“Hmm…”
Freddy was suddenly dragged into the interrogation room by unexpected visitors.
In this regard, I couldn’t help but feel a deep sense of concern about how this situation would unfold.
‘Not good… It seems that Athena, that woman, is planning to pin this assassination incident on us… If that’s the case, the matter will inevitably become complicated in many ways.’
As a 12th-grade mage, Athena held absolute authority just by her existence.
Being someone who literally occupies the position of the ‘highest professional,’ there were hardly any who could refute what she said in such situations.
The problem was that her blade was directed at us.
It appeared that Athena was planning to use Freddy, a unique case of ‘Witch of Dragona Empire,’ to frame us and leverage this for her own gain.
She probably intended to corner us in this way and use it to strengthen their shaky position in this meeting.
‘If you look at it that way, it’s highly likely that she was also involved in this assassination case, but there’s no way to prove it…’
It was a helpless situation where the perpetrator was acting as the police investigating the case.
At that moment when I was desperately trying to find a breakthrough in this situation where no answer was forthcoming…
“Freddy… I had a feeling that woman would do something like this…”
“Hmm? What do you mean, sister?”
In the next moment, I heard Vicer’s voice in my ear.
Her unexpected words seemed to imply that she had somewhat anticipated this would happen, leaving me puzzled as I questioned her.
To my inquiry,
Vicer glanced at Cazerose, who was looking uncomfortable, then cautiously began to speak.
“Actually… I hate to say this now, but I’ve been suspicious of that guy for a while. It’s related to Queen’s disappearance case.”
“…What?”
As if she felt that since things had turned out this way, she might as well spill everything, Vicer started to reveal unexpected information.
Listening to her words, surprise began to show on both my and Cazerose’s faces.
*
Witch Freddy Mars of Dragona Empire…
No, to be precise… Queen Andreas, the eldest daughter of the Lord of Bohemia who is hiding her identity, was feeling a deep sense of embarrassment in the situation she found herself in.
‘Ah… No… Out of nowhere, why me? Even if there’s only one witch from the Dragona Empire, I have never even been close to the scene.’
Freddy found herself being dragged out as the suspect despite having quietly done her work.
And at this moment, in front of her stood a woman dressed in a blue maid outfit, looking unpleased for some reason…
One of the strongest existing… a 12th-grade mage named Athena was looking this way with a rather displeased expression.
‘Athena Invisible… She was someone I personally admired once, but meeting her in this way isn’t pleasant at all.’
Thinking that, Freddy cautiously glanced at Athena.
At that moment, Athena, who had maintained a cold silence while watching her, asked with an icy voice.
“You said you were a witch from Dragona Empire?”
“Y-Yes, that’s right. I’m Freddy Mars, a witch from Dragona Empire, currently guarding Princess Cazerose.”
“…Hah… Well, you certainly didn’t explicitly point someone out, but I never expected you to try and play tricks on me like this.”
“Excuse me?”
Athena spoke incomprehensible words from our standpoint.
Automatically, a question mark appeared in Queen’s head regarding this.
Athena, with a look of annoyance, spoke to her.
“I have no business with someone like you. Go back and tell Sir Santana to send a proper witch immediately. And do let them know that playing dumb in a situation like this won’t help at all.”
“…What on earth are you talking about?”
In an instant, Athena made the Queen lose her temper while simultaneously spouting incomprehensible remarks.
Furious at this, the Queen felt her pride being wounded and began to feel anger boiling.
“What nonsense are you spewing? Just because you’re a 12th-grade mage, does that mean you’re above everyone else? What kind of behavior is this, calling someone here and spouting this drivel?”
The Queen, who had been hiding her identity and accumulating stress all this time, was now further troubled by her sister Vicer, who was always watching her closely.
In this state of mind, out of nowhere, just as she was accused of being the perpetrator of the assassination case and dragged out, Athena began to insult her without any courtesy.
Feeling her temper flare up, the Queen started to unleash words she would normally never say to anyone in front of her.
At that moment…
“Cough!”
A sudden, intense pain hit her.
She was overwhelmed by the sensation as if someone was choking her, and the Queen began to scream in pain.
And looking at her, Athena spoke in a chill-inducing voice.
“I have no time to listen to the ramblings of a mere attendant. I’ll say it again… Bring your master, that woman, immediately. Stalling like this will only bring agony to you in the end.”
“…Cough… Cough!”
Athena’s voice was filled with serious anger, almost like a desecration.
However, at that moment, she realized that she made a slight mistake and began to frown a bit.
‘Tch… What? Did she faint from just this level of attack? No way, I thought she would have a decent resistance being a witch from Dragona Empire… I became too emotionally charged at that moment…’
In the situation where she had called for support from another country for interrogation and ended up fainting the person she called, Athena didn’t find it to be a huge problem.
She had misspoken a little, but at that moment, the person she requested from Santana was not some 7th-grade high-level witch, but 12th-grade great witch Senel.
It was enough of a reason for them to be furious since she purposefully didn’t send such a powerful witch and instead attempted to play mind games.
However, the impatience underlying her remarks and the excessive boldness of the witch caused her to accidentally strike the Queen hard enough to make her faint.
‘Hah… There’s no helping it now. I’ll have to drag her along and apprehend Senel myself.’
Thinking this would be better than possibly dealing with her mind games again, Athena lifted the fainted Queen with magic and began to leave the room.
-Thud!
In the process, the Queen’s mask dropped from her feet.
Athena picked it up in one hand and began to leave the room.
At that moment, she felt a slight doubt about why the Queen was wearing a mask while displaying her perfectly unblemished face.
