Branden Hainkel.
The cardinal definitely looked at Schlus and cheerfully shouted.
Could it be by coincidence that someone shares the same surname as Schlus?
It must be clear that they are blood relatives.
Erica concluded thus.
“Schlus! It’s been a while! Do you recognize me?”
“······.”
“Hah. Hahaha. You forgot, huh? That could happen······.”
Though the cardinal approached cheerfully, Schlus just stared silently.
Is that guy crazy?
What an incredibly rude thing to do to the esteemed cardinal······.
Wait, they seem to know each other, but why is he ignoring him?
Just as Erica was itching to ask, Aintz jumped in.
“Schlus. Could he be your family?”
“Hahaha. Not at all. I’ve just temporarily borrowed his surname. There was a need to hide my identity.”
“Aha······.”
So he wasn’t blood-related.
He merely lent out his surname?
A cardinal to a commoner like Schlus?
From what Erica observed, Schlus didn’t seem like a devout believer.
She couldn’t grasp what on earth was going on.
“But I didn’t know you were still using that name. Have you found your mother?”
“······.”
“It seems you haven’t found her. Well, given that you are still living under that name, it makes sense······.”
“······.”
The conversation continued in an indecipherable manner.
Strangely, while the cardinal was flustered speaking, Schlus only continued to ignore him.
As if he were angry about something.
It was an unusual situation.
“I got carried away and delayed the greeting. Saint Iris. I am Cardinal Branden Hainkel.”
“It’s been such a long time.”
“Indeed. Hahaha.”
“These are my friends. Erica von der Lichtenburg and Aintz von Wigenburg. And Trie······”
“Edengard Trie von dem Schulzenburg.”
“Yes. Welcome. Please, come inside.”
Did Iris also have an acquaintance with him?
It was only natural.
Iris was a saint appointed directly by the pope.
With so many guests, it seemed the cardinal was a bit scatterbrained.
After shaking hands with everyone, they were guided into a large room inside.
“The pope says to wait a moment. It seems preparations are still underway.”
“Got it······.”
*Click-clack* The crackling campfire.
The group huddled closely in that spacious room, warming by the fire.
The interior of the church was well-ventilated to the point of being chilly.
An awkward silence lingered for a moment.
Schlus enjoyed such silences, but there were two people here who could not bear it.
“So about earlier·····!”
“Schlus is·····!”
Aintz and Erica spoke at the same time, glaring at each other.
They were polar opposites in personality, but they had overlapping quirks as well.
For instance, they both had personalities that couldn’t resist curiosity.
“So why did you give Schlus the cardinal’s surname?”
“Well, you see······.”
In response to Aintz’s question, the cardinal stared intently at Schlus, gauging the situation.
He silently nodded to signal the answer.
But Iris was only glowering at the cardinal without saying a word.
As soon as the cardinal caught on to that meaning, he squeezed his eyes shut.
Schlus seemed okay to share, but Iris signaled refusal.
It appeared that Iris’s story would need to be omitted.
“In the past, when I was just a lowly priest, during the time of war with the kingdom. One day, a boy washed up on the riverbank in front of the Eisburg shrine. At that time, a certain nun, who was staying at the shrine, carried the boy. He was already gravely injured and nearly at death’s door.”
“······?”
No matter how you looked at it, that boy was likely Schlus Hainkel.
However, hearing that he was taken in by the shrine after suffering injuries was something new for Erica.
She only knew he had gone missing after the Eisburg battle·····.
Curious, Erica began to focus on the cardinal’s story.
“When the boy woke up and was recovering, the kingdom’s army came looking. They asked if a son of the Eisburg guard was there. It seemed they were referring to the boy the nun had brought. So, I had no choice but to pretend he was my son and say he was Hainkel. That’s when the alias Schlus Hainkel was born.”
“Then you came up with the name Schlus, your excellency?”
“No. That was his own idea.”
The more Erica listened, the more she felt she was sinking into a quagmire.
What had Schlus been doing to wash up on the river? Why was the kingdom’s army searching for him?
And why had he continued to use the fake name created to evade the kingdom’s pursuit?
Just as Erica was becoming confused, Aintz seemed unsure and pressed further.
“So why did Schlus fall into the water? What about his injuries? Was he in a battle?”
“Hahaha. I don’t know any more than that.”
But the cardinal chuckled, refusing to answer.
At that moment of frustration for Erica and Aintz, Trie began to catch on to some hints.
‘The kingdom’s army has only pushed into the empire once. Only during the winter offensive.’
The timing narrowed down to the period of the kingdom’s winter offensive.
On that night, Eisburg castle nearly fell after allowing thousands of kingdom soldiers to infiltrate but miraculously managed to defend itself.
However, what was strange was that the remaining defenders hadn’t even number thirty.
Meanwhile, the kingdom’s army had over a thousand troops following the battle.
How could only thirty guards force a thousand elite soldiers to retreat from a successfully infiltrated castle?
The logic didn’t add up.
‘And that army was searching for Schlus······.’
It’s alright to lose a battle they had to win.
But why would an advancing kingdom’s army waste time looking for just one boy?
What kind of value did they presume that boy held?
‘Could it be that the one who led the battle to victory was that boy····· Schlus?’
Trie attempted to read Schlus’s face, straining to figure out his expression.
Of course, there were no results.
His expression remained expressionless throughout.
‘Hmm······?’
At that moment, Trie looked wide-eyed as she leaned back to stretch.
Schlus’s hand, which had been pushed back, was covered by Iris’s palm.
She was squeezing between his fingers.
For a moment, Trie suspected she misread the situation.
Stretching forward again, she saw that Erica and Aintz had no inkling of what was happening behind Schlus’s broad back.
“Ugh, I’m dying of frustration! Can’t you just say it plainly, Iris? You know something, right? Come on!”
“Ask Schlus. If he allows, I can tell you everything.”
“Schlus! You just have to allow it! What’s so great about your past! Just tell us!”
“······.”
“Schlus?”
There was no answer from Schlus.
It seemed he didn’t even hear the question.
He sat there, staring blankly, expressionless.
Feeling odd, Aintz waved his hand front of Schlus’s eyes.
He snapped his fingers, clapped his hands, but Schlus showed no sign of response.
As if he had fainted with his eyes wide open······.
“What’s up with Schlus?”
“Beats me.”
It was the moment Iris calmly smiled and withdrew her hand.
“Ugh·····!”
“Yikes!”
Schlus took a deep breath, awakening suddenly.
Startled by his sudden reaction, Trie didn’t know what to do.
Breathing heavily, Schlus looked at the faces of the group one by one.
But his expression was strange.
He was terrified······
No, it was more like a confused gaze.
It was the first time Trie had seen Schlus like this.
Only Iris remained calm, observing the situation.
*
What the heck is going on, I wondered.
When Iris suddenly grabbed my hand from behind, I didn’t bother to shake it off.
I just wanted to know why she was doing this.
Was she teasing me to enjoy my reaction?
Or did she have some kind of intention?
‘Huh?’
At that moment, a crushing sensation overwhelmed me.
My vision became blocked.
The jabbering voices I had been hearing ceased.
All that remained was the warm touch in my left hand.
‘Damn it.’
Having experienced this a few times, I could confidently say.
I was trapped in a barrier.
Did she really just grab my hand to surprise me and stealthily cast a barrier?
But it was useless for me.
I could just break it right away.
‘What the heck?’
But no matter how I searched, I couldn’t find the spell of the barrier.
Wondering if I should try ‘Selection and Concentration’ on my mana sensitivity, there were still no spells appearing.
Concealing the spell so cleverly would be impossible even for a Majin.
I had no choice but to conclude.
The barrier wrapping around me wasn’t real.
It was only that my ability was affecting me.
‘Memory of True Self······.’
A powerful ability that overlays reality.
Triggered randomly, it was a troll ability that I couldn’t control.
It was likely a memory of when Schlus learned how to see and hear with mana.
But why on earth did this ability activate so strongly?
Could it be because I held Iris’s hand?
‘Huh?’
At that moment, the warm touch unfolded my fist and began to tickle my palm.
No, it wasn’t a tickle.
She was writing something.
– I’ll tell you my name.
She said she would tell me her name.
Alright. Go ahead.
I wouldn’t forget it.
– Iris.
Ah. Crazy.
– What’s your name?
The puzzle pieces were slowly falling into place.
