Time passed without much meaning. The next day, I wandered the streets trying to find the bomb, but I couldn’t find it until evening. As a result of checking whether the list written by Rodilla was alive or dead through the information guild, we were able to determine the location of all of them. There were six dead people and four people who were recovered after the bomb was discovered. I asked Rotila if she could think of anyone else, but she said she couldn’t think of any more, and that none of the people she knew came to mind. As a result, it was impossible to determine who the hostage was or who had the bomb unless the number of people inside was accurately known.
I returned to the castle without any results and had a number of conversations with Ian, but it seemed like there was no suitable solution, as he also said to wait one more day. I felt like I was covered in oil and walking on a dangerous fire pit where even the slightest touch would burn my entire body. The Berdian territory was stabilized and the man Ian had mentioned would soon arrive, so I told him to wait… but the anxiety did not go away. Finally, as another day passed and morning dawned, all that remained was anxiety.
“Why don’t you eat a little something, Lawrence?”
“…I have no thoughts.”
He ran his fingers through his hair and flipped through the report. He didn’t feel like eating anything. He had a hard time staying up late last night because he didn’t feel like eating. In the end, he was able to fall asleep only after emptying his stomach. It was accurate to say that every day was like hell. Even in his dreams, he watched the territory being engulfed in a sea of fire and people dying several times. The sound of people screaming as their flesh melted and their entire bodies were immersed in fire did not leave my ears. Then, when I woke up, I was soaked to the ground and trembled with so much anxiety that I could no longer sleep.
After geeting to Ian and my grandfather, who were looking at me with concern, I went back to the living room and met with the heads of each department who brought the reports. The conclusion was that although each suspicious person was investigated and the luggage of incoming and outgoing people were meticulously searched, there were no significant results. As the stress built up and I started to get nervous, I tried to raise my voice, but it seemed like it was difficult for them as well, so I soon gave up. I almost forgot that they were just as anxious and in pain as I was. I sent them away with the words, “Please try harder even though it’s hard.”
As I read butler Fievel’s report that followed, I naturally sighed. The butler seemed to notice me, and unlike usual, he didn’t say anything. After reading the report until the end, he naturally pushed it to one side of the table and spoke calmly.
“Is this the petition?”
“…There’s more.”
“How much?”
I pressed my eyebrows together because I felt like I would know without hearing his silence. The content written in the petition was generally a request to investigate the suspicious activities of people living around them. A day after sending out an official letter to the residents asking for their cooperation as they were looking for a heinous criminal, the number of petitions that had been posted had piled up to form a mountain. Although the exact details were not revealed to the territory residents, they must have sensed the atmosphere as the number of private soldiers and security forces released into the territory had recently increased. I could feel that the anxiety of the residents of the territory was growing day by day.
“There are a lot of petitions.”
“I guess because there are unrest happening all over the place…”
“Ha.”
I sighed and stroked my hair. How did things become so complicated? If I had the chance to go back in time, I would have put pressure on Beralt a little earlier and brought him down, or gently persuaded him to go in a different direction.
“It’s all just regrets….
“Yes?”
“No.”
I shook my head, put the petition and petition aside, and went on to explain to Fievel what was to come. It was complicated and difficult to consider numerous situations one by one and develop countermeasures accordingly in preparation for an unexpected incident. My grandfather basically had a lot of businesses to run and supervised a lot of things, so I couldn’t pass this job on to him. Even if the incident passed safely, it was clear that another problem would arise the moment my grandfather took his hands off me, so I continued with my normal duties. He actually took over all my work. I sighed and spoke as if to remind myself.
“Is today the third day?”
“Yes. Seeing that there are no significant changes, it seems like the incident will end like this, but since there is no word that it has been found yet, we have no choice but to pay attention.”
Fievel responded lightly to my words, rolled his eyes slightly, looked around his room, and bent his waist slightly. When I looked at him wondering why, he whispered quietly.
“…Soldiers from the Berdian territory have marched out. I heard the story.”
In Berdian territory? This is something I didn’t hear from Ian… Oh, did you mean the guy who mentioned he would be coming here?
“Where did this information come from?”
“The Information Guild is the source.”
“What about the location and scale?”
“It is difficult to ascertain the exact details, but considering that they went on a clandestine campaign, it is unlikely that their number will be large. Nevertheless, the number mentioned by the Intelligence Guild is over 5,000.”
“…5,000, what are your whereabouts?”
“The last report came from the western Tartas checkpoint. If you passed through there from the Berdian territory…”
“It means that the destination is at least not Ajstain Territory.”
“And there is a fiefdom located beyond the Tartas checkpoint.”
A huge territory bordered by the Tartas Checkpoint. Although it does not reach the level of a duchy, it holds a fiefdom that is several times larger than that of other nobles.
“…There is the Alpensia territory.”
“You’re right. I think that will be the destination.”
Not long ago, Ian mentioned that wiping out the place could be an option. At the time, I also thought that might be the answer, but things turned out better than expected and fortunately we were able to postpone a head-on collision. Ian said that if there was a local war involving the territory, he could pack bombs there and cause an explosion to go off there… That’s how it goes. The problem was that the soldiers’ sacrifices were becoming enormous. The reason why the Empire spent a huge amount of capital to manufacture the bomb, even though it had a wizard, was ultimately due to its destructive power. If just one explodes, it is powerful enough to kill a thousand people… Is the goal being to set fire to the feet of the Marquis Alpensia? Ian… Is this really what you were thinking? Unlike me, I was surprised to see him regaining his composure as time passed. I never thought there would be a scheme like this. As I pressed my forehead, I heard Fievel’s low sigh.
“How long has it been since you received the information?”
“Half a day has passed.”
“After passing the Tartas checkpoint, we will reach the Alpensia territory in one day… We need to find the bomb before then.”
I couldn’t inconvenience Ian any more. Of course, Ian would not have planned to indiscriminately attack the Alpensia territory and stage a siege. Local warfare between nobles was quite common, but Ian should not have acted carelessly. He was in the position of commander-in-chief, managing and directing the army. The commander-in-chief mobilizing his soldiers to attack Alpensia territory could have been the seed of a civil war. And I was concerned about the crown prince who was located behind the Alpensia family. Although he would not prefer a head-on collision, he was willing to use his sword if he had a reason to do so. I couldn’t pass that kind of risk on to Ian, so he had to deal with this situation quickly. I sent Fievel away and rolled around for a while with my head on my desk.
“…Where the hell are you?”
I just hoped to retrieve it quickly before more time passed and something irreparable happened. I stood up, vowing that if someone posted a report about the discovery, I would give that person the most generous reward in the name of the Aztain family. There is no point in keeping it like this. As I packed Ian’s luggage and grabbed his coat in my hand to tell Ian that we should go out on the street again, someone knocked on the door.
“Miss, can I go in for a moment?”
I answered lightly, and the person who opened the door and came in was Benson. He tilted his head, wondering why Benson, who was supposed to be escorting Ersia at this time, came to see him.
“What happened?”
“Well, that’s…”
I waited for his next hesitant words, but nothing more came out, so I narrowed my brows slightly.
“What happened…”
“Miss!”
Fievel interrupted me and hurried into the office. He had an urgent attitude that he had never shown before. A glimpse of anxiety flashed across his excited face.
“What’s going on?”
“I found it.”
“Really?! Did you find it?”
That single word brought me such joy that it felt like my heart was going to drop. Relief, sighing, and the feeling that it was finally over covered his entire body. But before he could enjoy the joy, his mouth opened again.
“But there is a problem.”
“Problem?”
As I looked at him with puzzled eyes, Fievel took out a piece of paper from his pocket and handed it to me. What is this again? As soon as he took the paper from his hand and opened it, his face crumpled.
[Dear Lawrence Ajstain, we invite you to Cerdil Arboretum.]
* * *
Serdal Arboretum was a very small arboretum and was like a resting place where walkers often stopped by. There was no investment value, and even if they tried to expand the facility, the territory was so small that it was impossible to expand it further, so it was left alone with only management. Still, it was quite neat and had beautiful flowers, animals and plants, and there was no admission fee, so anyone who lived in Ajstain territory would visit at least once. I also remember visiting there as a child. I held the hands of my parents, whose memories were vague, and looked at the flowers in full bloom. At the time, I thought the arboretum was quite large, but when I visited the place again, it wasn’t that big or scary. It was literally a small resting place.
“All people in the vicinity were evacuated. The explosion radius could not be determined, so people were widely evacuated.”
After completing the report and giving separate instructions to the guard captain, I looked up at the arboretum sign. I was confident that I had worked hard to manage it by setting a budget every year, but it looked older than I thought. Compared to the beautiful memories, the arboretum, which had an old-fashioned atmosphere, felt dreary.
“Why is it dinner?”
As I quietly opened my mouth, Ian, who was coordinating the situation next to me, took a step towards me and stood and looked at the sign together.
“Why are you looking for me?”
“Well, Beralt might think that Laurencia is someone he can’t have, so it would be better to destroy her.”
She couldn’t have it, so she would destroy it. If what he said was true, she was childish and not worth dealing with. However, if I ignore it, I ended up losing money and have no choice but to take a step forward.
“If it’s just the two of us, there won’t be any problem.”
The invitation didn’t say to come alone, so no one would blame me if I went with Ian. Biting my lip, I thought about what was waiting there and then shook my head. It’s pointless. Thinking won’t give you the answer, so you have no choice but to move. In addition, more than a thousand soldiers were camped around the arboretum. I feel like an excessive number of people were mobilized, but there was nothing we could do to evacuate people.
“It’s ironic that you found out the whereabouts of the bomb you’ve been searching for all this time through a suspicious letter, and then you believe that letter. You could have gathered us here and exploded somewhere else, but I think you’re being too stubborn to believe it.”
Well… that’s true, but looking at the situation over the past few days, it doesn’t seem like they were trying to do something. I had a strong feeling that there was a different request, but I couldn’t tell if it was what I wanted, so I just laughed. Who’s in there? Even the information guild had no idea what was going to happen or what was waiting for them, only that the place had been virtually sealed off since yesterday evening. It would be suicidal to set foot in such a place…
“Thank you, though.”
He smiled at the red eyes looking down at him.
“Thanks to you for coming with me. I feel reassured.”
Ian smiled at me and lifted his chin slightly. His profile shone sharply in the moonlight.
“Trust me. I will rescue everyone from there today without any harm.”
He let out a low breath.
“Let’s go back and eat. I haven’t eaten well lately. I must be hungry, Lawrence.”
A chuckle appeared in his carefree voice.
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Translator Note:
Hello there! This is RJR. I hope you liked it <3
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