When I said I had a request, the captain immediately reacted.

“What is it?”

“Please allow me to choose the members who will enter the rift with me this time.”

After seeing Ernant’s basement, I had one question.

Where did Ernant get all those monsters from?

He probably either hired Awakened mercenaries or secretly received monsters from someone among our knights.

I thought the latter was more likely.

To capture that many monsters, one would need to be an Awakened with strong abilities, and all such strong Awakened were gathered in the Silver Knights.

Which means…

‘There must be Ernant’s person inside our knight order. Through that person, Ernant received the monsters.’

I had to find that person.

I had to find them before things got more dangerous and stop them from bringing monsters to Ernant anymore.

So I planned to narrow down the suspects and take them to the rift to monitor them, but the captain didn’t seem very pleased with my request.

“You want to personally choose the members to enter the rift with? What’s the reason?”

Since I expected this kind of question, I immediately gave the answer I had prepared in advance.

“I overheard the young ladies whispering secretly at the ballroom. It seems someone is capturing monsters and using them as ingredients to make cosmetics for distribution in the market.”

“Wait, did you just say products made from monsters are being distributed? Are you sure? If what you’re saying is true, this is a very serious matter.”

“It might just be a rumor circulating among the young ladies, but I think we need to investigate. There might be someone in the knight order who is lining their pockets with such deeds.”

“Hmm…”

Since I couldn’t say that it was Ernant who was using the monsters, I made up a suitable fake story.

Fortunately, the captain seemed to take my story seriously.

After pondering for a while, he spoke with a determined face.

“We certainly need to investigate this. I should request cooperation from the imperial family for the investigation—”

“No!!”

I hurriedly shook my head at his words about requesting cooperation from the imperial family, which meant Ernant.

“Since it’s just a rumor I heard, I don’t think we should make it too big of an issue.”

“Is that so?”

“Yes, I’ll quietly investigate on my own.”

“Hmm.”

After thinking for a moment, the captain finally nodded.

“Alright. Handle it quietly.”

“Thank you—”

“However, you don’t need to monitor the members alone.”

“…?”

“I’ll accompany you in this action.”

There was no way the captain wouldn’t get involved in such an important matter.

Since it was an expected response, I accepted his words without any confusion.

It was what I heard next that really shocked me.

“It’s difficult for regular members to divert monsters. If someone did such a thing, it’s likely to be one of the vice-captains.”

“Pardon? If it’s the vice-captains…”

“Yes, I’m talking about Karl and Elma. Especially Elma’s ability is suitable for diverting monsters.”

I didn’t want to suspect Elma, but sadly, the captain’s words were correct.

Except for the few monsters that crossed over to this world, most monsters were beyond the rift, so to capture them, one had to cross the rift.

However, going there without being noticed by anyone was quite difficult.

Near most rifts, small fortresses were built, and soldiers were always monitoring the rifts from inside.

Therefore, to secretly go beyond the rift and divert monsters, there were only three methods:

1. Bribing the soldiers monitoring the rift with money.

2. Using mental manipulation abilities to brainwash the soldiers, rendering them powerless, and then accessing the rift.

3. Using spatial movement abilities to access the rift without being detected by the soldiers.

The one to focus on here was number 3.

Those with abilities commonly called ‘teleportation’ or ‘spatial movement’ could freely move anywhere.

If they used this movement ability, it would be possible to move beyond the rift and extract monsters without being detected by the soldiers.

“Indeed, with Elma’s spatial movement ability, it would be easy to divert monsters.”

Hearing my words, the captain nodded.

“For now, Elma is the most likely suspect. Keep a close eye on her until more concrete measures are in place.”

“…Yes, I’ll monitor her properly.”

Elma was as close to me as Karl was.

I could tell Elma, being of the same gender, deep personal stories that were difficult to share with Karl.

To have to suspect and monitor such an Elma…

It was bitter, but since it couldn’t be helped, I left the captain’s tent without protest.

It was then, as I left the tent.

“Vice-Captain! Here you are! I’ve been waiting because I have something I must tell you!”

Elma approached me, saying this in her usual energetic voice.

Elma’s face was flushed with excitement as she came closer.

She seemed to have brought some interesting topic, but as I had to suspect and monitor Elma, I couldn’t greet her warmly as usual.

“…What is it?”

Despite my somewhat awkward response, Elma fortunately didn’t seem to notice anything strange and shared her story.

“Remember when you told me to be careful of the brown-haired man before?”

“Hm? Ah, yes, I did. Did you meet him, that man?”

“Yes, a brown-haired man named Olen!”

Having said that much, Elma grasped my hand tightly and vented her indignation.

“Just as you said, that man asked me out on a date, but it turns out he was married!”

Hearing Elma’s words, I simply nodded.

I wasn’t surprised. It was all as I had expected.

Olen. That man had approached Elma before I regressed, and it seems the same thing happened again.

Of course, before the regression, neither Elma nor I knew that Olen was married.

So even when I heard that a man named Olen had asked Elma out on a date, I had cheered for their love.

Without even imagining that Olen might be married…

How much Elma had suffered because of that incident.

Although Elma was simply deceived by Olen, the nobles in high society who loved to gossip pointed fingers at Elma, the victim instead.

A noble knight bearing the dishonor of an affair – it must have been truly interesting gossip for the frivolous nobles.

So to prevent the same situation from happening again this time, I had warned Elma in advance, and it seemed to have worked fortunately.

Thanks to that, Elma, who had avoided the crisis, spoke rapidly while fuming.

“If you hadn’t warned me in advance, I could have been in big trouble! Remembering your warning to be careful, I looked closely and noticed there was a mark on that man’s finger where a wedding ring had been!”

“Oh my…”

“So when I confronted him, he admitted he was actually married… Whew, it was really close, you know?”

I nodded comfortingly to console Elma.

“It’s really fortunate you didn’t get involved with that scammer. I’m sure you’ll meet a better man, so cheer up.”

“Thank you, Vice-Captain. But there’s one thing I’m curious about. How did you know in advance? That Olen would approach me. It even seems like you knew beforehand that he was married…”

“Ah, about that?”

Since the fact that I had regressed was still my top secret, I made up a suitable lie this time as well.

“I heard somewhere that a married man named Olen was interested in you. So I gave you a heads up just in case.”

“What? But Vice-Captain, you hardly have any routes to hear such social rumors, do you? Since you’re always beyond the rift.”

“Hmm, well, that… Ah, I often exchange letters with Johannes. Naturally, I end up hearing about social affairs that way… Well, anyway, that’s how I found out.”

Having never told a lie in my entire life, it was troublesome that I had to lie so often since regressing.

I could only hope that my hastily made-up lie didn’t sound awkward.

Elma looked puzzled for a moment but seemed to have decided to believe my words.

“I see! However you knew, I’m truly grateful! Vice-Captain, you’re my savior!”

Seeing Elma’s beaming face, a smile naturally formed on my lips as well.

Elma, who was pointed at as an immoral woman who had an affair with a married man before the regression.

Unlike that Elma then, the current Elma was bright and cheerful.

So much so that I wanted to protect this pure, bright smile forever.

I held Elma’s hand in return and sincerely hoped.

That Elma was not the culprit who diverted the monsters.

If Elma turned out to be the culprit—

If she resisted instead of surrendering quietly when exposed as the culprit—

Then I might have to punish Elma with my own hands.

And that would surely be a more terrible tragedy than any I had ever experienced.