(Attendances… plz…)
….
Gojo listened, his bandaged eyes fixed in Emilia's direction as she explained. He processed the information instantly, the pieces clicking together in his mind with unsettling clarity.
The Royal Selection was in one week. There were five candidates in total: Emilia, the crying kid named Felt, and three others who were still unknown.
"Hmmm," Gojo said, breaking the silence. "So, none of you five are official yet, but the big introduction is in one week in the capital." He leaned back in his chair, tapping a finger on the armrest.
"And you needed that little pin to even get in the door. And it just so happened to be stolen by that crying little kid, who then led you straight to an assassin who was hired to kill you." He let out a soft, humorless chuckle.
"Huh. That's a lot of stuff to happen by accident. That's some heavy, behind-the-scenes planning right there."
He then tilted his head. "Oh, I forgot to ask. Why was that kinky lady trying to kill all of you, anyway?"
"She was the one who hired Felt to steal my insignia," Emilia explained, her expression serious. "When I got to the capital, I used the help of lesser spirits to find where Felt was. They led me to that inn in the slums." She paused for a moment.
"That's also where I met Subaru. He said he was there trying to buy the insignia from Felt so he could give it back to me."
The gears in Gojo's mind clicked into place instantly.
So, someone was targeting Emilia from the shadows. And this tracksuit kid, Subaru, just happened to stumble right into the middle of a secret transaction for a royal artifact that is related to the candidacy? Unlikely.
"Huh. That is weird," Gojo said out loud.
"What's weird?" Emilia asked, her violet eyes full of genuine confusion.
Gojo looked at her and realized she hadn't connected a single dot. She was so pure and trusting that the idea of a conspiracy probably hadn't even crossed her mind.
He let out a small sigh and pulled one of the ornate chairs from the side of the room, spinning it around and sitting on it backward, leaning his arms on the backrest. It was time for class.
"First question," he said, his tone shifting from casual observation to focused inquiry. "Why were you in the capital all by yourself?"
"I was there to get used to the place," Emilia answered honestly. "Since the selection will be held there, I wanted to see it for myself."
"Who sent you there alone?" Gojo pressed.
Emilia didn't seem to understand why he was asking these questions, but she answered anyway.
"Roswaal sent me. He… he actually insisted on sending Rem and Ram with me for protection." She looked down at her hands, a little ashamed.
"But I didn't want to trouble them with my personal work. They already have so much to do around the mansion, so I insisted on going alone." She looked back up, trying to justify her decision.
"And I wasn't completely alone! Puck was with me. I didn't think there would be any problem just traveling to the capital to look around."
Gojo didn't say anything for a long moment. He just stared in her direction, the simple white bandages hiding the complex thoughts swirling in his mind.
"Hmm," was all he said.
He then pointed it out to her, his tone shifting from casual chatter to that of a teacher patiently explaining a difficult problem to a student.
"Hmm. Well, what I don't understand is this: how was Subaru already there before you? Did you meet him before? Did you tell anyone that your insignia was missing?"
Emilia shook her head, her silver hair swaying. "No, I didn't mention it to anyone. I only asked some shopkeepers and locals if they'd seen Felt. One of them said he saw a girl matching her description going into the slums, so I went there to search for her."
"So you'd never met Subaru before?" Gojo confirmed.
"No, I haven't," she said, her voice certain. "The first time was in that inn."
Gojo's mind churned. He was missing a key piece of the puzzle. Subaru had never met Emilia, yet he knew her insignia was stolen and was in the right place at the right time to "buy it back" for her.
Gojo reviewed the facts: Subaru was from Japan, like him, but was transported here, not reborn. He was still in his tracksuit, so he was new.
He didn't know basic things about the country, yet he was somehow tangled up in a high-level political assassination plot. It didn't add up.
"And what is that insignia worth, in general?" Gojo asked.
"It isn't worth much money," Emilia explained. "Its only value is that it's a magical item that proves my candidacy for the throne. No one else can use it, only the chosen candidates like me and Felt."
"So," Gojo began, laying out the events like a timeline. "You leave the mansion to get used to the capital. But someone already knows you'll be there. This person knows what the insignia is for, and hires a slum kid to steal it. But you happen to track it down before the person who hired the thief, the kinky lady, can get her hands on it. So, her job gets complicated, and she decides to kill you instead." He paused, leaning forward.
"But one more person was there even before the kinky lady and before you, the owner. And that person was Subaru."
Emilia just listened, her eyes wide as she followed his logic.
Gojo sighed. "Well, it's either someone who knew you would be going to the capital, or someone with enough influence to know about it. The most likely suspects are the other three candidates, trying to clear one obstacle out of the way before the race even starts."
"So… one of the other candidates tried to have me killed for the throne?" Emilia asked, the idea sounding monstrous and unbelievable to her.
"Yeah, probably," Gojo said. "Though the real question is, how would they even know you're a candidate, when you don't even know who they are?" He continued, already poking holes in his own theory.
"And we don't even know if the other three have been found yet. Felt was just discovered by accident. Maybe the other candidates are still just normal people, completely unaware of their role."
"Wow," Emilia breathed out. "You got all of that just from what happened yesterday?"
Gojo shook his head, his tone becoming a little more critical. "Emilia, what I'm surprised at is that you didn't even consider any of these possibilities after you were almost killed. And you even brought two complete strangers back to your home. For all you know, Subaru could be a spy from one of the other candidates."
A spark of realization lit up in Emilia's eyes, and for the first time, she connected the dots herself. "But then… doesn't that also mean you could be a spy from one of the other candidates? And you're trying to confuse me by framing Subaru?"
A wide, genuine smile spread across Gojo's face. "Wow. You're learning fast." He held up a finger. "But you made one mistake."
"Huh? What mistake?" she asked, confused.
"If I was a spy," Gojo explained patiently, "I wouldn't have saved you yesterday. On the contrary, I would have helped the kinky lady finish her job. I definitely wouldn't have killed her."
Emilia thought about it, her brow furrowed. "Yes… that's right. You didn't have to help us. We would have been dead. But you came and saved us."
"Exactly," Gojo said. "I don't want to get stuck on this for now. But maybe, just maybe, Subaru is a spy."
"But he was fighting the Bowel Hunter with me!" Emilia protested. "How could he be?"
"You said he was already there," Gojo countered. "The original plan was probably just to buy the insignia so you'd be disqualified. But then you waltzed in, thanks to your spirit friends, and the plan had to be readjusted. He told you he was there to buy it back for you. How did he even know it existed, or that it belonged to a pretty silver-haired girl who hadn't even arrived yet?"
Emilia looked completely lost. It was too much information, too much suspicion. It went against her very nature, which was to see the good in others and blame herself for any problems. If Gojo said something mean to her, her first instinct wasn't to argue, but to apologize.
Seeing her overload, Gojo stopped. He took a deep breath, let it out in a long sigh, and dropped the serious tone. "Nothing. Just me blabbering about whatever. My bad." He offered a small smile.
"You know, you remind me of one of my students. A little too innocent for your own good." He pushed his chair back and stood up.
"Come on. Let's go to the garden and get some fresh air. Mornings are for enjoying the sun, not for frying your brain with all these books."
"But I haven't even finished this yet!" Emilia protested, gesturing to her book.
"Just come with me," Gojo said, his voice leaving no room for argument. "I don't want any excuses. Just follow me." He turned and started walking out of the room.
Confused and overwhelmed, Emilia hesitated for only a second before pushing her chair back and following him, making a mental note to definitely, absolutely finish her reading later.
….
A/N: So, how was it?! I went too deep intk this chapter. But all the points gojo mentioned here very surface level that anyone can figure out if given enough time or brainpower.
And he didn't specifically said subaru is a spy but could be so remember that. It just one of the possibility he thought of… he even considered roswal to be of suspicious… but for his clown like face and him being sketchy as hell.
&
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