When the Mid-Boss Villainous Noble Recalls Memories of a Past Life and Gains Game Knowledge. I Will Never Accept a Future Where I'm Called the Jealous Earl - Chapter 30

“See? I told you.”

“Whoa~! Mina-chan, your magic is really powerful!”

Hearing such praise while clapping her hands makes me feel a little happy.

“More importantly, we should tie him up.”

“You’re right~. Here, use this.”

Meina hands me a rope from… somewhere.

…She wasn’t holding anything just moments ago, yet suddenly, it was in her hands. I should ask her to teach me that trick later.

“Alright, here we go.”

Since I constantly enhance myself with strengthening magic as part of my training, lifting a man larger than me is an easy task.

To show off a little, I swing him around.

“Whoa~! So strong!”

This is kind of fun!

But this is Lord Khalil’s laboratory—if I get carried away and break something, it’ll be a disaster.

“Should we tie him to a chair? Or are we taking him out of the room?”

“Hmm… for now, let’s tie him up here and search his belongings.”

We bind his arms and legs and start checking his possessions.

“Shoes and sleeve cuffs are common places to hide things. You might want to check them thoroughly~.”

As expected of the ever-reliable Meina. Following her advice, I check his shoes and—sure enough—a large needle is hidden inside.

It’s coated in some sort of slimy substance. Gross.

“Huh?”

My magic consumption just increased.

A moment ago, my recovery rate was higher, but now, it’s barely keeping up.

“By the way, hidden weapons—also called covert weapons—are usually coated in poison, so you should avoid touching them directly.”

“You could’ve told me that sooner?!”

The reason my magic consumption spiked must be because the enhancement spell on me is fighting off the poison!

This is bad. Thankfully, I’ve been maintaining my immunity-boosting spell.

“Ugh, anyone else would have snapped by now…”

There could still be more poison hidden somewhere, so I continue searching carefully.

After rummaging through his belongings, I find a peculiar-looking necklace in his chest pocket.

A copper coin with an engraving of a dragon whose wings are made of swords.

I’ve never seen anything like it before. It doesn’t look like currency, so maybe it’s a souvenir from somewhere?

“Did you find something~?”

“Oh, yeah, look at this—

Hot!!”

Just as I turn my gaze to show Meina the necklace, the unconscious man suddenly bursts into flames with a loud whoosh!

Thanks to my heightened resistance, I don’t get burned.

But still—

“Hot!!”

“Are you okay~?”

Nope. Too hot.

So hot that a weird noise came out of my mouth…

Since I immediately let go and wasn’t burned, rubbing my hands quickly dissipates the lingering heat.

When I look back, all that remains is a scorched black mark where the man had been.

“What just—”

“Don’t move!”

“And that’s how it happened.”

“I see.”

I have a lot of thoughts about this, but for now—

“Let me see that necklace.”

“Sure! Here you go!”

The necklace Mina hands over looks exactly as she described.

And thanks to this, I now know which faction the traitor belongs to.

“Wow~. This has a design boys would love~.”

“You think so?”

“My little brother used to collect things like this, so I’d say yes~.”

This necklace… I’ve read about it before.

The Sacred Church—an immensely powerful faction separate from the nation—was responsible for the destruction of House Beltona in its bid to monopolize healing magic.

Within the church’s shadows lurks Creep, its clandestine force.

And this necklace? It serves as proof of one’s affiliation with Creep.

Their targeting of Count Dikaman’s household, known for its ability to produce potent magical potions, now made sense. It also explained the unwavering loyalty displayed earlier.

“Neither of you are to speak of this incident to anyone.”

This necklace follows a ranking system.

This particular one, marked with a copper coin, is the lowest tier. The hierarchy ascends from copper to silver, then to gold, with one’s standing in Creep increasing accordingly.

To be honest, those bearing copper ranks are generally weak. Even silver-ranked members, despite leading small units, vary greatly in skill—I could easily eliminate them myself.

The real concern is if a gold-ranked member infiltrates.

According to my knowledge, they are formidable foes. While they were classified as regular enemies on the game map, one particular gold coin holder once sparked debates online, with some arguing that they were stronger than Kalil Dikaman himself.

**”Do not speak of this—not to your colleagues, not to your family, not even to those present here.

Keep it to yourself.”**

“”Understood.””

A confrontation with the Church is now inevitable.

That said, they won’t act immediately.

The fact that only copper and possibly silver-ranked members were sent to infiltrate suggests that the Count’s household is a low-priority target for them.

Even if their regular reports cease, the Church will likely assume that a mere copper rank failed, and they won’t take any significant action.

“As for your reward for this mission—if there is something within the Count’s household that you desire, we will provide it.”

“Really?!~”

…Wow, she’s way too happy about this.

Meina’s beaming smile was so bright that I found myself lowering my guard for a moment.

“As long as it’s something we can provide.”

“I’m looking forward to it~♪”

Unlike the ecstatic Meina, Mina simply folded her arms, closed her eyes, and gave a firm nod.

Something on her mind?

“You alright?”

“I’m perfectly fine!”

“…I see.”

Not sure what that was about, but oh well.

Though the traitor wasn’t from the Duke’s household, eliminating someone who had infiltrated the manor was still a positive outcome.

That being said, there was no guarantee that the Duke hadn’t placed spies here as well.

Vigilance was necessary.

From now on, the movements of the household staff would have to be closely monitored.

And then…

“Mina-chan, what are you going to ask for?~”

“As for me—”

There was something else that had caught my attention.