Chapter 212

So, Daria and Albert were quietly kneeling in front of Kurt.

The Holy Kingdom’s special saint team and the Empire’s knight commander and vice-commander were not the kind of people to be called weak, but in front of a master like Kurt, it meant nothing.

During the process, Louis and Aila, who doubted Kurt’s abilities, tried to attack him, but the result was Daria and Albert kneeling before Kurt.

By the way, the reason only Daria and Albert were kneeling was not because Louis and Aila stubbornly refused to kneel even if they died, but because they were in a situation where they couldn’t kneel.

Isn’t that right?

A person who’s unconscious can’t kneel, after all.

After completely subduing the situation, Kurt listened to the whole story from the two kneeling before him.

“So.”

“…”

“…”

“You attacked Arisa’s group for that reason?”

“What do you mean, ‘that reason’! We had a noble mission, not just some trivial reason…!”

Daria stood up, protesting that Kurt’s assessment was unfair.

“…”

At that moment, Kurt’s pupils split vertically.

Feeling the unusual atmosphere from Kurt, Daria, who had been passionately defending her case, quietly stopped talking and knelt back down.

“I, I have no complaints.”

Ignoring Albert, who was trying to defend himself to avoid getting caught in the crossfire, Kurt continued.

“First of all, it doesn’t make sense that Arisa and Clarice are plotting something. I won’t argue that they’re not the type to do such things based solely on my subjective evaluation, but even excluding that, their meeting was purely coincidental.”

“That’s right! Arisa only entered the ruins of the ancient empire because an alchemist from the alchemist guild requested it! It was purely coincidental that she found the deeper parts of the ruins!”

“Correct. And Clarice only came to Astram to meet me and Serena. And we first met Clarice before the news of the ancient empire’s ruins being discovered.”

“Right! Mari and I can prove it!”

Mari, Karina, and Serena chimed in, offering to be witnesses.

Hearing their testimonies, Daria flinched, her eyes darting between us and Arisa’s group.

Her confidence must have been shaken by their arguments.

But even so, she stubbornly continued to hold her ground.

“B-but we can’t conclusively say that’s true…”

Suddenly,

Kurt grabbed Daria by both shoulders and glared at her.

“Even so.”

“Eek!”

“You shouldn’t just swing your fists at people without talking first, right? Shouldn’t you confirm the facts through dialogue before taking action?”

“B-but if they really are plotting something, trying to talk would be too late…”

“Fine. If that’s the problem, I’ll help. I’m against using violence, but if it’s a non-violent interrogation, I promise to cooperate as much as possible.”

Kurt offered a compromise to Daria with the utmost concession.

“B-but the Holy Kingdom can never compromise with dangerous elements…”

“And if you can’t compromise, then what?”

“…”

Seeing Kurt’s pupils threatening to split vertically again, Daria quietly averted her gaze.

“Then let’s call it a strategic detour instead of a compromise. That works, right?”

“…”

“Right?”

“…Yes.”

Thus, Daria reluctantly agreed to Kurt’s almost threatening proposal.

Without Aila, she was powerless.

“The Holy Kingdom’s mad dog is being so compliant…”

According to the Holy Kingdom’s doctrine, one should never compromise with absolute evil and should not hesitate to sacrifice one’s life for their beliefs.

But that doesn’t mean you should stubbornly cling to your beliefs and throw your life away in a situation where you gain nothing.

It’s not about valuing your life, but about not missing out on future dangers that could have been prevented if you had lived.

Beyond survival instincts, refusing to compromise in this situation would be foolish.

.

.

.

So, I managed to persuade Daria.

I thought she would stubbornly refuse to compromise even if it killed her, but fortunately, she wasn’t that rigid and could be persuaded.

Right. No sane person would make such a foolish judgment.

I couldn’t persuade Aila since she was unconscious, but Daria would probably explain it to her later.

Now then, next…

“…”

*Flinch*

As I silently looked over, Albert flinched and trembled.

“I never thought you’d attack Arisa.”

I had a good impression of him because he was polite and well-mannered, but I didn’t expect him to betray my expectations like this.

Under my gaze, Albert awkwardly smiled and spoke.

“Haha… Well, you see…”

“Don’t laugh.”

“Yes.”

“So, Arisa. Albert attacked you to steal the artifact you found in the ruins, right?”

“Yes, yes. Thankfully, you all intervened, so I wasn’t seriously hurt. Oh, the Lizardman here tried to help us.”

“Good times, huh?”

“Did I do well?”

Kirsh responded to Arisa’s words as if it were no big deal, even seeming disappointed that the fight couldn’t continue.

And Lakia, with her pink skin and Uparupa-like appearance, stuck her head out as if asking for praise.

*Pat pat*

I patted her head approvingly and continued coldly questioning Albert.

“…So, any objections to Arisa’s statement?”

“T-that’s a misunderstanding!”

“A misunderstanding?”

“Yes! When I was first attacked by those Holy Kingdom dogs, didn’t you save me?”

“That’s true, but right after that, you tried to attack Liche!”

“W-when did I ever threaten her with a knife to hand over the artifact?!”

“You did!”

“…”

At Arisa’s words, Albert, with a strained expression, closed his mouth, and I coldly concluded.

“Ultimately, it’s true that you used force to try to steal Arisa’s artifact. Then you must take appropriate responsibility.”

“Y-you’re not going to kill me, are you…?!”

“What are you talking about? I wasn’t directly harmed, so why would I?”

No. Even if I were, who do you think I am, some crazy murderer?

*Gulp*

Half-relieved but still tense, Albert watched my mouth closely.

“S-so then…?”

The conclusion I gave Albert was simple.

“Apologize formally to Arisa, Clarice, and Yuri, and settle it among yourselves.”

“…”

Common sense dictates that I’m no supreme judge, and I have no right to judge others in matters unrelated to me.

The most I can do is mediate fights.

Ultimately, issues between parties should be resolved by the parties themselves.

With that conclusion, Albert, while completely letting go of his tension, made a hollow expression.

“If you covet someone else’s artifact, you should try to negotiate or trade for it. Trying to take it by force is wrong.”

“Yes… I’m really sorry.”

Thus, Albert, looking half-dead, apologized to each member of Arisa’s group one by one.

Of course, just because Albert apologized doesn’t mean Arisa’s group would immediately forgive him for being attacked, so their attitude remained cold, but I had no reason to mediate further.

Anyway, that should roughly settle the situation.

By then, Louis and Aila, who had been unconscious, were slowly coming to.

“Ugh… Where are we?”

“Aila, are you awake?”

“Daria! Are you okay?”

“Ouch… My whole body feels so stiff…”

“Louis. You should apologize too.”

“Commander? What do you mean… Ugh!?”

Thus, Daria explained to Aila what had happened while she was unconscious, and Albert, without giving Louis a chance to fully recover, grabbed his head and forced him to bow.

Aila, hearing Daria’s explanation, made a gloomy expression, and Daria comforted her in turn.

Surprisingly, Louis, who seemed quite hot-tempered, didn’t resist when Albert forced him to bow and, after being knocked out once, seemed to accept his defeat cleanly, talking about the “duties of the defeated” and obediently bowed.

But with this, things should be mostly settled.

Seeing the situation mostly resolved, I looked at them and spoke.

“Alright. Now that things are mostly settled, follow me.”

“…Follow you?”

“Y-you’re going to kill us after all…!”

At my words, Daria and Albert reacted sensitively.

What nonsense.

Do you think I’m some slaughter-crazed, insane Lizardman?

“It’s about time to go eat.”

“…”

“…”

Thus, I led my original group, Arisa’s group, Daria’s group, Albert’s group, Kirsh, and Lakia towards Astram.

I felt like the Pied Piper.