The Hero Party Couldn’t Kill Me

Chapter 7: The madness of the saintess and Iris (1)

Anyway, the meeting of nobles was over, and Iris’ current situation was also known.

So it was time to move on to the next step.

“Now we are going to move on to the next step. Raphaella. Now Iris is having her nightmares more and more often. It’s okay if she gets caught, so mark Iris so that she can’t sleep a single second from now on.”

“Leave it to me.”

“… And Mina.”

I hesitated while looking at Mina. I wasn’t sure if she would silently follow my plan like before, but luckily Mina’s expression didn’t look bad this morning.

“Isn’t it impossible to infiltrate the Great Sanctuary of Etoile?”

“The mage lord sent a device that can detect my shadow magic to the Great Crusade. So, you can never enter the Great Sanctuary.”

“Then go to the mansion of the Duke of Valois and keep an eye on him. As you can see from yesterday’s meeting, among the nobles, the one who can keep Iris in check is the Duke of Valois, so I want to know his next move.”

“That would be possible. At least there will be less surveillance.”

Fortunately, Mina obediently followed my instructions.

“Ah, Sir Edmund. I have something to tell you.”

After Mina went to the mansion of the Duke of Valois first, Rafaela took out a piece of paper with her magic circle drawn on it.

It was the magic circle on the back of Pesima’s hand.

“I succeeded in deciphering the first spell of this magic circle yesterday. Therefore… It seems that Pesima used magic to separate the soul from the body.”

“…As expected, you must have been desperate to revive somehow.”

As expected, Pesima did not die easily. She seems to have somehow tried to survive, at least as much as her soul, even if she died physically.

“However, as you know, she cannot recover mana naturally when she is in a spirit state, and the magic she can use is limited, so she cannot last long. So, I’m sure Peshma-sama must have somehow found another host before her soul was destroyed.”

“Then the most likely candidate is actually Marion… ….”

The problem is that when I interrogated Marion earlier, she had no idea about her soul transfer magic. Therefore, Pesima did not completely take over Marion’s body, and she was not possessed by her body.

… Or maybe Marion is so ignorant that she doesn’t know that Pesima’s soul is attached to her body.

“I don’t think it is right now. Of course, I don’t know anything about soul-related magic, so I can’t be certain.”

“If she is not attached to Marion, what other possibilities are there?”

“Maybe it was attached to a passer-by near the magic tower, or in the worst case, it could also be attached to an animal. Of course, it will only be a stopgap measure.”

“Anyway, Pesima might be alive.”

“She might actually be ‘alive’, but at least she might remain in this world.”

Either way, there is a possibility of facing Pesima again.

It wasn’t very pleasant. It’s good that she can get her revenge right, but that makes her a tricky opponent.

But on the other hand, there was still a lack of information about where she was.

“Come to think of it, Marion hasn’t been here for several days. Is she still in the Mage Tower?”

“Yes. You continue to read the magic book and study at the Blanc Mage Tower.”

“… Are there any other special things?”

“Um… I don’t think there is now.”

I wanted to give Rafaela the role of watching over Marion, but she has already entrusted Iris with the task of making her have nightmares, so it seems impossible to go that far.

“Okay, let me know if you find anything out of the ordinary.”

So she didn’t give her any more instructions.

For now, the downfall of Iris comes first, so we decided to hold off on Pesima for a while.

***

The meeting itself ended safely, although there were several elements of uneasiness left.

At least that’s what the saintess reported. All that remains is for her to convince some nobles herself.

To be exact, I only had to meet one person.

“… Why did the saintess come here?”

The Duke of Valois welcomed a saintess who came to his mansion.

“I came to hear that you, who were friendly to Etoile, changed your mind.”

“Could that be what the young Duke Rossier said? It seems there was some misunderstanding. I still firmly believe in Goddess Etoir. I do not want a world in which the Church is in decline.”

“Then what did you say at the meeting yesterday?”

“I just think we should approach the issue of driving Her Highness out more carefully.”

The Duke of Valois laughed and said his thoughts. Even the saintess couldn’t forcefully press him like that.

“But, to be honest, I am disappointed. As expected, the Etoile Church fully supports the Duke of Rossier.”

“That is a misunderstanding. Iris Rossier is Edmund’s next target, so I just attached her bodyguard to her.”

“Then, is it because of Edmund that Duke Rossier, who clearly knows that his position is precarious, is going against the will of the previous duke?”

“Only Iris would know that.”

In reverse, the Duke of Valois interrogates the saintess. The saintess replied without changing her expression.

“… Let’s stop the small talk here and get to the point. The saintess would want me to support Etoile instead of Her Highness.”

“… ….”

“Then I will make a suggestion.”

In the end, he came to propose before the saintess.

The saintess felt uneasy about being taken to her role, but she decided to listen to the Duke of Valois’ proposal first.

The Duke of Valois said, his greedy eyes twinkling.

“Please help me drive out the young Duke of Rosie. She must lead the other nobles in her stead. If you do, I will fully support Etoileism.”

And again, the Duke of Valois’ proposal was not easy.

“It sounds like you are practically telling me to throw away Iris.”

“Saint. Think carefully. How are you going to stop the Edmund who killed the two masters of the Mage Tower? At least, it would be difficult to protect the Duke of Rosie and the Great Palace together, as it is now.”

“… Don’t say such blasphemous things.”

“And aside from personal acquaintance, is there any need to keep the duke in Rossi? She can be easily replaced by other nobles like me. What does she have besides her name?”

Actually, I wasn’t wrong. As she was a paratrooper who came in through the power of the Duke of Rosie the previous generation, Iris Rosie’s individual abilities and influence are the lowest in the warriors’ party.

What she was useful for was her unexpected talent for producing poison and the value of the name of the Rossier family.

However, the value of the name of the Rossier family is useful because of the nobles who follow them, but if they completely support the Duke of Valois, even the value of the name loses its value.

“I still doubt your loyalty. So I want to check first before I make a decision.”

“Well, if that’s the case, I’ll answer you in an appropriate way.”

“You said that the biggest reason those who support the princess right now is that there is no other suitable emperor candidate. How are you going to solve this?”

“Isn’t that obvious? Either Her Highness the Princess falls below them, or either Her Highness the Prince or Archduke Charles rises rapidly.”

“Please be more specific.”

“In the former case, conclusive evidence that Her Highness really is helping Edmund will be revealed, and in the latter case… There are many variables. But first, the starting point is that their supporters need to be formed. If the Etoile Church supports it, we will be able to become candidates equal to Her Highness.”

Duke of Valois still speaks for granted. The saintess realized that he was deliberately hiding his cards.

And to be honest, even up to this point, it was more usable than Iris, who had no particular idea about drawing out the princess.

“… It’s hard to openly betray her because of her iris and her promises. But I won’t stop you from holding Iris in check.”

“Such words are not enough. Please give me information or a strategy that can definitely bring down the Duke of Rossi.”

The saintess was in deep trouble. In fact, she possessed one piece of information that the Duke of Valois coveted.

The fact that Iris killed the former Duke of Rosie and buying indulgences to wash away the crime.

However, as an Etoile priest, it would be really bad for me to divulge it.

“How about holding the next meeting at your mansion? I am referring to Mina showing up at the last meeting.”

“I already have an idea in mind, but… For now, I’ll take it as a means to help me. But that is not enough if I want to more actively side with the Etoiles.”

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The Duke of Valois has a relaxed smile.

Seeing his attitude like that, the saintess doubted whether she could truly trust him.

However, he is a man who lusts for power after all. Therefore, if helping Etoile is to gain power, he will naturally support Etoile.

“We’ll talk about it later.”

“Think carefully. But you won’t have much time. If it’s true that Edmund entered the Empire as rumored to be, there won’t be much time left for the Duke of Rosie.”

In the end, until the end, the Duke of Valois was in a position of absolute superiority.

The saintess didn’t like that, but she hid her displeasure as much as possible and came out of her mansion.

The saintess returned to Etoile Grand Sanctuary like that.

As soon as she arrived, the paladin guarding her temple told her unexpected words.

“Holy Lady, a distinguished guest is waiting inside the temple.”

“A VIP? Who exactly?”

“That… My name is Archduke Charles.”