For three days, I carved a part of the magic circle on the topaz used to make the zuò magic wand, and I think that for a long time after that, I would probably spend a lot of time on this delicate work.

In addition, I went to Alva's place of temporary residence twice to find him, and when I asked him something about the events at that time, he was very calm, and my suspicions about him were greatly dispelled by his actions.

It's just that he seems to miss Chelsea a bit and prays for him or something.

Unfortunately, I didn't have a crush on Chelsea and I wasn't interested in talking to Alba about his time in Chelsea captivity, so when he had to pray for Chelsea, I would leave.

☆★☆

On the fourth day, three other mages and I carved out four small clinics in the mercenary group's station, and we each occupied one for inspection.

I'm in charge of examining both arms, and the other mages are also checking on the mercenary group based on their healing strengths.

The hands of the fighters are mostly rough and have a lot of scars on their palms, but the magician's are more delicate and less scarred.

As the number of people getting checked-ups increased, I began to think that I had come up with this idea of "checking my body...... It just sucks.

The mercenaries working in the mercenary group have already had many dangerous missions, and there are naturally countless scars on their hands, so after only one morning of checking them, I can now see at least four people with old scars on their mouths.

When the inspection was over, I counted the people I had drawn in my special circle, and there were as many as eight. Excluding the thinner water magician, the remaining seven were all "strong" and "old wounds in the tiger's mouth" as Alva put it.

I thought I could find this person at once, but it turned out to be ......

Looks like I'm still going to have to find a chance for Alva to recognize him.

So, I wrote down all the names of the mercenaries, and told them that there was an old wound on their hand, which hindered their dexterity, and asked them to come separately every few days, and that I would treat them separately at that time.

Anyway, those who are injured don't understand this, and the other magicians who know this don't care about my self-inflicted behavior, I think that when the time comes, let Alva hide behind the curtain and peek, and it will be easy to solve it.

☆★☆

Alva was more than willing to help me, so I hid him in the pharmacy while it was dark.

A few days later, the seven men came to the hospital for treatment of their old hand ailments, and after Alva identified them one by one, he gave me a very shocking answer.

"You say...... You say it's Biden? ”

"Yes." Alva nodded earnestly.

"Biden ......" I repeated Biden's name, and suddenly felt a little cold in my heart.

If it's Biden...... What is the truth I am looking for...... Is that the "truth" I want to see......

…… At this point, I can't afford to think about it and think twice.

"Okay, Alva, you go back to the rental house and rest, and when Bena comes back from the Northern Forest, I'll come and tell you." I smiled reluctantly at Alva and sent him out of the mercenary group's station.

As his back faded into the night, I shuffled back to the apothecary.

There were still some pieces of topaz scattered on the table, but I was not in the mood to carve them.

Biden.

The man who once helped Ryan catch the homeless in the homeless village incident.

It is also Ryan's most trusted companion, his arm.

Ryan......

I closed my eyes and suddenly felt empty inside.

Don't...... Could it be that everything I had in my mind before was true, these ...... Is it all Ryan's doing......

Should I trust and stop there, or should I stubbornly pursue it......

I tried to calm myself down and think about it again. But suddenly I felt that there seemed to be something wrong.

Ryan has told me that Alba is from Chelsea, is it possible...... Is Alva deliberately misleading me into misunderstanding Ryan?

After all...... Even if Ryan wanted to do something, he would not choose to be his assistant, and Biden would come with such an obvious direction.

After sitting in the pharmacy all night, I finally couldn't sleep until dawn.

☆★☆

From that day on, I began to silently spy on Biden.

He hasn't been assigned any tasks lately, and seems to be very laid-back, except that every day at noon, he leaves the mercenary group's station and goes to lunch with some people.

After observing him for about half a month, I finally realized that every time he finished lunch outside, he would go home and take a lunch break. And every day at noon, there will be different people, during his lunch break, with food boxes to visit him.

Those people didn't stay for long, but people came every day, and Biden would receive them every day.

It's just weird......

Ryan had sent me a letter a few days ago, telling me that he was almost done with the Northern Forest and was about to leave for the University of Tokyo6.

I don't have much time left, and I have to do everything I can to figure out what the hell Biden is doing.

☆★☆

Taking advantage of the darkness of the night, I manipulated the magic with a magic wand, built a simple staircase, and touched Biden's home.

His house is different from the urban housing I live in, it has a separate courtyard and is very spacious.

People who possess healing magic elements are not easily detected, because healing magic is inherently too affinitive, and the lethality is basically non-existent. So, I have healing magic to escort me, and Biden's defensive vindictiveness shouldn't be able to show me.

At noon today, I saw Biden and the man carrying the food box go into a room on the right, and I thought I should go to that room.

I didn't perceive any magical elements or fighting spirit emanating from that room, but I knew that pushing the door in was still the stupidest thing to do.

So, I decided to climb up to the roof, look down through the skylight on the roof, and wait until I had a good idea of what was going on.

☆★☆

The skylight in this room is very strange, like the stained glass used to decorate churches.

Prayer room?

As I thought so, I took a closer look at the patterns on the glass by the moonlight.

But...... I was amazed to see that this beautiful stained glass was not depicted by the holy goddess Komar or the benevolent Omar, but by the god of forbidden spells, Marcus, who was mentioned in the Book of Spells and Spells, who could imprison the soul.

This is not a prayer room...... What does a fighter like Biden want to do in his home with such a room related to magic and spells?

I gently lifted the stained glass, and a strong stench erupted from it.

I was so disgusted by the sudden smell that I could only reach out to cover my mouth and nose and look inside with a frown.

――The furnishings inside are very simple.

There were stone walls on three sides, and there were no furnishings, but in the center of the house stood a cross with a man tied to it, and the man had his head hanging low, and his head was unkempt, and his face could not be seen clearly.

Who is that man...... Why is it being imprisoned here by Biden?

My heart is full of doubts, and these doubts seem to have answers, but they are just ...... I hate to admit it.

As if sensing the light falling from the skylight, I saw the bound man move, and then he slowly raised his head.

I held my breath, slightly

Slightly turn your body aside to let more of the moonlight fall into the dark house.

And then...... Then I saw clearly, the face of the man who was bound.

- Chelsea, Earl.

(l~1`x*>+``+