Chapter 120 That Can'T Be!!
"I'm sorry, but please wait here until we return. We'll be right back."
Saying that, Lady Eva took Glen with her and teleported away.
We were left behind in the dimly lit underground room.
During that time, there was nothing to do, and we were bored. Fiona was reading a book she got from Chloe, her face serious, while Chloe was tied to a chair, looking pleased that her book was being read, and let out an unpleasant laugh, "Guhehe."
"Hmm~...this is erotic..."
Fiona muttered, her eyes fixed intently on the page.
What kind of emotions was she feeling?!
I was getting impatient, waiting for Lady Eva to return, trying not to think too much. I had to rest my mind a little.
Io was staring into space, not even twitching. It seemed like he had aged a lot in just a few minutes, but I told myself it was just my imagination.
We waited for about 2 hours.
It was an extremely short time for Lady Eva to go to the imperial border and return, but it felt like we had been waiting for a long time.
"I'm back."
The teleportation circle on the floor glowed brightly, and Lady Eva finally returned.
"I've confirmed with Count Lorentz."
"Welcome back... what about Glen?"
Lady Eva had taken Glen with her using the teleportation circle, and it was already nighttime, so it was impossible to meet up with her right away. But for some reason, Glen wasn't with Lady Eva when she returned.
Lady Eva explained the reason nonchalantly.
"Since Count Lorentz finally got to meet her, Count Lorentz wanted to give her a lecture."
"I see."
No one asked for further explanation. It was a clear reason.
But that was a minor issue. What was important now was...
"So, how was it?"
Was Chloe's alibi confirmed or not?
Lady Eva nodded slightly.
"Until Mr. Aaron was attacked and returned to Necronia, Ms. Chloe was meeting with Lord Lorentz. In other words..."
Chloe's innocence was proven...?
"S-See! Just as I said, didn't I?!"
Chloe exclaimed, rocking her chair back and forth in triumph.
Was Chloe innocent? Had my deductions been wrong?
No way...
"That can't be!!"
"What do you mean?! Why is that?!"
It was impossible that my perfect deductions had been wrong!
"Then who was the Chloe I helped?! She looked exactly the same, didn't she?!"
There's a limit to disguising oneself, after all.
I remembered a magic that could change one's appearance using light attributes, but that was just an illusion magic. If you touched it, you'd immediately realize it was an illusion, and besides, we were together for 5 whole days. It was impossible to maintain such a high-level magic for that long, and there was no discrepancy in her appearance or feel even when we were moving or carrying things.
Therefore, I couldn't believe that the Chloe I met was an imposter.
"How would I know that?! It's not like I'd know something like that!!"
"Indeed, it's a strange story. To think that she could disguise herself perfectly for 5 whole days without arousing any suspicion... it's unbelievable."
Chloe and Lady Eva said in unison.
"Ms. Chloe, I'll ask you just in case, but you don't have a twin sister who was separated from you at birth or anything, do you?"
"I've never heard of such a thing."
It was unlikely that Chloe wouldn't know about it, considering she was from one of the [Four Great Families of the Seals]. The birth and pregnancy records would have been kept, and it was unrealistic to keep it a secret for over ten years.
"Is it possible that Mr. Aaron was mistaken, and the person wasn't Ms. Chloe to begin with?"
"Hey hey, I'm the one who's been escorting Chloe to the Caduceus family, you know? I've met the head of the family during that time, and they also recognized her as Chloe. It's unbelievable."
There's a good chance that even if the head of the family referred to the imposter Chloe as Chloe, it's highly unlikely that she's a completely different person, even if she's a fake Chloe.
"So, if that Ms. Chloe is a fake and the Caduceus family has been lying, then... it would be strange if the real Ms. Chloe doesn't know anything, right?"
Being kidnapped is a serious matter.
Even if that Chloe was a fake, is it possible that the real Chloe wouldn't hear about it? Normally, she would have heard something at some point and felt uneasy about an event she didn't remember.
――It's suspicious after all.
Chloe is hiding something. My instincts are telling me that.
"Um, well, you see..."
Chloe asked, looking puzzled, still being looked at with suspicious eyes.
"Why are you suspecting me? If I was kidnapped, why would that implicate me with the mastermind behind Stampede?"
"...Come to think of it, I haven't explained yet."
But should I even explain?
If Chloe has no connection with the masterminds, then it would mean she is unaware of the possibility of the Caduceus family being involved with Stampede.
By sharing this information, Chloe might be put in danger, and even though she's an adopted member, she's still part of the Caduceus family. There's a chance she might be shocked.
"...I think it's better to explain. There might be a need to seek help from Ms. Chloe in the future."
"...True."
If Lady Eva has decided that Chloe is innocent, then it might work out conveniently. Since she's part of the Caduceus family, it might be possible to investigate internally.
I nodded and explained to Chloe.
Caduceus family had secretly been selling materials from 46th floor and below in foreign lands.
Chloe was taken hostage and abducted all the way to the Hellen Wilderness. The reason for this was to kill me.
Until we returned from the wilderness to Necronia, Chloe's actions were notable. At first, she tried to take a long way back home and thought it was strange that she was even taken hostage to begin with.
From the relationship between Caduceus and Chloe, I started to suspect that Chloe might be involved with the bad guys as well.
I explained in detail about the things that the fake Chloe (temporary name) said, like her losing control and being attacked by bandits while she was naked in the lake.
When I mentioned that Caduceus might be behind the stampede, Chloe was shocked and said, "No way...!?" but still listened quietly.
However, after I finished telling her about the fake Chloe being attacked at the lake, she hesitated a bit and asked,
"Um, Mr. Aaron, you saw the fake me when I was naked, right...!?"
"Yeah, I did."
I said confidently.
So what if I saw her naked? I had nothing to feel guilty about. That's why Fiona shouldn't be muttering things like, "Ugh, even if I close his eyes, it doesn't mean anything..." in confusion.
"Did the fake me have any scars?"
"Huh? Scars?"
I tilted my head, confused. What did she mean by that?
"Yes. I have a pretty big scar on my stomach. I think Lady Eva, Ms. Fiona, and Ms. Glen saw it earlier..."
By "earlier," she meant before we brought her here, probably in the bathroom of Caduceus' vacation home.
Lady Eva and the others nodded, maybe they saw it when Chloe was changing.
"Oh right..."
I hadn't seen it, but it made sense that I wouldn't have seen her stomach. Chloe was curled up in a position where it was hidden, and even if she wasn't, her chest was so big that I probably wouldn't have seen her stomach from above anyway.
Chloe continued,
"It's a pretty obvious size, so if the fake me doesn't have any scars, that would prove it's a different person."
"Is that a scar on your stomach... or not?"
When I think back on my memories, I don't think the fake one had a scar like that.
If the real one has a scar that the fake one doesn't, that would be proof, wouldn't it? Maybe the fake one didn't know about the scar? So, I wonder how they managed to disguise themselves, but they couldn't recreate the scar?
"No, but...!!"
I still can't accept it!!
I'm not going to easily admit that my reasoning was wrong! As an explorer known for my few intellectual peers, my reputation is at stake!
Maybe I just overlooked it a little, that's all!!
"Uh? Mr. Aaron...?"
As I approached Chloe, I unfolded the aura blade at my fingertips.
With that blade, I cut the ropes binding Chloe's hands, feet, and torso.
"Chloe, stand up."
"Ah, uh... does this mean you believe I'm innocent...?"
"Stand up."
I ordered her in a tone that brooked no argument.
Chloe hesitated but stood up as told.
I crouched down in front of Chloe, grasped the hem of her one-piece dress along with the robe I was wearing, and suddenly lifted it up!
"Ahhhhhhhh!!"
Chloe panicked and tried to pull her dress back down, but I stopped her with force. Then, I lifted her dress up to her chest.
What I was checking for wasn't her pure white underwear, but the scar on her stomach.
"Ahhhhhhh!! Let go, please!!"
"What... is this...!!"
And then I saw it.
A large, painful scar etched onto her smooth, white skin, just below her right ribcage.
There's no way I could have missed this scar. When I saw Chloe naked by the lake, she didn't have this scar, and it doesn't look like it was made recently either.
In other words, unbelievable as it may be... this Chloe and the other Chloe are different people.
As soon as I made that judgment, I leaped backward.
"――What are you doing!!"
The sword wrapped in aura had just passed through the spot where I was standing a moment ago.
Needless to say, the culprit was Fiona.
"What are you doing all of a sudden...!!"
"That's my line!!"
"I'm just checking if there's a real scar, okay!?"
"We're the ones who saw and are telling you, remember!!"
"But I wanted to confirm it with my own eyes!!"
"Then say it and let her show it! What's with you, pervert, forcing her to strip like that!!"
"Waaaahhh!? B-both of you, stop fighting in this narrow space!!"
After that, I had a hard time trying to restrain Fiona, who was furious and flailing around.
* * *
When Fiona finally calmed down, I turned back to Chloe.
The fact that the Chloe from back then was an imposter, with 2 pieces of evidence, was convincing enough.
But, wait.
"If that was a fake Chloe, then how come you didn't know about the kidnapping, Chloe?"
"It's true, it doesn't make sense. What's going on, Ms. Chloe?"
"H-how should I say this..."
Chloe, who was being questioned by me and Lady Eva, looked puzzled and waved her hands around.
"I didn't hear anything, so that's all I can say..."
"Is that possible? Didn't you hear anything from the servants or guards?"
"No, nothing."
Didn't she hear anything from the people in the house?
Lady Eva listened to Chloe's answer and thought for a moment. Then, she slowly began to speak, organizing her thoughts.
"Ms. Chloe's kidnapping was shared information among the [Four Great Families of the Seals]. However, since it's related to the mastermind behind the Stampede, it wasn't made public. There are few people outside of the 4 families who know about it... Which means, if Sir Jilva intended to, it wouldn't be difficult to keep the kidnapping from Ms. Chloe's ears within the Caduceus."
In other words, the head of the house controlled the flow of information within the household.
That also means, inversely, that the head of the house is highly likely to be the culprit.
"It's like, people who work for or are protected by a house can't talk about it, right? But, even so, wouldn't it be weird if you didn't hear anything from people in other houses? Like, friends or people you're close to, if you got kidnapped, they'd be worried and try to hear something, right?"
"Yeah...I think Ms. Chloe's real parents are from the Caduceus house, so they can do whatever they want, but if you get a chance to talk to people from other houses, you'll naturally hear something."
"......"
What's going on? We looked at Chloe, but for some reason, she wouldn't answer, looking down.
"Hey, Chloe?"
"Ms. Chloe?"
"...any friends."
Chloe muttered something.
"Huh? What was that?"
"I didn't hear it well. Could you say it again?"
"...I don't have any friends! And I don't have anyone close to me in other houses! From the day of the kidnapping, I've been going to other countries for work and barely leaving my house, just writing novels! Is that bad?! Do people with friends and social lives think they're superior to someone like me who's gloomy and has no value in living?!"
"""......"""
That was a cry from the heart.
A genuine, heartfelt expression without any lies.
We were all stunned, even Io, and couldn't respond to Chloe's painful cry. It wasn't the right atmosphere to say something like "You must have at least one friend, right?" and we were sure that if we asked, we'd get a sad answer.
I only have one close friend, Lion, but I felt like saying something comforting would hurt her, so I couldn't say anything.
"......Anyway,"
I tried to break the silence with a brighter tone.
"This proves Chloe's innocence. Yeah, it's great! I mean, I was wrong to doubt you, Chloe!"
"Yeah, that's right! I'm sorry for doubting you too, Chloe! Ah, and, um, I'll tell you my thoughts on the book I got later! Let's have tea together!"
Fiona said something like that, and Chloe sniffled, then nodded with a "Yesh~". She seemed to want to hear her thoughts. Or maybe she was drawn to the words "let's have tea together".
In the end, we didn't get any information about the mastermind, and all we did was kidnap Chloe and clear her name. For Chloe, it was a result of being stepped on and kicked around... yeah, it was a mess.
Still, I think it's significant that we found out that Chloe was an imposter when she was kidnapped before.
After this, we're going to remove the Anti-Magic Ring we put on Chloe and set her free. But before that, there's something we have to make her promise.
"Ms. Chloe."
"...What is it, Lady Eva?"
"It's about the Caduceus family. What you heard today, please don't tell anyone."
"Uh... yes."
Chloe nodded, looking puzzled.
Lady Eva continued, thinking Chloe still didn't understand.
"Not even to Sir Jilva. If Caduceus is the mastermind behind the Stampede, knowing that fact would be dangerous for Ms. Chloe."
We can't think that Jilva and Caduceus would let Chloe go just because she's their adopted daughter. If they find out she knows, they might silence her. If they don't kill her, they'll at least imprison her to keep her quiet.
"Aww... yes, yes!"
Chloe seemed to understand that her life was in danger, and she nodded with a stiff face.
Now she won't carelessly spill the beans about today. This time, we're really going to set Chloe free.
We put Chloe's luggage back in the Storage Ring, and――
"Ah, wait? I think some of my underwear is missing..."
"...We'll have Ms. Glenda compensate you for it later."
We put the luggage away, and this time Chloe was really going home.
"So, I'll... I'll go home now..."
"Ah, today was really, terrible. Next time, I'll even do a wooden sword apology."
"No, no, that's not necessary."
We apologized profusely to Chloe and saw her off as she returned home through teleportation.
"――Well, then, shall we head back too?"
"...Yeah, I guess."
In the end, this whole ordeal only revealed that there's a Chloe impersonator out there and a few of Chloe's embarrassing secrets.
Feeling frustrated and mentally exhausted, we returned to Necronia using the teleportation circle.
――――And from that day on, Chloe Caduceus disappeared.
The Caduceus family announced that while she was staying in Zepardia, the villa was attacked by unknown assailants, and Chloe might have been kidnapped or killed.
Please bookmark this series and rate ☆☆☆☆☆ on here!
Donate me
Support Me with USDC
(ERC20)
Support Me with XLM
(Stellar Lumens)