As I entered the reception room where guests were expected to be, there were more than one or two eyes turned towards me. The eyes of about ten people, including Ian’s deputy who I had greeted once before, were focused on me. As Yuli said, the castle has been busy with customers since the morning. Isn’t this more than busy? It’s crowded.
“…uh.”
As I stood there wondering what to say, Lee An got up and approached me.
“Did you sleep well?”
He tilted his head slightly, made direct eye contact, and narrowed his eyebrows slightly.
“…Your complexion is dark?”
I took a step back as he gently lifted my bangs with his hand and examined my complexion. I glanced at his hair falling through his fingers and then turned his head.
“I’m fine.”
I remembered Uli’s words about my complexion not being good, and avoided eye contact. I didn’t want to show my crooked appearance from the front. As he slowly turned his head, he heard whispering around him. I couldn’t hear what they were saying, but it seemed like they were saying things like, ‘It was a car.’ or ‘Aren’t they harassing me?’
When Ian turned his head, all eyes looking in this direction quickly disappeared. He turned his head and moved forward, gently pushing Ian’s chest with his hand, showing the back of his head.
“First of all, that’s not what’s important.”
“Lawren…”
“Where are you?”
I extended my hand to Ian, who was following behind me.
“Where are the materials? Please show me.”
I just blinked and looked at Ian, who was standing still. What are you doing? Do you want some data? He narrowed his eyes and held out his hand once again. Ian sighed deeply. He pushed up his bangs and looked at me with his serious eyes. After a short silence, he opened his mouth.
“Lawrence, things seem to be going strangely.”
“What do you mean?”
Ian turned his head and reached out to the man holding a stack of papers. Is that it? Ian took the stack of documents from him, flipped through them, looked at the contents, and then handed them to me.
“…This… is a stolen document.”
“Stolen documents?”
“Yes. Yesterday, they gave an order to raid the private property of the Piero clan. As a result, they say they were able to successfully subdue it. I thought there would be bloodshed in the process, but according to their report, the intrusion was bloodless.”
“Bloodless?”
I took the document and flipped through it to look at the contents.
“Didn’t you say that the Akpensia family’s private soldiers are guarding you?”
“…I thought so. However, on the day of the raid, all those who appeared to be knights surrendered, as if they had been trained to do so.”
“Surrender…”
“So, after investigating, it turned out that he was not a knight but a mercenary. It was a fake knight dressed in fake armor.”
What nonsense…
“And what about alchemists and witches?”
“That’s another embarrassing thing…”
Ian scratched his head nervously. From his complex expression, I realized that things were going wrong. When I looked at him with narrowed eyes, Ian sighed and closed his eyes.
“…They said they disposed of everything.”
Disposal? Surprised, he took his eyes off the document and raised his head.
“….Disposal?”
“Yes. The bodies were piled up in one place and ignited, as if burning a pile of trash. It was difficult to identify them because they were burned beyond recognition.”
“Then Ankiel Mermin’s wife…”
It was difficult to confirm whether the wife of the large alchemist from Turkal was dead or alive, so we found several bodies that appeared to be women… but as you can see from what we saw, there were a total of 15 bodies. The bodies came out, but not a single one of them could be identified. Ian took a deep breath and frowned as if he was exhaling his anger.
“Besides, there were no bruises or cuts. That is…”
He bit his lip tightly.
“You mean burned alive.”
“It looks like he was thrown into a fire pit. I’d like to go into more detail, but let’s deal with this and investigate properly. huh?”
Ian came over and squeezed my hand. The trembling stopped when his hand was pressed tightly. When I lifted my head, Ian was looking at me with deep anger in his eyes. He must be as angry as me. About their behavior that betrays human duties.
“Among the knights who surrendered or those captured, is there anyone who appears to be the leader?”
“I interrogated several people and brought in the highest-ranking person to investigate, but there was no information of this kind. He was also just a temporary employee who was guarding the place. He seemed quite surprised to hear what happened inside. Maybe he didn’t even know.”
“Then…”
“He thought we would cry so he withdrew. According to him, the day before yesterday, a large number of the knights who guarded the place left and were replaced by mercenaries. Then, one by one, people disappeared and went somewhere before me, but when I woke up in the morning, I saw that everything had disappeared and only empty space was left.”
Is it too late? But how did you know? It was the afternoon before that that I got the idea to raid that place. The moment we made up our minds, we withdrew right away…
“The internal spy…?”
“That may be true, but I don’t think that’s the case. Judging by the fact that they moved before my order even spread, it looks like they were preparing to withdraw in advance. They burned everything they used there, so only a few useless-looking reports remained. That’s what Laurentia is now. This is the report in your hands.”
“This…”
I sighed. The material was so crude and useless that it was embarrassing to call it a report. The only thing that was interesting to see was the details of food expenses spent there. Considering the amount of money, one could roughly estimate how many people were in it and how long it had been in existence. But in the end, I couldn’t find anything that could properly be called information.
“Is this what you mean…?”
The embarrassment was greater than the disappointment. Contrary to my expectations that there would be some kind of income that could be considered a clue, all I got in my hands was dust, which was more useless than sand. With this, I couldn’t tell what they were thinking.
“If the information wasn’t leaked, then they already knew our numbers.”
I shook my head at Ian’s self-deprecating voice.
“It could mean that preparations are complete.”
I felt like I was breaking into a cold sweat. A completely unexpected conclusion appeared before my eyes. Is it too late? Or did things go wrong somewhere? The information was insufficient to make a hasty decision and take action, but I had an ominous feeling. He clenched his fists tightly. His messy hair was unkempt.
“Lawrence.”
I glanced up at Ian who came over and placed his hand on my shoulder. He looked very calm. Although he didn’t have a confident and relaxed smile, at least he didn’t look nervous. Am I too nervous? He straightened his back and looked around. I faced countless eyes focused on me. He bit his lip and turned around. Then, I leaned my back on the table and looked at Ian.
“From now on, listen carefully to what I say.”
As the situation became more complicated, we had to clearly draw a line and make a decision. I felt burdened by all the attention and expectations placed on me, but I still had to do what I had to do.
“There are three things we need to figure out. First, we need to clearly understand what the Akpensia family did after they colluded with the Piero clan and kidnapped the alchemists and witches. A large amount of sulfur, titanium, and similar metals were taken there. Considering what was brought in and the fact that they have a mine that can extract the essence of fire, I have a rough guess. But there is no evidence. So, we need to figure out that evidence first.”
Since the scene had been carefully organized, there was no physical evidence to prove the suspicion. No, even if it was, it wasn’t that important anymore. Second, where did all the bombs go? And where and how to use those bombs is also important.
“If we don’t figure this out quickly, there is a risk that it could lead to serious damage.”
“They must have refined a huge Kyu bomb that can damage the foundation of the country.”
I nodded as he supplemented my words.
“Yes, that’s right. Even though it is less safe because it wasn’t made by a wizard, the explosive power will be the same. If it explodes in the city, even if only four or five explode, only ruins will be left behind. We must find it before it explodes.”
Ian looked around. Everyone here slowly moved their heads as if realizing the seriousness of the situation.
“And the last one is motive.”
“If it’s a motive…”
“It is understandable if the children of the Marquis of Bepis manufactured a bomb to take revenge on this country. The motive is sufficient. The involvement of the Alpensia family is not incomprehensible if they dream of rebellion. However, the Alpensia family is the crown prince.
“Now that I am deeply connected to the government, I will not threaten the country with a bomb. My goal will be for the crown prince to ascend to the throne safely.”
It was a mistake to follow his direction without thinking about the crown prince. Since they focused on the descendants of the Marquis of Bepis, they probably thought they were dreaming of a rebellion. But that was a miscalculation.
I turned my head and looked at Ian. He narrowed his eyes.
“If he’s smart, he’ll know what I’m talking about.”
If it was the counterfeit money that led to the downfall of the Marquis of Bepis, then it was the Berdian family who discovered that they were manufacturing the counterfeit money. And the Alpensia family and the crown prince currently see the Verdian family as their biggest obstacle. So…
“In other words, the place where the bomb will be used is the principality territory, that is, the Berdian territory?”
“Yes. Most likely, that is the plan.”
The answer was to some extent. The situation was clear enough to make you wonder why Beralt supported the children of Marquis Bepis.
—————————————————————
Translator Note:
Hello there! This is RJR. I hope you liked it <3
If you like my work please support me with Ko-fi or Patreon. Next post will be released in a bit.
Want to read more?
