The False Oracle
I blankly surveyed the underground dungeon where the two jobs I'd vaguely but clearly remembered were nowhere to be seen, then slowly approached the cell that had held the man with the Lord class.
"Huh? It's the slave merchant! What happened? A jailbreak? While you're at it, free me too."
I passed by the pirate who'd been going on about the end of the world and such.
"You heretic who dared sell the Goddess's name! Free me at once! I'll judge you immediately!"
I passed the heretic inquisitor who, even if I offered to help, started by threatening to kill me rather than thanking me.
"Are those your slaves? They look delicious. Won't you lend them to me just once—argh!?"
I jabbed my finger into the eyes of the pervert drooling over Selena and Hana.
Standing before the cell where the lord had been imprisoned, I stared into the empty iron bars and muttered again.
"He's gone... gone... The lord was... He was definitely here..."
Why isn't he here? How?
As I fretted over the absence of the lord I'd assumed would still be here, chewing my dry lips, the fisherman lying in the next cell spoke up.
"The gentleman who was in there, and the one next to him, got dragged out around evening."
What? Why? How? Where to?
Selena and Hana approached as I reeled from the unexpected news.
"Hey. Pretty much all the troops have come down. What now? Just punch through?"
"Master..."
Hana, asking about the plan without blaming me. And Selena, looking at me with worry.
What do I do? Hana and Selena could handle the guards easily enough, but then innocent guards would... But I can't just sit here and get caught either...
As I scrambled for a plan under my two slaves' gazes, the first of the troops entered the dungeon.
"You've got some nerve. Breaking into a prison to free a prisoner... You?"
The force approaching with that deep, resonant voice was Ronald — the one who'd subdued Selena in an instant, the one who'd listened to my plea and been about to take me to the temple.
"Slave merchant... How did you escape? His Lordship said he'd transferred you to a special prison. No. Curiosity later. Subdue first."
Ronald muttered, tilting his head, then gave a slight shake and charged straight at Selena.
He was probably trying to neutralize the powerful mage Selena with a swift surprise attack, just as he had at the city gate — but this time, unlike then, Hana was here.
Whoosh!
The sound of a blade drawn in an instant cutting through the air rang through the dungeon, and Ronald, who'd been closing in fast, leaped back to dodge the strike.
Hana stood blocking Selena's path, smirking.
"Oops. Who falls for a sneak attack after you announce it like that?"
Ronald frowned at the woman blocking him and looked at me.
"Is this woman in the strange attire a comrade of yours?"
It was Hana who answered.
"Nope. A slave."
"Acquiring yet another slave in that short time... So the business about the Goddess was..."
Disgust began to cloud Ronald's eyes as he looked at me.
I'd been thinking that Ronald, who'd believed my sincere words before, might also believe that the real Count Hamel had been here and that the current Count was a fake. I spoke urgently.
"W-wait! That's exactly why it's real! Have you ever seen clothing like this before, Sir Ronald? No, right? Because she's a slave I summoned from another world by the Goddess's blessing. And the reason I was able to summon slaves like this is because the Goddess commanded me to save the County of Hamel!"
Yeah. Let's just go with that, Kylie.
Having truly sold the Goddess's name without permission, I waited for Ronald's reaction.
Ronald stared into my eyes for a long while, as if gauging the truth of my words, then waved the incoming troops back upstairs. He lowered the fist aimed at Hana and asked,
"Is it true? That the County of Hamel is in danger."
"Of course. Would someone blessed by the Goddess sell Her name? The Goddess spoke thus: A crow flies in, and Hamel drifts. Ride the blinded shield and save the drifting Hamel."
"......"
When I delivered the hastily improvised oracle, Ronald stared at me again.
"Even a passing dog wouldn't believe that. Selling the Goddess's name again. I'll tear you to pieces for certain."
Uh... was that too sloppy?
I flinched slightly at the heretic inquisitor's accurate critique, but I couldn't back down now. I met Ronald's gaze as if there wasn't a shred of falsehood in me.
"Crow... shield... What does that mean?"
"Falling for a heretic's words makes you a heretic too! Of course — locking up a faithful servant of the Goddess like me is proof of heresy itself! Open this door at once! I'll tear every last one of you apart!"
Yes! You shut up.
Inwardly cheering while cursing the heretic inquisitor trying to throw cold water on things, I spoke to Ronald — who was questioning the terms in my clumsy oracle — in a less-than-confident voice.
"Perhaps... a person or organization with 'crow' in their name is endangering Hamel?"
"Crow, you say..."
No, no, not that — Raven. The translation's not doing its job properly.
"Not the small crow... the crow..."
"Hmm? Corvus, then?"
Oh great? Now he's going Latin on me?
"No... more like... Raven, perhaps..."
Having finally failed to talk around it and spilled the answer, Ronald tilted his head.
"Raven...? Ah! Madman Raven Shaw! But that bastard was captured four years ago and has been locked up here ever since."
Look at that epithet.
Recalling Raven Shaw at the absurd moniker, I said carefully,
"What if he switched places?"
"Impossible... I interrogated Raven Shaw myself... No... wait... His reactions were strange... Ordering me around, rambling nonsense... I just thought he'd gone mad from overindulging in illusion magic... But if that wasn't it...?"
Frowning as he dredged up memories from four years ago, Ronald strode toward me.
"Stop."
Hana, who'd been watching Ronald's movements, stepped in front of me.
Still, she protects me.
Slightly moved that Hana — who called me casually and barely treated me like a master — was blocking my path, I pointed to the cell where Count Hamel had been held.
"It's fine. He's probably just trying to look at this cell."
"You're right... But it's empty now."
"The prisoner in the next cell said the one in this cell was taken out around evening."
"I never gave such an order, nor received any report... The only one who could do this without my permission... Then truly..."
Tapping the empty cell's iron bars with his fingers, Ronald muttered for a long while before looking at me.
"Then the second sentence. Ride the shield and save the drifting Hamel — what is the shield?"
"If I may be so bold... perhaps... it refers to Sir Ronald, the shield that protects Hamel."
"?!"
Ronald froze, eyes wide, as if the thought that he himself was the subject of the oracle had never crossed his mind.
"Someone like Sir Ronald, who works day and night to protect the people of Hamel and the Count's house — wouldn't that make you a shield? What do you think, Sir Ronald?"
When I restated it with reasonably plausible grounds, Ronald's frozen mouth opened.
"I... a shield...? Of Hamel?"
"Yes. So ultimately, 'ride the shield' means to cooperate with Sir Ronald to save Hamel..."
Ronald squeezed his eyes shut, pondering for a moment, then opened them decisively.
"Very well. But first — we secure Raven Shaw. If your words, and the oracle, are correct, then that man... no, His Lordship will be the Count."
As long as he helped attack the Count's mansion with me, I didn't care about the rest. Grateful that Ronald had fallen for my clumsy lie, I nodded.
"Of course. To save the drifting Hamel, the Count is the most important piece."
"Mm. Then let's go."
With a firm nod, Ronald led the way out of the dungeon.
"Whew..."
I let out a sigh of relief soft enough not to reach Ronald's ears, then said to Selena and Hana,
"Let's go too."
As I started walking, Hana scurried up beside me.
"Was the oracle real? You told me it was a commission from the Crown Prince."
Startled by how loud her voice was, I pressed a finger to my lips and whispered,
"Shh. It is a commission from the Crown Prince, but he asked that his name not come out, so I couldn't use it. Plus, after all my Goddess talk, if I suddenly brought up the Crown Prince, no one would believe me."
When I explained why I'd had no choice but to fabricate a false oracle, Hana looked at me with a peculiar expression.
"Ah. So it was all a lie? You're pretty good at scams, huh? Wait... did you make up the whole explanation about the knife incident too..."
Having even the truth of the knife-incident explanation called into question, I forgot about keeping quiet and yelled,
"No! That was real! That bitch is a real fucking bitch, I tell you! Marian — some high goddess — said so! Said she'd keep that bitch as a flesh toilet for five hundred years!"
"A goddess uses filthy words like that? Now I believe it even less."
I questioned my own ears when I heard that too! Me too! Aargh!
As I seethed at Hana's grinning face, Ronald's voice cut through from far ahead.
"No time for chitchat! We need to secure His Lordship without delay!"
"Yes! Coming now, Sir Ronald!"
Answering the slightly irritated voice, I shot a glare at Hana who was holding back laughter, and strode up the stairs.
Just you wait. I'll use my S-rank potency to make sure you can't even walk.
Vowing revenge on Hana for teasing me.