In Another World With My Smartphone: Volume 1 Page 14

  “Father!”

  “Sweetheart!” The king opened and closed his hand while looking at the woman and young girl clinging to him.

  “...I feel quite grand. All that suffering, now gone without a trace...”

  “Your Majesty!” The old man in gray robes rushed over to the king. He took the king’s hand, measured his pulse, and examined his eyes, among various other tests. So that person was the royal physician. That made sense.

  “...You are the very picture of health. How could this be...?” Ignoring the dumbfounded doctor, the king turned to face me.

  “Al... Alfred... Who is this boy?”

  “This is the same young Mochizuki Touya who cured my wife’s eyesight. By sheer coincidence, he had come to visit my estate. I brought him along with me, knowing that he would be able to cure you.”

  “...Aha... yyyyeah. My name’s Mochizuki Touya.” With absolutely no idea how to introduce myself to a king, I responded suitably. Like a simpleton. Only after the fact did I worry that I’d gotten something horribly wrong.

  “I see. So this is the boy who cured Lady Ellen...! You have saved my life, and for that you have my sincerest gratitude!” I had no idea how to act after being thanked by a king, and before I knew it the mustachioed man came up and started patting me on the back with vigor uncalled for. Hey, whoa, that hurts, you know!

  “You’ve done a great service in saving the king’s life, boy! Sir Touya then, is it?! I like the look about you!” So said the mustachioed geezer as he relentlessly continued in his efforts to break every bone in my back. Seriously, that really hurts!

  “General, that’s enough of that now. Still, to think I’d be able to see the non-elemental spell [Recovery] nowadays... How curious...” The lady with the golden khakkhara smiled as she put an end to the general’s ruthless onslaught. You’ve saved my spine, ma’am.

  “Now brother, we must talk at once about the ambassador from Mismede...!”

  “What of the ambassador?”

  “She is currently being held captive by Count Balsa as the suspected ringleader of this assassination attempt. What do you think about that, brother?”

  “How utterly absurd! What could Mismede possibly hope to gain from my death?! This is without a doubt the work of those who see me as an obstacle!” In that case, that old toad was the most suspicious after all.

  “Unfortunately... the fact of the matter is that Your Majesty collapsed upon drinking the wine brought forth by the ambassador. There were several witnesses present at the time. Unless we can clear up those suspicions...”

  “Hrmph...” The king fell deep into thought at General Whiskers’ words. Well, it was only natural that they couldn’t release a suspect without first proving their innocence.

  “We don’t even know what type of poison was employed. It could even have been a special type of beastman poison. We’d need to investigate that in order to find out...” The elderly physician mumbled in a troubled voice.

  Apparently they’d already used every known method of detecting and identifying poison, but the wine had shown no reaction whatsoever. Without knowing the type of poison, there was no way to know what kind of antidote was necessary. As a result, the king had been teetering on the brink of death for close to an hour.

  Ordinary Healing magic couldn’t cure physical status ailments like paralysis or poison. If I hadn’t arrived, the king would have been in heaven at that very moment. Just as the culprit had planned.

  “For the time being, I would like to meet with the ambassador. General Leon, escort her to me.”

  “Yes, Your Majesty!” The mustachioed geezer left the room as fast as his feet could carry him.

  It was almost certain that the ambassador had been framed. Erase the bothersome king and conveniently pin the crime on the ambassador. This would create a fissure between the two kingdoms, and Belfast would be free to wage war under the pretense of a just cause... Yeah, was probably the plan. By that point it was almost clear as day, really.

  “Uhm...” While I was deep in thought, a girl called out to me. I raised my face to see that it was the princess — Princess Yumina as I seemed to recall — who had been standing and staring at me.

  She looked to be about two or three years older than Sue. Maybe around twelve or thirteen? She wore a fluffy white dress, and in her hair sparkled a silver hairband. She had the same gorgeous blonde hair as Sue, and her large eyes were very captivating. Looking closely, I noticed that her left and right eyes were actually different colors. Her right eye was a vibrant blue, while her left eye was a light green. I’d heard about situations like that before; it was called heterochromia.

  “Thank you very much for saving my father’s life.” The princess thanked me and quickly bowed in my direction. She sure was well-mannered. I was worried she might be some high-handed spoilt brat of a princess.

  “Please, don’t worry about it. I’m just glad he’s feeling better.” The way everyone kept thanking me made me feel embarrassed, so I tried to just smile my way out of it. But the princess merely kept staring at me veeery closely. What, was there something on my face?

  Staaare...

  Staaaare...

  Staaaaare...

  Staaaaaare...

  “Err... can I help you?” I couldn’t withstand being engulfed in her burning gaze any longer, so I shifted my gaze as I asked that question. The princess blushed slightly and spoke almost in a whisper.

  “...Do you dislike younger women?”

  “...Come again?” Unable to comprehend the meaning behind her question, I tilted my head in confusion. Just then the door opened, and in came General Whiskers with a beastgirl who looked to be around twenty. Hmm? Haven’t I seen you before?

  “I, Olga Strand, have arrived as per your summons.” The beastgirl genuflected before the king, who was still sitting in bed. Atop her head were a pair of animal ears standing upright, and from her lower back protruded a tail. The tail of a fox.

  “Let us get right to the heart of the matter. Did you come to this country with the intention of killing me?”

  “I swear on my life, I would consider no such thing. I would never think to poison your Majesty!”

  “I had thought as much. You do not strike me as the type of foolish person to do such a thing. As such, I trust you.” The king spoke with a smile, and the Mismede ambassador’s expression turned to one of relief.

  “Still, the fact remains that it was your wine from which the poison came. How would you explain this turn of events?”

  “Th-That is...” Unable to respond to the words of the woman with the golden khakkhara, the foxgirl simply let her head hang listlessly. Of course she had no way to prove her innocence. It didn’t seem like the khakkhara lady was accusing her because of that, though. It felt more like she was asking “What can we do to help figure this out?” or something. Hmm...

  “Er, excuse me a moment?”

  “Wait, is that Touya?” the foxgirl questioned.

  “So it was you...!” The foxgirl turned to face me when I called out, and was surprised when she saw my face. Oh, looked like it really was the same lady from back then. She was the older sister of that young foxgirl, Arma, who I’d found wandering lost in the capital on my first visit. So the older sister’s name was Olga, huh?

  “Are you acquainted with the ambassador?”

  “I made friends with her younger sister, but we only met in passing, really. Anyway, putting that aside for a moment...” I made a gesture of picking up a box and moving it to the side as I brushed off the duke’s question. Nobody seemed to get it. Ouch. Moving on, I asked General Whiskers about something that had been bothering me.

  “Where in the castle did the king collapse?”

  “That would be the main dining hall... What of it?”

  “Has the crime scene been left untouched?”

  “Huh? Well, yes, it’s exactly as it was at the time of the incident... No, wait, we removed the wine in order to test it for poison. The tests
are still ongoing...” Which meant that they still hadn’t found any trace of the poison whatsoever.

  I was pretty sure I had figured it all out, then. It was a common trick. Heck, it didn’t even really count as a trick. The moment anyone realized that there was no poison in the wine whatsoever, the truth would be blatantly obvious. This plan had so many holes that it would’ve made a good fishing net. I wanted to check one last thing though, just to be sure and all.

  “Could you guide me to that room? I might be able to prove the ambassador’s innocence.” Everyone in the room exchanged glances, but the king gave his permission, so General Leon led me to the room.

  The room itself was a large hall. It had a big white-brick fireplace and a single massive window, which was adorned with blue curtains and looking out over the gardens. The walls were lined with several expensive-looking paintings, and on the ceiling was a magnificent sparkling chandelier. The long table was covered in a white tablecloth, atop which rested silver candlesticks plus plates and cutlery with the food still on them.

  Upon my request, the general brought me the wine in question.

  “Is this wine rare at all?”

  “I’m not too sure myself, but apparently so. According to the ambassador’s story, it’s only produced in a certain village in Mismede. It’s supposedly very valuable due to that fact.”

  “Alrighty then.” Okay, it’s about time to test out my theory.

  “[Search]: Poison” I activated my search-fu. I looked over the wine, continued on through the rest of the room, and passed my gaze across the whole of the tabletop. Yup, just as I’d thought. I was pretty sure it would’ve been found out eventually, but I was the only one who could use search magic to quickly confirm it for sure.

  The fact that I could find it with the [Search] spell must have meant that if I ever consumed any, I would know immediately that I had been poisoned. The thought made me never, ever want to try that.

  Now, what was to be done? At the rate things were going, the chance that the truth would remain unknown was relatively high. The crime was probably plotted out with that thought in mind. Even if it failed, the worst the real culprit would get off with was being suspected, and little more. I could prove the ambassador’s innocence with what I had, but we wouldn’t be able to catch the real culprit that way... Okay, think I got it.

  “I think I get the gist of it. General, could you get the king to summon everyone to the dining hall? Oh, that’s including Count Balsa, by the way. Also, I have a small favor to ask...”

  “A favor?” The general tilted his head quizzically, but he heard out my request. If there was no solid evidence, then all we had to do was get the culprit to fess up themselves.

  Alrighty then, time to put on a little act...

  ◇　◇　◇

  “Y-Your Majesty! You’re already back up on your feet?!”

  “That is correct, Count Balsa. As you can see, I am the very picture of good health. Though I seem to have caused a lot of worry for everyone.” The toad burst into the great dining hall, and His Majesty the King answered his inquiry most casually. He even beat his fist against his chest as if to prove it.

  “I... see... Hahaha, well now, this is quite something. I’m very glad to see that...” The count was already covered in cold sweat as his smile twitched and he nervously rubbed his hands together. The king looked him over with completely sober eyes. Oh, seemed like the king had noticed it, too. This guy was undoubtedly the true culprit.

  “I thought I had met my end for a moment there, but then young Touya arrived and cleared up the poison in my body in the blink of an eye! I must say, I was tremendously lucky today. That truly was a close call.” At the king’s words, Count Baldy looked at me as though he loathed my very existence. Oh, come on, he’s practically giving it away! Now I can’t even picture anyone besides him as the culprit.

  “Alright, Touya. Everyone is gathered. What next?” Holding her golden khakkhara, the jade-haired court magician, Miss Charlotte, asked me.

  The people gathered in the dining hall were: His Majesty the King, Princess Yumina, Queen Yuel, Duke Ortlinde, General Leon, Charlotte, Doctor Raul, Olga, and Count Balsa. I had them all stand before me, then began talking.

  “As we all know, the king was poisoned just a few hours ago. The crime took place in this very room, the dining hall. The room has been left exactly as it was at the time of the crime. Well, maybe exactly isn’t the right word, since the food’s gone cold and all, but that’s not the issue at hand. The real issue is the identity of the criminal behind the Case of the Failed Royal Assassination. And...” I let my words hang in the air as I savored the moment, and then spoke the words.

  “The culprit is right here among us.”

  I’ve always wanted a chance to say that line! The room’s atmosphere changed in an instant, and Olga went pale. Her ears jolted upright, and she looked around with pleading eyes as if trying to say “You’re wrong, it wasn’t me!” Don’t worry, we already know that.

  When he saw Olga’s pale face, Count Balsa’s lips curled up into a smile.

  Come on, dude, it’s almost like you want to be caught. He hadn’t seemed to notice it himself since he was staring at Olga, but everyone else in the room had already turned their eyes on Count Baldy as if they unanimously agreed he was the culprit. Having everyone besides Olga already know the culprit’s identity kind of sucked some of the fun out of it, honestly...

  “To start off with, we have the poisoned wine.” The general handed me a wine bottle, and I held it up for all to see.

  “Now, Olga. This is, without a doubt, the wine that you brought with you, yes?”

  “Th-That’s right, that is the wine I brought with me, but I didn’t do anything like poisoning it...!”

  “Silence, you wretched beast! Do you still intend to act innocent? Have you no shame?! Everyone agrees, right...?!” Watching the toad verbally abuse Olga with a sidelong glance, I took a large swig straight from the wine bottle and gulped it right down.

  I’m a minor, but that’s no big deal! After all, I’m in another world!

  “Ah, it’s delicious!” I slammed the bottle down onto the table. To be totally honest, I didn’t actually know how delicious the wine was, because I had no others to compare it with. I just told you I’m a minor! Looking around, I saw that everyone’s mouths were agape as they locked their eyes onto me.

  “S-Sir Touya, a-are you alright?!”

  “I’m fine, General. I mean, after all, there was never any poison in the wine to begin with!”

  “What?!” Everyone looked around amongst themselves, trying to figure out what in the world I was talking about. Everyone except the count, that is, who was now visibly sweating bullets. Good, I have him all scared.

  “Now, I have with me here a bottle of wine from the Far East. It’s a very rare type of wine born from a secret formula, and it’s the finest wine that I can think of.” I took in my hand a bottle with a label that read “Bowjolly Noovoe.” The label had in fact been made by me and simply pasted onto the side of a bottle of some cheap wine. As if to show that my wine was more precious, I took a glass from the vacant table and poured some wine into it.

  “This wine will expose the culprit.” I held the wine glass aloft toward the chandelier, which caused a dazzling array of lights to reflect off the glass and bounce around the room. I made my way over to the others and offered the glass to the general.

  “Could I ask you to drink this?” The general gave me a doubtful look, but he downed the glass anyway.

  “How’s the taste?”

  “Ohoh! This is wonderful! It is better than any wine I’ve ever tasted! Delicious! Count, would you like some?” Oh god, his voice was completely monotonous. It was completely monotonous, but the general did exactly as I had asked earlier and offered some wine to the count.

  “Eh? Err, well then, alright...” After the Count nodded, I made my way over to the table and picked up the glass that had been at the king’s sea
t and poured some wine into it. The moment I did so, the count’s face changed immediately.

  “I’m extremely interested to hear your impressions of my finest wine.”

  “Ah, no, actually I think I’m fine!”

  “Come now, just one drink!” I grabbed the count as he started to back away and forced the wine glass into his hand.

  “Drink it with spirit, my friend!” I beamed a smile as bright as the sun straight into the Count’s eyes as I spoke. But he simply stood there flooded in cold sweat, making no move to drink from the glass.

  “What is the matter, Count? Won’t you have a drink?”

  “Er, well, you see... it’s just...” The count began lightly rocking the glass with shifty eyes as the king spoke. Whoops, wouldn’t want that falling to the ground now.

  “...Can you not drink it? In that case, this may be rather forward of me, but I’ll simply have to help you along.”

  “Wha?! Mgh! Argh?!” I forced the glass to the count’s lips and poured the wine down his throat. Choking all the while, the count reflexively swallowed some of the wine that was trying to make its way down his gullet. Realizing what had just happened, he stood terrified.

  “Ugh! Uwah! Uwaaah! H-Help me! The poison! It’s coursing through my veeeiiins! I’m dying! I’m dyiiing!” The toad writhed around, gripping at his throat all the while. Anguish coated his face as he continued to squirm. How embarrassing. I wonder what it is about us humans and our powers of imagination that can drive us to act in such overblown ways.

  “Urrrgggh! I-It hurts to breathe! The poison! The poooiiisooon! S-Somebody, help me...!”

  “Alright, you can calm down now. That glass you just drank from? It was a fresh new one.”

  “I’m dyiiinggg, I’m... pardon?” The puzzled count stopped writhing and rose to his feet, lightly patting at his throat.