Chapter 245
The Hero’s Subordinate, the Demon Lord of Righteousness, Takes the Stage — Part 2
Editor(s): Speedphoenix, Joker
“…So the Masked Meister finally makes his entrance,” Argus spoke in a bitter tone . The unexpected circ.u.mstance he’d arrived at was not one that fell in his favour .
His reaction caused a chain reaction . Many other n.o.bles began gasping in surprise and stating their opinions over the reveal .
“So he’s the Meister that everyone’s been speaking of as of late?”
“The man who saved the country itself…”
“I would have expected a much older and more accomplished man . His age has defied all my expectations . ”
Because I had not only debuted in high society, but followed through on my plan to minimize the attention focused on Nell . By entering the room unmasked .
There wasn’t any point in wasting my time on any of them, so I ignored the countless stares coming at me from every which way and advanced through the parting crowd in order to make my way over to the king .
Upon arriving at a distance from which we could reasonably converse, I dropped the unconscious deadweight, whose armour clattered as it fell to the ground, and took a knee .
“And who might this be, Meister?” The king addressed me by my mask-based t.i.tle to confirm my ident.i.ty to those still unsure of Argus’ claim .
“He is the man in charge of the forces who wished to cause you harm, Your Majesty . ”
Seeing my actions and hearing the respectful manner in which I addressed him caused him to put on an expression that seemed like something halfway between a smile and a cringe; he was as put off by the display as he was amused .
“…I doubt I will ever be able to grow accustomed to hearing you speak in such a manner,” he said, too quietly for anyone not in his immediate vicinity to hear .
“I wouldn’t worry about it,” said Nell . “He’s probably just messing around and half-doing it for fun, as usual . ”
The king allowed himself to chuckle at the remark, albeit only momentarily . He soon returned to wearing the dignified mask that was his public face and solemnly nodded .
“Excellent work . But for what reason have you brought the enemy commander all the way here?”
“His presence is necessary, Your Majesty, as he will play a key role in capturing his allies,” I said . “Might I have a moment of your time such that I may reveal this incident’s perpetrator?”
“…Very well . ” The king agreed after taking a moment to feign contemplation . “I suppose that there is no issue in providing you such an opportunity . It is only fitting given your contributions in quelling this attack . ”
“You are too kind, My Liege . ” I bowed my head prior to speaking to hide the fact that I was chuckling at the king’s willingness to play along with the little skit I’d put together .
With all due respects paid and the monarch’s decision made, I stood up, turned around, and directed a glare at a certain aristocratic f.u.c.kwad .
“h.e.l.lo, ‘Sir’ Ladorio . It looks like we finally meet,” I said . “I’m Y—Wye, one of the men blessed with the pleasure of working under the hero . ”
My words seemed polite, but my tone was far from it . Everything I’d said to him was covered in a layer of sarcasm and distaste . That, combined with my snarky grin, caused him to scrunch up his brow, but he held back his rage and returned my greeting with an amicable smile .
“It is an honour to be one remembered by this country’s saviour,” he said . “What can I do for you?”
“Well, you see, I couldn’t help but notice the crest on this man’s sword,” I removed the unconscious commander’s weapon, sheath and all, raised it into the air, and slowly panned it around the room in order to give everyone present a nice, long look . “And I was placed under the impression that it was yours . ”
“…It certainly is . ”
The piece of s.h.i.+t’s reply caused the crowd to stir . n.o.bles of all different ranks and allegiances began whispering to one another as they discussed the revelation . While he didn’t seem to mind his colleagues talking behind his back, he wasn’t pleased by the blatant accusation .
“He certainly is under my command, but I don’t see why you’ve not only knocked him unconscious, but even accused him of something so ludicrous . He, like the rest of my men, were ordered to stand guard in order to bolster the castle’s security . ” The two-faced snake dropped his friendly facade in favour of a cold, scornful stare .
“Security? My good sir, surely even you are aware that the royal guard is already responsible for that precise task . ” I, on the other hand, continued to smile .
“That goes without saying . However, I felt that bringing my men was in the best interest of everyone present for this event . I a.s.signed them to their current posts as a contingency, as I happened to hear rumours of a potential attack . ”
“And why, exactly, did you choose not to report the possibility of such an attack to a higher authority?”
“I did . I informed many individuals related to the military and its affairs that the attack seemed likely to occur and stated that I would be bringing my men along as a countermeasure . I followed all standard procedures and ensured that all my actions and decisions were well doc.u.mented . I can even have these doc.u.ments brought to you, if you so wish . ”
While a part of me doubted his claim, his confidence led me to believe that it was more likely true than not . I shot a glance in the king’s direction in order to ask him if he knew anything, but his only reply was a small shake of the head . Hmm… he doesn’t know . I’m guessing that probably means this s.h.i.+tface over there used his connections . He probably had the guy that’s backing him help him out or something .
“And frankly, I am not sure what to make of this situation . I cannot believe that you would bring in one of my men and accuse him of leading our a.s.sailants . I am sure that there is some sort of misunderstanding at play . However, what you have done remains a fact . There will be consequences if I find that the circ.u.mstances call for them, even if you are Allysia’s saviour, for my men are innocent,” he said, shamelessly .
“Bulls.h.i.+t!”
I struck a pose and pointed at him as would a lawyer . Normally, the term screamed would have been “objection,” but I wasn’t exactly a lawyer, so I’d taken a minor creative liberty .
“Uhm… Wow . He just made a really evil looking face,” said a certain onlooker .
Shut up, Nell! All I did was grin!
“Listen up, s.h.i.+thead . I know you’re f.u.c.king r.e.t.a.r.ded, so I’ll take this nice and slow and make sure I explain every step along the way . I should be the one talking about consequences here . Do you know what your men were doing when the royal guard started engaging the enemy? Sitting around and f.u.c.king watching, that’s what . They were literally waiting so they could make it seem like they made it just in the nick of time . All for that dumb little scheme you’ve got spinning around in that half functional brain of yours . ”
“And what evidence do you have to back this claim? You can’t possibly expect your word alone to suffice, can yo—”
“You’re right . I can’t prove it . But I don’t need to . You know why? Because I’ve got evidence that you’re behind this whole attack in the first place . ”
A dark laugh echoed throughout my mind as I watched him freeze up and turn pale . Heh . f.u.c.king r.e.t.a.r.d . Did you seriously think I was going to think testifying would cut it? You think you’re the only one with plans? h.e.l.l naw, b.i.t.c.h .
I opened up my inventory and pulled a crystal ball out from within it, one that sat atop a square-shaped cus.h.i.+on .
“This thing’s called the Crystal of records . Activating it causes it to record all the magical energy around its target and store it . Activating it again will project it into the air so you can see what it’s got saved . ”
In other words, it was basically a camera capable of displaying holograms . Unfortunately, it was far from what I wanted in a device capable of snapping pictures . The magical mechanism through which it worked was imperfect . It not only produced poor quality images, but was also incapable of rendering them in anything but black and white . To make matters even worse, it was one time use . Each crystal could only store a single image .
The crystal was in fact not something I’d bought for the sake of exposing the n.o.ble stiffened before me, but rather a purchase I made for the sake of taking pictures of my family . Unfortunately, the image quality was so poor that I ended up giving up on the whole endeavour . In fact, I’d judged the item as useless and chucked the ones I still had left into the back of my dimensional rift . Finding it applicable in a circ.u.mstance like this one was something I literally never saw coming . Well, Camera, I admit it . You’ve done well . And don’t worry, the service you’ve done me won’t be going to waste . I hereby formally acknowledge you as an honorary member of my bag of tricks .
This wasn’t the only image capture device that I had access to . It was technically possible for me to use the catalog to purchase a much more modern camera, but it simply wasn’t worth it . Items that involved pieces of technology outside the scope of this world’s current understanding of science had ridiculously high price points . That was why I could afford things like cards or board games, but not consoles or computers . I don’t exactly have enough cash to just go around throwing it at luxuries like that . At least not yet .
“That said, explaining its functionality is only going to get us so far . So how about we do a little demonstration?” I turned to Nell and the two children standing beside her . “Say Cheese . ”
“Huh? What? Wait!” said Nell, in panic .
“Cheese? Are you talking about the food?” asked Iryll .
“…Peace . ” Unlike the other two, the sword knew exactly what was going on, so she raised her index and middle fingers to form a V right as I began channeling my magical energies through the orb in the palm of my hand .
After sucking up my mana, the device spent a few moments flickering . Once that was done, I once again poured my magic into the crystalline object, which caused it to make a sound not unlike a lightsaber as it projected the photograph it had taken into the air . The image clearly showed a fl.u.s.tered hero, a somewhat confused princess, and a photogenic sword girl .
“As you can see, it basically turns a scene into an image based on what was going on when it was used,” I explained . “Alright, I’m going to put this one away so I can keep it as a family heirloom . ”
“Yu—Wye, please…” said Nell .
“He… certainly does never change,” added the king .
The two exchanged a pair of exasperated grins, which I proceeded to ignore as I grabbed another crystal from the subs.p.a.ce that was my inventory . I channeled magic into it the moment fished it out and displayed the image stored within .
“This is the evidence I was talking about earlier . ”
Ill.u.s.trated before me was a pair of men . The two were standing in an alleyway, and were clearly being wary of their surroundings as they discussed something in secret .
“The man on the right is one of the ones that attacked the castle . I’ve already had him thrown in the dungeon, so you can double check later if you don’t feel like taking my word for it . ”
I’d left escorting the prisoners to Knight Lady after explaining the circ.u.mstances to her . Given her competence, I was fairly certain that everything was already all nice and sorted . Taking a picture was the route I’d chosen, but it wasn’t the only one available . There was actually a magical device capable of detecting lies . Making use of it would have allowed me to immediately prove that the f.u.c.kwad was guilty, but unfortunately, it was installed elsewhere and far too large to be moved .
“And on the left is the man he’s secretly whispering to,” I said . “And would you look at that! He sure seems familiar, doesn’t he? I wonder where I’ve seen him before… Oh, right! He looks just like the guy I brought with me . Weird, huh?” I took a moment to gloat with a smirk before continuing . “What’s the matter, Argus? Cat got your tongue? You look a little under the weather . ”
The n.o.ble’s face twitched as he tried his best to remain calm . But he couldn’t . He knew exactly what this image represented .
“I-I have nothing to do with this! E-even if this image is not fabricated, it most certainly represents actions that my subordinate took of his own accord . I-I did not order him to do any such thing!” Beads of cold sweat dripped down his forehead as he stuttered out a series of excuses . “A-and this item is one that you have prepared! I-it is not possible for us to confirm that it truly does what you say! This is trickery, trickery, I say!”
Yup . I figured he’d cut the poor guy loose . f.u.c.king disloyal piece of trash .
“Ehhh… you know what, fair enough,” I said . “But it just so happens that I have another piece of evidence I’d like you to examine . ”
I walked over to the corner of the room and grabbed one of the items I’d asked the king to prepare in advance: the gramophone . I grabbed a record from my inventory and showed it off to the crowd as I wheeled the machine over .
“Ladies and gentlemen,” I set the disk in the device as I addressed the crowd . “I have for you tonight a very interesting recording, one that I wish you all to hear . It tells the tale of a certain pair of unfortunate souls deficient in spatial awareness, fools that failed to realize that they were not the only partic.i.p.ants in their conversations . I would very much appreciate it if you were all to listen . ”
“N-no! S-sto—”
s.h.i.+tface immediately realized what I was getting at . He reached for the device in order to stop it, but I grabbed his arm, pushed him onto the ground .
“Now, now, I know that you happen to be incredibly excited, but you must be patient and wait like everyone else . ”
After flas.h.i.+ng yet another c.o.c.ky grin, I plopped myself onto the man-turned-makes.h.i.+ft chair in an ultimate show of disrespect and started up the gramophone .