Chapter 5

The people surrounding Simone immediately bristled.

“What did you say?!”

“How dare some lowly woman who was cast out by her family……!”

Ignoring their outrage, Rodi glanced sideways at the system window.

[Name: Simone Gretia
Age: 22
Weakness: ??]

Rodi clicked her tongue softly when she saw the screen.

As expected of the nearly flawless heroine. She only has one weakness, and even that is hidden.

She had wondered about it before, too. What exactly did the “??” mean?

Does it mean the conditions required to reveal her weakness haven’t been met yet?

The game definitely had a system where certain “??” sections would be unlocked only after the necessary conditions had been fulfilled.

Simone replied,

“You look healthy as well. I expected you to be in worse shape after hearing that you’d been banished to the frontier.”

Rodi shrugged.

“I’m doing just fine. Thanks for worrying about me.”

Simone stared at her.

Or perhaps she was glaring at her.

“I was hoping you’d be more miserable.”

Rodi was inwardly surprised. Was Simone really the type of character who would say something so bluntly?

Wasn’t she supposed to be the kind, perfect, angelic heroine?

Or perhaps she had simply accumulated so much resentment that she was furious beyond reason.

“Same here.”

Rodi smiled brightly.

“I still hope you become miserable, Lady Gretia.”

Clang! Clang!

Apparently unable to tolerate it any longer, Simone’s followers began drawing their swords.

“How dare a lowly commoner insult the noble Lady Gretia……!”

“We’ll have you thrown into prison immediately for insulting a noble!”

“Oh my, how frightening.”

Rodi widened her eyes before letting out a quiet chuckle.

“Hehe…… You drew your swords—the very symbol and honor of the knights—against an unarmed woman over nothing more than a few words.”

Rodi looked them over with an arrogant gaze.

“The reputation of the Imperial Knights really has fallen into the gutter. I wonder which of us is truly more lowly.”

“……!”

It was the knights who had drawn their swords who were flustered by her composure.

Their opponent was an ordinary woman who had lost her status, wealth, and honor. They had expected her to become frightened at the sight of a drawn sword and beg for her life.

“How insolent!”

To pressure her further, one of the knights extended his sword until its tip touched Rodi’s neck.

“If you come quietly, I’ll spare your life.”

Rodi deliberately stuck out her neck as if daring him to try, then sneered.

“Why don’t you do as you please, noble knight?”

Faced with such a brazen provocation, the knight’s thoughts became tangled.

Does she have some sort of trump card?

Otherwise, there was no explanation for her confidence.

One of the followers glanced at Simone standing nearby.

Come to think of it…… there was a rumor that the villainess Rodi Evant had cast a curse on Lady Simone.

Could it be that she really can use curse magic?

The knight bit down hard on his lip.

“……”

Even Lady Simone, one of the most skilled members of the order, had been bedridden for nearly a month.

I might not be a match for her.

But I can’t sheathe my sword now.

He had made such a grand show of himself in order to impress the beloved Lady Simone. He could not possibly back down now and damage his own pride.

“……”

The followers were still struggling to decide what to do when—

“—Enough.”

A low voice rang out from behind them.

“What exactly is going on here?”

Everyone turned toward the man who had spoken.

He was a tall man with neatly groomed red hair and cold gray eyes. His sharply sculpted nose and strong jawline made him strikingly handsome, as though he had been carved from stone.

Moreover, the immaculate knightly uniform wrapped around his broad shoulders and well-trained body gave him an oddly austere air.

The knights who recognized him were shocked.

“C-Captain!”

“Why are you here……!”

Rodi watched as the man approached.

She knew exactly who he was.

Rikens Magzeta.

There were many titles that could be used to describe this man.

Heir to the Magzeta Ducal House. Commander of the Imperial Knights. The Eternal Sword of the Sun.

And also.

One of the male protagonists of Utopia.

Rodi stared at the system window floating beside the approaching man.

[Name: Rikens Magzeta
Age: 25
Weakness: Enjoys making handicrafts, which are considered beneath the dignity of nobles, ??]

I can see one of Rikens’s weaknesses.

Well, that information wasn’t particularly important. She already knew about it from playing the game.

Rikens calmly surveyed his subordinates and Rodi.

“It doesn’t appear that a battle was taking place. Why are your swords drawn?”

“……”

None of the knights could answer.

If they admitted to their strict commander that they had drawn their swords simply to intimidate the woman in front of them—

……We’re dead.

In that instant, the followers all came to the same conclusion.

We need to somehow steer this situation in our favor.

One of the knights spoke up.

“Well…… this woman is a wicked person who used curse magic on Lady Simone.”

The knights decided to pin everything on Rodi.

“She was about to use curse magic again, so we were just about to defend ourselves.”

Rodi was dumbfounded.

When was I ever about to attack you?

They were the ones who had drawn their swords over a few words, yet they had the audacity to lie so shamelessly.

“Furthermore, this woman even insulted Lady Simone! She should be imprisoned immediately for insulting a noble!”

“That’s right, Captain!”

“……”

Rodi studied Rikens.

True to his established characterization as an inflexible and taciturn man, his expression did not change even after hearing his subordinates’ claims.

But Rodi had completed every route involving Rikens.

She could guess what was going through his mind.

“Sir Patrick, how exactly did she insult Lady Gretia?”

The knight who had spoken first, Patrick, looked flustered by the unexpected question.

“Pardon……? Well, she said she hoped Lady Gretia would become unhappy……”

“That alone does not constitute an insult to a noble.”

Rikens gave Patrick a cold look.

“You are an Imperial Knight in name, yet you do not even know the requirements for detaining someone for a crime. Are you planning to imprison people based on your own feelings?”

“N-No, of course not!”

“Your statement just now amounted to exactly that.”

Patrick was thrown into confusion.

He had assumed the captain would naturally take his subordinates’ side.

Rikens looked at him sternly.

“Also, you claim this woman attempted to use magic. Is that true?”

“That…… well……”

“I will first have the traces of magical power examined immediately to determine whether there is any evidence that magic was actually manifested.”

Rikens continued in his blunt tone.

“If this woman used magic, she will be immediately taken into custody for threatening an Imperial Knight. But if she did not……”

Patrick listened to Rikens with sweat trickling down his face.

“Then honorable Imperial Knights will have threatened an innocent citizen, and you will receive the appropriate punishment.”

Rikens added firmly,

“All of you.”

Rodi, who had been watching the situation unfold, laughed inwardly.

Serves you right.

She had known things would turn out this way.

For starters, nothing she had said constituted an insult to a noble, much less something worthy of imprisonment.

Besides.

Even if it was true that people tended to favor their own side, that certainly did not apply to Rikens.

He followed the rules in every situation. He never allowed personal feelings to interfere.

In Rikens’s route, every one of Rodi’s crimes was punished according to the law.

Rikens was the kind of man who would punish even the villainess who tormented the woman he loved according to the rules.

And yet they had thought he would take their side.

Rodi inwardly scoffed at the knights’ shallow thinking.

“Lady Rodi Evant.”

Rikens spoke to her.

“Would you permit me to measure the traces of magical power?”

“As much as you like. And just call me Rodi, Sir Magzeta.”

She casually added,

“I can no longer use the surname Evant, after all.”

“……”

For an instant, a complicated and subtle expression crossed Rikens’s face.

Rodi looked at him quizzically.

Huh……?

In the True Ending, Rodi and Rikens had almost no interaction. No matter how evil Rodi was, she could not recklessly provoke the heir to a ducal house.

So why had Rikens looked so displeased for that brief moment when she said she could no longer use her family name?

……Was it just my imagination?

Then again, there was no reason for someone as cold and taciturn as him to care about a woman with whom he had barely any connection.

“I’ll measure the traces.”

Rikens took a small pouch from inside his coat.

It contained a powder that clung to the magical energy lingering in the air and emitted a glow, allowing traces of magic to be seen with the naked eye.

He scattered the powder into the air with a flick of his hand.

“……”

The powder dispersed uselessly.

Not even the faintest glow appeared.

“There are no traces of magic.”

……Rikens turned around and glared at his subordinates with a terrifying gaze.

“Why did you lie?”

The knights, with the exception of Simone, turned pale.

“C-Captain, the thing is……”

“Are you telling me that honorable Imperial Knights lied in order to have an unarmed woman imprisoned?”

Rikens’s voice was low and calm, but that somehow made him even more frightening.

“N-No, that’s not it. Surely……”

“That woman is a wicked villainess. She might have used some special method—”

Rikens replied coldly.

“Enough with the pointless excuses.”

“W-Why are you taking the side of that wicked woman, Captain?”

One of the knights nervously glanced around before timidly protesting.

“She’s the woman who tormented Lady Simone, anyway. Whatever the reason, it would be better for everyone if she were locked away……”

Rodi was speechless.

Do they really think that if they decide someone is evil, they can punish them however they please?

It was an incredibly simplistic and childish way of thinking.

Just as Rodi opened her mouth to make a sarcastic remark—

“……”

The temperature around them seemed to drop by three degrees.

Rikens, don’t tell me……

Rodi rubbed her arms as goosebumps rose across her skin, finally understanding the situation.

He really is pissed!