95. The Sword of Truth (Not Really)
Man, Salrut really got us. I never thought that he of all people would actually be the person pulling the strings behind all this.
I really wish I found out his true nature right when we met, but, keeping the Principle of Falsehood active 24/7 wasn’t exactly something I was willing to do.
The thing is, I was actually planning to sit down and interrogate him, but I ended up inadvertently trusting him because he was one of the twins’ acquaintances.
In fact, we ended up trusting him so much that we hadn’t even considered using the skill on him until after we’d used it on Naymario.
『Hmm… What to do…?』
Either way, we first decided to heal the soldiers that we just beat up so that they wouldn’t die while we considered our options. Only after that did I continue to ponder.
I was absolutely certain that Salrut was a Reidosian spy and that he was working together with Naymario. The only problem was that I couldn’t prove it. We couldn’t prove that we had the ability to see through lies either, so that was a no go.
Man, all this spy and conspiracy stuff was a huge pain to deal with. I almost just wanted to ditch them and pretend I didn’t see anything, but… nah, that’d be going a bit too far. At this rate, Salrut was probably going to end up having the twins assassinated whilst also silencing Serid in the process.
I mean, I couldn’t have cared less about what ends up happening to Serid, but, I did want to help the twins. They were Fran’s friends. She’d probably end up pretty sad if something happened to them.
『We need to figure out how we can get him to confess.』
（Beat him up?）
（Woof?）
『Wait, wait. Beating information out of someone isn’t supposed to be the first thing you turn to. It’s more of a last resort.』
（Really?）
The way I saw it, spies tended to be the type of people that wouldn’t talk regardless of how much you tortured them, so roughing him up might not even help us at all to begin with.
And if things went south, then we might end up being wanted by the state.
「Is that enough? I would really like to get to questioning him.」
Crap! They’re going to go drag Serid off somewhere if I don’t think of something quick. Come on me! Think! Think!
（Brute force?）
（Woof woof!）
『Hold on! I already told you to make that our last resort!』
If this kept up, Fran was probably going to pull her supposed last resort out right away.
Wait, I got it! This’ll probably sound a bit forced, but it was pretty much the only thing I could think of given a moment’s notice.
『Fran, make sure you repeat exactly what I say.』
（Nn. Got it.）
『Urushi, go casually stand around where Salrut and Naymario are so they can’t run away or anything like that.』
（Woof!）
Alright, here’s to hoping this works…
「Wait. Just a bit.」
First things first, we made sure they didn’t actually carry Serid off anywhere.
「What is it?」
Salrut seemed a bit irritated at the fact that Fran stopped him again, which was good. The less calm he was, the easier this would be.
「Have item. Will help prove Serid’s guilt.」
「Oh?」
Salrut made a bit of a dubious face in response. He likely didn’t want us to interfere further, but decided to go along with it for the time being. Serid, on the other hand, had his face cloud over. He probably thought we were on Salrut’s side, and that we were trying to make him seem even more guilty than he already was.
「Seal release.」
I immediately began to transform, seemingly in response to Fran’s words. I activated Thunder Blade while also using purification based magic in order to make myself appear divine.
「Woah!」
「W-What in the world is that?」
The people around us let out cries of shock as they watched a glowing sword suddenly change shape right before their very eyes. My blade grew several wing shaped protrusions; I turned what appeared to be a ceremonial weapon, an armament used for nothing more than rituals.
「W-What is that?」
「Sword of Truth. Functionality easier to show than explain. Flut.」
「Y-Yes?」
「Say sister’s name.」
「Wha?」
「Tell me your sister’s name. Give answer.」
「A-Alright. My sister’s name is Satia Diel Fyrias.」
『The truth has been spoken.』
「W-Woah, where did that voice come from!?」
「Sword of Truth. Magic tool. Discerns the truth from lies.」
Yup, one big fat lie, coming right up. Well, actually it is kind of true, seeing as how I do have the Principle of Falsehood. Whatever, either way, this was what I managed to come up with at the last possible moment. We were going to convince everyone that I was some sort of magical lie detector so we could demonstrate that Salrut wasn’t what he appeared to be. In other words, we were trying to get him to confess.
First things first though, we had to make sure that everyone here actually thought I was able to discern between what was true and what wasn’t.
Times like this almost made me wish I had a skill improved our ability to act or something, but whatever. The issue was that I was kind of a sword, and I wasn’t really moving around or anything, so I wasn’t sure if I could actually manage to convince everyone that I was in fact the real deal. Moreover, the Principle of Falsehood didn’t actually make Fran herself sound any more convincing. It did, however, make me sound more convincing, which was good enough, I guess.
I made sure to make my voice as monotone and machine-like as I could. In fact, I actually based my speech patterns off the system announcer. I even went as far as to use Appraisal Jamming in order to make myself a fake status page, but unfortunately, no one here could actually use appraisal, so that ended up as nothing but wasted effort.
「Next, Satia’s turn. Ask a question.」
「Okay. In that case, I’ll ask my brother something. Flut, what present did we get from our elder sister, Angellica, on our fifth birthday?」
「I believe she gave us a pair of matching amulets.」
『The truth has been spoken.』
「It answered!」
「And it was correct too.」
「I-I’ll ask the next question. What is our father’s favourite food?」
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「I believe it is meat.」
『A lie has been told.』
「I-It was right again!」
It looked like the twins’ father, the king, was probably more fond of sweet foods. That means he’s probably really fat. I wonder if he’s got diabetes.
The twins took turns asking each other questions. The started out asking fairly innocent stuff like their mother’s name and questions regarding the menu they were presented for dinner the day before yesterday. Soon, however, it devolved to the point where they began asking each other when they last wet the bed and who their first crushes were. I almost wanted to tell them to stop. I really didn’t need to know their deepest, darkest secrets.
In the end, we managed convince both twins that I was a genuine lie detector.
「I-It really can discern the truth from lies.」
「What an amazing magical item it is.」
「Next, Captain.」
「Me?」
「Nn.」
The next group we tried to convince was the ship’s crew. Unlike the prince and princess, they asked nothing indecent. They focused on questions to which I shouldn’t know the answer. That is, they asked each other for information regarding their wives, pets, and recent meals.
And so, we managed to convince all the people around us that I really was the Sword of Truth. In other words, the stage was set.
Salrut’s face had gradually began to warp ever so slightly out of shape. He was probably panicking on the inside. He knew that I would be be able to tell that Serid was innocent.
「Hah hah hah! That is quite the amazing item you’ve got there. However, we have no need for it. We all know for a fact that Serid was the one that’d hired the pirates. The pirates said it themselves, after all.」
He immediately tried to brush it off, but there was no way that I was about to let him get off the hook. And so, Fran completely ignored the dark knight and instead turned to Serid in order to ask him a question.
「Did you plan to kill the twins?」
「I have never plotted anything along those lines! I swear that I am innocent!」
『The truth has been spoken.』
「T-That’s impossible! Hearhghalskjdhg」
Salrut tried to speak, but I shut him up with telekinesis. Alright, let’s keep this going!
「Planned to have them kidnapped?」
「I did not.」
『The truth has been spoken.』
「Asked the pirates to attack?」
「I have never once involved myself with those ruffians!」
『The truth has been spoken.』
「Asked Naymario to book the ship?」
「I did.」
『The truth has been spoken.』
The people around us had looks of shock plastered all over their faces. They’d thought Serid to be some sort of despicable traitor, but it turned out that he had been innocent all along.
「Next, Naymario.」
「I-I don’t see the need to answer your questions.」
Yeah, yeah, alright, whatever. He wasn’t getting away anyways, seeing as how Urushi was standing right behind him.
「Tried to frame Serid?」
「O-Of course not!」
『A lie has been told.』
Both twins’ eyes sharpened in response to his answer.
「Conspiring with Salrut?」
「…」
He didn’t respond to the question. Oh well, whatever.
「Conspiring with Salrut? Silence is yes.」
「That’s…」
『The truth has been spoken.』
「Salrut wants to kill twins? Silence still yes.」
「I-I have no idea what you’re talking about! None whatsoever!」
『A lie has been told.』
Heh.
Everyone on the ship had started to point their glares in Naymario’s direction. They all believed him to be a traitor. The Sword of Truth could discern the truth, after all.
That aside, the Principle of Falsehood really was a terrifyingly potent skill. You could probably topple a country with ease if you abused it. But even with all that considered, I still felt that we should probably avoid using it as much as possible. I mean, we had that stupid Auguste noble lead by example and showed us exactly what would happen if we relied on it too much. So yeah, I think we’d be much better off avoiding it as much as possible.
「Next. Questions for Salrut.」
Alright, what now bro? I’m the Sword of Truth, come at me. I’m about to expose all your lies!
「Fuck! Damned brat!」
It seemed like Salrut had also believed that I really was the Sword of Truth. Well, I mean, he was pretty much guaranteed to given what he’s seen me do.
He clearly understood that he couldn’t afford to try to make any sort of excuse, and so, he immediately drew the sword on his hip and leapt towards the twins.
「It looks like I have no other choice but to do this myseagh!」
Or at least he tried to.
「Growl!」
Urushi had instantly turned back to his normal size and pinned the dark knight down with one of his front paws.
「No more need for questions.」
A single glance at the twins’ faces revealed that they now knew the truth, that Salrut had been deceiving them all along.
「This can’t be… Salrut, why!?」
Prince Flut’s immediate reaction was to let out a bitter shout, a shout that resounded throughout the ship in its entirety.