The Evil Noble Desires A Beautiful Demise - Could It Be That You're Stuck In A Loop? - Episode 34

“Somehow, it feels nostalgic.”

Tiarola had entered the empire and made her way to the mansion where Salifa had lived. It took her a bit of time to leave the sacred land, but she somehow managed to bring Firai along. Days had passed since Salifa’s disappearance, and her anxiety was growing.

“I’ll go ahead and take a look. There might still be some familiar faces. Lady Tiarola, please wait here.”

“Please”

After waiting for a while, Firai returned.

“Thank you for waiting. It seems that the mansion is currently not in use. Since there was no one there, we can proceed with the investigation. What do you want to do?”

“Let’s go inside and check, just in case. I hope there’s even a small clue left…”

When leaving the academy, I borrowed a magical tool for investigation from Krig. If I use this, I should at least be able to tell if anyone has visited this mansion recently.

Entering the mansion, I begin my exploration.

As Firai said, there was no sign of people, and judging by the state of the mansion, it seems it hasn’t been used for a while.

“This is Lady Salifa’s room.”

With Firai’s guidance, I came to Salifa’s room for now. I don’t think this is the time to be thinking about such things, but… I was quite interested. No, this can’t be helped, can it? After all, this is the room where Salifa spent her childhood. It’s only natural to feel a bit excited.

“……Lady Tiarola?”

“Yes, it’s nothing. Absolutely nothing. Now, shall we investigate thoroughly and carefully?”

Since I was looked at with suspicion, I entered the room to cover it up. It was a typical Salifa room, with nothing special in it.

I took a deep breath for no particular reason, but it doesn’t have any deep meaning.

“Ah… well then, let’s investigate.”

With the magical tool borrowed from Krig, I examine every corner of the room. This magical tool detects residual magical power and can also identify magical wavelengths. Since magical wavelengths differ from person to person, it is possible to identify individuals to some extent.

If we can determine Salifa’s magical wavelength, we can use a magical tool to track her. Since it couldn’t be detected in Salifa’s room at the academy, if it can’t be detected here, the search will become extremely difficult.

“This is… probably Salifa’s magical wavelength.”

Good. The objective of recording Salifa’s magical wavelength has been achieved. However, the residual magic detected was minimal, so it likely isn’t recent. It’s impressive that Klug’s magical tool can detect it even though Salifa lived here four years ago.

“Hmm? What’s this…?”

The investigation continued, and while examining under the furniture, a minuscule amount of magical wavelength different from Salifa was detected.

“Wasn’t it a man named Zebras who was teaching Salifa magic?”

“Yes, that’s right. Did you find another magical wavelength?”

“Perhaps. This is a significant clue.”

I was hoping to detect Salifa’s magical wavelength for the search, but I was also able to find the magical wavelength of the most suspicious person at the moment. As a result, it seems quite good.

“This room seems to be about this much. Let’s check other places just in case.”

After that, I thoroughly searched the mansion and the garden, but there were no new discoveries. I was happy to hear stories about Salifa’s childhood from Firai, though.

I should have done everything I could.

The next destination is the imperial capital, Olbraim. Let’s seek the cooperation of Endens and begin the full-scale search for Salifa.

“Thanks for coming.”

“It’s been a while, Endens. Though, it’s only been a few days, hasn’t it?”

After investigating Salifa’s mansion, we set off immediately and arrived at the imperial capital. We headed to the imperial castle to meet Endens, but we were turned away at the gate because we needed to go through the proper procedures for a meeting. Although I didn’t want to, I considered revealing that I was the saint, but then Endens appeared and the situation was resolved.

Right now, we are facing each other in Endens’s private room.

“Even so, I really appreciate it. It becomes difficult to move around if people find out I’m a saint…”

“Yeah, I figured. I was just told by Krig that Tiarola would eventually come here, so I was just being cautious.”

It seems that Craig had been in touch properly. I should have thought it over carefully too, but I realized that I was just panicking and not thinking straight.

“And, who might you be?”

“He is Sir Firai, the holy knight. He is assisting with the search for Salifa.”

“My name is Firai. I have been acquainted with Lady Salifa since childhood, and I am honored to join this search. Thank you very much.”

“Oh, you are the one who taught Salifa swordsmanship. I’ve heard about you from Salifa. It’s a pleasure to meet you.”

Now that the greetings are over, let’s get to the main topic.

“First, let me give you the report.”

Krig might have explained it in the letter, but I explained it from the beginning. Then, I report that we were able to detect Salifa’s magical power at Salifa’s mansion, as well as what seems to be the magical power of the wizard Zebras who was coming and going from the mansion.

“That’s all from me. Did you understand what the evidence is?”

“Thank you for the investigation and report. On my end, I was looking into the Greitz Duke family, which is Salifa’s birthplace… and here too, I suspect that magician.”

It seems that Endens has been moving steadily as well. However, it appears that they are choosing their words carefully.

“Let me get straight to the point. That man named Zebras is a criminal who has been placed on the wanted list by the Mage Alliance for using forbidden magic.”

“Such a thing…”

The person who was teaching Salifa magic is a sinner?

Does Salifa know about this?

It seems that Firai is also surprised.

“Zebras are wanted…?! I’m sorry, if I had properly investigated their background…”

“No, Lord Firai is not to blame. It’s been years, and the Mage Alliance, not wanting to spread the existence of forbidden techniques, has not made this information public.”

“What kind of forbidden technique is that?”

“I’m not very knowledgeable about it either, but the forbidden magic is said to be quite dangerous. It seems that Zebras was researching something related to the otherworldly, but I have no idea what the content is.”

What is another world, I wonder?

Well, it seems there isn’t much information about forbidden techniques, so there’s no point in thinking about it now.

“Anyway, shall we proceed under the assumption that a man named Zebras is involved in this matter?”

“Ah, that would be good. There was a report a few days ago that someone resembling Zebras entered the imperial capital. I can’t believe it’s unrelated to Salifa’s disappearance.”

“That’s right. If they are plotting something sinister, they are probably still lurking in the capital. We must hurry to rescue Salifa.”

Thus, the search for Salifa and the investigation of Zebras began.