Alexander the Priest.
The thought that it might be easier to kill him early on before he becomes a hassle is not something the Duke Dragania hasn’t considered.
However, no matter how much one disguises a murder as an accident, it is unlikely to yield any results apart from prolonging time.
If Alexander dies, the Papal Office will dispatch a new priest to resume the search for the Holy Maiden.
In fact, if those responsible for the Holy Maiden’s search keep dying, it will only serve to amplify the suspicion that a Holy Maiden exists within the institution.
Moreover, Alexander has served as a good hiding place.
Isn’t there a saying that it’s dark under the lamp?
Thanks to Julia personally approaching Alexander and building a strong friendship, she is currently evading suspicion from the Papal Office.
If things continue like this, there would be no reason to kill Alexander.
In fact, there are even more reasons to keep him alive.
But today.
Alexander has finally crossed the line.
“Give me one reason why I should spare you.”
“Ugh…!”
With an interference barrier set up all around.
The Duke watched the man struggling helplessly with his neck in his grasp with indifferent eyes.
Today, Alexander had crossed a line.
Through various perjuries, alibis, and obstacles, he had managed to directly search the archives and uncover the truth.
At this point, it seemed like a disease.
A disease where one cannot form a pure relationship with anyone and always harbors suspicion in the corner of their mind.
And for Alexander, that disease had become a very useful tool.
“It would be right to kill him.”
The Duke thought and thought again.
In slowed time, he turned the massive brain of the dragon to predict the future.
But no matter how many calculations he did, nothing came out except that killing this priest was the solution.
There was no benefit to keeping him alive.
On the other hand, the benefits of killing him were endless.
The only reason he wasn’t killed on the spot was that it would be quite difficult to kill a priest inside the Papal Office and dispose of the body.
Nothing more, nothing less.
Of course, it would cause quite an uproar if a priest responsible for the search for the Holy Maiden were found brutally murdered inside the Papal Office.
But instead, the Duke decided to question Alexander’s intentions.
If he had the willingness to leave the Papal Office without resistance, there was no need to kill him here immediately.
They could kill him outside and hide the body as if he had disappeared.
“Cough, ugh…!”
“Oh dear. I forgot how weak humans can be.”
Thud.
The Duke’s grip loosened, and Alexander’s feet touched the ground.
Alexander gasped for air through his newly opened airway, making strange sounds.
“What a stubborn fellow. He might initiate a surprise attack.”
While it might not apply to high-ranking officials of the Papal Office, many lower-level subordinates have been thoroughly brainwashed and are often insane.
If they were executioners following direct orders from the Pope, their level of brainwashing would be even worse.
Persuasion would likely be impossible.
He might pull out a dagger and launch a fight with no chance of winning.
The Duke was well aware of that.
It felt as if he could easily see a future where he kills Alexander and shoves him into a laundry basket, escaping thereafter.
“Please spare me. I beg you earnestly.”
“…?”
However, the words that burst from Alexander’s mouth were entirely unexpected.
Spare me.
Alexander said it clearly and distinctly in a firm voice.
He wondered if he had misheard.
“I don’t want to die.”
“You little….”
The line was something a terrified hostage might utter, but the look in Alexander’s eyes was too proud.
The Duke glared at those eyes and spat curses.
This was an unimaginable development.
He never imagined the fellow would immediately beg for his life.
From Alexander’s standpoint, regardless of whether he reports to the higher-ups or not, first and foremost, he has to survive here.
He was not one to be consumed by beliefs and choose a noble death by refusing to bow down to a heretic.
He understood that dying without passing any information was merely a meaningless death.
Even if he acted cowardly for the time being, he needed to survive to achieve a greater purpose.
It made him wonder why someone capable of such flexible thinking was playing the dog of the Papal Office.
“I will forget everything. Until the moment I enter the grave, I will keep my mouth shut and say nothing to anyone.”
“What do you intend to forget?”
“That Julia is the same person as the Holy Maiden Aerial Makarov, that her daughter Tiamat corresponds to the seed of the end in the prophecy, and that Duke Dragania knows all these facts yet concealed them.”
“….”
Leaving Alexander alive is indeed dangerous.
Torture or threats probably wouldn’t work, and with no family, he would be immune to blackmail.
Whether they kill him here or kill him outside is a foregone conclusion.
As the Duke was pondering such thoughts, gritting his teeth, he suddenly heard.
“You asked earlier for a reason to spare me, right?”
“Yea.”
“If I die, Julia will be sad. Would that be a sufficient reason?”
“….”
Slap.
Ultimately unable to contain his rage, the Duke struck Alexander’s head.
*
“….”
Thud.
Leopard, stepping onto the terrace with deliberate footfalls, frowned.
There stood the Duke leaning against the railing.
These two had lived under the same roof for a long time, yet had spent much of that time without speaking to one another.
He was puzzled as to why he had been called today.
“Hmph. Are you going to tell me to leave the mansion? If that’s the case….”
“I don’t have time, so let’s get to the point. I’ve kidnapped Alexander the Priest and locked him in an inner room. He has been bound and surrounded by barriers to prevent any form of magical communication. I called you to discuss what to do next.”
“Ah, no… What do you mean….”
Leopard’s face instantly lit up with a look of bewilderment.
It was such a sudden story.
However, understanding the details didn’t take long.
Alexander, who had been pursuing the Holy Maiden, had discovered Julia’s identity, and before he could report this to his higher-ups, the Duke had kidnapped him.
Inferring the series of events was not difficult.
Leopard quickly grasped the situation and stiffened his expression.
Anger spread across his face.
“Why on earth did you bring him here?!”
“It sounds like you’re implying he should have been killed.”
“That’s exactly what I’m saying.”
If Alexander had reached the truth, there was nothing else to be done.
He had to be killed.
Countless nations and organizations had tried to recruit Alexander, but all had failed.
It was hard to believe that Dragania would have anything to entice Alexander.
The Duke couldn’t possibly be unaware of that.
So why had he brought him here?
It was an utterly irresponsible act that only fueled his anger.
“He said that if he died, Julia would be sad.”
“You let him live for that reason?!”
“I haven’t decided to spare him yet.”
“That’s nonsense. If you had decided to kill him, you would have done it on the spot.”
“Correct. I haven’t made a decision yet. That’s why I brought him here to make a final decision.”
“….”
Leopard’s expression gradually twisted.
The answer was clear, so why hesitate?
If Alexander died, Julia might be sad.
But so what?
It was merely the death of a tutor who had taught a little miracle; Julia would surely be sad for a moment and then move on.
There was no decision to be made.
Leopard couldn’t understand why the Duke was behaving like such a coward.
“Do you need my opinion to decide?”
“There’s a possibility it might be reflected to some extent. Speak your mind.”
“Let’s kill him right now. Is there any disagreement? Surely you’re not considering the option of silencing him and sending him away?”
“That option isn’t on the table.”
“Then what are you contemplating?”
“Contemplation is not my job. That’s Julia’s responsibility.”
“…!”
This mad dragon.
Leopard had to suppress the urge to scream from the anger bubbling inside him.
You mean to leave the decision to Julia?
To show the kidnapped priest locked in a room to Julia and then hand over the power to decide whether to kill or spare him?
It was an insane notion.
It forced Julia to choose between either bringing about her own destruction or living her life plagued by the guilt of having killed someone.
There was no way he could allow that.
“I’ll kill him in secret and dismember the body to throw it in the sea. I won’t concede an inch.”
“Is that so? I’ll convey that opinion to Julia.”
“Schwarz! Are you planning to sully Julia’s hands?!”
“You seem to be making a very significant misunderstanding.”
At the moment Leopard shouted in anger.
The Duke stepped forward toward Leopard with a calm face.
With that momentum, Leopard found himself retreating until his back hit the wall.
“Has Julia ever mentioned that she doesn’t want to dirty her hands?”
“Of course she would….”
“And did she ever say she wants to be happy?”
“That’s natural!”
“No. It isn’t natural. Julia has the freedom to be happy and the freedom to be unhappy. And I intend to fully guarantee that freedom. I have no intentions of toying with that freedom from behind and claiming that I made Julia happy.”
“….”
Cook. Cook.
The Duke’s fingers prodded Leopard’s throat.
His voice might have been calm and collected, but underneath it lay a subtle anger.
Leopard lowered his head, unable to respond.
It was not simply the pressure of the dragon weighing down on him.
Perhaps the Duke was right; that thought began to creep into his mind.
