The middle-aged man running the weapon shop introduced himself as Raldren.
Merchants in Aligar were not the type to waste time on unprofitable matters, but Raldren, without asking for money, brought Ellen and Charlotte to his weapon shop and engaged them in conversation.
"Elena wasn't one to mingle with people. Despite that, she was a pleasant young lady. Whenever we crossed paths, she'd greet me with a 'Good morning,' 'Good afternoon,' or 'Good evening,' and always wished me a happy day."
The shop owner's name was Elena.
Charlotte was already aware of this information, but it was new to Ellen.
"There were quite a few people who annoyed Elena. Not to mention the young men, but there were even older gentlemen who persistently pestered her, despite her not selling them anything. They should know their place. This isn't something to say outright, but there was a guy named Swinton who especially bothered Elena, even though he was a married man."
"Ah... is that so...?"
"He's a terrible person."
Charlotte broke into a cold sweat at the excessive information, while Ellen muttered briefly. It was a terse, but intensely displeased comment.
Charlotte already knew that Elena didn't have particularly close relationships with people.
Elena was kind to everyone, but she didn't build more than a certain level of closeness with anyone.
"She wasn't meant for business. Her nature was too soft... As you all know, there are times when Aligar merchants can be rather rough with their customers, but she didn't have it in her. She would even offer discounts instead. It made me wonder how she could make a living like that..."
Charlotte already knew most of this, so it was only new information to Ellen.
With a nature that prevented her from making a profit in business, it was a wonder why she pursued it at all. Charlotte had initially thought she was an undercover agent with ulterior motives in the royal capital, but her thoughts had changed.
The Demon King had sought Elena's help as a spy of Darkland infiltrating the royal capital, and she had helped her lord by hiding him in a safe place.
It wasn't a chance encounter, but a planned meeting.
Charlotte had been internally certain that Elena was a spy for Darkland.
"But she seemed to have quite a backbone."
"A backbone?"
"I mean, with so many people harassing her, she never once faltered. They all ended up leaving with their tails between their legs, as if their souls had been sucked out. Even that Swinton fellow eventually stopped bothering her, looking utterly defeated."
Although many people harassed Elena, they all ended up leaving as if they had been thoroughly beaten.
'She said she had a boyfriend.'
Charlotte recalled finding a strand of blonde hair on Elena's bed while searching her shop. The hair color was starkly different from Elena's, and when asked whose hair it was, Elena had claimed it was her boyfriend's.
But as of now, Elena had never formed deep connections with anyone.
Thus, the notion of having a boyfriend was false. And it was unlikely for an agent on an important mission infiltrating the royal palace to be casually involved in a romantic relationship.
Therefore, the blond hair must have belonged to someone other than a boyfriend.
It couldn't be the Demon King. The hair color Charlotte had seen on the Demon King was closer to a reddish-brown, not blonde.
However, if that was a disguise, it wouldn't be too strange to think that the fallen hair belonged to the Demon King.
She had thought he would be staying in a remote area away from the royal palace, but was he actually living in the shabby second-floor shop within the palace grounds?
Blonde wasn't such a rare hair color that it could be used to identify someone conclusively.
"Anyway, I was a bit disappointed. To think she would disappear so suddenly without even saying goodbye... She left all her belongings behind, too. The landlord was happier about the items left behind than the fact that the tenant had run off."
"Ah, I see..."
It would have been a natural course of action for Elena to flee once the Demon King revealed himself. After all, Charlotte and Reinhardt had clear knowledge of the whereabouts of the suspected Demon King.
Raldren glanced around before speaking to Charlotte.
"This is something only I know."
"Oh. What is it?"
"I think... Elena actually had a fondness for younger men."
"...Excuse me?"
Charlotte was dumbfounded by the completely out-of-the-blue statement, and Ellen tilted her head in confusion.
"No... There was this one guy who came by occasionally. He had a somewhat mischievous appearance, as if he was born with a silver spoon in his mouth. The kind of guy who'd go around breaking women's hearts."
"..."
"..."
Naturally, Ellen and Charlotte's gazes met.
They seemed to know who he was referring to.
They couldn't help but instinctively understand that he was talking about Reinhardt.
From the beginning, Reinhardt had frequented this shop in his role as Charlotte's messenger, so it wasn't a stretch for Raldren, the neighboring shop owner, to remember him.
"Those who wander the market with the intent to stir up trouble usually end up in a sorry state, but that guy didn't seem to be like that. And yet, he blatantly loitered around? I've said all there is to say. Yep."
It seemed Raldren was certain that Elena, who was kind to everyone yet never gave her heart to anyone, had a secret taste for younger men.
Charlotte knew this was a huge misunderstanding, and Ellen, who had heard from Charlotte, knew that the middle-aged slob was spouting nonsense.
Reinhardt probably had no reason to visit Eleris' shop after he told Charlotte she could stop delivering messages. The only other time would be when Charlotte was torn between the Demon King and Reinhardt and volunteered to tell the mage to run away. That was it.
The Demon King couldn't possibly pose such a great threat that she would simply tell him to run away. That's what Reinhardt had said.
He had also said that he would take care of the rest if he could manage.
And so, Charlotte's guilt stemmed from there.
She should have insisted on holding onto Elena instead of being indecisive at the time.
In the end, she gained no new information and had to accept that all the decisions she made only brought about negative outcomes for everyone.
With no special information and only what was already known, further inquiry seemed pointless. It was at that moment when Charlotte was about to turn away.
"But I can't help but think that Elena closed her shop and left somewhere because of that guy."
"…Pardon?"
Another remark from Raldren caught Charlotte off guard.
Of course, it was likely that Elena had indeed left the capital after hearing Reinhardt's warning.
But how could he have come to such a conclusion when he couldn't possibly have heard that mysterious conversation?
"I heard he brought a woman with him last time."
A woman.
At those words, both Charlotte and Ellen fell silent.
"Judging by her uniform, she must be a fellow Temple student. Tsk, it seems I've got myself a new girl, let's call it quits – that's what I think he must have said. So, I suspect Elena was hurt and left because of that."
What a bizarre delusion and speculation this was.
Both Ellen and Charlotte were taken aback, but they had acquired a curious piece of information.
Reinhardt had brought a woman wearing Temple garb to Elena's shop.
Who he brought and what they discussed remained unknown.
"Both the man and the woman had solemn expressions; it seemed like they were steeled for something. Not long after, Elena closed her shop. I think that's what happened. Anyway, that blond guy, I had a bad feeling about him from the start."
While Raldren didn't know much about Reinhardt, his assertion that someone with a nasty appearance would be a nasty person made some sense.
Although his conjecture was mostly wrong, some facts remained.
Reinhardt had brought someone to Elena's shop – a place he would never visit with company.
Normally, Reinhardt would visit the basement room Eleris secured, avoiding others' eyes.
However, he had visited Eleris's shop with Lydia Schmitt under urgent circumstances, and thus couldn't afford to be cautious.
That left a trace.
"Do you remember the appearance of the woman he brought? And when was this?"
At Charlotte's question, Raldren cocked his head.
"Well, I think the woman had black hair. There was something odd about her eyes. Eerie, I guess. She didn't seem quite normal... That's probably why I remember her..."
As he pondered, he furrowed his brow as if recalling something.
"Right, now that I think about it, chaos broke out the next day because of the Demon King. The Holy Knights were massacred. It was such a huge incident that I remember."
"…"
"…"
On the day of the Demon King's attack, Reinhardt visited Elena's shop with a female student from the Temple.
And the shopkeeper was believed to be closely associated with the demon king.
Who is the woman Reinhardt brought? Why did Reinhardt look for Elena?
Ellen and Charlotte's eyes met.
"......"
"......"
Neither of them said a word.
No, they couldn't say a word.
—---
After completing their investigation, Charlotte gave a small reward to Raldren.
It was the answer to Raldren's question about why they were asking such things. Upon receiving the gold coin, Raldren nodded his head as if he understood the meaning and didn't ask any more questions.
"..."
"..."
Strange thoughts swirled in the heads of Charlotte and Ellen.
Too much thinking can be a problem.
Both Ellen and Charlotte were more than capable of mentally exploring various situations.
Based on the timeline, Charlotte told Reinhardt to forget about the demon king after Riverrier Lanze was attacked.
But Reinhardt went to see Elena on the day of the attack.
Since he said there was no need to deliver letters anymore, Reinhardt had no reason to visit Elena.
Of course, Reinhardt could have visited Elena privately. It wasn't just the messenger role that he played, but also the possibility that he had private conversations with Elena, which could have led to a close relationship.
However, it was a bit strange for Reinhardt to visit Elena privately, knowing that she and those under her protection were suspicious.
Not only was it strange, but he even brought a female temple student with him.
And that very day, Riverrier Lanze was attacked.
Elena was a mage.
Charlotte knew that the demon king's forces included powerful mages.
If there were no other mages, the likelihood of Elena being that mage was very high.
Reinhardt took a temple student to Elena's shop. And Elena participated in the attack on Riverrier Lanze that night.
And.
On the day of the Riverrier Lanze attack.
That day was the Miss Temple contest. Reinhardt did not participate in the contest.
It was a painful memory for Ellen, and Charlotte knew of the situation as well.
Ellen tried to recall.
She remembered Reinhardt, who returned to the temple very late with frostbitten cheeks and hands, unable to do anything.
She recalled Reinhardt that day.
"Ellen."
Charlotte softly called Ellen's name.
"Yeah."
Both of them considered numerous possibilities in their heads.
"Let's not say anything until we're sure."
"..."
"Until we're sure, let's not even think about it."
They didn't know what conclusion their numerous conjectures would lead to, but what lay beyond the curtain of darkness.
Somehow.
The truth seemed so terrifying that they stopped thinking altogether.
"Yeah. Let's do that."
Ellen whispered in agreement.
