When Zich mentioned the robed figures, Orland tensed up even as he pretended to be calm. His hands twitched; if Zich said that he was suspicious of him, he was prepared to attack immediately. The only reason why he restrained himself was because of the worry that Zich might actually be Karuwiman’s Honorary Knight.
To his relief, Zich stated his belief that he thought Walwiss was the culprit. When he heard that, Orland wanted to raise both his hands and cheer, and he barely managed to restrain himself. He forcefully stiffened the muscles on his face and expressed feelings of seriousness and rage. Then, he said, “What did you say my father did?”
“I said I think your father is the robed figures’ collaborator.”
Whoosh! Orland pointed his staff at Zich. A tiny bit of mana permeated out of his staff, but all this was nothing more than an act.
“Be careful of your words! My father is the master of the magical tower!”
“That fact doesn’t prove that he isn’t the collaborator.”
“You bastard—!” Orland pushed his staff further, but he didn’t use magic. Then, he hoped that Zich would continue.
“It’s not only Walwiss Dwayne. Although he didn’t make direct contact with the robed figures, it seems like he’s influencing Wayne Jaewick. Besides them, other elite families in the magical tower seem suspicious.”
At this point, Orland began to feel a bit threatened. Zich’s guesses were quite on point—of course, even when he had pointed out the completely wrong culprit. Orland bit his lips hard. He acted like he couldn’t contain his rage and his cheeks trembled. Zich was impressed. Although he wasn’t on par with his level, Orland’s acting skills were also quite impressive.
“Okay, why don’t you say everything you want to say? I will hear you out to see how much nonsense you can say!”
“Thank you. Then, let me begin.” Zich closed his mouth as if he was trying to organize his words. It didn’t take long, and Zich opened his mouth again to speak. “The first time I felt things were strange was when Mawin Jaewick tried to kill us by employing mercenaries and ambushing us. I saw traces of those robed figures at that time.”
“What traces are you talking about?”
“Those guys have a special skill they use often. It’s mixed into their movements—it’s not something mages would do or notice.”
‘So, don’t doubt my words. It doesn’t relate to you at least,’ Zich thought. Like he expected, Orland, who had been tensing up in worry if he had those traces, relaxed after he heard Zich’s words.
‘There was something like that?’ Orland wondered for a moment. However, since he knew that the robed figures had considerable influence in Mawin’s decision to employ mercenaries, Zich’s words sounded convincing.
“Let’s continue. That’s why I interrogated him a bit strongly. If I didn’t see traces of the robed figures, I probably wouldn’t have gone that far.”
“What did you find out?”
“I found out that Mawin Jaewick received help from some mysterious ‘friends’.”
“I supposed these friends were the robed figures.”
“I thought so too. That’s why I began to investigate. Of course, the Jaewick family immediately imprisoned me, but I ordered my servants to secretly protect Elena. I thought there was a high chance that those guys would target Elena.”
“So, are you saying that you saved Elena from those kidnappers?”
“Yes. I’m sorry that I didn’t return Elena right away, but I wanted to provoke the people who attempted to kidnap her. I knew they would be really shocked about what happened and take action.”
“Is that why you pretended to help to search for Elena when you kidnapped her? To monitor your opponents’ movements?”
“Yes. Ah, I’m also the one who sent the blackmail letter to the meeting in hopes of getting a reaction from the robed figures.”
“How bold.” Orland had been considerably interested in the letter, and he secretly wiped off his sweat. Although he thought the kidnapper had addressed the letter to him, he had no idea the sender of the letter was studying everyone while standing right next to him.
“The first one I suspected was Wayne Jaewick. Not only did he have a personal grudge against Elena, but he also wanted to push off the matter of the robed figures later. But I wasn’t sure. The situation seemed to be heading towards the direction where the Dwayne and Jaewick families were placed against one another. However, that could also be the enemy’s intention.”
Orland nodded, but internally, he was shocked. Zich had seen through his plan perfectly.
“When I trespassed into the Jaewicks’ mansion, I saw a strange sight. I saw you and your father talking to Wayne Jaewick.”
“How is that a strange sight?”
“To be specific, I felt like Walwiss Dwayne was trying to test Wayne Jaewick.”
Orland knew what Zich meant. He had been trying to trick Wayne into thinking he was Walwiss and witnessed Wayne trying to expose his father.
“So, I thought the Dwayne family could be involved in this conspiracy; it explains how Elena was kidnapped in her mansion so easily too.”
“It’s not me though.”
“I know.” Zich looked at Orland with trusting eyes. If Lyla had seen those eyes, she would have shuddered and turned her head away.
“That means the only suspect left is your father, but that also leaves us one question. Why would he want to clash with his family’s partner, the Jaewicks? I could guess by his behavior. When there was a conflict between the Dwayne and Jaewick family, your father took the neutral position even if he was the head of the Dwayne family by using his position as the head of the magical tower as the reason.”
“However, that kind of demeanor is expected of the master of the magical tower.”
“That’s true. But what if your father is pretending to be neutral so that he could sway the public into thinking that he is unrelated to the clash between the Dwaynes and the Jaewicks?”
“…What are you trying to say?”
“In short, the clash between the two families will exclude your father—it will be a clash between only the Jaewicks and you and your daughter. And your father’s main target might be you and your daughter.”
“What nonsense!” Orland said roughly. On the inside, he wanted to smile until his lips ripped apart. It was because Zich had perfectly uncovered the scenario he had come up with.
However, his mouth moved differently from his thoughts. “Father is forming a conspiracy against Elena and me? No matter how bad my relationship with my father looks like to you, my father would never do something like that!”
“Sir, if you don’t believe me, you and Elena would play right into his hands.” Zich continued to calmly make his points.
“Where’s the evidence? You must have some solid evidence to make such outlandish accusations!”
“I have evidence, but I can’t reveal it to you.” Of course, Zich didn’t have evidence.
“Then do you think I’ll believe such ridiculous words?!”
“However, I can predict what will happen in the future. Would you be able to consider that as evidence?”
“…You’re able to predict what’ll happen in the future?”
“With the evidence I have, I can make clear predictions on what’s going to happen soon. Thus, if the future goes according to what I predicted, I think this is sufficient evidence for me to gain your trust, sir.”
Orland’s eyelids twitched. Since he didn’t refuse right away, it seemed as if he was deeply contemplating what he should do.
‘What the hell are you contemplating about, you idiot!’ Even though Zich was making a serious face, he was booing Orland inside his mind. ‘Don’t rack your head and just bite the bait. In the first place, most of your plan went awry when all the robed figures got annihilated. A super amazing person with a background as a Karuwiman Honorary Knight is trying to be on your side. With me, don’t you think some of your great plans can be salvaged?’
Zich thought that Orland’s main goal was to frame Walwiss, kick him out of the magical tower, and become the next master. If Orland really had such a conspiracy, then Zich’s offer of cooperation would be much too sweet for him to refuse.
“…Fine. Because of that fake or real Karuwiman Honorary Knight brooch, I’ll listen to you just this once.”
“Thank you very much.” Zich bowed his head.
Orland put down his staff. “Then what is going to happen in the future?”
Zich explained to Orland his predictions, and Orland nodded.
“Go and come back after a few days. I’ll decide to trust you or not on that day.”
“Yes, I understand.” Zich put his feet on the windowsill; Orland thought Zich probably also came inside his mansion through that window.
“Let me just ask one thing.”
“Sir, what is it?” Zich turned his head back.
“Why did you show Elena a fake brooch?”
“It’s because of the robed figures. The relationship between the robed figures and the Karuwimans is extremely bad. There was a possibility that the robed figure’s collaborator also knew this, so I hid my connection to the Karuwimans. I didn’t need to let them know that a Karuwiman Honorary Knight was chasing after them.”
Of course, this was also not true. Zich had hidden his identity to create a situation where he could best stab Orland in the back. Zich turned his head back and stared out the window. “Sir, a weapon works best when it suddenly appears or when the target is least expecting it.”
Then, Zich jumped out of the window. Orland quietly watched Zich as he became a black shadow and disappeared from his sight.
Tap! He shut the door. He quietly let out a cheer because he was unable to contain his happiness to himself. “Yes!”
A far more useful guy than those dead, robed figures was now in his hands. ‘I can’t believe he really was a Karuwiman Honorary Knight!’ If Orland received help from Zich, who completely believed Walwiss was the culprit, his plan would be much easier to accomplish.
‘It’s not time for me to be like this!’ Orland began moving to carry out his plan.
* * *
Zich returned to their new shelter. Snoc had dug a hole in the ground in a nearby mountain, and due to Nowem’s power, it was very comfortable and warm. After greeting his companions, he went back to his room(?) and lay on his mat. Then, he began snickering.
‘You’re going to suffer like crazy, Orland Dwayne.’
Zich hadn’t said much to Orland about what he predicted in the future. He hadn’t even made predictions about what would happen soon, and he didn’t really think that his words would come true—
‘If I hadn’t told them to Orland.’
If Zich’s plan worked, Orland would have to work hard to make Zich’s ‘predictions’ a reality. He would have to do this so he could get a reason to trust Zich and gain a Karuwiman Honorary Knight as his ally. Moreover, Orland could also avoid Zich’s suspicion as the main culprit. Thus, in the future, Orland would work hard to gain Zich’s trust and not the other way around.
‘And while this happens, I’ll just get more information out of him and control the situation.’
If Zich’s plan was successful, Orland would become his perfect puppet.
* * *
After a few more days passed, Zich secretly went into Orland’s room again. This time, Orland was waiting for him.
“I went to the Karuwiman shrine and asked about you.”
“What did they say?”
“They verified that you were a Karuwiman Honorary Knight.”
“Sir, with this, your trust in me has probably increased.” Zich had already sent a request to a nearby Karuwiman shrine in this city. He asked the priests there to deny that he was a Karuwiman Honorary Knight to everyone except Orland. The highest-ranking priest easily nodded and accepted a request from a Karuwiman Honorary Knight.
“Well, I definitely do have more trust in you than before.”
“Sir, then what about my predictions?”
“They were accurate,” Orland replied with a very serious voice. “Several families in the magical tower have begun to challenge my father’s authority.”
“Sir, that’s what I said. Haven’t I told you that all the families related to the robed figures will definitely start challenging the head?”
“But why would they oppose my father’s authority? Weren’t they on the same side?”
“It’s definitely part of their plan. Anyways, will you keep the promise that you’ll cooperate with me?”
“Even though I don’t perfectly believe in you yet, I guess I have no choice but to believe in you since the situation turned out like this.” Orland let out a sigh. “I believe you.”
“Sir, you made a very good choice.” Zich’s entire face seemed to smile as he nodded. Then he wondered, ‘Hmm, what kind of prediction should I make now?’ Regardless of what predictions he made, if they brought harm to Walwiss, Orland would probably accomplish most of them. He would do this to further his plan and build Zich’s trust at the same time.
‘Heh! It feels like I’ve got a genie who grants my wishes.’ Zich snickered inside his mind while looking at Orland who had a distraught and troubled expression.