C78
Jack's resounding voice continued.
"...May Liena's light cover all things. Long live Liena! Glory to Liena!"
People stared at the man who suddenly came out and praised the guild owner, but their expressions soon changed.
Crack. The wall in front of him opened smoothly with very little noise.
Guild employees were even more surprised. They couldn't believe there was such a secret place in the middle of the hallway they passed every day.
"Wow, the password I accidentally entered was correct."
Only the prince entered the secret space with a measured step, as if he had anticipated this entire situation.
"What the hell is this space?"
There was no one who could answer that question.
"Oh, the interior is full of documents. This is quite suspicious."
The investigation team suddenly regained their senses after hearing the prince's words and hurriedly entered.
A team member who was looking at the brochure on the table reported.
"Your Highness! This is Iver guild's sales record for this year. But the content seems a bit different from what they confiscated a moment ago!"
Others shouted one by one.
"I found last year's here!"
"Your Highness! There are also lists without headers. Is there a number next to each name?"
Terence exited the secret space, approached Elliot, and said.
"Manager, may I ask you to explain how this happened?"
"......"
A cold drop of sweat rolled down Elliot's forehead as he kept his mouth shut.
"Well, that's enough. Rather, we need you to come with us from now on."
At the prince's words, those with a particularly good physique among the investigation team approached on both sides of Elliot.
"You will be arrested on charges of obstructing the execution of legitimate official duties by hiding necessary evidence."
Instead of Elliot, the person who seemed to be his advisor urgently asked.
"Do you have a court order?!"
"Fortunately, in this tax investigation, His Majesty the Emperor directly authorized me, so I can take him away by force without a court order."
"Then a lawyer...!"
Elliot stopped his subordinate.
"It's okay. I guess I have no choice but to go."
"Sir!"
"I'll be out for a while, so take care of the water in the pot next to my desk."
There was no escape route in sight at the moment. Elliot obediently put on the handcuffs. And the moment he left the guild building and boarded the carriage they had prepared, they blindfolded him.
"What is this?!"
Even when he asked, there was no answer. The investigation team members who got on the carriage with him silently registered Elliot's body, like trained individuals.
Elliot felt it again. This was a very clever and elaborate trap. Made to drown him and his mistress.
The carriage he was riding was of the type commonly seen in the city. A carriage too simple for an investigation team that received a special order from the emperor. In other words, even for Cassius, it wouldn't be easy to trace this carriage.
No matter how far he had traveled, the carriage stopped. Elliot was forced to stand by the investigation team members and had to walk in the darkness unable to see an inch ahead.
They took Elliot to a building and pushed him into a room. There was a different person in the room where he was taken.
"Ugh!"
The man grabbed Elliot by the neck even more roughly than the investigation team members had done before and dragged him somewhere. Then there was a creaking sound, and his body was thrown to the cold floor.
"Hey!"
Just when he was about to protest, the light suddenly returned. They had removed the blindfold from his eyes.
"You..."
There was a woman standing in front of him. It was a face he remembered. At that time, the knight who served as Ethel's escort in the Wandering Forest.
The man looked at Elliot with cold eyes and left the cell. Then he locked the iron cell door with the key.
Now the room appeared before his eyes. The creaking he heard a moment ago was the metallic sound of a steel window opening and closing. In other words, he was locked in a cell. And besides them, there was one more person.
"Hello?"
Ethel Wallace, who was behind the bars, greeted.
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Elliot, upon seeing me, snorted unhappily.
"The second prince's subordinates dragged me, and you showed up. It seems you no longer intend to hide your relationship."
"They already caught me, is there any need to hide it? Well, it's not the type of relationship you think.
"You must know that extramarital relationships are shameful."
Vinetta reacted before me.
"Can I handle him for a moment?"
"Fine. It's such an obvious provocation that I don't feel bad at all."
When I stopped Vinetta, her sword, which had come out slightly, returned to its sheath.
"Moreover, seeing that you are so confident despite being taken to an unknown place alone, it seems you have faith in your lady."
Elliot clicked his tongue lightly. The man looked at Ethel with a regretful expression.
If I had hurt him to the point of truly harming him, the pain would have returned to Vinetta. Because of the artifact she carries in her body.
"I heard that he cares a lot about his own safety."
He implanted a miniature self-defense artifact in his body created by an eccentric inventor in case of emergencies. It would be difficult to find it through a simple body search and probably could only be removed through surgery.
This doesn't have dangerous side effects like the black magic used by Viscount Chiléan, but cutting his skin and inserting an artifact into it... That was something no ordinary person would do.
Elliot deliberately provoked me and made Vinetta open the cell door and enter to punish him. Then, she would feel pain, and he could plan to escape while she was confused.
"I know it well because similar situations appear in the novel."
The public's perception of Elliot still remains that of a genius who graduated from the academy with excellent grades and an assistant capable of Iver. However, as time goes on, he stands out politically and becomes the target of Liena's enemies.
It was one of the famous scenes. This is the part where Elliot, thinking that something big had happened because communication was cut off, returns to Liena's side and swears loyalty again.
According to the novel, Liena is the only person who recognized his true worth. In reality, Elliot remains in a marginal position in Liena's first life, despite his genius.
"Because his mother is an ostracized immigrant with an arrogant personality."
Elliot, whose ability doesn't reach anywhere, excelled in a job but had limitations. Liena, feeling sorry for this, supported Elliot from the beginning after returning, helping him play in bigger waters.
As such, Elliot's loyalty to Liena was very strong and, perhaps due to his personality, extreme. I had no choice but to take these special measures.
Elliot, who was locked in the cell and looking at me, suddenly said something.
"You even managed to deceive Cecil Iver."
"Do you suspect Cecil of being a traitor?"
"Don't act like a fool. If she didn't betray us, then who else could it be?"
Well, in Elliot's situation, it was natural to think that way. Otherwise, how would Terence know the password?
He's not a god, just a human with extraordinary intellect. Without any clues, it was difficult to arrive at the truth that this world was actually a novel, and he knew the password because he was a transmigrator.
"Should I let him think what he wants for now?"
I let my words vaguely escape.
"Who betrayed them doesn't matter. What matters is that you're trapped here."
"You speak as if you could do something to me."
Elliot laughed at the absurdity of it all.
"I am a member of the great Cassius family. And many people saw the second prince taking me away. No matter how much the prince touches me, Cassius will never stand still."
Well, in general, what Elliot said was correct. Terence had just begun to solidify his position, so it would have been difficult for him to catch him even by the slightest margin.
"Moreover," Elliot continued. "They even blindfolded me to make it look like I was dragged to an unknown and secluded place. In fact, this is the annex building of the capital's security unit, isn't it?"
"......"
"It seems to be true."
Although no one asked, Elliot began listing the reasons for his assumption.
"The structure of the building, the architectural style, and the interior decoration of the empire's main facilities are more or less in my head. Moreover, considering the carriage travel time, even if it deliberately turned, there is a high probability that it was within the capital."
It's really something. Now that I think about it, Elliot had a personality that couldn't help but boast.
"And even if I can't see, I can tell if the carriage advanced for a few minutes and then turned right or left..."
"So, what is your conclusion?"
"It's useless to try to intimidate me by creating a hostile atmosphere. As long as I am officially detained, they won't be able to lay a hand on me."
Is it really the case? The source of that very high confidence came from the conviction that Terence couldn't afford such a loss.
"There's no reason to do that."
It would have been so if Terence hadn't listened to me. If he hadn't recognized the danger of Elliot through me.
When we recently talked about the treatment Elliot should receive, Terence muttered this.
"Then it would be better to kill him."