A situation, where I could catch him right away if I entered the basement and chased him to a deadend arose.
My heart was pounding at the mere thought.
‘There’s no need to catch him. Then, should I just pretend not to notice and step back?’
Would that be a just decision as a knight?
However, before I could reach a conclusion, and my knightly spirit, which was at the verge of death, could come back alive, another unexpected event struck me.
“Ugh, cough!”
A sudden smoke rose from the underground basement, hitting me head on.
Thinking it was poisonous gas which could affect me in a bad way, I quickly pulled myself back, away from the door to the basement and took a deep breath to inhale fresh air and exhale the smoke.
While I was busy finding my composure, a blurry silhouette twitched and rose to the ground from the basement.
“…!”
The sight was bizarre to be told.
Between the smoke that swayed like fog, the space shook as if it was being torn apart by some unknown being.
In the middle of the torn space… the figure of a boy floating in the air appeared, seemingly unconscious.
No, he wasn’t floating in the air. Having read the original novel, I knew right away what was happening.
An invisible person was holding the boy in his arms.
‘Magic tool for invisibility!’
Heilbronner had a magic tool that could turn him invisible to the naked eye, like a kind of stealth mode. With the help of the magic tool, he could distort the vision of ordinary people and appear invisible to them. Ordinary people wouldn’t even notice him properly.
However, since he was holding the boy currently, I could tell where he was standing.
“…Phantom Thief Heilbronner!”
Subconsciously, I drew my sword and took my stance to attack. But at that moment, a strange, distorted voice, like a whisper of the wind, flowed out from him.
“Marvelous, you’re definitely faster than those Security Forces.”
Perhaps because of the alternation of the voice, his words sounded somewhat theatrical.
However, I had no intention of entertaining him.
“…Put down the hostage. What are you trying to do? Are you trying to increase the level of crime from simple theft to abduction?”
With his skills, there was no need to take a hostage and coerce me. He wasn’t that kind of person, according to the original.
However, if he truly intended to use the boy as a hostage to escape, I absolutely could not let him leave.
Spirit leaked from my body naturally as the strength of my hands holding the sword increased.
“I believe some sort of misunderstanding has arisen.”
Heilbronner answered nonchalantly, as if he had no intention of confronting me.
“This boy is the ‘precious treasure of Count Schlermann’ which I had mentioned in my letter.”
“What….”
I opened my mouth at the unexpected words before bursting into anger the next moment.
“So you have thought of going as far as human trafficking now, Heilbronner!”
“….”
Although because of the rising smoke and the usage of his magic tool, I couldn’t see his figure properly, I could sense that he was extremely displeased at my confronting statement.
“…The Captain surely has quite a rich imagination. I apologize but that is something I never intend to do.”
That was fortunate. No matter how much of a mastermind he was, or how much good intentions he carried, anyone who took a boy hostage or even trafficked him was dead in my eyes.
“I was going to hand this boy over to your knights or the police. It’s fortunate that we met early.”
“What the heck….”
“And since we’re talking about human trafficking, shouldn’t Count Schlermann be called the biggest sinner?”
“…!”
As soon as the words reached my ears, I understood Heilbronner’s intentions.
Sometimes, Heilbronner would steal items related to a crime for the sake of reporting it to the police or the knights.
‘Was that the purpose of this crime as well…!’
“Then please, take care of the boy. Including what will happen after this.”
Saying so, he carefully put the unconscious boy down.
“Ugh!”
And in the blink of an eye, not only his appearance but also his presence disappeared.
I clicked my tongue in annoyance.
‘I was on guard without any gaps the whole time… It’s evident enough that he’s skilled in evading his presence so efficiently that even his spirit can’t be felt. Moreover, he also evaded my spiritual extension.’
He was the king of escaping.
Even though I had no intention of catching him anyway, I felt strangely annoyed because I felt like I lost the confrontation with him
‘No, now is not the time to weep for my wounded pride.
The boy was more important than the run-away Heilbronner. Quickly approaching the boy, I tried to wake him up.
“Hey, are you okay? Are you awake?”
“….”
But the boy just lay there, with his eyes closed and mouth shut.
I quickly carried the boy in my arms and started running to the exit.
Even though he was unconscious, the boy was tossing and turning in his sleep, perhaps because he was feeling uncomfortable in my arms. As I put strength into my arms to hold him in a more comfortable position, I looked down and saw the exposed nape of the boy.
As soon as I saw what appeared in my sight, I clenched my teeth in anger.
‘This mark….’
Just with this mark, I could understand what Count Schlermann had intended to use this boy, except for human trafficking.
‘It’s making me sick.’
Nevertheless, what was important was the boy’s protection and handling things that were about to happen. Swallowing my anger, I moved to call Sir Sein and the police to arrest the Count urgently.
***
“Let go, let go of me! I don’t know anything! That Heilbronner must have done this to frame me!”
“Yes, yes. I understand. Further information will be revealed in the investigation.”
I answered dryly and tied up Count Schlermann, the butler, and other important witnesses whom I thought were important.
“Sir Sein, If additional police officers who have been contacted arrive, take them along with you. I will also ask the police to listen to the situation.”
“Understood….”
“Then, you can leave work right away once you’re done. Please come to work tomorrow after lunch.”
As soon as he heard that, Sir Sein, who had been acknowledging my orders somewhat unwillingly, brightened his expression. How could a gloomy-looking old man suddenly look cute? I think the end of the world has finally arrived.
“Understood! I’ll finish hearing the situation properly!”
“Yes, see you tomorrow.”
Although I gave permission to Sir Sein to leave work early, my work still remained. I had to thoroughly investigate the basement of the mansion, and when the security guards arrived at the scene, I had to close the mansion together and clean up the mess….
For now, I’ve contacted Lionel and Billy to get off work. I had already prepared my mind to stay up all night anyway, but I don’t need to bother my subordinates for that.
A slight hint of murderous desire bubbled up inside me at Heilbronners’ choice of time, which was disturbing my comfortable night rest…. I understand that he doesn’t have time to be active during the day, but he doesn’t have the right to disturb other people’s rest time. Having a double identity is difficult to maintain.
‘And….’
For a moment, I couldn’t help but think about the question he asked me before. Not as Heilbronner, but as Duke Ludger Kassen.
“What if Heilbronner had another purpose?”
He must have been referring to this incident.
The distinctive mark on the boy’s neck… I knew what that mark meant.
‘Experiment to extract the spirit core from children with spirit talent….’
I had zero knowledge of what kind of method was used to do so, however, I had heard that it was possible to extract the spirit core from children who hadn’t yet reached puberty. But, if the spirit core of a child is extracted, he would immediately become a crippled person, someone with a broken mind and consciousness.
It was speculated by many people that this spirit core had many possibilities in various ways. Such as extending life, strengthening the body, and preventing aging.
Even Qin Shi Huang searched for the elixir of life, so wouldn’t the people of this world do the same?
[T/N: Qin Shi Huang (Chinese: 秦始皇) was the founder of the Qin dynasty and the first emperor of China. As he grew old, Qin Shi Huang desperately sought the fabled elixir of life which supposedly confers immortality. In his obsessive quest, he fell prey to many fraudulent elixirs. For more information, click here: https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Qin_Shi_Huang]
That was why human trafficking and human experimentation were illegal in this country. However, there have been constant incidents of kidnapping children with spirit since the past.
The number of scumbags who conducted such experiments on innocent children was countless. A huge amount of money is also exchanged in the process.
‘It’s fortunate that the boy’s core hasn’t been removed yet since the mark is still there.’
It was really fortunate. If the boy had already lost his core, it would have been impossible for me to even hold back my anger and clean up the mess that I would have made the Count.
Suppressing the rising anger, I started pondering on what Heilbronner implied once again.
‘There was a way to report anonymously for any crime witnessed. Honestly, I don’t understand why someone would choose a cumbersome method rather than that.’
Perhaps because he knew that even if he reported anonymously, it would have been ignored, or the information would have gone to Count Schlermann and he wouldn’t have been able to secure any evidence. And even if Count Schlermann had been caught, it would have been dealt with quietly to prevent the negative perception of the nobility from spreading.
The inevitable evil of this country lies with its social ranking system.
However, since Heilbronner, the greatest criminal of this era, got involved, no one could ignore this matter.
In a situation where Heilbronner’s announcement had drawn the most attention, there was no way for the ‘higher-ups’ to quietly cover up this matter and let it slide.
‘Yes…This time, I’ll admit it, okay?’
It’s undeniable that his methods were equivalent to breaking the laws, but thanks to his illegal methods, there were children who were saved. Not only did he save a boy this time, but he also exposed those who were likely to get involved in crime in the future.
‘That’s enough for now.’
To be honest, whether he was the villain or in political conflict with the protagonists, it wasn’t something for me to think about right now.
“Please come over here and check!”
“Oh, yes. I’m coming right away.”
I had to do what I was told to do.
For the first time, I felt like my favorability toward Heilbronner, which had been at its worst for the past two days, was recovering just a little.
