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“The situation in Fraus, you ask? Let’s see. Hmm… what was his name again? The father of the maid assigned to me.”
“It’s Avaritia.”
“Ah, yes, that’s right, that was it. Such a cool-sounding name.”

Finis giggled playfully, and though it matched her childlike appearance, it now only struck me as eerie. It was like watching a child who doesn’t understand death casually kill an insect—innocent, but chilling.

“Well then, let’s take this one step at a time. I wasn’t able to see everything myself, so I’ve pieced this together from what I know. It all began after the first signs of world collapse appeared, after you left for the battlefield. You were already aware of the murmurs surrounding the raid that sparked the war, weren’t you?”
“Yes, but it was only ever considered a vague possibility.”

It had been the kind of suspicion that would vanish the moment we claimed victory. Besides, I’d left many knights behind in the capital as a precaution.

“To put it simply, that suspicion suddenly spread like wildfire. People began to believe that it was the royal army that destroyed the towns and that the royal family had ordered it. A blood-stained sword was discovered—and that set things off.”
“The weapons used were all accounted for and secured under strict supervision.”
“That’s true, but I… did play around with that a little. I swapped out just one of the swords.”

Finis said this as if nothing major had happened, and I glared at her with all the fury I could muster. But she remained unfazed and continued speaking.

“Sure, the sword added fuel to the fire. But let’s be real—just giving a sword to a commoner doesn’t start a coup. If someone could start a rebellion just because of a single sword, they would’ve found another excuse anyway, even without a conveniently tainted blade.”
“…You’re not wrong.”
“So really, no matter how things played out, the result would’ve been the same. Maybe with a bit of a delay. You were gone for too long, and the kingdom was already too far gone—too deeply infected.”
“Infected?”

I didn’t understand what she meant and asked her to clarify. What had been happening within the kingdom? I couldn’t claim to have eyes on everything, but if a rebellion was brewing, I should’ve noticed something.

“Anyway, I’ll move the story along. In the end, a rebel faction—led by Avaritia, I suppose—wiped out the royal family and seized control of the kingdom. Why did the people go along with it? Because rumors spread that the royal family had ignored God’s oracle, and that was the cause of the coming world collapse. The people were already losing trust in the royal family, and in the face of a massive disaster, they were desperate for someone to blame. But the ones pulling the strings from the shadows probably had the biggest impact on this.”

I didn’t know who was the one pulling the strings from the shadows, but I could understand how public sentiment might shift in that direction. Still, the people’s response had been too fast. Perhaps those hidden actors were the ones who made it happen.

But for what purpose?

“So now, the citizens of this unnamed new country believe every bad thing that’s happening is the royal family’s fault. They think you deceived them, that you were the villains.”

So that was why no one would listen to a word I said. It was said that trust could shatter in an instant. Even if there were records of an oracle calling for the release of the spirits, and even if we had hidden the truth about the spirits, still, it was that very system that had enabled people to live comfortable lives. … No. I couldn’t allow myself to think this way.

To protect the pride of royalty, I had to halt such thoughts.

“So, who are these figures working from the shadows?”
“The escaped heroes.”
“Surely not—no one had a skill that could lead to something like this…”

Had they had that kind of ability even before coming to this world? No… based on the other heroes, that seemed extremely unlikely. The summoning magic used to bring heroes here was specifically designed to prevent troublesome individuals from slipping through.

“Do you really think I was the only one who noticed my skills before our stats were formally revealed?”

Her words made me grit my teeth. She was right—some skills could conceal one’s status. I had assumed heroes had only one or two skills, apart from the universal ones.

But maybe I had been wrong. If Makoto had been an exception and heroes were granted two skills each, then perhaps… Still, if that were the case, whoever had escaped not only had a concealing skill but also one that allowed them to manipulate events from the shadows.

The most likely culprit was a skill like Incitement. I recalled Finis having been involved with that.

“If you’re thinking of Tsunoe—no, it wasn’t her. I don’t even know if she’s still alive. But I made sure she couldn’t speak using my skill. She might be able to talk again now, but she wasn’t hiding her skills in the first place.”

That was true. So… it must’ve been one of the other four who escaped—or maybe several of them working together. The most suspicious was Michihisa, who had only one visible skill.

“The plot being carried out by the one pulling strings is still ongoing, so I can’t tell you who it is or what skill they used.”
“Oh, that’s a shame.”
“Now then, let’s go back to the main topic.”

I tried to keep my voice light, pretending I didn’t care. But Finis changed the subject without reacting at all. Maybe this was the point where I should have stopped her from talking. No matter what it took.