THE ACADEMY’S WEAPON REPLICATOR

“Hoo.”

Philly looked down at Pascal and laughed coldly.

Philly was favorable towards Frondier. Pascal, of course, would know this.

Yet, he dared to call Frondier a ‘devil’ right in front of her? His courage was admirable.

“It’s just a possibility. I’ve been conducting a thorough investigation to confirm it.”

“It’s been quite a while since you started the investigation, and you still haven’t made a decision?”

Philly asked.

All information and investigations regarding Frondier should be reported directly to Philly.

The reason Philly gave this order was simply because she wanted to understand the influence Frondier had on the Empire.

As long as Frondier was on the Empire’s side, Philly had decided to do her best to help him, the one who led the war to victory.

In other words, the order given to Pascal was not to ‘monitor’ Frondier.

Therefore, Pascal focused on confirming and gathering data and records without directly investigating Frondier. That’s why Frondier hadn’t noticed him.

“Based on my investigation, the probability of Frondier being a devil is low.”

“That’s different from what you said earlier.”

“It’s low, but considering the potential danger, I can’t just ignore it.”

Pascal initially thought the rumors about Frondier being a devil were ‘nonsense’.

It was a ridiculous story, and the evidence presented was nothing but unsubstantiated rumors.

However, the more Pascal investigated, the more he felt a strange feeling.

‘It’s like an incredible coincidence, a collection of plausible events.’

There were still devils hiding in the Empire.

Devils who saw Frondier’s demonic power and were under his control, and at the same time, devils who were still alive thanks to it.

They believed Frondier’s lie. In the common sense of devils, it was impossible for anyone other than a devil to use ‘demonic power’.

Therefore, Frondier was undeniably a devil. The story of Frondier being a child of the Roach family was the false one.

They just kept their mouths shut because they knew they would die if they spoke carelessly.

This strange silence, on the contrary, was giving strength to the story of Frondier being a devil.

‘Recently, among the nobles, they surprisingly started to take the nonsense about Frondier being a devil seriously. Of course, everyone should just laugh it off as a stupid story.’

Pascal didn’t know about the devils hiding in the Empire. However, he felt the silence.

The silence within the Empire, neither denying nor affirming the rumors. It wasn’t their intention, but it was enough to instill unnecessary anxiety in the nobles who didn’t know the situation.

And more than anything,

“I feel some kind of intention behind this rumor.”

“……There’s a shill?”

“Yes. That’s right.”

At Pascal’s words, Philly closed her mouth for a moment.

A shill.

Just as Frondier had guessed.

Philly let out a small sigh.

Her eyes lowered, and Philly closed her left eye again.

She asked Pascal,

“What do you mean by intention?”

“Someone is trying to drive public opinion about Frondier in a negative direction. They’re hiding undeniable facts and bringing up only questionable stories to put Frondier in a difficult position.”

“What’s their purpose?”

“Looking at the current rumors in the Empire, it seems they want to make people perceive Frondier as an enemy of the Empire.”

At this point in the conversation,

Pascal noticed a sense of dissonance for the first time.

‘……Huh?’

Pascal had been talking in great tension until now.

The reason was simple.

Philly suspected him.

That’s why Pascal spoke as carefully as possible so as not to offend Philly or cause unnecessary trouble.

But the current conversation…

‘If she really thinks I’m the culprit…’

Why would she have this kind of conversation?

If Pascal could speak well within the information he had, it would be possible to change her mind.

Moreover, Philly would inevitably have to reveal her thoughts to Pascal. There was nothing more dangerous than asking the culprit who the culprit was.

And Philly’s closed left eye.

Philly had closed her left eye like that before.

What did Philly say then?

─I doubt everything.

When those words came to mind, Philly said,

“For that to be possible, it must be someone who can command a considerable number of people. Someone who knows Frondier to some extent.”

This was information Philly was speculating on while talking with Frondier.

Pascal nodded in agreement. At the same time, he said,

“According to my own investigation, just knowing him ‘to some extent’ wouldn’t be enough to make this happen.”

From Philly’s perspective, who wasn’t directly investigating, she wouldn’t know how ‘artificial’ the current rumors were. She wouldn’t know the proportion of coincidence and manipulation.

But Pascal could see it.

“Hoo. So, you’re saying that knowing as much as others wouldn’t be enough?”

“That’s right.”

Then, Philly tilted her head and said in a testing tone,

“So, Pascal, you would have had to do the same level of investigation as you did to make this happen, right?”

A question that clearly pointed to Pascal as the culprit.

Hearing that question,

Pascal remembered the dissonance from a moment ago,

And seeing Philly blink her left eye once again,

“……That’s right. You would need to have that level of information.”

He answered with conviction.

Philly nodded and stood up.

“That’s enough.”

“Your Majesty.”

Robert, who was standing next to her, spoke.

“Pascal is a knight trusted by everyone in the Imperial Palace. Without clear evidence, a careful decision…”

“I’ve already made a decision. This farce is a waste of time.”

Philly’s firm words.

She looked down at Pascal with cold eyes.

“Pascal.”

“……Yes, Your Majesty.”

Pascal unconsciously gulped. Philly said to him,

“Catch me.”

“……Yes?”

Whoosh!

Before Pascal could even finish his bewildered question,

Immediately after saying what she wanted to say,

Philly threw herself towards Pascal.

“……!”

At that moment,

Everything was visible to Pascal’s eyes, honed to the peak of Aura techniques.

The posture in which Philly threw herself was perfectly positioned for him to catch her,

And he saw Robert, with a fierce look in his eyes, extending his right hand towards Philly.

“Hup!”

Pascal caught Philly,

Clang!

And shot Aura with his sword, stopping Robert’s charge.

“Run! Quickly!”

“Yes!”

Pascal immediately turned around and ran.

If they fought head-on, Pascal was already inferior to Robert in terms of skill, and with Philly in his arms, he was overwhelmingly disadvantaged.

But when it came to simply running, Pascal had the advantage.

Woong-!

He activated Aura throughout his body and infused each step with Aura as he pushed off the ground. There were few who could beat Pascal in terms of indoor sprinting speed.

“…….”

Robert seemed to have known this from the beginning, as he didn’t chase after them after failing to grab Philly initially.

Robert sheathed the sword he had drawn to block the Aura and adjusted his clothes.

“……As expected of Her Majesty.”

Robert muttered quietly.

“But this time, I think I was a little faster.”

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