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“I strongly urge a grand trial regarding the misdeeds committed by the Ianette family during operations and the hidden stories entangled with them.”

The atmosphere turned icy.

Edelin, who seemed perpetually composed, suddenly showed a crack in her calmness. It would be accurate to see the Ianette as an exception and variable she could not foresee from the prophecy.

Even though she had lived for over a thousand years, Edelin didn’t seem senile. How on earth could such a scheme be devised without evading her senses and hidden perspective? It left me wondering just how remarkable Ianette’s concealment abilities truly were.

“Are you saying—”

As if clouds had darkened the clear sky, the golden rays of sunlight pouring into the cathedral vanished, and the brilliance illuminating Edelin faded.

In an instant, where the light once was, only her ashen pupils retained a sharp glimmer.

“So, you’re suggesting that our heroes believe Ianette, one of the three pillars of our Great Forest, has colluded with demons for some reason?”

“That is correct.”

“No doubt, claiming that one of the colossal noble families is allied with demons would be a weighty statement… I’m curious to hear what led you heroes to that conclusion. Care to share the reasons?”

Edelin’s originally gentle tone shifted to one more official in nature. I was concerned that hesitating might provoke her displeasure, so I quickly interjected into the conversation between Shione and Edelin.

“I need the power of my spirit for explanation… would it be alright to summon him here now?”

“Of course. However, I will also summon my spirit to discern truth from falsehood.”

“Delighted.”

Alright, I got the green light, and even though we’ll sift through truth and fiction, I’ve only spoken the truth so far. There’s really no reason to hesitate.

I immediately channeled my mana to summon Elvis. A gentle breeze began to swirl around the altar at the cathedral’s center.

When only my mana was at play, it merely created a weak breeze, but soon Edelin joined in, summoning her spirit, adding to the wind’s intensity. In the midst of the fierce winds, the two spirits appeared.

“It’s been a while. Have you been well?”

“……!”

What Edelin summoned was an unmistakably superior spirit, far more dignified than Tania in her current state.

Edelin, the high elf and reigning queen here, summoned forth a true high-ranking spirit.

“…….”

However, the wind spirit she summoned, unlike most chatty spirits, possessed a subdued nature. For some unknown reason, it simply stared at me for a moment before returning to Edelin’s embrace.

Meanwhile, our Elvis—

“Ugh, Uwaa….”

“…Elvis?”

Still a high-ranking spirit at heart, though his stature has diminished to that of a mid-tier spirit, it would have been nice if he appeared just as proudly as the other spirit.

However, our simple-minded Changsik, while summoned, seemed to be floating in the air with his eyes tightly shut, scrunching his face, and rubbing his left cheek.

“Eh…? Dad?”

Hearing my voice, Changsik’s eyes went wide as he briefly scanned the surroundings.

Shione, Edelin, and even a high-ranking spirit he had never seen before.

Only when he realized everyone’s gaze was upon him did he startle and quickly fly to my side.

—Ugh… Dad, what’s happening?

‘Why are you like that…?’

—…Tania noona pinched my cheek. She constantly picks on me. If you hadn’t called me, she’d still be bothering me now.

Changsik, pouting and crossing his arms, made a cranky face.

Edelin, watching this silently, finally spoke up.

“That spirit is one that successfully summoned the wind spirit without my assistance. I can see quite a few soul fragments left in the spirit world. That means it will provide the evidence for the claims made so far, correct?”

“Yes, that’s right. Then for a moment, I’d like to hear what my spirit has learned. Is that alright?”

“…Of course. Since it’s a friend of similar standing to my spirit, I’d say I’m looking forward to it.”

After Edelin regained her warm smile over her previously frosty expression, I turned my attention back to Changsik, who was chattering away in my mind.

—Oh, and… about that spirit called Orna…

‘Elvis?’

—Yeah?

‘Before that, things are a bit urgent… Could you share the voices you’ve gathered? Make sure it fills the cathedral.’

—…Then I’ll listen to everything till the end afterward.

‘Alright—’

—Now, let’s bind our pinky fingers together.

‘…Do we really have to do this?’

—If we don’t lock pinky fingers and crack our thumbs, I might end up having to make you do something for me again, and you might get sent back. It can’t be helped.

‘……’

Eventually, after engaging in this pinky swear under everyone’s gaze, I finally could expose everything about the Ianette family to Edelin.

Hooosh—

A wind began to blow through the vast cathedral. It carried the voices Changsik had gathered—the anguished voice of Airine and Cenya’s cold voice reverberated within the cathedral.

As the voices died down, Edelin, who had been silently sitting with her eyes closed, whispered.

“Truth and falsehood, which is which?”

The spirit enveloped in Edelin’s embrace briefly lifted its head to gauge Edelin’s mood before speaking in a matter-of-fact tone.

“Truth. A truth without any manipulation.”

“Hmm.”

That was just the beginning.

Even without the spirits expressing vastly different tones, as long as they determined the target and aimed to convey their will, the receiving party would accept that will, allowing for mutual sharing of intentions and information without distortion.

Edelin’s spirit and our Elvis locked eyes.

—Dad, how much should I share?

‘As much as possible of the crucial stuff.’

—Does that include the matter regarding the altar?

‘Of course. Just lay it all out.’

There’s nothing to hesitate about since it’s bound to come to light, and the only ones losing out would be them.

According to my wishes, Elvis transmitted all the information he possessed to Edelin’s spirit. She remained still for a while, eyes closed, organizing her thoughts before starting to relay the information she received slowly.

Perhaps sensing that our Elvis was no ordinary spirit, Edelin’s spirit showed no intent of breaking its gaze from Elvis.

“Edelin.”

“Yes?”

“You don’t need to doubt. That spirit doesn’t know how to lie.”

In fact, Elvis strongly asserted that his words contained not even a trace of falsehood.

—…I’m not a fool, though.

Though displeased with how it was phrased, I figured it would be easy to soothe him later.

After some time of contemplation, Edelin finally made her decision.

“…Alright. I believe I have a rough picture now, and since doubts have arisen at such a crucial time, it might not be a bad idea to step outside and confront them directly after all this time.”

“Then—”

“I will accept the heroes’ request. Well… considering it’s been heavily demanded by all of the Arielte family’s powers and the only heroes present, it’s a conversation that would be difficult to reject easily.”

As if the clouds blocking the sky had cleared, rays of golden sunlight began to fill the cathedral once again.

The warm rays fell once more onto Edelin’s right side, and casting shadows on her eyes, she spoke, filled with the image of Shione and me.

“Let us hold a grand trial.”

The awaited words.

“The plaintiffs will be the heroes under my and Arielte’s protection.”

The righteous side would belong to us.

“The defendants will be the elves from Ianette who have colluded directly with demons and their accomplices.”

The villains would be Ianette’s misguided ears, who foolishly provoked us.

“The turmoil that will engulf the Great Forest might turn out to be heavier than expected. Are the heroes prepared to withstand the waves of change?”

“Of course.”

We will, with confidence, emerge victorious in this trial.

*

A little time passed, and after indulging in sufficient heavy conversations, Shione and I finally relaxed, having accomplished everything we set out to do.

Gone was our sharp, tense visage, replaced instead by weary expressions akin to those of overworked office workers, trying to pretend otherwise.

Edelin, glancing at us with amusement, smiled softly.

“Well then, with the heavy topic concluded, how about Lady Shione and Ray converse outside?”

Shione, eager after meeting Edelin at the building’s front, had been eyeing her distant garden.

“Talking outside?”

“Yes, I finally succeeded in making a flower bloom in the garden recently. And this flower, more than anyone on the continent, Lady, you may know it best… It’s definitely a great opportunity to take a look at it.”

“…I’m looking forward to it. I absolutely want to see it.”

“Great! Oh, and I still have one thing to tell Ray that I haven’t yet.”

“To me?”

The chair scraped as Edelin stood.

“When we last met, I said that I’d help you meet the spirit you haven’t reunited with yet… and since you’ve come here having successfully reunited already, I’m left with excess materials I prepared for the magical work.”

Excess materials she prepared…

That must have been the spirit stone I used last time to summon Tania.

In that case—

“I have a rather high-grade spirit stone ready in the garden. How about I offer you a choice?”

“…….”

“Would you like to receive the prepared spirit stone, or would you like to take another leap forward with my assistance?”

The prepared spirit stone.

And a chance to receive another reward of my choosing.

“Taking time to contemplate inside my garden wouldn’t be a bad idea.”

I had an instinct.

The reward I would obtain this time would shine brighter than anything before the demons invaded this city.

So, I stood up before Shione and replied.

“As it happens, I wanted to take a look at the garden as well.”

 

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