Chapter 83

After finishing dinner, when I was called by the king and moved to another place, I found Queen Roxanne lying on the sofa, looking exhausted.

I discovered a slug on the back of my hand, so I slipped it off and passed it to Chief Tailsmya.

Chief Tailsmya wrapped it in a barrier and stored it.

Seeing Queen Roxanne's complexion visibly improve, everyone in the room heaved a sigh of relief, and she sprang up and kissed me.

By the time one of my cheeks had turned bright red, she seemed to have had her fill and got ready to start talking.

In the room were the king, the pope, Ingrid, General, Chancellor, Chief Tailsmya, Arlshein, me, Shell, and Duran.

Also, Queen Roxanne and her two knights.

"So? Did you find any evidence at the Rugaria Marquis's house?"

"Yeah, plenty of it! That mansion was filled with truly disgusting things!"

With a face like she had bitten into a bitter bug, Queen Roxanne said, and the two knights standing behind her nodded with looks of disgust.

"He didn't expect that I, who had collapsed due to a curse during a royal-sponsored party, would be in charge of the arrest, so he didn't have many private soldiers. We thoroughly searched the mansion and discovered a secret door leading to an underground entrance. When we broke in, we found dozens of illegal slaves and confiscated numerous cursed artifacts."

"The illegal slaves, who were protected by the clerical knights, are being sheltered by the church, their identities are being investigated, and those who have a place to return to are being arranged to go back. However, there are several young children whose parents' whereabouts are unknown, so they will be taken in by an orphanage," the pope added sorrowfully.

"They were also conducting human experiments to create cursed artifacts! Although there were no corpses, we confiscated detailed records of the experiments!"

Trying to report calmly, but perhaps remembering the scene, Queen Roxanne slammed her fist on the armrest of the sofa.

Just hearing the story made me feel sick to my stomach; the scene must have been horrific.

The king patted Queen Roxanne's shoulder to comfort her.

After a deep breath, Queen Roxanne continued.

"Among the items we confiscated, we confirmed a large number of poisons and drugs, and there were signs that they had been used on the slaves. Since the documents detailing the acquisition routes mentioned the Abu Trading Company, we sent troops there. The head of the Rugaria family and his family were not placed in the noble prison but in the prison for serious criminals!"

The room fell silent.

The deep sighs of the General and the Chancellor overlapped.

"Looks like we have no choice but to wipe out the entire Rugaria family. If we leave them, it could leave a root of evil, and they might repeat the same thing."

"Once they taste the sweet life, they won't go back to the old ways."

Everyone nodded at the sigh-like words of the General and the Chancellor.

"More than half of those working in the mansion were slaves, and the rest were complicit in the evil deeds, so they were also thrown into prison! Thanks to this, the prison is full, so some of them are being crammed together."

"We'll start the investigation early tomorrow morning. Good work. Take a break for a while."

The king's words to Queen Roxanne were ambiguous, but the General and the Chancellor chuckled lightly.

"We will take responsibility for the interviews of those protected by the church and provide regular reports."

The pope, who had taken charge of the care and interviews of the victims, said,

"I appreciate it. The living expenses of the victims will be provided from the money and goods confiscated from the Rugaria family, but if there are any items needed, please request them. Regarding compensation, once the investigation is complete and a decision is made, please explain that some form of compensation will definitely be provided."

"If there are any curses that we can't handle, could we ask Keita for assistance?"

The pope asked me,

"Sure."

With a light response, the atmosphere lightened, and that was it for today. When the investigation progresses and is summarized, we will have another meeting with this group.

---

Good morning.

Today's weather is clear and sunny.

I don't have any particular plans today, but I will do my morning exercises and vocal practice.

I haven't seen any improvement in my growth or vocal skills, but it has become a daily routine.

After being dressed by Shell and having breakfast without any interruptions, I discussed today's plans with Arlshein.

Since a large number of criminals were thrown into prison yesterday, the knights are busy with interrogations and follow-up investigations, so training is on hold.

Arlshein can't help with anything, and since he finished his work after I went to bed, he really has nothing to do.

The Ministry of Magic also seems busy, so I decided to spend the day leisurely.

In the morning, I spent the time leisurely reading books, and for lunch, I was called by Queen Roxanne to eat with the kids.

When I entered the dining room, the twin princes were sitting on either side of Queen Roxanne, and Anneliese was already there, and the meal had started.

As Anneliese was eating with a pout, Queen Roxanne, noticing her different menu, asked for the reason, and the twin princes explained it with great enthusiasm, making Anneliese pout even more.

Queen Roxanne then suggested playing outside with the twin princes.

Anneliese, thinking it was better than combat training with the muscular female knights, agreed without hesitation.

We were also decided to join in the flow.

After a leisurely tea break after the meal.

The game of tag started in the castle courtyard.

Anneliese had underestimated the stamina of the twin princes.

And Queen Roxanne didn't have the maturity of an adult.

Naturally, Anneliese was the first to be caught.

Next were the two knights of Queen Roxanne.

Then the twin princes, along with Arlshein and Jyus.

I was mostly flying, and Queen Roxanne still had plenty of energy.

It's unclear how much stamina she has, but she occasionally attacked the two knights, Arlshein, and Jyus.

After a tea break, the game of tag resumed.

Before Anneliese could complain, she was chased by Queen Roxanne.

Finding it amusing, the twin princes also started chasing Anneliese, but when they let their guard down, Queen Roxanne's water magic balls flew at the two knights, Jyus, and Arlshein, drenching them.

Seeing this, the twin princes also attacked Queen Roxanne and got drenched.

Anneliese was also drenched.

Seeing this, Shell burst out laughing and got drenched too.

We were all scolded by Duran, who happened to pass by the courtyard.

Queen Roxanne, in particular, was scolded for drenching children in the winter, even though she was an adult.

I used a barrier to counter and drenched Queen Roxanne.

We then went back to our rooms, took a bath, and had dinner.

Princess Cremone and Ingrid were absent, as they were attending a party.

Cavendish, after learning that his grandfather, the Marquis Rugaria, had been arrested, had been locked in his room and hadn't come out.

After dinner, when we moved to the salon, the twin princes started talking about how much fun the tag game was during the day, and everyone laughed at the part where we all got drenched and were scolded by Duran. Anneliese, who had been greedily eating sweets, was also mentioned, and Queen Leitria looked at her with a scary smile.

Overall, it was a rather peaceful day.