「Seize that guy!」
Armosso orders the dumbfounded soldiers. The three who had come to their senses attacked me at once.
I grabbed the tip of the spearhead and snapped it off.
I hit them all as hard as I could. Just with a punch.
The soldiers are blown away and slam into the wall, knocked out.
「Hey… somebody! Is anyone out there?」
Armosso shouted out loud.
He shouted in a strained voice, at his wits end.
There was a thump, thump, thump of wild footsteps approached and then three more came.
「It’s an intruder──no, an assassin. Kill him this instant!」
「Yes!」
The soldiers followed his command and attacked me.
These guys were just following orders, so I took it easy on them and just punched them and knocked them out.
After that, reinforcements came twice more, but I defeated them all.
「Well, that’s it. Now, it’s just you.」
「E──Eat this!」
Armosso took out what looked like a wand and pointed it at me.
Instantly, flames burst forth and enveloped my body.
Hot.
It was hot, but not unbearably so.
The flames quickly dissipated. My clothes got burned quite a bit, but my body (and my hair) are fine.
「What the ──, the magic doesn’t work on you?
「Does this mean my heat tolerance is 777 times higher? Well, that doesn’t matter right now.」
I glared at Armosso.
I took a step forward and punched him in the side of the head.
He drilled through the air, bounced on the floor then went limp.
He seems to be breathing, but he seems to be out cold.
「Now, what should I do?」
I thought for a moment and looked around.
I saw one of the soldiers tying to stand up. The guy is sitting on the floor, trying to back away from me.
「Oi, bastard.」
「Hii! Don’t kill me!」
「…… If you do what I’m about to tell you, I’ll let you live.」
I couldn’t be bothered to clear up the misunderstanding, so I decided to just go along with the misconception.
In the room after the battle, I took a pen from among the scattered things and threw it to the soldier.
「Write down what I’ about to say.」
「Of what…… and where……」
「Wait a minute.」
Using the rope that had been used to restrain me (the handcuffs were crushed and no longer usable), I tied up Armosso.
Then I rip off his clothes and strip his upper body bare.
「Write it down here. I am the culprit behind the shortage of copper coins. I was selling off the copper by melting it down.」
「Eh? W, well that’s」
「Just write it down or I’ll kill you!」
After a bit of threatening, the soldier did as he was told, and wrote the words I told him to on the upper half of Armosso’s body.
After tying up Almosso, I carried him on my back and raided the enemy hideout.
There were five men with suspicious looks, and at first they were ranting about what was going on, but as soon as they realized that I was carrying an Armosso, they understood everything and attacked me with weapons.
I defeated all of them.
I took them down and tied them up together.
I dragged Almosso and five of his accomplices, to a square in the center of the city.
I’m going to crucify them there.
I tried to draw Princess Helene’s coat of arms with the pen I had brought as a finishing touch.
「AAah! It’s too complicated!」
It was difficult to draw a coat of arms that looked authentic. I couldn’t draw it in one attempt, so I scrubbed it out and wrote 「777」 instead.
In the meantime, onlookers gathered.
「I’m the one responsible for the copper coin shortage. ……? Copper?!」
「It can’t be, Armosso-sama?」
「No, he’d do it! Since Almosso, the fees for recasting have gone up tremendously. He’s one hell of a money-grubber.」
「But melting money is a felony punishable by death.」
「People like that don’t think about the future, all they care about is making money.」
The onlookers were arguing among themselves.
People are slowly gathering and the noise is getting louder.
When I consciously picked up what they were saying with my ears, I found that they were frustrated from the start, and the loudest voices were 「he’d do it」 and 「I knew he’d do it someday」.
「I know that guy! He used to exchange copper coins for silver coins.」
「I exchanged money with this guy. On my way to take it to get re-minted. I exchanged money my because it was cheap compared to the commission ……but」
I also heard those kind of comments.
The combination of these factors makes Almosso’s guilt a definitive one.
The next day, I was summoned to the city office.
What waited for me there was a woman wearing a very expensive armor that looked more expensive than a knight’s armor.
There were several knights besides the woman, and one of them said.
「In the presence of Her Highness Iris Teresa Mercouri, your head is raised…」
「That’s fine.」
Iris reached out a hand and stopped the knight.
There’s no point in wielding authority here. I’m more interested in hearing what he has to say.」
「Well……I got a question too. Are you Princess Helene’s ……?」
「I’m her younger sister, Iris.」
「As I thought!」
I thought to myself.
Their names are almost the same, and most importantly, they look very similar.
Princess Helene is ladylike, and this girl is dignified and noble.
They are complete opposites, but they look so much alike that you can tell they are sisters even at a glance, from their brows to their mouths.
「And you are?」
「Uh, I’m Yuuki, Yuuki Kakeru.」
「Kakeru, is it? I have a few questions. That’s the first thing.」
Princess Iris pointed at my waist. Hanging there is the fan that Princess Helene gave me.
「Oh, yeah. I got it from Princess Helene.」
I take it out and show it to Princess Iris.
Iris took it and looked at it closely.
「It’s definitely my older sister’s property, and she gave it to you.」
「Eh? How can you possibly know that?」
「The royal crest requires the use of special magic to maintain it after it leaves our hands. If it’s something you’ve stolen, it’ll be gone in half a day.」
「Oh, that’s how it works.」
「Sorry, I wanted to ask you about this first because there was a possibility that you were an imposter.」
「…… Well, actually, that’s not quite wrong.」
「What is?」
Princess Iris frowns. I explained everything to her.
How I saved Princess Helene, and how I received a fan.
The fact that I happened to be at the scene of a crime and wanted to do something about it, so I told them that I worked for Princess Helene.
I told her all about it.
「I see, that’s what you meant. This solves one more mystery. I’ve always wondered why my sister, who spends so much time on military matters, intervened in monetary matters.」
「I’m sorry.」
I sort of apologized.
「It’s a small matter before a major one. Besides, fufu」
Iris giggled.
She had a stern look on her face ever since we met, but she smiled for the first time.
Her smile is so beautiful and innocent, I can’t help but admire it.
「It’s true that you used it without permission, but not for personal gain. The result indirectly proves my older sister’s ability to evaluate people.」
「Oh, yeah.」
「But, haaaah……」
「What’s the matter?」
「No, something similar has been happening here lately. There was no end to the number of people who tried to make money by melting down coins and selling them as raw materials. I’ve been trying to put them in jail as soon as I find them, but it’s not going to stop.」
「Are you sure there’s nothing else you can do?」
「Of course I have. Lowering the ratio of copper, for example. However, doing so would raise suspicions of a decline in national power, which would affect the country’s prestige.」
「I see. It’s difficult.,huh.」
It looks like a very difficult problem.
A problem that seems to be out of the control of 777 times the power.
(If I find it again, I’ll crush it.)
I put the fan back in my pocket.
Instantly, a light went off in my head.
I had ── an epiphany.
「Princess Iris.」
「What is it?」
「Maybe …… there’s a way to make it work.」
「Well, let’s hear it.」
Princess Iris looked at me as if to say that she didn’t expect much and that there was no such solution.
If all went well, her face might even turn to one of joy.
I said what came to me, hoping for the best.