Chapter 6
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Translator: uly
Chapter: 6
Chapter Title: Novel Revision (1)
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The investigation proceeded immediately.
Normally, Byan would have taken charge of it himself, but the situation had already spiraled out of control.
With no one else available to handle the task, Artam Marquis had no choice but to direct the investigation personally.
I joined the other knights as one of the involved parties, moving along with them.
“You’re making a mistake, Clay Banheart.”
“A mistake? More importantly, why are you here, Sir Deolic?”
I responded to Byan in a tone of disbelief.
Though I used formal speech due to the onlookers, I nearly slipped into casual address out of habit.
‘Byan’s clearly a suspect too, isn’t he?’
It was only natural now that Kinzel’s whereabouts had been revealed.
He should be under investigation himself, yet here he was, roaming freely. It was absurd.
‘They’re really sloppy.’
This mess started right after Duke Gail collapsed.
It also meant Byan enjoyed a high level of trust, which made Sir Eaton’s current restraint as the prime suspect all the more pitiful.
Pointing at Sir Eaton, who was being escorted by the knights near Artam Marquis, I spoke up.
“Shouldn’t you be over there, sir?”
“I don’t know what game you’re playing by clinging to me, but it’s pointless.”
He didn’t seem interested in hearing me out.
I smirked at his overt hostility.
“We’ll see if it’s pointless.”
“You…”
“There are eyes watching. You should mind your manners, shouldn’t you?”
Quoting his own words back at him, I watched Byan grind his teeth and look away.
“…I’ll see how far that confidence takes you.”
“You’ve said exactly what I was thinking. How considerate of you, Sir Deolic.”
Moments later, at Artam Marquis’s command, we began searching Sir Eaton’s tent.
We dumped out supplies, neatly organized items, armor, swords—nothing was overlooked.
Sir Eaton watched with a face etched in humiliation, while Byan remained comparatively composed.
But I could sense the emotion hidden behind that calm expression.
‘Anticipation.’
Excitement and anticipation for what was about to unfold. He believed the Poisoned Ink Bottle was mixed in with Sir Eaton’s belongings.
I knew he’d sent a servant multiple times to check the ledgers, confirming if things had gone as planned.
Unfortunately, the ledger the servant checked was one I had tampered with.
Unaware of that, Byan waited eagerly for the knights to discover the Poisoned Ink Bottle among his rival’s things.
Watching him like that made it incredibly hard to hold back my laughter.
“…?”
Naturally, no matter how much time passed, nothing unusual turned up.
Byan, who had been observing leisurely, finally seemed to realize something was wrong.
“This is the last one.”
When a knight announced that and dumped out the final box of supplies, Byan watched with eyes nearly bulging in intensity.
He stared at every hand sifting through the items, but that wouldn’t make something that wasn’t there appear.
No ink bottle anywhere.
“Nothing unusual…”
Artam Marquis muttered while stroking his chin, and Byan looked like he wanted to shout something.
No way! There has to be a Poisoned Ink Bottle in his supplies!
That’s what his face screamed. No, that’s exactly what he was thinking.
Byan was practically yelling silently at Artam Marquis with an expression of raw desperation.
“Then next is Sir Deolic.”
Artam Marquis said with a troubled look. It was only natural after finding nothing in Sir Eaton’s things.
Byan’s face, meanwhile, had gone pale and rigid.
“Pardon the intrusion, Sir Deolic.”
“…”
Several knights who had been watching Sir Eaton approached Sir Deolic.
This meant the suspicion was shifting to Byan.
Byan remained silent as Artam Marquis and the knights headed to his tent.
He finally spoke the moment they began rummaging through his tent.
“…What have you done?”
“What do you mean?”
Watching the knights search, Byan asked in a low voice.
It sounded like a beast’s growl. Completely unlike his usual self.
But it was a face I was somewhat familiar with.
Back when the Deolic family still associated with us, he’d shown it to me often.
“You’ve always been like this. No real talent, yet always a thorn in my side.”
“I’ve thought this for a while, but…”
With all eyes now focused ahead, I dropped the formalities like he had.
“You have an inflated view of yourself.”
“…What?”
“You, your family—everyone looks down on me and thinks they’re superior.”
I smiled innocently as I felt the mask of benevolence Byan barely maintained crack.
“Even though you can’t see what’s right in front of you.”
Only then did Byan shift his gaze forward.
His face froze stiff.
“This ink bottle… something’s off about the ink.”
The ink bottle passed straight from the knight’s hand to Artam Marquis’s.
Byan stared at the black liquid sloshing inside like he’d seen the impossible.
“W-Why is that…!”
“Oh, you know what that is?”
Even as I grinned brightly, Byan couldn’t respond. Or rather, he wasn’t in any state to.
Of course not. That was supposed to be in Sir Eaton’s belongings.
It never should have been in Byan’s.
So why was it there?
Because I put it there.
“Byan Deolic.”
Slowly, with a ghostly pallor, Byan turned to look at me.
“I told you before. Ever heard of karma?”
“…!”
Light returned to Byan’s dazed eyes.
Smart as he was, he’d figured out what I meant.
‘In the past, this is where it would’ve ended.’
Just a small crack in the mask.
That had been the limit of my provocations against him.
‘Why did Byan become a spy for Kainzel Kingdom?’
I’d kept wondering.
Byan, hailed as a genius swordsman, the center of everyone’s expectations—why risk it all to spy for Kainzel Kingdom?
“That’s why you’ll never measure up.”
From observing Byan’s personality since childhood.
And from his actions this time, I’d formulated one hypothesis.
The reverse scale that would shatter his mask completely.
“As successor.”
The reaction was dramatic. Flames ignited in his eyes that had blankly stared at me.
Logically, my words and actions seemed off.
But in his current crisis—against all expectations, cornered by someone he’d dismissed as harmless.
‘Byan’s patience is weaker than I thought.’
The mask shattered, and Byan lost his reason in a burst of rage.
“Clay Banheart…! How dare you…!”
Clang!
Byan drew his sword from his waist.
Forgetting the nobles and knights around, he raised it high and channeled mana into the blade.
Whoooosh!
A blue aura flowed along his sword.
His blade swung toward me.
“S-Sir Deolic?!”
“What are you doing?!”
But we weren’t alone. As Byan swung, other knights rushed to block me.
Snapping back to reality, Byan halted his sword abruptly.
“Urk!”
He glared at me and retreated.
He’d realized it. This entire situation was a trap I’d set.
Composing myself with utmost propriety and a feigned look of shock, I said,
“I don’t understand why Sir Deolic would swing his sword at me.”
“I misjudged you, Clay Banheart.”
Byan’s actions were a fatal blunder.
Attacking me—the one who’d just pointed him out as a suspect—right after the suspicious ink bottle was found? It looked damning. Practically a confession.
“Ha.”
Byan twisted his lips into a wry smirk, realizing his mistake.
“I never imagined it’d come to this…”
He could feel the knights’ and Artam Marquis’s gazes upon him.
Gazes filled with suspicion and confusion.
‘I’ve won.’
Even Byan had no way out of this.
“It’d be best to give up quietly. They’ll soon confirm that ink is poison.”
“Give up?”
The steadfastness from before was gone. Madness hidden beneath his benevolent mask began seeping out.
“If I were going to do that, I wouldn’t have started this in the first place.”
‘What?’
I froze at his response.
Byan was done for. Even if the nearby knights were weaker, this was the heart of the camp. At Artam Marquis’s order, they’d swarm him.
Yes, that’s how it should be…
An eerie unease crept in.
‘No way he can escape from here.’
But the opponent was Byan.
The villain permitted to rival the novel’s protagonist.
‘Nah… He’s not that incompetent to slip away now.’
I glanced at the knights restraining me and Artam Marquis watching tensely.
Right then.
“Haaah!”
With a shout, Byan slammed his mana-charged sword—blue haze rising—into the ground.
Boom!
Dust billowed, obscuring vision, and Byan bolted out of the tent.
“Catch him! Grab him!”
“Pursue! Chase him now! We must capture Byan Deolic!”
Artam Marquis’s belated shout rang out.
Only then did the knights scramble into action.
I couldn’t help but curse at the sight.
‘These guys call themselves knights…? Hurry up and catch him, you idiots!’
I’d underestimated Byan’s tenacity.
He was the real deal.
A relentless viper who never gave up.
“Don’t let him escape the camp!”
Artam Marquis bellowed, but it wasn’t so simple.
Byan wasn’t called the Deolic genius for nothing.
Sword Expert upper rank at such a young age.
A powerhouse on the cusp of Sword Master.
That’s why he could stand as the ‘villain’ opposing the protagonist.
Among those in this war, few surpassed him—only Tedric Eaton nearby.
But Tedric Eaton hadn’t fully cleared his name, so he couldn’t move freely.
If he did, they might deem him fleeing and hunt him like Byan.
‘Even so, how do they miss him dashing through the camp?’
Apparently, they did.
It was happening right before my eyes.
“What’s going on?”
“Isn’t that Sir Deolic? What’s he doing?”
Information spread slower than Byan ran.
Even hearing orders to stop him, few believed ‘that’ Byan Deolic had done wrong.
The prolonged stalemate had dulled them to peace.
All those ‘reasons’ aligned, letting Byan escape the camp and plunge into the nearby forest.
“Don’t let him get away! Everyone, after Byan!”
The knights charged after him into the woods, but capturing him seemed hopeless.
If they couldn’t in the camp, how in the forest?
‘My god.’
He actually got away.
Our army had too many idiots, more than I thought.
I newly appreciated how Duke Gail had led these fools to overwhelm Kainzel Kingdom.
The moment I realized why we’d lose the war without him.
‘We’re screwed.’
A chill ran down my spine.
‘I absolutely cannot let Byan escape.’
Instinct told me.
If he got away now, he’d become an unstoppable monster.
And he’d never forget me for ruining his plans.
The ‘villain’ originally meant for the protagonist.
But the protagonist wasn’t here now.
‘Then who stops Byan?’
Damn it all, I already knew the answer.