What awaits at the end of this road is (3)
Kjer, who was listening to my story, decided that it was a serious matter and reported it to the palace without delay.
And that evening, Chevio returned home after a long time.
"My brother is here?"
"Yes, he is coming up now. Are you going to speak now?"
"Yeah, that's right."
"Oh my, how happy our little master will be when he finds out that his young lady has regained her sight. What if he cries?"
"Hey, no way."
In my family, the only one who didn't know I could see was Chevio.
I've wanted to tell him for a while now, but the situation wasn't favorable.
Because Oslo's actions made the entire Imperial Knights busier than they were during the summit.
But now that Chevio has come, I can finally say it.
But when Chevio appeared a moment later, his face was stiff and frozen.
"Millenia, can you tell me in detail what happened that day? That the Third Prince's maid was a monster?"
It seemed like he had come to my house to investigate after hearing my story from Kjer. I wiped away my smile and spoke seriously.
"No, the monster has disguised Itself as the Third Prince's maid."
"How did you know that?"
"I was in the waiting room when at some point a strange smell started to come out. It was an indescribably horrible stench, like something from a rotting corpse."
"You knew that was the smell of a monster?"
"When I went to Eldern, I smelled the scent of a monster."
Chevio also knew how sensitive my sense of smell was. He nodded.
"So you noticed it by the smell?"
"There's one more thing. Actually, I heard that the Third Prince's maid died."
"... Ahe died?"
After telling Kjer about the monster, I checked with Baba again. Was Vivi really dead?
"I counted to a hundred with my heart stabbed. After confirming that she had stopped breathing. I pulled out the sword. How did she survive then?"
"Even if she survives by some chance, her body won't be fine. I cut off her left arm."
But the arm of Vivi that I saw was clearly normal.
"The dead woman was alive and moving around, giving off the stench of a monster. What would you have thought?"
"...You must have thought of the highest-level monster."
"That's right."
Chevio suddenly bit his lips tightly.
"But you didn't run away?"
"Brother, that's..."
"Couldn't you have asked the knights for help? If you had just left it to them and run away, you wouldn't have gotten hurt like this! Why did you do it when you knew it was dangerous! Why!"
"If I had called the maid a monster, would the knights have said, 'Oh, really?' and killed the maid? And would the maid have died quietly?"
Unlike lower-level monsters that just blindly attack humans, top-level monsters are very clever and cunning.
However, the demon followed Oslo, even disguising itself as Vivi.
In that place, where knights and allied forces were scattered everywhere before the inauguration ceremony.
If you were not careful, you could end up killed by the monster before the Great Crack even begins.
"The knights must have been confused. They must have been trying to figure out the maid's identity. Isn't that what the monster was after? To buy time so that Oslo could achieve his goal."
"..."
"The monster simply changes from the form of a maid to that of another human. So I decided that rather than catching the monster, it would be better to stop its purpose."
Chevio wiped his rough face.
"Sorry."
"Why are you suddenly like this, brother."
"You calmly protected His Majesty even in times of crisis... I don't think I am qualified to be the Commander of the Knights."
Unable to hold back my momentary frustration, I slapped him on the shoulder.
"You handled that mess faster and better than anyone else. I was so proud of you back then, so why are you saying something like that?"
"Oh, it would be nice if our youngest said that..."
He glanced at my shoulder. He tilted his head as if something was strange, then continued speaking.
"Anyway, this is what we know so far. The knights say that the door closed because the wind was blowing hard."
To others, it seemed like the waiting room door was closed due to the wind.
"So?"
"After that, the door wouldn't open because the lock was broken. Naturally, everyone rushed in to try to open the door."
Chevio laughed out loud, saying that he had no idea what was going on inside until then.
"I think the maid slipped away during that gap. No one saw her."
Chevio said he wasn't even aware of the maid's existence until he was told about it by Kjer.
So he investigated, but even the chamberlains and imperial knights who had encountered Vivi directly were of no help.
"When I try to recall the memory, my head feels like it's going to burst. I can't even ask properly."
"It was as if we had been hypnotized as a group."
Said Chevio, clicking his tongue.
'Is that also the ability of the highest-level monster?'
Little was known about the top monster.
It can't be helped since only a very small number of people survive encountering it in the first place.
It was fortunate that I discovered that it could change its shape.
"It would be useless to come here now and find out the maid's appearance. It would have already changed into another human's appearance."
"Isn't there a way to distinguish b between monsters?"
"There's nothing but a smell..."
Chevio's face darkened even more.
If the demon were to target the Emperor again, it would certainly take a different form. However, since he did not know how to tell the difference, he could not prepare for it.
Because of that, the current palace was like a sheet of ice.
Because it is a situation where anyone approaching the Emperor, even the chief chamberlain must be on guard.
As the commander of the Knights, the burden on Chevio's shoulders was bound to be heavy.
Shevio smiled bitterly and patted my cheek.
"Don't worry about it. I just asked just in case. I have to go back to the palace now."
"Already? Since you came home for the first time in a while, why don't you eat before you go?"
"I want to do that too, but I'm caught up in the interrogation of the Third Prince."
As he said that, I grabbed Chevio's hand as he stood up.
"Brother, can I come with you? I'll go meet the Third Prince."
Chevio, whose expression had changed to a puzzled one for a moment, immediately hardened his expression.
"What?"
"The person who knows the most about monsters right now is the Third Prince. If we interrogate the Third Prince, we might be able to find a solution."
"That's why I'm going to question him. Don't you trust me?"
If I push any further here, it will hurt Chevio's pride. I take a step back.
"Of course, I believe you. Our little brother is such a capable knight commander."
"But why are you saying that? Is it because you want to see me suffer?"
"Brother..."
"If you think about what happened in the waiting room. I think I will be in one space with the dog!"
"Yes, yes, calm down, brother. I was being short-sighted."
Only then did Chevio's momentum ease a little. He covered his trembling face with both hands.
"Are you going to let go of your anger?"
When I smiled broadly with my eyes wide open, Chevio spoke bluntly.
"It's no use trying to be pretty. Even if I allow it, His Majesty won't allow it."
"If things don't work out, you can always tell me. We're the ones in a hurry right now."
I answered softly, playfully pressing his cheek.
A laugh broke out on his bulging lips. Chevio raised his thick eyebrows.
"Why are you laughing?"
"Look in the mirror, you look like a carp right now, "
"Wow, have you ever seen such a handsome carp...?"
Chevio snickered and opened his eyes wide in response. His surprised expression was so funny that I laughed again.
"What, what? Why are you laughing again!"
"What should I do with your funny expression, brother? You look like the most handsome goldfish in the world."
"..."
He, who had been blankly staring, cupped my cheek. Then he pushed his face close to mine and looked into my eyes.
"Do you, do you see? Do you, do you see me?"
"Yeah, I got my eyesight back. Sorry, I only told you about it now."
"..."
The persistent eye contact continued. Chevio's eyes, which had been shaking in confusion, slowly became Immersed in a film of water.
"Brother, no way you're not crying, are you?"
"No."
Shevio turned his head sharply and covered his eyes with his forearm. Soon his thick shoulders began to tremble slightly.
Are you really crying?
I looked at Nadia in confusion, but she just watched with an expression that said, 'I told you so.'
I fidgeted and then wrapped my arms around Chevio's shoulders.
"Brother..."
Then I tried to move the arm covering his eyes, but it was so strong that he didn't even move.
I had no choice but to hug him and whisper in his ear.
"My brother has become really handsome."
"...Huh!"
Chevio, who had been shedding tears for a while, returned to the palace with swollen eyes.
Left alone, I sighed.
'I don't know if he can conduct a good interrogation like that..."
Two days later, a letter arrived from the palace.
The message was that Oslo wanted to meet me.
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