“…This is…? Rold Bamilion?” Ariel couldn’t believe her eyes. What kind of powerful curse could turn a living, whole person into this in just one night?
A cordon was set up around that puddle of liquid, keeping Ariel and the others from getting close. Leny stayed silent the whole time, quietly standing behind the Demon King. Every now and then she stole a glance at his hand, fighting the urge to reach out and hold it.
“I-It was them. Those two. Yesterday I saw them with my own eyes arguing with Lord Rold,” the soldier said, clutching his spear. He pointed toward them, his finger trembling.
For a moment, everyone in the room snapped their gaze toward the three.
The man in white gloves walked toward them step by step. He held a glittering glass orb up to his eye and examined the three through it.
“Her Highness Ariel doesn’t have access to that kind of magic. We can rule her out for now. But you, foreigner—why can’t I see your mana attribute?”
Through the refraction of the glass ball, Michail saw that man’s eyes magnified. Michail smiled slightly and said in a refined tone, “My magic is wind-attribute.”
To prove his words, a small orb of wind formed in his palm. With a flick of his hand, the wind ball whooshed out the window.
Talking about his wind attribute meant going back to when he first transmigrated to the continent of Kalam. It was because of that cheat from another world, [Lord of Storms], that Michail soared to the top, was used and betrayed by human nations, and in the end turned to black magic.
What puzzled him was that even after becoming a black mage, becoming a demon, his [Lord of Storms] attribute still remained.
Seeing that little ball of wind, Leny’s eyes lit up. Her gaze followed the wind orb as it drifted out the window with a soft whoosh.
It had been so long since she’d seen Lord Michail’s wind magic. Leny forced herself to hold back her excitement, keeping her face completely blank.
Ariel’s fingers twitched. When she saw that wind orb, a trace of doubt flashed in her eyes.
“Mm… it really is wind-attribute,” the man muttered. Then he aimed the glass ball at the little girl behind Michail. “And you, little girl?”
There was always a grim aura around the white-haired girl, the kind that came from killing too many people, steeped in blood and death.
On her back was a suspicious-looking backpack. Unlike the common burlap packs, this leather bag had sharp, defined lines. Whatever was inside it kept shifting from time to time.
“Little girl, can you take off your bag and let me have a look?” The man smiled like some lecherous creep, reaching toward her as if trying to snatch candy from a child.
Leny’s brows knitted together. Michail immediately shifted sideways, shielding her behind him. “It’s just a little rabbit we bought at the market. There’s no need for you to go rummaging through a young girl’s things, is there, sir?”
Leny’s expression stiffened. Eh, eh, eh?! How could he call my noble six wings a ‘little rabbit’ or whatever… But since it’s the Demon King saying it, it’s fine. Having her wings tucked into a backpack personally made by the Demon King—Leny felt way too blessed.
As she was thinking that, the “little rabbit” in the backpack wriggled again.
Honestly, only Michail would come up with the idea of stuffing wings into a backpack. Drawing on his memories from Earth, he’d even made the bag look exactly like a school backpack.
The man still wouldn’t give up. As the chief investigator, he had the authority to search bags.
“No. In the current situation, nobody’s completely free of suspicion. Hand over your bag, little girl.”
Michail drew in a breath, forcing down the urge to crush this man’s head with one hand. He turned to a soldier off to the side. “You there. Yesterday, did you see this little girl meet with Rold?”
The tattling soldier froze. Grand Princess Elissa had told him again and again to pin all suspicion on Ariel and the foreigner. But for some reason, facing this foreigner’s question, he just couldn’t lie.
“N-No, I didn’t… Yesterday it really was only Her Highness Ariel and this foreign gentleman who appeared at the royal castle.”
Ariel let out a quiet breath of relief. She had already guessed her sister Elissa was pulling strings in the dark, but this soldier’s honesty really helped her out.
A useless princess with no offensive magic. A foreigner with wind magic. A little girl of six or seven. No matter how you looked at it, this group didn’t seem capable of using such a horrifying curse.
The investigator rubbed his chin, hesitating. “Mm… that does make sense…”
The Empress’s knight order exchanged glances. Just when all suspicion had seemed to be converging on the foreigner at Ariel’s side, the man had just slipped free like that.
“I’ve heard that some magic tools can alter the nature of magic, letting you use black magic with ease,” a voice said. The sweep of a purple, ornate gown came into view. Accompanied by light footsteps, Elissa walked out from the staircase with practiced grace. “And we all know Rold barely had anything you could call enemies. Yesterday he only traded a few words of argument with Ariel, and today he’s ended up like this.”
No one dared disagree with Grand Princess Elissa’s statement. They all nodded in agreement.
Ariel’s face flushed red. She panicked, unable to find the right words to refute her.
Michail shot her a helpless look. This worrying, airheaded princess… At least argue back a little…
“My dear little sister just returned from the battlefield yesterday, bringing back the news that ‘the Imperial troops were wiped out by a third-party force.’ Even Her Majesty the Empress is somewhat suspicious. If my sister can buy the favor of such a powerful force, then using a little curse magic would hardly be beyond her, wouldn’t you say?” Elissa lifted the feather fan in her hand, tilting Ariel’s lowered chin up. “Don’t you think so, little sister?”
Ariel’s face was scarlet. Her fingers trembled as they clutched the hem of her dress.
“Ariel was on the battlefield risking her life fighting, and now she’s being treated like a criminal. Your Ace Federation really has problems, doesn’t it?” Michail couldn’t stop himself from speaking up.
Elissa glanced at him and snorted through her nose. “Don’t forget, you’re a suspect too, foreigner.”
Michail caught hold of Leny, who was about to rush forward, and said, “I’m not happy about being a suspect either. I’ve already shown plenty of good faith. Have you ever seen a black mage who uses wind magic?”
Elissa clearly had no interest in arguing more with the foreign man. She turned instead to the Empress’s knights gathered around them. “I propose that Princess Ariel, along with the foreigner she brought back, be confined within the royal castle until the identification results come out. Then we’ll decide on the next step.”
The knight commander nodded his agreement and moved to restrain Ariel. “Then, Your Highness, forgive the discourtesy.”
On the way back to the royal castle under escort, Michail picked Leny up and settled her in the crook of his arm to keep her from exploding. Leny stayed silent the whole way. Her light weight made it easy for him to carry her.
