Almadianos Eiyuuden Chapter 30

Hey everyone! Chapter 30 is here!

Anyway, here is the chapter, I hope you'll enjoy it!

Chapter 30

【”Come to think of it, sir Isengard, you have a nephew, right?”】
【”W-what of it?”】
【”The reason the monster clung to her highness was that she served as a water shrine maiden for the temple of Gnostic in Barbena. And the reason she stopped by Barbena was that your nephew fell from his horse.”】
【”I also remember that. He pa.s.sed out and we did not know how heavy his injuries were, so we decided to stop by Barbena to evaluate his condition.”】
【”H-he's a clumsy fellow. He has already resigned from the knight order by now, and he's going through re-education on the family's territory.”】

Regardless of whether that was true or not, this was certainly going to worsen Ross' credibility.
Even Albert was gritting his teeth, wondering why Ross had given such a shallow explanation.
He had not been told about that nephew at all before the trial.

【”However, you have no way of proving that the monster clung to her in Barbena, do you?”】

Perhaps because he had decided to go all in since he had already interfered anyway, Mordred persisted in questioning Kurats' testimony.

【”It was an aquatic monster. If it did not happen in Barbena, that means you're implying the monster was allowed to penetrate the defenses of the royal palace, are you sure you want to make that claim?”】
【”Ah….!”】

While the royal guard was in charge of the royal palace's defense, the royal court's mages were the ones in charge of protecting the palace against everything that had to do with monsters and magic attacks.
In other words, if a monster had really entered the royal palace, that would be due to the incompetence of the royal court's mages.
Mordred grit his teeth like he was feeling pure hatred.

【”B-but you still don't have any actual evidence that it did happen in Barbena!”】(Ross)

Hoping to escape from suspicions, Ross snarled at Kurats.
Because, even if he managed to pa.s.s himself off as being innocent due to a lack of evidence and ended up not having to clear the suspicions, that sort of ‘technical' innocence would destroy the Isengard family's future.

【”So, what you're saying is that my testimony isn't proof enough?”】
【”Obviously! You're just some commoner who rose the ranks!”】

Without any care for Ross' insult, Kurats showed a wide grin.

【”Then I guess I'll just have to turn everyone in this room into witnesses. [Project]!”】

Suddenly, with a dazzling light, a five meters wide sphere appeared above the ground of the hall.
In the royal palace, the use of magic was significantly restrained. The fact that Kurats was able to use his spell so easily here only served to show how abnormal he truly was.

【”H-how rude! Where do you think you are?!”】

As Mordred questioned Kurats' behavior, he realized that everyone else's attention was pointed at another direction.

【”Everyone, what are you….”】

Modred swallowed back his words before he could finish his sentence.
Projected on the unidentified sphere was a top-down view of a scene that showed Kurats and Ross facing each other.

【”Are you sure? Protecting this guy is basically like admitting that the a.s.sa.s.sination attempt on the princess was your plan.”】
【”Humph! If I kill you and get rid of Oliveira, there will be no evidence remaining!”】

When he looked at the image, Ross' face first turned green and then soon became pure white.
His teeth chattered with fear, and his unsteady feet could not stop him from dropping on his knees.
It was obvious to anyone who was watching that this projection was real.
When they saw the image of Kurats lifting the rock tortoise up, the mouths of everyone present were left agape, like their jaws were about to come off.
There were some n.o.bles who had even fallen on their bottoms by just seeing the tortoise on the projection.
And then, ――.

【”You had some value but I have to do this now, no hard feelings!”】
【”Guh!”】

The scene that showed Ross killing his subordinate Oliveira left most onlookers with a feeling of digust.
The fact that he had called this man his trusted retainer was revolting.
Having witnessed this act of extreme selfishness, the n.o.bles who were watching the projection had already branded Ross as being guilty.

【”There is nothing to admit here! Nothing proves that this projection is real!”】

But some people just do not have the ability to read the mood.
One look at Ross' current appearance should have been more than enough to clarify the truth, but Mordred did not want to approve of Kurats.
Acknowledging the facts would be the same as recognizing that, using a type of magic that no one else could use, Kurats had achieved the feat of capturing the man who had tried to kill the princess.

【”He's right! This is nothing more than a skillfully made forgery!”】

Ross' life was on the line.
He had no other choice than to jump on this convenient opportunity that Mordred had given him.
Certainly, it was going to be difficult to argue against Ross if he just insisted that the evidence had yet to be proven.

【”By the way, your majesty.”】
【”Yes?”】

Christopher showed a mischievous smile.
That smile made him seem like he had antic.i.p.ated what Kurats was about to say next.

【”In those bushes on the left, there was an uncle who was watching the whole altercation, isn't he one of your acquaintances?”】
【”―― You realize that he'll be really bothered if you keep calling him an uncle, right?”】
【”I can't help it, he really does look like some friendly uncle.”】

After a short moment, Christopher burst out laughing.
Holding his belly, he kept laughing out loud like he could not hold himself back anymore.

【”Guhahahahahaha!”】
【”Your majesty?”】

Everyone's attention was captured by Christopher's extremely strange reaction.
This was a critical moment where it would be decided whether Kurats would be considered as a murder or whether Ross would be considered as being responsible for the a.s.sa.s.sination attempt on the princess.
This was absolutely not the right moment to burst out laughing.

【”Could you please explain, your majesty?”】

The prime minister's authoritative tone allowed Christopher to finally sooth his fit of laughter.

【”My apologies; this is about the man on the left of that projection.”】

At this point, Christopher took a breath and grinned.

【”He's one of the my subordinates, a member of the ‘king's ears'.”】

The shock brought by those words made Ross fall to the ground.

【”The report I received from said subordinate was no different than what was shown on the baron of Gaura's projection. So I personally guarantee that the images were real.”】

A testimony from the king's ears counted as receivable evidence.
Because they had taken a magic oath to never give false evidence or a false testimony to the king.
Which meant that Ross was responsible for the a.s.sa.s.sination attempt on the princess, that he was the one pulling the strings behind the kidnapping of his own people, and that he had killed his subordinate.

【”This is a mistake… This has to be some sort of mistake!”】
【”…. Now is not the time for excuses, now is time for you to meet your jailer. Take him away.”】
【”IIIIIIIIIIIIIIIH!”】

As two knights came to grab and drag Ross' small body by the shoulders, he let out a miserable shriek.
However, Kurats showed no sign of stopping his projection.

【”What's the matter, sir Gaura? You've already won, it's fine.”】

At that moment, the scene in the video suddenly changed.
Looking at the projected image, Albert was able to stop his voice that almost left his mouth against his will, but he was not able control himself enough to stop his complexion from turning pale.
And that was not without reason, for the projection showed a messenger of the Isengard family with a desperate look on his face, rus.h.i.+ng towards the Strasbourg mansion.

【”…That is discomforting. I certainly did get a visit from the messenger, but that was only because the baron wanted to consult me about a major even that had happened on his territory.”】
【”Forgive my discourtesy. After all, sir Isengard had just succeeded in running away towards his castle, he must have just sent the messenger out of panic.”】
【”I can understand how you could have doubts from your standpoint. No need to apologize.”】

In contrast to his words, Albert's mind was full of fury.
There was no actual evidence, but it was likely that some of the many people standing in this room were going to suspect that Albert had been backing Isengard.
This was going to make it difficult for a while for Albert to work in a public or official setting.
At the same time, he had to take in consideration the fact that the n.o.bles he had taken from Lunaria's faction were once again open for the taking.
And all of this had been caused by a single, unknown mage, who had been a commoner just a few days prior to these events.

(I will not forget this disgrace! Don't go thinking I'll let you die easily after this!)

But that was not the end of Kurats' malicious trap.

【”Well then, will this be enough for you to acknowledge my magic if only a little bit, head of the royal court's mages?”】

Mordred tried to say something but his voice was blocked, as if he had a foreign object stuck in his throat.
He did not want to approve of this.
If he could, he would have shouted that everything Kurats presented was rubbish.
However, the king himself had certified the evidence; refuting it would be akin to a political suicide for Mordred.

【”You did… a splendid job… this time.”】

He added “this time” to his sentence as a last thread of stubbornness he could hold onto.
But the truthfully he believed that it would not matter if Kurats' rural magic were to disappear even though it had happened to be useful this time.
Because if such dodgy techniques were to spread, the entire magic order would be lost.
Hence why Mordred swore to himself that he would get rid of Kurats no matter what.

【”Does that mean you'd be willing to doubt my magic a little less and have a little more faith in it from here on out?”】

Asked Kurats, having naturally seen through what was going on in Mordred's mind.
Personality-wise, Bernst and Kurats were quite similar.

【”I-I'll consider it.”】

While clenching his teeth, Mordred barely managed to get those words out.
It seemed like it was impossible for him to simply say ‘I understand'.

【”Indeed, that was splendid work, sir Gaura. I shall give you a reward at a later date, do look forward to it.”】

With this declaration from Christopher, who seemed to be quite satisfied, the trial of Kurats and Ross came to its end.

Kurats received a reward of 10.000 gold coins instead of receiving a piece of territory, since he did not have any retainers working for him.
A normal commoner would be able to live for a whole year with only 20 gold coins. This fact was enough to understand how enormous this reward was.

The king had apparently wanted to raise Kurats to the rank of viscount, but as one would expect, he was stopped by the prime minister.
Despite his achievements, Kurats had been commoner just a few days earlier. If his rank was raised multiple times in a row at such a quick interval, that would turn into a scandal for sure.
Besides, he couldn't be granted the rank of viscount with the village of Gaura as his sole territory. is here!

Therefore, this time's reward was just a bonus given to Kurats while waiting for him to form a group of retainers and to gain new achievements.

【”Wow! It's been a while since I last came to the royal capital! As you'd expect, it's bustling.”】

There was no comparing a rural village like Gaura to this actual megalopolis.
It was only natural for Cornelia to get excited like a country b.u.mpkin over it.
It had been around ten years since she last came to the royal capital after all.

When he looked at his usually cool sister act this way, Kurats' eyebrows rose up without him realizing it.

(S-she's way too cute….)
『I see you're as twisted as ever. You should hurry and embrace her already. 』
(No way. Why can't you old people understand that there is more to the relations.h.i.+p between a man and a woman than s.e.x….)
『You want to keep adding chapters to your black history? You will regret it later.』

Bernst knew many men who had drowned under the weight of the ideal called love.
To Bernst, it looked like Kurats was merely heading towards the same path as those many men.
(He's getting drunk on his own rookie statements, I just hope I won't have to scoop him up later.)

【”Look! There is a fortune teller over there!”】

In the direction Cornelia was pointing at was the fortune teller from last time, who was smiling and looking with great interest towards the siblings.
It was clear that her eyes were implying something along the lines of “Bringing a different woman than last time, huh? Quite the lady's man I see!”
Although Kurats preferred to not interact with her if possible, it was too late, as Cornelia had already started running like a child towards the fortune-teller.