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As a result, the Magician’s Association had gathered strong veterans. Until they decided how to properly dispose of it, they had to have teams of adventurers protecting them at all times. Naturally, Climb had been one of the people selected for the task.

It’s so annoying, we can’t punish the members of the Eight Fingers who brought this item to the capital…

Even though he stood in front of Renner, Climb could not fully suppress the irritation in his heart.

The magic item which had led to the tragedy in the capital had been found in a warehouse that was positively linked to the smuggling division of the Eight Fingers. That being the case, they should have immediately moved to destroy them. However there was a crucial reason why they could not do so, and only a few people knew about it.

They had started searching for the item because Jaldabaoth had leaked the information about it. That was Renner’s opinion. However, Jaldabaoth might have been counting on the humans to find the object his troops could not, which was why that information had gotten out in the first place.

Since everyone understood the implications of that leak, they had suppressed all information about the artifact, and as such it could no longer be used as a reason to attack the Eight Fingers.

“You should be working with the Warrior-Captain, right? I see, then everything should be fine. How about the people you helped? You should have been busy protecting the palace, but you must have stepped outside for a bit, no?”

Climb's heart lurched as Renner unleashed that bombshell on him.

"Y-yes. Everyone hopes to express their gratitude to Renner-sama."

"How wonderful. Then I must go to meet them."

"You can't!"

As soon as the shout left his mouth, Climb immediately realized that he had screwed up very badly. He lowered his head and began speaking rapidly, as though trying to cover up all his previous words.

"Everyone is still busy and I believe the presence of Renner-sama will distract everyone from their hard work and although it demeans Renner-sama's generosity I hope that you will understand my meaning."

As he raised his head, Climb wondered if his mistress' beautiful face would be creased by unhappiness, or a childish pout that did not suit her age. However, the expression Climb saw was neither of these.

She smiled.

It wasn't a simple turning up of the corners of her mouth, but an actual, full-faced smile.

Climb had seen Renner smile many times. If he cast his mind back to a time when he was happiest, it would be seeing that smile on her face after she had picked him up. However, her smile right now was somewhat different from her smile back then.

Before he could realise the answer, her expression returned to the faint smile she always wore.

"…there's nothing to be done about it, then."

Climb suppressed a sigh of relief as Renner accepted his explanation.

The truth was that he had just fed his mistress a pack of lies. Climb had not heard a single grateful word from the citizens he had met. On the contrary, they had heaped blame and scorn on him. Why did you only save us, and so on.

They had taken their anger — at the loss of their families, at the loss of their wealth — and poured out the bowl of their wrath upon Climb.

Climb had borne this resentment because those people had nobody else to blame, and out of a sense of guilt for not fulfilling Renner’s commands perfectly.

Even so, it hurt to hear those words, especially after he had battled that mighty demon in order to save them.

The demon they had encountered at the warehouse was on a completely different level from any of the others. It could have beaten Brain Unglaus with strength to spare, and it was only because of its many wounds that they had been victorious. If that demon had appeared before them in a fresh, undamaged state, they would certainly have been defeated. After hearing how powerful it was from Lakyus, he was silently grateful that they had somehow managed to triumph over it.

And after that, the only thanks he had received were the aforementioned complaints. Although he told himself that he had become used to it, the words still cut deeply into him.

In truth, it would have been fine if Climb had struck out at those people with malicious intent. Nobody would say anything if Climb returned the insults he had received in his position as the Princess' personal knight, but if he did that, then Renner's position would be in danger. If their hatred turned toward the princess and led to them slandering her, he would be powerless to draw his sword against them.

"Now then, Climb. I have… unpleasant news. Listen carefully."

Climb closed his eyes for several seconds, then opened them again.

"The women you and Sebas-san worked together to save from the brothel… were murdered."

Unable to comprehend what Renner had just said, his mouth worked open and closed while he gasped out some sounds that might have been mistaken for speech.

"How… but how… how could that have happened…"

Come to think of it, the women should have been hidden in a waiting room and then sent on to Renner's properties.

"That was a miscalculation on my part. I wanted to hire adventurers as guards, but due to the disturbance, they had all been employed by others. So I had to use mercenaries instead…"

Renner shook her head, as though saying it had all been her fault.

"Th-that's not true! It's definitely not Renner-sama's fault! It's the ones who attacked them who're to blame!"

"No! If I had been more careful, if I had considered things more closely… that the disturbance would have weakened security in the capital, if I had let them escape when I sensed danger, it wouldn't have turned out like this! If Climb had been there, maybe it wouldn't have turned out like this. And even the adventurers who recommended the mercenaries were shocked…"

The beginnings of tears began filling the corners of Renner's eyes.

Climb's chest ached as though his heart had been crushed. Perhaps it might have been a mistake on Renner's part, but she had made the best of a bad situation. Then, who was to blame?

"Renner-sama did nothing wrong!"

Hearing Climb's forceful declaration, Renner, who had been moved deeply by Climb, rose and hugged him tightly.

To calm her down, Climb reached a hand behind her back— no. That would be dangerous.

"But, how did the information…"

"I have no idea. The capital's security was weakest during the disturbance; maybe it got out during that time? They should have been transferred immediately…"

He could not rule that out. It might have been that the attackers had followed the places and people protected by Climb until they found their way to the hiding place.

"Where were the bodies found?"

"In the poor districts of the capital, but I don't know the details myself."

"What about the corpses?"

"They've been buried. What of them?"

"I wanted to examine the wounds, see what kind of clues I could find."

"…Climb, that's enough. They've been violated enough. At least let them rest in peace."

"…Understood."

Renner's kindness touched Climb to the bottom of his heart. Certainly, her words had merit. He felt ashamed for not being considerate of her feelings, and the urge to find out the truth grew within him.

"Please don't take it too hard. This is definitely not Climb's… ah, I see we've exchanged positions."

Renner smiled. Though her eyes were still red, there were no more tears in them.

"Yes, we have."

Climb's stoic expression broke, and he smiled.

"Forgive me for keeping you. Then, Climb, you'll have to work hard now."

Though he felt a pang of longing for the warmth that had left his chest, he immediately interrupted his desire.