“I’ve been caught—”
“Hey man! I got caught because of you!”
“Aren’t you going to cover it up well?”
Tim quickly shook off Ashd’s hand and prepared an offensive spell. Coincidentally, there were two golems, and they were also two, so they thought they could deal with them comfortably.
“Then please.”
Ashd tapped Tim on the shoulder and pointed towards the cave entrance.
A seemingly dubious man in a robe and hood escaped the cave. It looked like that was who they were trying to track down.
“Damn it, Senior!”
Tim shouted, but Ashd was already chasing the man.
Tim gashed his teeth, smashing the arm of the golem reaching out to grab Ashd with fire magic. It seemed like it would be a tough fight.
***
I thought you wouldn’t notice… … .
Many noble ladies trembled with fear when they heard that the Marquis of Bermon, famous in high society, had been brutally torn to pieces during the hunt. Truly they wanted to distance themselves from dreadful things.
Many nobles had already been purged because of the Grand Duke of Rowendal. So the incident at the hunting tournament further shocked the nobles.
In that situation, how could he reveal that one of his family attendants was a fake? If he made a mistake, he could be accused of assisting one of the wizards who attempted to assassinate the Empress during the hunting competition.
That was why although they later found an attendant unconscious and tied up in the mansion, he was determined not to reveal that an impostor attendant had been mixed among his entourage in the end.
“… … I’m not asking. If you cooperate, I will make sure that the honor of the Duke of Turnen does not go up and down.”
Even if he said so, the investigator was the heir of the Duke of Card. However, there was no other way, so the Turnen family handed over the servant in question.
‘If I had known this would happen, I would have sent him down to the countryside sooner!’
However, he didn’t do that because he feared it would attract people’s attention if he did it now.
***
The attendant entered the room shivering. It was a room allocated by the Turnen duchy. With a soft expression, Luke invited the attendant to take a seat.
“I-I don’t know anything… … . I just got hit on the head suddenly and passed out… … When I woke up, I was in the warehouse… … !”
“I know. I’m not doubting you,”
Luke reassured the attendant as he looked into his eyes.
After being mind-controlled by a warlock named Dion, it was discovered Lina had been taking drugs to cloud her mind over an extended period of time. A culprit, Martha, had also been on the same drug.
The Marquis Bermon offered calming tea and constantly drugged Martha with narcotic tea. As a result, she and Lina, who shared the same room, were naturally exposed to the tea and became addicted to it.
‘Dion’ was able to use Lina to manipulate the maids of the Empress and invade the Imperial tent. It seemed that the real Dion did not appear, but he appeared real because he had his own illusionary body overlaid on Lina’s body through mind control.
Something irreversible would have happened if the Emperor had arrived a little later.
At the same time, a wizard drew attention by turning the monster corpses into violent undead… … There was someone who killed Marquis Bermon by pretending to be one of the demon zombies. So it could be assumed that he is also a wizard.
They were the ones Luke was after.
The one who killed and silenced the Marquis of Bermon.
The mastermind who instructed to supply Martha narcotic tea.
Seeing the tricks he used on Lina, they were convinced that Dion was the mastermind. So, if they tracked down those who killed the Marquis, they could reach him.
“The person pretending to be you is another person who has been beside or has worked with you for a long time. In the eyes of the servants and maids, the imposter was not awkward,”
Luke stated calmly, seeing the fear in the attendant’s eyes.
“I don’t doubt you. To that extent, your mannerisms and expressions… … I’m asking who was close enough to copy the way you spoke?”
“So—… … Is there someone who can imitate me?”
The attendant looked at Ashd as if embarrassed.
Of course, it wasn’t only other servants working in the duchy. They wouldn’t have to pretend to be servants; they could just run errands and leave the duchy.
“It doesn’t matter if it’s a woman or a man,”
Luke quickly added to the attendant’s hesitant response.
There was someone he became close to after leaving his hometown and becoming a servant of the ducal family. They had courted for a while and went on a few outings, so they may have been able to mimic his mannerisms or facial expressions.
He wanted to deny that they were not, but when he was about to speak, the sharp gaze observing him carefully came to mind, and he hesitated.
“That, that person… … .”