“What are you saying! That’s nonsense!” Orland denied Zich’s claims. Then, he counterattacked Zich in response. “I did not lead the coup! I mean, if we really think about it, aren’t you the most suspicious one! How do you know the password to the tower’s final defense system that only the master of the magical tower should know!”
Zich shrugged. “I happened to find out.”
“Do you think the password of the final defense system is so poorly managed that you can just happen to find out about it! Like I said, you really are the most suspicious one!”
“Haha! Hey, Orland Dwayne. You are the one who confirmed my status and checked with the Karuwimans. Yet, are you saying that I’m the most suspicious one now? If I am really on the opposing side of the magical tower, you will also be held responsible for it.”
“I-I simply believed in the Karuwimans!”
“So, are you saying that you can’t believe in the Karuwimans anymore?”
“….!” Orland wanted to yell, ‘Yes, I do!’ this instant, but he couldn’t dare to open his mouth. Karuwimans held strong influence all over the world. Even if Orland was cornered, he didn’t have the rank or courage to say that he didn’t believe in them out loud.
Zich said as he tapped his head with his fingers, “You should think before you speak. Or you should consider whether or not you have the power to express your complaints to the other party.”
“Ugh!” Orland gritted his teeth. His hands trembled as if he wanted to use magic, but he didn’t use the mana in his staff in the end.
“You said you are Mr. Zich, right?” another mage asked.
“Yes,” Zich responded cheerfully to the mage who carefully asked his question.
“Are you really saying that Orland Dwayne led the coup?”
“Yes.”
“It’s a lie!”
Zich’s agreement and Orland’s denial overlapped.
“I made several efforts to suppress the coup! Don’t you all know that! How does it even make sense that I led the coup!” Orland shouted as if he was complaining about an unfair situation.
“Because you are aiming for the position as the master of the magical tower,” Zich easily suppressed Orland’s claims.
“If you drag down the master of the magical tower and get rid of many other expert mages at once, you will be far closer to the position. Since you knew the coup would happen beforehand, it was easier for you to prepare for it and successfully deal with the situation. Knowing how great of a deed it is to suppress the coup is, you’d be closer to the seat of the head of the magical tower.”
“I never did that!”
People struggled to choose who to believe except one person: Walwiss. Of course, Walwiss hadn’t known about the lead of the coup or even the coup’s existence. Thus, he didn’t think he was the culprit. In other words, he had only one culprit in mind.
“Orland, you really…”
“No! Ah, damn it! You are the one who really led the coup!”
“It’s not me!”
The father and son clashed again. As they glared at each other with raging eyes, Zich quietly intervened. Then, he told Walwiss, “Like how it was mentioned before, I have been chasing after the robed figures for a while now. They work to corrupt people, and when they do, they often make the people around them their collaborators. This time, the robed figures’ target was you, Walwiss Dwayne, and the collaborator was Orland Dwayne.”
“If you keep speaking nonsense, I am really going to kill you!”
“Try if you want to. But if you do, won’t people really suspect you? It’s very suspicious to kill the person who is trying to testify against you.”
“Y-You….!”
Zich easily cut Orland off and continued, “I have found evidence that other families who supported the coup received help from the robed figures. However, they were nothing more than useful tools. Their real collaborator was Orland Dwayne. The robed figures probably approached Orland Dwayne with what he really wanted as their bait….” Zich pointed to Orland’s staff that was right in front of his face and said, “Magic.”
“…What do you mean?” Walwiss asked.
“You said this man used to not have much talent in magic, right sir? They helped him with that.”
“A method to make a person with no talent develop their magic! How could there be a method like that!” If this method really existed, it would shake the foundation of magic. Thus, the mention of such a method made Walwiss forget about his current circumstances and exclaim in denial.
“I don’t know the specifics because the robed figures know all kinds of special methods, but I can guess.” Zich arrogantly looked down at Orland and offered a shocking statement, “It’s by stealing another person’s magic.”
“…What?” Walwiss’ mouth dropped open, and other people responded similarly. Only Orland gave a death glare to Zich.
“Nonsense—!”
“It’s not nonsense, Orland Dwayne. After investigating, I realized that you found your magical talent shortly after your wife died. Furthermore, the magic you developed was coincidentally in the same school of magic as your wife’s.”
Orland’s face hardened.
“So, I began to think. What if the amazing magic you suddenly got was stolen from your wife? I heard that your wife used to be a mage with considerable talent—you know, the kind that you wouldn’t even be able to meet the eyes with if you weren’t from the Dwayne family.”
“How far are you going to go! To what lengths are you going to go to shame me now by claiming that I stole my wife’s magic!”
“Yeah. So, I thought your wife died because of that.”
Bam! Orland swung his staff. The hard edge of the staff struck Zich’s face. It made his face turn for a moment and cause blood to drip down from his mouth.
Orland glared at Zich menacingly. “Like you said, my wife and I had an arranged marriage, and our marriage life wasn’t the best. But still, how could you claim that I killed my wife to steal her magic? There’s a limit to how much nonsense you can say! First of all, is it even possible to steal another person’s magic!” Orland shouted. The people in his surroundings seemed to be on his side now.
They couldn’t accept the possibility of stealing another person’s magic, and mentioning Orland’s late wife seemed to have caused them to feel an aversion towards Zich. However, Zich spat out his blood mixed with saliva and continued without concern, “Isn’t it possible? I think it’s completely possible. Like how you are stealing your daughter’s magic right now.”
Orland halted.
“Didn’t I tell you before? That we used mana from the magical beast of the Earth to educate Elena, and the beast’s mana was disappearing bit by bit? So, I thought somebody was stealing Elena’s magical talent, and I found out who that person was.”
Clutch! Zich grabbed Orland by the collars. Then, he placed his face right in front of Orland’s and demanded, “So tell me. Why in the world is Nowem’s mana mixed in with the magic you used at the Jaewicks’ house?”
Orland’s eyes widened.
“Honestly, I didn’t know who the robed figure’s collaborator was in the beginning. I narrowed down the culprit to you and the master, but after that, it was difficult to determine who the culprit was. However, after finding out that your magic had Nowem’s mana in it, I became certain who the culprit was.”
Orland had his mouth open. He hadn’t expected his identity to be revealed by something like that. “T-that is a lie…”
“If you can’t believe it, why don’t we immediately make Elena use Nowem’s mana? Then you can use your magic. If your mana doesn’t have Nowem’s mana in it, you’ll be innocent. How about it, do you want to try it right now?”
Orland’s excuse was immediately blocked by Zich’s words. If Orland followed Zich’s suggestion, the situation would become disadvantageous for him.
“…No way, is that for real?!” People stared at Orland with surprise as he was not able to give an answer. All the gazes directed towards him slowly changed into fury and disgust.
“N-no! It’s not like—!” Orland began to frantically make excuses for himself, but Zich cut off even his last excuse.
“You should give up, my friend. I’ve already collected a lot of evidence to prove that you’re the culprit. It was just as easy as pretending to be your collaborator.” Zich brightly smiled. His smile didn’t even have a trace of friendliness or warmth in it. “Did you think that you were able to finally accomplish your goal? Were you elated and overcome with happiness? Too bad. Your soon-to-be fate is not the rose-colored future you imagined where you’ll become the next master of the magical tower. Instead, your fate is a bleak future where you’ll be punished for all the crimes you did, including instigating this coup. How about it—how was that short, sweet moment of hope?”
“Ug-ughhh-uggh..!” The staff that Orland was holding trembled in his hands. He glared at Zich with bloodshot eyes. “This damn bastaaaaaarddd!”
Flash! An enormous amount of mana suddenly burst out of Orland’s body. The furniture and supplies in the room flew and people crouched down to brace themselves. Zich also used Windur as a shield and blocked the wind coming from Orland’s body.
Zich shouted, “You’re finally showing your true colors!”
“I’m going to kill you! I’m definitely going to at least kill you!” Orland shouted with clear hatred in his voice. Orland’s actions made it clear that he was the mastermind all along.
Walwiss looked at the sight in front of him in a daze. “…Is it really true? Did you really do all those things, Orland!”
“Yeah, I did!” Orland shouted and glared at Walwiss.
“Why would you do such a foolish ac…!”
“Give me a break! Cut out that fatherly look you’re giving me right now!”
Walwiss made a shocked face.
“When were you ever interested in me? Just because I wasn’t gifted in magic, you didn’t even treat me like your own child! So don’t make a face like that after all this time!”
The mana that Orland let out became rougher. “Don’t ask me why anymore! Whatever happens, I need to hone my magic and obtain power over the magical tower for myself! Those are all things I learned from you! And if you still ask me why, then I only have one answer for you! The reason why I want to obtain power in the magical tower is for the same reason as you!”
Walwiss closed his mouth. His pale face seemed to have been frozen by Orland’s magic.
“Don’t ever talk like you’re my father! After you lost all interest in me, I’ve never once considered you my father!” Orland firmly declared his severance as a son to Walwiss.
Walwiss was not able to retort with a single word.
Zich said, “Hmm, you clearly have a deep grudge against your father. Well, I understand why you wanted to frame the master, but why did you steal Elena’s magic and talent? That child hasn’t harmed anyone, and she’s not the type to harm others.”
Even though the atmosphere had grown so serious that no one dared to interfere between Orland and Walwiss, Zich easily shattered that tense atmosphere and asked Orland a few questions.
“In order for a child to succeed, their father also has to be successful! Moreover, I also had no intention to steal her mana forever!”
Zich liked Orland’s completely trashy reply. “Don’t make me laugh. Then, did you not consider the pain that your daughter would experience when you stole her mana? Anyone can see that your actions are not so different from your father’s actions, which you hated and criticized so much. No, actually, your actions are far trashier.”
“You bastard!” Orland slammed his staff on the ground. The staff filled with mana made a large sound as it hit the ground. “How can you understand my feelings! I was unable to meet my family’s expectations, and my entire family looked at me with contempt! All the people around me mocked and laughed at me that someone from an esteemed family couldn’t even properly use magic! A person like you—have you ever experienced such a thing!”
“I have.” Zich easily nodded while Orland cried out as if he was spitting out blood.
Orland was unable to reply for a moment. “What?”
“My birth mother who passed away insulted me at every opportunity and said I was lacking in every possible way, and my stepmother always tried to find fault in me to make my half-brother the next heir of the family. Because of my birth mother’s harassment and abuse, my father lost all affection for me and did all sorts of underhanded moves to pass down the family to my brother, and all his vassals looked at me with contempt. Moreover, I was unable to awaken my mana even as I got older, so even the servants of my family looked down on me. Come on, isn’t my background as good as yours?”