Chapter 396

Olivia didn't know that she was absent from the temple. There must have been a reason why she didn't tell me. Olivia took a leave of absence under the pretext of going to the rear support of the demon world war. According to Sabiolin Tana, Olivia went to the capital of Levern, the capital of Rejain, to investigate the demon king's trail. Why is Olivia there? She lied before that she had emptied the temple for a special mission, but this time she really has to empty the temple for a special mission. Sabiolin Tana sent me there because he judged that it was not such a dangerous area. After crossing a few warp gates from the temple, we arrived at Levern, a small country in the southern part of the empire where Grand Duke Granz died. There is currently a special investigation headquarters installed here. The jurisdiction is not the Levern royal family, but the empire. The empire is investigating its own drama, which is not funny. And the leaders of this special investigation headquarters may know that this is the empire's own drama. Olivia probably doesn't know that fact. Why did Olivia come here? Although Levern's capital, Lajiren, felt like a city, it didn't seem so bustling. It was honestly ridiculous to try to find a corner similar to Hwangdo in the capital of a small country. The special investigation headquarters we asked the guards for seemed to be using a government office building outside the palace, not inside the palace. Perhaps because there were people dispatched directly from the empire, the security was very thorough. Of course, there was no door that didn't open in front of the royal seal. Let's say we're looking for Olivia Lanche, a graduate student who came from the temple, and if we wait in the guest room, she will come. The special investigation headquarters is also a strange situation. We are trying to investigate, but after a temple student who came out as a volunteer, even someone with the royal seal has come. Since we presented the royal seal when we entered, we must have been reported to the higher-ups. "Is it Lieutenant Reinhardt?" "Yes." "This is Scottra Keltin, the head of the special investigation headquarters in charge of this case. It's an honor to meet you." Scottra Keltin. He was close to middle-aged. He was naturally a stranger, and he asked me for a handshake and politely bowed his head. As soon as we shook hands, I felt it. Not that he gave me a strong grip, but there was a certain intense impression from his hand. He asked me to shake hands first with the royal seal and even bowed, but he didn't grovel. He said it was an honor to meet me. He probably knows that I am the new owner of Alspringer. I asked him while looking at him. "Are you by any chance affiliated with Shanapel?" "You're sharp. I'm currently in a temporary position here, but I'm originally the commander of Shanapel's 3rd Division." He nodded his head as he spoke. One thing was certain. The head of the investigation department, Scottra Keltin, must know that this case was fabricated. He didn't have time to talk for long, so he just greeted me and left. I suspected that the special department was not for investigation, but if the head of the department was the commander of Shanapel's 3rd Division, then that was all I needed to know. How long did we wait like that? Suddenly, Olivia, dressed in plain clothes, came into the guest room and our eyes met. Her clothes were very neat, so it didn't seem like anything bad had happened. "Lionhardt? How did you get here?" Naturally, Olivia was surprised, so she came to me with a puzzled look on her face. "What? How did you find out about this place?" "Um... let's sit down and talk first." "Wow!" Olivia suddenly hugged me roughly. "I came to see my brother!" To Olivia too. I had to explain. * * * To explain why I came here, I had to talk about the engagement. I had to explain why I needed to build up achievements. When I explained that, Olivia was staring at me with her mouth open when I told her that Sabiolin Tana had ordered her to help me. "What? So you didn't come to see me?" Olivia gave me an annoyed look. No... wasn't there something more important than that? Why is she angry at a strange point, this sister of mine? As I froze, Olivia sat next to me with a sly smile and linked arms with me. "Oh, no. Why are you like this...?" "What, have you never had someone put their arm around you before?" With a really broad and gangster-like mindset, I had nothing to say. "An engagement isn't a marriage, and thoughts can change, and situations can change. It's not over until it's over, right?" Olivia narrowed her eyes and looked at me. "How about it? The guest room... huh? There's only you and me?" Sister... It's not that I'm angry or upset, but I'm scared! It's even scarier when it actually happens! And then, if it really happens, she'll crush my head and run away! "What does it matter if it's an engagement or whatever? What do you know if you just stamp it?" No. It's not that this person wasn't shocked, it's for sure that he was shocked and acting like this. "Or maybe after you get rid of the prince, you become the emperor. Huh? Push him aside and make me the first. Huh?" "Don't talk about things that could get you caught."

"Is that so?"

Olivia smirked and moved away from me. I couldn't tell if she was being casual or not. At least she didn't show it on the surface, which was fortunate for me.

Her attitude of not needing to worry because nothing was certain yet seemed like it could be possible.

No.

She couldn't possibly be thinking about killing Berthus, starting a revolution, becoming the emperor, pushing Charlotte out of the palace, and becoming the empress, right?

It must be a joke.

If I were really a hero and a demon king, it would give me chills to think that such a thing could happen if I hypothetically killed the demon king.

* * *

I had waited for Olivia for quite some time, so it was already night time.

We were in the guest room of the special investigation headquarters located near the royal palace in Lebaina. We were drinking tea and eating dinner that the investigation department had provided us.

Olivia was not an investigator, but a student from the prestigious Temple Royal Class.

She was just a student who had volunteered at university, but if she was treated lightly, no one knew what would happen to the talent that the empire was devoting all its efforts to nurture.

And I'm just a nobleman who came to visit.

So everyone treated us very well, even though we were just two people who would only cause trouble for the investigation. I already knew that this investigation wouldn't go well because I knew the truth. And I had already mentioned that a knight from Shanapel was the head of the investigation department.

All I had received from Sabioline Tana was to help Olivia with her task.

In a place where the task could never be properly resolved.

"By the way, why did you come here?"

This place could never be a pleasant place for me. It was where I was falsely accused and where Rianna had become so bitter.

Olivia smiled at my words.

"I wanted to find traces of the demon king."

"...What are you going to do if you find them?"

Olivia had already said that the demon king was the one who saved her and Adriana. She had also said that she thought the demon king and demons might not be such evil beings.

"Just to get some assurance."

The two previous attacks might have seemed somewhat reasonable to Olivia. But this attack on Lebaina was a little uneasy for Olivia, who knew the truth about the previous two attacks.

Could it be?

Was Olivia suspecting that this incident might not be the work of the demon king?

The need for assurance would mean that.

Olivia would be feeling confused between me, who had to face the demon king, and the demon king who had saved her life.

And she had said that she would definitely be on my side. So she must have come here to get the conviction that the demon king was the one who had to die and to get a firm determination to fight for me.

She sent Olivia here willingly, and she sent me away willingly.

Was she convinced that we would never notice that this scene was manipulated?

"So, did you find out anything?" "I didn't find out anything, just confirmed what was already known," Olivia said shortly, sticking out her tongue. She walked somewhere and spread something on the table. It was a map of Lebaina and the surrounding areas. "According to the report, demon hordes were summoned by mass teleportation magic and began their march around the outskirts of Lebaina. There were many orcs, goblins, ogres, and trolls involved. The damage to Lebaina itself wasn't that great, but the important thing was the outskirts. Many of the people in the outskirts who were not protected by the guards were killed or injured." The real goal was to kill the revolutionary forces, but they disguised it as a demon attack. Therefore, there were many civilian casualties. "Especially here." Olivia pointed to a few buildings located on the outskirts of Lebaina. "Most of the casualties occurred at the branch of the Merchant Guild here. There was a meeting of investors here, so many influential people died in this attack. And... among your friends too..." Olivia trailed off, and I nodded my head, knowing what she meant. "Anyway," Olivia seemed to be careful not to say too much about the incident involving the parents of her junior, "I saw it with my own eyes. The demons attacking the Holy Knights." Olivia was one of the few witnesses to the second attack and even saw the demons revealing their true form. "There is a commonality in the attacks, first and second." "What is it?" "Large-scale destruction magic was used." During the demon rescue, Eleris used the Flames of Tuesday to create a firestorm, and in the second attack, she summoned a thunderstorm after the firestorm. "But in the third attack, they summoned many demons through mass teleportation instead of using large-scale destruction magic. Of course, in terms of the scale of the magic, this attack was even bigger, but..." Olivia narrowed her eyes. "If the purpose was to cause casualties, they could have used a firestorm to turn five percent of Lebaina into ashes. Why didn't they do that? If we argue, they lost their momentum." They used demons to carry out the attack, which could have been solved with magic. Olivia didn't understand this situation at all. For now, Olivia was convinced that there was a very powerful mage among the demon faction, and that was true. And if you were interested in the demon attack, you would naturally know this fact, so it wasn't something only Olivia knew. The reason why most of the public, like Olivia, didn't doubt the demons' intentions was simple. People don't try to understand the object of their hatred. "People don't try to understand the object of their hatred, so when they do something, they conclude that it is evil or inferior and stop thinking about it. Hatred and resentment make it easy to simplify thinking. So, the public only feels fear or hatred about the strange aspects of this demon attack, but they are not curious about what the demons really wanted to do. It's to make people afraid of demons. Only a few people understand and accept this to that extent. However, Olivia has seen too many despicable human behaviors and was in a position to be rescued by the demons, so she was somewhat free from such thinking. 'If you look at it, this side seems to be the right answer.' Olivia pointed to the Merchant Guild branch she had just mentioned on the map. 'The demons were originally planning to attack here.' '... The Merchant Guild meeting?' 'Yes.' Olivia was not entirely sure of the truth, but she had already reached half of the truth. 'The demons attacked, and Lebaina, which was on guard, suffered little damage. But the influential people who were gathered at the Merchant Guild branch in the outskirts were accidentally attacked and suffered casualties? It's an unbelievable story.' Olivia crossed her arms and looked up. 'There were people like Orghenzia, who was famous as a major figure, and Sartreiden, the vice president of the Magic Association. Not only were they strong in escort, but there were already strong people.' If it were an ordinary day, the fact that such people gathered in one place would be evidence. 'Wouldn't such influential people come to Lebaina, a small country in the south, without even bringing one escort force?' Olivia pointed her head. 'For a moment, the defense here was better than the royal castle of Lejernen. It's not that they suffered an accidental attack in the outskirts, but with only the escort force that was here at that time, they could have turned Lejernen into a sea of fire.' So the demons attacked here for a purpose, not Lejernen. 'So, in the first place, the demons attacking Lejernen couldn't break through here. The elites attacked this side and immediately left.' Olivia came to that conclusion."