Disappointing Teleportation Magic ~ Even Though The Movement Distance Is Only 1 Millimeter, I Will Rise Through Ingenuity ~ - Chapter 54.1

“Since they went through the trouble of preparing this meal for us… pfft, haha…”

“Yuto, seriously… I shouldn’t be laughing either, but don’t laugh.”

“Hahaha… My bad, my bad. Let’s just sit down and eat.”

Tariq, who had approached me armed with hidden weapons, didn’t resist at all after Araseli subdued him.

It seems that the moment he confirmed that I was still the same as before, his intention to assassinate me disappeared.

I pleaded with the soldiers who wanted to detain and interrogate him, and after a thorough body search, we were granted time to have a meal together.

Tariq had been stripped of his clothes and underwear to ensure he couldn’t hide any weapons, with only a cloth wrapped around his waist.

Seeing Tariq, sitting at a somewhat luxurious dining table in a cloth in the fancy dining hall meant for high-ranking officials, was too much for me, and I couldn’t stop laughing.

“Even though you’ve become a marquis, you haven’t changed at all.”

“Yeah, well, hearing ‘You’re a marquis from today’ doesn’t really sink in.”

“That’s true… or maybe I just wanted to think that.”

Apparently, the one who ordered Tariq to assassinate me was a wealthy man named Pedrada.

After the wyvern attack, Tariq, who had been temporarily dismissed from his duties, returned to his family home in the city.

It seems that his family’s house, which was built like a row house, was destroyed during the wyvern hunt, and his father suffered a severe back injury.

It was Pedrada who extended a helping hand to Tariq’s family in their time of need.

Pedrada is the owner of a large store that even supplies goods to the castle, and he took in not only Tariq’s family but also other families who had been affected by the disaster, letting them live in the building where his shop’s servants stayed.

On top of that, he even covered the cost of Tariq’s father’s medical treatment.

Tariq is the second of seven siblings, and with such a large family, his household wasn’t very well off.

Though Tariq was living independently, he had continued to send money back home.

Losing their home, with the family’s breadwinner unable to work due to injury, Pedrada’s help was something they were all grateful for.

However, looking back now, it seems that all of Pedrada’s actions were part of a plan.

After the wyvern was defeated, a notice went out calling those who worked at the castle to return, and Tariq also returned to the dormitory for miscellaneous workers.

“I met Pedrada again about ten days after the memorial service, in the evening. He ambushed me on my way back to the dormitory from the workers’ station.”

Pedrada asked Tariq if he could spare some time, and then led him to a building on the eastern side of the castle.

Tariq knew that the eastern side of the castle was controlled by the faction of the second prince, but with his family indebted to Pedrada, he had no choice but to follow him.

“The room I was taken to had the head of the castle’s waitstaff waiting there.”

In this country, jobs that bring you closer to the royal family or nobility are considered higher in status.

The waitstaff, who serve food and drinks, have an even higher status than the miscellaneous workers or kitchen staff.

“So, what did they say?”

“They told me that Yuto, who had grown arrogant after defeating the wyvern, was gathering people dissatisfied with the royal family and plotting to overthrow the monarchy. They wanted me to kill you to prevent a crisis for the country.”

“That’s ridiculous…”

“Of course, I didn’t believe it and refused. But then they said Yuto had become a scumbag who violated the maid assigned to him every night… What’s wrong, Yuto?”

“N-nothing… Go on.”