Inheriting the Novel

Chapter 6 : Novel Revision (1)

Novel Revision (1)

The investigation began immediately.

Originally, Baian would have taken charge of the investigation, but the situation had already changed.

Since there wasn't anyone else to take on this task, marquis Atram had no choice but to personally direct the investigation.

I also moved along with the other knights as an involved party.

"You're making a mistake, Clay Vanhart."

"A mistake? Ah, more importantly, why are you here, sir Deoric?"

I replied to Baian with an incredulous tone.

Although I spoke formally due to the presence of others, I almost questioned him informally out of habit.

'Surely, Baian is a suspect too, isn't he?'

It was only natural, since Kinzel's movements had been revealed.

Therefore, he should have been subject to investigation, yet he was allowed to move around freely—it was almost laughable.

'This is really sloppy.'

Ever since Duke Gale collapsed, this is how things have been.

It only showed how much Baian was trusted, but it made Sir Eaton, who was already confined like the real culprit, seem pitiful.

Standing beside Marquis Atram, I pointed to Sir Eaton, who was being escorted by the knights.

"Sir, shouldn't you be over there?"

"I don't know what you hope to achieve by clinging to me, but it's pointless."

He didn't even seem willing to listen to my words.

I smiled at his clear hostility.

"We'll just have to see if it's pointless, won't we?"

"You..."

"There are many eyes watching. Shouldn't you observe the proper decorum?"

Returning the words he had once used on me, Baian bit down hard on his lip and turned his gaze away.

"... Let's see how long you can keep up that confidence."

"You're so considerate, sir Deoric. Saying what I ought to."

A little later, under Marquis Atram's direction, the knights began searching Sir Eaton's tent.

From the supplies to even neatly arranged personal belongings, everything was upended. Not a single item, armor or sword, was handled lightly.

Sir Eaton watched in humiliation, but Baian remained relatively unconcerned.

However, I could sense the emotion hidden beneath his calm exterior.

'Anticipation.'

There was a sense of expectation and excitement about what was to come. He believed that the poisoned ink bottle would be found among Sir Eaton's things.

I even knew that he had sent his servant multiple times to check the records to make sure everything went smoothly.

Unfortunately for him, the ledger that servant checked had been forged by me.

Unaware of that, Baian was eagerly waiting for the knights to uncover the poisoned ink bottle.

Watching his face made it almost impossible to hold back my laughter.

"...?"

Naturally, no matter how much time passed, nothing unusual appeared.

Only then did Baian, who had been watching in leisure, begin to realize something was wrong.

"This is the last of it."

When a knight said that and dumped out the supply box, Baian was watching with bulging eyes due to his intensity.

He watched anxiously as every item was checked, but nothing new came out.

There was no ink bottle anywhere.

"There's nothing out of the ordinary..."

Marquis Atram murmured as he stroked his chin, and Baian looked as though he wanted to shout something.

No way! There had to be a poisoned ink bottle among those supplies!

That's what he seemed to be thinking. No, he was certainly thinking that.

So much so that Baian was silently screaming at Marquis Atram, his face naked with incredulity.

"Then next is Sir Deoric."

Marquis Atram said with displeasure. Since nothing had been found in Sir Eaton's things, it was only natural.

Meanwhile, Baian's face turned pale and rigid.

"Excuse us, sir Deoric."

"...."

Several knights who had been watching Sir Eaton came over to Baian Deoric.

This signified that suspicion had now shifted toward Baian.

As Marquis Atram and the knights moved to search his tent, Baian maintained his silence.

He finally spoke, the moment the knights began to search his tent.

"... What did you do?"

"What do you mean?"

Watching the knights rummage through his tent, Baian questioned me in a low voice.

His tone resembled the growl of a beast. Completely unlike the usual Baian.

But for me, it was a familiar sight.

Back when the Deoric family still had ties with me, this was a face he'd often shown me.

"You've always been that way. Even with no particular talent, you always annoyed me."

"I always thought so, but..."

Now that all eyes were forward, I spoke to him informally as well.

"You have an oddly high opinion of yourself."

"... What?"

"You look down on everyone, your own family members included, and even me."

I grinned, enjoying the sensation of watching the mask of virtue Baian wore crack.

"Even though you can't even see what's right in front of you."

Only then did Baian turn his gaze back to the front.

And then, he froze.

"This... There's something odd about this ink."

A knight handed an ink bottle to Marquis Atram.

Baian stared at the bottle, its black liquid swishing, as if he was seeing the impossible.

"Why, why is that there...!"

"Oh, so you know what this is?"

Even as I spoke lightly, Baian couldn't answer. More precisely, he had no composure left.

And understandably so. That item was supposed to be in Sir Eaton's luggage.

It was never meant to be among Baian's possessions.

So why was it there?

Because I had planted it.

"Baian Deoric."

Slowly, as if seeing a ghost, Baian turned to look at me.

"I told you before, didn't I? About reaping what you sow."

"...!"

A light returned to Baian's vacant eyes.

Being intelligent, he must have realized what I meant.

'If it had been before, it would have ended here.'

Just a small crack in his mask would have been as far as I could provoke him.

'Why did Baian become a spy for the Kainzel Kingdom?'

I kept wondering.

Baian, once called a genius of the sword, once basked in everyone's expectations—why did he risk everything to become a spy for the Kainzel Kingdom?

"This is why you always fall short."

Baian's personality, which I'd known since childhood.

From his behavior this time, I drew one hypothesis.

A way to shatter his mask entirely.

"As the heir."

His reaction was dramatic. At first, he stared at me in a daze, then his eyes flashed with fire.

If you think about it rationally, my words and actions just now were surely odd.

But the situation he was now trapped in was nothing like planned—his predicament created by someone he thought insignificant.

'Baian's patience isn't as strong as it seems.'

With his mask shattered, Baian's rage exploded as he lost reason.

"Clay Vanhart...! How dare you...!"

Ching!

A sword was drawn from Baian's waist.

Seemingly forgetting the presence of other nobles and knights, he raised his hand and pushed magic power into his sword.

Whooosh!

Blue aura surged along his blade.

At the same time, he swung his sword at me.

"S-Sir Deoric?!"

"What are you doing?!"

But it wasn't just Baian and me here. As Baian swung his sword, other knights hurried to block the blow.

Only then did Baian come to his senses and abruptly stop his sword.

"Kh!"

He glared at me and retreated.

That's when he realized that everything happening now was a trap I'd set.

Putting on an exaggeratedly flustered face, I spoke politely.

"I don't know why Sir Deoric would swing his sword at me."

"I misjudged you, Clay Vanhart."

At this point, Baian's move was a critical mistake.

To attack the one who accused him immediately after the suspicious ink bottle appeared looked suspect by any standards. It was practically a confession.

"Hah."

Perhaps realizing his error, Baian twisted his lips into a crooked smile.

"I never imagined things would come to this..."

Baian could surely feel Marquis Atram's and the other knights' stares pressing on him.

Their eyes, full of suspicion and confusion.

'I won.'

No matter how clever Baian was, there was no way to escape this situation.

"You'd best give up quietly. It will soon be revealed that this ink bottle contains poison."

"Give up?"

He no longer had the composure he'd shown before. The madness that had been hidden beneath his mask was now oozing out.

"If I were going to do that, I wouldn't have done any of this in the first place."

'What?'

His answer left me momentarily stunned.

Baian was already finished.

No matter that the nearby knights were weaker than Baian, this was the center of the military camp.

With a single order from Marquis Atram, countless knights would rush to arrest him.

Or so I thought...

But an odd sense of unease crept over me.

'No matter what, there's no way he can escape from here.'

But Baian was my opponent.

An antagonist permitted to stand against the protagonist of the novel.

'No way... They can't possibly be incompetent enough to let him escape from here, right?'

Looking over at the knights restraining me, and at Marquis Atram, who was watching with a sour expression—

Right then.

"Haaaap!"

With a shout, Baian slammed his sword, wreathed in blue haze of magic power, into the ground.

BOOOOM!

Dust swirled upward, obscuring everyone's vision, and in that instant, Baian darted out of the tent.

"Catch him!"

"Chase him! After him, now! We must catch Baian Deoric!"

Only after the chaos erupted did Marquis Atram shout.

The knights only began moving in confusion after that.

I almost cursed at the sight.

'And these idiots call themselves knights...! What are they waiting for—catch him, you fools!'

I'd underestimated Baian's resolve.

He was the real deal.

A tenacious beast who never gives up.

"Do not let him escape from the camp!"

Marquis Atram shouted at the top of his lungs, but it wasn't as easy as he made it sound.

There was a reason Baian had been called the genius of House Deoric.

At that young age, he was already an advanced-rank sword expert.

A warrior on the verge of becoming a swordmaster.

That's why he could be the 'antagonist' who opposed the protagonist.

From the start, among all who joined this war, few matched Baian's skill, and only Tedric Eaton in the vicinity could rival him.

But Tedric Eaton hadn't completely cleared his name yet, so he couldn't act rashly.

If he did move, he risked being seen as a fugitive like Baian, and becoming a target as well.

'Even so, is it possible nobody can catch someone fleeing across the entire camp?'

Apparently, it is.

Because it was happening right before my eyes.

"What is it? What's going on?"

"Isn't that Sir Deoric? What's he doing?"

Baian moved faster than information could spread.

Even with the order to stop him, few believed that Baian Deoric had really committed a crime.

The recent lull in the war, leaving everyone complacent in peace, only made the problem worse.

With all these 'causes' piling up, Baian managed to escape the camp and dash into the forest nearby.

"Don't let him get away! After Baian, everyone!"

They were stampeding after Baian, who had already run into the forest, but honestly, it seemed hopeless to actually catch him.

If we couldn't catch him within the camp, how could we possibly catch him in the forest?

'Unbelievable.'

He really got away.

There were more idiots in our army than I'd thought.

Once again, I felt the greatness of Duke Gale, who managed to lead such fools and overwhelm the Kainzel Kingdom.

It was also the moment I realized why the war would be lost once Duke Gale died.

'We're screwed.'

I felt a chilling sensation down my back.

'Baian must not be allowed to escape, ever.'

It was a primal feeling.

If Baian escaped now, he would become a monster that no one could handle.

And he would never forget that I was the one who ruined his plans.

He was the 'antagonist' that the protagonist was meant to face.

But now, there was no protagonist.

'So who will stop Baian?'

The damned thing was—I already knew the answer.