Chapter 78
Jack’s booming voice continued without pause.
“…May Riena’s light cover all creation—Riena, be eternal! Long live Riena! Long live her for ten thousand years! Glory to Riena!”
People stared blankly at the man who had suddenly burst out praising the head of the merchant guild, but soon their expressions changed.
Click.
The wall in front of him slid open smoothly with only the faintest noise.
The employees of the guild were even more shocked. To think there had been such a secret space in the middle of a corridor they passed through every day.
“Oh? Looks like the password I entered at random happened to be correct.”
Only the prince stepped into the hidden space with an easy stride, as if he had anticipated everything.
“What on earth is this place?”
No one could answer him.
“Oh? It’s filled entirely with documents. This is quite suspicious.”
Snapping out of their daze at the prince’s words, the investigation team rushed inside. One of them flipped through a booklet lying on the table and reported:
“Your Highness! This is Iber Merchant Guild’s revenue statement for this year. But it’s slightly different from the one we just confiscated!”
Others shouted one after another.
“I found last year’s as well!”
“Your Highness! There’s an untitled ledger here too. There are numbers written next to each name!”
Terrence, who had stepped out of the secret space, approached Elliot.
“Vice Guildmaster, would you care to explain what this is about?”
“…”
A bead of cold sweat ran down Elliot’s tightly shut forehead.
“Well, never mind. More importantly, you’ll have to accompany us from here on.”
At the prince’s signal, the more physically imposing members of the investigation team stood on either side of Elliot.
“You are under arrest for obstructing the execution of lawful duties by concealing necessary evidence.”
Instead of Elliot, a man who appeared to be his aide urgently asked:
“W-where’s the warrant?!”
“Unfortunately for you, for this tax investigation I have been granted direct authority by His Majesty the Emperor. I can take you in without a warrant.”
“Then at least a lawyer—!”
Elliot stopped his subordinate.
“That’s enough. It seems I have no choice but to go.”
“Vice Guildmaster!”
“I’ll be away for a while, so make sure to water the plant next to my desk.”
For now, there was no visible way out. Elliot calmly allowed the handcuffs to be placed on him. As he exited the guild building and climbed into the carriage prepared for him, a blindfold was suddenly placed over his eyes.
“What is this?!”
No answer came. The investigators who boarded with him remained silent like trained professionals as they searched his body.
Elliot realized once more—this was an elaborate, carefully constructed trap. One designed to ensnare both him and his master.
The carriage he rode was the kind commonly seen in the city. Far too modest for an investigation team bearing the emperor’s special command. In other words, even Cassius would have difficulty tracking this carriage.
After traveling for some time, the carriage stopped. Elliot was forcibly pulled to his feet and made to walk through pitch darkness where he could not see an inch ahead.
They brought him into some building and shoved him into a room. There was someone inside who was different from the investigators.
“Ugh!”
This person grabbed Elliot by the collar even more roughly than the investigators had and dragged him somewhere. A creaking sound followed, and his body was thrown onto a cold floor.
“Hey!”
Just as he tried to protest, light suddenly returned. The blindfold had been removed.
“You are….”
A woman stood before him. He recognized her face. She was the knight who had guarded Idel in the Forest of Wanderers.
She looked down at Elliot coldly before stepping outside the iron bars and locking the gate with a key.
Only then did he properly take in the room. The creaking sound from earlier had been the metal gate opening and closing. In other words, he was inside a cell. And besides them, there was one more person there.
“Hello.”
Idel Wallace, standing beyond the bars, greeted him.
Seeing me, Elliot let out a snort.
“So I’m dragged here by the Second Prince’s men, and you’re the one who shows up. Looks like you’re not even trying to hide your relationship anymore.”
“Now that it’s already been exposed, is there any need to hide it? Though it’s not the kind of relationship you’re thinking of.”
“So you at least know an affair is something to be ashamed of.”
Before I could respond, Vineta reacted first.
“Shall I discipline him for a moment?”
“It’s fine. The provocation is so obvious it’s not even upsetting.”
When I stopped her, the sword she had partially drawn slid back into its sheath.
“Besides, judging by how confident you are despite being dragged alone to an unfamiliar place, it seems our dear Vice Guildmaster has something to rely on.”
Elliot clicked his tongue softly. I looked at him with faint disappointment. If we truly inflicted harm on him, that pain would return to Vineta—because of the artifact he carried.
“He really cherishes his own safety.”
Preparing for any contingency, he had implanted in his body a miniature self-defense artifact created by an eccentric inventor. It would be difficult to find through a simple body search and could likely only be removed through surgery.
Unlike the dark magic used by Baron Shileang, it had no dangerous side effects. But cutting open living flesh to insert an artifact… that was no ordinary person’s choice either.
Elliot had deliberately provoked me, hoping Vineta would open the cell to punish him. Then, when she was struck by pain, he intended to escape in the chaos.
“I know because a similar situation appears in the novel.”
To the public, Elliot was still just a genius who had graduated the academy with top marks and a capable vice guildmaster of Iber. But as time passed, he would demonstrate remarkable political skill and become a target of Riena’s enemies.
It was one of the memorable scenes. Elliot, whose whereabouts had been unknown, returned to Riena’s side and pledged his loyalty once more.
According to the novel, Riena was the only person who had recognized his true worth. In her first life, despite his brilliance, Elliot had remained stuck in a remote, insignificant post.
“Because of his mother’s status as a persecuted minority—and his arrogant personality.”
Talent doesn’t simply disappear. Even in a minor position, Elliot stood out, but there were limits. Feeling regret over that, Riena, after regressing, supported him early so he could play on a larger stage.
For that reason, Elliot’s loyalty to Riena was extremely strong—and perhaps because of his personality, somewhat extreme. As for me, I had no choice but to take such drastic measures.
Locked behind the bars and glaring at me fiercely, Elliot suddenly said:
“You certainly managed to win over Cecil Iber.”
“Are you suspecting Cecil of betrayal?”
“Don’t play dumb. I didn’t betray anyone—so who else could it be?”
From Elliot’s perspective, that was the natural conclusion. Otherwise, how would Terrence have known the password?
He wasn’t a god—just an exceptionally intelligent human. Without any clues, it would be impossible for him to arrive at the truth: that this world was a novel and I possessed knowledge of it.
“Should I just let him believe whatever he wants for now?”
I waved it off vaguely.
“Does it matter who betrayed you? What matters is that you’re locked up here.”
“You speak as if you can actually do something to me.”
Elliot laughed in disbelief.
“I am a member of the great House Cassius. And many witnessed the Second Prince taking me away. Even if he is a prince, if he lays a hand on me, Cassius will not remain silent.”
Under normal circumstances, he would be right. Terrence had only just begun solidifying his position; even a trivial weakness could be problematic.
“And besides,” Elliot continued,
“You blindfolded me and pretended to bring me to some unknown remote place—but this is actually an annex of the capital’s security bureau, isn’t it?”
“…”
“That look on your face says I’m right.”
Unprompted, Elliot began listing the basis for his deductions.
“I have a rough understanding of the structure, architectural styles, and interior decorations of major imperial facilities. And considering the carriage’s travel time—even if you deliberately took a roundabout route, the probability is high we’re still within the capital.”
Impressive, truly. Come to think of it, Elliot had never been able to resist showing off.
“And even without sight, one can tell whether the carriage moved straight for several minutes before turning right, or left—”
“So what’s your conclusion?”
“Creating a menacing atmosphere to intimidate me is pointless. As long as I am formally detained, you cannot lay a hand on me.”
Is that so?
The source of his sky-high confidence lay in his certainty that Terrence would never accept that level of loss.
“There’s no reason for him to go that far.”
If Terrence hadn’t listened to me, that would have been true. If he hadn’t recognized Elliot’s potential danger through me.
When we discussed Elliot’s fate not long ago, after hearing everything, Terrence had murmured:
“Then it would be better to kill him.”
