Ibia was someone who had no connection to the club whatsoever. However, if the student council president asked her to come with her, she probably would do it.
At that moment, the level of her ability was still rather low—so it would only be possible for her to send telepathic messages unilaterally—but later in my book she was able to establish a two-way communication. However, that was enough for the moment.
She could tell her things like, "If you are being threatened right now, touch your nose. if you are being tortured, touch your hair."
Everyone agreed that someone like her, who had such a talent, should be brought along; they even complimented me, saying that it was a great idea.
If we got her direct testimony, we wouldn't get the same lukewarm response from Temple that I had seen in the preview. This would be enough basis for Temple to immediately move, and if we wanted to go a bit further, we could also go to the guards.
But I still felt a bit anxious.
There was a high possibility that the Commander of the Knights Templar might consolidate them with words. If he started torturing her or cast magic on her just a bit later, they wouldn't be able to meet Olivia at that stage.
But the die had already been cast.
The next day, after lunch.
"It's okay. There's nothing to be anxious about."
Ceres stood in front of the headquarters of the Knights Templar, holding the very anxious telepath Ibia's hand.
"W-will it really be okay? I'm scared that I'll make a mistake…"
"Don't worry. It's just in case. Everything will be fine. If you think that we're in a situation in which we have to ask a few questions, then you can do that at your own discretion."
"O-okay…"
Ibia, who had a gloomy and timid personality, couldn't quite believe that she suddenly had to come to the Knights Templar's headquarters.
The previous day, the Royal Class' student council president, whom she didn't know really well, suddenly came to her and said that she needed her help with a very important job.
Obviously, it wasn't a very difficult task. She even said that she might not have to do anything.
They were just going to meet someone, and if that person seemed to be unable to speak freely, she was supposed to ask her some questions telepathically. They were really easy questions like: "If you need help, do this and that", "if you are getting tortured or something similar to it, do this and that", and so on.
It wasn't difficult at all, as she did those kinds of things until she got sick and tired of it in the supernatural power classes.
However, anyone would have been nervous when they suddenly had to apply their ability in a real-life situation. She couldn't even believe that she might have to ask the daughter of the Commander of the Knights Templar if she was getting tortured while he stood right next to her.
Only Ceres van Owen and Ibia were present.
The student council president of the Royal Class stood in front of the headquarters of the Knights Templar with no hesitation apparent on her face—it was the place where the strongest paladins who had the greatest achievements in the Demon World War gathered.
Most students who majored in divine powers in Temple dreamed of entering the Knights Templar.
Faced with that, Ceres van Owen, not intimidated whatsoever, walked along the mighty colonnade and stood right in front of the gatekeeper.
"What is your business here, Temple student?"
Although it was the weekend, the two of them were wearing their school uniforms to show their affiliation.
"I'm Ceres van Owen, the student president of Temple's Royal Class."
She pulled out her student ID and smiled.
"It's nothing serious; I'm just here to visit my friend Olivia Lanze, the daughter of the Commander of the Knights Templar. Could I see her for a moment?"
"Erm? The Commander is busy at the moment…"
"Please, can't you ask him for me?"
Ceres had a bright smile plastered on her face.
"Olivia suddenly disappeared, and the students are wondering if she got kidnapped. There is quite a commotion going on in Temple."
Ceres even added some slight pressure to her words, saying that she wanted to see that Olivia was safe with her own eyes.
The Commander of the Knights Templar was a busy person—he wasn't someone one could just meet because one wanted to.
However, she wasn't just a normal student of Temple, but the student council president of the Royal Class. Although her title didn't hold much power outside of Temple, it made her hard to ignore, at least.
She even agreed to go to the Templar headquarters to make sure that the student that suddenly disappeared overnight was okay. She also added that there was already an uproar in Temple, so if she wasn't able to see her with her own eyes, then they might take more drastic measures next time.
Therefore, without any intention of stepping down, Ceres, who had never been there before, managed to make them open the doors for her.
The Commander wasn't present at the moment, so Ceres and Ibia had to wait quite a long time in his office after they got escorted there.
"It's okay. Don't be nervous."
"Y-yes…"
Ceres comforted the nervous Ibia by holding her hand.
Just how long had they waited?
-Clank
The door to the office opened, and Riverrier Lanze entered the office with a cold expression on his face, Olivia Lanze following behind him.
Without having to ask a single question, both Ceres and Ibia were absolutely convinced about one fact.
There was something going on. Olivia's gloomy expression told them everything.
"It's an honor to meet you, Commander. I'm Royal Class' student council president, Ceres van Owen."
"I'm Ibia…"
"Nice to meet you. I'm Riverrier Lanze, the Commander of the Knights Templar."
After introducing himself briefly, the Commander sat Olivia down next to him and looked at the other two.
"I heard that you were worried because my daughter suddenly disappeared from Temple?"
"Yes. She disappeared without saying a word, so the other students went a bit crazy… Fortunately, we found you here. I thought something bad might have happened to you…"
"Aren't I correct in the assumption that Temple students are allowed to leave on the weekends?"
"That is right. Still, it was just so sudden…"
Like that, a vague back and forth started between Ceres and the Commander. He said that Olivia was in an unstable state of mind and body due to something that happened recently, so it would be difficult for her to continue her life at Temple.
That also correlated with Olivia's recent behavior. However, the current situation didn't seem voluntary at all but highly involuntary.
The Commander also added that Olivia wasn't in any condition to meet people, so she didn't want to talk to anyone, and that they should have confirmed that she was safe now. What he meant was that they should go back. On the other hand, Ceres asked if she could talk alone with Olivia, but was rejected.
Therefore, it was Ibia's time to step up.
Ibia stayed completely still and focused all her mental power on her ability.
[Don't be surprised, senior. I'm a telepath.]
Olivia flinched slightly, suddenly hearing a voice inside her head. Fortunately, the Commander didn't notice it.
[Senior, are you currently unable to talk with us? If your answer is yes, touch your hair once.]
Olivia touched her long platinum blonde hair once with her right hand.
Ibia's heart pounded.
[If you are in need of help right now, please clench your fist.]
Olivia clenched her right hand into a fist.
[Are you maybe suffering or… getting tortured?]
Olivia nodded her head subtly.
Ibia's complexion began to turn pale..
"Why is this student so nervous?"
And, of course, Riverrier Lanze seemed to have grasped her abnormal expressions.
"ah… Well, she is probably nervous because this is the first time she met the Commander of the Knights Templar."
"Yes, that's right."
However, it was impossible for him to notice that she was telepathically communicating with his daughter.
Translator – KonnoAren
Proofreader – ilafy
Around dinner time.
Grace had called for an emergency meeting again. This time, Ibia was also present. It seemed clear that they had grasped the situation.
Ibia was terrified, and Ceres' eyes were full of anger.
"It was true."
It didn't matter anymore who sent the anonymous letter.
Everyone was shocked at Ceres' words.
"They silenced the president with some kind of trick, but we are sure that she is getting tortured. She also asked for help."
Ibia telepathically confirmed Olivia's request for help.
"This is no longer a problem students can solve."
Eventually, this event began to grow in scale.
"This is already a serious crime."
This news had to be delivered to the faculty as well as the guards.
Mine and Adriana's eyes met.
After much effort, we managed to turn the case into an event that could move huge powers without revealing that it was us who put things in motion.
We had secured evidence that the Commander of the Knights Templar was torturing his daughter.
No matter if they were father and daughter, this was reason enough to mobilize Temple as well as the guards. As long as there was some proper justification as well as this testimony, Temple could take action right away—rather than being stuck unable to do anything as I had seen in the Preview.
It was Sunday night. Temple's faculty—including the Royal Class'—moved in groups.
The teachers started to lead armed forces and the guards stationed at Temple to the headquarters of the Knights Templar.
I didn't follow them.
However, with just that, I could confirm that we had succeeded in taking a completely different path.
"Reinhardt, you sure make things interesting."
"...What do you mean?"
"You're denying it, huh."
Instead, I was watching the troops and teachers frantically taking off in the middle of the night together with Bertus on the terrace.
"It very much looked like you were running around trying to save Olivia Lanze somehow."
Even though he had no clear evidence, it seemed like he guessed what I was trying to do by asking about Olivia and visiting her. Bertus seemed to have intuitively noticed that I was the cause for all the chaos.
It was more or less just a guess, but it was accurate enough that I got goosebumps.
"It sure is amazing that all of Temple started to move just because a little first-year did some groundwork."
"I haven't done anything, though."
Bertus sipped on his tea and grinned.
"Although you're saying that you didn't do anything, wasn't it you who said that they should bring someone with telepathic abilities to secure Olivia Lanze's testimony?"
He already knew that much? It was seriously scary because it seemed like this guy knew nothing but also seemed like he knew everything.
I just couldn't tell if he really knew everything.
"Anyway. Whatever the reason, I'm really happy that you've been running around so much trying to save Olivia Lanze."
"…Happy? Didn't you want to get rid of her?"
"That's irrelevant now, isn't it?"
Bertus was dumbfounded.
"The Knights Templar will be disbanded, so what does it matter now?"
What?
I think I just heard something pretty huge.
"I-isn't that a pretty big deal?"
This incident was rather big, but was it enough to disband a huge group like the Knights Templar?
"In some cases, this might have been seen as a case of a parent abusing their child."
Bertus giggled.
"But His Majesty has no intention of letting this end as just a small incident."
They had an excuse.
So now they were going to smash them to pieces.
It might just be a small incident—but neither Bertus nor Charlotte—but the Emperor himself would intervene from then on, increasing the scale of the incident enormously.
"However, there's no way that the Knights Templar will just accept this. There would be a lot of opposition from the religious community. So, in the worst-case scenario, the Knights Templar might end up aiming their sword at the Empire."
They wouldn't be able to completely disband them. The Knights Templar, which had already amassed a great deal of power, combined the powers of the Five Major Churches, so there was no way that they would let go of that power completely. If the Emperor tried to dismantle the organization under the pretext of this incident, they might point their swords at the Empire, calling the Emperor's actions religious oppression.
"Congratulations, Reinhardt."
Bertus patted me on the shoulder.
"You just started a war to save a single person."
I felt my whole body freezing over.
What did he mean by war?
My brain seemed to have stopped working as soon as I heard that the act of saving Olivia Lanze might develop into a war between the Five Major Churches and the Empire.
The Imperial Family was always sharpening their swords, waiting for the right moment to get rid of the eyesore that was the Knights Templar, and that conflict was growing even more heated after the incident with the black market.
That was where I had triggered this huge incident of the Knights Templar's Commander torturing his own daughter.
As Bertus said, I created a situation in which hundreds and thousands of people might die horribly because I wanted to save a single person.
Something like that.
Is something like that even possible?
Was everything I had done developing into such a tremendous situation? How was that possible? The only thing I did was follow them and instigate Temple to move with an anonymous letter, you know?
A war would happen just because of that?
As I sat there completely frozen, Bertus looked at me calmly.
"Do you want me to stop it?"
"Huh… Huh? What?"
"The war."
Bertus still looked at me.
"Are you going to stop it?"
"You seem to have a hard time dealing with this flow of events. Do you want me to stop it?"
Bertus looked at me, his face adorned with an unreadable expression.
"Yes."
I nodded my head blankly.
"Please."
Bertus smiled at my short but sincere request.
"Okay."
The future had changed.
It had changed on a huge scale.
However, it changed once again with just a short request.
It hadn't been revealed that the Knights Templar's Commander had tortured his daughter. Strictly speaking, they were still at a stage where they tried to convince her with words, but she knew that if she kept on denying them that she would be subjected to physical and magical torture.
Temple mobilized their forces, but with Bertus intervening, I believed that the Imperial Family took the initiative in this case.
The Imperial Family wanted to dismantle the Knights Templar, but if they did that, they would face tremendous backlash, so they reduced the case to a personal one, not a big scandal happening within the Knights Templar.
Instead, the Imperial Family seemed to demand that the current Commander be dismissed and insisted on the appointment of a new Commander who happened to be pro-empire.
While the Imperial Family was negotiating such things behind the scenes, Temple seemed to have decided to keep their mouth shut after asking for Olivia Lanze's opinion on this matter. Olivia Lanze hadn't been tortured yet, after all, so it would have been difficult to press any further charges.
Not long after, on Monday, Olivia Lanze returned to Temple.
She had decided to quit Temple and abandon her faith, but in the end, she was able to return safely because she was a Temple student.
[Special Achievement – The Inflection Point of History (Olivia Lanze)]
[A character (Olivia Lanze) who should no longer exist in this world has survived.]
[The future has changed dramatically.]
[You have received 1000 achievement points.]
In addition to earning some achievement points, I got another reward for clearing a special quest.
[You have acquired Olivia Lanze's trait 'Sacred Spirit'.]
Trait : Sacred Spirit
Description : Olivia Lanze was born with enormous mental strength. Therefore, she had great resistance against magic that affected the mind. Sharing that trait with her, you have also acquired enormous mental strength. Your resistance to spells interfering with your mind has increased significantly.
The reward was much bigger than I had expected.
This might have been the reason why Olivia Lanze didn't fall until the end, even after getting brainwashed multiple times.