Episode 100
Arien felt the first great joy she had ever tasted. She was happy that she had done the wrong thing and was happy that she had succeeded.
'Ah, I was so excited. It even makes me dizzy.'
Arien clutched her head. She felt Elisha's body shake in front of her. Arien catches her breath and smiles. She slowly approached Elisha.
“Hey, Elisha. Where are you sick? Are you suddenly not feeling well?”
Elisha slowly raised her head. Her face was as indifferent as before.
“Oh, actually, I don't like white wine very much. So after I forced myself to drink it, my appetite was emptied and I felt a little nauseous.”
“Yes?”
Arienne doubted her ears for a moment.
'Surely the employee I bought said he was crazy about white wine? I mean expensive wine…….'
That was the moment. Arien grabbed her heart.
“Uh?”
It was the first great pain Arien had ever tasted since she was born. Her heart felt torn and her intestines twisted. She felt nauseous but at the same time couldn't vomit anything.
She had no face and nothing to do. She crawled on the floor and frothed in agony.
“Big, heck.”
Arienne collapsed on her floor, clutching her neck. Elisha slowly stood up and looked down at her who had been gasping for a while.
“Yeah, I've given you several chances.”
“You……. You…….”
“I gave you a chance to quit. I promised. Arien. If you are prepared to harm another person, you must be prepared to hurt that ship. If only you were prepared to feed me a terrifying ancient poison.”
“…….”
“Conversely, I should have imagined the situation in which you would be poisoned.”
“…….”
“I am better than you though. You gave me a chance to reconsider several times.”
“…….”
“At this point.”
Elisha whispered softly.
“Even the devil will be moved and cry.”
Arien's eyes widened. Her whole body trembled.
“You, what are you saying now?”
“Is it the name 'Devil's Tears,' or the poison in your ring?”
Only then did the pain of her seizures subside. Arienne staggered and raised her body.
“Oh, what happened? I must have put drugs in your glass!”
Elisha beckoned. Waiters and clerks entered the room.
“Ah. I'm not blind enough to see you messing around with the ring.”
“How do you know the secret of this ring…….”
“Your question is wrong.”
One of the waiters roughly removed the ring from Arien's hand. Elisha gently held out her hand, and he placed her ring on Elisha's hand. Elisha carelessly rolled her ring in her hand.
“You must be right about where I knew about your tricks.”
“You you…….”
Arien looked around.
Elisha says she empties her cafe at certain times to spend time alone. An easily bribed employee. And misinformation. Elisha's preference for white wine.
All was false information. Like cannibals that exude a sticky liquid to attract insects, they were all fake.
This cafe, this place itself, was all a trap.
“Then, don't you think our general didn't plant special agents in your wife's favorite cafe?”
Then someone entered the room with a smile. Arien's face was familiar.
“Welcome, Ian. Is kitchen work right for you?”
“Ugh, compared to my usual missions, this one is very much like a resort.”
Ian was dressed as an employee working in a cafe kitchen.
“Speaking of which, how many of the clerks in this store are from Lucerne?”
At that, the agents standing there only exchanged awkward glances with each other.
“No way, more than half?”
“…….”
They were still silent as if they had eaten honey. Elisha's eyebrows twitched.
“Oh my gosh. All the clerks at this cafe were Lucerne agents. Somehow they said I could go out alone here.”
“It's all for your wife's safety. Oh, you can't tell the general that I said it!”
Ian shook his hand and frowned.
Meanwhile, the forgotten Arien listened to the conversation with her eyes wide open.
“What are you doing! Are you going to treat me like a fool?”
“I have room. The pain will start again soon.”
“What?”
Before Arien had time to protest, the hellish pain began again. This time she was twice as strong as before. Arienne rolled on her floor and screamed maniacally.
“Sah, save me……. Help me……. Whenever…….”
“I will take this poison you prepared. Did I feed you the 'Devil's Smile'?”
Elisha leaned over her and said.
“You poisoned the wine during the fireworks. At that time, our agents, who were hiding and watching the situation, gave a signal. And while the intruder commotion broke out, Lucerne's men exchanged glasses.”
Elisha said softly.
“Oh, yes. The fireworks display has been postponed today. About an hour ago, news spread outside the capital city, but I guess you didn't know. Besides, no matter how magical a spark is, how could it explode so close to a window?”
“……. What?”
“There are wizards who are good at fantasy magic under Lucerne. He's probably waiting over there.”
Elisha nonchalantly pointed at the roof of a building diagonally visible from the cafe window.
“In other words, the flame you saw in the first place is an illusion. So, you, thinking that the flames will cover you and diligently fooling around with your cup……. It was so right.”
It was the first time Arien had ever felt so stupid in her life. Her entire body trembled at her sense of defeat and humiliation.
“This……. This…….”
Elisha smiled. Elisha showed her wrist.
“And this too.”
A bracelet dangled around her wrist. It was a small bell-shaped bracelet.
“This is a gift from the same person as the magician who is good at illusion magic. It was also useful in finding the corpse of Listralfo, whom your father-in-law killed. Now……. It even has a function that reacts when the poison is nearby.”
A bracelet that Lazri and Lapis fixed and gave you. The bracelet has been augmented this time. As before, the ability to detect contaminated magic has been added to the ability to detect poison.
“This bracelet reacts and vibrates when the poison is right in front of it. It is regrettable that it is not something that can be used permanently.”
Elisha said with a small smile.
“So, I had a hard time hiding the fact that the bracelet kept vibrating.”
Arien said she understood everything. The reason Elisha kept flinching wasn't because she was obsessed with fireworks…….
“Since everything is so clear, we have no choice but to change the cup.”
Elisha whispered.
“Save me, save me……. Send it to her husband.”
Arien said. It's not too late. Marco has an antidote, so you can live only by meeting him and eating the antidote. Arien's eyes flashed.
'I'm going to kill you, bitch. Never forgive Even if I stick to Jacob, I will tear that bitch to death. I can't forgive you!'
Inside, Arien was swearing at Elisha to her heart's content.
Elisha winked. Her Ian slowly approached Arien. Soon, her Arien's consciousness went away.
Seeing her limp body, Elisha and her Ian exchanged glances.
* * *
“Ian said he had sorted out the situation.”
Nora delivered the goods brought by the men who came through the capital gate to Lucerne. What Lucerne held in her hand was the ring she had taken from Arien. “The Devil's Smile”
It was a ring with poison in it.
“What about your wife?”
“Elisha is safe. It is said that everything went as expected and our agents were in complete control of the situation.”
“I don't like it either.”
Lucerne muttered.
“It makes her feel bad that her wife is going ahead with an operation that has the slightest chance of getting dangerous.”
Lucerne seldom expressed her feelings. Nora nodded her head without question.
She said, “She has convinced me that if you do not cooperate, she will continue to be in danger of exposure to poison. Rather than living with the risk, let's solve it once and for all, she persuades me by saying, “Do you intend to make me tremble in anxiety?”
“Elisha is.”
Lucerne muttered.
“…… She's a woman you want to keep locked up somewhere safe in a basement or something.”
Nora quietly agreed.
“…… I agree.”
As Lucerne beckoned, the knights who had been walking silenced her footsteps joined them. Nora took the lead and knocked on the wooden door of the cabin where Marco was hiding.
Marco opened the door with a smile on his face. However, the person Marco faced was not her wife, Arien, but Nora, a knight with an expressionless face.
“Excuse me.”
Nora said politely.
Puck! Nora slammed her fist into Marco's stomach. Lucerne leisurely walked out from behind.
“Emotions are loaded.”
“How can you treat someone else's mistress with a rational plan?”
“…….”
Lucerne, who was watching this, had a strange impression that Nora had changed. However, since it was not related to Elisha, he did not think deeply.
“Lu, Lucerne…….”
Marco, who was curled up on the floor like a ball, glared at Lucerne and said,
Lucerne smiled. The knights came and put a leather pouch on Marco's head.