The shelter, which had been filled with cold silence due to Perdes' sudden bombshell announcement, became noisy again.
“Are you saying that the volcano didn’t erupt because the red dragon was angry?”
“Well, well? But how can a person make a volcano erupt? Are they a wizard?”
“Even a wizard would think that would be impossible.”
Even though the culprit was caught and shown to the public in person, there were still loud voices of doubt and distrust.
“This man took advantage of the inauguration ceremony of the Knight Commander four days ago to head to the volcano while most people were gathered in the square.”
As Perdes continued speaking, everyone fell silent and looked at him.
Perdes spoke calmly, but loud enough for everyone in the shelter to hear.
“And then he poured a large amount of Pura into the volcanic vent. As a result, the magma collided with the condensed mana in the Pura, causing a volcanic eruption.”
People's eyes naturally turned to the man as he answered the question of how a person could cause a volcano to erupt.
The man didn't move at all as if he had fainted.
“Considering the amount of fura this man had poured into the volcano, it would not be surprising if a gigantic lava tidal wave were to surge forth and swallow up Leopold’s estate in one gulp.”
A lava tsunami.
People screamed in silence in horror at the mere thought of something so horrifying.
“But I think it ended at this level because the red dragon took pity on you and prevented any further damage from occurring...”
Perdes tilted his head slightly, curling the corners of his lips smoothly.
His black hair swayed softly as he nodded.
“What do you guys think?”
There was no answer to his question.
People kept their mouths shut like clams and just looked at each other.
Perdes looked at those people and sneered slightly.
He already expected that they would not agree with his opinion.
It wasn't easy to admit that he was right, because if they did, they would also have to admit that they had been talking nonsense about Adele without knowing anything.
He thought at least one person would apologize, but out of all these people, not a single person has apologized.
This was all the more disappointing because he had always thought well of the people of the Duchy of Leopold.
Perdes clicked his tongue inwardly and looked back at Adele.
She, too, was looking at him with slightly wet eyes.
Her shaking eyes struck his heart mercilessly.
The guilt of not having caught the culprit sooner and causing her to get hurt grew and weighed heavily on his chest.
"Sorry."
Adele blinked slowly.
“Why... is Lord Perdes apologizing?”
Her wavering eyes suddenly hardened and turned to the man who had fallen to the floor.
“This man should be the one to apologize.”
She was so flustered earlier that she didn't notice at all, but now that she looked at it, she recognized his face.
'Where have I seen you?'
Adele thought carefully about her memories, but no one in particular came to mind.
Perdes noticed what Adele was thinking and whispered softly in her ear.
“He was the servant the Third Prince once had.”
"Ah."
At those words, Adele remembered that he was often the servant who came to deliver gifts for the Third Prince, Ian.
But the fact that this man was the culprit meant that there was a very high possibility that Ian was involved in this incident.
Furthermore, the Emperor may be involved.
'No, the Emperor must be involved.'
There's no way he would do something so crazy on his own if it weren't for the Emperor's orders.
So Adele was convinced that the Emperor was involved in this matter.
She thought he was being uncharacteristically quiet for an Emperor, but he really had a plan.
The Emperor's plan was to incite the people to make Adele step down from the Duke' position.
Considering that he even forcibly caused a volcanic eruption, his goal could have been to kill her.
Furthermore, it could have been an attempt on Perdes' life.
No, maybe he was trying to wipe Leopold's estate itself off the map.
Because the Emperor's iron rule was that if he could not have it, he would destroy it thoroughly.
“Ugh...”
The man, who had regained consciousness, groaned and tossed his body.
As the man tried to raise his head, Perdes stomped hard on his head, knocking him back to the floor.
The body of the man buried in the floor trembled without even being able to scream.
But Perdes paid no attention and asked Adele.
“I still have something to tell you, will you stay here?”
Adele shook her head, as she too had many questions for Perdes.
“No. Let’s go back to the Duke’s residence.”
“It’s good that our hearts are connected.”
Only then did Perdes take his feet off the man's head.
Then Aldor, who had been standing behind them like a tall tree, approached and struck the man on the back of his neck.
Aldor carried the unconscious man and left the shelter first.
Perdes reached out his hand to Adele.
“Shall we go back now, Duke Leopold?”
Perdes deliberately put a strong accent on the word “Duke,” and spoke loudly enough for everyone to hear.
Adele, who immediately noticed why he was like that, smiled faintly and gently placed her hand on top of Perdes' hand.
Just then, she turned around and was about to leave the shelter.
“I’m sorry, my lord!”
Someone shouted so loudly that the shelter gave out.
When Adele turned around in surprise, everyone in the shelter, including the man who had first spoken, knelt down and prostrated themselves before Adele.
“I am truly sorry, Your Excellency!”
“No matter what anyone says, we should have trusted you, Lord...”
“Even if I had ten mouths, I have nothing to say. I’m truly, truly sorry.”
“If you punish me for this, I will gladly accept it.”
As if they had never kept their mouths shut and hesitated, people all came together and apologized for their mistake.
It was a belated apology.
Even if they apologize now and say they was wrong, it's no use.
Perdes, who had been snorting, soon corrected his thoughts.
Adele's eyes were moist as she looked at people.
She was smiling so much that her chin was visible.
Now Perdes changed his mind and he's glad that people are apologizing.
***
The man who had been Ian's servant was locked in the dungeon and ordered to be kept under close watch by Sir Aldor.
And then I sat down on the bedroom sofa and asked Perdes, who was sitting opposite me.
“Did you know from the beginning that that man was the culprit of this incident?”
“No. At first, I was suspicious, but it was three days ago that I realized for sure that he was the culprit.”
Three days ago, it was the day after the volcanic eruption.
“I first found the man four days ago. I found him among the people who were confused by the sudden volcanic eruption.”
“You suspected it the moment you saw it? Why?”
“Not only was the man not invited, his name wasn’t even in the guest book.”
That day, there were roughly two hundred people whose names were written in the guestbook.
Even I, the host, didn't know who had come other than the nobles I had personally greeted.
But I wondered how Perdes could have immediately noticed that the man's name was not in the guestbook.
“Besides, that man was heading towards the volcano, unlike the others.”
“That’s definitely suspicious.”
“Right? That’s why I thought the same thing, and I secretly followed that man.”
Ah, so that's why Perdes disappeared without a word back then.
“The man went into a dark place and put something wrapped tightly in a bundle between the rubble of a collapsed building.”
“Have you checked to see what it is?”
“Yeah. It was clothes. The hems were slightly scorched, and it was really dirty, covered in sweat and what looked like volcanic ash.”
Did you climb the volcano wearing those clothes?
It was quite possible, but I couldn't be sure since I hadn't seen it myself.
“Besides, there were a lot of traces of mana on those clothes.”
“A trace of mana?”
“Yeah. When you use magic or a magical tool, a trace of mana is left on your hands or clothes. The more powerful the magic you use, the more traces are left.”
“I know that too.”
“Oh, I see.”
Perdes smiled awkwardly and scratched his head.
“Anyway, since there were a lot of traces of mana left on the clothes, I thought it was definitely magic, so I thought carefully about what kind of magic it was.”
Perdes crossed his arms and tilted his head slightly.
“After much thought, I concluded that it might have had something to do with the volcanic eruption. So the next day, I climbed the volcano.”
What are you saying now...
“You just said you climbed a volcano? And you climbed it alone, without any protective gear, without anyone to help you, on a volcano that had erupted the day before?”
When I asked him urgently, Perdes nodded his head in bewilderment.
“Why did you do that so dangerously!”
If the volcano had erupted again, Perdes would have been helplessly killed.
He's dying.
It was dizzying just thinking about it.
“Why did you do something so dangerous? It would have been better if you had at least told me..."
“If I tell you, it’s dangerous, so you’ll telle not to go.”
“Of course... !”
“And then you climbed the volcano yourself to find the evidence.”
“...”
I was speechless at those words that hit the nail on the head.
Perdes smiled as if he had known this would happen.
“That’s why I couldn’t tell you.”
“...”
“I would rather do it myself. I don’t want the person I like to do something dangerous.”
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