Chapter 42.3 – The Earl’s Deduction

 

Since nobody said anything else, the Earl continued talking, (Before getting into the main subject, let me digress for a small bit.

(Do you all know of Physio Logos? It’s a legendary monster that hides in lakes and eats the feet of those who pass near it at night. It’s said to be a crocodile monster, but that has three snakes on the place where its head was supposed to be… And yet, nobody has ever seen it properly.

(About 800 years ago, I decided to visit one of the lakes where a Logos was supposedly seen. It was a beautiful lake that many ancient poets had described in their tales. It was hard to believe such horrifying monster lived deep within this lake’s waters.

(Therefore, I decided to try checking it with my own eyes… And after a whole year lurking on the lake’s surrounding, I eventually came to quite the dull conclusion.

(There was no monster. Travelers sometimes just had their legs bitten by foxes. However, since it was dark, they couldn’t quite see what attacked them, so they attributed the biting to the legendary monster.

(In fact, once light magic started becoming more widely used, the rumors of the Logos started disappearing.

(Now, with this digression out of the way, let’s get back to the main topic.

(There are too many unclear points about the supposed treason of Solute, so we might be creating a Logos ourselves if we aren’t careful.

(To avoid that, we should try thinking about what are the main points of confusion and what would be their possible explanation. So as to make sure we are not deluding ourselves.

(First, why did the aristocrats summon Solute to the empire’s capital?

(Second, who sent the secret letter to the guards, and why?

(Third, how did the knights learn about the meeting to discuss the assassination when even the ninja dolls didn’t know of it?

(Fourth, why did the emperor immediately give a death penalty on Solute?

(Fifth, why were the ninja dolls unable to notice the meeting until it was too late?

(Sixth, what happened to the guards that disappeared in front of Figuz?

(Seventh, why did Cactus not only accompany Solute, but also deceived the princess in the process?

(Eighth, what is Solute’s true goal?

(Let’s try going over them in order.

(The first is simple. It was probably due to a scheme of the Sage.

(From second to forth, there is a clear explanation for it if we look back to the past of the Empire.

(About 600 years ago, the empire was in a crisis, and many people thought that it was close to collapsing in itself. The corrupt aristocracy had completely dominated the national affairs, turning the emperor into a puppet.

(However, the Stable dynasty continues to this day even after this crisis. How? It was because of the talent of the Sharp Emperor, Sylphis I.

(As soon as he ascended to the throne, he started working on a plan to fix the current state of the country.

(He ordered a loyal vassal, Serenes, Duke of Diazem, to perform a false treason. In addition, he forged some evidence to create a narrative that put Serenes as a victim that was framed by the vicious aristocracy. Like this, Syphis I got a justification to start purging all the aristocracy that was destroying the empire.

(This case is probably similar. Solute is taking the role of Serenes, to let our Emperor take the role of Syphis I. Instead of being driven by greed, Solute is probably just doing what he believes is best for the empire, even if this will temporarily stigmatize his house.

(Now, back to the questions I raised a small while back.

(For the fifth question, the ninja dolls were probably deceived by old magic. There might be someone who can imitate my spell.

(As for the sixth question, I believe we can all agree that the knights were actually replaced by the same magic that Cactus used. It’s also quite possible that the fakes were also able to relay what they were seeing and hearing to the originals, so they could keep track of our movements while the ninja dolls were being tricked.

(This might raise the question of who created the fake knights, but I believe the answer to that is the same as the answer to the seventh and eighth questions. Cactus and Solute did not want to involve the princess.

(The princess is the very precious daughter of Solute, and he probably wanted you to live safely in Malgaroid. So he decided to fool the ninja dolls in order to not involve you.

(And of course, Cactus too most likely cherishes the princess a lot, just like all other dolls. So he did not want to put you in danger.

(And that concludes my argument. I do understand that there is a lot to process, but I hope it can help everyone get a clearer notion of the current situation.)