Arc 12: The Traitor (2)

Malia surmised that Frondier had sensed a traitor among the teachers. If he told any of them, the culprit might find out, putting him in even greater danger. That was why he had not alerted a teacher.

'Was Frondier always this sensible?'

If he was this capable, she could stop worrying about her son.

KNOCK, KNOCK

Just then, a knock sounded at the conference room door. All the teachers turned toward it. Who else would be coming here now?

"Excuse meee. May I come in for a moment?"

The soft, languid voice drained the tension from the room. Ales responded irritably.

"Who is asking to come in?"

"Oh, my naaame is Philly Terst."

Phil... who?

For a moment, every professor went blank. Malia was the first to realize.

"O-open the door! Quickly!"

Only then did the other teachers catch on. The one nearest the door hurried over and opened it.

"Oh my! What a welcome. You're too kind."

Philly entered and bowed her head. With her lovely skin and lively eyes, her warm presence filled the conference room.

"L-Lady Philly. What brings you all the way here alone...!"

"I was so bored, you see. I slipped out."

Slipped out?

The faces around her went cold.

"Don't worry so much. I can at least protect myself."

That was no idle boast. Philly was more than capable herself, and the knights who protected her were always with her. But there was still such a thing as common sense.

"Lady Philly, this puts us in a difficult position. The president isn't even here. If anyone discovers you've come out like this..."

"It's fine, it's fine. I came here on proper business."

That wasn't the issue.

While the teachers wiped away cold sweat, Philly swept her gaze around the room. Spotting Malia, she beamed.

"Oh, Malia! I knew you'd be here."

"... Lady Philly. Have you been well?"

"What's with that tone?"

Philly laughed merrily. Malia was smiling too, but hers could not have been more awkward.

"All right, I suppose you can't speak freely here. Let's talk later."

Then Philly cleared her throat and looked around the room.

"You all know my daughter nearly came to harm recently, don't you?"

Her presence and voice were as warm as ever. But her words were so far from ordinary that tension instantly gripped the room.

"Of course. In fact, that is precisely why we've gathered here..."

"Yes, yes, I'm well aware. Constel's teachers are excellent, after all. I have faith in you."

Philly spoke in their defense. Yet somehow, the teachers only grew more uneasy.

"With that in mind..."

Philly's eyes narrowed, their red irises gleaming.

"I'd like to see Renzo."

"Y-Your Majesty...!"

"He's here, isn't he? Beneath Constel."

After his arrest, Renzo had been confined at Constel. Ironically, this place where students trained was far more secure than some poorly equipped detention center.

"Y-yes, but it's dangerous!"

Ales tried to dissuade her. Philly smiled.

"But right now, you don't even know whom you can trust, do you?"

"...!"

There was a traitor somewhere within Constel. Philly had realized that as well.

"In that case, wouldn't it be best for me to speak with him?"

Philly clasped her hands, her expression utterly innocent.

"I'm terribly curious about his true intentions in trying to abduct my daughter."

* * *

Renzo had briefly driven it out of my mind, but I had been in the middle of my practical exam. Once I woke up and gathered my wits, I began wondering about the results.

Surely they wouldn't void the exam just because Renzo had intruded. No one had actually died. Most students probably hadn't even known about the intrusion. Nothing would be more absurd than hunting monsters in earnest only to be told out of nowhere that the exam didn't count.

But that left me with a problem. Thanks to Renzo, I hadn't caught a single monster after a certain point.

So I asked Aten.

"You and I are tied for sixteenth, Frondier."

"Sixteenth?"

An odd placement. It wasn't spectacularly high, but considering we'd stopped collecting materials partway through, it wasn't low either.

"Here, have some."

"Oh, thanks."

Aten had peeled an apple for me.

... It was good.

"Oh, right. How did we get sixteenth? Did we get bonus points for stopping Renzo or something?"

"No. Even if we'd received points for that, it wouldn't have made much difference to our ranking."

"Huh?"

Aten tilted her head slightly. Her white eyes blinked briefly, as though she were recalling something.

"That person named Aster Evans..."

"Yeah?"

"Apparently, he wiped out the boss monster and every monster nearby."

"..."

"So the top placements were settled at that point, and we were the highest-ranked of everyone else, you might say. In fact, fifteenth place and above were considerably ahead of us."

"... I see."

Since I always played as Aster in the game, I didn't know how the real Aster would act during the practical exam. Players usually stopped hunting monsters once first place was guaranteed. Hogging everything risked lowering their affinity with the people around them.

But the real Aster didn't care about that sort of thing. This time, that had saved me.

"Then, another thing."

"Yes?"

"When do I get discharged?"

Aten and I were together in a hospital room. I was starting to think I'd grow attached to this hospital.

"You were on the verge of death, Frondier. Of course you need to be hospitalized."

"But you already saved me."

"Even so."

Aten's reversion. I'd never imagined she could already perform it. She said she had seen her own future. In the end, Philly's fears had become reality.

Though that reality had saved my life.

"You're feeling all right physically, aren't you?"

"Yeah. I really thought I was going to die, though."

That was no exaggeration. I had prepared myself for death. I'd badly underestimated the danger of a woven Dragon Heart.

... Though I wasn't sure I would have made a different choice even if I'd known the risks.

"Never do that again."

"Huh?"

"My success with 'reversion' was a fluke. I caught a fleeting glimpse of the information and only barely managed it. I'm not confident I can see the future again, and I don't know how to do it."

Like Philly, Aten was descended from the völva. That blood grew thinner with each generation. Just as Philly's foresight was incomplete, Aten's glimpse of her own future had been pure chance.

Aten tightly gripped the skirt over her knees with both hands.

"... I don't know if I can save you next time. So, please."

"Don't worry. I'm too scared to try it again now."

I meant it. Aten succeeding at reversion this early was a miracle in itself. I never wanted to pull a dangerous stunt like that again.

"... You have no idea how frightened I was."

"Huh?"

"How frightened I was that I'd lose you—"

CREAK

Just then, the hospital room door opened. I thought it might be the doctor, but an unfamiliar man entered instead. Dressed in a suit, he bowed politely to me.

"Excuse me. You're Frondier, correct?"

"Yes, that's right."

"My name is Robert. I'm the detective assigned to investigate this case."

"Case?"

"The attempted abduction of Princess Aten. The suspicions surrounding it and the full sequence of events."

I see. He was here to take my statement.

When I nodded, Robert pulled a chair over and sat beside me. He took out a notebook.

"I understand you spotted Renzo first, Frondier. Where exactly was that?"

Aten tensed at Robert's question. The story that I'd spotted Renzo ahead of time and successfully taken prompt action was a lie we'd agreed upon beforehand. Further investigation might expose it.

However...

"Frondier? Where was it?"

Watching Robert put on a rather convincing act, I smiled.

"... You said your name was Robert?"

"Yes."

"You're not a detective."

Unfortunately for him, I knew who Robert was. That suit really didn't suit him.

"... If I'm not a detective, why would I be doing this?"

"On Ms. Philly's orders, presumably."

Robert's eyes widened. Pretending to look him up and down, I continued.

"I can see it even from here. The calluses on your palms, the trained muscles that even a suit can't hide. You tried very hard to make your gait look natural on your way in, but your habits showed when you bowed to me."

"..."

"You're a knight serving directly under the imperial household, in Ms. Philly's service. Correct?"

I was quite literally spouting whatever came to mind. What did I know about calluses or muscles? I already knew Robert was one of Philly's knights. I was simply making up a plausible explanation for how I'd figured it out. It wasn't as though I could say, "I saw you in the game."

"... Remarkable."

Robert nodded, sounding genuinely impressed. When you already knew the answer, the reasoning only had to sound convincing.

Robert deliberately set his expression.

"However, you address Her Majesty far too casually. Please be more mindful in the future."

"My apologies."

Oops. Had calling her Ms. Philly become a habit without my noticing? I'd have to watch that from now on.

"But I wasn't acting on Her Majesty's orders. I came to see you of my own accord. That is why I wished to conceal my identity. I apologize."

Robert bowed again. He really was a courteous man.

"It's all right."

"With no need to hide anything, this should be easier to discuss. There is something I wish to ask you, as someone who fought Renzo firsthand."

"What is it? There isn't much I can answer, though."

How I'd severed Renzo's arm, for instance. I couldn't answer that even if he asked. Though that was probably what he wanted to know most.

"Renzo approached you and Aten without anyone noticing. Do you believe he could have accomplished that alone?"

I thought for a moment about Renzo's actions and words at the time. Then I shook my head.

"I don't think that would have been possible."

Renzo's stealth skills were exceptional. He'd come within a stone's throw without Aten or me noticing. Even so, Menosorpo had detected him. Menosorpo wasn't even a magic circle designed for security, so it was hard to imagine Renzo bypassing all the other security measures alone.

"Then you believe he had an accomplice after all?"

"Yes. Inside Constel."

"... As I suspected."

It felt a little awkward to admit, but I knew who that accomplice—the traitor within Constel—was. That wasn't the important part, though. Focusing too hard on finding the traitor risked sending the investigation off track.

"... Robert, you're one of Her Majesty Philly's knights, correct?"

"I am."

"I have a message to pass along."

"What is it?"

"There's one more person involved."

Robert blinked at my words. Then his face turned grave in an instant.

"... Another accomplice?"

"Renzo said he'd been paid a decent sum for this job."

Renzo had an employer. The traitor inside Constel, too, must have betrayed them because someone had urged them to. Or perhaps someone had planted a spy in Constel from the start.

In other words, there was a third person who had both hired Renzo and created a traitor within Constel.

"... Frondier, I don't wish to ask this, but I must."

"What is it?"

"By telling me this, and asking me to inform Her Majesty, you mean..."

"Yes."

I nodded matter-of-factly.

"I believe that person is a member of the imperial family."