“Wh-What?!”
Parthenon flusteredly waved his hands, but Hikan added,
“No, you! The four-eyed bastard in the hood! The cripple! You're my direct junior!”
I'm going insane.
Now everyone's gaze was fixed squarely on me.
I couldn't panic.
I remained seated with a solemn air, pretending not to know him.
Even then, I tried desperately to think of some way to save him.
Nothing came to mind.
“You! Your name was!!”
At the same time, I started growing nervous inside.
I had a feeling that the moment he said my name, a great many things would become dangerous.
“Right! It was Sa…! Sa…!”
But what was this?
“Sa……! …….”
Hikan couldn't even remember my name.
For a moment, a thought crossed my mind.
Who had I been to that bastard?
“Enough! How long do you intend to listen to the ramblings of that idiot fucking pig?! Carry out the sentence at once!”
Black Knight Parthenon rose and shouted.
“Yeah! Kill him!!”
“Ooooooh!!”
The brief incident, lasting only a few seconds, ended like that.
Hikan kept shouting as the organization members grabbed him and dragged him toward the guillotine.
― The sentence will now be carr….
But then something unexpected happened.
Organization members rushed out from the audience, spoke with the announcer and executioners, and began taking Hikan somewhere else.
― The sentence of the third Mid-Rank Guard will be temporarily suspended. Fourth. Dog of the Public Security Agency. Captain Amoletta, a torture specialist from Public Security Agency Headquarters. She captured, tortured, and killed countless of our brothers.
The announcer continued naturally.
Next, a female guard was dragged out.
“Waaaaaaaaah!!!”
“Kill her! Kill her!”
The reaction was explosive.
Disgustingly so.
But by then, all my attention was focused on the back of Hikan's head.
They're taking him away.
Why?
Until moments ago, he was someone they were going to execute without a second thought.
But the instant he acted like he recognized me, they took him away.
There was no way that was a simple coincidence.
「 Expanded Vision 」
I activated the ability.
The aperture inside my eye moved, scanning Hikan and everyone who came into contact with him.
Several people pulled a sack over Hikan's head.
Then they escorted him somewhere and handed him over to another group.
Following them led me to a certain faction.
They were organization members belonging to a faction different from Count Hamuan's.
And among that group…….someone unusual was staring at me.
An assassin wearing a mask and covering his entire body.
His clothing was no different from the other assassins, so there was nothing remarkable about him.
He was staring directly at me.
‘Is he targeting me?’
And it wasn't only him.
Around 15 members of that organization had scattered to different places, pretending to mind their own business while glancing at me.
Every single one of them.
As the ceremony continued, suspicion turned into certainty.
‘They're targeting me.’
Then who was that assassin?
I activated the 「All-Seeing Eye」.
‘What the hell?!’
It demanded more Mana than anything I'd ever seen.
508 Mana just to uncover the identity of one masked man?
I wondered about the ratio behind the cost.
Just in case, I tried identifying the Dark Mage sitting in a corner.
Only 203.
For a Regional Public Enemy.
And yet identifying that one masked man cost 508 Mana?
That could only mean one thing.
‘A big shot!’
Someone far greater than I'd imagined was targeting me.
“…….”
I pulled my hood slightly lower and bit my lip.
Why?
Why is that bastard targeting me?
Because I impersonated the Spider Society?
“Elder Ermasa. You should prepare for your address in 10 minutes.”
Around then, an organization member helping run the ceremony bowed and spoke to me.
The next event.
My turn to give the address was approaching.
“Um…. Black Knight….”
Around then, some organization member approached and called Parthenon aside.
“You mean me?”
“Yes. Something urgent has happened. The truth is….”
The organization member and Parthenon whispered together.
I watched both of them suspiciously.
The organization member didn't belong to ‘that group’ targeting me.
But a messenger didn't necessarily have to belong to the same group.
“Understood.”
Parthenon sighed and bowed to me.
“Elder. May I leave for a moment?”
Leave?
Someone was targeting me right now.
And Parthenon, who was effectively my shield, wanted to leave.
For some reason, that made me uneasy.
“What happened?”
“It is nothing serious. My horse has apparently broken free of its reins and begun rampaging. I believe I must restrain myself.”
“…….”
A loosened rein was exactly the sort of incident someone could manipulate.
Should I say I'll go with him?
Or….
No.
Following Parthenon might actually be more dangerous.
Count Hamuan was sitting right beside me, after all.
“Very well.”
“I shall return shortly.”
At least he genuinely seemed intent on protecting me.
I couldn't help adding something.
“Parthenon.”
“Yes.”
I lifted my cane and lightly tapped his collarbone.
“Watch your neck.”
Parthenon's expression hardened.
Then he stared at me again with that unbearably sticky gaze.
It felt like he was looking at me as though I were ridiculous again, but I didn't care.
He couldn't die.
“I shall remember that.”
Parthenon stepped away for a while.
For the moment, I remained tense and expanded the 「All-Seeing Eye」 as far as possible.
I doubted everything around me and sharpened every sense.
“Look, Elder.”
That was when Count Hamuan spoke to me.
“There are outstanding organizations here. Regional Public Enemies. Even an Enemy of the State. Yet not even they could achieve consecutive victories in this Civil War.”
What is he trying to say?
My head's already a mess.
“You accomplished what they could not.”
“…….”
“Did you hear the cheers when you entered? Do you see the eyes that keep watching you even now? Everyone I meet everywhere asks about you. They may not say it aloud, but everyone here pays more attention to you than to all those Regional Public Enemies and Enemies of the State. I merely represent them in asking you to deliver this address.”
At the Count's words, his retainers nodded gravely.
They were all looking up to me.
“Go out there and raise everyone's spirits!”
The Count spoke with emotion.
Sorry to ruin the mood.
“Count. Regrettably, I believe I must withdraw from the address.”
The Count froze.
“Why?”
“Someone is targeting me.”
“Targeting you? Who dares!”
Exactly.
Who?
Mana Cost: 508.
What group did that bastard belong to?
Someone from the south who'd suffered defeat after defeat because of me?
But how could someone like that infiltrate a northern military parade?
“Is there truly no way? So many people in the north are looking forward to this. It is directly tied to my honor as well.”
The Count asked again.
“I shall assign my knights to you. Even if someone is targeting you, what could they possibly do in front of all these people?”
He had a point.
But I didn't want to buy danger for myself without reason.
“I have a bad feeling.”
“A feeling?”
“I know that you have called me your friend. This does not sit well with me. If another opportunity arises to raise your honor, I will gladly assist.”
I clearly refused once more.
The Count watched me seriously, then asked,
“It cannot be helped. Then if someone is targeting you, there is no reason to remain here any longer. Why not evacuate early?”
Huh?
I can do that?
Leaving the military parade had never even occurred to me.
Even if I left, I wouldn't have anyone to protect me.
“I shall accompany you with my guards.”
But if I left the parade with the Count himself—
I'd be safe.
“Would you do that?”
“Of course.”
“Thank you.”
Hamuan smiled.
“Friends need not thank one another.”
‘Everyone, prepare to leave.’
As he began bustling around and giving orders to the Guard Knights, I straightened my back and picked up my cane.
Friends need not thank one another.
‘Friends’…….
For someone who had lived without friends, it was an unfamiliar word.
“I ordered the event stopped and a carriage prepared. You will ride with me. Let us get moving.”
“Very well.”
I stood, leaned on my cane, and limped after Hamuan.
We passed the other powerful figures, who looked confused, and reached the corridor outside the venue.
The Count walked ahead.
His retainers.
The Guard Knights protecting my sides.
And me, limping among them…….
‘Young man. Doubt.’
That was when it happened.
A sinister feeling struck my mind like lightning.
‘Huh.’
Friends?
A friend…?
Come to think of it, why had I gone my whole life without friends?
I'd gotten along reasonably well with plenty of people at school and at the factory.
If I thought about it carefully, the answer became obvious.
Because I'd never dealt with anyone ‘as myself.’
I'd spent my entire life acting as something.
How could a life like that ever produce a friend with whom I could bare my heart?
Even the rare people who'd called me a friend had only wanted to use me.
Then how was the Count different?
‘Because I'm pretending to be valuable?’
No.
Something—
something wasn't right.
It was instinct.
Like a hangnail rising beside a fingernail.
You could ignore it easily enough.
But once you pulled it, it tore upward through the skin and drew blood.
Normally, I would've ignored a doubt that small.
But today—
Song Chien's teaching brushed past my ears.
And I decided to doubt Count Hamuan, whom I'd trusted completely.
「 All-Seeing Eye 」
I lowered my gaze.
Mana drained away as the aperture opened.
Information flooded into my head about what the gold necklace around my neck was—
or more precisely, what was contained inside it.
In that instant, my limping steps stopped dead.
And I thought.
What had I been saying from the day before yesterday until now?
I seized hold of my dazed thoughts.
Around then, the Guard Knights walked 2 more steps before stopping in front of me.
Then one asked,
“What is wrong, Elder?”
I raised my head and looked at them.
Suspicion should remain suspicion until it is proven.
And so, I opened my mouth.
“Ah.”
The military parade was extremely noisy.
We'd been speaking loudly until now.
“Come to think of it―”
So I moved my lips where everyone could see.
Then, in a voice too quiet for anyone to hear, I called Count Hamuan.
I said I needed help.
“What help do you require?”
And the Count heard me.
A voice he should not possibly have been able to hear.
It was only a tiny piece of evidence.
But it was enough to prove it.
The Count had been listening in on me.
Using an extremely expensive magic tool.
I deliberately invested a large amount of Mana to ask about the ‘intent’ behind the magic tool hanging from his ear.
The 「All-Seeing Eye」 gave me the answer.
Eavesdropping.
Before that, arranging for me to come to a specific place.
And before that, the reason he'd tried to establish a friendship with me.
Every one of his actions converged on a single conclusion.
He had begun to feel threatened.
By my growing fame.