Chapter 398: End of the Turmoil
Kaglai happily watched the nobles as they all focused their attention on Hikaru.
Oh, I'll get you for this, old man... Hikaru thought as he continued.「Something was bothering me about the attempted assassination. I was the last person to see the emperor that night, but there was no one hiding in that room nor anyone suspicious nearby. If someone broke in, the Imperial Guards would have noticed, right?」
「Yes.」the Prime Minister replied. No one complained about Hikaru's impolite tone.
「Then there are two possibilities: One, it was a suicide attempt by the Emperor himself.」
「I would never do such a thing.」Kaglai said.
「You heard him. That leaves us with only one other possibility.」Hikaru pointed his index finger upwards.「It was on the ceiling all along.」
Most of the nobles were confused, mouth agape. The Minister of the Right, however, realized it before anyone else.
「I-I get it! That's why the blade's center of gravity was near the tip!」
「You catch on quick. Impressive. That's right. The culprit prepared a dagger coated in poison and stuck it on the ceiling with some kind of adhesive. Eventually, it would fall on the person sleeping below. In fact, we found traces of the adhesive on the ceiling.」
「I see...」
All of them seemed convinced by the deduction, but there was one who raised a question.
「But there's no guarantee that the weapon will hit the target, is there?」Nino said.
A few nobles agreed.
「Good point.」
「There's no way of knowing when the dagger will fall exactly.」
「That is true.」Hikaru said.「But that doesn't matter.」
「What zo you meam vy zat?」Count Zepetta asked with a frown.
「Wait a minute.」Nino said.「Was the culprit aiming for a failed assassination?!」
「What are you dalkin bout?」
「Father. The person who plotted the incident wasn't looking to actually kill His Majesty. He might not have even expected the blade to actually hit. Since they didn't know when the adhesive would come off, they thought the chances of the dagger falling on His Majesty was slim.」
「But... the dagger fell on His Majeshty when he waz zleeping..」
「The chances for that are even slimmer, Father. What do you think would happen if a dagger was found stuck on His Majesty's bed during the day, when he wasn't sleeping?」
「People would think that zomeone inbiltrated his bedroom and threatened His Majesty!」
「Exactly. Search all you want, but you won't find the suspect. The pursuers would think "The enemy is pretty skilled" even though there was no such person in the first place. And that was what the culprit wanted. They prioritized not getting caught.」
「Because all they wanted waz an attempted assassination? I see...」Zepetta's voice grew louder.「When chaoz enshues in the palace, both the brogressives and conzervatives will make moves. That's what they were abter!」
「That's right.」Hikaru said.「Who made the first move in the middle of the chaos? What did they gain from it? I suspected you at first, Count Zepetta, but it seems I was wrong. You were actually relieved to see Emperor Kaglai just now.」
「Why wouldn't I be?! I worked hard az a peddler to get to where I am. All zo I could serbe the Empire and His Majesty!」
「Your loyalty is admirable. I am delighted.」Kaglai said.
At a loss for words, Zepetta's face turned crimson, tears welling up in his eyes.
「Well, after examining the evidence, I found out that you weren't the culprit.」Hikaru said.
「Then who iz it?!」
「There are three things we can examine: first, where the extremely rare magic poison came from; two, who forged the dagger; and three, who set the weapon in the emperor's chambers.」Hikaru pointed his finger.「Please stay in the court gallery, Viscount Clerat, Baron Godard, Baron Tsarella.」He called three men, all members of the progressive faction, from leaving.
「What...? Are those three... the culprits...?」
「We still need to gather evidence, but circumstantial evidence suggest that they're the one behind the attempted assassination. Viscount Clerat mixed a salve he ordered from Count Ron into the poison, indicating that he wasn't really trying to kill the emperor. However, the poison's magical properties caused it to stay longer. The dagger was probably made by a dwarf who frequents Baron Godard's residence. And lastly, one of the maids who have access to the Emperor's chambers is a relative of Baron Tsarella's.」
The three men bolted at once. An attempted assassination on the Emperor was a grave felony. They would receive the death penalty, their family probably wiped out, and their fortune seized. It didn't matter if they didn't mean to kill the Emperor.
「Move!」
The guards were taken by surprise. Pushing them away, the three noblemen rushed outside.
「The fools think they can escape.」Margrave Korn stood up.
「Wh-What's with all these soldiers?!」came a voice from outside.
Three hundred men had surrounded the whole courthouse.
「Thank you for your cooperation, Margrave Korn.」Kaglai said.
「My men's duty is to serve you, Your Majesty.」
「As the Margrave have said, his soldiers has this courthouse surrounded.」
「Your Majesty!」Count Ron, the newly appointed commander, protested.「Why did you summon the Margrave's forces to the palace?!」
「Silver Face said we need to be as cautious as possible.」
You're blaming for this? Hikaru glared at Kaglai.
「Well, I did say that.」he admitted.「We weren't sure if you were on our side. I thought Margrave Korn was more trustworthy since he's also a victim in this case.」
「It's been a while since I've been to the imperial capital and this is what I return to?」the Margrave said.「I will stay here for a while to watch over things.」
Quinbland and Ponsonia were no longer in conflict, which meant the Margrave had nothing much to do. Having the Margrave—a symbol of military might—around until the chaos died down was a blessing to Kaglai.
However, this also meant thoroughly cleansing the nobles in the capital and verifying who were involved in the assassination attempt.
This would open up a path for a new Quinbland, where nobles didn't divide themselves into conservatives and progressives. There were only a few who realized this.
The prominent nobles—the Minister of the Right, Count Zepetta, Count Ron, among others —were listening to Kaglai quietly.