The One Who Should Keep Silent
"You have the right to remain silent, but it would be wise not to."
"If you use Edification on Garza Iorid, you can restore his mana. However, Peach’s edification level will drop significantly."
Ho-yeong deeply sympathized with Peach’s feelings. She had spoken so calmly just now, but before the lord, there must have been plenty she could not bear to say aloud.
Peach’s reaction makes perfect sense. Honestly, if I were in her shoes, I wouldn’t want to help some jerk like Garza either.
But that did not mean he could leave Garza unconverted.
I can’t break the promise I made to the marquis... Besides, converting that guy was one of the reasons I came here in the first place. Should I use conversion on Peach instead and talk her into it?
Then he suddenly remembered what Daliha had said when he obtained Haria’s Tear.
"Guardian, you possess not only outstanding skill but also a righteous heart. You are truly a model player.
You have changed the destinies of many beings since coming to this world. Through Edification, you have turned despair into hope and hatred into love.
Long ago, there were also taming users, but they merely oppressed other races and used them as they pleased. You are different, Ho-yeong-nim. You do not demand submission—you draw out loyalty. You do not control others—you meet them with affection.
You alone have shown the true meaning of Edification."
Yeah. If there’s no sincerity in it, conversion is nothing but a temporary fix. Let’s prescribe the most reliable solution for the marquis’s spoiled brat.
Instead of muddling through, Ho-yeong decided to meet it head-on.
“My lord marquis, I think there’s no longer any need for you to step in. You have already apologized sincerely, and Peach accepted it.”
“M-Master? By that, you mean...?”
“Wait a moment, Peach. I’m speaking with the marquis right now.”
Peach looked at her master with a complicated expression, but for now, she decided to stay quiet.
“If we want to ease Peach’s anger, it’s only natural that the one directly responsible steps forward, not the marquis.”
“The one directly responsible?”
“Yes. An apology is most important when it comes from the person who caused the problem in the first place. I’m talking about your youngest son.”
Ho-yeong had seen this sort of thing countless times back in the modern world. People who could have ended things with a simple “I’m sorry,” but let their pride bloat the matter into something ugly and enormous. People who knew the saying that a kind word can repay a thousand nyang of debt, yet refused to utter a single word of apology and ended up owing ten thousand.
In his experience, high-ranking people and those who had plenty to spare were even worse about it.
“I would like your youngest son to apologize to Peach. Of course, if he cannot do that, there’s nothing to be done. A promise is a promise. But my ability grows stronger the more sincere the heart behind it is.”
The drunk driver who had killed his parents had begun not with “I’m sorry,” but with “Let’s settle this.” The lawyer who stood beside that bastard was no different. Instead of saying, “How deeply must you be hurting,” he had started with, “How much do you want?”
“If your son apologizes sincerely, I will do my utmost to restore the young man’s mana. I believe that would be best for everyone—for you, for me, for your son, and for Peach as well.”
Ho-yeong’s words sent a great wave through the tears gathered in Peach’s eyes.
“I understand. I will make sure that my foolish son apologizes from the heart.”
“Thank you, my lord marquis.”
Haria’s Tear is slightly charged. Current charge: 77%
* * *
“Long live Queen Daisyares Marie Kain, the hero who guards the Western Continent and the sovereign who most resolutely upholds the most unbending will! Glory beyond eternity to Her Majesty! Long live the Queen!”
Ho-yeong’s shout of “long live the Queen” was so thunderous that it echoed through the vast throne hall.
Even after the echo rang five times over, Daisy said nothing and simply looked down at him.
The Border Count, kneeling on one knee, slowly tried to raise his head—then froze.
“Who told you to lift your head?”
“P-Pardon? Ah, yes.”
The plate armor made with the Kain Kingdom’s excellent craftsmanship was not uncomfortable for kneeling. Still, that did not mean it was pleasant to remain on hard stone for long.
...
Ho-yeong was deeply regretting coming to the royal palace.
Damn it. I shouldn’t have come.
He had come to the capital for three reasons.
The first was to use Edification on the marquis’s youngest son and restore his mana, thereby earning a high-tier achievement. It was the most important goal, but he had not accomplished it yet.
The second was to clear the important quest Answer the Summons from the Capital as early as possible and eliminate any future trouble. That was the second most important goal, but—
Why the hell isn’t the completion window popping up?
For some reason, the quest had not been completed.
And yet the bonus quest is marked complete... weird.
The third goal had been to finish the bonus quest Speed Run: Arrive in the Capital Within the Original Three-Day Deadline while he was at it. The reward included a legendary item, so it had been too tempting to ignore.
But when the hell do I get that item? If it’s legendary, it would definitely come in handy against those fanatic elf bastards.
The reward slot showed nothing but three question marks, not even a silhouette, which was infuriating.
Ah... I wish Daliha would tell me. Can’t you hear my inner voice? If you can, answer me, please.
He wanted to ask Daliha so badly, but with his knees on the floor right in front of the throne, he could not even mutter to himself.
I already got treated like a lunatic before when I was searching for the status window in front of the Queen sister. Damn it all.
Meanwhile, ministers who had received the summons were hurrying into the throne hall.
“Skip the greetings. Everyone, return to your places.”
Too lazy to receive each one’s salute, Daisy waved a hand.
“Are those who will advise the crown already assembled?”
“Yes, Your Majesty. The heads of the 2 Courts 2 Religions and those entrusted with important posts have all gathered.”
“Is that so? Quick work.”
At her attendant’s report, Daisy slowly rose from her seat.
“And yet, how strange. It is only natural for those who should gather to be gathered... but...”
All the high ministers tensed.
When Her Majesty paused after speaking, it was a sign of anger. The longer the pause, the deeper the anger.
“Why are the ones who should be on the battlefield here? Marquis, would you care to explain the reason?”
When the queen’s fiery gaze shifted to him, Marquis Iorid wanted nothing more than to kneel like the Border Count.
“Why do you say nothing? Have you fled in defeat?”
“N-No, Your Majesty! The stories are so hard to believe that I was trying to choose my words carefully before reporting them.”
“Hard to believe? Are there really reports less believable than the fact that the Border Count is standing right in front of me?”
“That is...”
“Enough. I shall ask the deputy commander of the Holy Knight Order.”
Daisy handed the baton to Demis.
“You speak. Then I need not determine the truth line by line. It comes from the mouth of the kingdom’s second finest holy knight, after all.”
“Yes, Your Majesty!”
“Before that, one moment. I command everyone except Sir Demis to remain silent from this point until I grant permission. Whether it is idle talk or formal speech, none of it is to be spoken.”
At the queen’s order, which clearly did not want to be interrupted by any commotion, everyone swallowed hard and held their silence.
“Then I shall begin the explanation.”
Knowing Daisy’s temperament well, Demis did not disappoint his sovereign. He explained with as much brevity as possible while still remaining detailed.
“(...) The mutated troll summoned from the dimensional rift was exactly as the Border Count predicted. All allied forces witnessed it...”
At this point, the people were shocked, but that was only the beginning.
“(...) The final monster summoned was a giant troll, but it was slain without a single casualty. This was thanks to Your Majesty’s great magnanimity in returning the thing called artillery to the Border Count.”
Daisy was first startled by the mention of the giant troll, and then even more startled by the fact that there had been no fatalities.
Ho-yeong muttered under his breath.
Why the hell does that make it thanks to the Queen sister!
Of course, Sir Demis was speaking from the heart rather than flattery, so there was nothing to object to.
“Thanks to everyone following the Border Count’s command in perfect unison, there were no deaths. Nine people were injured, but they have all recovered by now. The number of missing persons is seventeen in total. The civilians are the twelve children mentioned earlier, and the military personnel are five, including the messenger from Kihara territory.”
At this, Daisy let out a long sigh.
“(...) An elf who called herself a priest of the secret society known as the Cliad Sect, Lucy Perhela, appeared. The Border Count employed appropriate psychological warfare and compelled that elf to reveal that the incidents involving the mutated trolls and the kidnappings were the work of the Cliad Sect.”
At the mention of the Cliad Sect, the court mage Guzel was shaken to the core.
“(...) The being they call their cult leader attempted magical communication. I believe the atrocities they commit in the name of ‘purification’ are meant to make all races other than elves and all monsters fight one another, until in the end everyone abandons this land.”
He was so stunned that even when the marquis cast him a sideways glance, he did not notice.
“(...) When the Border Count cried out his will to protect everyone before all, Haria’s Tear and Salia’s Well appeared in the heavens. (...) And the Border Count chose Haria’s Tear. He said that holy relics were, after all, gifts from the angels, and that he was neither spokesperson nor proxy for any religion.”
As if they had rehearsed it, every priest in the Religious Court pulled out an “X” cross.
And the eyebrows of those who saw the wings rising were lifted in perfect unison.
“That is the report I have received and witnessed, as faithfully as I can present it. Whether the elf Lucy Perhela or the Border Count spoke the truth cannot be known with certainty, but it has been confirmed that both spoke from sincerity.”
With Demis’s concise report, Ho-yeong focused so hard he nearly forgot the pain in his knees.
While conveying the facts as objectively as possible, Demis had also subtly shown that he held not suspicion, but loyalty toward Ho-yeong.
“Hmm... I see. Truly, this is full of things hard to believe.”
After a while of silence, Daisy murmured low.
Seeing the fidgeting faces of the gathered ministers, she felt irritation—and, at the same time, a sense of satisfaction.
You all look like you’re dying to gossip.
“Head of the Criminal Court, bring the legal gavel.”
Lord Navni, the duke and head of the Criminal Court, bowed and withdrew.
No one was shocked that he did not dare answer the king’s command. Her Majesty had not yet lifted the silence debuff.
“I shall begin the royal interrogation.”
The legal gavel was used only for a royal interrogation, in which the monarch personally questioned a grave criminal.
Though it was called a gavel, it was shaped like a hammer.
“Remember well that I have not yet permitted anyone to speak.”
Taking the gavel, Daisy walked toward Ho-yeong. The distance between them was only a few steps.
“However, Border Count. You may answer my words. No—better yet, you had best answer them.”
You may exercise your right to remain silent, but it would be unwise to do so.
The hammer made of high-purity Dandanium struck the Dandanium plate with a resounding blow.