The poison is Euronifredo. Euronifredo is a poisonous substance that can be obtained by refining the root of Euronisia. If it enters the body through the mouth, it reacts with the magic contained in the person's saliva, causing the digestive tract to become inflamed and deadly in the blink of an eye.

　Flora, who came from the 'Alchemy Building', analyzed the poison in the tea that way.

''That Euro Senior is........''
"A plant that only grows in the rugged mountainous region north of Euron. It is also sometimes found in parts of the Demon Kingdom of Xenoas.

　It was Sakura, not Flora, who answered my question. You're awfully familiar with this.

'Even in Xenoas, this poison is sometimes used. I've heard that because of the cruelty of death, it's often used as a threat, a warning, or as an example.

　I see. Since Sakura is the son of the Demon King in Xenoas, she must have been taught about such dangers. Or rather, Euron's poison. I wonder if that's what's involved after all.

"The Marquis of the East Sea is the hand of Euron, isn't he?
'Hiring Euron's assassins, though that's easier to understand.

　Even if he is one of the four princes of the Horn Kingdom. It's unlikely that he's a pawn of Euron's remnants. It's more likely that he's using them.

"Master. And the body of one of you. We also found a very potent sleeping potion in this one. It's likely the poisoned tea was poured down his throat while he was asleep.
What?

　Poisoning it after it's been put to sleep?　Why go through all that trouble again?
　The meeting ends, you get a change of room, you get put to sleep, you get poisoned, you die. That's the process?
　I mean, if he was poisoned when he was put to sleep, then someone was still in the room.
　For example, they were hiding in that closet, waiting for Lord Minamiizumi to come out of the meeting, put him to sleep and then kill him...what the hell. That doesn't make sense.
　Oh, that's not it. I was supposed to kill the Prime Minister, but when I came out of the closet, it was Minamizumi-sou. I put him to sleep for the time being, but he saw my face, so I said, "Let's kill him after all.

................................I don't know.

　If you're gonna wait around for me, you might as well just kill me with a knife or something. Why is it poisoned?　Policies?

The Marquis of Tokai is the culprit, don't you agree?　Anyway, if we can just catch him and get him to confess, we'll know everything.
'You sound like a bad cop in a mystery drama...'
Abandonment...?　Why not?

　I chuckle at Yae, who's looking at me like I'm Kyoton. Certainly what Yae is saying is not out of line either. Or perhaps it's the quickest way to go.
　But there are a lot of problems with it. I'm not going to be the only one who can do that.
　If we can get permission from the head of this country, we may be able to do it, but who is the head of this country?　And I'm in the middle of deciding that.
　Judgment by the magic eye is not evidence. I don't think His Holiness lied, but something that only he can see is not evidence.
　Do you have any solid proof?
　I left the scene and went out into the corridor where King Felsen was walking towards me.

I've just spoken to the Prime Minister and Ganossa. I've just spoken to the Prime Minister and Lord Ganossa, and the Council of Succession will be held again tomorrow. We'll stay here, but what about the king?

　It's a good idea to use transference magic to return home for a while. It's a very good idea to have a good time with your friends. And we are one of the suspects in this case. We have no motive, and we have an alibi.

What about the other princes?
We each have our own residence in the capital, but we can't send them home under these circumstances. Tonight you will spend the night in the room we have prepared for you. Of course we'll keep a close eye on the Duke of the East Sea as much as possible.

　King Felsen speaks in a small voice.
　But I have no idea. Like the reason why Duke Tokai-sou kills Duke Minamisen-sou. Regardless of the issue of succession to the throne or anything else, it's easier to understand the murder from a personal grudge.
　Lord Minamizumi-sou........seemed like a very nice person. I didn't think he had something against you. Well, it's not unusual for noblemen to have a grudge to a greater or lesser extent.
　In this situation, I guess I'll just have to go with the eightfold strategy after all...?　Sneaking into Toukaisou's room in the middle of the night, forcing him to confess, asking him what happened, and then erasing his memory of the incident... No good, no good, that's indeed the last move.
　We know who the culprit is, and as long as we don't let him get away with it, we can take care of it. Maybe.




I thought that.........
He's gotten away, that he has.

　Me and Yae open our mouths with a sigh. Just as the words said, Tokai-sou got away with it. Where?　In the afterlife.

　At our feet lies an untimely death in the setting sun. Of course we didn't kill him.
　As we're talking about our future in the room we've just been assigned to, King Felsen jumps in and tells us that Toukai-sou is dead.
　The scene was the room where Toukai-sou was supposed to stay, he said he was going to rest for a while and locked himself in his room two hours ago.
　When he and his maidservants entered the room to check the dinner menu, he was already gone.
　By the way, he didn't commit suicide. He was lying on the floor next to the bed with a scarf wrapped around his neck.

"So this time it's strangulation in plain sight.
You were betrayed by an assassin in your employ, weren't you?
That's not entirely unlikely, is it?

　But this scarf..... This isn't just any scarf. The ultra-fine and smooth texture I think it's a pretty good value. It's embroidered with a coat of arms, but this is........
　The eyes of the others who were looking at the mortally wounded Toukai-sou turn to a certain woman.

''Lord Nishimori. Isn't this scarf yours?

　Prime Minister Schwein's sharp eyes pierce into Lord Nishimori. Apparently, this coat of arms is the coat of arms of Marquis Nishimori the Marquess of Suir.
　When his gaze is directed at you, Marquis Nishimori slowly shakes his pale face from side to side.

''No, it's not. No, that scarf is definitely mine. But I lost it yesterday and lost it somewhere..... It's true!''
''You were arguing violently with the Duke of the East Sea earlier. No way.........
'No!　Most likely, there were guards from the Duke of the East Sea's guards in front of this room and they couldn't get in!

　That's certainly true. What's more, would they be foolish enough to kill him with a recognizable scarf? Even if they killed him, they would take the scarf back.
　The body is inspected in various ways, and Flora scans Tokai-sou with a special magic tool. That was an [Analyze] enchanted portable medical device, similar to the props used by medical teams in science fiction TV dramas. The one set in a foreign universe.
　Flora, holding it in her hand, tilts her head slightly.

''What's wrong?''
It's funny.

　I'll ask Flora to elaborate on what's so funny.
　Huh?　...that's definitely not right. It doesn't make sense.

"This isn't a malfunctioning piece of equipment?

　When I reassured her again, Flora inspected the body in person, turned it over and checked various things before assuring her that it was the right one.

There is no doubt about it. Bodies don't lie.
That means that the Duke of the East Sea at that time was...

　Oh, I see, magic, or arcane effects?　If Flora's words are correct........
　If she's using such magic, I can't let the culprit get away with it. I've told them not to let anyone out of the castle, so it's probably still not too late.
　Haha......... I'll have to do what Yae said in the end. It seems that the bad police in the mystery drama is me.
　I can't solve a mystery by deduction like a detective. All I can do is find them by force and make them tell me by force.
　I know it's heavy-handed, but let's make it quick. If you're on the run, you're in for a world of hurt. There's no need to hold back from an assassination organization.
　I gather the divine energy in both eyes and release the "God's Eye". I continue to shoot out the people in the room one by one with my gaze.
　Prime Minister Schwein, his brother Ganossa, Lord Nishimori, Lord Kitayama.......no? Naturally, King Felsen and Pope Ramish were different, too.

'This, Your Majesty?　How can I help you?

　His Holiness the Pope suddenly became anxious as he stared at me with a sharp gaze and called out to me.

''Excuse me. I'm just checking.''

　Apologizing to His Holiness the Pope, he heads out of the room and turns his divine eyes to the soldiers and knights of the guards waiting in the wide corridor, as well as the maidservants who are looking at the situation.
　There they are!
　I walked straight in front of him.
　A young man with short, brown hair, with the appearance of a fairly ordinary soldier, was standing in front of me.
　His timid face exudes a harmlessness. He wore the armor of the Horne Kingdom, with a sword at his waist and a spear in his hand. He must be one of the guards guarding the castle.

''Nah, what is it?''

　The young man opens his mouth with a slightly twitching smile. I give him a big smile and tap him on the shoulder.

"That's a shame,
What?
[Gravity]
Yeah.

　A young soldier crawls down on the spot with a sudden weighted magic. Even though he can't move, he turns his eyes up to me and looks up at me. There was a mixture of surprise and hatred present there.

''His Majesty King Brunhild!　What the hell...!

　Schwein, the vizier, called out to him from among those who rushed to him. Suddenly, the king of another country seized his own soldiers. 'Do you want to panic?

''We've just captured a suspect. You'll have to wait for me. ─ We'll take him down now.

　The soldier's limbs will be tied down with the steel wire taken out of [Storage]. They'll release [Gravity] too. Shouldn't be able to escape.

Well, then. [Absolve]
What...?

　The magic power covering the young soldier is absorbed into me by the absorption magic [Absorb]. I can see through my god's eyes that some kind of magic has been granted to this guy's entire body. Since the magic power of the granted 【Gravity】 was also absorbed, the weighting effect was also lifted.
　A change occurs in the young soldier. His brown hair becomes black, and his short hair becomes longer. The young man's simple-looking face turned into a sharp-eyed fox face, and his round jawline became angular and his beard grew out. He was not a young man at all, but a man of mature age. His body also seems to have grown a bit larger.

''This is.........⁉︎''

　The king's brother Ganossa murmured with his eyes wide open.
　The one lying there was not a young man who already had a feeble face, but a suspicious-looking man who radiated a murderous gaze.

I'm not sure if it's a good idea to have an infiltration spell. It's the perfect magic for infiltration operations, right? Non-attribute magic?　Or is it an artifact?
How do you know.........
The estimated time of death is obviously very irregular.

　It wasn't me who answered the guy's question, it was Flora. Yeah. That's when I found out what the killer had been doing.

The estimated time of death after death was five to six hours ago due to magic depletion.
That would mean that Toukai-sou was killed at about the same time as Minamiizumi-sou was killed. Then who was the Toukai-sou who was locked up in his room two hours before we spoke?　Of course it's going to be fake, right? He must be using magic to turn into that much of himself. If you haven't missed anyone from this castle yet, I thought you'd be here in disguise,
d*mn it...!

　They were probably going to kill someone after this and try to spark a civil war. Otherwise, I wouldn't be surprised if he got away as quickly as he did.
　The man glares at me through clenched teeth. His eyes were filled with resentment and anger. It seemed to be a completely different kind of hatred for me personally than the fact that my identity had been discovered.

''You're a remnant of the 'Claw'?''
!

　For a moment surprise mingled in his eyes, which were tinted with resentment. As he fished in the bosom of the motionless man, a mask like a Kyogeki mask rolled out. I knew it.

''What is the former Euron's assassination ring up to in the Horns?　Is the goal to cause civil war in the Horn?　Didn't they goad you into killing Lord Nanquan or something like that, as if they were aiming at the Prime Minister?
Kukku.... Klau will not fold. I don't have anything to say to you. Kill me. This country is doomed. Euron's wrath will soon be upon you.
It doesn't matter. "Invite the darkness, plant a false memory, hupnosis.
Okay, okay.

　It's a good thing that you're not the only one who can't afford to lose your mind. You're a good agent, you should know better than to use magic.
　Now, let's see what he can tell us.