The place Lin led Delphine to was a wooden shack located in the deepest alley of this complex red-light district.

When Lin lightly knocked on the door, soon the sound of someone approaching with shuffling footsteps was heard.

The door opened shortly after, but with the clanking sound of a lock.

Through a gap barely wide enough for a finger to fit through, a rough voice leaked out.

“Who is it?”

“It’s me. ……Red rose pattern.”

Lin added quietly.

It seemed to be a code word meaning La Rouge.

“Oh no! Why have you come again? I told you never to come back!”

The man beyond the door shouted in a very anxious tone.

Lin replied calmly without showing any sign of being flustered.

“……The price for testimony. Don’t you need it? You must be running low on drinking money by now.”

“……”

Silence continued beyond the old door.

Soon, with clanking noises, the man beyond the door began to undo the locks.

After a while, they were finally able to enter through the opened door.

The man started to lock each lock on the door again without even greeting them.

Why so many locks on such a flimsy wooden door that looks like it would break if kicked?

The small house, barely big enough for three people to stand in, was filled with the smell of alcohol.

Empty bottles were rolling around here and there.

Can the testimony of such a person really be trusted?

While Delphine was looking around the room with a skeptical gaze, the man who had finished locking up suddenly turned around and shouted.

“Have you come to ask about the blonde devil again?”

Delphine muttered softly at the out-of-context question.

“……The blonde devil?”

“Yes!”

The man shouted wildly, trembling all over like a madman.

“That devil who murdered a thousand people in just one month……!”

What on earth could this mean?

Delphine suppressed her trembling heart and tried to ask calmly.

“Tell me more in detail. What exactly did this blonde devil do?”

“Just as I said. It’s been about a year now, hasn’t it? One day, that man suddenly appeared in this alley.”

The man started trembling all over.

Then, as if trying to quell his anxiety, he hastily grabbed a bottle and poured it into his mouth while answering.

“And he started killing only men who frequented the red-light district. Hiding in the darkness, quieter than anyone, stronger than anything……”

The man’s eyes grew dim as if recalling something as he panted in fear.

“It was the same that day. In the room, when I was with other customers…… he appeared! That day he killed as many as five people at once.”

Now Delphine could understand why Lin had referred to this man as a survivor.

“Then you……”

“I barely survived by hiding in the trash can in the room. I’m probably the only one……”

The man muttered, shaking.

“They said that devil never lets go of a target once chosen.”

Delphine lost her words for a moment with a confused face.

‘The blonde devil’. It was a name she had never heard before.

Had such a horrible incident really occurred in the empire?

Was it because it happened in District 3 that she didn’t know about it?

“It’s a name that no one but this man remembers now.”

Lin calmly murmured, noticing Delphine’s confusion.

No one except one person remembers Ioan.

Delphine shuddered and hugged her arms at the familiar story.

‘Then, that blonde devil…… is it Ioan?’

The man who had been shouting loudly suddenly started muttering fearfully while checking each lock on the door.

“That’s right. No one remembers. No one…… H-how is that possible?”

He seemed to be in an abnormal state, as if suffering from compulsion and fear for many years.

“That’s enough to hear.”

Lin cut off the man’s grumbling in a very indifferent tone.

After tossing a few gold coins to the man as if throwing them, he led Delphine back out of the house.

She glanced back just before the door closed again.

The man was muttering alone in the dark room.

“No one remembers…… That blonde devil…… This is strange…… something is wrong here……”

The door closed again.

Only the sound of the man locking multiple locks again echoed in the narrow alley.

They discussed in low voices as they made their way out of the alley.

“Until now, people remembered that Pryde became a hero a year ago by suppressing the rebellion in District 3.”

That is, until Delphine appeared and revealed the truth.

“But Delphine said that slave ran away to District 3 three years ago. And half a year ago, he suddenly became a marquis and appeared before you…… demanding marriage.”

Delphine nodded.

And the time the survivor mentioned was also a year ago.

“According to that man’s testimony, at that time the blonde devil was incredibly strong and strategic, but within human limits.”

In other words, Ioan was still a complete human then, not using magical powers.

To put it another way, Ioan gained some enormous, inhuman power after that.

And he used that power to manipulate the memories of the entire empire and transform himself into a marquis.

“……Is that right?”

When Delphine summarized her thoughts like that, Lin nodded with an impressed look.

“That’s right. Belly said the same thing.”

However, there were still several unresolved questions.

The most puzzling thing was why only she remembered Ioan’s past completely.

“Why on earth……”

Delphine asked with a confused face.

“Could it be related to the ability to charge posium?”

At that moment, Lin hesitated before answering.

“Investigate her birth, especially on the maternal side.”

That secret order from Belly.

……Should I share it with her too?

It wasn’t then, but now she’s one of our comrades, isn’t she?

Belly said to refrain from speaking until everything was certain, but she has the right to know.

“Delphine.”

“Yes?”

“Actually……”

Just as Lin, having made up his mind, was about to confess that fact to Delphine.

A loud vibration sounded from his chest.

Lin quickly pulled out the radio and muttered into it.

“What’s the matter?”

The answer from beyond the black object was brief.

Ioan is coming back to the mansion?

Didn’t he say he’d be away for a few days, so we left feeling assured?

Delphine’s face turned pale in an instant.

She did leave the doll Lin made in the study, but he would notice something strange in no time.

“Don’t worry.”

Lin grabbed Delphine’s hand without hesitation, tightly gripping the posium.

“I’ll take you back right away. ……Before that man returns.”

Instead of giving a trite response of understanding, Delphine quickly nodded her head greatly.

“Where is my lady?”

A deep, low voice with an unfamiliarly cold tone.

Pryde’s voice flowed through the open door of the lady’s chamber.

“Ma-Madam is in the study right now!”

Betty quickly answered with a face clearly showing tension.

“……Have you not informed her of my return yet?”

“Of-of course not! It’s just, um…… Madam said she wanted to finish a book today, so not to disturb her if possible……”

“Disturb.”

Pryde’s voice lowered even more.

He had already been displeased with how that maid hovered around Delphine.

Betty hastily tried to correct her words with a pale face.

“No, I didn’t mean you would be a disturbance, my lord……!”

“I’m right here.”

At that moment, a calm voice was heard from outside the chamber door.

Delphine entered the room, gracefully trailing her dress.

In her appearance, with beautiful flowing hair waving, there was no trace that she had just hurriedly returned to the study and changed clothes in a rush.

“My lady.”

Ioan called her with a face that instantly became affectionate.

If the door hadn’t been open, who could have thought he was the same person who had been harshly interrogating the maid just moments ago?

“Ma-Madam.”

Betty, who had been dealing with him, called Delphine in a tearful voice as if relieved of tension.

She had done very well, following the instructions given in advance before leaving the mansion just in case.

Delphine smiled warmly at her in appreciation and gave permission for her to leave the room now.

Betty hurriedly left the room as if she had been waiting for it.

“The novel was so interesting that I lost track of time.”

Delphine continued speaking with a gentle smile towards Ioan.

“You said you’d be away from the mansion for a few days, so I ordered the maid not to disturb me.”

“The work finished sooner than expected.”

Ioan also answered promptly with a gentle smile.

At his usual appearance, Delphine secretly swallowed a sigh of relief.

‘……He doesn’t seem suspicious.’

According to La Rouge’s report, he had suddenly decided to move, so she had been anxiously worried.

She didn’t know how he had moved so quickly from District 3 to here, but if they had been even a little late, it could have been a big problem.

‘It’s good we teleported here as soon as we heard the radio.’

Thinking that, Delphine slowly turned her back to him.

At that moment, a casual voice was heard from behind her.

“By the way, my lady. Did you really visit the study?”