The Harvest Mouse Exits the Fairytale Together with Cinderella-Chapter 135

House Valkyrisen had gathered well over a hundred beastfolk in the Holy Nation.

Even if they were thrown into a battlefield right now, they would easily dominate.

Though their numbers weren’t overwhelming, each individual possessed immense strength.

And on top of that—

"Master, this is truly too much. How could you work a true knight like myself as if I were a mere farmer? No wonder I never quite got the hang of farming tools!"

"But you made a lot of money, didn’t you? Just think about how much you earned in a single month."

"Please continue to exploit me as much as you like. In truth, I’ve always dreamed of becoming a wealthy landowner since I was a child."

Sir Farmer, the Holy Knight who had regained his memories.

He was leading the Holy Knights of the Grand Temple, bowing his head toward Elodie as he walked at the front.

Having overcome the terror of amnesia and returned to their human forms, the Holy Knights now seemed almost overcharged with energy, as if they had taken some kind of stimulant.

"I haven’t been able to swing a sword in so long. Maybe it’s time to warm up?"

"If there are traitors among us who betrayed both their kin and their lord, it’s fine to execute them on the spot, isn’t it?"

Having been forced into a state of weakness for so long, they had finally regained their true power. They were practically trembling with excitement, unable to contain themselves.

And just as their moment of glory was about to begin—

"Squeak... (I surrender...)"

The knight captain of House Mouseton immediately raised the white flag.

Of course, that didn’t mean the others were willing to stop.

"No need."

"What?"

"Hey, just set it off. We’re not accepting any surrenders."

"W-what do you mean by that...?"

"I’m definitely taking you down, no matter what!"

"Squeaaaak!"

And so, an utterly one-sided massacre unfolded.

***

Count Mouseton.

He had chosen not to accompany the group heading to the Holy Nation.

It was to avoid drawing any suspicion.

For now, he had sent his son along with a mix of subordinates.

‘The best card I have left to play is the knight captain? Damn it, this is ridiculous...’

There were two main types of knights in the Holy Nation.

Knights who possessed divine power and those who did not.

The former were called Holy Knights, while the latter were simply knights.

Though Holy Knights were not as powerful as priests in their divine abilities, they were naturally far superior to ordinary knights.

They were also more presentable in the eyes of the public.

Since most important missions were assigned to Holy Knights, regular knights were often left to serve as mere guards for the fief.

As a result, they rarely had the opportunity to prove themselves.

To put it bluntly, they were a burden.

Of course, not all noble houses operated that ❖ Nоvеl𝚒ght ❖ (Exclusive on Nоvеl𝚒ght) way.

The Ratson family, for instance, assigned knights and Holy Knights according to necessity rather than favoring one over the other.

But Count Mouseton was someone who believed that public perception defined his worth.

What others saw mattered more than anything, so he had systematically discriminated against regular knights even more.

As a result, over the years, their skills and loyalty had gradually declined.

‘Can I really entrust such an important mission to a mere knight captain?’

He should have recruited more competent individuals long ago.

Who could have foreseen things would turn out like this?

Count Mouseton was uneasy—but he had no choice.

The Holy Knights of Ratson, having stepped forward to lift their curses, had lost all their memories.

No matter how skilled they had once been, what use were they if they had forgotten both their missions and their swordsmanship?

With no alternative, he had been forced to rely on the knight captain.

And the result—

A message appeared in the artifact he had given the knight captain.

"Escape required."

If he had sent a message rather than speaking directly, it meant he had been captured and couldn’t even risk speaking.

‘Why?’

The message had been sent to him, despite him being safely in the Ratson territory.

‘If I run now, it’ll only make me look suspicious and get me caught even faster.’

Did that mean everything had already been exposed?

But there hadn’t been any signs of that.

As the High Priest’s closest associate, Count Mouseton had always remained by his side and knew everything that had been discussed recently...

"My dear daughter, are you struggling alone in a foreign land? Are you eating well? Do you have enough money? Is some bastard harassing you?"

"Duke Valkyrisen, Gracia says she’s fine in front of me, but could you check if she’s just pretending so she won’t worry her father?"

"Lately, Gracia seems annoyed whenever I contact her. What do you think? ...What? You think this is why she’s annoyed? Don’t be ridiculous. There’s no way she’d get tired of me!"

"Your youngest grandson seems to be after my precious daughter. Do something about it. ...What? You won’t interfere in childish crushes? How is this a crush? Did you not see his eyes? He looked like he’d chase her to the ends of the earth!"

This translation is the intellectual property of Novelight.

— I’m ending this call now.

"...Hello? Are you there?"

This—this was all there was!

Listening to such absurdly doting remarks, there were times when he genuinely wondered what he was even doing here.

The High Priest had never shown any signs of acting differently than usual.

Had he missed something?

If so, when, where, and what?

Was it all an act? A performance to keep him reassured?

...I have to report this to ‘Him’ immediately.

But Count Mouseton didn’t even dare to attempt contact.

"Squeak. (You're too late.)"

Because the moment he opened the door, the High Priest was already there, waiting for him.

"S-Your Holiness..."

"You’re still as timid as ever. You never even considered storing such an important thing inside your body for safekeeping, did you?"

High Priest Maximilian sneered, twirling the artifact he had found in the room.

"If you planned to betray me, you should have at least been prepared to protect your means of communication at all costs."

That artifact had been the Count’s only way of reaching ‘Him.’

He needed to send an urgent message that everything had fallen apart...

Sweat poured from Count Mouseton’s body like rain.

"I had no intention of owing House Valkyrisen any further, and yet, here I am again. Now I can’t even protest if the Duke openly sets his sights on my daughter! This is all your fault!"

"..."

"If Gracia ends up saying she prefers her grandfather over her father, then I... I..."

The High Priest pressed a hand to his forehead, groaning.

"Yes, if that happens, it’ll all be your fault. After all, you’re the one who let the child, who should have grown up safely under my care, end up with House Valkyrisen, aren’t you?"

"..."

Everything.

Everything was your fault.

Maximilian came to that conclusion.

"Are you ready to pay the price for all your sins?"

***

While the spies ran rampant, Elodie made a conscious effort to avoid falling into preconceived notions.

Even if Daniel was from House Mouseton.

Even if the wet nurse had originally served as a maid in House Mouseton before being dispatched to the Grand Temple.

That didn’t mean every spy was from House Mouseton.

And not everyone from House Mouseton was necessarily a spy.

Being blinded by bias could lead her to miss the real traitor.

Or worse, she could end up punishing someone innocent.

But after capturing them...

Every single one of them was from House Mouseton.

Well, that settles it.

In the end, she had no choice but to bind every single one of them and drag them in.

"So, are you going to tell me what your next plan was?"

"..."

"..."

"I’ve figured out how to cure amnesia. But do you think I could erase memories instead?"

Lowering her voice to a chilling whisper, Elodie continued.

"How about I turn you all into mice, wipe your memories, and drop you in the middle of a human city—right into the sewers? Still don’t feel like talking?"

They had planned to eliminate her and stage a kidnapping so that Seraphina would be forced to leave the Holy Nation in search of her.

"And then what?"

"..."

"How were you planning to kill Seraphina?"

Elodie’s voice grew dangerously sharp.

At last, one of the harvest mice shut his eyes tightly and confessed.

"B-Bluewood! The Count and Countess of Bluewood were planning to personally ruin the young lady and erase her from society!"