‘What is she talking about?’

For a moment, that thought crossed Altair’s mind.

Liridel couldn’t have said such a thing. No, she shouldn’t have.

Liridel was to obey him unconditionally. The notion that she would harbor doubts and fail to comply was impossible.

“Liridel.”

Altair cleared his throat and called her.

“Didn’t you see? This guy is trying to kill me.”

“That’s not how it looks.”

Liridel’s lowered gaze moved from Altair to William.

“You could’ve run away whenever you wanted. And this posture you have…”

A bitter overtone was palpable in Liridel’s clear voice.

“It’s the posture you take when you intend to kill someone.”

“It’s because the Captain first…!”

“Altair.”

Liridel looked straight at Altair.

“The Captain is a reasonable person. He wouldn’t try to kill us while he’s a guest.”

“…”

“Unless, of course, you’ve done something.”

Liridel drove the point home.

“What did you do, Altair?”

Altair opened his mouth to respond to Liridel, but then closed it again. There were many things he could have said, but none would have assuaged Liridel, who was now doubting him. It would only make the situation worse.

“…Liridel.”

In the end, Altair decided to exit the situation.

“You really think I’d try to kill the Captain? We just had a big fight, that’s all.”

“Why did you fight?”

Liridel tilted her head.

“There must’ve been a reason for it.”

“I can answer that.”

William spoke for the first time. Altair glanced at him cautiously.

‘He won’t fabricate lies. He has no way to attack me since he witnessed the Duke disappear. This will pass as an incident.’

Altair tried to control his visible anxiety, but the fact that he kept looking at Liridel showed how unstable the current situation was.

“…You tried to assassinate the Duke, and overthrow our Donovan.”

“…!”

Blood drained from Altair’s face. The once seemingly honest Captain had just told an unbelievable lie.

‘It’s alright.’

Altair reassured himself. There was no way Liridel would believe such an outrageous lie. Even Shatekan, who didn’t particularly like him, firmly believed his goal was the Demon King.

‘He’s digging his own grave.’

Altair thought this might be an opportunity to remove William.

“Liridel, you don’t believe that, do you?”

“I don’t.”

Liridel responded in a cold voice.

“But it seems the Captain does.”

“…”

“Right, Altair.”

Liridel’s catlike eyes stared directly at him. Altair stepped back. He had never been afraid of Liridel before.

Because her existence had only two purposes: loyalty to her master, Leodel, and love.

But this Liridel was different. She wasn’t blindly following his words but was thinking and judging for herself, even finding contradictions.

‘…How did this game end up like this?’

Even if it felt real, a game was still a game.

The characters, locations, and various items in it were all created by the game.

Bound by a fixed scenario.

At least until this moment, that’s what Altair had thought.

But now…

“May I delve into your memories to find out what happened?”

Absolutely not.

Altair was startled.

Liridel’s memory magic wasn’t just about revisiting events.

It thoroughly revealed the target’s perspective at the time, allowing the user to know all their thoughts.

Altair glared at William.
“Liridel, if you want to be of help to me, look into the author’s memories. I genuinely want to know what the author is thinking.”

“……”

Liridel’s response came back somewhat slowly.

“Okay.”

Altair felt relieved.

As expected, Liridel was on his side.

If he were to consider William’s thoughts, he would well understand that he harbored baseless malice toward him.

From then on, it would be smooth sailing.

As Liridel began to chant, a mystical purple light enveloped her.

Altair looked at her intently. It wasn’t a concern for failure; it was whether Liridel would probe into William’s thoughts and decide as he intended.

“……No.”

“What do you mean, no?”

Altair doubted his ears.

Liridel had never failed at a spell before. Initially, because the game of Leodel itself was designed so that the casting of a mage’s skill could not fail.

But, she can’t see?

Liridel’s voice, which began to explain, was evidently tinged with bewilderment.

“……The author is resisting.”

“Force it open. You’re skilled enough for that.”

Although Altair pressed her, Liridel just shook her head.

“It’s not possible.”

William let out a hollow laugh.

“What will you do now? Attack me two against one?”

Altair gripped his sword tightly.

“If need be, yes.”

“No need.”

Liridel spoke firmly.

“Me, you, and even Shatekan. Let’s leave this place.”

“We can’t leave because of the snow.”

“It won’t come now.”

Altair’s face suddenly scrunched up. It didn’t seem like a simple coincidence that the snow, which had been falling, had now stopped.

‘That treacherous bastard…!’

Hades Croitner freely manipulates ice and snow. There was no doubt that he had been holding them back.

‘Wait, that means…’

A malicious smile surfaced on Altair’s face.