Chapter 3 : There Must Be a Female Spy Seducing Him!

Hall wracked his brain, reviewing the plot and his memories.

He was certain he hadn’t committed any acts of treason.
He then glanced at Himan, recalling her earlier behavior.

‘What’s going on?’

‘It seems like she thinks I only became a spy because the Xia Kingdom used a honey trap on me.’

If he really wanted to be a Xia spy, he would have fled the Papal State long ago.

That’s right, he remembered now.

There were indeed a few plotlines where Hall became a traitor to the West.

But the conditions to trigger this plot were quite harsh.
One was to have multiple relations with the Xia Princess as the main heroine and pursue the Xia unification route.

The second was to have relations with the true heroine—the Demon Princess, the Scion of the Demon God—and then have the Scion form an alliance with the Xia Kingdom.

In that route, Hall’s behavior was more or less that of a normal person.
His deaths included being killed by the Papal State while protecting the Demon Princess, or being killed alongside the princess in various bad endings.

Alternatively, due to frequent relations with the Demon Princess and exposure to the Demon God’s bloodline, he would gradually undergo an irreversible demonic transformation and go berserk, only to be killed by the Demon Princess’s harem—that is, the other heroines.

But that route was a really easy way to die, even easier than the Xia Kingdom route.

After all, in plotlines where other heroines were the primary protagonist, if you dallied too long in the early game.

This heroine would sometimes die before even making an appearance.

There was no way to even recruit her.

All in all, Hall didn’t want to be a traitor, and he was certain he hadn’t become one yet.

So he asked again.

“Investigator Yafman, may I ask what evidence you have to prove my espionage activities?”

The moment he said this, Himan grew even more anxious.

‘Hall, can you please act normal for once,’ she thought.

‘The Judgment Bureau is already here for you; how could they not have evidence?’

But Yafman didn’t answer immediately.

He had also just received the information from his superiors, which only claimed Hall was suspected of espionage and ordered him to test Hall.

After briefly reviewing Hall’s file before setting out, he found his record to be very thin; aside from being an admiral’s son, there were no other highlights.

His fondness for women, however, made him an easy target for spies.

That’s why he had approached Himan first, acting as if he “had already confirmed Hall was a spy,” and from Himan’s words on the way, he had deduced the most likely scenario for Hall to become a spy.

And the answer he got was—women.

“Young Master Hall, I believe that without your knowledge, you may have been used by a spy from the Xia Kingdom. I still hope you can honestly recount what has happened recently.”

Yafman’s non-committal statement made Hall wonder if this guy was bluffing with an empty hand.

“I am unaware, yet your Judgment Bureau is aware. Can I assume the Bureau already knows who this Xia spy who used me is? If you just take me to see them, I imagine this will be resolved very easily.”

After repeatedly confirming his past memories, he wasn’t very flustered.
With his father as his backer, Hall even felt like counter-suing the Judgment Bureau.

“Just tell us which woman you’ve been messing around with recently! You’ve been tricked by a woman and you don’t even know it?!”

Himan was getting very anxious at the side.

Hall was being so uncooperative and spouting such sophistry.
If they really found evidence of his espionage, his crime would surely be compounded.

“Miss Himan, if you’ll excuse my impertinence, the Young Master hasn’t been out fooling around with anyone recently. After returning home from the academy, the Young Master either stays in his study or hones his swordsmanship.”

Lov spoke up from the side.

She didn’t like Himan very much.
This cousin used to be very close to the Young Master.

But in recent years, she had deliberately kept her distance, and sometimes even spoke ill of him in public.

‘What did the Young Master ever do to Himan? Is she getting upset just because he stopped fawning over her and started seeing other women?’

‘Taking a step back, the Young Master isn’t her boyfriend, nor is he engaged to her. Even if he really did spend every day with some other lady, it’s none of Himan’s damn business.’

Hall nodded silently, then looked at Yafman.

‘This investigator probably has no evidence. Good, good.’

Otherwise, if he were branded a traitor right from the start, his mortality rate would absolutely skyrocket.

“Young Master Hall, as for concrete evidence, we suspect it has something to do with your mother.”

“?”

“Since birth, you have had black hair and black eyes, completely different from us Western Continentals. Theoretically, your late mother had one-half Eastern Continent blood, but…”

‘Holy crap.’

Yafman’s words startled Hall.

He suddenly remembered the reflection in the mirror when he had just returned home and Lov was helping him change out of his coat.

He hadn’t thought it was strange at the time, but thinking back now.

It was because his appearance was identical to his “past life” self.

He could confirm it now.
Because when he set Hall’s initial settings to be a top-tier pervert, he had used his own face for the character creation.

And, the “suspected of being a Xia spy” plotline would have a high chance of automatically triggering when Hall’s appearance was set to an Eastern one.

It had nothing to do with whether he had relations with the Xia Princess or the Demon Princess.

In fact, under these circumstances, the mid-game plot would hint that Hall was not Duke Faxtius’s biological son.

But rather an adopted son placed in the Faxtius household by a mysterious person.

Whatever, he had to clear his name first.

“But what does that prove, Investigator Yafman? I may have the face of an Easterner, but I am still a subject loyal to the Papal State. My father, Duke Faxtius, defends a border for the Empire, and I am the captain of the Third Squad of the Order of Black Knights. I think there is no need to suspect me, nor is there a need to bring up my poor, deceased mother. If the Judgment Bureau has evidence, I am willing to go with you.”

His tone shifted.
“But if you do not, then is this not an overreach? The Judgment Bureau’s power surely does not extend to casually suspecting a scion who will serve the Papal State in the future, does it?”

“Hall, you…”

Himan was taken aback by Hall’s logical and articulate argument.

In the past, this guy would have just nonchalantly said, “My dad’s an admiral, take it up with him.”

How could he face an investigator with such ease?

‘Could it be that someone taught him to say this?’

‘And that person is very likely a spy from the Xia Kingdom!’

“Young Master Hall makes a good point, but…”

“But you have no evidence, so I will not go with you. It’s that simple.”

He interrupted Yafman.

Yafman said no more.
He truly had no evidence.

He had thought Hall would be an easy target, but unexpectedly, the young man’s words, actions, and composure seemed worthy of the title of an admiral’s son.

As for what Himan said about his character with women, Yafman didn’t care.

The Papal State had always been tolerant of the private lives of its capable individuals.

However, as per procedure, he still had to issue a warning before leaving, lest the Judgment Bureau lose face.

“Then I hope Young Master Hall will be cautious in his words and actions from now on. Many among the noble scions have already been deceived. I hope we will not meet again in the future, and I hope your father will not be shamed.”

“Hall, you should recognize the gravity of this matter.”

Himan, on her end, was still convinced that Hall had been deceived by a female spy.

Because joining the executive branch of the Judgment Bureau was an extremely important promotion path for the future of the Order of White Knights, her upbringing had taught her that the Bureau would never act this way.

They must have evidence.

Seeing Yafman leave, she only thought that Hall’s crime wasn’t major, and the Judgment Bureau was letting him off the hook out of respect for his father.

She continued, “Your family and mine are both crucial to the Empire’s defense. You…”

“Fine, you’re right.”

Looking at the pretty face of the white-stockinged knight, which was gradually turning red from being interrupted, Hall couldn’t be bothered to explain.

It didn’t matter.
She wouldn’t believe him no matter what he said.