At this moment, the atmosphere around Riezel and the others had inevitably become tense.
Now, everyone had split into two groups and were now in a standoff.
Riezel and Lizbeth stood together with Nibald, Andrea, Fanny, and Gerald, forming one group, all staring ahead at Felix.
Felix, on the other hand, looked distressed, surrounded by knights who had originally been on guard, watching the area.
Of course, since these knights were originally part of the Hadyth family's knightly order, they were naturally loyal to Felix.
As a result, when Riezel and the others focused their attention on Felix, and the situation suddenly turned against him, the knights immediately changed their expressions—one by one, they abandoned their guard duty and moved forward to protect him.
One had to admit, these knights, with a total of eighty-eight, were quite a formidable force.
To put it into perspective, a noble with the rank of count could only organize a knightly order of up to five hundred people, so these eighty-eight knights represented nearly a fifth of the force of the Hadyth family's knightly order.
Facing such a force, others might have been nervous, like Fanny and Gerald, whose hearts were now racing, but Riezel, Nibald, and Andrea remained calm, and even Lizbeth wasn't frightened, just a bit uneasy.
In this tense situation, Nibald spoke up first.
"From Sir Brynhart's gaze, Young Master Felix, you seem to know something, don't you?" Nibald asked solemnly, staring at Felix. "I wonder if you would care to share it with us?"
Upon hearing this, Felix's face darkened before he quickly rebutted.
"What do you want me to say, Grandmaster? I don't know anything! Why are you suddenly accusing me?"
He was clearly not talking to Nibald but to Riezel.
It was only natural since Riezel was the one who had directed the accusation at him, so Felix's anger was naturally directed at him.
Felix was both surprised and angry.
He was surprised because he didn't know why Riezel suspected him, much less why he would point the finger so directly at him.
He was angry because after Riezel pointed the finger at him, Nibald and the others didn't hesitate to join in the suspicion—the stance they took was crystal clear.
Honestly, he hadn't expected that Nibald hadn't even expressed a shred of support for him. He had thought he had grown closer to Nibald, but now it seemed this magician had never taken him seriously and had subtly been pushing him away all along.
Realizing this, Felix's anger boiled over, but even so, he didn't dare lose his cool because he really couldn't afford to.
He had no choice since the people he faced weren't just anyone, but a Sword Saint and a great magician on par with a Sword Saint—a terrifying lineup that made anyone sane dare not act recklessly.
For this reason, Felix could only cry out in protest to Nibald.
"Grandmaster, are you suspecting that those attackers have something to do with me? Just because of one sentence from the Lightning Sword Saint?"
Felix spoke with an expression that showed injustice.
"All of this doesn't make any sense! Sir Brynhart, Grandmaster, even if you two are people of great status, you can't just accuse someone like this out of nowhere!"
"I'm still the heir of the Hadyth family, a count's son. Don't think my father and the lord of this territory will allow you to slander me like this!"
"I've respected you all and treated you as great people. I've been polite and considerate all along, and this is how you repay me?"
"Did I offend you somehow?"
Felix spoke in an aggrieved tone, but his words were sharp and forceful.
"If you continue like this, I will definitely report to the lord of this territory, my uncle, and I'm sure he'll be willing to bring justice for me."
As soon as Felix said this, Nibald and Andrea, who had been on Riezel's side, immediately furrowed their brows.
Truthfully, they didn't care much about Felix himself, nor about the Hadyth family, but the Guardian Sword Saint behind the Hadyth family was something they couldn't ignore.
As a result, after hearing Felix mention the Guardian Sword Saint, Nibald's attitude relaxed slightly. He was, after all, old friends with the Guardian Sword Saint, so when Felix brought up that man, he didn't feel it was right to unconditionally support Riezel just based on personal feelings.
Because of this, Nibald turned toward Riezel, seemingly wanting to speak something, but before he could say anything, Riezel spoke first.
"I say, Young Master... What about the other guy in your carriage today? Why isn't he coming out?" Riezel asked calmly.
Such a sudden question made both Nibald and Andrea freeze for a moment, while Felix had his pupils shrink before he subtly seemed a bit flustered.
"Wh-Who are you talking about?" Felix forced himself to calm down. "I don't know what you're talking about."
Riezel ignored Felix's words and turned to Nibald.
"Sir Garland, in the carriage you took, besides you, Miss Andrea, and him, there should've been another person, right?"
Before Nibald could respond, Andrea jumped in.
"You mean that swordsman who looked so stiff?" Andrea asked, thoughtfully rubbing her chin. "He disappeared after we got out of the carriage. Do you think something's wrong with him?"
"I don't know if there's something wrong with him, but..." Riezel said lightly, glancing at Felix. "I can say for sure, that guy is connected to those attackers."
When Felix heard this, it seemed to trigger something in him, so he quickly spoke up.
"Why would you say that?!" Felix asked loudly.
"Because, just like those attackers, that guy doesn't have a heart inside him." Riezel responded calmly.
As soon as these words were spoken, everyone was taken aback.
"No heart?"
"Doesn't have a heart?"
"I-It can't be, right?"
"How could a person not have a heart?"
Andrea, Lizbeth, Fanny, and Gerald all spoke one after another in surprise.
"Wh-What did you say?"
Surprisingly, even Felix looked stunned, his face showing that he seemed to have no idea about this.
Seeing Felix's clueless reaction, Riezel was quite surprised.
"Sir Brynhart, could you explain what's going on?" Nibald immediately pressed on.
Riezel hid his surprise and explained.
"It's simple. I have an ability that lets me see through the human body and observe various signs of life inside a living being."
"Today, I used this ability to look at everyone here. I discovered that the fourth person, who was sitting next to you, Sir Garland, doesn't have a heart, and their life signs are also very strange."
"Coincidentally, the exact same condition was also present in the attackers from earlier."
Indeed, those strange attackers were just like the swordsman Riezel had observed in Felix's carriage—they had no hearts. Given this, it was clear that the attackers were connected to the swordsman, who was clearly Felix's man.
Knowing this, how could Riezel not suspect Felix?
"You're talking nonsense!" Felix jumped up, immediately countering. "Jack is my attendant! How could he be some monster without a heart?! You're slandering him! I'm going to tell my father and uncle! They'll make things right for me!"
In the next moment, he took out a communication magic crystal, which made Riezel's eyes narrow.
"Greater Teleportation."
Without any warning, Riezel suddenly disappeared and reappeared right in front of Felix.
"AHHH—!"
Felix, startled, couldn't stop himself from crying out before falling on his butt.
Nibald and the others, meanwhile, gasped in surprise.
'It really is teleportation magic...'
Nibald was completely sure of this now, making his gaze toward Riezel change.
"Young Master!"
"Watch out!"
"What do you think you're doing?!"
At the same time, the knights who had been protecting Felix were shocked by the sight, but despite their shock, they didn't forget to ready their weapons and charged toward Riezel.
"Mass Hold Species."
Riezel calmly chanted magic, sending an invisible wave of magical energy spreading out.
"!!!"
In the next second, all the knights rushing toward Riezel seemed to be caught by some invisible force, their bodies freezing in place.
Realizing what happened to them, the knights widened their eyes, panic clearly showed on their faces—it was evident that the situation had shocked them.
"A-Amazing..."
Andrea, who was witnessing Riezel's ability for the first time, couldn't help but stare in awe.
Nearly a hundred fully armored knights charged toward Riezel, only to be frozen in place by a single magic—the sight was definitely shocking, especially since he didn't even bother turning his head, still standing in front of Felix, focusing on him.
Seeing such a posture made Andrea, a young magician, almost starry-eyed with admiration as if looking at her idol.
"Wh-What do you want to do?!"
Felix, seeing the situation was getting bad, quickly stood up and took several fearful steps back.
"Nothing..." Riezel replied indifferently before smiling slightly. "I just wanna make you tell me everything you know, in the simplest way possible. You must be aware of that method, right? Mind control."
Upon hearing this, Felix's face changed drastically, and without a second thought, he quickly turned to flee.
"Charm Species."
As if he hadn't seen Felix running away, Riezel casually cast another magic.
It was mental magic designed to make the target subconsciously believe the caster was a trusted, close friend, causing them to let their guard down and become confused.
Riezel used this magic on Felix, making him tremble in his steps as he slowed down little by little until he finally stopped and stood still, unable to move.
"Turn around."
Riezel calmly ordered Felix.
"..."
Felix slowly turned around to face Riezel, and when one looked into his eyes, they were vacant, as if he had lost his soul.
Needless to say, Riezel's mind control had worked.