Read Novel Full Chapter 41, Edward Got Angry
Chapter 41, Edward Got Angry
Translator: Lizz
Calogero closed his eyes, and when he opened them, he suddenly began to speak to the three of them.
“I possess a skill called ‘Illuminating Sin’, which allows me to see people’s sins.”
Gina was astonished, and Edward furrowed his brow.
“Edward, I can see in you a level of sin I haven’t seen in a long time. I can only grasp it roughly, but it’s clear that in the past you deceived someone and committed theft. …So I started investigating, but when we last spoke… You don’t seem to feel any guilt about it. Moreover, I heard that when the High Priest urged you to confess, you appeared to have no idea what he was talking about. …It’s exactly because of this that I sensed danger and felt the need to separate you from Lady Sylvia.”
Gina looked back and forth between Calogero and Edward.
She could say with certainty that Edward wasn’t that kind of person.
But the skill must be genuine. That’s why Calogero became a priest. Not through holy magic, but because his skill led him down the priest’s path. A man who sees people’s sins, so he could tell sinners and lead them to confession.
Edward looked at Calogero with a blatantly scornful expression that screamed ‘What the hell is this guy saying?’ That was genuinely how he felt after hearing Calogero’s confession, and he partly did it to provoke him, but Calogero didn’t bite.
Clicking his tongue, Edward said to him.
“I did commit fraud. I stole money from the same knights I once served with. So what? What of it? Before that, those guys framed me for something I didn’t do, dumped work on me, borrowed money and never paid it back, using me every way they could. The people I scammed were the very ones who tried to take advantage of me. If what I did is a crime, then what they did is too. And for that matter, what about you? You hid your true identity from your own Lord and brought dangerous people into this estate. Isn’t that a crime too?”
He pressed the question and continued, even more forcefully:
“I told Lady Sylvia about the incident from my past, and even in this case, I explained everything properly and got her permission. I also told Gina what was going on, and isn’t that why she stood up to the bandits to protect you and ended up seriously injured? I’ll say it again: from where I stand, you are the real danger to Lady Sylvia.”
At Edward’s words, Calogero remembered how Gina had repeatedly said, ‘I may not be very reliable, but if you don’t mind, could you tell me what’s going on?’ If Calogero had relied on Gina, Edward might have had more options. Calogero hadn’t trusted Edward, and certainly not Gina either, which was why Edward hadn’t shared any part of the plan with him.
“I’ve been digging into the fact that you’re the son of a noble from a neighboring country who got caught up in a crime and ended up in this town. Now that the bridge is complete and open, exchanges with the neighboring country have increased. If rumors about your striking appearance spread there, shady people might storm the fortress to assassinate you. That was the conclusion I reached, and it gave me a massive headache!”
Edward thrust two fingers straight out in front of Calogero’s face.
“That’s why I came up with two strategies. The first was, if assassins did show up, I’d wipe them all out in one sweep, buy some time, and during that window, I’d negotiate with the neighboring country as Lady Sylvia’s representative. There was a risk that if even one of them escaped, not only would we lose our advantage, but they’d likely send in even more forces. Still, under normal circumstances, it shouldn’t have failed. But then you not only kept quiet about the situation, you went and wrecked the whole plan, so of course it failed!”
Edward’s sarcastic explanation didn’t stop there.
“Our entire fighting force is just me. We had Gina too, but she got seriously injured trying to protect you. The other side probably doesn’t know that. So next time, they might launch a full-scale invasion. If that happens, there’s no way I can handle it alone. The idea of barricading ourselves in the fortress only works if we can expect reinforcements. But no matter how long we wait, no reinforcements are coming!”
“If it comes to that, then there’s no helping it, we’ll go with the next plan. If I disappear from this castle, that’ll at least eliminate one threat for them. Even so, they might still send a large army, so I decided to spread rumors across various places in the Duke’s territory. Stuff like, ‘The neighboring country’s behavior smells fishy.’ That way, if they try to send a noticeable force, the great Chief Magic Knight of the Monster Subjugation Unit, who also happens to be the head of the Ducal house, will take the lead and crush them himself.”
Calogero listened to Edward’s cunning plan in stunned silence.
He hadn’t expected Edward to think that far ahead. He was well-informed and skilled at using that information effectively.
And Edward’s story wasn’t over yet.
“That’s why I had no choice but to disappear from Lady Sylvia’s sight. I had to leave the castle, spread information, and go into hiding. …Honestly, I would’ve hated it if Lady Sylvia had acted like nothing happened after I vanished. But do you have any idea how painful it was hearing her cry nonstop, calling my name, begging me to come out? I’m bound by a magical contract with Lady Sylvia. I didn’t betray her, I was just hiding, always close by. But even so, it was so unbearably hard that I felt like I was going insane!”
Gina watched the furious Edward with a look of shock.
She had been informed ahead of time and knew that Edward had been hiding to protect Lady Sylvia. In fact, even the maid Emma had been asked to help.
That was because Edward anticipated that, once he disappeared, the burden would fall entirely on Gina, so he had asked Emma for support.
…And now, she genuinely felt glad he had asked. Emma was a woman who had raised about five children, so handling a young child was second nature to her. Edward had been worried that Calogero might take advantage of his absence to get close to Sylvia, but that turned out to be totally unfounded. He was so hopeless with children that Sylvia ended up being the one people felt sorry for.
Gina thought, ‘For a grown man, was he really that attached?’ Even if he didn’t show himself, he must’ve been watching over Sylvia the whole time, but she didn’t say it aloud.
Calogero realized that all his previous concerns had been completely unfounded; in fact, it was he himself who had acted on his own and disrupted their teamwork.
The face of the High Priest came to mind. The High Priest had always struggled to deal with Calogero’s stubbornness. Calogero had known he was causing trouble, but he never understood why the High Priest had been so distressed and constantly at his wit’s end.
Now that Edward had confronted him with a matter of life and death, he finally reflected deeply on his actions.
With a look as if a heavy burden had been lifted, Calogero bowed deeply to the three confused figures.
“I exposed you all to a life-threatening danger because of my selfish assumptions and rash actions. I am truly sorry.”
Edward stayed silent, visibly irritated.
A simple bow wasn’t nearly enough to earn forgiveness. To Edward, Sylvia was a Lord more precious than his own life, someone he had sworn to protect for the rest of his days. Gina was someone who had promised to serve and defend that very same master. And for Calogero, whose life was worth less than a pet in Sylvia’s household, to be the cause of her potential injury, or even death, was utterly unforgivable.
But Gina would likely forgive him.
As for Sylvia, she probably didn’t care one way or the other.
Edward found himself tempted to go to Sylvia and say, ‘It’s Calogero’s fault I couldn’t stay by your side’, but then–
“Thanks to Sir Edward’s leadership, everything went smoothly, so let’s leave it at that. Shall we, Sir Edward?”
Gina, the one who had suffered the most, gently prompted him to move on. And Edward had no choice but to nod in agreement.