Chapter 33

"I thought I could live a carefree and enjoyable life from now on, but suddenly I was back in my original body. It's the worst."

Tabasa said this and sighed deeply. Suppressing the urge to lash out, I bit my lip. There were still things I needed to ask her.

But it seemed that Rufus, standing beside me, was even more shaken. Given his deep ties to the temple and his family, the Archbishop's story must have been a shock to him.

"It could be something that could take a whole country, but we never wanted anything like that."

She laughed bitterly, adding, "We never had the brains to pull something like that off anyway."

"Just because they were born into nobility, I couldn't stand the people who lived their lives so happily and carefree."

"......"

"That's why I decided to take everything."

"That's all," she said, yawning again. She seemed to genuinely believe that those born into privileged environments deserved to be unhappy in our place.

The existence of something that could change the world's order, and the fact that it had fallen into the hands of people like her, should never have happened.

"But can such a magical artifact be hidden for so long... even the Ministry of Magic didn't know about it."

Without thinking, I muttered this, and Rufus replied, "It's possible."

"Given the temple's power, which rivals the royal family, it's possible to keep it hidden. Besides, don't you think it's strange that the Pope has lived since the founding of the country?"

"Yeah."

"If he had been using that magical artifact to extend his life, it would make sense why he died suddenly. Probably, the Archbishop, blinded by greed, stole the magical artifact from the Pope."

He covered his mouth with his hand as he said this.

"Such a thing can't be forgiven. It means that many people have been sacrificed for the Pope's longevity."

"......"

This was no longer just our problem. It was something that could shake the nation and the world.

Tabasa, who had been listening to our conversation, stretched her arms lazily and said, "Can I go to sleep now?"

"How do we get back to normal?"

"Who knows? We never received an explanation, and we never even thought about it because there was no need to. We don't even know why we're back to normal now."

If even they don't know, the only way is to use that magical artifact again.

"Where is that artifact now?"

"I think Mabel has it, but she won't give it up easily."

Reluctantly, Tabasa was right. Mabel was definitely not someone to be underestimated.

Since it was already late, Lord Kevin suggested we end it here, and I nodded.

I was exhausted from all that had happened today. We had successfully rescued Norman and Eliza, so there was no need to push ourselves further.

As we headed for the exit together, Tabasa suddenly called out to us from behind. When I turned around, she was staring at us intently.

"Hey, I have one question."

"What is it?"

"How did you know about that place?"

"......I heard it from Lord Lloyd."

When I told her this, Tabasa's face briefly showed a look of sadness. I turned my back to her again and left the dungeon.

◇◇◇

"Lord Kevin, I'm sorry for keeping you so late. Please take care of Tabasa."

"Don't worry about it. You've saved your friend, and you should take care of yourself, too."

"Yes, thank you."

Without the magical artifact, it would be difficult to get anyone to believe our story. But if we could take the artifact from Mabel, who was inside Eliza, everything would be resolved.

For now, I decided to sleep without thinking about anything. As I was about to leave the earl's house, Tim said, "Can I send you?"

"Huh? Tim is here, so it's fine."

"......I want to talk."

At his pleading voice, I immediately nodded. Rufus had saved my life, and I was willing to do anything he asked.

Soon, I got into the carriage he had waiting, and Tim followed behind.

As soon as the carriage started moving, Rufus bowed deeply to me.

"......I'm sorry."

"Huh?"

"I didn't realize you were suffering for ten years, and then I did something like that to you right after you got back to your original body... I know an apology won't make it right."

"Rufus, it's not your fault! Even my parents didn't notice, and they didn't even know that body swapping was possible, so there's no way you could have noticed."

Tabasa, who was inside me, had done things to him. He was also a victim and shouldn't be blamed.

I told him to look up and took his hand, which was showing a pained expression.

"Besides, thanks to you, I was able to save two important friends. Thank you so much."

"......Yeah."

"By the way, what was it you wanted to talk about after we saved our friends?"

Before we went to save them, he had started to say something. If there was anything I could do, I wanted to do it.

But Rufus, who seemed to want to say something, just said it was nothing and didn't tell me.

"Please let me know if you visit Lord Kevin again."

"Thank you. You're really kind, Rufus."

"......I'm not kind."

He smiled awkwardly as he said this.

When we arrived at the mansion, I confirmed that Norman and Eliza were still fine, hurriedly got ready for bed, and fell asleep instantly.

The next morning, I woke up to the news of Gerald's visit.

I'm sorry for the long update gap...!

I'll try to update more frequently from now on!