“Do you know who Lilian is?”
Hearing the familiar name slip from Gro’s mouth, Ileil frowned. “And how are you so sure that the corpse is Lilian?”
Ileil remembered the name ‘Lilian’ clearly.
It was the first name she had heard from Sister Emilia yesterday.
Emilia had mentioned a bandit named Cole who had confessed to her. That bandit had accidentally killed a girl named Lilian.
“It seems my hunch was right.”
Gro stared at Duke Lokas, who was still speaking with the guard, and took a deep breath.
“Lilian is ‘Blood Axe’ Regnar’s daughter.”
“……Daughter?”
Ileil was not particularly moved by Gro’s words. Although the mercenary group had been attacked by Regnar more than once, Ileil had never seen ‘Blood Axe’ Regnar in person.
“So that ‘Blood Axe’ guy even had a family… Didn’t he know his daughter was already dead inside the church?”
“Of course Regnar knew.”
Gro turned his head and fixed his gaze on Ileil:
“Didn’t you mention to me last night that a bandit had confessed to Sister Emilia—saying he had killed a girl?”
“Yes. Looks like you really are getting senile if you can’t even remember that.”
“Senile?”
The corners of Gro’s mouth curled up. He laughed as if enlightened:
“My mind is perfectly clear right now, and I’m in excellent health. I could easily live another few decades until you turn into a little old lady—”
“……” Ileil looked at Gro’s arrogant demeanor, which only made her, already confused, even more irritated.
“Get to the point.”
“Didn’t you just call me senile? Why are you asking me now?”
Gro dragged out his words. Seeing Ileil’s face instantly darken while she had nothing to say, he spoke with great satisfaction:
“Really, I can’t do anything with you. Who told you to be my daughter even if you’re disobedient… I guess I’ll reluctantly tell you the answer—”
Ileil clenched her fists and silently suppressed the anger rising in her head. She really wanted to punch the man currently having a dramatic episode, but she held back in the end.
“Everyone, please quiet down. I believe I have figured out the truth behind this recent series of crises in Renn Town.”
Gro spoke in a loud, clear voice as he slowly walked to the center of the conference hall—the position originally occupied by Duke Lokas.
The noisy discussions in the hall stopped. Everyone’s eyes turned to Gro involuntarily.
“Duke Lokas. I’d like to explain everything clearly in front of everyone. You have no objections, I assume?”
He looked at Lokas, who was still overwhelmed by the matter with Emilia, and gave him an inquiring look.
“Of course. Please go ahead.”
Lokas naturally trusted this man who had helped him in times of crisis. However, the princess beside him did not feel the same—when she saw a roguish mercenary leader trying to seize control of the conversation, Prinshitt was skeptical:
“Have you really figured everything out? You managed to understand the entire situation in just one day?”
Prinshitt originally wanted to consult her mentor, but Dorias Angus had just taken Sister Emilia away. She was somewhat hesitant.
“That goes without saying.”
Gro nodded with a smile. He placed both arms on the table in the center of the hall and swept his gaze across everyone present:
“The beginning of all this goes back more than twenty days ago.”
Gro began recounting his first encounter with Regnar. While escorting a merchant caravan, the still-uncorrupted Regnar had attacked him. Although Gro had barely managed to defeat him, he was left with injuries that had yet to fully heal.
“……Then came last week’s incident. Several Mor Believers eliminated by my subordinates had their corpses reignited after death, burning down my camp in Renn Town. According to Saint Dorias’s appraisal, the culprit behind that incident was a witch.”
Gro’s gaze swept across the room and finally settled on Ileil, whose expression was dark and unreadable:
“After the Black Gold Flames first appeared before us, everything was calm for a few days at first. Then more and more people started disappearing.”
He mentioned the disappearance of members from the mercenary group, as well as Cole, who had been controlled by the Black Gold Flames after going missing and attacked the princess. The atmosphere in the hall grew oppressive, and the expressions of those present became increasingly uneasy.
“So after saying all that, you’ve only repeated the sequence of events?”
Prinshitt couldn’t help but interrupt, impatience flashing in her red eyes.
“Yeah, because there are still many people who don’t even know what happened.”
Gro looked around at everyone, his voice lowering:
“Now that everyone understands the full sequence of events, let me get straight to the conclusion—the reason Regnar attacked me, willingly turned into a monster to hunt down my subordinates, and even risked attacking the two witnesses to the princess’s assassination attempt… he did all of it for his dead daughter.”
The man paused, his tone firm:
“And the girl’s corpse covered in runes that was just found in the church is none other than Regnar’s deceased daughter.”
The conference hall erupted into an uproar.
“What did you say?” Prinshitt stood up, her face pale. “Then who killed Regnar’s daughter? Was it also a crime committed by the nun?”
“It wasn’t Emilia, Your Highness. According to the information Miss Ileil brought back last night, the real culprit is someone else.”
Gro raised his hand to signal. “You’ve heard the name Lilian before, haven’t you?”
With Gro’s reminder, Prinshitt suddenly remembered—yesterday when Sister Emilia reported the clues about the missing persons, she had mentioned a bandit named Cole who had confessed to the nun: he had accidentally killed a girl named Lilian.
“I remember that name, Mr. Gro. So Regnar committed all these evil acts simply to avenge his daughter?”
“You’re correct, Your Highness. But Regnar’s actions were not driven solely by revenge.” Gro slowly raised his head. Sunlight streamed through the window, illuminating his sharp profile. “Although Regnar was once a berserker from the Northern Border, after settling down in Grey Rock Town with his daughter, he lived quietly and obediently. If he wanted revenge, he should have only targeted the bandit Cole. Even if he might have harbored hatred toward people of Aressto because of his daughter’s death, there’s no reason for him to direct his revenge at me, or at those mercenaries he had never met before, right?”
Seeing Prinshitt remain silent, Gro continued:
“In my view, Regnar had another motive.”
“Such as… the tempting offer the Mor Believers, who go by the name ‘True God of Death,’ often boast about—reviving the dead?”
“But they can’t actually revive the dead, Mr. Gro. Would Regnar be foolish enough to believe that group of heretics?”
Prinshitt expressed her disbelief.
“Yes. Those useless heretics definitely couldn’t do it alone.”
Gro did not refute her. He continued:
“But what if the mastermind behind the ‘True God of Death’ was someone else? For example… a witch.”
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