「Zephyr was dealt with a three-ply seal and was transported to Luxeria. In the end, it seems he showed an eerie smile.」
「…………I see.」
The day after the fight with Zephyr was finished, starting with the warehouse that the kidnappers used, disassembly work of warehouses that had no plans of being used was started. Even though it was right after what happened yesterday, that’s an amazing reaction speed.
Well, for Vodan-shi, since it was the place where his own son was kidnapped, there’s no way that action could be a mistake.
While listening to the sounds of the dismantling work, I looked at the sea as it became dusk.
「And the kidnappers?」
「Including the ones in Oltaine, it seems all of them have been arrested.」
「Oltaine? There were some even over there?」
Port Town Oltaine is where the head of the Centaurs, Eri-san, and the others went.
「Yes, though, it would seem that Oltaine was a decoy……」
「A decoy?」
「Yes. The scale was large, and there seemed to be many slaves, but most of them were slaves meant for labor……and it seems that the slaves that would sell for a high price were all gathered in Be Io.」
In the middle, Jean said those words ambiguously as if it was hard for him to say them. It seems that Jean, who was formerly an aristocrat and should have been estranged to such a thing, took me into consideration.
「Do you think they intended to abandon Oltaine from the start?」
「If I had to say, it was probably did so for both.」
Pulling a lute out from who knows where, Jean started to play humming a tune.
「……With this development, doesn’t it seem like a large organization was involved and backing them?」
「There’s probably one involved.」
When I said that half-jokingly, Jean affirmed it as if it were really a matter of course.
「This is my own personal opinion but……Recently, it seems that the Church is doing some secret maneuvers behind the scenes. If I were told that this was their deed, I would obediently accept it.」
「Oi oi, the Church……Right now, isn’t that kid, erm……dammit, I forgot his name. Wasn’t that Pope-chan doing his best at it?」
When I asked that, Jean bitterly smiled.
「Well. Cardinal Greneel was reinstated, and the Church became his once again.」
「Greneel……So it was the bastard from that time.」
Cardinal Greneel. Three years ago, he was the Cardinal that used the still immature Pope as a puppet and manipulated the Church as he pleased.
He was the kind of guy that talked about a Human Supremacy Principle and unfairly oppressed Demi-humans.
「That’s right. The man that blamed you. Although he lost his standing once, he tenaciously crawled back up.」
Although he said it as if it were nothing, Jean’s mouth displayed a smile that looked like it was full of self-mockery.
「Did Sylvia do nothing about it?」
「She did. There’s no way she’d do nothing about it.」
Jean stopped playing the lute and glared at me as if he were blaming me.
「But that guy, when he crawled up to the front stage, immediately, he questioned Her Majesty about the death of Amaterasu, and then, treating you who should have saved the world as an “enemy of God” that let Amaterasu die, he shamelessly questioned Her Majesty about your whereabouts…….」
There, Jean took in a deep breathe, and slowly let it out.
「The glorious seat of the Cardinal was also looked down upon by the Hero that looked down upon God. In order to at least oppose that man that raved such, I wrote the story of you and the princess……or something like that.」
And so, with the conversation done, just like a minstrel, Jean sung a tale.
It was a love story where a boy that you could find anywhere had fought to the bitter end for a girl that he had fallen in love with at first sight.