Previously: It’s the night of Professor Goldrun’s dinner party. Bonds, his first secretary, gets drunk and starts talking…
“This… time… too… did you manage to cozy up to Lord Fennel again…?”
In the garden of Professor Goldrun’s mansion, Zenos questions Bonds, the first secretary.
Already in a state of intoxication, Bonds, perhaps mistaking Zenos for Goldrun, speaks with half-glazed eyes.
“Hey, hey, don’t play dumb. You are who you are now because of that day fifteen years ago, right?”
“That day fifteen years ago…?”
“Huh? You don’t mean you’ve forgotten?”
“Zenos, play along,” Lily advises from behind.
Zenos nods subtly.
“Ah, no, I haven’t forgotten. So, it’s already been fifteen years, huh?”
“Tsk, too early to be senile. It’s the day your life, which was just smoldering without any recognition for your research, changed, right? The day of that explosion.”
“The day of the explosion… Ah, yes, that’s right.”
“Promoted to professor at the Royal Institute of Healing with Lord Fennel’s backing, obtained the title of Special-Grade Healer, and now you’re even aiming for the director’s position? You really did things well.”
“…Yeah.”
It feels like I might hear something important.
I had that premonition, but Bonds suddenly fell silent. It wasn’t that he realized the person in front of him wasn’t Goldrun, but that he was completely overcome by the alcohol. Bonds swayed heavily and fell asleep right there on the lawn.
For the time being, I carry the drunk back inside the mansion and ask a serving staff to show me to an empty room. I lay him down on the carpet and try to talk to Bonds, but there’s no sign of him waking up. Laughter occasionally echoes from the direction of the grand hall where the party is being held.
Lily tugs at Zenos’s sleeve.
“Zenos, what should we do?”
“He doesn’t seem like he’ll wake up anytime soon. I guess this is all we can get…”
However, the information is too fragmented to understand properly. The connection to Alfred’s disappearance is also unclear.
“So, is this the end of the information gathering?”
“Hmm…”
Zenos crosses his arms. Becker told me to do what I could, but I still feel a slight sense of incompletion.
“I see,” a voice said.
“Whoa, you scared me!”
Turning around abruptly, I see the translucent woman floating behind me.
“Camilla, what are you doing here?”
“Kukuku… Just dropping by to tease, of course.”
“Seriously, the mansion is full of healers. You’ll be in serious trouble if you’re found.”
“Hmph. Teasing is only fun when it’s a matter of life and death!”
“I don’t know what you’re talking about, and why do you look so proud about it…?”
As Zenos speaks in an exasperated tone, Lily next to him says, “Camilla-san, what do you ‘see’?”
“Ah, from that drunk’s ramblings just now, I can pretty much figure out the background.”
“Really?”
Upon being asked, Camilla wears an even more boastful face.
“Fifteen years ago, on the day of the explosion, the life of a man who had been a humble researcher changed. Apparently, selling a favor to a noble was the turning point.”
“He did say something like that.”
“What does it mean for a healer to sell a favor?”
“…If we think normally, it means he did some kind of treatment.”
“That’s what it seems like.”
Zenos turns his gaze towards empty space.
“So… I don’t know the details, but there was some kind of explosion fifteen years ago, and Lord Fennel was injured. And Goldrun treated him, right?”
“That’s basically the story.”
“Hmm…”
As a result, Lord Fennel felt indebted to Goldrun and has supported him in various ways ever since. With the strong backing of a great noble, Goldrun quickly rose through the ranks and is even vying for the position of the next director of the Royal Institute of Healing.
“But, if that’s the case, then there’s nothing wrong with it, right?”
Regardless of Goldrun’s abilities or personality, if that’s the story, then others have no room to interfere.
“Ah, if that’s all there was, it would just be a heartwarming story. But for some reason, Goldrun doesn’t openly talk about it.”
“…?”
Zenos frowns at Camilla’s words. Certainly, it could be inferred that Goldrun was in the position of Lord Fennel’s benefactor, but the details would not have been known if Bonds hadn’t let it slip this time. Considering Goldrun’s personality, he should have been loudly advertising such a past.
“Why doesn’t he say it?”
“There must be a reason he can’t say it.”
“What kind of reason…?”
Lily tilts her head, and Camilla lightly shrugs her shoulders and says, “If he was caught in an explosion, the noble should have suffered considerable injuries. However, Zenos, the noble you met was perfectly healthy, wasn’t he?”
“That’s right.”
“Do you really think such a perfect treatment is possible?”
“Wouldn’t it be possible as long as the heart is still beating?”
“Don’t answer with your common sense. Can Goldrun, the man you’ve seen, do that?”
“Hmm… It might be difficult.”
He has the title of Special-Grade Healer, but Umin also said that he obtained it through power, and his own healing magic itself isn’t that great.
“So, that means, could it be –”
“Ah, I think I get it…!”
Lily claps her hands together.
“Fifteen years ago, there was an explosion and the noble uncle was injured. But –”
Lily gulps and continues, “The person who healed the uncle was someone else. That person left without saying anything. And Goldrun, who happened to pass by, told the noble uncle as if he was the one who had treated him.”
Lord Fennel, whose consciousness was hazy due to the serious injuries, didn’t realize that someone else had treated him and mistook Goldrun for his benefactor. Lily’s gaze falls on Bonds, who is snoring on the carpet.
“But, Bonds, who happened to pass by, saw it. So, he blackmailed Goldrun.”
Bonds said that he had aspired to be a photographer when he was younger. He might have photographed someone else treating Lord Fennel. That’s why Goldrun couldn’t leave Bonds, who held the evidence, alone and had no choice but to give him the important position of first secretary. To shut him up, and to keep him under surveillance.
But –
“How is Alfred’s disappearance related to that?”
At Zenos’ words, Lily groans and crosses her arms.
“Maybe… at the previous dinner party, the drunken Bonds let something slip to Alfred, just like this time. Alfred, who had learned the secret, thought that Bonds would remember telling him later, and felt threatened and hid himself, or…”
“Or perhaps he has already been silenced.”
“I-I don’t think so…”
Lily frowns anxiously at Camilla’s words. Camilla smiles softly.
“Don’t worry, Lily. If he was this drunk, he wouldn’t remember what he said. If that’s the case, then this man Bonds has no reason to silence Alfred.”
“Y-yeah, that’s right.”
“You’re quite good, Lily.”
“Lily might be able to be a detective…! Zenos’s clinic and Lily’s detective agency…!”
Everything started with the explosion fifteen years ago. Goldrun pretending to be the noble’s benefactor. Bonds witnessing it and parasitizing Goldrun. Alfred, who learned the secret, decided to hide himself until things cooled down.
Lily huffs and raises both hands to the sky.
“The mystery is solved…”
Just then, the door to the room suddenly opened. Cresson poked his head in.
“Bro, sis, you guys were here? I got worried because I couldn’t find you anywhere.”
Camilla has already disappeared. Zenos scratches his cheek awkwardly.
“Sorry, we were taking care of a drunk.”
“Just leave Bonds alone and let’s go to the hall. He’s always drunk anyway. More importantly, I buttered up some important people, so I’ll introduce them to you guys.”
Cresson proudly raises his thumb.
“Lily, I don’t like a big brother who butters people up…”
“Sis, I’ll show you what professional social skills are all about.”
Lily follows Cresson, who heads towards the hall. Zenos sighs lightly and tries to follow.
“Zenos, what will you do?”
Camilla, who has reappeared, calls out from behind. Zenos stops and opens his mouth.
“What do you mean…?”
“You know what I mean.”
“You mean the other possibility?”
Turning around to say that, Camilla silently nods.
“So, you noticed.”
“Yeah, I noticed after listening to you. I accompanied Goldrun on his rounds at the hospital.”
In the explosion fifteen years ago, Lord Fennel was seriously injured. Goldrun’s healing magic can’t provide a perfect treatment. Therefore, someone else treated him.
The idea that Lily mentioned is certainly one way of thinking.
However, even if Bonds had taken a picture of someone else treating him, that person’s treatment might have been insufficient, and he could claim that he did it in the end. Goldrun must be holding onto something even more decisive.
“Considering the sound of ‘explosion’, I don’t think Lord Fennel was the only victim.”
It’s natural to think that there were other people involved. Goldrun alone certainly can’t provide perfect treatment. But, if certain conditions are met, Goldrun can do something close to it.
“Life Force Transference Magic –”
That’s the healing magic Goldrun showed during his ward rounds.
Fifteen years ago, Goldrun, passing by the scene of the accident, sees many people groaning. Among them is someone who is clearly of noble birth. A noble. If he can sell a favor here, his life might change.
But, he can’t do it with his own power. No, there’s only one way.
If he transfers the life force from all of those other dying people…
Zenos clenches his fist tightly.
“Goldrun chose a life.”
“Is that a sin?”
“…Prioritizing isn’t a sin. But if you take other lives to save one person, then that’s –”
Alfred probably heard Bonds’ story at the previous dinner party and came to the same conclusion. And then, he disappeared.
Looking at Bonds’ drunken state, it’s hard to believe that he remembered telling Alfred the secret later and silenced him. If that’s the case, what is the reason Alfred disappeared?
One is, as Lily said, that he felt in danger because he learned an important secret and wanted to hide until things cooled down. But there is another possibility.
“What if… there were other survivors of that incident…”
Zenos mutters quietly.
And, fifteen years later, they learned the truth –
“Revenge, huh?”
Zenos nods to Camilla, who floats up into the air.
“That’s a possibility.”
“But, if they were going to take revenge, wouldn’t it be better to stay close to the target instead of hiding?”
“I don’t know. But if they felt considerable anger, they might have been afraid of their murderous intent being noticed…”
Looking out at the vast darkness spreading outside the window, Zenos says, “…Alfred. Where are you?”