IPAMB10

Chapter: 10

…Huh?

“What did you say? Is that for real?”

“You said she’s a saint candidate. But black magic?!”

In an instant, contemptuous eyes surrounded me.

‘What are they talking about all of a sudden? Why are they lying…?’

I jumped up and shouted.

“No! I didn’t do it!”

“Don’t play dumb! I saw it all!”

“Even if your eyes were on the soles of your feet, it didn’t happen! You’re lying…!”

“Quiet! I said I saw it!”

This man!

I puffed my cheeks and glared at the knight.

Just as I was about to argue further, I noticed Rain collapsed.

“Ugh…”

Rain was grimacing in pain, only letting out groans.

‘Ah, wait a minute.’

I grabbed Rain’s hand again. Clearing up the misunderstanding was important, but purification came first.

‘If the touch has already happened, a normal purification stone won’t be enough. I need to cleanse even a little with holy power!’

Then it happened.

“You can’t stop! Are you trying to kill her?!”

The knight grabbed the back of my neck and threw me backward.

“Ouch…!”

I rolled on the floor, too pained to do anything.

“Someone call the royal physician! I’ll isolate this girl!”

But there was no time to be hurt. The knight forcibly lifted me up.

“What on earth is this commotion?!”

Just then, Tristan ran over with a shocked expression.

The knight saluted and quickly reported.

“This girl summoned a monster, and Rain collapsed.”

“You’re saying Winiel did that? No way. Winiel is a saint candidate. There’s no way she would use black magic!”

Tristan shouted at the knight in shock.

The knight bowed and continued.

“But I saw it with my own eyes.”

“This can’t be… Is this really true, Winiel?”

Tristan looked at me with a deeply disappointed expression.

Even though the knight reported it, would he really change his attitude in an instant like this?

And then I saw it.

For a moment, Tristan’s lips curled up.

Ah.

‘They set a trap to corner me.’

Realizing the truth, I pushed the knight away and stepped forward in front of the servants.

“I didn’t use black magic! I even got rid of the monster myself! This is…”

“Quiet!”

But soon the knight shouted and cut me off.

“Haa.”

Tristan sighed as if troubled, pressing his palm to his forehead.

“I understand what Winiel is saying.”

“…Huh?”

Why are you—?

Suddenly, someone completely unexpected took my side.

“But now that the term black magic has come up, we can’t just leave Winiel alone. Please cooperate until this is verified.”

Of course, this wasn’t truly for my sake.

“It’s regrettable that such a commotion occurred.”

He shook his head with a sorrowful expression and ordered the knight to take me away.

I tensed my body, resisting so I wouldn’t be dragged.

“No! I didn’t do it… ugh, ugh!”

But the knight easily overpowered me.

I watched Tristan fade into the distance with my mouth gagged.

‘Completely trapped.’

I was locked in an underground prison.

Falsely accused of something impossible.

It wasn’t hard to guess why this happened.

‘They wanted to shut my mouth before Duke Argent arrived.’

Still, I didn’t expect it would go this far.

Black magic.

‘Wait, then could the black magic that attacked Cain back then also have been Tristan’s doing?’

The type of summoned monsters was similar, too much for it to be a coincidence.

‘But even if I know that, I’m already trapped.’

I looked around.

Torches mounted on the walls, rusted but sturdy iron bars, moss stuck in the corners.

‘Similar to the temple prison.’

It wasn’t unfamiliar. The temple people sometimes locked me up for absurd reasons.

Like being “in the way” during events, or “playing with a cat that wandered into the temple” when I was told to stay put.

‘Still…’

Familiar didn’t mean okay.

I hugged my knees and buried my face.

Even though I wasn’t tied up, it felt suffocating, as if I were.

‘At this rate, I’ll die before I even save my brother.’

I pouted my lips, forcing them back in.

‘…Enough. Worrying won’t solve anything.’

Now was the time to focus on clearing my name, not sulking.

I took a deep breath to calm my mind.

‘What should I do? Even saying I didn’t do it didn’t help.’

They framed me without giving me a chance to explain, so there was no way to respond.

Even if I tried to argue, if the knight lied and Tristan backed him up, it would be over.

A mysterious saint candidate appeared suddenly, and Tristan, acting as the Duke’s proxy.

It was obvious which side the servants would take.

‘Hmm, then I need to find evidence of the framing and prove my innocence myself.’

For that, I first had to escape.

Then I could do anything.

‘But how…’

“Rrrgh…”

At that moment, a loud snore reached me. The knight who was guarding me was asleep.

‘He locks people up with lies and then sleeps?’

I frowned at the knight, drooling in his chair.

He was probably acting on Tristan’s orders. I didn’t even want to look at him.

‘Huh?’

Just as I was turning my head, something sparkled under the chair.

‘Is that the prison key?’

Ah, right. Earlier the knight locked me up and put the key in his pocket. Looks like it fell out.

‘With that, I can get out!’

I reached through the bars, but couldn’t touch it.

I felt frustrated at my short arms.

‘No, I need to find a tool.’

But the cell had nothing. Not even a stick.

The only possible tool was the knight’s sword, but it was leaning outside against the wall.

‘If I knock it over, I might get caught… what can I throw… Ah!’

The temple badge!

I took the temple badge dangling from my wrist and aimed at the sword.

‘Stay calm. I only get one chance. Hit the bottom so it tips toward me.’

I took a deep breath and threw the badge.

Clack!

‘Hit!’

The sword wobbled, lost its balance, and fell.

I quickly reached out, catching it before it hit the ground.

Then I checked the knight.

“Rrrgh, ugh.”

Luckily, he was deeply asleep, head tilted back.

‘Phew…’

I sighed in relief.

‘Let’s get out quickly. My heart’s racing.’

The next step wasn’t hard. I used the sword to hook the key, opened the door, and quietly slipped out.

I put the items back in place and dashed out of the underground cell without looking back.

‘Phew, made it out!’

It felt like the first time in hours breathing fresh air.

I inhaled deeply and exhaled. My breath still uneven from tension.

‘It’s already night. I’ve been locked up a long time.’

Looking at the darkened night sky, I ran toward the Duke’s main residence.

To prove my innocence, I needed to catch the culprit.

And judging from circumstances, the person who used black magic was likely Tristan or that knight.

‘I don’t know about the knight’s room, so I’ll start by searching Tristan’s office.’

There was evidence I could find.

‘I just need to locate it.’

Black magic is activated with a magic circle. The mage must draw it, but anyone can trigger it.

Also, within the three-day time limit, it can be set to activate at any time, and the paper with the circle could be burned, leaving no trace.

But even this powerful magic had a flaw.

It left traces.

‘It’s a small problem because normal people activated it, not a mage.’

Before triggering the circle, the caster signs it. For a normal person, the pen leaves black magic traces.

‘Unlike mages, normal people can’t handle the power trapped in the circle, so some leaks out.’

A subtle event, hard to notice.

But the problem was serious.

A careful inspection could reveal the signature used for the black magic.

A worst-case flaw for those who didn’t want evidence.

‘But this will only matter later when Cain clashes with black magic dealers.’

For now, it was unknown.

So the culprit might not know the pen had traces.

‘No mages live in the Duke’s residence, so no one would avoid leaving traces.’

As soon as I entered the main building, I headed to Tristan’s office I had observed earlier.

It was late, and few servants were around, so I met no one.

“Alright, let’s find everything!”

I rolled up my sleeves and rummaged through the office.

After a short while, I found three pens.

‘Let’s investigate.’

I focused holy power at my fingertips. Not enough to purify, just enough to sense energy.

I carefully examined each pen.

But…

“None of these…”

All three had no traces of black magic.

‘Seems like nothing here. Did the knight sign it?’

My head spun thinking about checking the knight’s room.

‘Let’s take a break.’

As I tried to calm my tangled thoughts on the sofa…

‘Huh? There’s a pen under the other sofa.’

I lay down and reached under, pulling out a pen.

A luxury fountain pen.

‘It has a name!’

[Tristan Nelson]

‘Handmade? Looks expensive.’

Why it was here, I didn’t know. But finding one more was important.

I quickly focused holy power again.

‘Please let it show the traces.’

As I applied holy power, I felt a murky energy.

“!”

This was it.

‘Finally, evidence!’

I gripped the fountain pen with trembling hands.

All I could do was detect traces. To get the signature, I’d need a mage, but I felt much calmer.

Even if the signature wasn’t Tristan’s, it would at least prove it wasn’t me!

Of course, it was unlikely he lent such an expensive pen to anyone.

I put the pen in my pocket and tidied the scattered items excitedly.

“All done. Finished.”

Finally, I closed the drawer beside the desk.

Flap.

“Huh? What’s this?”

Something fell from the drawer—it looked like a letter.

I carefully opened the envelope and read it.

‘Hmm, this is…’

Should I keep it?

I put the letter in my pocket. It might be useful.

‘Alright, now I’m ready to go.’

After checking the room carefully, I dusted off my hands and left the office.

“What are you doing here?”

And immediately, I came face-to-face with Cain.