Chapter 5

Truth

The situation had changed considerably from what I first thought, but that was fine.

Because the obstacle standing between Ardel and me would soon disappear.

『Sieg. Be careful.』

The Goddess spoke to me.

『He's a mage who used magic without even a staff. You can't let your guard down just because he's wearing restraints.』

It was reasonable advice.

I rose from my seat.

“How about we remove the mana nerves in both of Carniel's hands before continuing the trial?”

“Hohoho! An excellent idea!”

King Walter laughed as though greatly pleased.

“The verdict hasn't even been decided yet! That's going too far!”

Marina objected.

『...How dare a mere second-rate mage oppose Sieg?』

She had always been treated as second best after losing to Carniel, but perhaps because she was now the master of the Magic Tower, it seemed she wanted to maintain some semblance of neutrality.

“Master of the Magic Tower. Let me ask you something.”

“...”

“Who created those restraints?”

“...Carniel did.”

“Since he created them himself, he must know how to remove them as well.”

“That's nothing more than an unfounded assumption...”

“Are you protecting him just because you both came from the Magic Tower?”

I raised my voice, pressing her.

“His crime of violating the princess has been exposed in full. Are you still going to continue protecting Carniel despite that?!”

____________

When Sieg gave them a look, the members of the Hero's Party aside from Lunaelin joined in supporting his words.

Even if she was the master of the Magic Tower, what could Marina do when four heroes who had saved the continent all pressured her at once?

Marina glanced around nervously before approaching me to remove my mana nerves.

“Junior, I'm sorry. Nothing will change just because I resist on my own...”

Marina spoke in a voice low enough that only I could hear.

“...At least it's not your whole body. If you accept this quietly, they won't be able to push things any further. Okay?”

There was no way to restore mana nerves once they had been removed.

That was basic common knowledge.

I understood Marina's position, but the absurdity of it made me let out a hollow laugh.

“If demons appear according to Hwarin's vision, do you really think you can stop them on your own?”

At my question.

“They said the Hero killed the Demon King by himself, so who the hell are you to run your mouth?!”

“Lord Sieghart is the one who saved the Solios Continent!”

“A criminal bastard like you should be executed immediately!”

The nobles shouted.

For now, I ignored the sudden change in attitude from the nobles who had once fawned over me.

I looked at the Hero's Party, who knew the truth.

Concern briefly appeared on their faces, but quickly vanished.

“You predicted the Demon King's appearance six years ago. There's no way you wouldn't have predicted demons appearing again.”

Sieg's statement seemed to speak for everyone in the Hero's Party.

They all nodded slightly.

There was no such thing as prophecy magic.

I'd simply made it up to gain the kingdoms' cooperation.

But Hwarin's ability to see the future was real.

“My prophecy magic is fake.”

“You're spouting all kinds of nonsense just because you don't want your mana nerves cut.”

One corner of Sieg's mouth curled upward.

“How many things did you predict over the past six years? You got every one of them right, and now you're claiming your prophecy magic was fake?”

Should I just tell them the truth?

That this was the world of a romance fantasy novel I'd read, and I'd merely pretended that the knowledge I already possessed came from prophecy magic?

They wouldn't believe me even if I told them.

And.

I didn't particularly feel like explaining myself to bastards who had already decided to screw me over.

The only reason I was mentioning the truth about prophecy magic now was for my own sake.

Because I wanted to lessen my guilt, even if only a little.

“I warned you. Hwarin's vision is worth taking seriously.”

“Her visions haven't always been right, and even if this one is, who we are now is different from who we were before. Carniel, we don't need your help.”

When I stopped talking and remained still.

Marina approached me.

After hesitating for a moment, she removed the mana nerves from both of my hands.

A pain like my flesh was burning from beneath the skin.

It was impossible to endure.

Like Gonau, I screamed like a little girl.

Sieg and King Walter wore twisted smiles.

Watching them made me feel disgusted for a moment, but.

‘Even better.’

I'd been planning to remove them anyway.

And.

The pain made it impossible to do it myself.

I'd originally intended to ask Marina to do it.

Because I needed to remove my mana nerves to use the Demon King's heart.

_____________

A trial that was little different from a witch hunt with a predetermined outcome.

It proceeded at breakneck speed.

“Carniel.”

King Walter spoke coldly.

“I acknowledge that you are one of the heroes who saved the continent, but those achievements do not erase your crimes. Spend the rest of your life atoning in suffering for insulting the royal family of Fernia and trampling upon the princess's will. The mana nerves throughout your entire body will be removed. Then, in that wretched state, you will travel through every kingdom on the Solios Continent. Make your crimes known and live while enduring the scorn and condemnation of the people. That is the price you will pay for the sins you committed while bearing the name of a hero.”

With that sentence, intended to inflict physical pain and destroy me mentally as well, the trial ended.

‘Pretending they're at least sparing my life.’

Once the tour of the kingdoms was over, they'd probably kill me without leaving a trace.

Considering how strangely sinister King Walter had been portrayed even in the novel, he was more than capable of it.

Marina was assigned the task of removing the mana nerves throughout my body.

Even if I became completely incapable of using magic, my knowledge wouldn't disappear.

If I offered to teach Marina the demonic method of using magic that I'd learned, I should be able to buy enough time to use the Demon King's heart.

‘Mages can never resist intellectual curiosity.’

Removing the restraints and crushing everyone here with magic was also one of the choices available to me.

But the reason I hadn't chosen that option was simple.

Curiosity.

I wanted to know exactly what the truth was.

‘If I overpower them and threaten them into talking, they might just spout bullshit.’

I couldn't help being a mage myself.

‘I’ll quietly listen to all your confessions.’

I remembered reading some garbage post on an online forum.

Apparently, no matter how ugly the act someone had committed, telling another person about it made their heart feel lighter than before.

So I had confessed that prophecy magic had never existed in the first place, and I genuinely did feel better afterward.

I was wearing restraints, and the mana nerves in both of my hands had already been removed.

I was scheduled to become a complete cripple.

As a mage, could I sink any lower than this?

A situation where they could confess their sins without fearing retaliation from me.

It was the perfect situation for the bastards who had pretended to be my friends to reveal what they really thought.

Before leaving for the Magic Tower with Marina.

Lunaelin was the first to come see me.

“I'm cutting ties with everyone and returning home. I don't care whether you curse me for staying silent throughout the trial or whatever else. Carniel, you brought this on yourself in the first place.”

Disdain filled her face.

“...L-Lord Carniel?”

Sernil approached.

“I warned you, didn't I? Love is dangerous. Don't act pitiful now. You brought this on yourself. People like you only end up ruining everyone around them too. Truly... you're disgusting. So don't act like a victim now.”

She condemned me with her face filled with revulsion.

“Carniel. Look at me. I'm living perfectly well without magic.”

Bragan approached.

“As you know, the Kingdom of Thorgadin does an enormous amount of trade with Helicion. Sieg threatened to start dealing with other dwarves instead, so what was I supposed to do? I think of you as a friend too. But I can't just ignore the people of my homeland, can I? Right?”

Bragan put a hand on my shoulder as I silently listened.

“Don't worry. You'll come to our kingdom eventually anyway, won't you? Just trust me. I'll take care of those executioner bastards myself. I'll find you somewhere to stay and even get you a job. You won't starve to death just because you can't use magic. That's what friends are for, isn't it? Helping each other when times are hard!”

A bright smile remained on his face the entire time he spoke.

When I'd read the novel, I'd immersed myself in it as though I were one of its characters, and after being transported into the novel, I'd spent six years together with them.

It felt empty.

I'd gone through all kinds of hardships to kill the Demon King and save the world, only to be treated like this.

Everything I'd built up until now felt meaningless.

It felt as though all my efforts had been denied in an instant.

I felt conflicted.

I'd be lying if I said it wasn't bitter.

However.

Now wasn't the time to drown in sadness.

I could feel empty later.

At times like this, maintaining my composure was even more important.

Because I needed to find the culprit who had mixed a potion into the alcohol.

‘For now, those three are off the suspect list.’

Lunaelin.

Considering the personality I'd read about in the novel and experienced firsthand over six years, she genuinely seemed disgusted with all of us.

Elves were a race that had no interest in what other races did in the first place.

That was why I hadn't strongly suspected her from the beginning.

Sernil.

She was so bad at lying that she couldn't even meet my eyes when she lied about Ardel's pregnancy.

And someone like Sernil was supposedly hiding the fact that she'd mixed a potion into the alcohol while looking me straight in the eye?

That made no sense when I wasn't even threatening to kill her with magic.

And if she'd been the culprit, she wouldn't have come to see me at all.

Bragan.

He had been smiling throughout the entire trial.

Bragan's goofy grin.

There was only one reason he ever smiled like that.

When money was involved.

His claim that he'd been threatened was an excuse.

Sieg had clearly given him something in exchange for abandoning me.

Cheliana and Sieg didn't come to see me.

Apparently...

‘There's something going on between Cheliana and Sieg.’

As soon as the trial ended, Cheliana rushed over to Sieg.

Then the two of them hurriedly left together.

Cheliana didn't appear in the novel.

In the original course of the world, she dreamed of becoming a mage but ultimately would've ended up as an unremarkable mage who never left her name in history.

However.

I advised her to try alchemy, and she eventually displaced the alchemist from the original Hero's Party and became a member of the new Hero's Party.

So even I didn't know much about Cheliana.

But the Cheliana I had personally known should've come to see me at least once before I left for the Magic Tower.

‘Cheliana was the only one who came to visit me because she was worried about me.’

Hwarin had only come because she wanted to use my nonexistent prophecy magic to confirm whether the vision she'd seen was real.

‘...She did feel a little different from the Hwarin I knew, though.’

I wasn't certain.

It could've been because of the vision she'd seen.

So who was the culprit?

It could have been the work of one person.

There could have been an accomplice.

There was only one thing I could be certain of right now.

‘There is always only one truth! The culprit is you, Cheliana!’

____________

I'd never liked being in banquet halls.

They were noisy, and I didn't find them particularly enjoyable.

But what could I do...

They were welcoming me like this because I was a member of the Hero's Party...

I'd feel too self-conscious to skip it.

And.

Master said he would attend.

If I, his disciple, skipped it, I might bring disgrace upon him, and it was also a chance to be in the same place as Master.

So I entered the banquet hall happily.

‘Ugh... I hate crowds.’

Was it because having too many people around weakened her communion with the spirits?

For that reason, I took a place in a corner of the banquet hall together with Hwarin, the spirit mage.

Hwarin and I had always gotten along well, so we chatted quietly about what we would do after returning to our homelands.

“Cheli. It's free, free. A play where a prince and princess are performing for free.”

Hwarin chuckled and poked my arm with her finger.

Then she pointed at Master.

Master clutched his stomach and pretended to run toward the bathroom.

“Carniel runs away, Lady Ardel watches Carniel run away, and Sieg watches Lady Ardel while getting upset.”

“...”

“Doesn't it look like three idiots putting on a play?”

“...Don't call Master an idiot.”

“Why?”

“He's doing that because he's trying to keep his promise.”

“Hmm...”

Hwarin watched my expression for a moment before opening her mouth.

“Carniel is an idiot. A huge idiot. A stupid idiot.”

“I told you to stop!”

Every time I got angry, Hwarin became even more excited and threw out another insult.

After teasing me like I was her toy, Hwarin suddenly sighed.

“If you don't want to put on a stupid play like that too, give it up while you still can. You'll only make things harder for yourself.”

“...Give what up?”

“Ugh... Never mind, forget it.”

Hwarin shook her head from side to side.

“Cheli. Which performance is this now?”

“The seventh.”

“You're pretty impressive too, counting every single one while pretending you don't care.”

“...Shut up.”

Sieghart walked toward us.

“Cheli.”

“Yeah?”

“There's something I want to talk to you about for a moment.”