After calling out, "Wait," the Marquis of West Berlin broke into a sincere smile, his neatly trimmed brown beard curling upward along with his somewhat square face.
Arthur obligingly adopted a puzzled expression.
Seeing that puzzlement, the Marquis of West Berlin immediately spoke in earnest-
"Forgive me, Credos!
Some things happened before that none of us wanted to see, so I have to be extremely careful."
As he spoke, the lord of West Berlin bowed slightly.
Listening to the marquis spout utter nonsense, Arthur let surprise surface in his eyes.
As though acting purely on instinct, the young "Medium" asked without thinking.
"Could you tell me what happened?"
"It was the Church of Pain!
That bastard always uses tricks like 'hostage-taking' and 'disguises' to leave me at my wits' end.
Not just the people in my territory-even my daughter fell victim to this sort of 'hostage-taking.' That is why she became so disgraceful.
Catherine used to be a good girl."
After using his words to absolve himself entirely, the Marquis of West Berlin let a trace of anguish appear on his face.
If you could not kill someone, you should not fight them.
And any conflict that had already occurred should be treated as an accident.
If it could not be passed off as an accident, blame someone else.
That was clearly what the lord of West Berlin was doing.
And Arthur?
Naturally, he played along.
The young "Medium" nodded in apparent realization.
"So that was what happened.
No wonder that young lady seemed a little off.
My apologies, Your Lordship. Auben acted rashly."
As he spoke, the young "Medium" also bowed slightly.
"Please, there is no need for that. The fault was mine. My carelessness gave the Church of Pain an opening, and the appearance of the Inner River