“What… Wha, what!”
I was so startled that I couldn’t even react properly.
As I stared blankly into the air, at the words hovering above the ground, the smoke and letters soon dissipated and a card fell down, fluttering through the dust.
The writing on the front of the card conveyed…
Undoubtedly, it was a warning letter.
[March 4th, 11 p.m. I’ll steal the pocket watch that the Sapphire Knights are safekeeping.]
“…!”
I gasped in shock.
If it was the pocket watch that the Sapphire Knights were keeping, then there was only one conclusion.
‘It was the item that the suspicious person was carrying yesterday!’
The unidentified pocket watch with burn marks that I found yesterday. Since I had handed it over to the Sapphire Knights, they should have been keeping it for a post-incident investigation.
‘Come to think of it, Ludger’s reaction to seeing that pocket watch yesterday was strange.’
It seemed that the strange sense of discomfort I had felt yesterday was correct.
I thought that perhaps by now, some information from the original work, which I had most likely forgotten, might come to mind. However, the memories were still in a hazy, foggy state.
What the heck? Could it be that the suspicious Spirit user and Heilbronner are in cahoots?
That suspicious person attempted to infiltrate the nobles and do something with that pocket watch yesterday but failed. Perhaps Heilbronner was trying to steal it to cover up that failure?
In a way, it was a reasonable inference. He pretended to be a thief, but in the end, he truly had the personality of a big thief.
Therefore, I thought it wouldn’t be strange if he was on the same side as the group that tried to terrorize the nobles….
My gut instinct rejected that inference.
I felt like the thief Heilbroner was stealing this item for another reason.
‘…What in the world? Did I get possessed by his face?’
I shook my head. That shouldn’t be. Someone with an innocent face can also commit crimes.
And he even sent the warning letter right after declaring war yesterday.
The time of the warning letter was three days later, so he had more time than before. However, he still sent it earlier which I believed was improper on his part.
‘Aside from that, isn’t it a bit strange?’
Up until now, Heilbronner had sent the warning letter to the owner from whom he would be stealing.
In other words, if things were as they were, the warning letter for this item should have been sent to the Sapphire Knights.
And according to the incident data, there was no precedent for Heilbronner using this much magic when sending a warning letter.
However, he still went through the hassle of casting a magic spell on the door which would be activated as soon as I opened the it and designating the message to send it as ‘me’.
Certainly, our knight order was fighting dedicatedly to capture Heilbronner, but something felt strange.
‘As if we are rivals….’
I shook my head instantly. I was a bit dumbfounded by my own thoughts.
Nevertheless, it was impossible to trace back the magic and search for the user. I should just keep the warning letter intact instead.
So far, only copies of the contents of the original warning letters were sent to us which for some strange reason, I had been keeping safely as a dedicated knight. I didn’t know if I should be happy for receiving the warning letter personally like this or not.
‘I should contact the Sapphire Knights in advance.’
The impact of Heilbronner’s notice was so strong that I almost forgot that this might create a situation where I would have to face Gustav again.
‘Hmm, it doesn’t seem like things will be solved easily.’
This premonition came true.
***
“The Sapphire Knights have responded, but they want me to send them only the key data related to Heilbronner?”
“What?”
Lionel explained with a tired expression.
Fortunately or unfortunately, the Sapphire Knights responded quickly, taking this matter seriously. It was as if they were ready to put the honor of their knight order on the line to capture Heilbronner.
Accordingly, the ‘cooperation’ of the Ruby Knights wasn’t particularly necessary to them. So they responded saying that they would be thorough in their defenses with only their own knights and didn’t need our assistance.
“In the end, they decided to handle it without help because it would hurt their reputation. That’s exactly what they are trying to imply.”
“Yes. Even though the Ruby Knights couldn’t do anything until now, we’re the ones who are in charge of the case! I also want to brag about it.”
I chuckled at his useless sense of pride.
Lionel then asked exaggeratedly.
“What should we do, Captain?”
“Hmm….”
To be honest, I would be more than glad to dump the whole case onto the Sapphire Knights and let them handle it on their own.
But the problem was that the higher-ups were secretly discussing ‘our knights’ future’ without us knowing.
“Well, even if it’s not necessarily capturing him, I’d want to see some results. Like the evidence he left behind, or some investigation results.”
In this situation, if I just let the Sapphire Knights handle everything, how would the higher-ups view me as?
Even if I had to pretend, I had to pretend thoroughly and show that I was making an effort to capture Heilbronner.
‘But there’s no need for my subordinates to know about such heavy circumstances….’
I answered in a moderately light tone.
“I can’t ignore it as they want me to. Think about it, if we really don’t go, won’t Gustav find fault with us later?”
“Well…that’s true.”
“Yeah. Well, even if we go, we won’t be treated properly anyway. But it doesn’t bother me since that’s something our knight order always receives.”
“….”
Lionel looked at me with pitying eyes.
“Then let’s see, when Sir Sein comes, let’s check the schedule….”
“Captain, Captain!”
Billy, who had been listening quietly, raised his hand in an enthusiastic manner.
“What’s wrong, Billy?”
“How about I come along on this trip with you this time!”
“….”
I unconsciously looked at Lionel, who was also looking at me, for advice. But Lionel shrugged his shoulders with a smile as if to say, ‘Do what you wish.’
‘What should I do….’
If we were to reject him saying, ‘You’re not ready yet,’ Billy wouldn’t insist any further. He wasn’t the stubborn type of person, so he’d probably let it go.
However, after the Heilbronner case was transferred to us, Billy was the most motivated.
Surprisingly, he hadn’t caused any major accidents the previous few weeks. And he had been diligently doing his paperwork. (He’s not very good at his job, so he’s slow, but…)
If he had shown that much enthusiasm and accomplishment, wouldn’t it be right for his boss to give him a chance?
‘Yeah…. Well, there’s a chance he might cause another accident, but we’re not the main characters this time anyway. I can cover for him.’
Billy couldn’t just keep doing odd jobs forever. He needed a chance to grow too, right?
After pondering about it for a short while, I nodded to Billy.
“You can come with me.”
“Yes!”
“But. Don’t go wandering around on your own without my permission or judge a situation without consulting me. If anything strange catches your eyes, call me immediately.”
“What if the Captain isn’t around?”
“Then are you thinking of cooking soup with the communication stone?”
“Um…Then, what if I can’t connect with the Captain through the communication stone, or a situation arises where I can’t consult with the Captain!”
“…In that case, decide for yourself.”
“Yes!”
My head started aching, but I held on. It was better to come along with me than causing trouble on his own.
I was the boss, so I had to handle everything. Just greet your teeth and swallow your resentment.
‘But please, at least raise the Captain’s allowance a little….’
Swallowing back the tears, I continued instructing Billy.
***
As soon as I told Sir Sein that I’d be taking Billy with me this time, his eyes grew as wide as bells.
“Are you sure it’s fine? I can make time for you if you want.” He asked it three times.
I guess he was worried because he still remembered the terrible burn I got while working with Billy before.
I assured him, asking him to handle the paperworks in Billy’s stead before leaving the knight’s office with Billy.
Our destination was the Sapphire Knights.
Although the Sapphire Knights weren’t under the command of the royal family, the headquarters was a pretty flashy building. I didn’t expect less from a semi-elite knight order.
I remembered that the building had quite the history. It was used as a government office in the past or something like that.
“You’re from the Ruby Knights?”
The knight who greeted us at the entrance made a somewhat troubled expression.
“Yes. Is there a problem?”
“No. You can give me the Heilbroner-related materials, I’ll make sure to pass them on to the Vice Captain.”
Aha.
They were planning to handle the Heilbronner case entirely on their own. So they wanted us to just hand over the materials and go back.
“No. As from the knight order who were tasked with the Heilbronner case, we must do our part as well. Is Vice Captain Gustav present? I’ll meet him in person.”
“Ah…Yes. Okay.”
The knight hesitated for a moment but still led me to Gustav who was in the Vice Captain’s office. It was strangely envious and frustrating that even the Vice Captain had a private office where I had to share my desk.
The Vice Captain’s office was located in the innermost part on the second floor of the building. I headed there with Billy.
When I knocked, a soft but familiar voice asked from inside.
“Who is it?”
“Clara Weyburn, Captain of the Ruby Knights.”
“Ah…Yes, come in.”
We entered the room and found Gustav sitting on his seat, and greeted us with a smile on his face. He pretended as if the fiasco the previous night had never happened.
Billy, who didn’t know anything about our relationship, said, “Hello!” in a bright voice. His greeting was the only thing that echoed loudly through the hallway.
“So… You arrived here to hand over the data yourself? But you could have just handed it over to my subordinate and gone back.”
“No. The case is related to Heilbronner. How could I let it go when it’s our knight order who’s in charge?”
Gustav narrowed his eyes with a smile and raised his chin thoughtfuly.
“Hmm… perhaps our knights’ intentions weren’t properly conveyed? We don’t need your cooperation, Captain Clara.” (Translation: Are you stupid enough to not understand what I’m saying?)
“In principle, what’s your complaint about us doing the work that our knight order should be doing, Vice Captain Gustav?” (Translation: F*ck you, you brat.)
“The Ruby Knights are already busy, so shouldn’t you be glad?” (Translation: Don’t come at me with your sloppy little brats~)
The air between us became tense as if lightning was about to crackle in the background.
Thanks