Louis rummaged through his pocket and handed Ted a large nail and the hammer he had on his belt.

Loud noises could still be heard from inside the coffin.

“Sleep well, you son of a bitch.”

Bang! The sound of Ted hammering nails into the coffin lid was heard.

A muffled scream escaped from the pit and echoed eerily throughout the cemetery.

Charlotte said.

“He’ll die like that, we have to stop this!”

“Wait just a bit longer.”

“What more are we waiting for?!”

It was the moment Charlotte raised her voice in frustration.

Louis, Ted’s personal physician, suddenly turned his head towards where Charlotte and Matiel were hiding.

“Who’s there?”

Ted seemed not to have heard Louis’s voice, either busy hammering or due to the sound of fists pounding inside the coffin.

With his hand thrust into his pocket, Louis began walking towards the two with eyes wide open.

“I said, who’s there?”

Damn it. Charlotte bit her lip.

Matiel, sitting next to her, showed no reaction for some reason and just stared intently at the approaching Louis.

‘If worst comes to worst, I’ll have to disorient him for a moment…’

Charlotte clenched and unclenched her sweaty palms.

As Louis pulled his hand out of his pocket, a small sharp blade flashed in the darkness.

“If you don’t come out willingly, I’ll slit your throat with this. I’ll count to three. One, two…”

The sound of footsteps on grass came right up to their ears.

‘Now!’

It was the moment Charlotte stood up abruptly, looking Louis straight in the eye.

Though his focus became blurry, perhaps feeling dizzy from the magic, Louis reflexively thrust the knife-wielding arm forward.

Charlotte instinctively raised her hand to block it.

Simultaneously, there was a dull thud and Louis’s body flew back.

“Urghh…!”

Louis groaned, rolling on the ground clutching his stomach.

Charlotte inadvertently parted her lips as she watched Matiel’s long leg, which had been extended forward, slowly lower. When had he gotten up without her noticing?

“Is this the time to be standing there dumbfounded?”

Matiel said. He strode over with wide steps, then stepped on Louis’s hand as he groped for the knife and kicked him in the face once more.

With a crack, Louis screamed.

“What’s going on?”

It was Ted’s voice. He seemed to have finally noticed the commotion outside. Desperate screams and the sound of pounding fists still echoed from inside the coffin.

“Louis, what’s happening? Damn it, what…!”

Charlotte spread her hands and looked him straight in the eye.

Because it was dark, she had to practically lie down over the pit to make eye contact.

And she nearly retched at the terrible, fishy stench that washed over her like a tidal wave.

“Uh…”

A dull groan escaped Ted’s mouth.

Charlotte glared at his blurry eyes with one arm covering her nose.

“Pull out the nails in the coffin lid. Then come up quietly.”

Ted, who had been fumbling, turned around and looked down at the coffin.

Then he stood up the claw of the hammer on the opposite side of where he had hammered the nails and began to groan as he pulled out the large nails.

After pulling out three nails, the lid opened with a bang!

Ted fell backwards and must have hit his head on a rock in the pile of dirt, as he lost consciousness and slid down.

The man who literally popped out of the coffin gasped with a ruined face and screamed when he saw Charlotte.

“Aah! Aaahhh…!”

Charlotte frowned.

“Be quiet. I’m not a ghost. You’ll burst my eardrums.”

“Y-you, who are you! P-please, get me out of here, please…!”

The man sobbed, hiccuping. He seemed to have forgotten that it was a height he could easily climb out of on his own.

Charlotte glanced at the unconscious Ted, then stood up, dusting off her hands that had touched the ground.

“Just step on the coffin and climb up. If I try to pull you up, I might fall in too.”

* * *

Tedderbin Liberon remained unconscious until the police officers arrived.

His personal physician, friend, and accomplice Louis was in no condition to stand after being thoroughly beaten by Matiel.

“Well, I never expected to meet Duke Elinak in a place like this,” said the inspector leading the officers, half-puzzled and half-deferential.

“Why is Duke Elinak here…?”

“I came to pay respects on behalf of His Majesty, as I heard the second son of Baron Liberon had suddenly passed away.”

“Ah, I see. Then this young lady is…?”

“My companion.”

Charlotte glanced at Matiel.

The inspector seemed to find it sufficient that she was part of Duke Elinak’s party and asked no further questions.

News of this commotion at the cemetery immediately reached the Liberon baronial house.

Baron Liberon, who had rushed over supported by his eldest son, collapsed on the spot upon seeing his unconscious son in handcuffs.

The curious mourners who had followed also screamed or let out harsh groans, murmuring about what all this meant.

“It, it was Ted who ordered it. Ted asked me to do it! I only made the drug as I was told!” Louis Eigen shouted at the top of his lungs as he was dragged away by the police officers, his face covered in blood.

The inspector clicked his tongue and said,

“They used a drug that temporarily paralyzes the nerves and makes one appear dead to fake Tedderbin Liberon’s death. It seems they planned to split the embezzled money and for Tedderbin to flee to another region.”

Matiel, who had his arms crossed, raised one eyebrow.

“Did they use illegally compounded drugs?”

“That’s right. They mixed other substances into a drug normally used as a sedative… My goodness, how reckless! He could have actually died.”

“Attempted murder and instigation of illegal drug manufacturing. Tedderbin Liberon will receive an aggravated sentence.”

“A lifetime in prison won’t be enough. Did he think it would be so easy to kill someone without a trace? There’s a limit to foolishness.”

The inspector shook his head, muttering as if talking to himself.

Matiel said,

“For now, I’ll report this incident to His Majesty verbally. The written report will reach His Majesty through the Prime Minister, but I’ll review it as well, so make sure there are no mistakes.”

“Understood, Your Grace.”

While the two were conversing, Charlotte furrowed her brow as she noticed the faint fishy smell growing stronger again.

Now she could tell for certain. This was not the smell of a magical beast.

Malice. Charlotte thought. This fishy stench was the smell of human malice, more terrible than any magical beast.

It was the foul odor emanating from Tedderbin Liberon.

“What, who are you people! Let me go right now! Do you know who I am!”

He thrashed about, shaking his handcuffed hands.

When the eldest son of the baronial family, Tedderbin’s older brother, slapped him across the face with all his might, the fishy and nauseating stench grew even more intense.

Hatred, jealousy, arrogance, and obstinacy. Such emotions were boiling like tar at Tedderbin’s feet.

“I’m going back.”

Charlotte turned on her heel.

Matiel, who had been watching the police officers roughly shove the struggling Tedderbin Liberon into the back of the transport carriage, quickly caught up with her.

“I’ll take you home.”

“No need, I feel nauseous and might throw up if I ride in a carriage now. It’s better if I walk.”

“You’re going to walk back to your house in the middle of the night? Are you in your right mind?”

“Yes, I am.”

Charlotte waved her hand as if tired, then turned her head abruptly and smirked, raising one corner of her mouth.

“Why, are you worried about me?”

“No. I’m worried about the ordinary people who might run into you.”

“What have I done?”

“You might make them run on all fours like you did with Baron Lirald last time. Right? What else can you do?”

Charlotte snorted and started walking again. Matiel stretched out his long legs to match her pace.

As they entered the street, the sound of a carriage following behind could be heard.

The distinctive heavy sound of a four-wheeled carriage, undoubtedly the one Matiel had arrived in.

Charlotte said,

“If you want to hear what else I can do, three sleepless nights wouldn’t be enough.”

“That’s perfect. It probably won’t take three days to walk to the capital, but you can tell me one by one as we go.”

Charlotte stopped walking and looked up at Matiel.

“You’ve been giving orders in the guise of suggestions since last time.”

“I’ve never pretended otherwise. To be frank, I have the right to order you to do anything.”

“That’s exactly why most people find nobles like you detestable.”

“You seem to be against the class system? I heard there were remnants of the revolutionary government that survived, are you one of them?”

Charlotte glared at Matiel like an angry beast, then shook her head as if giving up on arguing.

Matiel clearly hadn’t brought up the topic seriously either.

He simply continued to match Charlotte’s pace persistently with a much more relaxed attitude than before, without adding anything else.

“I don’t care about the revolutionary government or the monarchy. I’m not interested in anyone. It would be more accurate to say I’m not interested in humans themselves.”

“That’s similar to me.”

Charlotte made a sound close to a snort again.

“Nobles aren’t uninterested in humans, they’re just uninterested in commoners.”

“You can think that if you want. But I’m not interested in commoners or nobles.”

“Then what are you interested in? Monitoring and tailing mages like me?”

Matiel answered,

“I’m interested in maintaining order in the Kingdom of Roynocke according to His Majesty’s commands.”

“So that’s why you’re also interested in the serial killings in Eliki?”

“That’s right. By the way, do you really intend to walk all the way home? My horses seem about to go mad from boredom trying to match our pace.”

The sound of horses whinnying in frustration could be heard from behind.

Charlotte, who had momentarily stopped walking, let out a short sigh and abruptly turned towards the carriage.

“Fine, alright. But don’t blame me if I throw up from carriage sickness.”

Matiel replied in a nonchalant voice,

“That’s fine. If that happens, I’ll just move to the second floor. I had seats installed on the roof too.”