‘Viscount Rudleman….’
The name was disgusting enough to make me nauseous.
How did they find my address again? I thought they wouldn’t bother searching for me after I kicked them out last time.
Arriving at my apartment, I calmly ripped the envelope to pieces without even bothering to read the contents before throwing it in the trash can.
I then finished my night routine and went to bed as usual. But unlike usual, I couldn’t fall asleep right away. Blame that disgusting name for taking away my peaceful rest.
Viscount Rudelman.
Although not in a million years do I ever want to admit it, but…. the people who sent me the letter were none other than my biological father and brothers.
However, just because I was born in the family of a Viscount doesn’t mean I was raised and cared for like a proper young lady of a noble family. I was nothing but an illegitimate child, a dirty stain to their reputation.
My birth family, the Viscount Rudleman, was so impoverished that it was hard to call them nobles. Moreover, each and every single person in my family had rotten personalities, which further sullied the reputation. Thinking back to those times made me shudder in disgust. Those people were horrible beyond repair. Rather than being cared for and respected as a young lady of a noble family, I suffered all kinds of humiliation.
On top of that, when I first reincarnated into this world, I had no memories of my past life. In other words, I took the humiliation I experienced as an illegitimate child for granted. And It made me think that I was being treated this way perhaps because I was lacking.
Then, at the time I turned twelve, I fell into an accident and hit my head. It was then when I began to recall my previous life…
Could I, who had revived my modern self from my previous life, endure such an extreme environment and humiliation? Needless to say, I coldly left the family without looking back and cut all ties with them.
Well, after that, life was much easier and pleasant. I passed the civil service exam and became what I am now. I even changed my family name in the process.
Nevertheless, now I didn’t know those people, we were complete strangers at the moment.
However, it seemed those shameless people didn’t like to think that way. They found out the address of the house where I used to live and fretted about changing the family register.
At that time, I also resisted vigorously and was somehow able to make them give up on me. Before long, I changed my last name once again, and moved far away.
But now…. Those people appeared to hinder my peaceful life once again.
“Haa….”
It would be a hassle to change my accomodation again. My current accomodation was the best for my commuting. However, they must have known by now that I was the captain of a knights’ squad and came to bother me again.
Before they reach me, I should think of a way.
For now, I should stop worrying about unnecessary things that couldn’t be stopped and go to sleep.
The most important job tomorrow is the showdown with the thief Heilbronner….
‘Even if I can’t catch him, I’ll pretend that I tried my best….’
Forcing my eyes shut, I muttered to myself as if I was chanting a prayer as I waited for sleep to consume my consciousness.
***
The next day.
By the time I finished work in the morning and afternoon, Sir Sein showed up sharply at the appointed time.
“This is it, Sir Sein. This is the summary of Heilbronner information that Billy has organized. You should give it a read. However, since we don’t have much time and have to leave right away, you may read it while waiting for Heilbronner at the scene.”
“Yes…..”
“Please take good care of the office, Lionel.”
“Yes, yes….”
Although he replied somewhat in an exhausted voice, Lionel didn’t look as dead as he did yesterday. Thanks to the fact that we had been busy organizing the documents yesterday and today, the amount of content had decreased somewhat.
“Billy, you should wait in the knights’ office for backup in case Lionel gets off work at 10 o’clock.”
“Understood, Captain. Wish you a glorious victory!”
When I first divided the duties, Billy was heartbroken knowing that he couldn’t go to the scene with me, but his mood soon brightened when I told him that I would take him with me on future missions if he could improve his skills.
‘Of course… I don’t think that day will ever come….’
Waving my hand vaguely at the energetic Billy, I set off for Count Schlermann’s residence with Sir Sein.
***
The moment I reached the Count’s residence, a surprise was waiting for me.
The Security Forces sent us two knights to assist us!
“We arrived here on the orders of the Commander.”
“Really…Thank you. Then, would it be all right if you can guard the North and South from outside?”
“Yes, we will do that.”
Dispatching the two knights to guard the two sides of the mansion, Sir Sein and I decided to watch over the two most likely intrusion routes.
‘We won’t be able to use teleportation magic.’
In the setting of the Phantom Thief, it seemed that the author thought the presence of teleportation magic was trivial, as it did not exist in modern magic in this world.
Most magic was done within realistic physical laws.
For example, if a person has a tool that can float, they can fly. Magic replaces this floating ‘tool’ and allows them to fly.
However, teleportation was a physically impossible outcome, no matter what tool or method was used. That is why it was impossible even with magic although magic existed in this world.
As such, the use of magic was limited, and unless they used a magic tool, the number of wizards who could use magic freely themselves was rare.
The Phantom Thief Heilbroner was also one of those wizards. As Duke Ludger Kassen, he hid the fact that he was a wizard and acted as a criminal as he wished.
‘Since he’s coming here to steal, he’ll definitely use magic in some way.’
It was unknown which route he would take or what kind of magic would he be using. However, I was certain that he would be using a method that other people could witness.
Thinking all this, I climbed up a tree near the second floor window and began observing the surroundings.
The opposite site was being guarded by Sir Sein.
‘Oh no, what if Sir Sein stumbles upon Heilbronner? Will the original flow be destroyed if that were to happen?’
It wasn’t as if it couldn’t happen, there was a 99% chance of that happening.
Knowing how high-ranking of a wizard Heilbronner was, I straightened my posture.
After that tense moment, the exact time that Heilbronner had written in the warning letter had come.
3, 2, 1.
My eyes followed the hand of the clock that was approaching the appointed time. The moment the numbers changed to 0, screams erupted along with the sound of an explosion.
“Aaghhh!”
“…Haaa.”
Huge flames erupted from all directions.
It had no lethality or heat, which meant it was only a spell to block the sight of the guards and create a gap.
Although I was mentally prepared, I was still caught off guard in an instant. Stopped by the sudden, enormous storm of light that struck my eyes, I couldn’t move.
“Sir Sein! Knights of Security Forces! Please be on the move as soon as you have a clear view, be on guard outside! It’s a disguised attack, Heilbronner may not have infiltrated yet!”
“Yes, yes!”
“I’m going to check the indoor infiltration route!”
Blinking repeatedly to recover my vision from the flames, I quickly jumped from the tree and began running around the mansion.
All the windows and doors in the mansion were closed. Unless he used teleportation magic, there would be traces of him entering the mansion by opening a door or a window somewhere.
‘Found it!’
He must have tried to close it after entering through it, but my sensitive senses sensed the difference at a glance. The window on the first floor’s hallway was slightly closed, perhaps because he had closed it in a hurry.
Opening the window, I quickly jumped inside and looked around.
‘Which way did he go?’
According to the structure of the mansion described by Sir Sein, the left side was the main building used mainly by Count Schlermann, and the right side was where the ordinary pantry, kitchen, and dining room was situated.
However, at that moment, information that was almost like an intuition flashed through my head.
“Um… Some places in the mansion had traces of patching here and there. It seems like additional construction was done after the building was built…”
“The Count certainly didn’t explain the reason for that, did he?”
“He did not. But according to what I have observed so far, there didn’t seem to be any suspicious empty spaces on the first and second floors.”
The additional construction was done between the pantry and kitchen.
‘There must have been something that the Count seems to want to keep hidden. This isn’t information that can be overlooked.’
After reaching a conclusion, I strode in the direction of the pantry without making a sound.
However, as I walked, something suddenly occurred to me. Why was I so immersed in my work and working so hard?
I just had to pretend to work hard in the eyes of others, there was no need to desperately search for Heilbronner’s infiltration route since no one was around.
‘Damn it, my resolves are in contradictions.’
I have no intention of catching Heilbronner and handing him over, however, as a dutiful knight, it was frustrating to me to just sit there and let him do whatever he wants.
Well… it’s useless to lament over it now.
I realized that fact after starting as a regular knight and being thrown into the Knights Templar, but my strong sense of justice still couldn’t be suppressed. It seems I don’t learn even the hard way.
Attempting to shake off my gloomy thoughts, I started walking slower.
‘Well, what can I do if that’s the case? Nobles are the kind of people who can’t stand losing in games. So let’s say that I’m doing this because I don’t want to be unilaterally beaten by Heilbronner.’
As soon as I decided, my legs naturally sped up and took me toward the pantry.
Just as Sir Sein reported, there was no empty space on the first floor. However…I was convinced that something was definitely wrong there.
Without suppressing the rising discomfort, I slowly stepped forward again. My whole body was rigid with nerves on edge.
“…!”
The difference was so slight that It could be overlooked by others easily. But the sensation that rose through the soles of my boots touching the floor was quickly caught by me. Kneeling down cautiously, I examined the floor closely.
‘As expected!’
When I lifted the carpet, I saw a ‘door’ that was lying down to the floor.
The said door was made by adding pieces of wood, so it was hard to see unless one looked closely. If I could open the door, I had a feeling that it would lead me to the basement.
‘The basement is usually not used in townhouses… This is the blind spot.’
Carefully, I knocked on the floor to check the structure, pressed the door, before lifting it up. Just as I had predicted, a narrow passage leading to the basement appeared.
‘A faint light is leaking….’
Beyond the passage that should have been as dark as the night, a thin strand of light could be seen.
At the scene that unfolded before me, I gulped.
‘The…… The thief Heilbronner must be down there.’
