After hearing Zich describe the Count as a ‘boomer,’ Lubella and Weig momentarily forgot the severity of their situation and almost burst into laughter. However, they managed to hold it in. Even if the Count was suspected as a Bellid follower, nothing was certain yet, and the Count was a high-class noble. If they laughed now, it would only taint Karuwiman’s name. Thus, thanks to the mental training they had both undergone as a Saintess and a holy knight, the two managed to suppress their laughter.
“Hmph! Hmph!” Trell fake coughed awkwardly. Unlike those two, he couldn’t laugh and glanced at the Count warily. Since he was standing behind the chair the Count was sitting on, he couldn’t see the Count’s face. Yet, he could easily predict what the Count’s expression would be.
Like Trell had predicted, the Count’s face was strangely distorted. He was obviously irritated by the expression used against him, but he couldn’t say much to Zich. It was because although Zich talked roughly and called him an offensive term, Zich was nevertheless taking his side.
“I see, so that’s how you think, Sir Zich.” Although Lubella had almost laughed aloud, she quickly cleared her emotions and became serious again. Contrary to Zich’s light and carefree attitude, this was a very important issue for the Karuwimans.
“May I ask why you think that way?”
“From a long time ago, this man had been obsessed with his estate’s title as the kingdom’s Iron Wall. There’s no way a guy like that would do anything to tarnish that name. How could such a guy worship the Bellids? Rather than supporting them, he would be the first one to crack those Bellid guys’ skulls.”
“So, you are speaking based on your personal intuition. Do you perhaps have any concrete evidence to support your statements?”
“I don’t.”
The Count and Trell’s faces darkened. Zich spoke more harshly about them than they had expected, but since he took the Count’s side, they thought they might be able to clear up some misunderstandings. Like them, Zich had no evidence that could free them of the accusations, and they had no choice but to bear the brunt of most of them.
‘I’m sure his words were of some help,’ Trell thought and looked at Zich. After all, Zich was still speaking confidently in front of the Kauwiman Saintess and their greatest knight.
‘If only he could’ve been the heir.’ Trell told himself that the matter was already over, but he continued to lament. If Zich, a Karuwiman Holy Knight, became the Steelwall Estate’s heir, they would be able to fix matters even if they encountered the worst possible scenario. Even if the Count failed to free himself from the suspicions, if Zich became the next head of Steelwall, things would naturally get resolved since no one would frame an honorary holy knight as a Bellid follower. As Trell dwelled on these thoughts, Zich and Lubella continued their conversation.
“I see. Even if you say so, if you don’t have any proof, people will continue to doubt the Count. After all, you have close ties to the Steelwall Estate.”
“Although that statement makes me bitter, ashamed, and even a bit enraged, I admit it. Even though I did cut my ties with them, I’m sure many people will view my connection with them as suspicious.”
That was how blood ties worked.
“To make it clear, I am not helping the Steelwalls because I like them. No, to tell you the truth, I wouldn’t feel much even if the whole Steelwall family disappeared without a trace from this world.”
These were shocking words. The Count and Trell expressed their discomfort from the uncomfortable mention of Steelwall’s fall, and Lubella and Weig were stunned by Zich’s cold declaration. Of course, both the Count and Trell were shocked too, but when they saw Zich’s face, they knew he was telling the truth.
“If your relationship with the Steelwalls is so bad, can you please tell us why you are trying to help them?”
“I have many reasons, but I think you all will be satisfied with just one.” Then, Zich arched his torso, met Lubella’s eyes, and said in a joking manner, “I mean, do we really have to think of many reasons for screwing up those Bellid bastards?”
Lubella blinked hard several times. Then, the edges of her eyes curved beautifully. “Ha, ahaha, ahahaha! That’s right! You don’t need to think of many reasons to take care of the Bellids!”
“Hahahaha! I’m learning many things from you, Sir Zich. If it’s a matter of crushing those guys, you can collaborate with anyone!”
Lubella and Weig laughed hard at Zich’s words as if they were very satisfied with his answer. After that, the two didn’t bring up any more serious topics, and even the tensed-up Count was pulled into their light-hearted chatter. They acted like guests who had come amiably to enjoy their stay. It was then that the Count and Trell realized that at least in Lubella and Weigh’s minds, the Count was completely taken off their suspect list.
Soon afterward, Lubella and Weig left the drawing room. Although the Count was cleared off the suspect list from their minds, they didn’t return home. It was because they wanted to find the temple that was said to be at the center of the city. The two planned to linger in the Karuwiman temple at Violsa.
* * *
Silence filled the drawing room once more. The cooled tea cups on the table showed that several people had recently been in the room. Trell had been standing still behind the Count up until now, and he stepped forward.
“Fortunately, it seems like we have overcome our most urgent issue for now.”
“Yes.” It wasn’t like they were freed of all suspicions, but it really was a huge benefit that the Karuwiman Saintess believed them.
“Let’s get rid of the misunderstanding surrounding us slowly like this. We have to find the guys who dared to frame the Steelwall family of such horrendous acts and punish them.” Both Trell and the Count had already guessed that the recent incidents weren’t just coincidences.
“We should.”
The Count also had no plans to let this matter pass. He planned to make the one who framed the Steelwall family pay severely for their actions.
“I’m surprised that the Saintess took back her misunderstanding because of couple of words from the young master. He has really become great.” While Zich argued with the Count, Trell had drawn the lines by calling out to Zich as ‘Mr. Zich’. Now, he also called Zich ‘young master,’ like the others.
Trell had begun calling Zich young master since Zich began collaborating with Steelwall. However, this was not the time to pay attention to such matters. Trell wondered how much trust the Saintess and Belri Weig had in Zich for the Saintess to give her support. He could only gasp in admiration. Thus, Trell had forgotten that he was in front of the Count for a moment.
“…” The Count did not reply, and Trell did not say anything more either. Trell realized his mistake. No matter how highly he regarded Zich, the Count had still exiled him; talking favorably of Zich went against the Count’s authority, since it could sound like he was accusing the Count of making a mistake in exiling Zich.
Of course, the Count wouldn’t rebuke Trell for such a small matter, since the Count had no doubts about Trell’s skills and loyalty. Even while numerous Bellid temples and evidence kept popping up across the estate, Count’s trust in Trell did not waver. However, Trell was not foolish enough to act so boldly and brashly in front of the Count. On the other hand, even though it would have been natural for the Count to feel slightly annoyed, he remained silent. He kept touching his teacup and seemed to be deep in thought.
* * *
Lubella and Weig joined Zich in his efforts to investigate the temple. A couple of holy knights also tried to follow them, but Lubella argued that it would be better to investigate separately and managed to get them off their backs. Zich did not stop Lubella from joining him. There was no organization better than the Karuwimans for finding and beating the crap out of the Bellid bastards.
Lubella asked, “Sir Zich, what are your thoughts about this situation?” She was trying to exchange her thoughts with Zich since he had begun looking for Bellids since the rumors began spreading. Moreover, she asked him because she greatly trusted his expertise.
“I think that it was started by those who hold malicious intent against Steelwall.”
“Well, it’s true that everything is turning out for the worse for the Steelwall family.” Zich’s opinion was something that everyone had thought of at least once in this current situation. A fraction of people even began turning their eyes suspiciously towards those with a bad relationship with Steelwall. However, there was one reason why the Steelwall family was looked at with the most suspicion.
“It can’t be helped since physical evidence of their connection with the Bellids keeps popping up.” Even people who thought that this whole situation was a conspiracy couldn’t help but change their thoughts when more and more evidence of the Bellid and Count Steelwall kept coming out. Maybe some people thought of this situation as a conspiracy but still thought that the rumors surrounding Steelwall were true, or maybe some thought that the dark side of Steelwall had finally come to light.
Lubella asked, “Perhaps, is there any suspect you have in mind?”
“I do, but I’m not certain. So I can’t tell you yet, Lady Lubella.”
“Is that so?” Lubella did not ask further.
They began searching all over Violsa, and they sometimes met with the Steelwall knights and the Karuwiman Holy Knights who were moving with the same purpose. They exchanged information with the knights, but they weren’t able to get much useful information.
“As expected of fish heads, they’re even better at hiding than cockroaches.”
“Honestly, I think that Bellu’s head should be called cockroach instead of fish.”
Zich and Lubella quietly complained amongst themselves. Weig walked right behind Lubella and laughed as the Saintess spewed out harsh words. At that moment, Zich’s group encountered another group. Since they had already met with the other Steelwall knights and Karuwiman Holy Knights, it wasn’t strange to meet another group of people. However, this group wasn’t just an ordinary party.
“Hey, we meet again.” Zich waved his hand. Glen slightly nodded.
“Mr. Zich, you must also be looking for the Bellid temple that is rumored to be in Violsa.”
“Yes, that’s correct. Cockroach nests need to be cleaned up in advance if we want to eliminate them completely.”
“Is that so?” Their conversation was very brief. After they exchanged formal pleasantries, they soon separated. They had already met each other in front of a Bellid temple, and they were still putting up an act. However, the two groups didn’t begin immediately moving away because there were other people who knew each other.
“It’s been a while, Chelsea. Have you been well?” Lubella took one step forward and talked to Chelsea.
Chelsea smiled as she stood next to Glen. “Yes, thanks to you. How are you doing?”
“Hmm, I’m a bit tired since the duty of a Saintess weighs heavily on my shoulders. But I’m getting used to it. No matter how tiring the work is, I can’t avoid it since it’s my duty, right? Since I’m the Saintess.”
“Yeah, the duty of a Saintess is heavy to the extent that someone without qualifications wouldn’t be able to bear it. I hope you are able to endure it. Since you were able to get a noble position as a Saintess, you need to become someone fitting of that role.”
“Thanks for your concern, but it’s not to the extent that I can’t bear it. Since I can’t just pass this important position to another person, I plan to stick to it no matter what happens.”
“It’s great that you think this way. Yeah, you should work hard with such a positive attitude and not collapse under the pressure.”
Both of them had bright smiles on their faces and their tones were extremely cheerful. However, Zich didn’t think that their views about each other were positive in the least.
‘The atmosphere is insanely tense.’ He couldn’t even lie and say that they looked close.