Chapter 35

Two days after the letter arrived, Rufus and I were sitting opposite each other, swaying in the carriage of the marquis's family.

Our destination was a certain town a little away from the capital, where the archbishop was said to be convalescing. Rufus had said he wanted me to make time to meet him.

Norman and Eliza, who had also reunited with Neil, were resting at our house. I intended to report back to everyone, including Gerald, after we returned.

"What do you mean the archbishop is back to normal...?"

"His family still lives in the mansion, and I thought I might hear something if I visited. When I did, I found the cat in question."

"Huh?"

The cat in question was the one that had switched places with the archbishop.

"It suddenly became very intelligent and started to prefer human food. It was undoubtedly the archbishop inside."

"Really, with a cat..."

"But when I visited a few days ago, the cat looked completely normal. I thought it might be an act, but the lady of the house said it suddenly returned to its usual self one day."

Incidentally, the family was all out on the day of the incident.

"And that was around the same time you all returned to your original bodies. So I speculated that the archbishop had also returned to normal."

His guess was probably right. Although the cause is unknown, a few of the people whose bodies were switched by the magical artifact must have returned to their original bodies on that day at that time.

However, a considerable amount of time has passed since we returned to our original bodies. Why is the archbishop still convalescing in the countryside even after returning to normal? If I voiced this doubt, Rufus continued, "It's just my guess, but..."

"He intended to return the magical artifact immediately after the body switch, but things turned out this way. It wouldn't be strange for him to continue pretending to be insane and run away."

"Indeed."

It seems that within the temple, his crimes have not yet been revealed. Perhaps only the pope and the archbishop knew about the magical artifact.

And since the archbishop knows things about the magical artifact that we and Tabitha don't know,

"With a little intimidation, he'll probably talk to some extent."

"Yeah, that's true. ...Rufus, thank you so much. Even in such a difficult time, you're helping me so much."

"I'm doing this on my own, so don't worry about it."

He is indeed too kind. Thinking this, I said, "Um, I can't really thank you properly, but..."

"I heard the journey would take a while, so I made lunch. If you don't mind, would you like to eat it together?"

"...You made it?"

"Yeah. I do have some cooking experience, and I made it with the head chef, so I think it should taste okay. But, Rufus, you always eat delicious food, so it might not suit your taste, and maybe we should just stop at a restaurant along the way..."

To my surprise, excuses poured out of my mouth. What am I so anxious and worried about?

As I was getting confused, Rufus called my name, "Saidy," in a very gentle voice.

"I'm really happy. Thank you."

"Y-You're welcome."

"I'm looking forward to lunch."

Saying this, Rufus made a face that was incredibly happy. My heart skipped a beat.

And at lunch, he said it was delicious multiple times and finished it all, making me want to cry even though I wasn't sad.

◇◇◇

Near evening, we arrived safely in the town and headed straight to the archbishop. After revealing our identities and showing the letter from the lady, we were quickly led to the archbishop.

"He tends to pounce or bite if he doesn't like something, but you, Sir Knight, will be safe."

"...Ah."

While receiving this explanation, we walked down the corridor and arrived at the room at the very end. After a light knock, he opened the door.

"Your Grace, a visitor has come to see you."

"......"

In the stark white room with only the bare essentials, the person was on the bed. His hair was white, and he was hunched over like a cat, staring at us intently.

The strange sight made my skin crawl. After the man who led us left the room, we sat on the sofa.

"I've come to talk to you. How long do you plan to keep up this charade of being a cat?"

Rufus said this to the archbishop, who was staring at us, but there was no response.

"I know you stole the magical artifact and that the body switch has already returned to normal. If you don't want to talk, I'll go to the temple and tell them everything. Even if you pretend to be insane, it's a death sentence."

"......"

"Or I could just kill you here. I can say you went berserk and I acted in self-defense."

The archbishop's eyes wavered at his merciless words. Of course, it was a threat, but it had a real intensity to it.

After a moment of silence, the archbishop slowly straightened his posture and covered his face with both hands.

"...Please, I'll tell you anything, just forgive me. I don't want to die."

"Alright."

It was all an act, apparently. Pretending to be insane to escape his crimes was despicable.

But now is not the time to blame him.

"You are the son of the Marquis Langridge. What do you want to know?"

We first heard everything from the archbishop about what happened that day. Everything Tabitha said was true, and he had indeed returned to his original body with us.

But upon learning of the pope's death, he was terrified of his own crimes and had been running away in this place.

After that, I told him about how many people had been stripped of everything by the magical artifact. He repeatedly apologized, saying, "I'm sorry," but I didn't want to hear such hollow words.

"......What have I done... I really didn't mean to... I just..."

"Enough excuses. Do you know why you and she returned to your original bodies?"

In response to Rufus's question, the archbishop, still covering his mouth with one hand, nodded slightly.

"...It's probably already broken."