IPAMB 8

Chapter: 8

“Eh? What… do you mean by that…?”

Tristan asked, as if he couldn’t believe his own ears.

He must have thought I would back down by now. Even if I was young, as a Saint candidate, he probably assumed I’d know at least a little bit of courtesy.

“I want to contact him immediately. I’m in a hurry too.”

But such courtesy and humility meant nothing to me.

And I have no reason to go easy on someone like Tristan.

If he hadn’t tormented Cain in the first place, I wouldn’t even be in conflict with him.

You reap what you sow.

I turned to Rain and said,
“Please… send a message to the Duke…”

“W-Wait just a moment, Winiel!”

Tristan interrupted me, stepping in.

“Before you contact him, I’d like to hear the message first. If I think it’s important, then I’ll consider sending it.”

Though he spoke hurriedly, Tristan’s tone carried the air of someone who was willing to help.

I carefully responded, on purpose.
“The message… to you, Tristan?”

“Yes. Since I’m acting on behalf of the Duke’s household in official matters, it could be handled at my level. That would be faster anyway.”

“So… the important message from a Saint candidate that’s meant for Duke Argent himself… you’re saying it should go to Tristan?”

“……”

Seeing that he didn’t understand, I explained in detail. Tristan’s expression stiffened.

To suggest that I should personally deliver a message meant for the Duke, and that he would judge it himself… Even if he was the Duke’s proxy, it was as if the temple itself had been struck down.

Of course, I didn’t care if the temple was offended or not, but I covered my mouth with both hands and blinked.

“Th-That… um, I meant no offense. I was simply trying to manage the communication intended for the Duke under the Prince’s orders.”

Tristan tried to explain while bringing up Cain.

“The Prince doesn’t want this attack to be reported to the Duke. I suggested an alternative because I worried that Winiel might mention it while explaining the situation. But if you insist on delivering it yourself, please ensure nothing about the Duke’s household work is revealed.”

In other words, he meant: say only what you need to say and nothing more.

It was similar to what Cain had said to me earlier.

But the thought that came to my mind after hearing it was completely different.

“But I’m curious. If you’re the Duke’s household proxy, shouldn’t you want to report it rather than hide it? The Prince was attacked by dark magic, after all.”

“The Prince wishes it to be hidden.”

“Oh, so the judgment of the young Prince—‘don’t tell anyone about the attack’—was immediately accepted by the adult household proxy?”

I clapped my hands together with an expression of perfect understanding. Tristan flinched.

Even if Cain agrees, you shouldn’t.

I wanted to convey that, and it seemed to work.

“…Haha, that’s a misunderstanding. I also made my own judgment after investigating the dark magic attack.”

Tristan forced a stiff smile.

“The reason I haven’t been seen the past few days was that investigation. Unfortunately, I found nothing. So I agreed to hide it, thinking it would only worry the Duke further.”

“Wow, giving up after just a few days. The attacker must have hidden so well, leaving no clues at all.”

“…Besides, the Prince wasn’t hurt. Any attempt to report it would only make things bigger. I happened to agree with that logic too.”

“It seems he didn’t even get purified, but how are you so sure he wasn’t hurt? Even if the Prince thinks that way, shouldn’t you have advised him to get purified? Just my opinion, though.”

“……”

Tristan said nothing. His face, however, was flushed red.

“…If you insist, I have no choice. I’ll ask the Prince myself whether it’s okay for you to contact the Duke, Winiel.”

In the end, Tristan pulled out his trump card. He must have realized he couldn’t stop me alone.

Without waiting for my answer, he left the basement and spoke to a knight waiting outside.

A moment later, the knight returned with Cain.

“What is this? I told you not to do this.”

Cain, seemingly having grasped the situation, snapped at me as soon as he entered the basement.

Tristan stood calmly behind him, observing me.

If Cain is stopping me this much, Rain probably won’t help either.

Even if I explained the situation to Cain and asked, he probably wouldn’t agree.

Then there’s no choice.

I had to use it.

“Hello, Prince. We meet again.”

“……”

I greeted him brightly; Cain frowned.

“You…”

“Just the right time. I have something to tell you.”

I spoke quickly before Cain could interrupt.

“You said to express my gratitude and go, right? I’ll do that now.”

“…What is it?”

“Please let me talk to the Duke.”

I didn’t want to use it for this, but for now, taking one step at a time was important.

Asking Cain to deal with the villain organization is good for him too. If I speak carefully after his trauma eases, even if it’s not technically repayment, he’ll listen.

I hoped for that.

“The Duke?”

Cain narrowed his eyes at my question.

“You’re supposed to thank me for saving your life first…”

I mumbled, preemptively, worried he’d say no.

Cain paused briefly, then sighed.

“Hah, I never promised you could just say nonsense as repayment.”

“I won’t say anything that would worry you, Prince. I really have something to tell the Duke personally.”

Even if our definitions of “worry” differed, that was fine.

“…Talk then.”

After persistent persuasion, Cain finally agreed, turning around in annoyance.

“…!”

I felt Tristan beside me flinch. He couldn’t stop me and stayed silent.

“Yes!”

I answered quickly, worried Cain might change his mind, and turned to Rain.

“Please use it now.”

Rain hesitated, then activated the communication magic device.

“Write what you want to convey here.”

He handed me a paper and pen next to the device.

“It’s a writing tool specifically for this device.”

Ah, so this is how it’s sent via the device.

Apparently, it couldn’t just be any paper.

Fitting for such an expensive magical tool.

I had to be careful not to make a mistake; wasting paper would be awful.

I asked for a moment, placed the paper on the table, and picked up the pen.

Then I felt a familiar gaze.

“Don’t look.”

“Cough, ahem…”

I covered the paper with both arms and glared at Tristan, who coughed and stepped back.

First, introduce myself… oh, I should mention I foresaw the future.

I wrote carefully.

“Here.”

Finally, I wrote: “I’d like to discuss details in person.” and handed the paper to Rain.

I didn’t write about the dark magic attack in the forest, anticipating Cain would read it.

I glanced at Cain. He didn’t seem interested at all, just wanting to leave quickly.

Maybe I should’ve written everything…

But Tristan was glaring, trying to see my paper no matter what.

Fine. I’ll tell him everything later.

I stopped thinking about it and focused on the device.

Rain placed the paper into the device, which immediately made a loud noise.

“It’s a signal that the recipient received it.”

“That was fast! Then the reply should come quickly too.”

We waited.

But the device soon fell silent.

“…Maybe he’s thinking about the reply.”

“…Seems so.”

Several minutes passed.

The device still didn’t react.

“…Shall we send it again?”

“…That might be best.”

Rain took out a new sheet of paper. Tristan intervened.

“The Duke must have judged there’s no need to reply. You should stop now.”

He looked relieved, as if a crisis had passed.

“It could just be that he’s slow to respond.”

“That’s what ‘busy’ means. No matter what’s happening in the Duke’s household, it can be postponed that far.”

What are you saying!?

I looked at Cain, startled. He stood expressionless, as if he had expected this.

Was it like this before too?

Recalling unpleasant memories made me feel a pang of guilt.

“All done here, let’s step aside.”

Even so, Tristan smiled benevolently and pushed me out of the basement.

I clenched my fists.

All done? I was barely ignored once.

If I let it end here, it would only stir Cain’s wounds.

I won’t allow that!

I freed myself from Tristan’s hand and moved back toward the device.

“W-Wait!”

“Ouch!”

Tristan suddenly grabbed my arm, and I stumbled, falling to the floor.

“Winiel!”

Rain helped me up. I wasn’t hurt, but I pretended to be, so I didn’t get up immediately.

Flustered, Tristan apologized.

“I’m sorry, Winiel! Since the device is powered by magic, I worried your divine power might damage it…”

As Tristan said, divine power can interfere with magical devices and cause malfunction.

But…

“I’m human, so I can control my divine power.”

I answered firmly.

Do you think I’d just blast divine power everywhere?

That only happens with purification stones or similar items.

Huh? Item?

Wait… could it be…

Suddenly, I realized something.

“Winiel?”

I jumped up and approached the device.

Before anyone could stop me, I pried off the metal plate near where I had touched earlier.

Click.

A fist-sized stone fell out.

The familiar sensation I had felt earlier wasn’t a hallucination.

“There was a purification stone inside. No wonder the device felt divine magic.”

I picked up the stone and said,

“With something like this inside, the device couldn’t work properly. For example…”

I glanced at Tristan, who was trying to hide his shock, and then at Cain.

“The writing gets all messy, like pointless scribbles.”