As Ed had expected, Scott's return would not have been able to "solve all the problems quickly" - especially since he himself seemed to have no intention of solving anything at all.

He did not refuse the "invitation" of Her Majesty the Queen Mother. But as he stood under the steps in front of the throne, facing the angry crowd with a nonchalant expression, Moira may have regretted her overly eager summoning.

Right in front of her, Scott sent everyone away with a short, rude answer, not arrogant, but by no means sincere. In the end, apart from what Fili Zeri had repeated here a few days earlier, he did not tell the nobles in the Pomegranate Hall who were even more angry and upset by another disaster under the western wall of Stampbugch the night before, even the slightest new thing...... No promises were given either.

When asked why he left so suddenly and where he is these days, he casually replies, "God's call."

It could indeed silence everyone, but it could not erase the suspicion on their faces and the resentment in their eyes.

But Scott clearly doesn't care about that...... He didn't seem to care about the bitter, silent woman on the throne behind him.

Bas Marshall stepped forward in time and reported in his affinity voice what they had found under the half-collapsed walls after a day and a night of cleaning and interrogation—seventeen bodies, including Bloomer Criess, Hitwell, who had disappeared from Lockburg in the chaos a few days earlier? Boford, the three Stonebutch guards, and twelve young men of various identities, the sons of nobles and wealthy merchants, as well as ordinary commoners, it is difficult to tell whether they died when the ground collapsed and the massive stone bricks of the walls fell down, or whether they had died before that...... Their fleshy scars need to be examined more closely.

But Hitwell Bofford was the undoubted victim. The fifteen-year-old boy was bound to his limbs, his body curled up on the ground, and a mark on his forehead that looked like it had been burned by a soldering iron—a symbol that no one could recognize in an irregular circle.

This adds to the concern for another descendant of the Boford family, Hilvet's cousin, Strand, who disappeared at the same time...... A little boy who was not yet ten years old.

Other than that, they have a little bit of a gain. A small logistics officer was reported and tearfully confessed that he had secretly "lent" the vacant storeroom to Potter Tubbs, the son of the head of the Rutgerb Merchants' Guild, so that he could bring his friends in with him from time to time to do something "interesting...... They even invited him to participate. According to the commissioner, it was nothing more than a "young man's rambling", and it was no secret that even some of the guards occasionally joined in the revelry, and he had no idea how it could happen...... Of course, no one believed the reason why this was too similar to Aaron Mansini's prevarication, but they couldn't dig up any more...... And Potter, who was already dead underground, could not answer any more questions.

Potter's father, for his part, claimed that his son would not sacrifice his life for any reason.

"Although it's humbling to admit it. "But my son is a coward who is afraid of death. ”

He didn't lie...... It's easy to get the same conclusion from many people who know Potter.

Bas didn't speculate, but said very cautiously that it was not only Bloomer's horrific death that was strange, but also the faces of the other deceased who were dazed and horrified, as if they had never expected their own death, and there was no calm that those guys in red robes seemed to die calmly a few days ago.

They all looked like victims.

Scott walked away before he could finish speaking, as if he had no interest in any of these things, and had no intention of giving him a little patience.

He barely bowed to Moira before leaving, but didn't give any reason. Moia stopped talking, but finally just watched his back disappear outside the door, saying nothing.

No one stopped him. People still unconsciously retreated to both sides as he walked - but only out of fear of his power.

Only Fili couldn't help but call out to him, but he didn't listen.

It took a long time after the door that had been opened for him was closed, and the wave of anger and resentment swept through the Pomegranate Hall, and it could not be quelled for a long time.

That evening, Philip Zeri kicked open Scott's door with a black face.

Before he could speak, the white panther slumped under his feet, walked gracefully to Scott's chair, looked up and sniffed, and fell to the ground, opening its mouth and yawning lazily.

Fili scratched his beard in annoyance, and half of his anger was inexplicably vented in an instant.

"Her Majesty the Queen Mother asked me to bring this 'holy white leopard' back to you. "She said she 'trusted her knights to keep her safe.'" ”

Scott nodded calmly, the rustle of the tip of his pen against the paper without a moment's pause.

Filly walked over in a few steps and quietly pulled the pen from between his fingers. Scott rubbed the ink from his fingers and looked up at him helplessly.

"What the hell are you doing?" Fili frowned, "Have you burned your brain dry?Are you acting like a bastard unnecessarily, do you think there are too many people who are willing to believe in you now......?"

Then he stopped and stared at Scott in a daze, as if something had occurred to him.

“...... You want her to stay away from you. He blurted out.

“...... That's true, but why does it sound so weird?" Scott shook his head and smiled wryly, but didn't deny it, "Isn't that bad? At least she doesn't have to worry about all the nonsense...... Even Frederick would have listened to her more. ”

Philip scoffed.

"You're underestimating the Dumb Bugs, too. He said, "Believe it or not tomorrow morning there will be all sorts of more wonderful 'rumors' everywhere, and half of them will make Frederick hate you even more?"

They tacitly avoided the real reason - to govern the country, Moira still had to rely on the nobles and lords who were angry at the moment. Before all this happened, Scott had begun to avoid Moira, consciously or unconsciously, and rarely even appeared in Lockburg...... When he made himself the target of public criticism, Moira was very tactful about her attitude, which, whatever was going on in her heart, did reduce the resentment she had caused by her overly obvious partiality towards Ed.

But Filly suspects that this is not the only reason.

(To be continued.) )