Chapter 77

After watching Bernaldo’s magical training to her heart’s content the next day, Cordelia stood in the courtyard with Leonhardt watching over her, holding the holy sword in her hands.

The important thing is how to use the power, and to imagine it firmly. Following Leonhardt’s advice, Cordelia focused her mind. Recalling the heroic figures of Leonhardt, who could freely produce flames from the holy sword, and Bernaldo, who could control lightning and fire with magic, she overlaid these images in her imagination.

Focusing, focusing, she gripped the hilt tightly with both hands.

(―――Now!)

Overlapping her imagination with reality, she swung the sword with a powerful motion. Along with the sound of slicing through the air, a golden flame was released from the blade and flew out.

"Good, it worked! You’ve improved, Cordelia!"

Leonhardt rejoiced as if it were his own achievement. Cordelia relaxed her arms and lowered the holy sword she had raised.

"I did it! Thanks to Prince Leonhardt and Lord Bernaldo…!"

Cordelia smiled happily. As a result of training with Leonhardt, Cordelia had become able to produce flames while practicing with the holy sword and had learned a few tricks. As a means of self-defense, her skills were approaching a practical level.

"Cordelia, congratulations. You’ve done well. Thanks to you, I can now retract my animal ears more steadily."

As Leonhardt said, there were no animal ears visible on his golden head. As Cordelia became more adept at handling the holy sword, her control over the transformations into animal ears and a lion cub form had become more precise.

It seemed that the relationship between Cordelia and the holy sword was one of the causes of Leonhardt’s transformations. Although the principle was still unclear, if things continued to go well, it felt like they might be able to make it in time for the ceremony to proclaim the crown prince.

(I may not have the overwhelming skill or talent of Lord Bernaldo…)

Still, Cordelia clenched her fist, determined to be of help to Leonhardt.

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"Hmm, we’re at a dead end."

Gail sighed, holding a piece of paper summarizing the investigation results of Zaid’s case, with a troubled expression. While Cordelia’s handling of the holy sword was improving steadily, the investigation had not made any progress.

"There are suspicious people, but they’re not showing their tails easily."

"Is it difficult to investigate further?"

When Cordelia asked, Gail shook his head weakly.

"If we have enough time, there’s a sense that we can manage. But, to be honest, it’s hard to predict when we’ll solve it if things continue like this."

"I see…"

Cordelia thought for a moment. It was not good if solving the case took precedence. She decided to propose a plan to Gail to organize the information she had gathered and expose the culprit.

"―――It’s not a bad idea…"

Gail had a worried look, as if he was concerned about Cordelia.

"What do you think? I’d like to have Lord Bernaldo consider this plan as well…"

"Lord Bernaldo, huh. …Alright."

Despite his worries, Gail agreed to talk to Bernaldo.

"―――It seems like there’s a good chance of success."

Bernaldo, who had heard the proposal, narrowed his purple eyes with interest. As Cordelia persuaded him with all her might, he finally agreed.

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"Hey, what are you doing here?"

A few days after consulting with Bernaldo, Cordelia was spotted by Francois, who approached her with long strides. They were in a tavern in the western district of the capital, one of the places they had visited for investigation with Bernaldo before.

"I came to go fishing."

"Fishing…?"

Francois looked puzzled.

"Wait, don’t tell me, you…!"

Francois’s gaze turned sharp as he looked around.

"Damn! I let my guard down!"

Several men surrounded Francois and Cordelia, forming a wall. Their clothing was varied, but they all had a dark look in their eyes directed at Cordelia.

"…Don’t resist. We don’t want to hurt you if we can help it."

The men slowly approached. Francois clicked his tongue, reaching for the long sword at his waist.

"Damn! Cordelia! You run first! I’ll hold them off—"

"Wait, Francois-sama."

Cordelia whispered softly so the men couldn’t hear.

"Please, close your eyes."

"Close my—?!"

Suddenly, a bright light burst forth. The source was Cordelia’s sleeve, from a short holy sword she had hidden inside.

"What the—?!"

"I can’t see anything?!"

The men who had looked directly at the flash were staggering, covering their eyes.

(I just released a flame without heat from the holy sword, but it’s a strong blinding technique.)

This was one of the tricks Cordelia had learned with the holy sword. She slipped through the men’s blinded encirclement and quickly moved to a safe place.

"Damn! The prey is getting away, chase—"

"What the—?!"

As the men fell one by one, Bernaldo and Gail emerged from their hiding places. They had been quietly watching to ensure Cordelia’s safety.

"Well done, Lady Cordelia. We’ll take care of the rest."

Gail and the others quickly subdued the men who couldn’t see properly. Francois, with his bowl-cut hair, stared in amazement.

"Cordelia, you… You used yourself as bait, didn’t you?"

"Yes, I’m glad it worked."

This was the plan Cordelia had proposed to Bernaldo.

(They said the suspects were just one step away from showing their tails.)

So, she decided to dangle a tasty bait to lure them out. The suspects must have realized that Cordelia was investigating, so she used this to her advantage by intentionally appearing defenseless and alone at the tavern where the suspects gathered.

Since the suspects were Eltrian soldiers, Cordelia had Gail, who was well-connected with the Eltrians, spread the rumor that she was planning to visit this tavern.

Thanks to this, they had successfully taken the bait. Cordelia, hiding the holy sword in her dress, appeared as an unguarded young lady, making the plan possible.

(The only miscalculation was that Francois-sama was here…)

Cordelia looked at Francois, who was shaking his bowl-cut head.

"…I thought you were one of the suspects until the end."

"Huh? How did you come to that conclusion?!"

Francois was indignant, but Cordelia had her reasons.

"From the beginning. You seemed suspicious from the first meeting, and you didn’t return my veil, did you?"

"That was a kind act on my part?!"

"…Now I understand, but at the time, Francois-sama was completely suspicious…"

Cordelia reflected on the past. The real culprit who had blown her veil away with the wind was one of the suspects now lying on the ground.

The suspects, who had been working with Zaid, harbored a grudge against Cordelia for foiling Zaid’s plot. They had been using magic to harass her and trying to separate her from Leonhardt to harm him.

(And Francois-sama, who belonged to the same Eltrian army as the suspects, had noticed their evil plans.)

That’s why he had caught and tried to help Cordelia’s veil. If he had told her who the real culprit was at the time, things would have been much easier.

The suspects were officially part of the Eltrian army. As an Eltrian soldier, Francois might have found it difficult to report them openly.

Caught between his sense of justice and his feelings for his fellow countrymen, Francois’s ambiguous attitude and sharp tongue led Cordelia to misunderstand him as the culprit.

(…And when we met again while searching for the suspects, I still thought Francois-sama was one of them…)

But the truth was different.

"…You were also investigating who was helping the former crown prince Zaid, weren’t you?"

That’s why they had met as fellow investigators in a suspicious place.

"Of course. As an honorable Eltrian soldier, I couldn’t just stand by and watch my comrades commit evil deeds."

Francois puffed out his chest. His intentions were noble, but his attitude was too ambiguous. Cordelia tried to unravel his attitude by asking more questions.

"Why were you so confrontational with Lord Bernaldo? If not for that, the misunderstanding might have been cleared up sooner."

Francois raised an eyebrow at the question.

I will update another chapter today.