Valentin Pale.
He was the eldest son of the Pale family and the culprit behind this explosion incident.
It was around noon, about a week after the incident, that I went to the dungeon to meet Valentin Pale.
Not only did I not visit him, but I also left him alone without questioning him, in order to psychologically pressure Valentin Pale.
Sometimes, it is more effective to inflict mental pain than physical pain.
In order to see what would happen to the person behind the instigation of Valentin Pale, I deliberately exaggerated this incident and made it widely known.
But it didn't make any significant movements as if it had seen through my thoughts.
What are you going to do if Valentin Pale confesses everything?
Are you sure that guy will never open his mouth?
“I don’t understand that anymore.”
The knight in charge of the Anatome Guard had specialized training in this area, but he was not Valentin Pale. He was an ordinary nobleman.
According to what I found out.
As most knights in the Anatome Guard are kept under wraps and their identities are kept a secret, so could Valentin Pale.
At first glance, it looks like it has nothing to do with swords or anything like that, but it might be a good idea to check just in case.
“Are you here, Captain?”
The knights guarding the dungeon bowed and greeted me.
Before the inauguration ceremony of the Grand Master, the knights used different titles for me, such as Lady, Your Excellency the Duke, etc., but after that, they were all unified as Grand Master.
Except for one, Sir Aldor.
Judging by the fact that the knights changed their titles all at once, it was clear that Aldor was at work.
But I felt it was a little strange that he hadn't changed my title, so I looked back at Sir Aldor, who was following me from a step away.
Aldor, whose eyes met mine, asked in his characteristically low, heavy voice.
“Do you have anything to say to me?”
"No."
It was I who told him that he could call me Miss.
But now I thought it was strange to ask why he was calling me Miss, so I didn't ask.
“Then let’s go in.”
As we entered the dungeon, a peculiar, musty smell assaulted our nostrils.
It was such an unpleasant smell that it made me frown no matter how many times I smelled it.
I covered my nose and mouth with a handkerchief and headed to the innermost dungeon where Valentin Pale was imprisoned.
It was the prison where the knight who had previously escorted Chernossor was imprisoned.
The escort knight was in a terrible state from the brutal interrogation he received every day, but Valentin Pale was relatively unharmed.
He didn't appear to be injured, except for the fact that he had been beaten by Sir Aldor while struggling fiercely to avoid capture.
Yeah, on the surface.
I couldn't see inside, so I couldn't know.
“...!”
Valentin Pale, who had been bowing his head, got up in a hurry and came over to me as soon as he saw my face.
Then Sir Aldor stepped forward and extended his hand as if to protect me.
I took his arm as a sign that it was okay and looked at Valentin Pale.
Rattle.
The sound of the iron bars rattling echoed loudly in the quiet dungeon.
Valentin Pale screamed, hanging from the bars like a monkey.
“It’s unfair!”
Perhaps because he hadn't spoken in a long time, his voice sounded like fingernails scraping against a blackboard.
“I did nothing wrong, so why did you arrest me! Even Your Excellency the Duke cannot do this!”
Valentin Pale shouted so loudly that the blood in his throat was running that all of this was unfair treatment and that he needed to be released right now.
The sight was so desperate and pitiful that he really looked like someone who had been arrested unjustly.
I would have thought the same thing if I didn't know anything.
Knowing everything, I found his actions outrageous and funny.
“Do you really think you’ve done nothing wrong, Valentin Pale?”
When I called his name, Valentin Pale's eyelids fluttered slightly.
For a moment, he nodded his head as if he was truly resentful.
“Of course. I swear in God’s name that I have done nothing wrong.”
The Count Pale was an imperialist nobleman who did not believe in God.
But I was a little surprised and absurd that he made such a statement.
Even if you don't believe in God, this is something you shouldn't say.
Of course, it would have been possible if he had really done nothing wrong, but he didn't.
Valentin Pale was clearly the culprit behind this volcanic eruption.
But the reason he acts so shamelessly is probably because he thinks he will never get caught.
It wasn't unreasonable for Valentin Pale to think so.
The clothes that Perdes had seen of Valentin Pale were ordinary clothes worn by commoners, so it could not be said for sure that they were his.
Neither his uninvited presence nor the discovery of a large quantity of Pura fragments near the volcanic crater provided any evidence to point to him as the culprit.
However, the brooch did not record all of the conversations between Valentin Pale and the person believed to be behind it.
It was a bit disappointing that it was disposable, but I didn't mind as long as I could get a confession from him.
But I didn't intend to write it right away.
First, you should pursue him, and then use it when he keeps evading you.
“You say you did nothing wrong? That’s really strange.”
I put my hand on my chin and tilted my head slightly.
“His Highness the Fourth Prince said he saw you climbing the volcano.”
At that moment, Valentin Pale's eyes shook greatly.
He looked at me blankly as if he was bewildered, then quickly shook his head in surprise.
“That can’t be true! I wasn’t even near the volcano that day!”
“Oh, really?”
“Yes! I was watching Your Excellency's inauguration ceremony as the Commander of the Knights in the square, mixed in with the commoners.”
“You’re a noble, but you’re mixed in with the commoners. Why?”
“I am an uninvited guest, so I do not want to cause unnecessary trouble to Your Excellency...”
Although it was a bit of a rambling remark, it wasn't wrong.
There were some nobles who, like Valentin Pale, watched the event among the commoners for various reasons, such as not wanting to stand out.
But...
“I only said that day, I didn’t say it was the day of the Knight Commander’s inauguration, so how did you know it was that day?”
“...!”
“Answer me, Valentin Pale. How do you not know?”
“That, that...”
His eyes rolled quickly as if he was thinking about the change in distance.
I urged Valentin Pale without giving him time to think.
“If you don’t tell me right away, I will assume you are the culprit of this incident and punish you.”
“But, I did that because you said you were looking for the culprit!”
Valentin Pale shouted urgently as he emphasized the word punishment.
“A, Your Excellency said that you were looking for the culprit who put Pura into the volcano and forced it to explode that day... That’s why I thought it was that day. There is no other reason.”
“Haha.”
As I burst out laughing, Valentin Pale visibly stiffened.
His eyes, filled with impatience and anxiety, trembled helplessly.
“Why, why are you laughing...”
“Sir Aldor.”
Instead of answering, I asked Sir Aldor.
“When you caught this man, did you explain to him why you were holding him?”
“I couldn’t do that.”
“Why?”
“Because that man tried to run away as soon as he saw Master Perdes’ face. I had to catch him before he could run away, so I had to knock him out without giving him a chance to explain.”
“Are you sure?”
I asked Valentin Pale.
“...It’s half right and half wrong.”
“What does it mean?”
“The reason I tried to run away back then was because His Highness the Fourth Prince and that man were glaring at me as if they were going to eat me, and I was scared. There was no other reason.”
A deep wrinkle appeared between his eyebrows as if he was remembering that incident.
“As expected, that man beat me mercilessly, and I passed out from the shock. When I woke up, I was locked in a place like this. Do you know how shocked I was?”
“Does that mean you have no memory of what happened in between?”
“Of course. How would I know if I passed out?”
Valentin Pale spoke as if to ask me to acknowledge his grievance, but it had the opposite effect.
Because what he just said made all the excuses he had made up until now seem pointless.
“But how do you know?”
“Huh? What is that....”
“How do you know that the volcanic eruption was not a natural disaster or the wrath of a dragon, but was an intentional act? And that fact was only discovered after you passed out?”
“...!”
“And you’ve been locked up here ever since, never hearing any news from the outside. I wonder how you know that.”
A deep look of disappointment appeared on Valentin Pale's face, perhaps because it was a completely unexpected remark.
“Did His Majesty tell you?”
I didn't want to drag it out any longer, so I asked outright.
“...!”
Then, Valentin Pale's eyes shook uselessly, incomparably compared to before.
His face turned pale, like someone who hadn't had a bowl of soup.
“I, I don’t quite understand what you mean by that.”
“Are you going to evade until the end?”
“Well, I’m not trying to evade your question, I’m just asking because I really don’t understand. I, I don’t know anything.”
I asked him a few more times after that, but he pretended not to know until the end.
It seems like he decided to pretend not to know because he felt like he would lose no matter what excuse he made.
I guess I'll have to use my last resort.
“Can you continue to pretend not to know after hearing this?”
I played the recording to Valentin Pale.
Valentin Pale's face, which had been clenching his teeth and pretending not to know, slowly collapsed.
The hand that had been tightly gripping the iron bars slipped down and felt the floor.
“I’ll ask again. Valentin Pale.”
I bent my knees to his eye level.
“Did His Majesty the Emperor order you to do this?”
“That, that, that’s it, so, what happened is, I, so, no, His Majesty... bang!”
Valentin Pale, who had been stammering and speaking incoherently, suddenly let out a single scream and fell to the floor.
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