The hero had a reputation for being unpredictable, but this sudden development even took Elrich by surprise. Though he already knew what Kazuya was thinking from Laura's report, it was still a little too much to be rejecting Julian's plea without even hearing him out.

Elrich wasn't the only one, even Julia Tisdale was unaware that her father would be rejected without being given the chance to speak. 

"(Just what did Kazuya see in me that made him not want anything in return for my freedom?) This was the perfect chance to take advantage of asking for whatever he wanted and even the Elrich Eberbach would have asked her father for something in exchange for me…)" Julia stared at the confusing hero's back as she contemplated.

"W-what do you mean by this?" Julian was a hardened man, but he couldn't help but stutter after he forced himself to talk.

He could feel some pressure from this young man. All new heroes were supposed to have been from a peaceful world, not to mention that they were very young, which made them naïve. The only exception was the hero Raphael who was known to have already been a soldier before he was summoned.

His occupation as a royal guard had made him have a habit of gauging people. Heroes were known to have an uncanny amount of mana emanating from their bodies but for some reason, the mana he could feel from this strange boy was something that does not make him stand out from the elites that he had under him. Julian couldn't figure out just what it was that made him nervous around this boy so suddenly.

"(Could it be…?)" He was reminded of a similar presence that his grandfather told him about when he was still a young boy.

"I meant what I just said. I'm not interested in dissolving the agreement between me and my subordinate. I doubt you can offer me anything that could make me agree which is why I'm saving us a lot of time." Kazuya replied and nodded towards Zwei who had just served him tea.

If Julian wasn't already aware of the military attire that was similar to what the military personnel of the Eberbach house wore, he would have immediately judged him as a person who aligned himself with the duke. The military uniform that matched the black hair of the hero gave Julian a strange feeling. He may have already doubted the hero's claims of not being interested in anything he had to offer if Julian's mind was not already occupied with a lot of things so suddenly.

"Are you serious? Are you really going to hold a person under your command against her will? Is that something a hero would do?" Julian saw the disappointed expression that Julia, who was standing behind the hero, was making and immediately straightened himself up.

"Was it against her will when she decided to attack me and lose her freedom in the process? Don't try to take the moral high ground with me, sir Tisdale. The fact remains that she was the one who went after me first." Kazuya shook his head sideways.

"Besides, you people were the ones who gave me the t.i.tle of hero when you kidnapped me from my world. You people are the last people who have any right on judging me for the actions I decided to take because not only did I confirm your own laws, I followed them. Otherwise, the floors of the castle will have been spilled with your daughter's blood." Kazuya continued without batting an eye.

The finance minister could attest to this. The two maids who were with him at the time stopped the hero from taking any action the moment he was attacked. Afterward, he decided not to kill Julia right on the spot and even inquired about the laws inside the castle.Find authorized novels in Webnovel，faster updates, better experience，Please click for visiting.

"Can't you forgive her just once? No one got hurt and even though you are not from our world, aren't you also human? Humans make a lot of mistakes, especially young ones." Julian tried to reason.

"Please spare me from that kind of speech. Let me ask you this, would I be forgiven if I suddenly attacked the king?" Kazuya smiled at Julian.

Who didn't know the answer to this question? He would have been executed on the spot if he tried something like that.

"Let's take it from another perspective." Kazuya continued since he knew that Julian wasn't going to answer his question. "If I hadn't paid attention or if Acht and Neun weren't present. Do you think I would have had the chance to seek justice?"

Though Kazuya was aware that Julia didn't intend to kill him when she attacked, he chose to go with this reasoning because he knew Alicia and Julia too well. This was probably an action that was done with the princess's approval. Now that it failed, with the loss of Julia to Kazuya, there would be no way that she would admit that it was done with her permission.

"You said that we are humans and we make mistakes. Though that is true, there is a line between mistakes that were intended and unintended. She, as a member of the castle guards, attacked me while being fully aware of the rules of the castle. If I forgive her for what she tried to do just because she wasn't able to complete it, should we forgive a.s.sa.s.sins, murderers or rapists who weren't able to do what they intended as well?"

Elrich looked at Kazuya with admiration. Julian, like all other n.o.bles who tried to move their silver tongues at Kazuya, had been crushed by his reasoning. There was little room for the captain of the king's guard to speak and from the way things were going, a young man who wasn't half his age had just talked him down to submission.

"You called my daughter a subordinate. I've also heard that you are similar to a n.o.ble here in your world. Is the reason why you're bent on keeping her is because you want people under your command?"

"That is not wrong," Kazuya replied.

"How about I exchange my daughter for a hundred people that would agree to the same terms you have with my daughter? You may even choose them." Julian offered.

Slaves with battle experience could be bought. There were even former soldiers that were being sold as slaves so there wouldn't be a shortage of personnel to offer to the hero as long as Julian was willing to pay for them. The hero wouldn't even need to pay them and provide necessities. it would be a good deal but what Julian wasn't aware of was that Kazuya already knew what he was thinking of.

"I said that you were not wrong, but I didn't say that you were completely correct. Please understand, I already said that there would be nothing that you could offer to make me consider dissolving my agreement with her. Not even if the king were here to negotiate with me himself." Kazuya put the final nail in the coffin.

How could they know the significance of Julia's life to Kazuya? This was the life that he was not willing to let go of now that he was in charge of it. If he could easily do the same to the others who betrayed him, he would use himself as bait anytime.

To the hero, not even the death G.o.ds could collect their lives without his permission.

*SLAM!!*

"You're being unreasonable!" Julian had finally lost his patience and hit the wooden table.

"I'm being unreasonable?" Kazuya tilted his head acting confused. "Do I seem like I'm being unreasonable, Elrich-san?"

"No. I believe that what you did was correct. From my perspective, you have even shown mercy by not taking her life. That is why you need to calm yourself Julian. Don't only look from the perspective of a parent." Elrich gestured for Zwei to clean up the spilled tea on the table and serve them another batch.

Julian couldn't help but give a bitter expression. Elrich Eberbach of all people had just told him to not act like a parent! The most infamous when it came to being illogical when their child was involved was the last person to say those lines to him.

"I just remembered, since you are in a high position, you should know about a lot of wanted criminals, right?" Kazuya suddenly changed the topic as he reached for his pocket

"Will you release my daughter if I help?" Julian crossed his arms and scoffed at the hero.

"What about you duke? Will you be able to recognize someone through their voice?"

"If I have met them. I believe I would be able to." Not knowing what the hero was up to, Elrich still agreed. He hasn't been disappointed in Kazuya's performance and believed he wouldn't be anytime soon.

Kazuya took out his phone and placed it on the table after pressing the play b.u.t.ton on a certain recording.

"[Who sent you?]" the voice they immediately identified as the hero was heard from the strange device.

"[We were sent by Marquis Keller! I've told you now let me die in peace!]" a deep voice that obviously belonged to a man suddenly came from the phone.

"[Why? Who was that girl?]" ignoring the man's pleas, he continued his questioning.

"[She's the only daughter of Duke Elrich Eberbach! The king's faction wants to get rid of her! PLEASE! JUST KILL ME!!!!!]"

*BANG*

"That was the voice of the man leading the people who attacked me!" Sodina, who had been silent all this time finally spoke out.

"[Are you sure?]" Elrich frowned.

"I am a hundred percent sure! That voice is still ringing in my head whenever I remember those who died to save me!"

Currently from the people in the room, only Acht and Neun were unable to recognize whose voice they just listened to was. The voice's owner was none other than one of the captains of the royal shadow, a group tasked with missions that involved the secrets of the crown.

"What is this device? How can it mimic a person's?" Julian was the first to express doubt over the evidence suddenly presented in front of them.

This was bad for him. He was part of the king's faction and they were currently in the Eberbach residence. If he couldn't stop Elrich's temper from going off, he might die here.

"This is a device used for communication in my world. Although that function does not work in Edea, the other features have no problems. I had recorded the 'little chat' I had with the leader of those mysterious men. So I wanted to ask if both of you know which kingdom this Marquis Keller is if you happen to not be familiar with that guy's voice." Kazuya calmly stated.

"Preposterous! Voices can easily be imitated! This is not enough to prove the ident.i.ty of the person nor his claims!" though Julian was speaking towards the hero, his sights were locked at Elrich who had turned silent.

Julia shared the same opinion as her father. That 'little chat' should not have existed because she was present when Kazuya and the mysterious men's leader had encountered each other. It ended with the man's death so such a conversation could not have possibly taken place.

"What are you being so defensive for? It's not like the voice belonged to you or something. As far as I believe, your name shouldn't be Keller either." Kazuya shrugged and acted as if he didn't know why Julian was reacting like that.

"You… Marquis Keller is a n.o.ble from our kingdom. He would never—"

"Enough!" Elrich glared at Julian as he cut him off. "Shut that mouth of yours and let Kazuysan finish." From the presence suddenly emanating from Elrich alone, Julian could feel that it would be bad if he kept on running his mouth.

"(This is bad. That b.a.s.t.a.r.d actually dared to talk!)" Knowing Elrich's personality, now that he was given a specific target, the plan to have the whole faction fight against the Eberbach house for rebellion had just been turned against them!

"Do you have anything else that would help us identify the culprits." Elrich turned towards Kazuya and asked if there were more recordings.

"I do have something else but… I don't think that it is suitable to show them while we are having tea." Kazuya began to explain that the device had another feature. It was the camera function that was used to capture images.

To prove the functions of the device, Kazuya had a conversation and then recorded it. He played it back and proved that he indeed had the ability to keep a record of their conversation. Kazuya took a few photos to prove the camera's functions and even showed them the video function. He explained that he could not use that function and had to stick with recording because of requirements that had to be met in the situation.

"So what you mean to show us is the images of those men?" Elrich was enlightened after the explanations.

"Correct. Before I got rid of their bodies, I took off their masks and took pictures of their faces so that I could ask for their ident.i.ties later. I helped a stranger and killed these men so I need to be careful of the people who might have been behind them." Kazuya explained.

"They might not be able to even set their sights on you as long as I am able to confirm the ident.i.ty of the man's voice in your recording. Their hands will be full of dealing with what I have in store for them."

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