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Chapter: 93

High-ranking officials of the fortress, including Wolhan Fortress Lord, gathered in the meeting hall.

Son Gye-du\'s expression was particularly grim, as if he had foreseen what was to come. Looking closely, it seemed he hadn\'t slept well either.

A soldier who had recovered the body placed it on the central table.

Even before the cloth covering it was removed, the gazes directed at the corpse were already a mixture of displeasure and pity.

The Wolhan Fortress Lord frowned after confirming the body and its attire.

"How appalling," he muttered to himself. Although no one else voiced it aloud, judging by the atmosphere, everyone seemed to share the same sentiment.

Indeed, how could one not find that sight horrifying?

I tapped on the table to gather everyone\'s attention and began to speak.

"Now, does anyone deny that this is the attire worn by the workers of Wolhan Fortress?"

For a moment, no one answered. Soon, the elder representative responded on behalf of the other elders.

"Yes, Your Highness. There is no objection. Those clothes are indeed worn by the workers of this fortress."

Since the eldest elder had spoken thus, no one could further dispute the identity of the clothes.

"Then it appears he was indeed a servant."

I paused briefly before continuing.

"I\'m referring to the servant who entered my chambers. That servant was detained and disappeared that very day."

Finishing my sentence, I glanced at Son Gye-du.

"As if he had vanished into thin air, without a trace. Or ascended to the heavens. We searched the entire fortress, the entire village, but couldn\'t find him. There were no witnesses, so there was no way to find him."

It was clear that Son Gye-du\'s expression was grim, but his complexion alone wouldn\'t be enough to prove him guilty.

"Does everyone remember?"

"Yes, Your Highness."

"We remember. How could we forget the incident of a mere servant intruding into Your Highness\'s chambers?"

An elder seized this opportunity to speak flattering words. I smirked and moved on.

"I believe the identity of this corpse is that servant."

With a nod of my chin, I indicated the body in the center of the meeting hall. Several elders and commanders nodded.

"That is a reasonable statement."

"I also believe, as Your Highness suggests, that it is highly probable this corpse is that of the servant."

"Indeed, for it to be anyone else... The motive for opening the north gate seems sufficient as well."

As each person spoke, the meeting hall quickly filled with murmurs.

"But wouldn\'t it be impossible to hold a dead person accountable?"

An elder inquired. I nodded.

One cannot hold the dead accountable.

Blaming the family of the deceased servant wouldn\'t help the current situation either.

Above all, there was someone else to hold accountable.

"The dead have no answers for any questions."

I looked at Son Gye-du, who was sitting in a corner of the meeting hall, unusually quiet.

He met my gaze directly, as if asserting his innocence. I couldn’t help but let out a hollow laugh.

Very well. You want to play it that way?

"Let\'s observe this matter for a little longer. More evidence may surface."

As if we had coordinated our statements beforehand, Wolhan Fortress Lord replied.

"We shall do so."

* * *

I returned to my quarters.

"It seems there\'s no decisive evidence..."

It was almost certain that Son Gye-du was behind this. But it was only a suspicion. Not only I, but also Wolhan Fortress Lord, had no clear solution.

One might think it wouldn\'t be difficult to imprison an elder with the combined influence of a prince and a fortress lord, but this was the northern region.

Simply insisting wouldn\'t be enough to secure a definite victory. It was possible that other elders might side with Elder Son Gye-du.

That would be a real headache. It would only end up hurting the pride of the Elders\' Council.

"Don\'t you have any thoughts on this?"

I was alone in the room with Gon.

As I plopped down on the bed and asked, it replied while ruffling its feathers, "Why should I help you with your affairs?"

"Hey, that\'s harsh. Aren\'t we in this together? Like, partners in fate?"

I frowned, then recalled what it had said before.

"You punk. Have you already forgotten that you said you needed me? You said you needed me if you didn\'t want to turn back into a bird-brain."

Gon, who had been flapping its wings as if trying to shake its whole body, lowered its head and started grooming the feathers on its chest.

How could I not consider this as completely ignoring me?

"Are you ignoring me?"

There was no answer. I let out a light sigh. I knew this would happen.

I already knew Gon would react like this. It wasn\'t the type to do as it was told with a single word.

That\'s why I came prepared.

"Look at this."

As I took out the dried meat from my pocket, Gon, who had been grooming its feathers, suddenly lifted its head. I smiled triumphantly and shook the jerky.

"Looks delicious, right?"

It nodded.

"It does look delicious."

"I asked Pyeonggwang Merchant Guild to get me the best they could get their hands on quickly. It wasn\'t easy to obtain."

"Is that so? Prince, it must be delicious, considering all the trouble you went through!"

As I swayed the jerky left and right, Gon\'s head followed it, bobbing back and forth.

I tapped the empty space on the bed where I was sitting, and it quickly flew over, spreading its wings.

And then it stuck its beak out...

"No way."

"Caaaaawk!"

As I pulled the jerky away, just as it was about to touch its beak, a roar erupted.

"Give it to me, you rascal! How dare you make a fool of me! It\'s truly pathetic to see you, a prince of a nation, resorting to using food like this. Your petty mind is no bigger than the eyeball of a caterpillar on the tip of that pine tree branch over there."

What is it even saying?

"Be quiet. Don\'t you know everyone else is resting?"

"Hmph, as if I care about humans\' rest time!"

"Says the one who\'ll flip out if it can\'t sleep..."

"I am a creature of the sky; if I cannot rest, I will fall to the ground. But you and other humans crawl on the ground anyway, so what does it matter? Even if you collapse there, it\'s just from here to here, isn\'t it? How dare you compare me, who soars through the skies, to humans who crawl on the ground!"

"Crawling? What kind of nonsense is that? Do you think everything that comes out of your mouth is right?"

I paused for a moment and added, "It\'s not even a mouth, it\'s a beak."

Why does it talk so much when it doesn\'t even have a proper mouth?

It seemed like it was talking even more than usual today.

Perhaps it feels like it was talking a lot because I didn\'t speak much in the meeting hall earlier.

"Give it to me!"

Unable to give up on the jerky, Gon started attacking me with its claws and beak.

"Ow. That stings."

"Just stings? Is that all you have to say?"

"Your attack power is pathetic. I\'ll have to remember that."

"Remember what! What use is remembering that?"

"You never know. You might get caught by a bigger bird, or a magical beast, or just a wild animal..."

I continued, placing my hand on the head of the restless creature.

"So, any ideas?"

"What kind of ideas are you talking about?"

"Well, like evidence..."

As I trailed off, Gon suddenly puffed up its chest.

"So you\'re saying you need me."

It sounded confident.

"...What can you do? Can you do anything?" I narrowed my eyes and asked it

Could this creature be the breakthrough I needed?

"I don\'t know."

Contrary to my expectations, I heard an absurd answer.

"You don\'t know?"

"That is correct."

Huh?

"...You really don\'t know?"

"I said I don\'t know."

I hadn\'t misheard. I silently stared at Gon for a while, then put the jerky back in my pocket.

"Ahem!"

As soon as the jerky disappeared from sight, Gon cleared its throat. It was just a figure of speech; how could a bird-brain actually cough?

The moment Gon closed its beak, I pinched it between my thumb and forefinger.

"So, is there a way or not?"

"First, give me that to eat, and then I\'ll tell you. Come on, quickly."

Its words weren\'t very trustworthy, but there was nothing else to rely on either. Nodding, I took out the jerky and handed it over.

"Caaaaawk!" Gon cried out, seemingly delighted to receive the treat.

It munched on the jerky for a while before finally swallowing it and resuming a proper conversation.

"I can look into it for you."

"How do you plan to do that?"

Most people in Wolhan Fortress already knew that I was raising a crow.

And it was now an open secret that the crow I kept understood human speech

"For your information, everyone knows that I have a crow. And they even know that you understand what I\'m saying."

"I already knew that! It can\'t be helped that my magnificent appearance attracts attention."

With those words, Gon started grooming its feathers. Why is it suddenly preening when there\'s no one to show off to?

"I\'ve been making friends with the birds around here."

Thud. Gon dropped a feather onto the white blanket. But it wasn\'t a crow feather.

It was brown and much smaller than Gon\'s feathers.

"Do they say that walls have ears and birds have eyes?"

Hearing those words, I felt a jolt of realization. Gon understands my words, but that doesn\'t mean it isn\'t a bird...

"That saying is wrong."

It continued triumphantly.

"Birds have eyes during the day, and they can also hear at night."

"You rascal..."

I didn\'t expect Gon to be so useful.

"I shall personally investigate whether there is anything that can be used as evidence for your ignorant self."

After saying that, it glanced at my empty hand.

"And bring me more of that."

"Pyeonggwang Merchant Guild jerky? Ah, of course. I\'ll bring you a whole crate."

"A crate?"

At the word "crate," Gon paused for a moment, then nodded its head while wagging its tail feathers.

"Alright. It seems this can\'t be solved without me, so I\'ll look into it for you. Tsk tsk tsk, you foolish human."

It was still wagging its tail feathers even as it said that.

"I\'ll be back!"

Gon flew out the window. I watched the empty window for a moment before getting up.

Although I desperately hoped Gon would be helpful, I wasn\'t going to just sit around and wait for it.

"I need to make my own moves."

I was thinking of meeting Son Gye-du in person.