ch61-ch80 · 076-ch75

Chapter 75: Two Conditions

"...Huh? ...I'm..."

When Berdigri woke up, he found himself in a spacious windowless room with gray walls.

Several unfamiliar thin lights were attached to the ceiling, brightly illuminating the room.

"You've finally awakened."

"Ugh... Chartreuse!"

It was only then that Berdigri noticed his arms were tied behind his back. He was forced to sit on the floor, with the rope binding his hands fixed to a metal fixture driven into the floor, preventing him from standing up.

Chartreuse had already released her Unison form and returned to her blouse-clad appearance, but the expression looking down at him was severe.

And with good reason—she had already been informed that Berdigri had targeted not only Lock but her life as well.

"Tell me, how did you make your way to Limilaru?"

Chartreuse's interrogation was completely different from her usual gentle impression.

Whether restrained or not, his eiyō-armor had already been shattered either way. No matter how he struggled, there was no chance of winning. Berdigri resigned himself to the situation and turned defiant.

"Heh, what would you do if I told you? Planning to go against the people up there?"

"People up there..."

He had hinted that it wasn't his own decision to provoke her reaction, but Berdigri was inwardly surprised by the reaction Chartreuse showed—which wasn't unexpected, but rather what he had anticipated.

'...What? How much does this woman know? ...No, wait, why is she safe in the first place? What happened to the Black Knight?'

When he had challenged the Black Knight, Chartreuse had already been defeated.

So why hadn't she been killed or captured, and instead was interrogating him?

Chartreuse saw through Berdigri's confusion and doubt. She knelt on one knee to meet his gaze, then slowly began to speak.

"...Lord Cardinal."

"...? What's the meaning of this..."

"...Lord Crozail."

"...Hah, is that it!"

"...Lord Auro."

"Don't mock me, are you looking down on me?"

"...Lord Jade."

"I'm not going to react just because you drop some names!"

He was, after all, a knight trained to withstand physical and mental stress.

No matter which of the Seven Knights' names he heard, his expression remained unchanged.

But for Chartreuse, Berdigri's reaction alone was enough.

She didn't actually expect him to reveal the mastermind just by hearing names.

What she wanted to confirm was something else.

"...I see. So it's one of the Seven Knights, after all."

"! ...You..."

Chartreuse had expected it, but she hadn't wanted to believe it. That was her feeling.

But when Berdigri immediately realized, "She's trying to identify the mastermind by my reaction to the names," it was as good as admitting that it was "someone from the Seven Knights."

Chartreuse sighed without hiding her disappointment, then stood up and returned to the severe expression from before.

"Berdigri, let's make a deal."

"A deal...? You're not going to finish me off?"

"Unfortunately, you only said you would 'kill me,' and I haven't suffered any actual harm. For me to execute you in that state would violate the Kingdom Knight Code."

Berdigri's words aside, in reality he had simply fought and lost against the Black Knight Lock.

If one were to say he was acting in accordance with Underz's goals, that was all there was to it. His insults toward the Seven Knights were indeed disrespectful, but not a crime grave enough for Chartreuse to personally execute him.

"The other mirror that sent you to Limilaru. Where does it connect to?"

"That, well..."

"Tell me where that mirror is located. And I want you to stage a little performance regarding our conflict... just think of it as submitting a false report. If you fulfill these two conditions, I'll send you back to Sailu safely."

Confronted with conditions delivered in a flat voice, Berdigri couldn't stop the cold sweat.

A sense of intimidation so overwhelming, it was hard to believe she was once his junior in the knight order.

'Kill... this woman? ...Even I must admit, that was too sweet... too sweet a dream...'

Berdigri was once again being made acutely aware of the gap in rank between the Seven Knights and himself.

"—And if I refuse?"

"Do I really need to explain that?"

—Observing the Kingdom Knight Code was, after all, based solely on Chartreuse's knightly spirit. In other words, that was her only foundation.

When she weighed the rationality stemming from her noble spirit against the disadvantages of keeping Berdigri alive for no reason, rationality wouldn't necessarily win. In another world, if she made it seem like he was killed by the Black Knight, there would be no way for anyone from the Saiū Kingdom to verify.

'The Black Knight... that's right, the Black Knight is here too! Even if Chartreuse forgives me, if I'm left stranded in this world without my eiyō-armor, I'll be killed by the Black Knight!'

For Berdigri to survive, he had to return to Sailu by any means necessary.

"...I understand. I'll accept the conditions."