/
As soon as Gerald arrived at the imperial palace, he delivered great news to his father because his cousin said that the relic was real. Since he confirmed the reality, he only knew that he would be praised. But why was it that only scolding comes back?
“Shouldn’t you have known what it looked like?”
When the princess sitting by the window muttered in a nonchalant tone, the Emperor jumped in.
“Yeah, shouldn’t you have known that much!”
“I asked about that too
”
As Gerald paused, the Emperor groaned as he clutched his head with both hands.
“It was a mistake to send you.”
Gerald winked at his mother for help. However, she only looked at his father as if she had nothing to do with it.
“Wasn’t that a lie?”
The princess seemed genuinely discouraged when she asked, but only such a voice came back.
“How can I trust you?”
“But after that day
”
Only now did the Empress intervene and began to side with her son.
“They say they have been living in confinement for several days, refusing even the invitation of the Duke of Monette, so it doesn’t seem like a lie.”
When the name of the family Elliot and the marriage talks come up, the amazing thing that happened at the party naturally came to mind. Gerald wanted to recount what he had witnessed, but shut up when he saw the fan on his father’s forehead and the princess’s sly smile.
“We might be finished now.”
The Emperor groaned again.
“Eh, Elliot said that too.”
“That guy is far from doomed!”
Albert shouted at his dim-witted son. After the New Year’s Eve, Elliot’s reputation in the social world was skyrocketing. Conversely, Gerald crawled on the floor. In the meantime, the guy threw a big party. He started looking for a marriage partner as if to put an end to rumors of infidelity, which were only grounds for whispering with a witch. Since he did not send out expeditions or raids, it seemed that he was slowly opening the door to the Grand Duke’s residence and interacting with nobles to build his own power base. It was dangerous.
“I can’t send an expedition again
”
Because his reputation as the Emperor would fall even further. While struggling, the princess showed him the way.
“If you can’t put the Grand Duke into danger, shouldn’t you put the danger into the Grand Duchy?”
“Yes! That’s it!”
It was time to think about it again. In the report on the desk in the office, a word caught my eye.
monster.
“Call all the wizards in the palace immediately!”
* * *
Even though it was a hot midsummer, the densely wooded forest was cool. Thanks to that, hundreds of knights and soldiers did not show any signs of getting tired even after marching for several hours.
“To think that a swamp monster haunts a forest without a swamp.”
Elliot chewed on the question as he rode his horse side by side with Daniel in his heavy armor. Demonic spirits that have been eradicated for a long time have recently started to appear in the depths of the Black Forest. Even that was not enough, and even species that were not inhabited in the past appeared. It’s a tiring midsummer, but Elliot decided to use his hand before it spread to the private house.
“It’s definitely suspicious.”
Daniel murmured and leaned over to him.
“I don’t think I should use my holy power as much as possible.”
Elliot nodded his head. It might be a trap set by the imperial family to suspect and confirm that the one with the holy power was someone who was not a sacred object. Only his deceased parents, some of the priests of the Holy See, and Daniel and Giselle knew that he had holy powers. Where did the fact that he had such formidable holy power leak out? He didn’t know about that, but it was fortunate that the imperial family knew about it as a sacred object. Knowing that he was the source of his holy power, the greedy Emperor would try to treat Elliot like a dog, whether by taking his younger siblings hostage or framing him. The end would have been world domination. In any case, the holy power should not be used this time.
Elliot’s gaze was in front of her as she rode her horse with a pledge. To be precise, she clung to the brown back of the head of the little mare in the shadow of the branches and leaves.
“Thank you for helping us, Nanny.”
The attendant who rode the horse side by side with the nanny smiled and she started talking.
“You have nothing to thank. This is an opportunity for me to use the healing and attack magic I have learned so far in practice.”
He could tell just by hearing her voice that she was full of motivation.
“It’s fine with us, but are the Grand Princess and the Grand Prince okay?”
“Kids are busy taking classes from morning to evening these days. Besides, Daisy and Lady look after the kids, so it’s okay.”
The fact that the imperial family no longer raided the Grand Duke’s residence also helped Elliot allow the nanny to accompany him to the subjugation.
“Still, the camp must be quite inconvenient for the lady
”
“Ah, I commute to and from work every morning and evening with the Grand Duke’s residence.”
“Yes? Even if I run without stopping here, it will take a whole day.”
He could commute through the cabin in the Black Forest. But it had to be a secret that only a few knew.
“Ah
”
‘Do not say.’
“I am a witch. That’s how I do it.”
‘Good job.’
“Highness.”
“Huh?”
Daniel continued to nag him and he called him.
“Are you listening to me?”
“No.”
Daniel’s eyes widened, but Elliot didn’t care.
“Daniel.”
“Yes.”
“How do you realistically look good?”
Daniel’s eyes narrowed even more at the sudden question of his boss, who was far from being handsome in reality.
“Is this as unlucky as that face again?”
“Someone told me I was unrealistically handsome and didn’t look like a human.”
“Who?”
“Which young lady?”
If the nanny said yes, she would hear another shout from Daniel, so Elliot reflexively hid.
“Why do you ask me that way?”
“You are handsome in reality.”
“Then isn’t that something we should ask the person who went from being unrealistically handsome to being realistically handsome?”
“Does anyone know?”
Daniel looked at Elliot as if he were crazy. True to its name, the Black Forest, as the shade grew thicker and the sound of water began to be heard from the front, Elliot shouted.
“Here! Let’s set up a garrison around here.”
At his command, the punitive force stopped. The men in armor began moving in perfect order, finding an empty lot to be stationed in, clearing it, and erecting barracks and fences. The nanny stood in the corner and watched with curious eyes, and she soon found out what to do.
“Ah, my
 I forgot to get it from the warehouse.”
A soldier murmured in dismay, and the nanny approached and asked.
“What have you forgotten? If it’s not heavy, I can bring it.”
After that, she was like a busy squirrel in winter, walking around the garrison on her little feet and helping with work.
“Since the nanny is here, there won’t be any worries tonight.”
“Miss Hazel is not your cook.”
“Hey, Your Highness. So
 sorry.”
It was the time Elliot scolded the soldiers who were preparing the stove to hang the cooking pot on.
“Your Highness!”
A searcher ran from afar outside the garrison and reported.
“I found a suspicious oyster.”
The oyster on the hillside was not far from the garrison. It was quite shallow, but high and wide enough for three grown men to stand together. The reason the oyster was suspicious was at the bottom.
“It’s a magic circle.”
Someone drew a large magic circle on the floor in the middle of the cave. It must have been drawn quite recently, and the lines drawn with the pieces of coal were clear.
“Call Miss Hazel.”
Elliot ordered the soldiers to look inside and around the cave. Inside, except for the magic circle, there was nothing suspicious. However, there were traces of the person who drew the magic circle outside. The large tree branch that was covering the cave seemed to have been artificially broken and placed there.
“It’s suspicious that you tried to hide it.”
Soon after, the nanny who followed the soldier looked over the magic circle and said,
“Looks like it’s for transportation.”
“Where does it transport?”
“Uh
 Since this works as a pair, it moves to a place with another magic circle connected to it. Unfortunately, I can’t tell where it’s going just by looking at the magic circle.”
“How does it work?”
“I think we can find out by analyzing the expression. It’s complicated because it’s the formula of a high-ranking wizard.”
The nanny pursed her lips in trouble as she tried to read the curly lines that looked like codes.
Elliot was trying to get into trouble too. He turned his head and gave instructions.
“Let’s draw on parchment first.”
It was an order given because he felt awkward being alone with the nanny in a cramped cave.
“Yes, then I will draw it and decipher it today.”
“Good.”
Then, by identifying the characteristics of the person who drew it, they would be able to find out who drew the magic circle.
“Isn’t it dangerous for anyone to use this magic circle?”
“I don’t think so.”
“Then we should be fully prepared and put it into operation.”
He didn’t know where he would fall when he moved to this magic circle, so he planned to send volunteers after having everything they needed for camping and survival. Until the soldier waiting in front of the cave after bringing the parchment saw a squirrel passing by and said this.
“Uh? Squirrel?”
At that moment, the magic circle surrounding Elliot and the nanny flashed and emitted red light.
“Ugh, no!”
The moment the nanny shouted, Elliot’s eyes darkened.