Magic Power surged from the glowing baton, swirling and crashing together. The difference in momentum was enormous, and the High Priest's Magic Power overwhelmed the Baron, sending him flying.
He suffered burns similar to Father's and rolled across the floor, groaning. The "guehhh" sound he made really did sound like a toad.
The High Priest was still alive, wrapped up in the Chief Priest's light bands. Having witnessed the clash of such immense Magic Power up close must have been terrifying, as his eyes were wide open and his face was completely frozen.
But the Gray Priestess, caught in the magical explosion and unable to even defend herself, and the men who had collapsed—they were nowhere to be seen.
"Mine, this is how you dispose of evidence. While we're at it, shall we dispose of this too? She's someone who shouldn't have been in this city in the first place."
The Chief Priest gazed down coldly at the Baron, who was coughing and wheezing, while keeping his glowing baton pointed without letting his guard down.
Screaming "guhiiii," the Baron desperately tried to back away, but the Chief Priest closed the distance in just a few steps. That mercilessness was truly reassuring when he was on your side, but it was absolutely something you never wanted directed at you as an enemy.
"That's enough,
As he spoke, Sylvester flipped his cloak open and stepped forward from the wind shield. He lifted his chin slightly and gestured for the Chief Priest to step back.
I followed Sylvester's instructions, stopped flowing Magic Power into my ring, and dispelled the wind shield. The Chief Priest likewise dispelled his glowing baton, took several steps back, and knelt with his arms crossed before his chest.
"...Huh?"
I stared blankly at the Chief Priest kneeling. I'd been taught that blue-robed Priests were nominally equal in rank, so there was no need to kneel within the
...Isn't Sylvester a blue-robed Priest whose family rank is higher than the High Priest's? A fake Priest?
From the friendly atmosphere I'd seen during the Prayer Ceremony procession, I knew the Chief Priest and Sylvester had a long relationship, but neither of them had shown any words or actions that clearly suggested a difference in rank.
If the relationship they'd displayed during the Prayer Ceremony was their private dynamic, then this was how they behaved in an official setting.
In other words, Sylvester wasn't just a blue-robed Priest—he held a rank that made even the Chief Priest, who had declared himself the highest in the Knight's Order, kneel.
...Could it be that I'm about to become the foster daughter of someone truly extraordinary?
Cold sweat trickled down my temples.
He was someone who could restrain the High Priest, someone who could make the Chief Priest kneel. Without such a person, he probably couldn't have saved me and everyone around me, but this unexpected turn of events made my heart pound loudly.
"Oh, Sylvester. You've come at the right time. Order that insolent man to release me from this restraint."
The High Priest, still rolled up in bands, looked up alternately between the Chief Priest and Sylvester. Sylvester merely glanced at the kneeling Chief Priest and didn't order him to release the restraint.
"In response to a request from the Knight's Order, I returned in a hurry. What on earth is this commotion?"
"...Wh-who are you?"
The Baron's eyes darted back and forth between Sylvester and the High Priest, completely unable to keep up with the change in circumstances.
Karstedt stepped forward before Sylvester and stood tall, glaring down at the Baron.
"This is the Aub of Ehrenfest."
"The- the-th-the..."
Trembling all over, the Baron pointed at Sylvester, muttering, "No way... that's impossible." Tilting my head in complete confusion, I heard Father kneel down behind me with a rustle.
I crept closer to Father and quietly whispered in a small voice, "Father, do you know who he is?" Pale-faced, Father answered quickly in a low voice.
"There's only one person who carries this city's name. He must be the Lord."
I was about to shout, but I desperately clamped my mouth shut and swallowed my surprise.
Middle-school-boy-at-heart Sylvester is the Lord? The guy who told a girl he'd just met to "snort like a pig," who took her Hairpin, who performed acrobatics during the Prayer Ceremony, who went hunting in the lower city forest without bringing guards—this guy is the Lord? Huh? Is this city going to be okay?
"Knowing who you're dealing with, you dare take that attitude!? Utterly insolent! Is that how you address the Lord!? Stand down!"
"Y-yes, sir!"
Internally thinking the most rude and disrespectful thoughts imaginable, I was startled by Karstedt's rebuke directed at the Baron and immediately prostrated myself on the spot.
"...Mine. What exactly are you doing?"
Raising my head slowly at Karstedt's voice—a mix of surprise and exasperation—I saw that everyone else was kneeling with arms crossed before their chest, while I alone was prostrated flat on the floor. The looks I received were piercing.
"Y-you told me to stand down, so I... couldn't help it."
It seemed I'd done something rather important at the wrong moment. I hastily straightened my posture and knelt. Sylvester looked around at everyone. His expression was one I'd never seen before—serious and stern. If I had only seen this face from the start, I would have believed it if someone told me he was the Lord.
Sylvester fixed his gaze on the High Priest and narrowed his eyes.
"Now then, let me hear the explanation, Uncle."
Apparently, these two were relatives. Which meant that if I became Sylvester's foster daughter, the High Priest would inevitably be part of the family. I didn't want relatives like that.
"Oh, will you hear me out, Sylvester?"
What poured from the High Priest's mouth was a series of claims that were extremely convenient for himself—blown completely out of proportion. He said that the reason the Baron had been summoned to the city, the cause of the chaos, even his own hardship, was all because of me for not submitting quietly. He claimed that if something happened in the Temple, it was because a Commoner like me was wearing Blue Robes.
Eighty percent was my fault, and the remaining twenty was the Chief Priest's. He'd supposedly played dumb and deceived them—tried to frame the High Priest. What an idiot. I'd been made to calculate almost all the ledgers, so I knew. The Chief Priest's attempt to frame the High Priest wasn't playing dumb at all. Absolutely not. The Chief Priest was far more terrifying than that.
"Baron Vindemaruto, is your testimony the same?"
Showing a weary expression at the repetition of the same claims, Sylvester shifted his gaze to the Baron. The toad-man's arguments were the same as the High Priest's—mostly my fault.
"Then, Ferdinand. Please present the testimony and evidence."
"Understood."
The Chief Priest calmly presented the forged documents showing how the Baron had entered the city. In addition, he reported the incident of my being attacked in the lower city. Father, who worked at the East Gate where the trouble had occurred, was asked for his opinion and further corroborated the Chief Priest's testimony from a gate guard's perspective.
"I'm a noble from another territory—how would I know about newly established rules or forged documents? I was simply invited, so I came. Does that make it a major crime?"
Claiming the attack in the lower city was irrelevant, the Baron insisted he was the victim.
"Aub Ehrenfest, I didn't know these documents were forged. I believed they had been properly approved..."
The Baron let out a pitiful, whimpering laugh as he produced documents from inside his cloak. Karstedt confiscated them and handed them to Sylvester. Sylvester examined the forged documents and barely lifted the corner of his lip. His expression practically screamed "Evidence acquired!" and it jolted me. There were other documents I wanted confiscated from the Baron as well.
"The Baron tricked Dirck into a Subordination Contract under the guise of adoption—doesn't that count as document forgery?"
"This child is lying. I had a Subordination Contract from the very beginning. There's no way I, a noble, would adopt a Commoner orphan."
The Baron widened his eyes and glared at me, immediately calling me a liar. Deria, who was kneeling behind me while holding Dirck, shot a sharp, piercing gaze at the toad-man.
"Both the High Priest and the Baron said it was an adoption, and the documents had double entries in certain sections."
"Silence!"
"...Could I see that contract?"
Even with the already-doubled portions removed, the documents looked like nothing more than a Subordination Contract. For the Baron, this didn't pose any real danger, so he nonchalantly held them out toward Karstedt.
"What do you think, Ferdinand?"
"What I reviewed was adoption documents."
The Chief Priest narrowed his eyes slightly and looked at the Baron. The testimony of Commoners like me or a Gray Priestess apprentice like Deria could be crushed by differences in rank, but the opinion of a noble Chief Priest could not.
The Baron, who had apparently treated the Chief Priest as just another priest and been doing all manner of things accordingly, saw his complexion change.
"Aren't you simply misremembering? Besides, the other party is a Self-Eating orphan. There's hardly any difference between adoption and a Subordination Contract, is there?"
There was obviously a difference, but the Baron seemed to want to insist there wasn't. Sensing his position was deteriorating, the toad-man suddenly changed the subject while pointing at me.
"More importantly, I'd like that Commoner punished!"
"A Commoner?"
Sylvester raised an eyebrow slightly and seized on the topic. Seeing an opening, the Baron began his accusation with enough force to send spitting everywhere.
"I've heard that this brat called Mine is a Commoner who was granted Blue Robes purely out of compassion. And yet, she's incredibly arrogant and does whatever she pleases! She attacked a noble with Magic Power and significantly reduced the private guards who were trying to protect me! She's dangerous and utterly savage! What could she possibly be thinking..."
I blinked in surprise at the rapid-fire list of complaints. This toad-man seemed to have some kind of defect or disorder in his brain.
"Wasn't it you who ordered my capture and sent private guards after me? Surely you remember that?"
"A Commoner must not defy a noble!"
At the Baron's furious glare, Sylvester flashed a grin.
"Baron Vindemaruto, let me inform you—the Commoner girl you're referring to is my foster daughter."
"W-what!? A Lord adopting a Commoner!?"
"The adoption contract has already been completed. Mine, come here."
"Yes."
At his beckoning, I stood up and walked over to Sylvester. Sylvester pulled the chain at his neck, drawing out a necklace smoothly.
"This is the proof."
"This girl is... the Lord's foster daughter...?"
"That's right. If Mine were still a Commoner, your claims might have held. But she is already my foster daughter. Which means your crime isn't merely entering a restricted city unknowingly. You attacked the Lord's own family. Your guards were severely injured, and you personally attacked her with Magic Power, didn't you?"
Sylvester snorted and told me, "Describe what was done to you."
"It wasn't just the Magic Power attack. I was also attacked in the lower city and forced into a Subordination Contract. Look—this wound was inflicted by him with a knife."
I opened my palm to show the wound where the bleeding had finally stopped. While watching the toad-man's complexion change, I disclosed the information I'd gathered.
"Furthermore, the man who attacked me during the Spring Prayer Ceremony also had a Subordination Contract with this man. Both in the spring and now, he's lamented losing many pawns because of attacks on me."
The testimony of a Commoner had no power, but that of the Lord's foster daughter would be taken seriously. And Sylvester had been part of the entourage during the Spring Prayer Ceremony. The toad-man may not have known, but that meant he had launched an assault on the Lord's party.
"Oh my? It seems there are more charges. Baron Vindemaruto, I hereby detain you. The confirmed charges are unlawful entry into the city and assault on the Lord's foster daughter and her guarding knight."
Pausing there, Sylvester narrowed his eyes.
"The suspected attack on the Prayer Ceremony entourage—I was part of that group, so that constitutes a declaration of war from your Lord. As a criminal who could destabilize the territory, I will investigate all of your charges in detail, question your Lord about the intent behind this declaration of war, and then deliver judgment. Seize him."
Karstedt pulled out a glowing baton and swung it with a whoosh. A band of light flew forth. The Baron, foaming at the mouth with bulging eyes, offered no resistance and was captured.
Karstedt strode to the door leading to the Noble Gate, flung it open, and launched a burst of magical light into the air. The Noble Gate opened immediately, and the Knight's Order retrieved both the Baron and the unconscious
While watching the Knight's Order's operations from the corner of his eye, Sylvester turned his gaze to the remaining High Priest after they had withdrawn.
"Sylvester, there's no need to listen to the opinions of Ferdinand, born from who-knows-what kind of woman. And to adopt a foolish Commoner like Mine—how on earth were you deceived? Attempting to mislead the Lord—what a frightful child. Dissolve the adoption immediately. This is advice from your uncle."
Still lying on the floor, the High Priest offered his advice with an air of superiority. Seeing the weary expressions of Karstedt and the Chief Priest, it was clearly a familiar refrain.
"Ferdinand may be of a different mother, but he is my brother. He's outstanding and works incredibly hard. I must ask you not to insult him."
"Half-brothers can't be trusted! Sister was..."
"That is your family's business. We are different."
...The Lord's half-brother is the son of the previous Lord, isn't he? No wonder the Knight's Order kneels.
I blinked in surprise at the story of the Chief Priest's background, which I hadn't known. For the two half-brothers to get along, the mothers of the High Priest and Sylvester must have been obstacles. Perhaps the Chief Priest's entry into the Temple was also related to these circumstances.
"He is my dear nephew. My sister's precious son. ...I don't want him to meet an unhappy fate. Please heed my advice, Sylvester."
Sylvester looked down at the High Priest, who spoke with the voice and wretched air of a pitiful old man, with cold eyes.
"I am already the Aub of Ehrenfest. This time, I will set aside familial affection and deliver my ruling as Lord."
"Wha!? My sister would never allow that!"
Apparently, the High Priest's past transgressions had been covered up or intervened in by Sylvester's mother, motivated by familial affection. I'd thought the High Priest was a tyrannical, arrogant, and overbearing person, but with the Lord's mother on his side, he could indeed do as he pleased in a city where rank differences overrode everything.
"Uncle, you've gone too far. Mother can no longer protect you. She too will be charged with forging official documents and aiding a crime."
It seemed Sylvester had decided to judge his own mother alongside the High Priest. Perhaps the mother had only intervened to protect her brother, and hadn't committed crimes severe enough to warrant isolation.
This time, even though he was her own son, the High Priest had clearly committed the crime of forging official documents to bring outsiders into the city, defying the Lord's orders. He probably intended to sweep away both mother and uncle in one go.
"Sylvester, are you going to make your own mother a criminal!?"
"Because of you!"
Sylvester roared at the High Priest, who accused him with a shout.
"The crimes you've committed over the years are too numerous to count. Mother kept shielding you out of love for her brother, and that's how things ended up like this. I will list every crime I can think of, have you executed, and confine Mother to the detached palace. I have no need of you in my governance."
Spoken with absolute clarity, the High Priest stared at Sylvester with an emptied, hollow expression, as if the fire within him had been extinguished. But the Lord's judgment could not be overturned.
"Take the High Priest and his Attendant into custody."
"Yes, sir!"
Just as my family and Attendants would bear the consequences if I committed a crime, it seemed that when the High Priest committed a crime, his Attendants would be punished alongside him.
At Karstedt's call, knights entered and seized the Attendants from the High Priest's quarters, including the High Priest himself, still wrapped in bands. The Gray Priestess near the door was also taken, and a hand reached for Deria as well.
Deria raised her eyes and looked at me with a pleading gaze.
Our eyes met for just an instant.
Deria put on a resigned smile, lowered her eyes, and held out Dirck.
"Lady Mine, please take care of Dirck."
I knew that expression—the furrowed brow and averted gaze, as though swallowing something bitter. It was the same face she'd worn during the orphanage reform when she'd begged, "I wanted to be saved."
A sharp pain pierced my chest. Back then, I'd made a promise to Deria. "If you're ever in trouble, I'll help you."
"Sylvester, I have a request."
I raised my head firmly and addressed Sylvester.
"Speak."
"Could you spare Deria from execution?"
"Why?"
Sylvester's deep green eyes gleamed with interest.
"Deria was simply deceived by that 'toad' Baron and the High Priest. Her actions were admittedly poor in various ways, but she hasn't done anything deserving of execution. Besides, she was the High Priest's Attendant for only a very short time, and given her youth, she was likely barely involved in any wrongdoing."
"...Hmm. Then show me how you would judge her."
His eyes eloquently stated that a displeasing judgment would send me straight to execution. I swallowed hard at the strict light within his amusement.
"I'll have Deria return to the orphanage she said she never wanted to go back to."
"Is that all?"
"A-And I'll ensure she's never made anyone's Attendant again. She'll spend her life at the orphanage."
It was essentially crushing any path to advancement for an orphan. Seeing Deria's pale expression, Sylvester gave a slight nod.
"As a punishment, that seems fitting. Very well."
"I'm grateful. Deria, you will be spending your time at the orphanage. Looking after Dirck and the other orphans will be your duty from now on."
"...Understood."
Deria held Dirck close, kept her head bowed, and smiled softly.
I wanted to say "And so the matter is settled," but the atmosphere shifted, so I held back.
Next time: a story about Mine becoming a foster daughter.