Chapter 47 : Chapter 47
Chapter 47
"But that's strange.
They seemed to know the count."
Ian grinned and looked back and forth between the count and the marquess.
"Young Lord, are you trying to play games with me now!"
I didn't bother to react to the marquess's roar.
There was no way a plan meticulously crafted over the past few months could be overturned by the mere volume of one's voice.
Instead, I feigned a sudden thought and slapped my head.
"Ah!
Akasha said she had no choice but to spare one person we captured at the end because he made a claim that was simply unbelievable."
"Wh-what……?"
As I naturally looked at Akasha, she tore open another sack.
"Mph!
Mph, mph!"
And Treon, who had been unable to even scream due to magic, was revealed.
"Well, this fellow was with the bandits, you see?
It's the first time I've seen him, but he insists he's the eldest son of Count Obsol, so I can't possibly believe him."
"Mph!
Mph!
Mph-mph!"
In the silent meeting room, only the sound of Treon frantically shaking his head, having spotted his father, echoed.
"How about it, my lord count?
Still an unfamiliar face?"
"Young Lord……!"
Obsol, who saw his son crawling on the floor, beaten to a pulp, glared at Ian with bloodshot eyes as if to tear him to pieces.
However, there was no way Ian, who had to live every moment enduring gazes filled with hatred and contempt, would be intimidated by a mere glare.
Instead of being scared, Ian, with a clear sneer, continued.
"Of course, it's an unfamiliar face.
There's no way the count would know such a shameless man who dared to invade the Moner family's territory and try to capture a member of the Moner family as a slave."
Drip, drip.
Blood from the count's clenched fist stained the floor.
The contemptuous gazes of Merchen and Lyt fell upon him.
"Why, why did you do it!
What did you hope to gain by breaking the unity of our three domains!"
The marquess, the prince, and the other two counts had no choice but to suspect Count Obsol.
The picture had been designed that way from the beginning.
"…This is a setup."
The count forced his body, trembling with anger, to calm down and spoke as if spitting out the words, but no one in the meeting room believed him.
"It's a setup!
Why would I, why would our Obsol, do such a thing!
Marquess, my lord marquess!
This is a clear setup!"
The count pleaded, looking at the other two counts and the marquess in turn, but the marquess silently turned his head away.
"Hah……."
Trimia, who had been watching the scene with interest, looked back and forth between Treon crawling on the floor and the count, and opened his mouth.
"It's a bit awkward to say this in this situation, but, Lord Treon, it's been a while.
Was the last time we met at the New Year's banquet?
Are you doing well… doesn't seem like it."
The prince's gaze turned to Count Obsol.
"Count, I will ask you once more.
Do you really not know these masterless heads?"
The count's eyes scanned the knights who had died in vain.
He couldn't even properly understand what was happening.
The fact that his son was engaged in banditry, that elves were hiding in Moner's territory, and that he had gathered elf hunters to hunt Moner's elves—it was all unbelievable.
Yes, this is a lie.
The count's trembling eyes turned to Akasha.
The cursed dark brown skin glistened, and the dark gray eyes, filled with lies and deceit, shone bewitchingly.
This monster was trying to bring down Obsol, his one and only family.
"Your Highness!
Please believe me just this once!
They are indeed the knights of my domain, but I absolutely, absolutely did not attack the three merchant guilds!
The bandits, the elf hunters, it's all clearly the lies of those cursed Dark Elves!"
The count, who had risen from his seat, approached Treon with trembling steps.
"Son, quickly, quickly tell them!
Tell His Highness and the Marquess that you did no such thing, that it's all a setup!"
He didn't want to know why the knights weren't wearing armor, or why his son had left Obsol and was captured in Moner's Lier.
Because he knew he would collapse if he faced the truth.
"The Moner family is trying to bring misfortune upon the kingdom by taking in a cursed race!"
The count, kneeling in front of Treon, cried out in anguish as he removed the gag from his son's mouth.
"It is clearly a scheme by the Moner family to incite the kingdom and bring down the three domains by deceiving His Highness and the Marquess!"
However, even Treon, finally ungagged, did not open his mouth.
-Slap!
"Quickly, I told you to speak!"
Slap!
Slap!
As the enraged count repeatedly slapped him, Treon crawled over and clung to his legs.
"F-father, I'm sorry, I'm sorry."
At his son's words, which were like a plea, a whisper, the count's raised hand fell limply.
"You, you really did it?
You hunted the elves of Moner and disguised yourself as bandits to attack the three merchant guilds?"
"No!
I never disguised myself as a bandit!
I was just trying to capture a few of the cursed Dark Elves and offer them to the gods……."
Treon asserted his innocence, but no one listened to his voice.
For a knightly order of one noble to invade the territory of another noble was a more serious matter than attacking a merchant guild.
The count's gaze turned to the Dark Elf.
"It's magic.
Those devilish wenches must have cast a spell on my son.
I, I can't believe it!"
Thick tears welled up on the face of the count, who was still shouting in disbelief.
"For what reason would that child hunt elves!
What is Obsol lacking that it would ruin the long-standing relationship of the three domains!"
Despite the count's heart-wrenching voice, the gazes of the two lords and the marquess remained cold.
* * *
Ian, who had been watching the count's melodrama with amusement, looked at the marquess.
"Do you have anything to say?"
Since Ian himself had revealed what Obsol's eldest son had done, he was more than qualified to be here.
Moreover, the topic of the meeting, which was for mediation between the three domains and Moner, had changed due to the sudden appearance of Treon.
"…You've pulled off an interesting stunt, Young Lord."
To the marquess, who spoke with a stiff face, Ian retorted sarcastically.
"Then you should smile a little.
I went to all the trouble of catching the culprit, yet everyone looks like they're at a funeral, honestly."
Even at Ian's words, filled with ridicule, the marquess said nothing.
He just looked at Ian with a mixed expression of displeasure and annoyance.
"Your arrogance will be short-lived.
I trust that the Moner family has conducted a sufficient investigation, but given the gravity of the matter, the kingdom cannot but investigate as well."
The marquess stroked his chin and continued.
"Also, although the Dark Elves are said to be members of the Moner family, we cannot ignore the widely spread rumors on the continent.
Please understand that we cannot trust their words."
The marquess's words were no different from saying, "We don't believe a word you say, so we're going to investigate again from the beginning."
Once the kingdom dispatched an investigation team and the actual investigation began, numerous witnesses and pieces of evidence would disappear one by one, and evidence unfavorable to the Moner family would emerge.
"Are you saying you don't trust the Moner family's investigation?"
Ian frowned and glared at him, but the marquess, who had lived as a high-ranking noble for decades, didn't even flinch and calmly brushed off Ian's gaze.
"What are you talking about.
We trust the words of the Moner family, but we cannot trust the words of you and the Dark Elves who conducted this investigation."
The marquess, who had naturally belittled Ian, looked at the other two counts and continued.
"I have heard that both Merchen and Lyt suffered great damage from the bandits, but the same goes for Obsol.
Obsol suffered the most damage in Failsafe, and I heard that the slave merchant guilds that used to frequent this area are on the brink of annihilation."
Indeed, the marquess, who had solidified his position in the kingdom's political circle for decades, was different.
The marquess spoke to Lyt and Merchen in a firm voice.
"So don't be too swayed by the young lord's claims.
No matter what anyone says, it is Moner who has benefited the most from this series of events."
The marquess's gaze, which had been on the two counts, naturally turned to Akasha, and the two counts also looked at Akasha.
"It is said that the Dark Elves, who are the reincarnation of demons, lie and deceive as easily as they breathe.
The Moner family may trust them, but are you going to prioritize the words of a Dark Elf over Obsol, whom you have been with for the past several decades?"
At the marquess's calm and sharp point, the two counts' eyes momentarily wavered.
The suspicion that they might really be being played by the Dark Elves and the Moner family began to bloom.
"This is quite troublesome, as you don't seem to believe me even when I tell the truth."
"It's unavoidable, as we cannot know whether your words are true or false."
"What will you do if my words are true?"
Ian's and the marquess's gazes clashed fiercely in mid-air.
"Why are you asking me that?
If Obsol really did invade Moner's territory, that would be no different from a declaration of war.
What happens after that is for you and the Moner family to decide, not something the royal family can intervene in."
Leaving behind the marquess who spoke as if such a thing would never happen, Ian looked at the prince.
"Your Highness, now that things have come to this, I have a favor to ask."
The prince, who had been watching the meeting with interest, flinched at Ian's sudden words and replied.
"To me?
Go on, speak."
The prince liked Ian.
The arrogant attitude , mixed with a hint of madness in his eyes, as if he lived in a world of his own, was something he had longed for his entire life.
The solid strength to exist as himself without being swayed by his surroundings.
Ian was the ideal human he wanted to be, a person who shared the same pain, and at the same time, an overwhelming card no one had thought of.
Regardless of how strong and superior the first prince's faction was, the moment the young lord of the Moner family supported him, the second prince, the factional strife would fall into unprecedented chaos.
If he could just stand on the same line as his detestable brother, he could finally take off his tiresome mask.
So he wanted to do anything for Ian.
At the same time, there was nothing he, a prince in name only with no support base, could do.
Nevertheless, Trimia did not cower and spoke.
Because his life had always been like that.
"If it's something I can do, I will help you to the best of my ability."
Ian, who had been looking at the prince for a moment, chuckled and gestured to the marquess with his chin.
"The marquess says that if I can prove the truth, I can deal with Obsol as the Moner family sees fit.
I just wish for Your Highness, a member of the royal family, to be a witness."
At the request to be a witness, the prince smiled broadly.
"Surely the marquess, who stands in this place on behalf of His Majesty the King, would not go back on his word.
I will gladly be your witness."
At those words, the marquess, who frowned in displeasure, added.
"If you fail to prove the truth, the Moner family will have to take responsibility for killing Obsol's knights and kidnapping his eldest son without even ascertaining the correct facts."
Despite the marquess's blatant threat, Ian wore a relaxed expression.
"Just in case, just in case something like this happened, I have brought a special guest."
"Again?
You've prepared a lot, a vassal Dark Elf, the son of Obsol, even before the mediation meeting has begun."
Ian smiled brightly at the marquess, who was frowning deeply in displeasure.
"Of course.
How can I not do my best when preparing for war?"
Now that the war was heading towards its finale.
It was time to bring out the secret weapon he had prepared.
"Reina!"
At Ian's shout, Reina entered the meeting room with a person in a deep robe who had just arrived in Obsol.