At that moment, someone completely unexpected opened his mouth, as if slapping Gustav in the face.
“The responsibilities of the knight orders are decided and ordered by the Mayor himself!”
Billy declared loudly.
Gustav and I were both surprised at the same time and looked back at him who suddenly interrupted.
“Have you received the Mayor’s order that the current situation would be handled by the Sapphire Knights and the Ruby Knights must transfer the relevant data? If so, please show us the official document!”
“….”
Gustav opened his mouth in surprise, forgetting to control his facial expression. He looked dumbfounded by the sudden momentum of Billy.
However, Billy mercilessly gave another blow at that dumbfounded face.
“Oh, or perhaps the Vice Captain was unaware of the regulation? It should be included in the Knight Templars’ work regulations! It’s okay, you may have not been aware.”
I bit my tongue, trying my best to hold back the laughter that unknowingly wanted to bubble up my throat.
‘Oh, he can’t now deny the facts and spout nonsense because of his position. I feel much better seeing his miserable face.’
Gustav’s shoulders trembled slightly at the words of Billy which made him the world’s biggest idiot who didn’t even know the Knight Templars’ work regulations. When Billy stopped, I continued in his state.
“As you can see, our subordinate knight is very principled. He just made a good point. Did you get an official order from the Mayor? To not cooperate with our knights?”
“….”
“There’s not even an official document?”
Gustav frowned at my continuous question.
This kind of issue originally involved the reputation and friction between the knight orders. Therefore, most of the time, official documents weren’t needed.
Even if we were to ask the Mayor for an official order, he would look at us with “Have you gone you crazy?” stare.
However, that was just an unspoken and unnecessary rule. If we were to follow the regulation, what Billy said was right.
That was why that bastard couldn’t argue back and only made an expression as if he had eaten shit.
You may wonder, what if Gustav still refuses strongly to cooperate and kicks us out here? Well, then at least we would have the perfect excuse to give.
With us personally going to the headquarters of the Sapphire Knights with the intention of cooperation, there was clear evidence that the Ruby Knights were willing to cooperate. However, if he were to kick us out and we were questioned later, we could just say, “They kicked us out, so we could do nothing~”. Such a situation would surely put Gustav in trouble too.
He was someone with a stronger desire for success and recognition than anyone else, so how could he tolerate such a slander that could tarnish his reputation?
“In that case, isn’t it better if we cooperate, Vice Captain Gustav? Of course, I have no objections with your knights working with our knights. Billy, hand me the data.”
“Yes!”
The documents given to Gustav related to the Heilbronner case were received in a hesitant manner. I continued my questioning with the intention of keeping that guy’s mouth stumped so that he couldn’t object any longer.
“Where is the pocket watch in your custody? And have you interrogated the culprit who originally had it? Was he an accomplice with Heilbronner?”
“That’s something our knights are independently investigating, so we can’t just carelessly reveal it to the outsiders.”
“Hey, Billy.”
“Yes!”
“Recite the Knight Templars’ obligations when conducting a cooperative investigation.”
“Yes, Captain! According to the Knight Templars’ regulation, each knight order must disclose information and cooperate with each other when a connection between cases is recognized!”
“….”
Gustav looked completely defeated.
‘Wow, our Billy is a dutiful knight.’
Indeed, Billy could come in handy when dealing with a real complainant.
Gustav’s whining could conceptually be considered similar to a complainant. It was a wise choice to bring Billy with me.
Ignoring Gustav’s increasingly wrinkled face, I hummed to myself in satisfaction.
***
Thanks to Gustav’s (involuntary) cooperation, I was able to talk to the knight of the Sapphire Knights who was responsible for the investigation.
According to the knight, the criminal caught yesterday was thoroughly interrogated, but no matter how many methods they used, he would not disclose information about the mastermind behind the scenes.
It was assumed that the culprit was a member of a criminal organization that trains their people through torture and other things.
Therefore, although they couldn’t be certain of his connection to the thief Heilbronner, they assumed that it was highly likely that Heilbronner’s purpose was not the pocket watch but the rescue of the culprit.
That was why the Sapphire Knight explained that they would plan the operation with that information in mind.
It was a reasonable judgement, so I didn’t bother to find any fault.
If my memory of the original serves me right, the thief Heilbronner was a complete lone criminal and he had no accomplices or organizations behind him. However, with how hazy the information in my mind became recently, I couldn’t completely trust it.
“Then, our Ruby Knights will focus on the pocket watch and proceed with defense based on the warning letter. You can rest assured that we won’t be interfering with the Sapphire Knights’ operation.”
“…Yes.”
Perhaps because their superior was Gustav, the investigator didn’t seem to appreciate our presence that much. But I was too lazy to care about what they think.
Billy and I surveyed the area around the logistics warehouse on the second floor where the evidence was stored.
The defense around the building wasn’t praiseworthy since it was an old building, and there were many parts of the overall structure that could be used as intrusion routes. But since it was a semi-elite knight order’s headquarters, it wasn’t poorly defended either.
The hallways were curved and entwined like a maze, and there were doors seen in unnecessary places.
“Billy, you have to memorize the whole structure without fail.”
“Yes!”
“…We’re working together with the Sapphire Knights currently since we’re on guard duty now. However, situations might arise when we have to act separately. So you have to memorize them properly, understand?”
“Yes!”
Billy answered obediently. I thought that I should take a test and confirm if he had memorized the whole structure thoroughly, so we walked around the hallway in a circle.
Finally, we arrived at the warehouse to personally check the designated pocket watch.
“Hello, I’m Clara Weyburn, Captain of the Ruby Knights. I’ve come to check Heilbronner’s target item.”
“Ah… yes.”
A female knight, looking exhausted as if she had been working for a long time, stood up and greeted me with a polite nod.
“Have you completed the investigation of the item?”
“Yes… I checked several times, but the watch was an unused item. There’s nothing special about it. It wasn’t crafted that long ago either, so it has no historical value and is just a piece of junk.”
“….?”
That was all about the investigation?
“The culprit was carrying the pocket watch along with another magical tool. Wasn’t it with the magical tool?”
“Ah…yes. I examined it along with a magical tool for transformation, but no trace of magic was found on the pocket watch.”
“… I see.”
If that was the result of the investigation, then I, a layman in magic, had nothing to point out. However, the uneasy feeling kept creeping up.
Ludger’s reaction at the time was unusual.
“Let me search her body. It could be a side effect of some kind of magica tool.”
“I think it would be better to not touch that thing carelessly. That thing might be the cause.”
Ludger evaluated the pocket watch at that time, with precise doubt that the pocket watch was a magic tool.
However, wasn’t the result of the investigation strange for it concluded that the pocket watch wasn’t a magic tool?
‘I’m also clueless about Ludger’s true intentions for targeting this thing.’
The memories that seemed to have been covered in a vague fog, I tried to focus on them again. However, nothing still surfaced in my mind.
I shook my head to dismiss the unnecessary thoughts.
Nevertheless, I wouldn’t capture Ludger. Therefore, it didn’t matter to me what he targeted or stole. I knew better that it was all just a political dispute among themselves for political reasons.
Calming the complicated mind, I reached a simple conclusion. I was going to judge his actions based on what he did and what I could do.
‘I guess that’s why the Sapphire Knights put more importance on the criminal than the pocket watch.’
Honestly, it would have been more reasonable to think that the warning letter was fake and all the fiasco was just a show to rescue the criminal. The pocket watch was worthless even if he stole it.
‘They said that there are no veteran female knights in the Sapphire Knights, but judging from the fact that they entrusted the pocket watch to this female knight who seems like a rookie, they already concluded that the pocket watch wasn’t important.’
However, no matter what they judged and concluded, I still thought that Ludger’s purpose was the pocket watch.
Both my intuition and my memory from the original told me so.
Before leaving the warehouse, I told the knight in charge about my arrival on the day of the crime written in the warning letter.
“Wouldn’t it be better for us to guard the culprit as well?”
“Well, the Sapphire Knights will take care of that. Our goal is to protect Heilbronner’s target items and capture Heilbronner. Let’s just focus on that.”
“Understood!”
‘By the way, I seemed to remember that they told me to meet Gustav in the Vice Captain’s office alone before I leave?’
They would be stupid to think that I would go meet him alone. I hadn’t lost my mind. I knew well enough that it would probably just be a replay of yesterday’s nonsense.
I knew that the brat wasn’t obsessing over me because he loved me. There was no way that brat would marry me for love in the first place.
He was a man with a strong lust for success. He’d most likely look for a daughter from a noble family who would uplift him from his position as the second son of the Marquis and the Captain of the knights.
Gustav was simply obsessing over me because he couldn’t suppress me in term was of skill and ability. He was simply regretting that he couldn’t completely subdue me in the past.
He was a crazy bastard who liked to use people like toys.
Rather than submitting myself to that bastard, I’d bite my tongue and die.
‘Well, that bastard Gustav isn’t important right now. The important is Heilbronner.’
The battle would commence in 3 days.
We would lose anyway. But I was thinking of protecting the target items in a hope for standing against the higher-ups.
I hoped that my performance this time would help me get some desired budget and manpower.
A wish was made in vain which would never be fulfilled.
Thanks