Chapter – 33
Chapter 10: Achievements and Lies
…So I really wanted to know exactly where this person was right now.
Hmm, what should I do about this.
Don’t meet them.
Don’t ask.
Complete cutoff.
Come to think of it, the villain gave a “command.”
I definitely didn’t want to experience firsthand what would happen if I broke it.
I just need to make it so I don’t have to meet them in person.
Why does only Lirian have to work?
There are obviously others around who could meet the Duke.
“Your Highness… may I ask which area we’re in right now?”
“The Black Forest outside the capital.”
“If it’s the Black Forest area—”
“You know of Rausen, right?”
“Yes, that place—”
Lirian stopped mid-response, lost in thought.
This is where the second prince…
The place where the original male lead caused an incident and the Shadows got blamed, isn’t it?
The largest forest around the capital, Rausen.
Before the story of the original work even begins, minor incidents happen here.
What caused these incidents?
Achievements.
Whether in a previous life or in Pernies, people are still… people.
For a gifted individual with a knightly order, achievements were measured by the number of monsters defeated.
The higher the status, the fiercer the pride battles over those numbers.
And so far, the one who defeated the most monsters…
Was the villain.
Well, it was probably because they were taking monster cores instead of control stones…
The original male lead also tried to fill that achievement record here and caused an accident.
That is, the second prince, Kyle Tarandia Pernies.
<“…Back then, I still had many shortcomings,” Prince Kyle admitted calmly.
“I was busy bringing the Royal Knights and my Dawn Order… I couldn’t properly oversee my subordinates.”
It was a time when he was considering ways to wipe out monsters in a wide area.
So he installed these gifted traps.
But the traps caused a tremor like an earthquake.
“I didn’t know that Boliver’s direct line had a secret training ground there…”
“It’s not your fault, Your Highness!”
Iris comforted Kyle.
The five major houses each had their secret techniques.
As long as they didn’t rebel against the royal family, it was an unspoken rule that they could keep these secrets among themselves.
Kyle smiled bitterly.
“If you had been there, I wouldn’t have made that mistake.”>
Reading it then, it seemed reasonable, but looking back, it’s laughable.
If it was a mistake, he should have confessed at the royal meeting.
But the male lead didn’t.
And amusingly, the fallout hit the Shadows.
The tremendous tremor from the traps caused it.
People thought the earthquake was caused by Balthazar’s gifted powers.
Of course, it was later proven false.
But the rift between the two houses had already formed.
Well, the elders of Boliver were hurt too.
So harsh insults flew.
“Damn Boliver scum!”
“You fools, Balthazar’s lackeys!”
In official settings, they maintained decorum like nobles.
But… did Boliver really stay neutral, never siding with the first prince?
People’s hearts are all the same.
That’s when the first knot of mistakes began.
The problem had to be solved preemptively from now on.
With that thought, Lirian requested a search of the area.
Not impossible.
Because Sir Jeanne could check using ley lines.
“We’ve located them!”
Jeanne returned after confirming via the ley lines.
“You were right, Miss. These gifted traps were buried throughout this area.”
Are you kidding?
Lirian thought so.
Even if you want efficiency, this is ridiculous.
These traps are forbidden near the capital.
He’s obsessed with achievements and doesn’t care who’s nearby, huh?
Meanwhile, the Shadows carefully started raising the traps from the ground using earth manipulation.
It must be hard since it requires so much focus.
The “Blessing of the Moon” they wore glimmered.
It might have helped a bit.
Soon, over ten adult-head-sized bluish spheres appeared.
The Shadows sighed, keeping the spheres from touching the ground.
“Haah…”
“Seriously, this is insane…”
“What did they plan to do with this area?”
They grimaced.
They could imagine it too.
If stepped on, there would have been a massive explosion.
Even surviving the explosion, the concentrated gifted power inside would make survival nearly impossible, even for high-level gifted users.
Lirian shouted.
“Be careful! Gifted users, fall back for now!”
“Miss, it’s dangerous—!”
“We need to preserve this as evidence. We’ll leave just the shells and neutralize the power with control.”
Lirian gestured to Margaret and the controllers.
“Handle it as if you’re cutting the threads inside the spheres.”
“Yes!”
Actually, Lirian could have handled this alone.
She had infinite control and absorbed the original story knowledge.
But…
There will come a time when I’m not here.
So she raised her hands together with everyone.
A pink butterfly trace lingered in the air and vanished.
After completing the dismantling perfectly using control, she said:
“…If it weren’t for you, things could have gone very wrong.”
Elias gritted his teeth, looking down at the now-empty blue spheres.
The villain chuckled quietly.
“My little brother sure is cunning.”
“But Your Highness, these gifted traps weren’t made by the royal palace.”
“Of course. Convincing the palace to use this for monster suppression would take ten years.”
So this was the work of a priest.
Lirian added casually:
“They probably got it through the information guild called ‘Archive.’”
“…! I’ve never heard of them.”
“Most likely. Their main clients are the Pavil family. They won’t deal with anyone who hasn’t traded with them for fifty years.”
Completely different from the first prince and Balthazar’s approach.
Elias and the Shadows looked impressed, making Lirian slightly embarrassed.
She turned her gaze to the villain.
“Then, Your Highness, shall we prepare the next step?”
After all, we’ll need Boliver’s cooperation too.
…It’s frustrating to be framed for something we didn’t do.
Rumble… Rumble…
As evening approached, shallow tremors ran through the Rausen Forest area.
Kyle Tarandia, second prince of the empire, squinted and smiled.
He looked back at the knights who had followed him tonight.
“Well, how is it? The power of the gifted traps.”
“Your insight is impressive, Your Highness.”
The captain of the royal knights quickly replied.
Gotta show my face in such situations!
Kyle nodded.
“Future battles must be conducted this efficiently.”
Invisible, wide-area attacks like this are incredibly effective.
Even if something goes wrong…
It’s a convenient excuse to pin it on Balthazar.
Earthquakes are rare in Pernies anyway.
But observing the situation, Kyle frowned.
Why aren’t the others detonating?
The Black Forest, Rausen, was usually swarming with monsters at this time.
Yet no matter how long he waited, the remaining traps showed no sign of activating.
“Sedric Vane!”
“Yes, sir!”
A brown-haired, bespectacled aide rushed over.
“You go check it out.”
“H-Honor, this… might be better left stopped.”
“What do you mean?”
“It’s too dangerous! The explosions are too strong. If we go after monsters like this… it could hit civilians—”
“That’s your task—to confirm that.”
“…!”
