a plan to invade the empireâ¦â¦.â