The question of how I figured it out.

The answer is simple.

First, their relationship was established far too quickly.

[“Let’s see. That execution you spoke of.”]

[“Exterminate them! Everyone except the leader may be killed!”]

Less than five minutes after our encounter, battle broke out, and the chief led the monsters in retreat.

Then the ensuing pursuit.

Even there, something was strange.

[“He headed that way? Change the entire army’s direction!”]

The main force immediately gave chase as soon as I broke away.

It was as if they were watching only my movements.

Of course, this was just a feeling. Still, even if they happened to notice my sudden move by chance, it didn’t make sense.

Jerome, the mission-obsessed one who showed hostility toward the chief calling him a ‘traitor’…

Even in that situation, he wouldn’t have stopped the pursuit until the mission was complete.

‘…Well, up to this point, it was just a strange feeling.’

What sealed the matter was Jerome’s one request.

[“Baron, would you lead the way?”]

He asked me to be at the forefront.

The same guy who once guarded me first when I was knocked out fighting the prophetic wolf Kashan, obsessively committed to the mission.

And who looked down on the lives of his subordinates for the sake of the mission.

He wanted to throw me into a place where who knows what could happen?

Feeling intense unease, I racked my brain and came up with a possibility.

The problem was that hypothesis turned out to be true.

“Those connected to the baron didn’t know this, but apparently there are more rats than just them.”

Jerome cast a cold glance over his subordinates. He seemed to think someone must have helped me realize what was going on.

That explained my sneaky plan to slip away during the chase.

‘Anyway, those connected to me and the baron would be Raven or Kaislan…’

My hypothesis was already proven correct.

So I thought about what conversation might have passed between the chief and Jerome.

The place: this island.

The time: definitely when we were asleep, only sentries standing watch.

Most likely, they met secretly then and talked. During which, the chief proposed something.

Something so important that Jerome Saintred judged it more important than the “mission.”

“What on earth was it? What did the chief promise that made him turn overnight?”

I asked bluntly, but Jerome seemed unwilling to answer honestly.

“That’s enough talk. Baron, since you’ve answered as requested, lead the way down.”

It wasn’t persuasion or advice.

“This is an order given as commander.”

His tone was oppressive, as if there was no reason left to hide his true intent.

“What if I refuse?”

“I will consider it disobedience.”

I was honestly a bit shocked.

There were nearly 200 witnesses here, yet he acted so openly.

‘He must be confident he can shut me up…’

Well, there were many means.

Money, honor, fame, power, and so on.

The royal family’s methods of persuasion are nearly infinite, and even if they fail to sway someone, there are other ways.

It’s not always possible to silence by gentle means alone.

“……”

I bit my lip and glanced at my comrades.

Maybe they sensed my gaze?

“Yandel, don’t entertain pointless thoughts. We’re all ready.”

Amelia pressed close beside me, speaking with firm resolve.

“No matter how much you hate fighting, when it’s time to fight, you must fight. That was you who said that, Bjorn, wasn’t it?”

Ainar, whose fighting spirit was greatly diminished, drew his weapon and stood behind me.

Versil also seemed ready for desperate battle no matter what happened.

What was a little surprising, though, was Muul Armin.

“We will fight alongside you, Baron. It’s the least we can do to repay your kindness.”

He dared to oppose the royal army without fear of treason charges.

Meanwhile, White Hext didn’t seem inclined to show that kind of loyalty.

Well, that was the typical reaction.

Even their side began to waver as they took an opposing stance toward me.

“If what the baron says is true… does that mean the count has allied with that monster…?”

“Though there might be some reason… still, sending the baron to his death like this–is that really okay?”

“Isn’t our mission to rescue the baron and return? Something’s wrong here.”

My achievements.

The fame of being a hero and the title of noble baron.

And all the favor I worked so hard to build.

Not enough to outright disobey orders yet, but these three things combined caused division.

Even if the order came to kill us right now, most would hesitate and not raise their weapons.

That was the loophole.

A tiny crack in the needle’s eye, but it was there.

Whether it grows or shrinks now depends on me.

So…

“I, Bjorn Yandel, baron, declare!”

Lowering the shield that had guarded me cautiously, I shouted.

“I swear by the honor of being a proud noble and warrior supporting the Raphdonia royal family! For the sake of the royal cause, I fear nothing! Even if it costs me my life!”

In my hand as I spoke was ‘Broken Trust,’ tightly gripped.

Though it stopped working every time I spoke.

But if I covered it well, it wouldn’t be visible from afar anyway.

“For Novelight the endless future of the royal family, I’m ready to run forward and burn myself out anytime!”

Displaying a thoroughly false nobility, I completed my argument.

“But! I don’t know if this truly serves the royal family! Or whether you harbor different intentions and have made a mistaken judgment!”

It was a kind of poison.

A poison that slowly seeps inside unnoticed and leads to ruin.

“Do you dare doubt my loyalty to the royal family?”

“You can’t expect me to accept that without explanation! Explain it so I can understand! Then I, Bjorn, son of Yandel, will go down there anytime! Even if it means being sacrificed!”

A strategy of clinging like a leech no matter what.

“……”

As Jerome Saintred’s silence grew longer, suspicion within the expedition slowly sprouted.

I wondered if he was beginning to realize this.

“Speak, Jerome Saintred! What is down there, and what deal did you make with the chief?”

He finally answered my question.

“…I cannot reveal military secrets. But one thing I can say for certain is this: all of this is for the royal family!”

“I don’t believe it!”

“…Why not? ‘Broken Trust’ is activated, isn’t it? What I’m saying now is all undeniable truth–”

“Is it possible that your claim to serve the royal family is just your own delusion?”

“……”

Okay, judging by his expression, if I pressed further, he might spill something else…

If I could just refute him properly one more time, turning public opinion completely wouldn’t seem impossible.

“Come on, explain! How is me going down there for the royal family’s sake?”

At that moment, possessed by loyalist mode, I shouted proudly at the top of my lungs.

Suddenly, a voice echoed in my head.

[…You’re wrong. Opposing him here will only lead to the worst outcome.]

A gentle voice, somehow mixed with a sigh.

[…Why don’t you just run away now and stop making things so difficult…]

I wondered whose voice it was.

Suddenly–

A brilliant silver light burst somewhere, and my consciousness faded.

[The Observer of Fate intervenes.]

[Through the mark of Sven Parab, the character is granted the power of the stars.]

[The mark is deeply etched into the character’s body.]

[The character’s holy resistance permanently increases by +100.]

[All healing and beneficial effects granted by the Reatlas faith are reduced by half.]

[Warning. Should the character receive the divine power once more, the fragile mortal body will collapse…]

When I opened my eyes, I was there.

No, more precisely, I was watching from a slight distance.

“Come on, explain! How is me going down there for the royal family’s sake?”

I shouted harshly.

And…

“……”

Jerome’s face boiled red like a boiling kettle.

‘What is this…?’

For some reason, I was watching that scene from afar, as a third party.

And just then, the voice I’d heard earlier echoed again in my mind.

[Watch closely. The answer lies at the end.]

My head was spinning as if drunk.

Maybe because of that?

My doubts vanished, replaced by the thought that I must follow that command.

“Why can’t you tell me? Don’t you know? That what you’re trying to do isn’t for the royal family at all!”

Watching, the situation grew even more dramatic.

I kept verbally pressing him, and eventually he couldn’t take it anymore and shouted.

“How far do you intend to insult the royal family, you traitor!”

“Ha! Traitor? I’m not trying to disobey the king’s order; I just doubt your judgment–”

“Ha! Did you really think I wouldn’t know? That you’re the traitor pretending to be Bjorn, son of Yandel?”

“…What?”

At that, the ‘me’ in my vision was noticeably shocked.

Since I was the target, it wasn’t hard to guess what he thought.

He thought I was a demon.

But…

“From the start, I thought something was off, and now I’m sure. You’re the one who operated in Noark decades ago under the name Iron Mask.”

“Uh…”

“Surely, you received orders from Noark, became an agent, and have been acting as a barbarian who just reached adulthood ever since. Even during the two years and six months you disappeared for a special mission, you actually just returned home.”

“Uh…”

“But how dare you lie about serving the royal family? I don’t know how you neutralized ‘Broken Trust’ but–”

“Neutralized? I didn’t do that–”

“Then put down your weapons and listen carefully! See? It stops whenever you speak!”

“……”

Game over right there.

“If turning over a traitor like you benefits the royal family, I’d do the same thing a hundred, a thousand times.”

“……”

“Get moving! Capture that insolent traitor! If anyone tries to help him, consider them traitors and kill them! I, Jerome Saintred, take full responsibility!”

Jerome’s exposure of the ‘Broken Trust’ scam and the ‘justification’ I failed to counter instantly triggered the full-scale attack.

And…

“Everyone, hide behind me!”

With the Hext Clan and Armin expedition out, the remaining members of Clan Anabada fought desperately, and then the world stopped.

“What happens next…?”

I muttered without realizing it, and something answered.

[Three of your precious comrades will die. And eventually, it will connect to the future I showed that child.]

Then I realized the owner of the voice.

The star goddess governing fate, Reatlas.

Though I was an atheist, I was speaking with a real god in a distant otherworld–but it didn’t move me.

Only one thing was important.

“So what was I supposed to do? It was clear they were scheming. Should I have just gone down there?”

The answer.

Like a human driven into a dead end always looks to a god’s name, I sought an answer from the divine.

But…

[I told you. Watch until the very end.]

With those words, the stopped world began to rewind, moving backward like time reversed.