“Yes, that would be correct.”

I answered with a smile.

“No matter how I think about it, the second week of January seems out of the blue. Perhaps after the Pleroma contamination incident occurred in the Empire, you conducted the unscheduled checkup for the first time to examine the faculty members’ safety. Is that correct?”

“That’s right. Haha, you seem to know so much, why are you asking…? They said we should find out if the faculty’s Magic Power status was alright and if they had any health problems, as the professors must protect the school.”

“They said you should find out. Who said that?”

“The affiliated hospital of the Imperial Second Academy suggested it. That’s the Royal Central Hospital located in the northern part of the capital.”

Suggested it.

Of course.

“How long does it usually take for the checkup results to come out?”

“Even if it takes a long time, the results usually come out within about 2 weeks. If it’s just a Magic Power test, it takes about 3 days.”

“I see. How many vials of blood are drawn for the Magic Power test?”

“Usually just one syringe-full is drawn. That was the case this time too. I know because I submitted mine.”

‘They must have been worried about arousing suspicion if they requested too much blood.’

Blood is deeply related not only to Magic Power but also to Pleroma, so it must have been necessary to be careful during a time prone to suspicion like this. It’s a fortunate situation.

He had a questioning expression, wondering why I kept asking such obvious questions.

It’s an obvious situation, yet not obvious. I need to be certain.

“Then, when will the results of this checkup be available? There aren’t that many faculty members here, is there a reason it should take 3 weeks?”

“Ah… Now that you mention it, I haven’t heard the reason for the delay. I should send a letter right away today.”

The Head of Office said with a slightly troubled face.

Leo and I exchanged glances.

Putting aside why they work like this…

What reason could there be for not being able to provide the results?

‘They can’t give it because they drank the blood that was supposed to be used for the test.’

Especially since professors are stronger than ordinary Mages, the Chairman would have had to drink the entire vial of blood drawn from them to safely enter their minds.

They could have at least forged last year’s results and sent them.

I shook my head.

“No. You don’t need to contact them.”

“Pardon?”

“I will be visiting that side soon anyway. Once I receive the answer, I will contact the school. Will that be alright?”

“Ah, yes. Then I would be grateful.”

“Thank you. That is all for what I came to ask today. My schedule is tight, so I will finish up here and be on my way.”

I stood up.

And the moment he rose to see me off, I drew my Wand and pointed it at him.

—Enter through the narrow gate.

“…!”

I used Magic Power to support the Head of Office’s body as he swayed, approached him, and whispered softly.

“…You must not contact the hospital. Do you understand?”

He nodded slowly, his eyes unfocused, head bowed towards the floor.

I smiled and released the magic.

“Good. Thank you.”

* * *

After leaving the Head of Office’s room, I cast Concealment Magic and exited the school through the back gate.

Students were already out in the schoolyard, peering around, so I had no other choice.

Leo, who came out to see me off, opened his mouth with a smile.

“You certainly…”

“Certainly what?”

“You certainly know how to pull a fast one. Always have.”

“It’s not pulling a fast one, it was the most reasonable and common-sense method available to that side. It wasn’t relying on guesswork either.”

I said that and smiled.

Leo asked.

“Then how could Your Excellency be so certain it was that from the beginning? You didn’t know there was a checkup in January, did you?”

“As Your Highness said, they have no way of obtaining blood. If they were to infiltrate the residences, they wouldn’t need to give the professors the Revelation, and it’s not something they could just pickpocket while passing by.”

“Hmm.”

“Obtaining blood without arousing suspicion and in a way that seems convincing… There just happens to be one way to make people draw and submit their own blood. Furthermore, a health-related disaster happened this month, creating coincidentally the optimal situation. Was there any reason to miss it?”

Leo nodded with satisfaction.

“Will you be coming back to school now?”

“No. I will be going to the Parliament.”

Leo looked at me.

He must be wondering what I’ll do next. I shook my head, reassuring him.

“You don’t need to come. We can meet this evening, Your Highness.”

* * *

“Your Excellency Ernst. This is the material you requested. The Magic Power test results for Professor Johannes Ron and Professor Stefan Traut have not yet been released.”

I immediately contacted the Emperor and mobilized the entire Investigation Bureau to thoroughly search the hospital.

I fluttered the documents the detective handed me, saw the blank entry for the Magic Power test, and snorted.

‘It’s surprising they didn’t even think of filling it in with last year’s test results.’

What does this imply?

A simple mistake?

Well, since it’s something done by people, if the person in charge was careless and lazy, one could think that.

But that’s insufficient. In any fight, the moment you underestimate your opponent, the situation turns against you. It’s like you’ve ignored all possible scenarios yourself.

‘The Chairman hasn’t yet created his own person within the hospital.’

This conclusion is far more rational.

If he had a subordinate with easy access to blood for a very long time, he should have been able to give the Revelation to all high-ranking Mages in the capital’s political and business circles by now.

Going around collecting consent signatures is easy compared to obtaining blood, so there would be no reason to delay it for so long.

In other words, from this, we can deduce that the Chairman created someone within the hospital who received the Revelation not long ago, and he hasn’t been able to emotionally sway that person who received the Revelation.

If they were truly his ‘subordinates,’ they wouldn’t have just left blanks for those two but would have manipulated the records more meticulously.

There could be several reasons for the sloppy handling of subsequent matters, but in this particular part, the possibility of it being calculated is small.

“Thank you. I will head upstairs now.”

“Yes.”

I motioned to Narce and Adelbert who had followed me.

After I hinted to Adelbert that I was going to the Parliament for an interrogation and needed to do some secretive activities, he immediately went to his father and pestered him to let him follow me.

So now, instead of a Royal Divine Power Mage, Adelbert took that spot.

‘Since the afternoon training is also finished…’

Let’s take our time.

First, let’s review slowly.

The plan has changed.

When I met the Chairman in the previous timeline, I said I had to meet him again ‘because I had no evidence to present to save the homeroom professor, and also to prevent the Chairman from creating a religious group in Primrose Path and expanding his influence.’

The first reason is discarded.

I only need to go meet him for the second reason.

When I was in that timeline, I didn’t realize it because I was numb to violence.

If I have to meet him to obtain physical evidence, the situation becomes overly complicated and disadvantageous to me. It’s not simply a matter of ‘kill him and be done with it,’ but ‘don’t kill him, first put him in front of a camera, and then make him confess.’

And… decisively.

‘I also have a promise with Leo.’

To avoid putting him in a dangerous situation, I must first avoid doing so myself.

So, now I’ve come here to find materials that can be used as that evidence.

No, to be precise…

I’ve come to create evidence.

“Your Highness the Prince.”

“Yes!”

I almost laughed at his voice, which was full of vigor, but cleared my throat instead.

“The sight you are about to witness will not be entirely proper.”

“It’s alright. I think it’s a great honor just to be able to see Your Excellency Ernst resolving matters related to me!”

“Is that so…”

I elbowed Narce in the side, who was about to burst into laughter, and entered the Parliament building.

This was a place I had visited even in the shifted timeline.

Remembering the appointment I had made with a Member of Parliament today, I went up to the top floor.

Narce, who had been silently following me up the stairs, asked.

“By the way, yesterday you said I didn’t need to come, so why are we going to Parliament~?”

I told Narce that.

In the shifted timeline, I interrogated the MPs with him, but after rewinding time, I told him, ‘Parliament is fine, we need to go to Primrose Path first.’

In reality, I’ve already obtained all the information I needed from these MPs. There’s no additional information I need to get.

Knock—

“Excuse me.”

When I opened the door, the person who had given me information about Gregorio in the previous timeline was standing before me.

“Your Excellency Nicolaus. It’s a pleasure to see you.”

Unlike the previous timeline where he was tearfully terrified, he approached me with a cheerful face and attempted to shake hands. I lightly took his hand and drew out my Wand.

“It’s a pleasure.”

—Enter through the narrow gate.

“…!”

The MP’s eyes unfocused for a moment, then returned. He opened his mouth with a flustered look.

“Wait, Your Excellency…?! What are you suddenly…!”

—For wide is the gate and broad is the road that leads to destruction, and many enter through it.

As I recited that far, his eyes unfocused.

I held his head and looked around. Perhaps because my magic didn’t take effect immediately, Adelbert was looking at him with surprised eyes.

Narce, on the other hand, seemed to have gotten the gist of things as before.

“I don’t plan to break a promise I’ve made once…”

I said that and immediately snapped my fingers.

“You’ll have to indulge me a bit.”

“…Gasp…! W-wait, wait! What are you…!”

The MP immediately regained focus and clutched his chest, his eyes wide.

I leaned closer to his face, tilting my head.

“You must be quite flustered.”

“…!”

Feeling the instinctive fear melting in his eyes, I smiled.

He got it.

He knew that I knew where his weakness lay.

“Pleroma’s self-destruct mechanism. It’s truly surprising, no matter how I look at it. Shall I cast it on you a bit more?”

“N-no, what did I ever do to you…!”

CRASH—!

I threw him onto the desk. I tied his hands behind his back and drew my Wand, throwing it to Narce.

Fortunately, he was in a state of shock and didn’t regain his composure, allowing me to do as I pleased.

Adelbert just stared at me with his mouth agape.

‘I don’t usually interrogate like this.’

Even though he’s seen it before, it will probably just create unnecessary prejudice. If it weren’t for Pleroma, I wouldn’t have treated him like a serious criminal right off the bat.

Narce continued to point the Wand at him from the side.

“Tell me everything you know about Gregorio. This isn’t what I plan to make you do, but let’s start by listing it out.”

“Gr-Gregorio…?”

“You know who I mean. The one who is defecting from Pleroma and trying to create a new religion. And you were assigned to monitor him.”

“…!”

His eyes shook wildly.

“I-I can’t betray the organization, how could I know that…?”

“Betraying Pleroma… Well. Wouldn’t that be much better than dissolving and dying right here?”

His face turned pale.

He was the one who confessed everything to me in the previous timeline.

I saw his shallow loyalty and strong desire for life clearly. That desire was highly valuable.

Since I had no data on the tendencies of the person who dissolved and died, I decided to meet this person this time.

“I know how much you know about Gregorio, and I know what you can testify to. But you probably think my words are just empty threats and you don’t trust me, right? Let’s try it out. —Through the narrow gate…”

“W-wait, wait! Wait!”

He twisted his body.

When I stopped speaking, he nodded instead of using his arms, as if trying to calm me down. But judging by his complexion, he was the one who needed calming.

“Wait. Just a moment, Your Excellency… I’ll die if you do that. I’ll die…”

He was already whimpering and rambling incoherently. I grabbed his arm and flipped him over.

“You don’t want to die, do you? If you follow my words, you’ll die to Pleroma, and if you stay loyal to Pleroma, you’ll die to me right now.”

The bastard nodded violently.

“Don’t worry. I won’t tell you to defect from Pleroma.”

“Then…”

“Tell the organization this: The Chairman’s behavior was strange, so you used Nicolaus Ernst to put pressure on him… That’s what you tell them.”

“…!”

His eyes widened as he stared at me.

From behind, I heard Narce let out a short breath. Adelbert was standing far away, mouth agape.

“Member of Parliament, do you know about Abraham?”

“A-Abraham…? No.”

“Good. You are just playing along with me for a moment. Tell Pleroma that I first requested interviews with the MPs regarding Primrose Path and the Chairman.”

“…….”

“However, you recently detected evidence that Gregorio, under the pseudonym Abraham, is trying to attract the old humans of Primrose Path into his religious group. You accepted Nicolaus’s timely offer and by informing him about the Chairman, you could use his power to pressure the Chairman, and furthermore…”

I grabbed him by the lapels and brought my face close.

“Perhaps you might even find a clever way to kill Nicolaus Ernst or draw him into Pleroma… Who knows.”

“…….”

“You have two choices. First, convey the scenario I’ve proposed to Pleroma. I will ensure your life is preserved and you keep your position.”

I released his lapels and pressed my Wand against his face.

“Second, dissolve and die right here.”

He visibly flinched.

“Member of Parliament Alexander Kluger.”

“Yes, yes…”

“It would be a waste to die like this when you’re only in your 40s. You could naturally live for another 110 years. In fact, you probably borrowed Pleroma’s power because you wanted to live longer and become stronger…”

At that remark, he took a deep breath, trying to hold back his tears.

I pretended not to hear it and whispered nonchalantly.

“Isn’t it too unfair to dissolve and die in a Parliament meeting room that you don’t even know exists? It’s not like I’m going to kill all of Pleroma. If cooperation is possible, that’s the priority. In that sense, I have even devised a plan like this for the Member of Parliament’s safety…”

“…….”

“You’re slow to answer. If the Member of Parliament doesn’t wish to live, there’s nothing I can do.”

—Enter through the narrow gate.

His eyes unfocused slightly, then returned. His heart was pounding so hard I could hear it from here. He shook his head wildly.

“N-no…! Stop!”

“No?”

“I-I’ll do it. I’ll do it. I’ll do as you say, just stop with the Divine Power…”

“You’ve made a good decision. I look forward to working with you.”

I held out my hand. He stared at it blankly. Adelbert also looked alternately at me and his hands tied behind his back, his face full of questions.

“Ah, my apologies. We can’t shake hands.”

I pretended to ponder for a moment, then lightly embraced him.

“Let’s greet this way. Let’s work well together from now on, Member of Parliament Kluger.”

I placed my hand on his back, where his heart would be, and whispered near his ear.

—I can do all things through him who strengthens me.

“…!”

He stared at me, his mouth agape.

Feeling a sense of satisfaction, I stood up.

Now there are four people subservient to me. I didn’t really want to increase this number, but somehow it ended up happening.

Since he seemed to be having trouble accepting the reality, I clapped my hands, just as I had done with Leo.

“Gasp…!”

He instantly bent forward.

‘It seems to hurt more than I thought.’

Well, it must feel like hitting the heart. I feel sorry for Leo. I even twisted it more severely for him, but he endured it well.

“Since your Core is bound not only to Pleroma but also to me, it would be best not to betray me. After all… I think a safety device would be good to have.”

If you only use the whip for too long, the motivation to work decreases.

I softened my voice.

“I promise. I won’t tell anyone that you have a foot in both groups. However, if you go to Pleroma and tell them that I made this demand… you will be the only one who dies. From Pleroma’s perspective, there’s no reason to keep a hand that’s already been revealed.”

“Yes, yes. I understand. Thank you. Thank you.”

Looking down at him, now shedding tears as the tension had broken, I spoke.

“Alright, from now on, there’s something you need to do for me.”

* * *

More than half of the preparations were complete.

No, in fact, it could be said that everything was finished.

Now only the matter I need to resolve remains.

“I wondered why you were looking for clerical attire all of a sudden.”

“I have to go find my son.”

Narce laughed at that.

The cloak draped over my cassock fluttered.

It had been several months since I was ordained, but I didn’t wear clerical clothes often, so it still felt unfamiliar.

Narce, on the other hand, seemed to fit the clothes perfectly, as if he were finally wearing the right attire. It wasn’t cardinal’s robes, but ordinary priest’s clothes.

Narce, who was three steps ahead of me, turned back and said.

“It suits you well too~”

“Right… Thanks. Stop reading my thoughts now.”

I looked at Narce’s eyes, which had turned blue, and smiled. His eyes shone brightly even in the darkness.

Narce, who had been staring at me, burst into laughter.

“Haha, it does suit you, but it feels unfamiliar. Wearing those clothes with that face. And in…”

I am that person too, clearly.

I smiled and raised my head. Jeremaiah’s thin golden hair, parted and swept down, fluttered before my eyes.

Narce looked around this street and said.

“…a place like this. We’ll probably be the first orthodox clergy to set foot in a place like this wearing clerical attire, Jeremaiah.”

That would be correct.

The place I needed to come to wearing clerical attire wasn’t the school, but here, and the person who needed to wear the clerical attire wasn’t Lucas or Nicolaus, but Jeremaiah Caetani.

“So what.”

I rolled the Wand between my fingers.

A phantom vision of stars scattered across the pitch-black path of Primrose Path appeared. A sunlight-like light flowed and the Wand transformed into the Papal State’s staff.

“Let’s begin.”

Source: Webnovel.com, updated by NovelKeep