89 – Delusion
It felt like all the blood in my body was cold.
Charlotte must have noticed my reaction, and even though the super regeneration ability restored the puppet magic on my body to its original state, this time I did not reapply the magic.
There was silence for a while. I untied the arm that was wrapped around Charlotte’s waist. Charlotte likewise released her arms that were wrapped around my neck.
He stumbled and took a few steps back. It felt like my head was pounding and hurting.
“……What are you talking about?”
“I mean literally, dear.”
“You came here because of something related to the black blood monster?”
“It is.”
Causal relationships began to form in my head.
I could understand why everything in this building was excessively black and why it was empty.
The reason why everything in this building was black was probably to make it difficult for the searchers even if they found out that something related to black blooded monsters was going on.
If a colorful place rots to black, it will naturally raise suspicion, but it is not strange that a place that was originally black rots to black.
Of course, an explanation is needed as to why the building suddenly rots away. However, it is much better than showing the fact that it is directly related to the black blooded monster.
Especially in a situation where the kingdom’s best forces, such as the Royal Knights, Royal Magicians, and S-class adventurers, are all mobilized and hunting black blooded monsters with all their might.
Black-blooded monsters appeared all over the continent and all lower- and middle-level adventurers were suffering, and if the action of doing business related to them was stepped on, the power to rule all the back alleys of a city would absolutely not cover it.
The pinnacle of kingdom power will descend personally.
And the reason why this place was empty is probably because Charlotte, noticing something suspicious, arrived here and snatched up all the humans related to this organization without even giving them a chance to do so.
Perhaps the woman who decided to create a new identity would have been taken to the dungeon of the royal palace by now, and other humans would have been taken along, since the possibility of being accomplices could not be ruled out.
It was clear that the rice cake sticks in front of the door had numbers written on them, whether it was a memory erased by magic or a fake created by illusion. We’re going to have to investigate all the humans who have been active in this organization.
All that’s left is the blond guy who’s been hanging out with me for three days, but since Charlotte is here, he won’t be safe either.
Charlotte, who had been quietly watching me organize her thoughts, opened her mouth.
“Do you want to explain?”
He responded with a nod of his head. Charlotte rose from her chair. Long silver hair fluttered here and there.
“It will be faster for you to see for yourself than for me to explain, so watch.”
Charlotte snapped her fingers.
I heard the sound of something spinning. At first, at the table where I was sitting just before. Then on the chair next to the table. Then on the wooden floor.
The legs of the table were slowly sinking down. The teacup on top of it suddenly disappeared, and the chair, like the table, began to sink under the wooden floor.
Upon closer inspection, there were small grooves between the wooden planks that make up the floor. It seemed to work if the legs of the table were precisely aligned with those four grooves.
Then maybe chairs have a similar way of working. I blankly watched as the tables and chairs sank to the bottom.
The four legs were completely buried under the wooden floor, and the chair legs were also completely buried under the wooden floor.
Charlotte’s hair fluttered slightly. It seemed to be using mana. The walls resonated with it.
All kinds of liquor on the shelves fell to the floor with a loud sound. There were dozens of overlapping sounds of glass breaking. Alcohol seeped through the cracks in the floor.
This time the liquor rack slowly began to sink beneath the wooden floor. Seeing that, Charlotte muttered in a voice that was annoying.
“Slow, unstable, and even useless. What a poor lock.”
Charlotte’s fist clenched. At the same time, the rate of descent accelerated even more.
Now the entire first floor was moving. The wooden planks on the floor spread apart, and all the antique decorations disappeared behind the walls. Perhaps because of the acceleration magic, the speed was amazing.
After that series of processes were over, the first floor, which had the feel of an expensive bar, had turned into a desolate place with only one staircase leading down to the basement.
“what’s this?”
“What is it, my dear? Of course, this is a space where those who have lost their coward heads do business related to black blooded monsters.”
“Is that possible?”
The black-blooded monster was a deadly poison to humans just by its existence. At least as far as I know, there was nothing that could be done using black blood monsters.
“I’ll have to see for myself if these are idiots who think they can handle the by-products of black blood monsters, or if they’re the ones who have succeeded in handling the by-products of black blood monsters.”
“You haven’t checked yet?”
“Exactly, that’s what I meant to do.”
Charlotte’s hand gently brushed my cheek.
“How dare I get ahead of you when you are right here.”
“……Go ahead?”
“Isn’t this the reason you came here? I thought so.”
It was only now that he seemed to know what kind of misunderstanding Charlotte had been. I shook my head to the side.
“No. I had a different purpose.”
“For any other purpose, what’s the point of you hanging out with these cheap barbers?”
“I was trying to find a new identity.”
At my words, Charlotte’s eyes widened. It was as if he was interrogating me.
It was worth it. It was Charlotte who had been in charge of washing my identity for a long time, so why did I try to create a new identity in a place like this without passing through her?
From Charlotte’s point of view, of course it was normal to ask what had happened.
“I couldn’t help it. I thought you were still busy with black blood monsters in the palace. And, I didn’t mean to do it voluntarily.”
“Have you been threatened?”
“Do you see me as someone who would fall for a blackmail or something?”
None of the means of intimidation meant anything to me.
If you have money anyway, stop it, if you don’t have it, stop it. Even if the guys who want to take your money show up, you just have to hand it over calmly. The money I carry is minuscule compared to real wealth.
And most of my wealth is concentrated in buildings on the capital side, so it’s impossible for these shadowy organizations to touch.
When it comes to threats involving life, you will know even if you don’t say it.
“Of course not. However, the fact that I tried to blackmail you is enough reason for me to personally slaughter those insignificant trifles.
“It’s okay. They didn’t do anything to me anyway.”
“I didn’t do anything, la…”
In an instant, Charlotte’s eyes changed. It is full of ugly life. I, who was next to him, paused for a moment.
“what’s the matter?”
“…it’s nothing, dear.”
It didn’t seem like a big deal, but it was like an indirect way of saying that Charlotte couldn’t tell you right away that she had changed her words like that.
I gave up and stepped down the stairs to the basement. That’s right, now wasn’t the time to react to Charlotte’s actions like that.
If you really tried to do something with the black blood monsters down here, you should destroy them all and leave no traces.
My footsteps echoed on the stairs. And, not long after, another footstep followed me.
Charlotte watched the boy go down the stairs from the back and let out the feelings of pleasure she had endured over and over again.
The sensation of hugging your back until your back is crushed, the sensation of breathing with your face buried in your chest, the sensation of hugging your neck, and even the sensation of rubbing your face against your head.
I captured the climax of all the senses without leaving a single one in my head.
It was a really dangerous moment just now. If I made a mistake, my heart would explode with joy and I would have died in vain.
More than anything else, the joy that comes from the fact that the boy believed what he said without even a single doubt made his heart feel like it would explode.
Because Charlotte was a liar.
It is a lie to say that I came here because of something related to the black blooded monster.
I came to punish the bitches who watched the boy through magic and waggled their tails beside him.
It is a lie to say that he tried to find out what this basement was.
In the first place, I had no intention of checking this cellar. Only to see the boy’s face directly was all Charlotte could think of.
It is a lie to say that the boy misunderstood the purpose of coming here and thought that he had come to investigate the black blooded monster.
There was no way I could be mistaken.
From the time the boy was denied a new identity at the Adventurer’s Guild, to coming here and meeting the damn bitch.
Because of that bitch’s petty tricks, I’ve seen the terrible incident where he touched a woman named Latina, how he killed five bugs, and how he spent the rest of his time.
But the boy also lied to Charlotte.
A ridiculous lie that nothing happened.
How could being in the same room as that damn bitch mean nothing, how holding hands with a woman could mean nothing, how drinking tea with stimulants could mean nothing.
So it was inevitable that Charlotte lied.
Because the boy lied first.
That’s why Charlotte had to lie too. It was really, really unavoidable.
I could understand it though.
After all, if you are a wife, you should be willing to turn a blind eye to Giabi’s lies once or twice and move on with a benevolent heart.
Charlotte put her hands in front of her belly and followed the boy.
For now, at least for the moment the boy didn’t look back, she wasn’t the ruler of the kingdom, she was just a woman.
