The Cause of the Matter

As Serea questioned, Dogsius used “mind reading” to obtain the answers she wanted.

Pedory Owen, an officer in the Imperial Cavalry Corps, had attracted the attention of the third prince of the Ailera Empire, Worcester, due to his exceptional strength. Worcester specially assigned him a secret mission.

And this so-called secret mission was…

To smuggle magic mithril!

In the Ailera Empire, magic mithril was an important military supply, and any private storage or transport was illegal—even for Worcester, the third prince.

But to increase his chances in the competition for the throne against his brothers, Worcester decided to take the risk.

He first anonymously purchased a batch of magic mithril from the Tautower Quarry, then used the Terance family’s slave trading caravan to transport it for him.

That way, he could transport magic mithril to the border of the Ailera Empire—Jones City—without being discovered.

Afterwards, with the help of the Terance family, he planned to forge the magic mithril into magitech equipment and train soldiers equipped with magitech gear.

With this, Worcester would have a powerful magitech troop under his command—his trump card in the struggle for the throne.

As for the capture of elves, that had nothing to do with them.

They were simply using the façade of transporting elven slaves to secretly ship the magic mithril to Jones City.

Capturing elves was the business of the Terance family.

Having learned all this, Serea roughly understood the relationships involved.

Worcester was colluding with the lord of Yeton Territory, using Cain’s family to handle and transport magic mithril, and then fostering a force of private soldiers loyal to Worcester himself by employing noble mercenaries.

But wasn’t it just Serea’s luck to stumble upon this—caught up in such bewildering circumstances from all sides!

Lamenting destiny’s ironic twists, a murderous glint flashed in Serea’s eyes.

“Little Black!”

“Your subordinate is here.”

“Go and sneak into the Terance clan. Kill that Terance… Niltos Terance, and remember—not a soul can discover you!”

Upon receiving Serea’s orders, Little Black’s eyes brightened.

“Obeying Her Majesty’s command.”

Little Black responded and then faded away, his body vanishing into thin air.

Pedory, seeing they intended to target Niltos directly, widened his eyes.

“You!”

“You what? Did you think I wouldn’t know everything just because you kept quiet?”

“You—!”

Pedory trembled all over, whether from anger or something else.

But only he knew the truth: he was afraid.

Because this mysterious girl clearly knew everything that had happened.

Otherwise, she wouldn’t have ordered that assassin to dispose of Niltos Terance.

Though he didn’t know how this girl had discovered the truth, on careful reflection, he found the questions she’d just asked to be rather suspicious.

Looking up, Pedory’ gaze met Celia’s violet eyes.

Faced with those eyes, he felt a terror as though his soul was being pierced. At this, Pedory realized the opponent possessed a mental mage capable of reading minds.

Although such talents were extremely rare, there could be no doubt that this girl was precisely that: a spiritual mage who could read minds.

And thinking about how his secret was out, Pedory was seized by terror.

Because he knew that once this matter was exposed, both he and the Terance family would be cast aside.

The crime of smuggling magic mithril would certainly be forced upon him and the Terance family—they were but pawns!

“Pfft.”

Overcome by poison and rage, Pedory spewed a mouthful of black blood, his eyes burning with hatred as he stared at Serea.

“P… Prince Worcester won’t…won’t let you go!”

Finishing his words, his hand fell limp; the deadly poison from Leo stole his life away.

Now, Pedory and his subordinates had all been dealt with, and the assassins were all dead. Now only Niltos remained—once he was killed, everyone in the know would be eliminated.

“Hoo.”

Serea let out a long breath, but as her nerves relaxed, fatigue became obvious on her face.

Seeing this, Vina—realizing all of this was her fault—knelt before Serea.

“Your Majesty, it was all because I acted on my own will that such a disaster was brought upon us. Please punish me, Your Majesty.”

Hearing Vina’s voice, Serea looked down at her.

“Punish you? Do you know what kind of danger your actions have brought to us, and to the Darkmoon Clan?”

“Your subordinate knows…”

“Then what sort of punishment do you think could atone for your mistake?”

“……”

Vina bit her lip hard. She knew in her heart that if she was captured and revealed Serea and the Darkmoon Clan, a disaster of extermination would await them.

Such a crime could not be resolved by mere punishment.

Thinking this, Vina pulled out a dagger, but before she could raise it, Celia knocked it from her hand with a slash of her sword.

Vina’s eyes widened as she looked at Celia and Serea.

“If I’d known you were so ‘righteous and selfless,’ I would’ve just had Little Black kill you outright.”

“Your Majesty…”

At Serea’s words, Vina bowed her head even lower, not daring to meet her gaze.

“Let’s go, there’s still one inside that needs handling.”

Serea no longer bothered with Vina. She and Celia proceeded into the storeroom, while Vina remained kneeling, overcome by guilt and shedding tears.

“Get up, and earn Her Majesty’s forgiveness with your actions.”

Lola reached out her hand, and Vina looked up slightly at her.

“Lola…”

……

Serea and Celia entered the storeroom, noting the scattered pieces of silvery metal and wooden boxes, but didn’t linger.

They headed straight to the hidden trapdoor leading underground.

Opening the trapdoor, they saw a long staircase. Serea and Celia descended and arrived at a dimly lit cell.

“Kyaa!”

A woman’s scream rang out. Serea and Celia looked around and saw that several elves were imprisoned there.

Seeing the elves, Serea narrowed her eyes, and at that moment, hurried footsteps sounded behind her.

“Ahh!”

It was Cain, dagger in hand, stabbing toward Serea’s back, the blade gleaming coldly. As Cain made his move, an elf warned,

“Watch out!”

But Celia was faster. She knocked the dagger aside and pressed her silver blade firmly to Cain’s neck.

Seeing the specks of blood on that blade, Cain was terrified and begged for mercy.

“No, please! I know nothing. I beg you, let me go! Money and treasures, I’ll give them all to you—everything, just spare me!”

Serea ignored Cain’s pitiful pleas. She turned to look at the elves in the cage—there were as many as thirty.

The commotion outside the cell caught the elves’ attention; they all crowded to the bars to peer at the mysterious young woman outside.

When they saw the three green-leaf marks above her head, the male elf who had just warned Serea let out a cry of surprise.

“The Queen’s Mark—it’s the Queen’s Mark of the Darkmoon Clan!”

(To be continued…)

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