Chapter 152 - 152. Zagoras and Ekis (2)

"...Why?"

"I can't tell you the specific reason. The only thing is, I can't be involved in the curse of Cadet Zeto... If this is the end of the business, can you please leave. I'm busy with the Knights."

"..."

Eisel, who was silent at my answer, raised her trembling arm on the desk... And eventually left the room.

"..."

I sat blankly in her seat and looked at the door she had left.

There were no lies.

No, it would have been easier if I could have spit out a lie.

Eisel Ludwig.

He seems to be an academy classmate who is close with Zeto. She was a woman with white blonde hair and golden eyes.

I paid attention to her because of the extraordinary power she showed during the open class, but I never thought she would have a relationship with the branch manager of the 'Black Hand'.

Jetto is a charming character.

So there must be a lot of people around him who care about him.

Should I consider it fortunate that I wasn't the only one who noticed his curse? Shouldn't it be seen as the 'fate' given to her, not me who can lift his curse?

Why did God come up with such a plan?

His head was cluttered.

I haven't done any research into her method of doing it, but I hope she can figure it out.

I'm just doing my best as myself.

Shaking off my thoughts, I got up and went outside.

When I open the door, a woman in a robe bows her head.

"Did the talk end well?"

In response to the question of captain Ines, who was holding out his robe to me, I smiled and gave an ambiguous answer.

"I hope so. Did you hear anything else along the way?"

As I said that, I put on my robe and immediately moved towards the investigation headquarters.

Ines, who had followed me immediately, whispered.

"...I got it."

"Is that true?"

Progress was finally showing in the subjugation of Delion.

***

Three women were sitting in a conference room located in the Temporary Investigation Headquarters of the Silver Wing Knights.

The innocent Saint Bernice.

Knight Commander Ines.

And it was the vice-captain, Ecclin.

Stacks of papers strewn across conference room desks.

And on one side of the wall, there were countless memos with information about Delion, the vice-captain of the Golden Lion Knights.

They were currently secretly investigating Delion based on information from Jeto, an honorary knight, that Delion was a demon.

""...""

Since the issue was an issue, there was a severe silence in the conference room.

This investigation had to be conducted in complete secrecy in order to avoid confrontation between countries because it was investigating knights in other countries, which could be considered partners. So, even if it was unavoidable that the location was known to the information guild, the information inside the investigation headquarters had to be kept from leaking out.

Soon, a member of the Templar enters the meeting room and hands Bernice a bundle of papers.

"This is the material you requested."

Then, the knight who handed over the bundle of documents slightly bowed his head and left the room again, and Inès opened his mouth.

"These are the reports submitted to the Allied Forces containing the entry and exit records of all members of the Golden Lion Knights and their recent activities. The originals have been left intact and transcribed."

"...The informant must have had a lot of trouble. Have you all read it?"

Bernice, who was holding her papers in her hand at Innes' explanation, asked.

"Yes, but it was strangely tidy."

"There are no records of entry or exit that show any signs of predation. It matches the behavior of the guy we recently investigated."

Innes opened her mouth first, followed by Eclyn.

A situation where there is insufficient evidence that Delion is a demon.

What they wanted to investigate was none other than 'human predation'.

Human predation.

It is one of the acts that a demon cannot give up.

Asmodians suck human vitality and accumulate demonic energy. Furthermore, demons instinctively pursue strength. So wherever they are, human corpses inevitably arise.

It had to be seen that most of the demons who set foot in human lands came with the goal of preying on humans, so if Delion is one of those demons, he must be preying on them.

They were aiming for this and conducting an investigation.

Bernice examines the papers.

As Ecclin and Ines said, no abnormalities were detected in Delion's personal entry and exit records.

"...However, if you look at Delion individually, it's neat, but when you look at the entire Knights, there are parts that don't make sense."

Innes said that to Bernice, who was looking through the documents, and Bernice tilted her head at this.

"Recently, the word "No survivors" Is noticeably frequent in their subjugation."

Following Innes' words, Bernice looked at the internal report of the Golden Lion Knights.

"Hmm... Certainly. No matter how incompetent and slow the response, this is enough to make me wonder if I can't even properly play the role of the Knights... The low survival rate of members is also a factor."

"There are no survivors... Perhaps..."

Ecclin murmured in a meaningful voice.

What could happen if the vice-captain of the knights who had to catch the demons was a demon?

Even if demons are discovered, if they intentionally miss their fellow tribesmen, prey on the humans who were there, and blame the demons for killing them...

No, there is a possibility that the demons never appeared in the first place and that Delion killed the humans and reported missing the demons.

While various possibilities are unfolding in the heads of the three women, Bernice, looking through the report, finds one of her clues.

"...Is this a coincidence? All the areas where there are reported no survivors are slums."

He was able to notice this because it was Bernice who often went to the slums to help those who had difficulty receiving proper treatment.

"If it were a slum, no one would care even if the neighbors were killed by demons overnight.

"Even so, the knights would have gone on a subjugation together, so I wonder if I could have completely deceived their eyes and preyed on them."

Ecclin questioned Bernice's guess.

In response to that question, Ines tries to come up with a hypothesis.

"...No, I think that's quite possible. If all the knights are acting according to his will. The leader is nothing more than a scarecrow, and the real power is the vice-captain. The environment is perfect for him."

"Then the survival rate of new knights is remarkably low..."

"Isn't it at least a task to eliminate those who might go against his will and those who failed to be recruited?"

"If all of this is true, he must be quite cunning and cunning, so the possibility seems good. Since the Demon Tribe set foot in the knights to catch the Demon Tribe in the first place, I think his meticulousness should be taken into account. But this report serves as evidence. It doesn't seem like enough to eat. Unless you catch predation on the spot..."

Bernice arranged the conversation between Ecclin and Ines.

Yes, it was just a heart attack anyway, and the situation was still in the dark.

However, now that the possibility of Delion being a demon is clearly higher than before, they were reviewing the information they had been investigating from the beginning to see if they had missed anything.

Meanwhile, Ecklen discovers something.

"Wait a minute. Do this..."

Eclyn holds out the paper she was reading to Inès and Bernice, who were examining the piles of papers on the desk.

On that paper, the Golden Lion Knights' entry and exit records were written.

Ecclin, who was pointing at a piece of paper, opens her mouth.

"...Delion seems to have set foot in the orphanage for a certain period of time under the pretext of making donations, but if he was really a demon, would he have been giving donations to the orphanage normally...? It could be, but if not... An orphan from an orphanage. Why isn't it quite similar in nature to a slum? It's only recently that there are no survivors from the subjugation of demons that have appeared in the slum, and it's been a frequent occurrence... Maybe until then..."

"...Was he preying on orphans?"

Echlin nodded lightly at Inez's conclusion.

"But young children lack vitality, so the quality wouldn't be good enough for him."

Yes.

Compared to healthy adults, young children lack vitality in their bodies, so demons usually do not even consider predation. For the same reason, the same applies to older people.

At Bernice's words, Ecclin clears away a little of the pile of papers on the desk, and eventually a map is revealed.

"But that orphanage is a fairly large orphanage in the capital of the kingdom of Terrasia. Well, as we all know, children who lost their parents due to war are overflowing... It's a terrible story, but the quantity is enough. You can see, if the director is helping, it's probably more stable than the slums."

Ecklen pointed to the map and said.

"The usual source of stable human supply was an orphanage, but for some reason, this guy, who became desperate, was prepared to damage the reputation of the Knights and frequently raided the slums... Can we take it as that?"

""...""

After Bernice's tidying up, there is silence in the conference room.

Even though it was a hypothesis they had made, it was an unpleasant story.

But if the nasty hypothesis were true, they had no time to sit idly by.

"I'm asking you to investigate the orphanage. Based on the date he visited the orphanage, if there are children who were put up for adoption on a nearby date, it would be better to track them back. Then, the director of the orphanage and Delion negotiated. There is a high possibility that there will be, so please handle this investigation quietly."

At Bernice's command, Ecclin and Innes give a short answer and leave the conference room.

"..."

Bernice, who remained in the conference room, quietly calmed down her anger.

I hope that the hypothesis they built is just a hypothesis.

***

Despite Bernice's wishes, as the investigation into the orphanage progressed, the possibility that Delion was a demon was increasing.

No, it's almost confirmed.

Their hypotheses were exactly right.

They tracked back children who had been put up for adoption from orphanages.

I visited the houses that were known to have adopted them, but only came back saying that there was no such child in this house.

Above all, the adoption rate was unbelievably high.

In the name of that, the orphanage was filled with new orphans.

It was a kind of cycle going on.

No matter how much the kingdom of Terrasia was being rotted away by the old king, it was shocking.

Maybe it happened because people in the world didn't pay much attention to the overflowing orphans.

Likewise, Delion must have known this and came in aiming for it.

He was a very clever fellow.

It was a clever move that seemed to have grasped the essence of what the public was interested in and where they were not interested.

In the end, Bernice, who decided to confirm the hypothesis, arrests the director of the orphanage, who is believed to have provided orphans to Delion, a demon.

It was an arrest, but not a formal investigation, so it was a kidnapping.

But it wasn't much of a problem.

Even if the director had nothing to do with Delion, the question of where he had taken so many children would remain.

The director, who met Bernice in a basement without knowing why, was tied up with a rope and was shaking all over.

It was because Bernice's pink eyes in front of him felt as if they were looking right through him.

The director quickly grasped the situation.

It wasn't a gang of bandits.

The women in silver armor who were around were the Knights of the Silver Wings. So, this silver-haired woman is no different, it means that she is a saint.

He had a lot of sins and tried to hide it as much as possible, but he couldn't avoid Bernice's power.

Bernice asked him directly.

I wonder if there was a fact that he provided orphans to Delion, the vice-captain of the Golden Lion Knights.

The answer returned.

"...Lie."

Bernice replied with an indifferent look.

Even though he knew that Bernice was a saint, the director, who was unaware of her authority, recited a lie to somehow overcome the situation.

Well, reciting the truth doesn't change the situation.

"But, don't you know what kind of person Delion is...! Do you dare to suspect that the knights of a kingdom, and the vice-captain, are demons!"

"With that answer, it has been confirmed that Delion is a demon."

The director only then finds out.

The meaning of 'innocence' attached to Bernice's title.

For some reason, it seems that Delion is a demon. That too was stamped on by the 'saint'.

The director quickly shook his head.

'I hope he won't die right away...'

In any case, you'll need a witness to touch Delion.

Around the time the director was thinking about that.

Bernice lowers her waist and meets her eyes with the director on her knees.

"Do you think you won't die? Do you think that even if you go to prison, you'll be fine as long as you somehow use your connections to get out?"

"..."

She fit right in.

"Unfortunately you die today."

Why.

Just as the question passed by, Bernice turned her head away from him.

"From the moment Delion is confirmed to be a demon, your life has no meaning. Delion's head will serve as more convincing evidence. Besides, I don't like that you continue to live your life for even one more minute or second. I have to do that for the sake of the children who died without a moment."

That's how Bernice's cold sentence is handed down.

ㅡSureung.

Before long, a woman with short green hair draws her sword and approaches him.

This meant his end.