Mushoku Tensei (LN) - Volume 21 - Chapter 5

Chapter 5:

What’s Stopping You?

I KEPT THE SHOCK I felt from seeing Zenith and Claire from showing on my face…I think. I wasn’t sure I could win this standoff or that everything would turn out okay. The only thing I could control was me, and I’d do what I could. It only took a second to run a mental simulation of how to get Zenith out.

I couldn’t use a teleportation circle in front of this many people, but I had a good idea of the capabilities of the Temple Knights. I didn’t know how strong the Temple Knights lined up behind the pope were, but if the Blessed Child were telling the truth, they wouldn’t be stronger than the Keepers of Anastasia.

I could get Zenith. Just knowing that, I’d as good as achieved one of my goals. I’d get Zenith and Cliff, then get Aisha, and Geese. Then we’d get the hell out. I was worried Aisha and Geese were being held somewhere, but I could find out if and where from one of these guys. 

With that plan in mind, I escorted the Blessed Child to her chair and stood beside her. I kept tight hold of her arms.

Before I sat down in the seat next to hers, I said, “I’m so glad you’re all here. It’ll make everything go more quickly.” 

I was perfectly calm—the words rolled easily off my tongue. It’d been a while since I felt like myself.

“I believe this is the first time a number of us have met,” I went on. “I represent the Dragon God Orsted, and I came here to deepen his bonds of friendship with the Millis Church.”

The title of Dragon God sent a ripple of unease shivering around the table. No one here had met Orsted in person, and I seriously doubted any of them knew about his objectives. What we were up against. Possibly some of them hadn’t even heard of the Seven Great Powers. But everyone knew the title Dragon God. It was usually found alongside another title: “Demon God.”

“Owing to unfortunate circumstances,” I went on, “I currently hold the Blessed Child’s life in my hands.” 

I pointed at her and concentrated my magic to make a lighter-sized flame at my fingertip. The tension in the room mounted.

“I can’t tell you how much I regret that it had to come to this. To stoop to taking hostages is to bring dishonor upon the name of a superlative uber being like Sir Orsted. Alas, it was a necessary measure in order to facilitate these negotiations—and to guarantee my own safety and that of my subordinates. I hope you all understand.”

“A superlative…uber…?”

My tongue ran away with me there. I wasn’t trying to be funny, promise.

I coughed, then continued. “Why,” I said, looking around the table, “was this attempt made upon my life? Why was I forced to bring shame upon my master’s name?” My eyes came to rest on Claire. She was frowning. “Would anyone here care to explain? If no explanation is forthcoming, I, along with the Dragon God Orsted and all his followers, will have no choice but to move to open hostilities with the Millis Church.”

This wasn’t an empty threat. If the Man-God had the top members of the Millis Church in his back pocket, then it was a potential development I had to consider.

The room stayed silent. Not one person took the bait. No cries of “Bring it on, then!”

Were they all freaked out by the fight earlier today? Or did I say something weird again?

Well at the very least, I’d made it clear that I was pissed off.

“Lord Rudeus, I appreciate that you are angry.” The answer came from the very back of the room. He sat facing me front on, with Cliff at his side. Pope Harry Grimor. The most important guy here.

“However, as you yourself acknowledge,” he went on, “you are unacquainted with several of our number gathered here today. May I introduce everyone?” When I didn’t reply, he added, “I won’t take too much of your time.”

I tried to work out what his angle was. Why would he make introductions? To buy time? Were his people capturing Aisha as we spoke? But there weren’t that many people here. It couldn’t hurt to know a bit more about the others. It’s important, when making demands, to do everything in the right order. People will only hear you out if you condition them properly. If all you do is chatter what you want to say when they’re not ready to listen, nothing will get through.

“Of course. I shouldn’t have rushed things.”

“Thank you…Cliff, if you’d be so kind?”

“Yes, Your Holiness,” Cliff said, standing up. “Good day, everyone. I am Father Cliff Grimor. His Holiness Pope Harry Grimor is my grandfather.” He took a step back from the table. Apparently Cliff would serve as our MC.

“May I ask you to begin, Cardinal Leblanc?” he said. The man whose vestments rivaled the pope’s stood up. His face was, in a word, fat. It was perfectly round, like a certain bread-faced ally of justice. He was also the head honcho of the Demon Expulsionists. 

“I am Cardinal Leblanc McFarlane,” he said. “I supervise the Temple Knights and assist the Holy Father.” In other words, he was effectively number two in the whole of the Millis Church. Right, the cardinal’s job was advising the pope… A bit like the prime minister in a monarchy.

The pope and his relationship to the cardinals in the Millis Church weren’t quite like ones in the religion I knew. I did know this pope and this cardinal were definitely working against each other, though.

He’s got his eyes on becoming the next pope. I wonder if they hold elections every few years or something…

As I thought this, the cardinal sat down. So by ‘introduction’ he literally just meant name and occupation.

“Sir Bellemond,” Cliff called. A man in white armor sat next to Leblanc stood up. His face was scarred, and he only had one eye. He looked about forty. The white armor meant he was a Cathedral Knight. Man, did he look grim. From what I remembered, the Cathedral Knights were sort of like the paladins of Millis. He must be ticked off that I’d caused havoc in his town.

“I am Bellemond Nash Vennik, deputy commander of the Arrow Company of the Cathedral Knights,” he said curtly, then sat down again. 

Haven’t I heard that name somewhere before?

He kept glaring steadily at me but didn’t comment. Maybe his face just reminded me of someone. Like Orsted, or Ruijerd…

Ah, now I remembered. That knight Ruijerd knew had a similar name. Yeah, Galgard Nash Venik. Gash, for short.

“I knew a Galgard Nash Vennik…”

“I’m his son,” he replied.

“He’s a man I was glad to have known.” Interesting. His father was a Missionary Knight but it had been acceptable for him to join a different order. Well, he’d made it to deputy commander, so I guess he hadn’t failed in his filial duties. 

“Sir Railbard,” the pope continued. Two more knights in white armor came next. I didn’t know them, but they introduced themselves as Arrow Company senior captains. These companies were some kind of military unit type affair. Senior captain was the next most important rank after the commander, deputy commander, and company leader.

“Lord Carlisle.”

“You may skip me; Rudeus and I spoke earlier,” said Carlisle Latria, declining to introduce himself. I wondered if that was allowed, but then realized the pope hadn’t introduced himself either. Claire would probably opt out too. 

The introductions continued. There was an archbishop, and the company leader from the Temple Knights’ Shield Company. I decided to remember their names, just in case. It might never be important, but there was no harm in knowing. At times like these, I wished we could exchange business cards…

“Lady Claire.” She’d been called. What was she even doing here amongst all these important folk? Was she some sort of witness? Maybe she was the one who’d spread the fake rumor about me kidnapping the Blessed Child. And why had she brought Zenith?

Part of me wanted to demand answers right away, but I got the feeling an explanation was coming. Best to be patient for now.

“I am Claire Latria, wife of Count Carlisle Latria, and this is my daughter, Zenith. Please forgive her demeanor. I’m afraid she is unwell,” Claire said primly, then sat down.

That seemed to be everyone present. The guards hadn’t introduced themselves, but that probably just meant they didn’t get a voice at this table. 

“Very good,” said the pope. “Now that Lord Rudeus is with us, I would like to hear what happened.” Our discussion began.

***

“First of all, Rudeus, I’d like to clearly establish the context for all this. Do you mind?” From the pope’s choice of words, I guessed that he had gotten wind of what happened not long ago himself.

“No objections here. I’d like to hear it.” 

Several hours had passed since the fight. That the cardinal and the important folk from each Knight Order were all gathered here seemed a bit suspicious, but the order commanders’ absence tempered that somewhat. It felt more like, upon hearing of the Blessed Child’s abduction, they’d grabbed the most important people they had on hand. Though it struck me as a bit odd to see the Temple Knights who’d been in the middle of all this standing here.

“All right, where shall we begin…” the pope said. “Forgive me—I heard the details but a few moments prior. I haven’t had time to process it yet.” He rubbed his brow. A man raised his hand. It was Sir Bellemond. Besh, if I remembered right.

“I believe we have the least information here. We came at the cardinal’s summons. Our orders were to return with the corpse of the man who sought to kill the Blessed Child and bring ruin upon the country.”

As I knew from Zanoba, a Blessed Child was an important national asset. Her kidnapping was good enough cause to invoke national ruin. Although the church looked after this Blessed Child, making her their private property, her loss would still be a blow to the whole nation. Enough of one that such a summons couldn’t be ignored.

“Upon arriving, however, we found her guards unconscious and the Blessed Child gone. Now, the kidnapper himself is here, angered and declaring himself blameless,” Besh went on. He shot a glare at the cardinal. “Given the summons we received are at odds with reality, I would like to declare our neutrality in these proceedings.” He sat down.

The pope smiled widely, then turned to look at the cardinal. “Your Eminence, might I trouble you to explain why you chose to deliver such a summons? Please face Mr. Rudeus when you answer.”

Sounds like this was the cardinal’s dirty work, I thought.

The cardinal stood up with a gentle smile, then said, “I received a tip-off from the House of Latria. The message said that someone had been overheard on the street making troubling statements about kidnapping the Blessed Child.”

The House of Latria…overheard on the street… Could someone have followed me home after my second visit to Claire’s house? I hadn’t noticed anything at all, but I did make a scene before leaving. She might have sent someone to keep an eye on me, to make sure I didn’t try something. I suppose I had talked about kidnapping the Blessed Child out in the open. Anyone could have heard us. It could easily have reached the ears of a Latria servant simply by coincidence. The walls have ears, as they say, or in this case the streets. Nowhere was safe.

“When I looked into the identity of the speaker,” the cardinal continued, “I found it was Rudeus Greyrat. The subordinate I sent to investigate claimed that Rudeus was abusing his relationship with Therese to get close to the Blessed Child.”

According to the cardinal, he didn’t usually give much credence to rumors. Roadside banter wasn’t out of the ordinary and the Temple Knights didn’t have time to go chasing up every nasty comment they heard on the street. But I had demons among my closest friends, and I was close to the grandson of a pope who pushed for accommodations for demonfolk. On top of that I’d also severed my ties with the Latrias. I cut a fairly fishy figure, for sure. Then, right after I quarreled with the Latrias I’d gone straight for the Blessed Child. That distracting the Blessed Child’s guards so that I could kidnap and murder her lay clearly within my capabilities was the clear deciding factor. I had both the ability and the motive.

“I decided to move against him first,” the cardinal finished.

“I see… But, Cardinal, that doesn’t match up with the testimony from the Cathedral Knights. There’s a significant difference between kidnap and murder.”

“I imagine the messenger I sent got a little carried away in relaying the message,” the cardinal replied. His face was placid, but the latest facts told me all I needed to know about his intentions.

He’d wanted to set me up for attempted murder of the Blessed Child, then make it look like the pope was directing me behind the scenes. Too bad for him. His precious Temple Knights got knocked out and now everyone could see that I didn’t want to kill a single one of them, let alone the Blessed Child.

“Very well… Before we come to you, Sir Carlisle,” the pope continued, “let’s hear from Rudeus. What say you?”

I was silent for a moment, taken aback by the sudden question. After a second of consideration, I realized I didn’t need to lie. I had nothing to be ashamed of.

“I admit I did let my mouth run away with me and raised the idea of kidnapping the Blessed Child…but that was only a heat-of-the-moment comment. My companions immediately rejected the idea, and it never went anywhere.”

“Then why did you seek out the Blessed Child?”

“I sought my aunt Therese’s support in resolving a family disagreement with the Latrias. I realize it may have appeared that the Blessed Child was my target.”

“Oh? But if that is the truth, how is it that you now have the Blessed Child as your hostage?” The Pope’s voice was friendly, even though his questions felt like a cross-examination. It was a voice that said don’t worry, just tell the truth and everything will be okay.

“As I said before,” I replied, “I took an important hostage to guarantee my own safety. Only after the Blessed Child gave me her consent, of course.”

“Is that true?” the pope asked.

“It is,” the Blessed Child answered. “I needed only to look into Rudeus’s eyes to see he was guiltless.” She looked around the table, and the Pope and the cardinal casually averted their eyes. 

Must be hard, having that much guilt to cover up, I thought.

“If that’s the case, why did you knock out the Temple Knights? Surely you could have resolved this through words,” asked the pope.

“I was trapped inside a barrier without warning and subjected to a ridiculous trial while all my protests fell on deaf ears. They told me they were going to cut off my arms. There was no reason not to resist,” I replied. Though I guess I didn’t need to knock all of them out. 

Leaving Therese standing and reasoning with her might have been the smarter move. Had Therese been there when the Blessed Child came out and saw me do nothing, she might have listened… No, that was stupid. I had no clue the Blessed Child would show up, and the vibes back there had not made it feel like we were gonna resolve anything with words. A trial where the verdict was already decided. I’d experienced something like that in my past life too.

“I see… Well, then…” the Pope said. He was slowly working up to addressing the heart of the matter. “What, then, is this family disagreement all about?”

I saw Claire twitch, and something dark welled up within me. The memory of her petty narcissism played in my mind. I could put up with anything she did to me. What I couldn’t tolerate was what she said to Aisha. What she said to Zenith. She’d been horrible to Geese as well.

“My mother—that woman—was abducted by the countess and kept away from me,” I said. As I spoke, my frustration mounted. “She intends to force my mother, who cannot even speak, into marriage with an unknown man, with no regard for my mother’s own desires. She even intends to force her to bear children.” My voice grew ragged. “When I objected, the countess used cowardly means to kidnap my mother. Then, when I went to her demanding answers, she feigned ignorance of the whole affair!”

Everyone at the table looked horrified. Therese and the other Temple Knights had reached for their swords, their faces grim. The Blessed Child frowned slightly. It looked like I’d got the upper hand here.

“…That’s all I have to say,” I finished.

Any further words escaped me, so I left it there. I’d communicated my anger. Everyone was looking at the Latrias.

Carlisle and Claire. The pair of them were looking at Zenith with pity in their eyes. Zenith, in turn, stared blankly up at the ceiling.

“All right, Lord Carlisle, Lady Claire. Everything we’ve just heard seems to put the blame for this affair at your feet. What do you have to say for yourselves?” the pope asked.

The two of them exchanged a fleeting look. What were they plotting? I didn’t get the sense from the cardinal at least that he was going to come to their rescue.

“My wife acted on her own initiative. I know nothing about it,” said Carlisle. 

He’d thrown her to the wolves. His own wife. Maybe that wasn’t so insane, though. If Claire really was like this all the time, and Carlisle had grown steadily more fed up with her, maybe he decided this was the time to dump her. 

I knew that no matter how much chaos Eris caused with her outbursts, I’d never do that to her. I wasn’t about to claim that after years of marriage, it was absolutely unthinkable that I’d get fed up with any of my wives’ more annoying qualities, but I knew I’d never turn on them or abandon them. I’d never have gotten married in the first place if I didn’t believe that.

Seeing Carlisle do it kinda got under my skin. I remembered something Cliff had said ages back. In Millis, when a marriage was arranged, the bride’s family provided the dowry. In exchange, the groom swore to protect the bride’s house with their life. The definition of “house” in these circumstances was a bit unclear, but still, I couldn’t believe Carlisle was really going to abandon Claire here… 

“I am the head of the family, and shall therefore take full responsibility. I wish to make it clear, however, that this was not a decision made by the whole Latria family,” he said. 

That little addendum is how you show you have a conscience, huh?

“I see. Lady Claire, what say you?” said the pope.

Claire didn’t answer. Her mouth was clamped shut in a hard line. She looked like a sulking child.

“Silence will be taken as an admission of guilt,” the pope said, looking around the table. Then, without waiting for anyone to speak, he went on. “In that case, we find Lady Claire responsible for this affair, along with Sir Carlisle as her collaborator. Lady Claire shall face punishment, and Sir Carlisle shall bear responsibility for her actions. Are there any objections?” 

Something was wrong; this was too easy. We’d missed something crucial. It was like we were just going through the motions to reach a foregone conclusion.

“No objections!” The first one to reply was the cardinal.

“No objections!” echoed the others, nodding. Claire’s face was gray, but she kept her composure.

She’s not going to say anything? No excuses? I thought. But then, her half-assed excuses would just make me sick anyway. I was happy so long as Zenith came home with me. After this, I’d never go near the Latrias again. I wouldn’t let Zenith or Aisha or Norn go anywhere near them either. It was over.

“Are you satisfied with that, Rudeus?” the pope asked me. “It was not our intention for things to happen this way. We never intended any offense to you, nor to invite the enmity of Sir Orsted. I hope that we can remain friends…” He was still smiling that friendly smile. I looked at the cardinal. He kept up a smile of his own, but when our eyes met he swallowed, and I saw he was sweating.

“N-naturally, we want to avoid conflict with Sir Orsted. I don’t know how he came to foresee the resurrection of Laplace, but I will not spurn any ally in that fight. We shall have to seriously consider this proposition to allow the sale of these so-called demon figures at a later date…”

Over the course of this last exchange, I worked out the broad strokes of what was going on.

The one behind the kidnapping accusation and all the rest was the pope. I was pretty sure the leak came from his agents. He’d stolen the Latrias’ name so that the cardinal would be provoked into making an attempt on my life. Either that, or he had an agent in the Latria household and the information came from there, but the details didn’t matter. He couldn’t have known for sure that the cardinal would act. From the cardinal’s perspective though, I was a definite problem: a follower of the Dragon God who’d shown up as a friend of the pope’s grandson. I’d caused problems for the Latrias, who were in the cardinal’s faction, then that family squabble served as my cover to get close to the Blessed Child. To him, I probably looked like an assassin sent by the pope. You couldn’t blame the guy for thinking he had to take me out. Had he only sent a few of the Temple Knights because he’d underestimated me, or because he’d seen this coming and wanted to be ready?

Had the pope known I wasn’t going to kill the Blessed Child, or did he not care either way?

If I’d died at the Temple Knights’ hands, well, no loss for him. I was Cliff’s friend, but I wasn’t one of his people. Throughout all of this, he hadn’t done any of his dirty work directly, nor had he ordered me to carry out the kidnapping. He was confident he could get through even an inquisition with the Blessed Child, and if all else failed, he could pin it all on Cliff. Plus, even if Orsted did show up later, he could claim he’d just been caught in a Demon Expulsionist trap. Maybe he’d even use it as an opportunity to repair relations with Orsted.

And now this conclusion. In the end, the Latrias took the blame for the whole affair. I’d bet money that neither the pope nor the cardinal had given a damn who ended up on the chopping block in all this. The only reason the scapegoat ended up being Claire was because I was angry at her—all I wanted was to get back at her. The Pope could declare victory, knowing he’d struck a blow to the cardinalists via the Latrias. The cardinal’s faction was the only loser here. I felt like I’d been played…but you know what? I was going to get Zenith back and have my revenge on Claire. At this rate I’d have the mercenary company up and running soon too. I had zero reason to object.

“Sounds good to me,” I said.

“Very well. Precedent dictates that Claire Latria be sentenced to ten years imprisonment for inciting national mayhem.”

“Ewuh?” Wow, that was a weird noise.

“You object, Rudeus?”

“Um… You said ten years?”

“I did. Claire Latria kidnapped a family member of an associate of the Dragon God. Her actions also led to an attack on the Blessed Child.”

“But… I mean okay, yeah, but—”

“Her behavior has insulted powerful individuals and incited mayhem. Were you not such a good-hearted man, the Blessed Child would likely already be dead. Ten years is merciful when you consider it in that light.”

I mean…really? But okay, maybe that’s fair. This did blow up enough that all the big shots ended up gathered here to sort it out. 

Claire probably wouldn’t be the only one to suffer for this, but still, ten years imprisonment… That…was a long time. Ten years back, I’d barely just broken up with Eris. A really long time.

I couldn’t do much about it, though. Claire was the one who’d decided to play dirty. This all started because she’d abducted Zenith. 

When I didn’t say anything, the pope said, “No objections? Good, then this provisional court, presided over by at least three bishops and three senior captains, finds Lady Claire Latria guilty of inciting public mayhem and recommends ten years imprisonment. I will leave it to you, Sir Carlisle, to arrange a formal trial for her.”

“No objections.”

“No objections.”

The cardinal, the archbishop, and the knights all solemnly intoned their agreement.

“Good. Sir Bellemond, as our neutral party, I request that you take the Latrias into custody. Once a formal sentence has been passed, the outcome shall be conveyed to the rest of you.” The Pope looked over at the Cathedral Knights and raised a hand. Besh and two others stood up at once, then came trotting around the table toward Carlisle and Claire.

As they passed Therese, she frowned for a split second. One of the knights pulled out a set of manacles and put them on Carlisle. Carlisle allowed his hands to be bound without a word, then followed the knight from the room of his own accord. 

Claire? She didn’t move. She half stood up, but her whole body was trembling. Her expression hadn’t changed, but her shoulders and her legs were shaking.

“All right, Lady Claire.”

“I…” she said, “I…” The Cathedral Knights approached her. She was going to be arrested and thrown in a cell. It did leave a bit of a bitter aftertaste in my mouth, but it would also mean one of my problems tidied up.

Suddenly, my eyes met Cliff’s. He was staring at me, his expression all panic and confusion. What was that about? I mean sure, there were parts of this I didn’t like—this kangaroo court-style setup issuing a ten-year prison sentence, for one thing. It felt a bit vindictive. 

These are the rules your people play by though, right? I thought of how the Temple Knights had tried to pull a similar stunt with me. This conclusion is all above board so far as you guys are concerned, right?

“Come on, Lady Claire,” said Besh, reaching slowly toward Claire like he was trying not to provoke her. Claire looked down at her hands with fear in her eyes. She looked like she wanted to leave her body.

“Ugh!” The next second, something went ramming into Besh. He staggered backward, his heavy armor clinking. Without missing a beat, he sank into a fighting stance, moved to draw his sword, then froze. What stopped him wasn’t Claire. 

Standing there, between Claire and Carlisle, was Zenith. She had put herself between Claire and Besh. She had both her arms outstretched, blocking the way. Her face was still blank as she faced him down, but the hostility was clear in her actions. She was protecting Claire. I was even more at a loss than before. Why would Zenith protect Claire? Was it a spur of the moment decision? She had reacted to her surroundings before this, though, and whenever she did it was always for the sake of her family. Was she reacting automatically, protecting her mother without understanding what her mother was trying to do to her?

I had to be missing something. I never had the right answer in this sort of situation. It had been just like this with Pax, now I came to think of it.

Get it together, I thought. If you think this through clearly, you might see what you missed. 

There was no time, that was the issue. Besh would push Zenith aside and take Claire away in seconds. Should I stop him? Could I do that without working out the consequences first? Shouldn’t I get more information before I acted?

“Stop this, please!” While I hesitated, another voice called out, bringing Besh to a halt. A small figure came pushing past to stand in front of Zenith. The guy who’d been looking at me reproachfully for a while now. It was Cliff.

“This isn’t right!” he said, standing in as though to protect Zenith from Besh. “Ganging up on an elderly woman, pinning all of this on her… Saint Millis will punish us for this!”

“How dare you! A mere priest presumes to speak for Saint Millis and defy the just ruling of the church?!” shouted the cardinal.

“You think this is the will of Saint Millis? A husband spurning his wife, while their child stands alone to defend her mother against a mob coming to carry her away?”

“What child? She’s a grown woman, and she’s out of her mind!” the cardinal retorted.

“Age has nothing to do with it! A parent is a parent, and a child is a child!” Cliff said, shutting him down. Glowering, the cardinal turned to his own servants, the Temple Knights. A silent order to silence the troublemaker. But the one whose eyes he met was Therese. Cliff looked to her as well.

“Captain Therese Latria of the Temple Knights’ Shield Company! Are you not also this woman’s child? Did Saint Millis not say, ‘A knight does not forsake loyalty, be they faced with any manner of trial. Yet at times, bonds of love must be held higher than those of loyalty’? Do you not consider your own mother unworthy of your love? In all the years she raised you, did you never feel love for her? Do you owe her nothing?” Therese looked away, her face stricken. Cliff, his fury unrelenting, cast his eyes about the room. They came to rest on me. “And you, Rudeus!” he called out. His gaze was, as always, unwavering. It pierced right through me. “Is this what you wanted? I never thought I’d see you stoop to taking hostages—then to ensnare your own grandmother and have her locked up in a cell! Are you happy with this?!”

I didn’t reply. Cliff’s argument was a bit off the mark. I hadn’t taken the Blessed Child because I wanted to. And shutting Claire up in jail obviously hadn’t been my idea. Besides, what Claire had done was wrong. That was a fact. You do something bad, well, there are consequences for that, and you can’t get out of it by making a big emotional speech.

“I know you had your disagreements with her. But in all your family quarrels up till now, you resolved them by considering the other’s point of view! Norn told me all about it. After the awful way Norn treated you, you still went to her side when she despaired, without a thought for the past. This time too, you tried to work things out! You consulted with your grandfather and Therese to try to reach a peaceful solution. After all that, can you truly say you’re happy with this?”

Okay, so Cliff had a few things mixed up. The only reason I wanted a peaceful solution was for the sake of the mercenary band and Cliff himself. It wasn’t out of familial love. That was a quibble though, and Cliff wasn’t in the mood, so I stayed silent.

“Answer me!” Cliff shouted. “Rudeus Greyrat, do you condone this or not? Your answer will decide my opinion of your character!” For some reason, that hit me hard. It actually hurt. Why was that?

It hurts, I thought, because even I’m not crazy about seeing one of my family thrown in jail. It is Claire, though… It’s not like she treated me like family.

Claire was different. Claire was not my family. Something still niggled at me, though. I couldn’t work out what it was, and until I did, I couldn’t answer Cliff.

“Look, Cliff…” I began. “I’ll give you an answer, but first I want to ask Claire something. Is that all right?” Cliff looked taken aback, but I didn’t wait for a reply. Instead, I turned to Claire. There was fear in her eyes, but she met my gaze undaunted. 

“Why did you take my mother from me?” I asked. Her expression didn’t change.

“For the good of my daughter, and my family,” she answered without hesitation.

“Did you really think marrying off your daughter in her current state would be for her own good?”

“Given the circumstances, I did,” she replied. Before I knew it, my hands had curled into fists. My jaw was clenched tight. How could Claire be like this? She must know that if she’d just said, “No, I was wrong,” she’d be off the hook.

I fell silent. The whole table looked at me expectantly, as though I suddenly had all the authority.

Wait, maybe I do, I realized. I’m still holding the Blessed Child’s arm. From the start, this had never been a discussion amongst equals.

“Which is more important to you? Your daughter or your family?” I asked.

“Both of them. Neither is more important than the other,” replied Claire, hedging.

That irritated me. Why wasn’t she trying to persuade me? She knew I was the one with all the power in the room. If I said we should forgive her, this whole thing would go away. Okay, maybe not entirely, but she’d be off the hook for the ten years imprisonment at least. It’s not like anyone died. We could settle for another punishment.

Come on. Get over yourself and just say it. Apologize…

As I hesitated, Claire snorted. “You needn’t go out of your way for me,” she said. “I never asked you to save me. If I am to be punished for what I did for my daughter’s sake, then so be it.”

I was at a loss for words. What the actual… You… Oh screw it, this isn’t going anywhere. 

Zenith had defended her. Cliff had defended her. Yet now she came out with this? I was done.

“If that’s all you have to say, I think we’re… Huh?” I trailed off as I felt something jab into my shoulder. Looking around, I saw the Blessed Child. She had jabbed me with the hand I wasn’t holding on to.

“Rudeus,” she said.

“What?” The Blessed Child no longer wore her usual serene smile. Instead, her face was blank. Blank, but somehow…unclouded. Like a saint.

“Spare her, Rudeus,” she said.

“Why?”

I wasn’t falling for this. I no longer had any intention of forgiving Claire. If nothing else, she obviously had no interest in working things out. The stupid old hag wanted total control over her daughter and resented her pesky grandson for getting in the way. She was like a child throwing a tantrum, flinging her toys around when things didn’t go her way.

“Lady Claire was truly thinking only of her daughter and her family,” the Blessed Child insisted.

“Good intentions pave the road to hell,” I retorted.

Thinking about others didn’t mean anything if you didn’t consider any viewpoints other than your own. If you were hell-bent on pushing what you thought was best on someone who didn’t want it, you were better off minding your own business. Plus what Claire was pushing was seriously awful. No one would want that.

“Claire also considers you to be a part of that family, Rudeus.”

“Excuse me?”

“All of this was for your sake as well.”

For me? How does all of this follow then? How did we end up here? I needed her to work with me a bit more here. She wasn’t making sense. 

“Please, Rudeus. Trust me. When I looked into her eyes, I knew.” Right, the Blessed Child’s power. She could see your past in your eyes. So that meant Claire had to have some reason—not that I had any clue what it might be.

“Claire, care to shed any light on what the Blessed Child is saying? Because I’m not following.”

“I’m afraid I’m at a loss myself,” she snapped back. “I suppose even the Blessed Child must lie sometimes. I’m quite sure I never did anything for you.”

There you go. Cliff, Blessed Child, you can try and cover for her all you like, but I can’t back down after that. I do feel a little bad about it…

It was time to put an end to this.

I sighed. “I can’t reconcile with her when she thinks nothing of me.” Claire nodded, her gaze steady. Cliff stared at me in dismay. The Blessed Child looked sad. Therese’s eyes went to Claire, and Sir Bellemond stood up. Zenith—I realized that Zenith was standing right in front of me.

Um…

Slap. Her hand struck my cheek. There was almost no power in the blow. It probably wouldn’t even leave a mark. 

“What?”

For some reason, though, it hurt. I felt the place she’d slapped me growing unbearably hot.

“Nngh…”

All of a sudden, tears were rolling down my cheeks. In the time it took me to realize what was happening, Zenith had moved past me. I turned and saw Carlisle. The man who had stood there manacled, watching all this run its course, then left. Because he was standing behind me, I hadn’t been able to see his face, but there was a whole mix of emotions there—worry, fear, regret.

Zenith slapped him too. Just like before, the blow was limp. Afterward, she kept walking, wobbling with each step. No one stopped her. Not the Cathedral Knights, not the Temple Knights, no one. It was like time had frozen around her. 

At last, she stopped in front of Claire. She raised her hand, palm out and ready to… No slap came. She cradled Claire’s face in both hands, leaning forward until their noses were almost touching, so she could peer into her mother’s eyes. From where I stood, I couldn’t see Zenith’s expression. When Claire looked into her daughter’s face, though, the effect was dramatic.

First, her eyes widened. Then, her lips began to tremble, followed by her cheeks, her shoulders, then her whole body. The shaking spread right down to her fingertips, then, as though triggered by the tremor, her arms rose up, and gripped Zenith’s hands tight.

“Uwa…aaaa…waahh…”

The cry that burst out of Claire was something between a sob and a moan. She drew Zenith’s hands up to her face as though she was going to kiss them and tears began to stream down her face. Then, perhaps succumbing to the shaking, her knees gave way and she sank to the ground. 

“Oh!” came a voice from behind me just as someone ducked past. It was Carlisle. His hands still manacled, he rushed to Claire’s side. Lowering himself down beside her, he said, “Claire, my dear, you need to stop this.”

“Buh…uh, uh, but Zenith…” Claire moaned, her face streaked with tears.

Carlisle moved as though he wanted to embrace her, then remembered the manacles wouldn’t let him. Instead, he lay his hands on top of Claire’s, which still clasped Zenith’s. 

“She’s okay. You don’t need to worry. She’s okay,” Carlisle said, then stood up. Claire’s sobs echoed through the room.

Carlisle looked around at everyone watching, then said, “I’m so sorry. I’ll tell you everything. I only ask that you reserve judgment until you’ve heard me out.” At this, time moved forward again. I didn’t think Carlisle had been addressing anyone in particular, but the pope, the cardinal, Cliff, Sir Bellemond, Therese, and all the Keepers of Anastasia turned to look at me. The Blessed Child tugged at my sleeve. With both hands.

I’d let go of her arm. The jig was up.

“…Fine,” I said, then collapsed back into my chair.

My cheek burned where Zenith had slapped me.