The day Heilbronner had announced dawned.
Before leaving for the scene, I took the gloves I had received from Ludger and wrapped them tightly in a cloth before putting it in the pocket inside my cloak. They were the high-quality custom gloves that Ludger had lent me, and I couldn’t dare to ruin them.
‘It’s better to keep them on hand.’
Since I was working for the Heilbronner case, it was given that I would encounter Ludger often. I couldn’t continue giving the lame excuse that I left the gloves behind every time, right?
I declared last time that I would have the gloves prepared. It seemed like a wise choice to carry the gloves in my pocket, even if it was a hassle.
“Then we’ll be off!”
“May the God of Heaven protect you~.”
Lionel playfully wished us luck. And Sir Sein looked back and forth between Billy and me with anxious eyes before nodding.
Fortunately, Sir Sein agreed to stay late today for backup. I just hoped everything would be fine later.
“Okay, we need to get our heads together and get moving.”
“Yes!”
Billy was incredibly excited. From what I heard, he had never been given any proper assignments even in the Emerald Knights from where he had been transferred.
He had been just eating leftovers, and ultimately ended up in the Ruby Knights. But even there, he was stuck dealing with complaints and grievances. It was understandable that he was brimming with energy.
‘Well… If this guy causes an accident, it’s my job to clean after him.’
Billy had already done his part by taking down Gustav last time. For the time being, I could afford to watch over him with some leniency.
The Sapphire Knights seemed chaotic upon arrival. It seemed they were arranging personnel as planned and conducting preliminary checks outside the building.
I gave them a quick glance and walked toward the warehouse which was our designated responsibility.
The new knight I had spoken to before greeted me. Perhaps this was their first time receiving such comprehensive duties, their nervousness was evident.
“Pleasure to be your assistance today. As we discussed before, Sir Knight will stay in this position, and we’ll move flexibly from there.”
“Yes… Looking forward to working with you.”
The knight who had been greeting me flinched. Her gaze was fixed somewhere behind me.
I turned back, wondering what was happening, and almost frowned instinctively. Gustav, that bastard, had already approached us without me noticing.
“There was no need for you to come here in person when you were busy, Vice Captain Gustav.”
With a member of the Sapphire Knights present, I didn’t want to appear as if we were acquainted with each other, so I maintained formality and took the initiative.
Gustav raised his eyebrows and spoke to his subordinate knight.
“Daisy, I have something to discuss with Captain Clara, so please leave.”
“Understood!”
The knight scurried out of the warehouse with a disciplined face. Gustav then gestured to Billy with his chin and added.
“I would like your subordinate knight to leave as well.”
“If there’s something that needs to be explained for business reasons, Sir Billy should hear it out as well, so feel free to discuss it here.”
“….”
Naturally, that bastard probably came here to discuss personal matters, not work-related ones, someone didn’t need to tell me that to know.
As I smiled and shot him a look telling him to get lost, Gustav let out a short sigh.
“Clara… If you would like, I can change your guard position.”
“….”
“We need a fruitful outcome, don’t we? Heilbronner will appear to rescue the criminal, and our knights will definitely stop him.”
“….”
“If you are on guard somewhere else at that time, that would count as a successful outcome as well…. I just want to help you.”
Gustav delivered the ridiculous nonsense with a faintly good-natured smile. Want to help me, my foot. He probably wanted to use that as an excuse to put me in his debt.
“Please maintain professionalism during work, Vice Captain Gustav. Your tone makes it sound as if I’m one of your subordinates, and it’s quite bothersome.”
“….”
“And we will guard this place according to the contents of the warning letter. We have no intention of interfering with the Sapphire Knights’ policies, but we will operate in our own way, so do not fret. Wasn’t this already discussed in advance?”
Gustav’s friendly expression lost slightly.
‘Whatever, this bastard is a control freak.’
He must have thought that I would be grateful if he made our knights, who wanted to achieve results, restless until the day of the event, and then showed up as if he was doing them a favor. Since I wasn’t playing as he intended, that’s why he was acting like that.
“…Yeah. Well, if you really want to dig your own grave.”
“….”
“Do it well.”
Not knowing if he heard my request for decorum or not, Gustav continued to speak informally all the way to the exit. I felt like sprinkling salt at him if I had some.
[T/N: Sprinkling salt is considered as a way to ward off bad luck or evil spirits in Korean culture, particularly during ceremonies or significant events.]
Billy looked at me with curious eyes, but I didn’t say anything.
Perhaps because I had warned him in advance not to ‘engage in casual talk during work,’ Billy also refrained from asking anything thoughtless about my inexplicable relationship with Gustav.
Instead, Billy asked something else.
“Will Heilbronner really appear here today, Captain?”
“Well. Unless he’s Heilbronner himself or a God from Heaven, I can’t guarantee that 100%.”
Nevertheless, the reason I thought Heilbronner would come to this warehouse was to retrieve the pocket watch, as he had stated in the warning letter, and also because of the small trust I had in him.
His crimes had never deviated from what he had announced in the warning letter.
Rather, if anything, his actions had been aimed at condemning crimes, it was hard to believe that he could be considered a terrorist or an accomplice given his past conduct.
Of course, that was a trust I had unilaterally, and today it could very well be shattered.
Even if that were to happen, that would be another story.
My job was to respond as effectively as possible based on the profile of the criminal that was assumed from the previous characteristics of the suspect.
Even if I couldn’t capture Heilbronner, I had to at least prevent him from stealing the item.
“Okay, don’t lower your guard. Let’s focus.”
“Yes, Captain!”
As expected from an old building, the structure was strange, and this warehouse also had a slightly odd location.
After turning the hallway twice and taking a winding path, there was a door at the very end, leading to the warehouse.
It seemed that this was the most remote place designated as the warehouse in order to store items safely that required confidentiality for business-related matters.
In conclusion, there was only one entrance.
‘The Sapphire Knights don’t seem clueless.’
Even if I leaned toward the hypothesis that Heilbronner’s target was to rescue the criminal, there was no reason to carelessly leave items in such a vulnerable location.
For your information, the criminal was currently being held in the underground detention center.
The underground was even more limited in terms of intrusion routes, so the Sapphire Knights seemed confident that they could perfectly defend it.
In either case, all we needed to do was give our best effort.
The three of us waited outside the door, the only entrance, which posed the highest risk of intrusion.
As time passed, the surroundings became even quieter. It was so quiet that you could hear a needle drop.
The moment the clock’s second hand pointed to the hour.
The surrounding was enveloped in silence.
‘….?’
Feeling a sense of unease in that situation, I focused on my Spirit. Suddenly, sounds echoed from a distance all at once.
“It’s the third floor!”
“No, it was the sound of a wall collapsing on the second floor…!”
The next moment was when something even stranger happened.
“Ah! Vice Captain! Understood! I’m on my way!”
The rookie knight from the Sapphire Knights shouted that while staring into the air, then began to run down the hallway.
“Wait…!”
That wasn’t the end. Suddenly, Billy, who was next to me, dashed out as well.
“Hey! Billy!”
“Captain, I’ll give that guy a chase!”
Billy ignored my calls and ran down the hallway as if I had given him that command, disappearing from view.
I felt goosebumps running down my spine.
‘…Magic!’
Magic could not create results that were beyond common sense. However, it could manipulate a person’s senses to ‘make them think something exists’ when it did not.
It was the so-called illusion magic.
‘Everyone must have fallen victim to the illusion magic and scattered in different directions. Those two likely saw visions or heard voices that made them leave their posts.’
I bit my lip tightly and closed my eyes. There was a high possibility that what I was seeing was not real.
Perhaps the sight of Billy running out was also an illusion. It was meant to lure me into chasing after him.
‘At times like this, I absolutely must not move.’
I focused on calming the chaotic sensory information and sharpened my only reliable sense, my Spirit, to its maximum sensitivity.
So much so that I could even sense the movement of the air brushing against my skin.
How much time had passed?
In an instant, I felt something strange approaching.
“…!”
It was merely a slight difference, like a breath exhaled. The slight vibrations that flowed through the air informed me that another being had approached me.
My body moved instinctively. The sword, wrapped in Spirit like a finely honed blade, danced with a vibrant energy.
It was more like an automatic reflex than an intentional movement. The countless days of training that I had repeated tens of thousands of times were engraved into my body.
How to move when the enemy comes within range.
My sword struck ‘something’, carving an arc through the air.
Clang!
At the same time, the sound of something hitting the floor rang out sharply.
‘Wh, what…?’
I slowly opened my eyes, an ominous feeling rising inside me.
And as soon as I saw the sight that filled my vision, I realized I was done for.
[T/N: The original sentence had a curse word. But it sounded vulgar so… I changed it.]
Ludger Kassen.
A handsome man with sparkling silver hair, was glaring at me with his eyebrows furrowed, his mask removed.
