Chapter 586

Translation: "Meow! I don't know why he keeps playing these pranks lately. He keeps opening his mouth and pretending to swallow my face. Don't you know that's really scary from a cat's perspective? Regardless of how I feel, it's just scary! It's fortunate that he doesn't do anything useless like patrolling all day, except for playing with the cat. He seems like a kid with nothing in his brain except for playing with the cat, which is getting scary. Ellen murmurs as she lies down on the bed with me at the head of it. Fortunately, Ellen hasn't been blanking out lately, which is good. The animal therapy effect seems to be very good. "Cute." Hmm. You're not easy either. Of course, even though she says that, Ellen's expression darkens as she looks out the window where snow is still falling. It's coming terribly. Even though she sees the snow covering everything in the world, there's nothing Ellen can do. Snow isn't a monster. There's nothing a hero can do in a snowstorm. So all she can do is rest. Ellen wandered around for a while and then hugged me and got up. Hmm. Is it already lunchtime? That's what it means when time melts away. * * * Lunchtime. Heinrich and Louise had finished their walk and were sitting in the banquet hall eating. However, the atmosphere was slightly different from usual. Not their atmosphere, but the atmosphere of the banquet hall. "Students who want to support the yellow road snow removal work should write their names on the list and report to the teacher in charge." The servants were delivering notices to people entering the banquet hall. There will be too much snow removal work throughout the yellow road. It's not mandatory, but it's a sense of responsibility with power, or a sense of mission. So students were flocking to put their names on the list. The scene of superhumans covered in blue flames of magical enhancement shoveling the yellow road instead of swords and knives... Of course, not only superhumans but also magic majors and psychics. If they are mobilized to clear the yellow road snow in their own way, they can be quite helpful. No, wait. Ellen was looking at the crowd of snow removal volunteers instead of eating. ... You can do it if you want, but do you know that clearing snow makes you hate snow? No, it seems like she already hates it enough. "Oh, Ellen." When Ellen brought food nearby and sat down, Heinrich pretended to know. Louise von Schwarze was cutting sausage next to him. "Are you going to clear snow?" "I don't have to." It's not a dangerous thing, but... Do you know that you start to hate snow when you clear it? No, it seems like she already hates it enough. "If you want to, you can. Using your ability might be helpful... It's worth thinking about whether there's a good way." "Ah... Yes, sir." Louise didn't seem to want to force Heinrich's actions, as if she was already half-thinking of allowing it. Since the most urgent problem in the yellow road right now is the snow that is falling. If the situation gets too serious, consider contacting Liana." However, it's better to have something to do than just rest, and if it's helping people without any danger, the atmosphere is usually lively. Many of them are nobles and carefully selected talents from the empire. They fought for humanity during the crisis of the Gate Incident. Regardless of their background or upbringing, the mindset that they must use their own strength for someone else has been ingrained through their experiences. Therefore, even if they looked like they were going to die because of the snow, whether they were of noble birth or not, they naturally thought they should move. They seemed great, but ultimately, they were sad thoughts. Suddenly, somewhere, there was a smell of burning... and it was Ludwig. Ellen and Heinrich approached Ludwig slowly, and he seemed to have experienced something unusual. Ludwig explained the situation, but his words were jumbled. He mentioned a temple being burned down and people being killed. Ellen, Louise, and Heinrich were shocked. "When I arrived, it was too late. Everyone was dead. The temple was burning down. When I went in to find the priest, he was already... brutally murdered... and the building collapsed... Ludwig was lying on the collapsing building, but he didn't die that easily. He was trapped with Rowen's body in the collapsing temple, but he managed to escape on his own. And he watched as the guards and wizards who arrived to deal with the situation put out the fire. After investigating Ludwig, the guards realized he wasn't involved and sent him away. The smell of smoke must have been so strong because he had jumped into the fire scene. In the end, Ludwig could only return to the temple without being able to do anything. 'This shouldn't happen... This shouldn't happen. What did the priest do wrong? It wasn't the priest's fault. What did the people in the temple do wrong? When people saw the fire, they said it was a good thing and that it was fortunate that they died. That shouldn't happen.' Ludwig's eyes showed anger. 'I don't know. When something like this happens, I can't think of anything else. And...' Ludwig looked at Ellen and Heinrich. 'I know that the person who did this should be punished. But I don't know how to find those people... I saw people looting and running away from the temple. I want to find those people. I want to ask them why they did such a thing... He was a good person who was trying to save people. He was a good person, so why did they kill him...?' Ludwig had seen the culprits himself. But he had no authority to investigate, and even if he did, he didn't think he could catch the culprits himself. 'I'm sorry. I don't have the right to ask for your help, but still... I can't do it myself...' Ludwig's expression and eyes were filled with sadness, anger, and frustration. He had no power, no strength, and didn't even think he could solve the problem himself. That's why he came back to the temple to ask for help from someone who had power, strength, and even wisdom. The only person who came to Ludwig's mind was Ellen Artorius. Ellen looked at Ludwig with a despairing expression and nodded as if it was a natural thing to do. 'Yes. I'll help you.' Ellen couldn't refuse the request, feeling guilty towards Ludwig. * * * The arson, murder, and looting that occurred at the Temple of Tu'an. Ludwig asked for Ellen's help, and Ellen agreed without hesitation." Ludwig and Heinrich listened quietly to Ludwig's account of what he had witnessed. He explained that the culprits were likely a group of people who had vandalized and set fire to the temple. Ellen agreed to help Ludwig find the culprits and bring them to justice. They discussed the possibility of the culprits being able to kill all the priests and people in the temple, but Ludwig believed that if the high priest, Rowen, had been able to fight, he would not have needed Ludwig's protection. The temple was small and lacked any knights or soldiers to defend it, making it vulnerable to attack. The anger and frustration of the people towards the Tu'an and Alus religions made it possible for such an attack to occur. The likelihood of the culprits being caught by the guards or knights was slim, and Ludwig felt that the expression of people's anger towards innocent people was unbearable. Ellen doesn't have any special skills. Ludwig and Louise discuss the three stages of the temple attack: murder, arson, and looting. They try to determine the order of events and the motives behind them. Arson is considered less likely to be the primary motive. Louise emphasizes the importance of understanding the sequence of events and the possibility that different people were responsible for each stage. The perpetrators of the attack may have been different individuals with different motives. "Like you said, Ludwig, even if the temple's security is weak, I think our thoughts are correct."

"Even if there are many robbers... even if the priests have no combat skills..."

"The possibility of a priest as high-ranking as the archbishop being killed by robbers... seems very low."

Both Louise and Ellen seem to think that this incident is not something ordinary.

In the end, there is nothing that can be changed by sitting down and talking about it.

"Let's go to the scene."

Ellen says so.

The decisive difference between Ludwig and Ellen.

There is no door that does not open in the name of Ellen Artorius on human land.

The same goes for the guards and the Holy Knights.

"Um... Lady."

Heinrich also speaks carefully to Louise.

Louise looks at Heinrich with her usual stern expression. This person, honestly, seems infinitely cold at first glance, but in the end, she is the one who killed the two younger siblings with her own hands for Heinrich's sake.

It is difficult to estimate how terrible she thinks of Heinrich and how much guilt Heinrich has.

"It's helping a friend, so there's no reason for me not to do it. And I'm also curious."

Heinrich and Louise have come to take a break, of course.

They did not come with political purposes.

"Of course, if it is judged to be dangerous, we should stop."

Louise says so, looking at Ludwig.

"So I'll go too."

She seemed to want everyone to stop if it was judged to be dangerous, regardless of whether she was helping or not. From her perspective, there was no reason for Heinrich to sit still and watch him get involved in dangerous things.

"T-Thank you..."

Ludwig had a delighted expression when he unexpectedly offered to help someone he had never thought of before.

What is this?

Things are getting bigger.

This incident doesn't seem to end normally.

This situation where people who gathered here suddenly get involved in suspicious things.

I have a feeling that this won't end well.

I feel like I want to stop it, but in the end, I'm just a cat, so I couldn't say anything other than meowing.