Byner had made quite an impression on Zich. When he was a Demon lord, some people tried to defeat him like Glen, but no one provoked a fight with him like he was just some weed in the middle of the road. His strength and name were too high-reaching for anyone to dare to do that. Thus, Byner’s attitude toward him right after Zich regressed felt very refreshing rather than annoying. Of course, Hans acted similarly, but Byner had tried to attack him with violence.
However, that was all; he wasn’t anyone Zich needed to give more attention to beyond that, and when Zich returned to the Steelwall Estate, he even failed to recall Byner. After Zich completely humiliated Byner in their duel, Byner’s existence completely disappeared from his mind. Yet, ever since the lasting impression he made during their first meeting, Zich recognized him right away.
‘A Steelwall knight appeared with Glen…’ It was clear that their union wasn’t for a good purpose.
Byner looked toward Zich, and Zich could feel rage and loathing in his gaze.
‘It’s out of revenge.’ Byner probably gained a sense of revenge after the humiliation he endured from Zich. Even though he simply received the price for his actions, it seemed that Byner didn’t think the same way. Zich didn’t think so badly about this since he acted upon revenge whenever he felt annoyed about something. Thus, he couldn’t deny such a feeling from Byner and understood Byner’s desire for revenge against him.
‘Of course, understanding and accepting this revenge are different matters,’ Zich thought. He simply understood Byner’s sense of revenge but didn’t plan on letting him go through with it.
‘He would be able to carry out his revenge if he had the skills.’ However, Zich didn’t think Byner was capable. With his arms crossed, Zich raised his chin. Sparks flew out of Byner’s eyes when he saw Zich’s clearly rugged posture. The two exchanged tense glances until Glen spoke.
“Sir Byner, please explain what you have experienced,” Glen said, and Byner finally took his eyes off of Zich and looked toward the others.
“Hello, I’m Halton Byner. Since you all must be busy, I will get to the point.” Byner let out a deep breath and said, “Some time ago, I saw a suspicious figure going in and out of Count Steelwall’s office.”
“Suspicious figure… Could you explain more in detail?” one of the high priests asked.
Byner replied without hesitation as if he had been waiting to answer. “He was a Bellid priest.”
People murmured amongst themselves.
“Is that really true?”
“How could I dare to lie in this place?” Byner said firmly as if he was trying to emphasize his sincerity.
“How did you know that person was a Bellid?”
“I didn’t know until a few days ago. I simply thought he was the Count’s guest—of course, not any guest since he visited the Count often. Still, I thought he was nothing more than a special guest, but after an incident, I began to think that something was strange.”
“What was strange?”
“That man seemed quite close to other people in the estate besides the Count. Thus, I thought he was someone who was generally close to the Steelwalls and not just the Count. However, I suddenly recalled recently that those who had been close to the man were identified as Bellid followers.”
Several people gasped. Byner gained confidence through their response, and his voice grew a bit louder.
“I then began to suspect the man. Several days after that finding, he came to visit the Count again. Like they always did, he had a one-on-one meeting with the Count and left the estate. Then, I trailed the man and saw him head to a house on the outskirts of Violsa.”
“So what happened after that?” Glen asked in order to express the curiosity others were feeling and smoothen the flow of Byner’s explanation that could otherwise be too stiff.
“I didn’t follow him inside since I only had my doubts and no concrete evidence, but I remembered that house and checked on it often to see if anything special happened. When I heard that a large temple was found near Violsa, the building became empty.”
“How did you know that there was no one in the building?”
“Lights were turned on in the house every night. Strangely enough, I couldn’t see any lights after the rumor of the temple spread. Then, a couple of days passed after that, and I still saw no lights coming out of the house.”
“So, you must have gone in the house then.”
“Yes.”
Byner and Glen continued to talk back and forth to relay the whole story. Zich watched them intently to see how this theater play would progress.
“The door was closed, so I forcefully opened it and entered. I will definitely atone for that sin.”
“I am very impressed by your great sense of justice, but unfortunately, this isn’t the time to discuss that. Please continue with your explanation.”
‘They sure are playing around.” In his mind, Zich laughed as the two confessed, repented, and forgave each other in their play.
“The house was empty. There wasn’t a single piece of furniture, and it didn’t look like a place fitting for a person to live. There were also items scattered all over the place as if the resident had left the place in a hurry. This scene only made me more curious about the owner of the house,” Byner said.
“So how did the search go?” Glen asked.
“I wasn’t able to find much. Just some dirty clothes and rotten food, but among them, there was something very important.”
“And what was that?”
Byner took something out from his belongings. It was a tightly rolled-up scroll.
“It was this.” Byner handed Glen a roll of paper. Everyone’s gaze moved towards the scroll.
“What is that!” A high priest with short patience raised their voice.
Byner replied as if he had been waiting for someone to ask, “It’s a written order from Count Steelwall, commanding that all the evidence found in the Bellid temples near Violsa be destroyed.”
Glen opened the roll of paper with an exaggerated movement and raised it high in the air toward the audience.
“Are you sure?” someone asked, half shocked and half suspicious.
Byner firmly replied, “The seal stamped on the document is definitely Count Steelwall's. I'm very familiar with it because of my job.”
Gasps and sighs came out from everywhere. While it was true that part of the Steelwall Family had been tainted by the Bellids, those who supported Count Steelwall argued that the Count had no connections with the Bellids. However, the evidence that Byner brought out crushed their argument.
“…Is Count Steelwall really involved…”
“We have to first make sure, but if the seal is really Count Steelwall’s, there’s a high chance that he is deeply involved.”
While people exchanged their thoughts, Byner added, “In addition, the handwriting is definitely from Count Steelwall as well.”
Suspicions towards the Count increased. Count Steelwall had already been looked at with suspicion, so even a small piece of evidence could incriminate him. On the other hand, in this case, a fairly strong piece of evidence had been presented to them.
“This is decisive evidence that Count Steelwall is connected to the Bellids! Thus, we need to side with the Pinne Estate and raid the Steelwall Estate!” Glen voiced his suggestion loudly, and then he looked at Zich. “Mr. Zich, what is your opinion? Don’t you think that the Karuwimans should side with the Pinne Estate?”
It was obvious why Glen targeted Zich to ask this question. Lubella and Weig frowned. However, Zich was calm; he even chuckled and said, “Not at all.”
“Would I be able to hear why you think that way?” Glen was calm. He even seemed relaxed. It seemed as if he was confident of his advantage.
“From what I saw from standing next to Count Steelwall, he is not a Bellid follower at all. He also has no relation to the incidents currently happening in his estate. If you argue that his abilities are lacking because he couldn’t properly maintain his estate, I would agree, but a Bellid supporter? Considering his personality, that’s impossible.”
What if Count Steelwall had heard Zich’s words just now? Even though Zich was certainly speaking up for Count Steelwall, his every word was full of scorn.
“So you’re saying that you don’t have concrete evidence.”
“Yes, just like you.”
Glen’s expression stiffened. He pointed at the document in his hand. “I brought the evidence here.”
“It’s a document that you’re arguing is evidence. I think that this incident is a sly conspiracy from those who are targeting Steelwall, and those guys cunningly allowed the Bellids to infiltrate the Steelwall Estate. Considering their skill, I fully expect them to be able to counterfeit the Count’s seal and penmanship.”
“You’re not saying that because you’re Count Steelwall’s son?” Byner said to Zich. This was the first conversation they had since Zich first regressed and was defeated in their duel. Byner’s voice was full of hostility.
Compared to him, Zich’s voice was extremely calm. Even though the location and the people around them were different, the situation was somewhat similar to before. It was similar to when Zich beat the crap out of Hans and Byner, and then, Byner said all kinds of accusations at him in front of Count Steelwall. Byner and Zich both felt this as well. Byner, who had lost, gritted his teeth, but Zich was extremely relaxed as the winner.
Zich replied, “So you’re saying that my personal feelings are clouding my judgment?”
“Are you not?”
Zich smirked. “This is hilarious, coming from you who know very well of my relationship with the Count.”
“…Regardless of how strained your relationship is with the Count, you’re still connected to him by blood.”
“Okay, let’s just pretend that I’m supporting Count Steelwall because of personal emotions as someone who shares the same blood. Then, let’s consider the fact that I might not be the only person with personal emotions.” Zich pointed at Byner. “First, there’s a very high chance that you hold ill feelings towards me. You picked a fight with me in the past, and after lying to avoid punishment, you were utterly defeated in a duel against me.”
Byner tried to say something, but Zich did not give him an opportunity to intervene. “By this same logic, there’s a possibility that you are using false testimony to attack me, who is siding with Count Steelwall—all because of your personal emotions.” Then, Zich pointed his finger at Glen. “It’s the same for Mr. Glen here. My relationship with him isn’t great either. Lady Lubella and Sir Weig also know this as well, and considering the atmosphere here, it seems like a couple of other people know this as well.”
Since Glen and Zich were both Karuwiman Holy Knights, it wasn’t strange that information about their relationship spread among the Karuwimans.
Zich continued, “Well, it doesn’t matter because those who didn’t know would have found out this time. Anyway, there’s also a possibility that Mr. Zenard is siding with the Pinne family to attack me.”
“Those claims are completely false!” Glen strongly denied it, but Zich shrugged.
“I’m not saying that it’s certain. Considering how Sir Byner talked about personal emotions, I just merely wanted to suggest that both of you are in the same boat as me.” Then, Zich made an extremely taunting smile.