Tensei Saki de Suterareta no de, Mofumofu Tachi to Oryouri Shimasu ~Okazari Ouhi wa my Pace ni Saikyou Desu~

Translator: Kuromaru

Editor: Evelet

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8. The vain struggle of this letter’s owner (Part 2)

“That’s why I was suspicious of you from the start. Then, upon doing some investigating, I came across Niltz village and your real background.”

“…You say it as if it’s quite simple.”

Sumia was grinding her teeth and biting her lips.

“The details of my birth and upbringing were supposed to be thoroughly covered up, so how?”

“Such a large-scale​ lie is certainly bound to leave some evidence. And with my excellent attendants, uncovering it was only a matter of time.”

I stuck out my chest, taking pride in my attendants’ accomplishment. There were many excellent commoners among my staff, led by Lucian. The people most familiar with commoners’ way of thinking and behaviour were commoners themselves.

They made full use of their power and my father’s accumulated influence and authority, which helped with their commoner-related investigation and led them to Sumia’s actual identity.

“Sumia, if you keep on meddling, I won’t show you mercy. You were recognized as His Highness’s fiancée because of your aristocratic lineage, despite its inferiority. And I’m sure you understand the power of the social discrimination that’s deeply rooted in this country. What would happen if His Highness and His Majesty knew that you were not in fact from the Baron’s family at all, and that you were deceiving the whole country?”

“…Tch, you’re bluffing!”Sumia shouted.

“If you really had any proof of my identity, you would have announced it already, right! But you didn’t, so that means it’s all a lie! You don’t have any real definite evidence, so you must be bluffing!”

“…You don’t know when to give up, huh.”

With a sigh, Lucian brought some folded documents out of his pocket. Thanking my capable attendant, I read through the papers.

“Your real name is Mellow. Born 17 years ago in the village of Niltz to father Griada and mother Dealsen as their third daughter—”

As I kept reading aloud, Sumia’s face turned as pale as wax. From the level of detail I recited about her background, she came to understand the amount and accuracy of the information we had gathered.

“—You understand now, right? If I feel like it, I can indict you for pretending to be an aristocrat and corner you whenever I want.”

“….Lies.”

Sumia’s mouth fell open as her lips trembled.

Finding it unbelievable and not wanting to believe¹, her wide-open eyes looked like those of a cornered rat.

“Why! Why! You investigated to that extent, and you could have gotten rid of me whenever! So why didn’t you do it immediately!”

“Because it would have been meaningless.”

I tried to explain to the screaming Sumia in an admonishing manner.

“If I had found out about your real identity a month ago, I probably would have told His Highness in secret, but wouldn’t have made it public, of that, I can assure you.”

“Then, why!”

“Isn’t it too foolish? The Crown Prince elevated you for your so-called purity and even fell in love with you, someone who’s lying about her social class. It would have been a massive scandal for the royal family and this country.”

“!!!”

“Besides, even if I had known just before the day of the engagement annulment, it would have changed nothing. Aren’t I right? It wasn’t likely that Fritz would have uncancelled the engagement if I had indicted you at the time. If I did, the Crown Prince would have an infamous reputation not only for being foolishly deceived but also for slighting my family and me.”

I shrugged my shoulders.

“And it would be the same if I did it now. If I were to expose you now, I would just be tarnishing Fritz and the royal family’s reputation more. Do you think that a new and decent fiancée will come to Fritz after being so badly received? I would rather have you remain as his fiancée then.”

Aside from Sumia’s temperament, she also had the backing of crafty four-eyes and the Ilegar house. As long as her identity was in the hands of the Ilegar Duchy, she was no better than a puppet unable to do whatever she wanted on her own. 

Moreover because we had accepted my unreasonable exile, the royal family owed my household a huge debt. And I was going to let neither them nor crafty four-eyes do whatever they wanted; I believed that my father could easily suppress them.

“Sumia, calling me out here today was also your own idea, right? I’ll be reporting this to crafty fo—I mean Ileus. When I do so, he will increase the surveillance on you, so next time you better think twice before doing anything.”

As I had said what I wanted to say to her, I decided to take my leave with Lucian leading the way—

“I call upon you, force come forth!”

Walls of light surrounded us from all directions, so I looked back with a sigh. With bloodshot eyes, Sumia gazed at me as I stood imprisoned by a shining cube of light.

“It’s all your fault!”

“And? What are you going to do?”

“You won’t be able to break these walls with your magic! While you’re imprisoned and stuck here, I’ll go and call for aid, so you better wait!”

“So, you’re planning on keeping me quiet, is that it? Don’t you think it’s futile?”

Of course I had left a copy of the documents with Sumia’s real identity in my residence. So if I, by chance, was killed here, the culprit would be obvious. But I wasn’t planning on being put down without a fight.

The walls of light were about 5 meters long and cubic. It even closed off the sky; the barrier was airtight.

Sumia was excellent in magic despite her personality, and the wall before my eyes was bound to be strong and tall. To break such a barrier, we had to use a powerful attack. The problem was that nothing could escape. So if I used some flashy magic such as flames or a whirlwind​, I would die in the aftermath.

“…Then, let’s test that one, shall we?”

Affirming, Lucian took a step back as I gazed at the wall in front of me.

Water magic ought to be enough to deal with this.

With the dramatic improvement of my magic’s efficiency, I could freely use water, at which I was originally not very good.

Concentrate, concentrate, then chant.

The target was forward and slightly to the side of the triumphant Sumia, and at an angle that wouldn’t hit the ruins.

—And fire!

“Eh?”

The light wall cracked in front of a gaping Sumia. And there was a hole in it right there.

The magic that I had just used was the water version of the “Transmute” magic I’d used the other day. It was a technique that freely changed the shape of the water produced and manipulated it using magic by finely compressing the water, then releasing it.

—It was like the “water cutters” I had seen in my previous life.

I’d practised it in case I needed something to counter Sumia’s light magic.

“N-No way!”

The wall of light shattered and dispersed in front of the stupefied Sumia.

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