“…What did you say?” Joachim asked again. It was not because he couldn’t hear what Zich said. It was because he couldn’t believe Zich’s words. However, since Joachim asked this question, Zich made the effort to repeat his previous statement.
“I said, there’s a high possibility that Ms. Bargot is the one who spread the infectious diseases this time around.”
“…”
People had their mouths closed. Their eyes were full of disbelief as they stared at Zich. For everyone in the room, Zich’s words were beyond shocking. Out of all the people, only Hans maintained enough composure to think that despite his shock, he should first try listening to Zich.
“Stupid fool! You aren’t able to differentiate between reality and imagination anymore! Because you found the cure, you think you can just go around spouting nonsense?” Shalom mocked Zich. “If that’s not it, do you want to get all the credit for putting an end to Igram? You acted as if you didn’t need any recognition, but I guess you are a shallow person after all. As expected of someone on the Dracul family’s side. You guys go very well together.”
“Why are you being so defensive?” Zich calmly replied to Shalom’s mockery. “You act as if you have to be the one at fault.”
Shalom’s face stiffened. “…I’m the one who is the judge. Do you think I will be happy if someone contradicts me!”
“So even if you get killed, you swear on your life that you were the one who invented and spread the infectious disease around this estate?”
“Yes!”
“Then can you tell me how you invented it? Ah, you don’t have to give me a specific explanation. You can just give me a basic outline or theory.”
“…” Shalom did not reply.
“What happened? Try saying anything. I told you—if your words make sense, I will believe you. Ah, did you find the information in a book like me? Then I guess it can’t be helped.” Zich smirked while recalling his past events.
“…Then is it really true…” Joachim murmured to himself. Other people also began to realize that Shalom did not know much about infectious diseases.
“…Fine. I admit it. I just used the diseases that the robed man gave me. But I was the one who judged—”
“But isn’t it strange?” Zich cut off Shalom’s words again. Like a cat cornering a mouse, Zich slowly drove Shalom into a wall.
“Aren’t you siding with Ms. Bargot too much? If you acted like you usually did, instead of just telling me that you got it from the robed man, you would have laughed at my face and told me it was my choice whether or not I believed your words.”
Zich seemed like he was enjoying the situation. No, he was definitely enjoying it. Hans shook his head as he saw that Zich’s sadistic personality had emerged again. However, Hans remained focused on Zich. When Zich was like this, he was as keen as he was demeaning.
“I don’t think you are reacting like this out of guilt because whenever it comes to Ms. Bargot, you draw a firm line. Whenever we searched for Ms. Bargot, you just told us to find her by ourselves. But if you were acting this whole time, the entire story completely changes.” Zich’s eyes glistened. “You guys are working together, and the final plan was for you to take the fall. Then, Ms. Bargot would live on and continue her work. Since Ms. Bargot was the one who invented the infectious diseases in the first place, the judgment you are so proud of will continue.”
“Nonsense.”
Shalom’s acting was levels above Clovey’s amateur acting. His denial was clean and simple. He really looked as if he was not related to Ms. Bargot at all. However, Zich was not convinced.
“Well, it doesn’t matter. I can find out whether or not Ms. Bargot is the one who spread the diseases after I kill you and get more information out of her. If I’m wrong, then I’m wrong. Don’t worry. I won’t torture her. As you can tell, I’m good at shaking up people’s mental states and forcing information out of them.” With an exaggerated movement, Zich moved his thumb. “If you really have no ties with Ms. Bargot, it doesn’t matter, but if word gets out that you actually do, I don’t know what will happen to her. Maybe she will…” Zich did not finish his sentence. It was not because he didn’t know what would probably happen. But he wanted to leave the rest up to Shalom’s imagination so that Shalom could imagine the worst-case scenario. Zich laughed, and from his parted lips, his sharp canines glistened in the light.
“I’m sure that a lot of people who want revenge like you will appear. And like you, they wouldn’t want the perpetrator to get an easy death. So…” Zich snapped his fingers as if he just realized something. “I think I will be the first in line. Ever since I arrived at the estate, I suffered a lot because of the infectious diseases.”
“…” Shalom did not reply. It was impossible to know whether it was because he really had no ties with Ms. Bargot or if it was because of a different reason. He continued to stare at Zich in silence.
“Let’s end this.” Zich fixed his grip on the sword’s handle and headed towards Shalom. The knights looked at each other and then nodded. They followed Zich’s back; for now, they decided to support him.
“First of all, if you don’t need them, why don’t you return the Count and his son? And why don’t you try your best to give us a good show? You must not have any regrets since you were able to fulfill a bit of your revenge. And you have nothing more to worry about,” Zich said while taking one step further. “Since you have no ties with Ms. Bargot at all.”
Crunch!
Shalom gritted his teeth and made his move simultaneously. He took out a hidden sword behind the back of the bed and began wielding it around.
Crassssh!
Two swords infused with mana crashed into each other and sharp sounds filled the whole room. Zich smirked as he blocked Shalom’s sword.
“Huh? What’s up with you? Your face looks so serious. It’s as if I just pointed out your weakness.”
Shalom did not reply. He moved his feet and kicked the bed next to him.
Swish!
Shalom infused mana into his kick, so the bed easily went up and flew towards Zich. Even though it was a feeble attempt to cover Zich’s sight for a second, the Count was still on the bed.
“Father!” Joachim cried out, and the knights moved. However, Zich paid no attention to the Count.
‘I’m sure the knights can take care of that.’
They weren’t people who couldn’t catch one person from falling.
Crack!
Zich flung the whole bed that was covering his view to the side. Still, since the person lying on the bed was Joachim’s father, Zich controlled his strength to not injure the Count. When his view cleared up, Zich saw Shalom. Shalom was squeezing his body inside the floor where the bed used to be.
‘It’s a secret passageway.’
There was a secret passageway underneath the Count’s bed. It wasn’t anything unusual, and Shalom had probably learned of its existence while acting as the butler. Zich stabbed the air with his sword and used the skill, ‘Piercing Space.’ Sharp air mixed with mana shot out of the sword’s sides, but Shalom was hidden in the secret passage.
Yet, the attack wasn’t aimed at Shalom’s body but the floor surrounding the passage.
Whoosh!
The air struck the floor, and Zich could hear Shalom’s screams. “Urgh!”
Zich’s piercing attack had penetrated the floor and pierced Shalom. Shalom received a significant injury, and a little bit of blood splattered outside the passage. However, it didn’t completely finish him off and Shalom moved deeper into the passageway.
‘Hmm, he’s better than I expected.’
Before he became a butler, Zich heard that Shalom had been a skilled knight, and it seemed as if that was true. Shalom was faster than most low-level knights even while limping.
‘He probably didn’t slack off in his training even after his injury.’
“Did you lose him?” Joachim asked while taking care of the Count.
“Rather than losing him, I didn’t chase after him.”
“Sorry?”
“Shalom probably went to Ms. Bargot anyway. You said that Ms. Bargot was in the prayer room, right?”
“Yes.”
“Let’s go. I think everything will end there.” Zich’s gaze moved towards Joachim, and Joachim looked at the Count on the ground and the secret passageway that Shalom had escaped out of. Then, with a determined look, Joachim nodded.
* * *
While leaving a part of their army, they headed to the prayer room. Joachim was among the group who moved to the prayer room as Brod carried him on his back; Joachim’s complexion didn’t look too great, and it seemed as if he was shaken by Shalom’s revelation about his father. But because of their current situation, Joachim didn’t fall into a deep state of concern or guilt. He didn’t have time for it.
“Sir Zich.”
“Yes?”
“Why do you suspect Ms. Bargot?”
Everyone including Hans and Brod perked their ears at Joachim’s question.
‘I suspected that she might have been Fest from the beginning.’
It was either her or Shalom. However, from what Zich knew about Fest’s character, Shalom didn’t match the description. Thus, he naturally placed Ms. Bargot as the most likely suspect. This was the truth that only Zich knew. But Zich and Ms. Bargot had stayed very close together for a while to the point that rumors about their relationship had spread, so others couldn’t understand Zich’s reasoning.
“I didn’t know,” Zich lied casually.
“You didn’t know?”
“Yes. I just got a strange feeling while hearing Shalom talk. Since he kept talking about judgments, he must have felt a great amount of guilt. So, it didn’t make sense for him to treat Ms. Bargot, the representative of the victims of his actions, as someone unrelated to his plans. It didn’t fit somehow.”
“That is true.”
“I felt like he was drawing a line between him and her more than necessary. Of course, I couldn’t be certain with just that. As he said, it could also be that he was really trying to prevent her from meddling in his plan. In order to find out the truth, I pressured him a bit, and he took the bait.”
It wasn’t a complete lie. He had pressured Shalom to tell the truth, and Shalom conveniently fell into his trap.
“…How were you able to think that far in that short amount of time?”
“Sir, you can also do it too if you gather up some more experience.” Zich winked, and Joachim laughed spiritlessly. Zich said that it was possible for him if he gained more experience, but there wasn’t much of an age difference between Zich and Joachim.
‘Is this what you call feeling hopeless or having an inferiority complex?’ It was an unfamiliar feeling. Joachim could understand a bit of how Biyom might have felt towards him now and sighed. It did not take long for them to arrive at the prayer room. Soldiers who should have been guarding the door were scattered around with their heads missing. The expressions on people’s faces stiffened, and they ran to the prayer room.
“So, we have to immediately…!” Like he was throwing up blood—no, while he was actually throwing up blood, Shalom shouted, but his voice quickly broke off. Then, he slowly turned his body.
“…You came.”
While clutching his injured heart, he stared towards Zich and his companions bleakly. Behind them, a familiar figure stood below a huge, holy relic hanging on the wall. The woman was wearing all black like usual, and while facing the relic, she turned her body like she was praying. The fabric covering her face slightly fluttered due to her movements.
“It’s been a while, Ms. Bargot.” Zich waved his hands, and she smiled in response.
“Yes, it’s been a while, Mr. Zich. How have you been?”
“I couldn’t rest well because so many things happened. Worried about the state of the world, I even had trouble sleeping. As a result, my skin worsened.”
Hans’ expression was a sight to see as he watched Zich feign his pain. However, Ms. Bargot brought her hands to her lips like she was genuinely concerned about Zich.
“Oh my. Like I told you before, lack of sleep is not good for your health. Should I prescribe you a sleeping pill?”
“That’s an appealing offer, but I will refuse it. If I eat your sleeping pill, I think I won’t be able to wake up ever again.”
“How unfortunate.” Ms. Bargot smiled. “I was confident in the pill’s effect, whether it was for sleeping or making you never wake up again.”