Ascendance of a Bookworm

“Lord Bonifatius has arrived.”

With the voices of the soldiers guarding the door, the door to the lord’s study slowly opened. Cornelius led the way, dragging Viscount Joysotark along, while Angelica pulled a servant man as they entered.

Standing in the lord’s study were the leadership of Ehrenfest.

The lord and lady, Ferdinand, the guardian of Rosemine, and the knight order commander and his wife, who are Rosemine’s parents, were lined up with their backs against the wall at the front.

On the right side stood five knights with official roles from the knight order, and one representative each from the lord family’s guard knights. On the left were Norbert, who commanded the attendants of the castle, and the chief attendants of the lord family such as Richarda and Oswald.

I looked over those gathered, acknowledging that all eyes were on the dragged-in Viscount Joysotark, and gave Sylvester a nod.

“By your command, I have arrived.”

“Bonifatius, you have done well.”

Then, to hear the most important matter at hand, I turned my gaze to Ferdinand.

“Before interrogating this one, there is something I wish to ask... Ferdinand, how is Lady Rosemine?”

“She is out of danger. However, I believe it is best to dismiss others before sharing detailed information... There is no need to give unnecessary information to a criminal.”

While indicating Viscount Joysotark, Ferdinand’s glances subtly suggested to the attendants and guard knights that there might be someone among them connected to this incident.

For me, I wanted to hear about Rosemine’s condition immediately rather than talk about a petty criminal who seemed easy to crush, but it couldn’t be helped.

“Then, Bonifatius, tell us what happened after you rushed out of the grand hall.”

At Aub Ehrenfest’s words, the interrogation began. I recounted what happened after leaving the grand hall: arriving first at the scene thanks to physical enhancement, fighting the enemy who exploded upon being struck, rescuing Rosemine, capturing the servant man, and discovering Laut where Angelica had captured Viscount Joysotark.

“That servant man was only ordered by a man dressed all in black, a noble. He was told to transport goods by horse and to load them onto a carriage without a crest, located closest to the servants’ working area.”

“Aub Ehrenfest, as Lord Bonifatius stated, a carriage was indeed at that location.”

According to information from the knights who were watching over the nobles’ departure, there was a carriage without a crest at the position the servant man was instructed to.

A carriage without a crest is used to carry attendants or servants. Even without a crest, there’s a mark so the servants can recognize their own carriage. However, nobles who are not the master would not recognize this mark.

“After all the nobles in the grand hall had left, three carriages remained: one with Viscount Joysotark’s crest and two without. Presumably, they brought the one dressed all in black along with their attendants. It’s almost certainly Viscount Joysotark’s carriage.”

“...However, one of the carriages with Viscount Joysotark’s crest was quite separated from the others. Even if they had succeeded in kidnapping Lady Rosemine, it would have appeared suspicious to those nearby.”

The knights with official roles began to voice their opinions. But all the opinions assumed Viscount Joysotark was the culprit. Since he was the noble absent from the grand hall, this was natural.

Still, Viscount Joysotark, gagged and desperate, shook his head vehemently denying their statements. Tears welled up in his eyes as he shook his head. Though he must have been one of the kidnappers, his desperate attitude gave me pause.

Glancing briefly at Sylvester, I saw he seemed to share my puzzlement, giving a slight nod.

“I want to hear Viscount Joysotark’s side.”

As soon as the gag was removed, Viscount Joysotark let out a scream-like voice.

“Aub Ehrenfest, my carriages include one with a crest and two without. I do not know about the one that was separated. Besides, I did not kidnap Lady Rosemine. I kidnapped Lady Charlotte, did I not? The knight who captured me should know that.”