Peace Hunter

Enzo's head was severed from his body and floated in the air. After a few moments in the air, Enzo's head fell to the ground. His body began to collapse and lay on the ground. Fresh blood flowed profusely from his severed neck.

With that, Enzo was declared dead. The electric cage created by Enzo's magic disappeared immediately after his death.

Then, after slashing Enzo, I looked down at his headless body.

"This is it, it's over," I said.

Then, I looked down at my clothes and sword. They were covered in the blood of those I had killed. Their blood had also gotten on various parts of my body.

"Looks like I need to clean myself up," I said.

~Water Magic: Small Rain~

I created a medium-sized water ball and shot it above me. The ball exploded, and a heavy rain began to fall, drenching me. The water slowly began to wash away the blood on my body, clothes, and sword.

A few minutes later, my body, clothes, and sword were completely clean. Afterward, I immediately dried my body and clothes with a combination of fire and wind magic. As I was drying my body and clothes, I thought about what Enzo had said earlier.

"Enzo was looking at me with a very pale face. He looked panicked and said 'those eyes'. What's wrong with my eyes?" I thought.

Then I looked down at the puddle of water that had appeared after I washed my body earlier. As I looked at the puddle, I saw my reflection in the puddle. I stared at it thoughtfully.

"Hmm, there's nothing wrong with my eyes. They look normal as usual. Could Enzo be hallucinating because he's so panicked that he's seeing something in my eyes?" I said.

A few moments later, my previously soaked body was completely dry. Then, I looked around. The forest area I was in now wasn't too badly damaged. Although some trees were damaged, at least it wasn't as badly damaged as other areas where entire forests had been destroyed by fire or frozen. As I scanned my surroundings, I noticed a sword still held by Enzo's severed right hand. I approached the sword and picked it up.

"This sword, it looks like a real one," I said, examining it.

Then, I tried to infuse it with elemental magic. I chose to infuse it with electricity, just like Enzo had used earlier. I succeeded, and my electricity was now flowing through the sword.

"If I can infuse this sword with magic, it doesn't seem like a contracted weapon. Hmm, that's right, I forgot that even though this weapon is a contracted weapon, the contract with its owner is immediately dissolved upon death. That's why I can infuse my magic into it."

"I'll assume this weapon is a contracted weapon. Since the contract with its owner has been broken, it's now free for anyone to use. Well, I'd better put it in storage. Who knows, it might come in handy someday. Although I won't be using it since I already have two swords my parents left me," I thought.

After that, I put the sword in storage.

"If I'm not mistaken, there are a few more weapons I can take, including Javier's sword. Then I'll take those," I thought.

Then, I explored the forest again, looking for weapons I thought were of good quality, then took them and put them in ~Storage~.

-

A few minutes later, after putting the weapons in ~Storage~, I returned to Enzo's body and began to think about what to do next.

"What should I do after this? This murder I committed can't be covered up, considering Enzo was killed. I originally intended to head to San Angela with Enzo, and then it ended up like this. If I remove my tracks and Enzo's body, others will be suspicious, considering I went with him."

"I could use those knights dressed as bandits and say Enzo was killed by the bandits who attacked our carriage, but somehow that's not a strong enough excuse. Also, I can't say I was attacked by Enzo and these people without solid evidence."

"This is quite complicated. It's different from when I was attacked in the forest near the Duke of San Minerva's residence. I was alone then and was immediately attacked by those knights. So even if I killed them, no one would know about it except the person who ordered them. If only I had been attacked alone, not in the carriage and not traveling with Enzo, maybe I could have rest easy, just like what happened in the San Minerva forest," I thought.

"This is quite complicated. I kept thinking about the right solution to solve this problem, but I still couldn't find the solution. I still haven't found the right solution. Oh well, I'll just go with the flow. Instead, I'm still thinking about what Enzo said about why they want to kill me. They intend to kill me so that Irene can return to the 'Matchmaking Battle'. With Irene back as a participant, the San Lucia family, who usually doesn't like to attend such events, will also be present. And it's at that event that they intend to kill Her Majesty the Queen and the entire San Lucia family,"

"Furthermore, the ones planning this are the Duke of San Minerva, the Duke of San Angela, and another unknown individual. I now know why the Duke of San Minerva sent his knights to kill me in the San Minerva Forest. This is truly unbelievable."

"I understand that their reason for wanting to kill Her Majesty the Queen must have something to do with Her Majesty's current leadership. Since I've met Her Majesty the Queen in person, I know that she is a good person and is loved by her people. However, it seems that there are some nobles who dislike Her Majesty the Queen's leadership and are trying to assassinate her and take her position. But I don't understand why they also want to kill the entire San Lucia family." Lucia,"

"Although the kingdom of San Fulgen appears peaceful on the outside, it turns out something like this is going on inside. I have to tell everyone involved about this, but I don't know if they'll believe me or not. Also, I have to do something to prevent their plan from going smoothly. And the only thing I can do right now to thwart their plans is to remain Irene's partner," I said.

After I said that, a large crowd suddenly gathered around me.

"What the hell? What's going on here?" asked one of the men.

Then he looked at Enzo's headless body.

"Y-Young Master Enzo?!?!," the man said.

The man quickly approached Enzo's body. He noticed Enzo's body was missing not only his head but also his right arm and right leg. He looked around and found Enzo's head, right arm, and right leg. Then he turned to me.

"You! How dare you kill Young Master Enzo? Don't you know he's the son of a Duke?!" the man said, growing angry.

"You seem to have misunderstood, sir. I wasn't the one who killed Enzo," I said.

"If not you, then who?!?!," the man asked.

Then, a woman approached us.

"What's really going on here, Commander Luka? You said your knights were exterminating monsters here, but there aren't any monster corpses in sight," the woman said.

The woman was wearing a long robe with a small wolf symbol on it.

"That symbol is the same as the one Brother Asier wore. That woman is from the 'Frost Wolf' squad, huh?" I thought.

"Are you seriously talking like that at a time like this? Can't you see this? This is the body of Young Master Enzo. Young Master Enzo was brutally murdered by someone. If you really want to look for the monster's body, go look there. I'm sure it's been destroyed, considering that several areas of this forest have been destroyed," the person said.

The woman fell silent, then looked at Enzo's body.

"Moreover, you, because you killed Young Master Enzo, I, Luka Saric, as the commander of the Duke of San Angela's knights, have decided to kill you this instant. All of you, prepare to kill him," said Commander Luka.

Several men wearing the same uniform as Commander Luka began to approach me. They appeared to be knights of Duke San Angela, led by Commander Luka. Then Commander Luka and his knights began to surround me. They all appeared to be ready, holding their weapons.

"Wait a minute, what are you doing, Commander Luka? How could you plan to kill him when there's no solid evidence to prove he killed him or not? Besides, even if he's guilty, you have no right to punish him directly, let the royal courts decide," the woman said.

"You're being very loud, Sara," said Commander Luka.

"If you insist on doing that, then I will consider you violating the rules and laws of this kingdom. You could face punishment if you persist," the woman said.

"Tch, damn it. All of you, lower your weapons," said Commander Luka.

Commander Luka and his knights lowered their weapons, but they still surrounded me.

"Now, let me take over. I'll ask him something first," said the woman.

"As you wish," said Commander Luka.

Then the woman walked over to me.

"Hello, let me introduce myself. My name is Sara Veldavana. I'm the vice commander of the 'Frost Wolf' squad. You're Rid Archie, right?" asked Vice Commander Sara.

"So she's Brother Asier's vice commander, huh?" I thought.

"That's right, miss. I didn't expect to be recognized by someone as important as you," I said.

"I'm sure the entire kingdom knows you after the incident with the attackers at the academy, especially since Commander Asier often talks about you. Furthermore, even though you're surrounded like this, you seem very calm," said Vice Commander Sara.

"That's because I'm confident I've done nothing wrong, miss. That's why I can remain calm," I said.

"Is that so. I wanted to ask you something, is it true that you killed Young Master Enzo, the son of Duke San Angela?" asked Vice Commander Sara.

"No, miss. I didn't kill him," I said.

"You're a liar," said Commander Luka, suddenly joining in.

"If I had killed Enzo, my body and sword would be covered in his blood by now. But as you can see, my body and sword aren't stained with any blood. Also, please examine this sword I'm carrying. This is an academy sword. Do you think it could be used to kill someone, dismembering them?" I asked.

Commander Luka fell silent.

"So you didn't kill Young Master Enzo, huh? Then, do you know the real reason why Young Master Enzo died like this? Also, why are you and Young Master Enzo in this forest? Aren't you both students of San Fulgen Academy?" asked Vice Commander Sara.

"I knew I'd be asked this, so I guess I'll have to use that excuse," I thought.

"I'll explain how Enzo died like this. Initially, Enzo and I intended to go to San Angela City to deliver a proposal to the Duke of San Angela's residence. That's how Enzo and I ended up outside the academy. Then, while I was on the road in the Hevea Forest, our carriage was suddenly attacked by a group of bandits. The driver and the two knights who were with us were already killed by the bandits. Enzo and I decided to fight the bandits. However, because there were so many bandits, we were overrun by them, causing us to get separated. After that, I managed to defeat the bandits who attacked me and intended to go to Enzo's aid. But when I approached Enzo, he was already dead. Then I immediately hunted down and killed the bandits who killed Enzo," I said.

"I see. By the way, while you were in this forest, you saw a large electric cage, right? Do you know who made that electric cage?" asked Vice Commander Sara.

"That electric cage was set up by one of the bandits who attacked us to prevent us from escaping, miss," I said.

"So that electric cage was set up by one of the bandits who attacked you, huh? So what happened inside that electric cage was your fight against those bandits. But why did Commander Luka give a different explanation? Commander Luka said that inside that electric cage, the monsters in the forest were exterminated. So who was the one who lied?" asked Vice Commander Sara.

"Of course, that kid lied. What I explained to you earlier is the truth," said Commander Luka.

"What I told you is also the truth. If you don't believe me, please investigate this forest area and you will find people dressed as bandits who have died," I said.

"I see. All of you, go check and look for those people dressed as bandits," said Vice Commander Sara to her knights.

"Yes, Vice Commander," said the 'Frost Wolf' knights.

But as they were about to leave to look for the people, Commander Luka immediately stopped them.

"No need. Let my knights search for them. Besides, the Duke knights I brought outnumber the Frost Wolf knights here. You don't mind, Vice Commander Sara?" asked Commander Luka.

"Ok, you all stay where you are," said Vice Commander Sara.

"Yes, Vice Commander," said the Frost Wolf knights.

After that, the Duke knights immediately went around searching for those people.

-

A few minutes later, the Duke's knight returned carrying several corpses, some with both intact and missing limbs. They then laid them on the ground.

"We've searched the entire forest, Commander. But we didn't find any bodies or anyone dressed as a bandit. Instead, we found the bodies of several of Duke San Angela's knighrs assigned to exterminate the monsters in this forest. Please see for yourself, Commander," said one of the knights.

Commander Luka examined the bodies carefully.

"It's true, they were indeed my knights. You can tell from the uniforms they were wearing. You saw it yourself, Vice Commander Sara? I wasn't lying about that. I did send my knights to exterminate this forest. Instead, this kid is the one who lied. He was definitely the one who killed Young Master Enzo and the knights I assigned," said Commander Luka.

After Commander Luka said that, everyone immediately turned to look at me.

"I'm sure the knights I killed were still wearing bandit uniforms. Hmm, so that's how it is. The reason he stopped the Frost Wolf knights and chose to send his own knights to search for the bodies was to change the clothes the dead knights were wearing. By changing the knights' uniforms, it makes my excuse sound like a lie. I knew it was useless to use this excuse. No, even if I had a good reason and solid evidence, they would still use some means to corner me like this. Those Duke knights were the ones who were monitoring the area outside the forest when the attack on me was taking place. That means they were indirectly involved in the plan to kill me," I thought.

"What about it, Rid Archie? Do you have any objections or other reasons regarding this?" asked Vice Commander Sara.

I fell silent as I listened to Vice Commander Sara's words.

"If you don't have any, I will arrest you and take you to the San Fulgen royal prison in the capital of San Estella. You will be held there temporarily until the court decides your punishment," said Vice Commander Sara.

"So I've fallen into their trap, huh? This is really troublesome," I thought.

-To be continued

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