Inn Overlord: Reincarnated with Enhancement Magic, Now Worshipped as a Divine Messenger! - Chapter 50

Seraph’s Perspective

We had breakfast before the meeting.

The dining room of the inn was filled with the fresh morning air, and the smell of grilled bacon and butter-soy sauce spread around. I cooked a fried egg on top of bacon grilled with butter and soy sauce, then ate it together with rice. I added sugar to the soy sauce, so the overall flavor was a little sweet. Oh, and I didn’t forget the salt and pepper at the end.

“Seraph-samaaa! This is delicious!!”

Mr. Luka had been asleep until just now, but he woke up from the smell of the bacon and egg bowl.

Mother, Abigail, Sir David, Lady Laura, Jeanne, Albert, and Setsuna ate the same thing. Oh, and Orma too.

“This is real good, Seraph!”

Sir David said as he scooped up the sauce-covered rice.

“It’s delicious.”
“It really is.”

Abigail and Mother told me. Lady Laura nodded in agreement with them.

“As expected of Seraph-sama.”

Jeanne said with rice on her cheek, closing her eyes with a thoughtful expression.

“Jeanne? You’ve got rice on your cheek.”

“Ehhh!!?”

I reached out my hand to take the rice off Jeanne’s cheek. Jeanne looked at my hand coming closer and seemed confused for some reason.

“S-Seraph-sama!? What are you doing!?”

I took the rice off Jeanne’s cheek and put it in my mouth.

“Jeanne is usually so serious, but things like this make her kind of cute.”

Jeanne turned red and looked down. Everyone laughed when they saw that.

Setsuna murmured,

“Ah… Even like this, my sister is beautiful…”

Jeanne noticed that murmur and glared at Setsuna and Albert. Then she said to me,

“…Seraph-sama, these two said they want to serve under you.”

The warm mood quickly changed. Mr. Albert and Ms. Setsuna looked directly at me. Sir David and Lady Laura looked displeased by this.

To calm them, Jeanne said,

“These two still have some use.”

Albert and Setsuna had temporarily agreed to work with us under the condition that if they showed us around the Margrave of Burlington’s estate, we wouldn’t take their lives. I asked them,

“Not about being useful… Are you two really okay with that?”

Since Jeanne was holding their lives with magic, they had no choice but to follow us. I didn’t want things to be forced like that.

“It’s true we tried to attack this village. But it’s also true that we like this village—”

Sir David said strongly.

“There’s no way we can believe that!”

Lady Laura, Abigail, and Mother all nodded. Albert spoke.

“That’s why you should listen to our sister.”

At some point, Albert and Setsuna had started calling Jeanne ‘sister.’

Jeanne began to speak.

“There is something behind this empire’s invasion.”

“Other than the Margrave of Burlington’s betrayal?”

Sir David asked, and Jeanne answered.

“We tried to capture the Margrave and make him confess his crimes, but he was already dead.”

“What!?”
“Eh!?”
“Huh!?”
“Why!?”
“Huh?”

Jeanne explained what happened in the royal capital in order.

Prince Abel, the younger brother of King Ingobell, noticed the betrayal of the Margrave of Burlington. Before the small city of Barmuller could be taken from the inside, Abel’s soldiers drove off the Margrave’s troops. So the imperial army gave up and retreated.

Sir David said,

“I see. That’s Prince Abel for you.”

Jeanne continued.

“Officially, it’s said that when Prince Abel’s soldiers entered the Margrave’s mansion, the Margrave was already dead. They concluded that the Margrave of Burlington killed himself with poison out of fear that his betrayal would be discovered.”

I see. Maybe he thought his betrayal had been found out when Abel’s soldiers came unexpectedly. But I shared my doubt.

“Huh? But Jeanne, you guys were already in the mansion before Prince Abel’s soldiers got there, right?”

“Yes. We found the Margrave of Burlington’s body while his army was heading toward the small city of Barmuller.”

Sir David sorted it out.

“Then that means the Margrave killed himself before his betrayal was found out?”

“That’s right.”

Abigail spoke.

“Wait, what does that mean?”

“In other words, it looked like suicide, but the Margrave of Burlington was murdered.”

“Wha…”

Tension filled the dining room. Lady Laura broke the silence.

“Isn’t that a bit of a stretch? Maybe the Margrave realized Abel was onto him midway…”

Jeanne denied that.

“The Margrave was sitting in his office chair drinking wine just before dying. We think someone mixed slow-acting poison in the wine. The glass on the floor had a smell that wasn’t just wine. Also, there was another glass near the wine bottle besides the one the Margrave was drinking from.”

I followed Jeanne and spoke my thoughts.

“…So someone else was there before you entered that office?”

“Yes, that’s exactly it. Luckily, since we were the first to discover the Margrave’s body, we noticed these details. Also, just before we entered the mansion, we sensed a strong magical power surrounding it. We believe that person is the one who killed the Margrave of Burlington.”

My heart skipped a beat. For Jeanne to say someone had strong magic… that must mean they’re very powerful.

Sir David said,

“Then that person planned everything behind the scenes!? We need to tell Prince Abel in Barmuller right away—”

Before Sir David could finish, Mother dropped her spoon.

Everyone turned to look at Mother. She apologized and picked it up, but ever since the talk about Prince Abel started, she had been acting strange.

Jeanne raised her voice to continue.

“There is a strong chance that the one pulling the strings… is Abel himself.”

“What!?”
“Eh!?”
“Why!?”

I understood now why Jeanne, who usually speaks formally, had been calling Prince Abel by just his name.

“How did Abel realize the Margrave betrayed him?”

“Maybe he used spies or something…”

“If he was working with the Margrave from the start, and betrayed him in the end, he could put all the blame on him.”

“Th-That’s thinking too far, isn’t it…?”

“No, not really. Abel might’ve worried that the Margrave leaked information to his son or soldiers. That’s why he didn’t capture them—he killed them all on the battlefield.”

I felt sick.

Lady Laura objected.

“E-Even if he planned all that, what’s Abel trying to do?”

“Abel gained the most military achievement in this war. He’ll probably take over the Margrave’s land. The defense budget and funds for the border will go into Abel’s hands. The new mayor of Barmuller is Robert Zappa, one of the former Six Generals. He supports the current king, but if people in Barmuller hear that Abel saved them, someone under Abel might be elected next. Or maybe Abel will buy Robert’s favor and make him switch sides.”

I see. Prince Abel, the king’s brother, is trying to become the next king using his influence.

Jeanne continued.

“I don’t care who the next king is. But Abel put Noonan Village in danger twice already. Maybe even what’s happening in the Demon Forest is connected to him. After Barmuller, he might come to control Noonan next.”

“T-That’s…”
“That’s too much…”

“That’s why I want to use Albert and Setsuna to lure out people working under Abel—”

Sir David said,

“Wait, wait, wait! Even if Abel wants to be king, there’s no way he’d want to control a small village like this—”

Then, Mother suddenly interrupted Sir David—something she rarely does.

“He would.”

“Huh?”

Sir David—and of course, everyone—looked at Mother. She was trembling.

“Mother, what’s wrong?”

Ignoring my words, Mother said,

“Prince Abel has a reason to attack this village.”

Lady Laura asked,

“What kind of reason?”

“…Abel Ruta Rudivo Schmar is Seraph’s father.”