Chapter 163

Chapter 163: Black

Acad stroked his chin and asked.
“Regent Ferda, didn’t you say you buried that corpse? By now, the body would have decomposed, so would there be any obtainable clues to find any trace from that corpse?”
Naturally, countermeasures had been prepared for that.
“I did bury the corpse of Young Master Urey, but it has been preserved in its original state since then.”
“Why did you place preservation magic on it?”
“No matter how much he insulted my fiancée, he was still the precious son of some nation.”
Ferda spoke as if to say he was not that foolish.
In truth, if Duke Urey had not been used as a strategic card here, he had intended to return the body to his care.
“If you investigate, you will be able to determine the origin sufficiently…”
He paused for an instant and continued.
“Through this incident, we will be able to uncover the true enemy hiding in the shadows.”
“What do you mean by the true enemy?”
He threw the bait.
“The identity of the existence that brings chaos to the Empire to lead this continent to ruin.”
Ferda said that they should not fight amongst themselves, but instead aim at the true enemy.
Surprisingly, the first to agree with Ferda’s proposal was Erdes.
“Then that works. If we only confirm who killed him, there’s no need to complicate things, right?”
That way, the story would flow easily, and above all, since it dealt with black magic, she could not help but be proactive.
“I agree as well. If it was not Regent Ferda who murdered him, and if we can discover the identity, then they deserve to face the wrath of the Great Alte.”
Joseph Faust also actively supported Ferda’s proposal.
“Then, to whom should we entrust this autopsy…?”
At Acad’s murmur, Ferda quickly responded.
“I would like Bishop Joseph Faust to perform the autopsy.”
“What?”
Erdes’s brow furrowed.
“If it is a matter of black magic, shouldn’t I naturally be the person who has to handle it?”
Everyone knows how much she hates black magic.
And her skill in that regard is outstanding precisely because she hates it so much.
The designated Joseph Faust also acknowledged that fact.
“I also believe that would be best, but… is there any specific reason why you chose me?”
“It is a matter of transparency. We cannot expect transparency from the investigation of the President of the Association.”
He stated that, since Ferda and Erdes were on bad terms, a biased result could arise.
That statement irritated Erdes’s nerves.
“Are you saying I would frame you, you bastard?”
When she asked with a fierce expression, Ferda replied:
“If breaking the father-son bond was not enough, I would gladly entrust it to you.”
Ferda glared at her.
Although he hated the father who abandoned him, it was not as much as Erdes, who had made it turn out that way.
Acad, positioned in the middle, concluded as chairman.
“Since both parties seem to have pending matters between each other… This matter seems suitable for Bishop Joseph Faust. Bishop, can you do it?”
“I will carry out a fair and impartial investigation following the Light of Alte.”
Erdes’s hatred of black magic was certainly strong, but she had no mercy, so public sentiment toward her was not good.
Erdes stared at Ferda’s face with a dissatisfied expression.
They recessed for 2 hours for the investigation of the corpse.
Joseph moved to transport Marcus’s body with his assistants.
“I will follow them.”
Consillus said that and moved along with Joseph.
He had to monitor if there was any intention of applying external pressure, or if there was any manipulator.
“Go ahead.”
Ferda allowed it.
As he expected, everything would be revealed through this investigation.
He did not lower his guard until the end.
“Hey.”
At the sound of a young voice growling, he raised his head.
Erdes Roton.
She climbed onto the desk and crouched like a thug.
“Do I look easy to you?”
Anger burned in her eyes.
“Or do you think I can’t touch you because your backing is solid? Which is it? Huh? Huh? Hey, answer me.”
“President of the Association-nim, you shouldn’t do this here…”
“Small fry, get lost. I’m not in the mood to play.”
Erdes’s face, with veins bulging from the pile of insults.
Ferda did not take his eyes off that face.
“There is a justifiable reason.”
“Are you worried I’ll fabricate evidence and send you into the abyss? If I wanted to do that, I could have done it at any time. I wouldn’t have even come to a place like this. Do I look like a foolish idiot who is easy to manipulate?”
As Erdes said, she could send Ferda into the abyss at any moment.
If she exposed and pressured him, she could socially ruin him by claiming he used black magic.
However, it was different from the direction Erdes pursued.
The reason she had not properly touched Ferda until now was because no point of contact with demons was visible.
The hatred that resided in her heart prioritized demons above everything else.
That meant that if she could catch that demon, she could judge even Ferda’s case fairly.
“So it cannot be done.”
Ferda had not expected that kind of justice from the beginning.
“As long as you are here, those rat bastards won’t be able to approach.”
Because this is bait cast to catch a big fish.
Ferda spoke with his eyes.
That there are existences he also hates and cannot forgive, no less than you.
Erdes, who had been glaring as if to kill Ferda, said:
“Fine.”
Her fierce expression did not soften, but she quietly stepped down from the desk.
“I hope a convincing result comes out.”
Otherwise, I won’t stay still.
Her backward glance as she left seemed to leave those words behind.
Hoping for a good result was the same for Ferda.
Only, it was questionable whether that good result expected the same thing.
Two hours later, Joseph returned once again.
Consillus, who had gone with him, also returned, but his expression was subtle.
Ferda asked him.
“How is it?”
“It seems something was discovered, but I have a bad feeling.”
Did it take the bait?
Acad declared the session open, and Joseph recited the organized data.
“The autopsy of Young Master Marcus Urey’s corpse is complete. Young Master Marcus Urey was murdered, and the medium was, in fact, black magic.”
His face fell as if he were troubled.
Is this sensation, which I have already felt once before, what is called déjà vu?
That déjà vu, of all things, a story of a distant future that will not come true.
“And by tracing that magic, we have been able to identify the person who used it…”
It was when Ferda was designated as an enemy of the Empire for an absurd reason.
“That magic was created in the Castle of the Grand Duchy of Valdrova, and it is certain that Regent Ferda Valdrova used it.”
The courtroom erupted into total uproar.
“Is it true that the Regent committed murder?!”
“More than that, if it is true that the Regent used magic… doesn’t that mean the claim that he is a black magician is true?”
“He killed him himself, and being a dark magician, he raises his head so brazenly?!”
The audience fell into a crucible of shock.
Duke Urey’s face turned intensely red.
He exclaimed vehemently.
“You cursed demonic bastard! How dare you kill my son?!!”
Taking advantage of that, Alexander also shouted.
“What are the security officers doing? Arrest that dark magician right now!”
At the Crown Prince’s shout, the security officers hesitated and moved toward Ferda.
Unable to watch it, Consillus rose from his seat.
“Who dares lay a hand on the fiancé of the Grand Duke?!!”
An incredible spirit for an old man who had aged considerably.
The situation had become total chaos.
It had escalated to the point where, if someone threw a punch, it would turn into a brawl.
Ferda, standing at the center of that storm, ironically felt peace.
Instead of rational conversations that hid emotions and hints, this place where the emotions of dozens, hundreds of people were agitated felt much more comfortable.
Space concentrated in the palm of Ferda’s hand, and a sharp insight inhabited both of his eyes.
Illuminating everything clearly, he examined their inner thoughts one by one.
Where is it?
The black stain hiding on this gray floor.
“Step back, Count Consillus!”
“If you bastards insist on seeing blood, you will have to deal with this old man… Cough…!”
Consillus, who had been straining his neck, suddenly let out a cough.
Ferda’s concentration broke with it.
“Count, what is happening to you?”
“Cough, cough…!”
Consillus’s coughing did not cease.
His body swayed, then he turned his gaze toward Ferda.
With a harsh sound, he spat something onto Ferda’s clothes.
Bright red blood.
Uueek…!
He vomited blood, and the heated atmosphere ground to a halt.
Ferda took a black handkerchief from his pocket, wiped his mouth, and asked.
“Count, are you all right?”
“Cough, cough… Heuk… Heuk…!”
Consillus narrowed one eye with difficulty.
In the midst of that bewildering scene unfolding, someone shouted.
“T-that is an epidemic! Count Consillus has contracted an epidemic!”
That single word seized the attention of the confused audience.
“An epidemic?!”
“Are we going to die too?”
Whether it really was an epidemic was not important.
The fear that word created was turning into an epidemic and spreading through the audience chamber.
The security officers who had been hesitatingly approaching also fell back from their positions, and someone raised the alarm.
“Everyone get out of here!”
“The epidemic is spreading! We will die!”
With that single word, the fierce atmosphere flowed in a different direction and turned into chaos.
“Silence! Everyone keep your seats!”
Acad tried to calm the confusion, but in a situation where their own lives were at stake, there was no one listening to those words.
While the uncontrollable situation continued and a forced recess was inevitably about to proceed, it happened.
“Purification!!”
The voice of a man dominated the audience chamber.
All the voices of the people calmed down, and they regained their senses.
It was Valdemar, seated in the highest counselor’s seat.
Valdemar said nothing more than that.
In the calmed atmosphere, Acad opened his mouth.
“We will proceed once again. We will have the priests examine why Count Consillus vomited blood, and confirm if it is an epidemic.”
Acad sighed as if there were no help for it and said:
“Therefore, we will take another 2-hour recess. During that time, please do not leave the assembly hall due to quarantine and keep your seats. Count Consillus and Regent Ferda, please receive the priests’ diagnosis. That is all.”
The audience offered prayers to God with the worry in their hearts that they might die.
Ferda, seeing it up close, knew with certainty.
What made him vomit blood was not an epidemic.
“Aura Backflow.”
It was a side effect where the aura inside his body flowed backward and surged out.
Aura is life energy, and when that vital energy is reversed, it is painful enough to kill.
When one gets angry, blood pressure rises, but aura does not backflow.
“It is impossible unless done deliberately.”
Then why?
“To change the atmosphere.”
He cut the momentum that was pushing him as a dark magician, froze it under the name of ‘epidemic’, and bought time.
“Without even discussing any plan, to do something like this…”
Ferda had not dragged Consillus into this.
It was not that he did not trust him.
He simply judged that there was nothing good about getting tangled up.
But thanks to his bold action, Ferda’s work became even smoother.
That was why he wiped his mouth with the black handkerchief.
“Count Consillus.”
He asked him in a low voice while his consciousness had not yet faded.
“Who went in to perform the autopsy on the young master’s corpse?”
Consillus made a sound of pain and answered.
“Many people… arrived.”
“During the examination, who went in? Did you also go in to observe?”
He said with pain.
“Could not… only one person went in…”
“I understand. Thank you.”
While he carefully wiped his mouth, someone spoke politely to Ferda.
“We are the Relief Corps of Alte. We will transport Count Consillus. Regent-nim, are you all right?”
“I am fine. I can move on my own, so I will follow them.”
Ferda stepped away from his seat, and Consillus was lifted into the vehicle like a helpless old man.
There were many people on the Relief Corps’ side, so the place was bustling.
In the process, someone from the Relief Corps tapped Ferda on the shoulder.
Thinking it was a mistake due to the hustle, he tried to brush it off lightly.
“Gem and Swallow.”
It was not a mistake.
A member of the Black Band who responded to Ferda’s signal when he pulled out the black handkerchief.
While preparing the transport, he lent an ear to Ferda’s words.
“Black is…”
From the moment Ferda was revealed as the murderer, he concentrated to the utmost, scanning everyone and observing their reactions.
In his panoramic vision, he verified several times, and now he also obtained an accurate answer from Consillus.
Ferda whispered in his ear.
“Black is Joseph Faust.”
The High Priest of the Alte Religion.
He is the demon follower.