The Trap in Easy Mode
The smallest joy in my life had been interrupted by a single obstacle.
Prince Dochi, the shameless enemy prince.
He was a perfect horoscope type who left no traceable clues behind.
Thanks to that, the condition I had assumed—that sorting out the loose ends would naturally reveal evidence—collapsed.
Without realizing it, anxiety had begun to grow unchecked, and because of it my actions became more cautious, throwing my dopamine supply into chaos.
These days felt nothing like the days before.
It was a dopamine shock worse than a hypoglycemic one.
But right now, at this exact moment.
I had obtained information from another possible world.
In that world the purpose Prince Dochi had wanted was already achieved, and everything was flowing smoothly along a well-laid path.
Even if the person were perfectly thorough, the world was simply not one where clues would stay hidden.
I tilted my wine glass calmly and began gathering the clues I needed to drive him into my corner.
“So this was Lloyd’s base.”
Thinking about it, it made perfect sense.
He had been driven out of Howard, so he could not easily stay in the surrounding area.
The Weiden Countship belonged to Olivia, so it was impossible for Lloyd to have taken refuge there.
Among all the places he had actually visited, the most developed infrastructure belonged only to the Spencer County in the eastern territory of the Fiona Kingdom, home to a great noble.
“This was the core.”
Apostles were usually the kind who only handed out abilities without getting too involved.
Why had this one suddenly begun to meddle in authority?
Because this place was the core location for the playable character Lloyd.
★ [Complete] Apostle of Pestilence - Subjugate Mission Complete ★
Main Scenario Clear Information has been updated.
“Ah! You’re back again, Sir Knight?”
“Yeah.”
“Did you come all this way just to see me?”
“Hmm.”
“Waaah! I’m so happy, Sir Knight! …Did you perhaps come because you had questions about the newly assigned manager?”
“That’s also curious.”
“How dare you!”
The royal manager who had been dispatched.
The figures who accompanied him.
“Did you hear that rumor as well?”
“What rumor?”
“Oh my, where in this world does something come for free?”
“…That’s absurd.”
“Hmph, as I expected, it’s quite the lively tale. By the way, the reason the kingdom has been in such an uproar lately is said to be because the third prince passed away…”
Plagues spreading nationwide.
Deaths caused by the first prince’s plague.
“The third prince of the kingdom will take the throne?”
“But we still have the second prince?”
“You really are a troublesome person. Since the third prince has already resolved this plague matter, we can keep drinking our wine in peace like this.”
“Have you seen the strange people wearing masks lately?”
“Yes. Those who were organized by the third prince to resolve the plague.”
“Doesn’t it look dangerous?”
“They wear those clothes because they are people who come into contact with those who have caught the plague, so they can be seen from a distance and avoided.”
“O…”
Clues were coming in one by one.
[Subjugate] Pestilence Apostle - Subjugate Mission Complete ★
Main Scenario Clear Information has been updated.
“The night moon has been achieved.”
“The deep-rooted plague has been achieved.”
Clear information for the main scenario that should have been impossible was flooding in like a tide.
“Excuse me, Your Highness. Does the atmosphere not suit you?”
While I was quietly gathering information around me, Logan gave me an uneasy look.
From the side it looked like he was simply drinking quietly, but the feeling that he had approached me out of worry lingered.
“No, I was simply thinking about what has happened since returning to my domain.”
I had gathered almost all the information that could be collected here.
Now it was time to take revenge on the prince who had been bothering me.
The problem was that the sources were so low-yield.
“It’s definitely reliable if I can just confront him face to face.”
Only the prince who worshipped the Apostle of Pestilence would possess information that could not be obtained by anyone else.
If I drove him into my presence, no matter how great he was, he would have nowhere to run.
Then I had to find a way to bring him right in front of me.
“It’s a relief. Your betrothed is safe.”
“Yeah.”
“I understand that too. When the person you love is in pain, you want to feel that pain for them, and when they are struggling, you feel like the whole world is collapsing.”
It was a sentiment I could not fully share, yet I agreed to listen to Logan’s story while quietly sipping my drink.
After all, I had been passing for the lovesick Lloyd.
“Summer is hard on pregnant women. If you’re so worried about your wife, why didn’t you just stay home, Logan?”
“When the baby is born… it costs a lot of money, doesn’t it?”
Logan scratched his face with a complicated expression.
The discomfort of him admitting he had come only for money was obvious.
“I heard about a woman named Maria who treated Your Highness’s betrothed. If something happens to Lady Sophia’s body…”
Logan looked at me with a noticeably serious expression.
It was clear he was deeply worried about his pregnant wife.
“I will pass that on. So do not worry, Logan.”
“Thank you, Your Highness!”
Of course, if the body of the person you love falls ill, this attitude is normal.
“Is even the lovesick Lloyd reacting this way normal?”
A report sent under the name of the Apostle of Pestilence, Barusk the priest.
It reported that Olivia had recovered somewhat, yet was dying in real time.
How would Prince Dochi feel about shooting someone like that?
“He will probably think I’m weird.”
Looking at Logan’s reaction, the famous lovesick Lloyd’s behavior was far too dry.
Then what reason could he have to leave the domain while his beloved fiancée remained behind?
For example, to obtain medicinal herbs unavailable in Howard for the sake of curing his beloved fiancée…
Just then something brushed past my mind.
“Medicinal herbs that are too precious to obtain easily in Howard…”
Suddenly one of the five methods the Chicken Mode had taught me for treating Olivia came to mind.
It was the national flower of the Fiona Kingdom, the Tears of the Moon, a cure filled with love.
“Yes, that should be something I cannot obtain in Howard.”
The Tears of the Moon, as the national flower, are a flower seen throughout the entire kingdom.
However, the medicinal version differed slightly.
The precious medicinal Tears of the Moon, blessed by Founding King Fiona, the panacea of all ailments.
It was a very special flower cultivated only in a specific location within the royal palace.
Therefore, it could only be taken out with the king’s personal approval.
“It is impossible for the king to leave his throne empty. The first prince is investigating the empire’s movements in the western territory, while the second prince, a wanderer, has slipped out of the royal palace and headed north…”
The first and second princesses had already married and left the royal family.
So the only one who could realistically move the Tears of the Moon was Prince Dochi.
“Ah, the answer always comes from you.”
My true mentor.
Olivia Mong.
The next day.
I went to find the princess I was preparing to send a letter to.
“A request? Hearing ‘request’ from you makes me a little nervous.”
The princess adjusted her posture even though she spoke that way.
Since the word “request” had come out, she clearly accepted it as an important matter.
“Could you grant me some Tears of the Moon?”
“…Are you speaking sincerely?”
The princess opened her eyes wide in surprise.
The Tears of the Moon, a symbol of royal authority, was an invaluable item.
It was not something one could simply hand over on the spot.
Even the Blazes would probably not obtain it easily.
“Why are you bringing up such a sudden topic? Has another deadly patient appeared?”
The princess asked with a noticeably serious expression.
“What should I do…?”
Me, the princess, and Master Scarlet were already a group that could be called fated companions.
However, this was a dangerous matter that could easily be twisted into royal slander if mishandled.
Now it was best to hide it as much as possible.
There was a saying that to deceive an enemy you must deceive your allies as well.
“…The treatment for Lady Olivia was not a complete cure.”
Therefore I would once again open my Chicken Mode, Olivia Mong.
“In order to fully cure her, the Tears of the Moon are required.”
I showed a serious expression.
The princess and Master Scarlet looked at me with thoughtful eyes.
An uncomfortable silence followed.
“The Tears of the Moon… so Theo will have to make a bit of an effort, won’t he?”
The princess let out a small sigh and began writing the letter.
It seemed she would likely grant my somewhat unreasonable request.
“I will write the reason as my own discomfort. His Majesty the king will surely grant it if it is for that reason.”
She was the princess who had once suffered from a deadly illness.
If the princess needed the Tears of the Moon, the king would obviously grant it even without question.
The matter flowed more easily than I had expected.
“You suspect Theo, Lloyd?”
My breath caught at the sudden, blade-like words from the princess.
“There is no way.”
I tried to answer calmly, but even Master Scarlet could not be fooled.
Master Scarlet looked at the princess and shook her head slightly.
It was clear she had detected the unease.
“The center of all the commotion in the kingdom for the past year is you. If you look at it that way, a picture forms.”
The princess sipped the tea Master Scarlet had poured and looked at me.
“There was a time when the capital was a little noisy while you were staying there, wasn’t there? A group of Apostle worshippers being slaughtered en masse.”
“…That seems realistically impossible. I was staying in the capital at the time.”
“You are the type who completes only impossible tasks in reality. So I think you could do something like that. If Scarlet wanted, she could probably slip out of the capital too.”
The princess spoke as she looked at Master Scarlet.
Master Scarlet nodded slightly to the princess’s gaze.
It was agreement.
“You, who have only just come of age, have accomplished unbelievable feats.”
“It is not a great achievement.”
“Even that can be boasted about and puffed up with one’s own exploits. That is why I understood the actions you showed when you met His Highness the third prince Theo. But looking back now, they seem rather odd.”
“You think Theo is suspicious. That is why you acted strangely in front of him. As Scarlet said, looking back now it really is a strange action, isn’t it?”
At that time the princess and Master Scarlet did not know me well.
But as the time together grew longer, the two began to understand the human called Lloyd to a certain degree.
It was probably impossible to hide anymore.
“It is a dangerous act of slandering royalty. That is why I wanted to keep it secret until I obtained absolute proof.”
“Isn’t it precisely because of that that you should trust me more?”
The princess sighed with a slightly disappointed expression.
“His Highness had a close friendship with Prince Theo. Therefore it was only natural to be cautious.”
“I get along with him. I still cherish it. But—”
The princess stroked the rim of her teacup with her index finger and looked at me.
“You are also a precious existence to me. Therefore do not take unnecessary risks.”
The expression carried resolve.
She had probably been thinking that someone among her family was aiming for her life.
“So the fact that her illness was not a complete cure is true?”
I shook my head slightly.
“It has already been cured.”
“Then you were trying to use the person who had just woken up from their sickbed…? You really are a vicious human.”
The princess frowned with a worn-out expression.
“Vicious human” was a rather harsh description.
Where exactly was my Chicken Mode, Olivia Mong, lacking…?
“I hope your sharp intuition has taken a break today, Lloyd.”
The princess let out a small sigh and wrote one more letter to send to the capital.
The hunt for Prince Dochi was about to begin.
[Event] Royal Letter Received
Letter from Princess Anastasia has arrived at the royal palace.
The letter reached the royal palace.
King Argos read the letter sent by Anastasia.
After reading all the letters, King Argos immediately summoned Prince Theodore to the audience chamber.
“The Tears of the Moon, Your Majesty?”
“Yes, it seems you will have to go to Crescent for a short while.”
King Argos handed Prince Theodore the letter from Princess Anastasia.
Theodore read the letter the king had given him with lightning speed.
“My sister is ill…? That can’t be…”
Theodore frowned slightly as he looked at the contents of the letter.
“May I go?”
“Yes, of course!!!”
Prince Theodore, the third prince, held the letter from Princess Anastasia and left the audience chamber.
Theodore began preparations to depart the capital under royal command.
“So that’s how it is?”
A letter from the spy planted in Spencer County.
A letter from Princess Anastasia.
Connecting the two revealed the answer.
Olivia Baiden had not yet reached a complete cure.
To treat her illness, the Tears of the Moon were necessary.
“How foolish.”
Theodore recalled the foolish young man who had boasted of his exploits and curled the corner of his mouth.
It seemed he would get to enjoy an interesting sight from the first-class seat.