The Hero Who Returned From Death Quits

76 – EP5. Wind Memory

Angel let out a sigh.

She never expected to be kidnapped simply for probing their secrets.

That’s when she realized. The abduction was impromptu.

It seemed implausible that someone meticulously planned enough to encompass everyone within the palace in advance would be so sloppy.

She figured there must be someone else in charge.

The commanding officer was probably just a lackey. Good at following orders but never the mastermind.

Angel started pondering. So, who could be the mastermind?

Her thoughts spiraled to an extreme conclusion.

“…Ricardo?”

Angel burst into an incredulous laugh at her own words.

Well, it wasn’t entirely odd for Ricardo, in charge of the Royal Guard, to be directing a subordinate within the guard. If he weren’t the heir to the royal family, that is.

From the very start, even the Fairy King had declared Ricardo as the essence of the royal lineage, and even his sister Lena acknowledged him as the perfect successor.

Thus, Ricardo lacked motive. Angel began searching for another candidate.

A general? That was a plausible story as well.

At least more realistic than Ricardo, someone with the qualifications to reign above the position of a deputy within the Royal Guard.

He also thought of several other candidates.

After thinking that, Ainzelle left the room. Even if it meant enduring death a few times, he had to investigate eventually to find out. At the very least, narrowing down a few candidates was progress.

Ainzelle chewed his food thoughtfully, then wiped his lips with his fingers before getting up from his seat.

“Where, I should take a look at who seems suspicious.”

After leaving the restaurant, he began to ponder who he should investigate first.

And there was someone right in front of him.

“…Ivercas.”

“Ah? Yeah, it’s you. Other humans have all returned to the Empire, but you haven’t? I was a bit disappointed, but it worked out well.”

Ivercas approached Ainzelle and spoke. His eyes were sparkling with an unusual level of curiosity, and Ainzelle replied with a wary expression.

“Ah, yes.”

Ainzelle found Ivercas somewhat intimidating. He had been confident when facing Titans, but he was not familiar with spirits, and Ivercas’s gaze was completely different from his own, making him instinctively wary.

“Yeah, there were so many things I wanted to ask you, you know? I’m more excited than eavesdropping on Magnus’s meetings!”

“Unfortunately, I don’t have much time.”

Ainzelle’s words were sincere. In reality, he was pressed for time.

There were a few weeks left, but that essentially meant there was not much time left. He didn’t have time to investigate what was happening beneath the surface, and he had no time to spend with Ivercas.

“Why!? I really have so many questions for you! I’m more excited about this than secretly eavesdropping on the Fairy King’s meeting!”

“I don’t have… Wait, did you just say you eavesdropped on the Fairy King’s meeting? How did you manage that?”

Ainzelle looked at Ivercas with disbelief in his eyes. Ivercas responded with an expectant expression.

“I used an incantation to project myself into Chandelier’s candle flames and eavesdropped.”

Ainzelle was astounded.

But at the same time, Ivercas’s words sounded very appealing.

“…In that case, I’ll answer any questions you have. Can you help me with something in return?”

“Huh? What is it? Try asking me anything. I can do anything, even if I haven’t done it before!”

Ainzelle said with a serious expression.

“…Can you monitor the Deputy Commander of the Praetorian Guard?”

“Monitor him? It’s possible, but why all of a sudden?”

Ivercas asked.

“If you think something is suspicious.”

Angel decided to play it loose.

“Huh? Suspicious? I don’t see anything different.”

“…There is something. It started after I heard that the Empire’s messenger was coming. It’s a little suspicious, I must say.”

As Angel spoke, Ivercas gently scratched his chin with his finger and said.

“Alright, fine. It shouldn’t be difficult. But… you’ll answer whatever question I ask?”

Angel looked at Ivercas, who was wearing a dangerous expression, and nodded.

“Well, here, drink this.”

Contrary to Angel’s expectation that Ivercas would immediately ask a question, Ivercas led him to an empty reception room. Then, he put milk in a teacup and stirred it with a flick of his finger, and lit a fire with his own finger to boil the milk tea.

“…What’s this?”

Angel asked.

“Don’t you know when you see it? It’s milk tea.”

Angel clenched his head. That wasn’t what he was asking.

“…That’s not it. Why did you give this to me?”

After Angel spoke, Ivercas said, “Ah,” and raised his voice before answering.

“I guess I’ll have a lot of questions, so I want you to relax.”

Angel began to feel a little uneasy. Anyway, he drank the milk tea, and surprisingly, it tasted very good. On second thought, it was quite a luxurious drink. How many people in the continent have tasted tea boiled with the flames of elemental fire, especially that of a higher-level elemental?

“Well… should I start asking questions now?”

Ivercas sat down, clapped his hands like a child about to open a gift, and rubbed his palm.

“But before that, let me calm down a bit while I have some tea… Ouch, it’s hot!”

Ivercas quickly gulped down the tea and screamed. Angel looked at him with a cool gaze.

“Don’t look at me like that. Even if I’m an elemental of fire, hot things are still hot! Just because I’m a devil doesn’t mean I won’t get burned by black magic!”

Angel said.

“…Wasn’t it?”

“What nonsense!”

Ivercas exclaimed once, then took a deep breath.

“Alright… now I’m going to ask some important questions, but I can’t do it when I’m all worked up. Calm down, calm down.”

Angel looked at the overflowing spirit of mischief in front of him and wondered if all fire elementals were like this. They couldn’t be relied upon on the battlefield.

“Well… first of all, where did you get the device you gave me?”

Angel mentioned the Catalyst.

“Why are you so curious about that?”

“Oh, do I have to explain why I’m curious to get an answer? Got it!”

Ivercas chuckled, thinking that was the rule.

“Simply put, I was curious about where you got that astonishing magical amplification device. It seems to draw in natural magical energy in an incredible way, which intrigued me. I’m an elemental, so it’s a bit unsettling when things like that happen, but let’s put that aside. Even after using it, doesn’t it keep draining nearby magical energy incessantly? And doesn’t it require a tremendous amount of magical power to use? It’s quite peculiar in many ways.”

Ainzil broke into a cold sweat.

“You didn’t tell anyone else about it, did you!?”

Ainzil urgently exclaimed. The Catalyst was both dangerous and fascinating. They had no idea what might happen.

“Huh? No, I didn’t tell anyone and just played around with it on my own.”

Ainzil sighed in relief.

“…Alright, then I’ll tell you. I found it in the Imperial Ruins. I went in thinking there might be something interesting, and there it was, along with a cipher. I did some research and managed to obtain it.”

Ivercas said with a disappointed expression on his face.

From Noble mtl dot com

“…It’s a bit anticlimactic.”

“What were you expecting?”

Ainzil asked, and Ivercas shouted,

“No, I mean, after accidentally obtaining something like a book with conspiracies of ancient mages and then using it to fight against humans who wanted to use it! I thought that much would be obvious.”

Ainzil shivered. What was that thing? It was terrifying.

“Well… I guess so, but then… How did you use that against Titan?”

“What do you mean?”

Ainzil asked.

Pretending not to know. You moved as if you predicted everything Titan would do. Titan couldn’t even touch you.”

Ainzil felt a chill running down his spine. How could he explain this?

“Well…”

“Oh, I see! It’s strange that someone like you who hasn’t met Titan a few times seems to know Titan’s behavior so well. Can’t you predict the flow of muscles in most cases?”

As he discovered the extent of what he knew, Ainzil felt a different kind of suffocation.