The Hero Party Couldn’t Kill Me

Chapter 5: To the Solus Empire (6)

“What do you mean by that? How much is that now….”

Iris tried to argue right away, but the saintess stopped her.

“Iris, don’t hide your sins from me. Goddess cannot be fooled.”

“… Sorry.”

Iris immediately lowered her tail at the saintess’ determined attitude. The saintess sighed lightly.

“I was stupid. Edmund is still alive, and he is waiting to come to the Hosh*tamtam Empire. Of course you want to take revenge on us. What will he do when he hears this?”

“Eh, is Edmund still alive? Did Calia not kill her after all?”

“Unfortunately, I think I failed. I lost contact with Calia.”

Belatedly, Iris’ lips trembled when she learned the news of Calia’s failure. She had completely forgotten the news about Edmund, as she had been focused only on assassinating the Duke of Rosier.

“Ha, but there must be a way to stop him, right? There must be a way to track Edmund.”

“… ….”

“Holy Lady! Say something! If Edmund comes back, we might both die! Is there any good way?”

“So I am going to ask for help from the Noir Mage Tower.”

The saintess opened her mouth with difficulty. In fact, Noir Magic Tower, where there are many wizards dealing with black magic, was completely inconsistent with the doctrine of Etoileism. So we had a very bad relationship with each other.

However, the Rogue Magic Tower and the Blue Magic Tower are completely destroyed, and the semi-magical tower with less damage is not of great help because it is a calmly ranked 5th ranked magic tower and its field mainly deals with non-combat. Not to mention Blanc Magic Tower.

That’s why even the saintess applies by crying and eating mustard. Because there are many mages specialized in combat in the Noir Mage Tower.

“Should we try to join hands with the Etoiles at the Noir Tower?”

“They are a group that is exceptionally clear about money. I’m trying to push it with money.”

“… ….”

“So, Iris. I will tell you how you can be saved now.”

The saintess took out a piece of paper with the seal of her church from her pocket.

“You should be well aware that the crime of murdering the Duke of Rossier is very heavy. If you continue like this, there will be no salvation for you.”

“… ….”

“But lately the Church of Etoile has been issuing indulgences. With this, Iris, your sins can be forgiven. Of course, the amount will be large.”

“How much do I have to pay?”

“The amount I set is 5,000 gold coins.”

5,000 Coins is equivalent to all of Iris’s personal wealth. Of course, he was going to inherit the legacy of the Duke of Rossier soon, but it was clear that it was a burdensome amount.

“Wait a minute….”

Iris is worried as she wraps her head around this.

“Why are you so worried? It’s a way to get an immediate reprieve from a felony.”

“… All right. Instead, can I ask you one favor? If the deal with the Noir Mage Tower goes well, ask them to dispatch the mage of the Mage Tower to Roswell as well. I think that will give you peace of mind.”

“Yes, I will.”

As her saintess promised, Iris opened the safe in the corner of her own room.

She then took out all the gold bars stored in her safe and gave them to her saintess.

Each gold bar is worth 100 gold coins, but Iris had only 50 gold bars.

After checking her numbers, the saintess took out her pen and wrote the name of Iris on her indulgences.

“You made a good choice, now your sins will be absolved, so don’t worry.”

“… Thank you.”

“However, Edmund will still drive you to the sudden death of Duke Rossier. Etoir won’t let you know that you’re the culprit, so you have to be firm with his heart every time he provokes you.”

“I’ll keep that in mind.”

The saintess put her gold ingot into the space. With this alone, it would be difficult for her to negotiate with the Noir Mage Tower, but she would be able to do it well enough if the church’s funds were added.

Before leaving her room, the saintess asked Iris for the last time.

“If you think Edmund has come to Roswell, he should contact me right away. We will be able to catch Edmund only if we cooperate as much as possible.”

“Of course, I will do my best to cooperate.”

“May the protection of the goddess be with you.”

At the last words of the saintess, Iris gained strength again.

Edmund was still afraid. She was also afraid of being framed as the real culprit.

But the thought that her Goddess was with her now gave Iris comfort.

***

Returning to ‘the house’, Raphaella and Marion studied the magic circle drawn on the back of Pesima’s hand.

The biggest challenge is, of course, deciphering the language of the Latis Empire. Accordingly, they began to study the language of the Latis Empire.

“Maybe this book will help.”

Marion brought a book titled ‘The Language Basics of the Latice Empire’.

“I didn’t know there was such a book in the Magic Tower.”

“Oh, I bought this separately. I wanted to practice magic in the Latish language when Pesima wasn’t around. Although… There were no results.”

Marion smiles shyly. While the two of us were reading the textbook and studying together, I quietly entered the empty room and took out the crystal ball.

‘In case you don’t know… ….’

I checked for a wiretapping device using search magic for a while. Even if you can trust Marion, you don’t know what Pesima was playing with here.

There was no eavesdropping device that I was concerned about, but I contacted the princess after casting soundproofing magic around me just in case.

“Your Highness, I have returned to the Empire.”

“Edmund, are you at ‘the house’ in Blanc’s Tower?”

“Yes, it is.”

“I’m sorry. Your hiding place, which I chose, was also a house of the same kind.”

“It was a burden for me to write there.”

This is not an empty word. The house the princess was talking about was probably used as a hideout for the imperial family. However, she said with a look that the princess really regretted.

“If it were you, I would have gladly allowed it.”

“This side will be better for Her Highness, the Princess. Wouldn’t it be nice to increase the evidence that you are cooperating with me?”

“Okay. So what are you going to do now?”

From noble mtl dot com

“It is difficult to make a judgment because of the lack of information yet. So, if possible, can you give me some information that might be helpful to me?”

“Okay. What are you curious about?”

First of all, we started with basic questions. While I was in the empire, the saintess and Iris’ movements, and other unusual things.

The princess told me in detail, and in summary she was as follows.

First. The Church of Etoile issues indulgences and collects money from all over the empire.

Second. Even though Calia died, her saintess, Lucy, was still on the iron plate, and her relationship with the princess was completely opposite.

And the third.

“Yesterday afternoon, there was a report that the Duke of Rossier had been poisoned.”

“Was that what Iris did?”

“It is widely accepted that it was Lucas, the drug wizard, who gave the drug to Duke Rossi. There is no evidence that Iris was involved.”

The Duke of Rossier is dead. And Iris becomes the lord of Roswell as the next head of the family.

Strictly speaking, Duke Rossier’s chosen successor is his son, Fleance.

However, since he is only 7 years old, Iris will rule Roswell until he reaches adulthood.

“… I know what you’re thinking. Iris must be suspicious.”

“Even if the wizard poisoned him, there is a high possibility that Iris is behind it. Did you interrogate the wizard by any chance?”

“Iris already made a summary judgment before I stepped forward. So, I don’t have any more information to find out. It is so certain that she died after taking the potion, and there is not enough justification to investigate with the authority of the imperial family.”

In the end, it is said that objective evidence is difficult to find. But heartache is enough.

I was well aware of how much Iris was obsessed with being the head of the family while working with her for three years.

After hearing the princess’s story, I fell into thought for a moment.

The Saint’s Etoirism is currently too strong, so it’s best to start with Iris.

But on the other hand, I wanted to give a big blow to her saintess at the same time as catching Iris.

Is there any better way?

“Your Highness the Princess.”

At that time, a good idea occurred to me.

“If it were known that the person who killed your father could use the indulgences to get his crimes reduced, what would the public opinion of the empire be like?”

“Those who have a lot of money will like it and try to buy indulgences. But those without money will resent it.”

“Let me ask you one more question. Do you know what the duke’s reputation was in Roswell, in Rosier?”

“Um… I know that he is popular because of the advantages of being a former warrior and good political power. When I attended the funeral of the Duke of Rossier today, it seemed that the people of Roswell were sincerely commemorating the death of the Duke.”

“Thank you.”

Suddenly, I started to have a sense of what to do. Now it’s my turn to prepare the things I need.

“… If so, Her Highness the Princess. Let me ask you one more question.”

“Tell me.”

“Never go. Can you still lend it to me?”

If I were to pick one of the things I coveted the most, it would definitely be if I had to go.

Being able to walk around the empire was a great advantage in itself.

Of course, the princess wouldn’t give it carelessly.

“Yes, the negotiating table is still open.”

“Then… ….”

“First, come to the coordinates I will send you.”

And that’s where it started. It was to meet the princess directly.