Although I know I shouldn’t, please let me defend my claim. My purpose was only to keep an eye out for Heilbronner.
I had never planned to capture him. All I just wanted was to stop the theft of the pocket watch and achieve a good reputation for our knights, that’s all.
I never even imagined that a sword strike of my instinctive reflex would be brushing past his mask and taking it off!
‘Eeeeeeeeeeeee!’
All my expression and movement froze as my eyes stared widely at Heilbronner, no, at Ludger Kassen, whose identity was now revealed because of my one simple mistake.
His face was filled with utter confusion. As if he couldn’t believe the predicament he found himself in.
“Why…?”
“….”
“Why aren’t you under the effect of illusion spell, Sir?”
Ah, so what I thought as conjecture was true. Billy and the Sapphire Knights were indeed under the effect of an illusion spell. Heilbronner must have planned to get rid of the knights guarding the entrance with illusion spells and sneak inside.
He might have seen me guarding the entrance amidst the illusion spell but thought that since I was also under the illusion spell, it would be fine if he sneaked in. However, while he was creeping by, my sword strike caught him off guard.
The situation… I understand the situation but.
‘Fuck, what should I do now?’
“…Ah.”
My back was soaked in cold sweats as I was sweating profusely and cursing myself inside. But Ludger suddenly showed an expression of comprehension and muttered.
“Gloves.”
“Huh?”
“You told me before that you would return my gloves to me. Do you have them?”
I nodded blankly, not quite understanding why the topic of gloves came up out of nowhere. I took his gloves out of my bosom from the cloak and showed them to him.
The situation was extremely unrealistic and unexpected to begin with. My mind was in a state of utter disarray not knowing what should I say or what kind of reaction would be proper to show.
“Haa….”
Ludger’s face distorted as soon as his eyes landed on the gloves. He had an expression of a mixture of self-deprecation and annoyance.
“… Right. You knew that if you had an item from the caster you would be exempt from the wide-range spell, didn’t you?”
“Yes?”
“I understand now. The reason why Sir asked me those questions before, and the answers you gave me…. It all makes sense now.”
Ludger’s sharp eyes turned to me.
“Sir knew I was the thief Heilbronner all along.”
“…!”
I flinched involuntarily. Damn it, I can’t keep a poker face because I’m flustered as hell!
“Is that right?”
“Oh, no….”
“Please stop. Sir Clara doesn’t seem to be that good at lying.”
“….”
“I’ve had this feeling all along. Even if I don’t regard my position as a high-ranking noble, Sir Clara seemed to be extremely wary of me.”
“….”
“…Also, accurate profiling.”
Unable to look into his sharp gaze any longer, I avoided Ludger’s gaze. In the first place, even if I deny knowing his identity all along, it would only make him further angry.
“Yes, my actions were a little reckless in front of Sir. I must admit that. And Sir Clara also didn’t miss a single clue.”
“T, that’s….”
“Sir Clara.”
Then he asked me in a resolute voice.
“You have always been waiting for an opportunity, haven’t you? Quite the intelligent move.”
…That was the beginning of this misfortune.
***
After Heilbronner escaped… or should I say, after I let him go, the wide-ranging illusion magic was lifted and I had to take care of the aftermath.
The knights who had been under the effect of the illusion spell and scattered around in different areas came back to their senses. Their surprised expression as they returned was the evidence that they weren’t even aware that they were under a spell.
Billy also quickly returned and apologized to me several times.
Because of the illusion spell, the underground prison was completely devoid of any guards as all the Sapphire Knights moved away from their positions, even the entrance was emptied. However, since Heilbronner’s purpose was not to get the prisoner in the first place, the criminal remained in his cell.
Needless to say, the pocket watch we were guarding was also intact.
When I was asked later, I explained that I judged that it was right not to leave my position as the guard even though I was under the illusion spell. So I remained in my place in front of the entrance.
Heilbronner perhaps had seen me guarding there and concluded that the entrance was blocked so he left without taking the pocket watch.
“It’s fortunate that we were able to stop his crime for the time being, but I don’t think he’ll give up just like that. We need to keep an eye out for the possibility that he may make a move again.”
When I finished the briefing, Gustav’s expression completely crumpled.
In conclusion, the Sapphire Knights had mistaken the target of the crime by the thief Heilbronner. Furthermore, they had all been completely fooled by the illusion spell and failed to guard what they thought to be the target of theft. His expression was enough for me to understand how much their pride was hurt.
“….Yes. Understood, Sir Clara. You can go back.”
“Yes? But we let our guard down this time. So there’s a chance that he’ll make a move again….”
“The Knights of Sir Clara have already done everything they had to do. Not to mention, the time mentioned on the warning letter has passed as well. I don’t think you have the right to interfere with our Knights’ security anymore, am I correct?”
‘This brat, his pride took a great hit today, so he’s really pissed off.’
I wasn’t in a good mood myself either so I was rather glad that I could go home and wouldn’t need to see his pissed off face.
Although in all honesty Gustav’s words were sophistry, in principle, he wasn’t wrong.
Heilbronner had already shown up on the day of the crime and escaped. Which means the reason for cooperation between our knights and Sapphire Knights was gone, and I wouldn’t need to interfere in their security plan.
There was no point in arguing any further.
Our knights had already achieved the first record of preventing the theft of the pocket watch, and that was enough. Rather, wouldn’t it be great to go home early and sleep for an hour more?
“…I understand. Wish you best of luck then.”
“Yes.”
With that, I turned around, while trying to pull the string of the cloak that loosened in the fiasco and straightened the loose cloak.
But just at that moment, the old string snapped off and the cloak fell to the floor.
‘You piece of shit, fuck….’
What the hell was the problem? Was the budget of our knights, who have to tremble in anxiety even to buy the cheapest consumables products, the problem? Yes, that was the problem.
I cursed inwardly, and bent over to pick up the cloak that had fallen to the floor, but Gustav was quicker.
He expressionlessly picked up the fallen cloak from the ground and handed it to me.
But the movement shook the cloak, which made something important inside the cloak pocket fall out.
“Ah.”
It was really that damned glove.
At that time facing him, I indeed took it out in front of Ludger as per order. But I was so absent-minded and flustered that I forgot to return it again and shoved it in. Now the movement must have made it fall off.
Gustav’s eyes grew round as he picked up the gloves and muttered slowly.
“…A man’s glove?”
“Give it to me.”
I snatched the glove out of his hand and shoved them back in my cloak pocket.
“You’re seeing a man…?”
Gustav muttered quietly so that only I could hear. His eyes were strangely distorted.
‘Are you jealous? You crazy bastard.’
I turned around without bothering to answer. Gesturing to Billy, who was waiting on the other side, I took him with me and then left the Vice Captain’s office.
***
By the time I reached our knights’ office, my subordinates had all gone home. I thought it would be better to write down a draft of the report before I forget the necessary information and leave work right away.
When I finished writing the report and finally came to my senses, dawn had already approached outside.
After finishing writing the report, I raised my head blankly. A sudden and faint sense of emptiness engulfed my whole being.
“What should I do now….”
I couldn’t capture the thief Heilbronner, or Ludger. It was because I didn’t have the confidence to handle the aftermath.
It wasn’t my purpose to fight and subdue him either. Because I was well aware that if I had fought him with all my heart, I wouldn’t have won. He was a high-ranking overpowered mage, like a Munchkin.
[T/N: Munchkin is a Korean slang mostly used in games and fantasy novels to refer to someone with superhuman powers and/or abilities. It is used for OP main characters that are overpowered.]
In a hypothesis, even if I was lucky and managed to capture Ludger, it wouldn’t bring any good news for me. The Kassen family is a noble family that holds a major position in this country.
Besides, wasn’t he the villain of the original novel? Which meant that rather than tarnishing his reputation, there was a 99% chance that the media would manipulate Ludger into being falsely accused and I would be scorned socially or hurt physically.
‘So letting him go without capturing him was the best decision….’
However, would Ludger… leave me alone now that I know his secret?
Even though I swore to the God of heaven that I would never utter a word regarding his true identity, from his perspective, I was a total time bomb.
What if he suddenly appears one day to silence me? What if he tries to bury my struggle with his status?
‘In the end, whichever way I choose, it leads to doom!’
That was why I wanted to remain unknown about someone who knew Heilbronner’s true identity for the rest of my life. I wanted to pretend that I was as unaware about his identity as the rest of the people.
Why did my sword strike blew away that damn mask so accurately today? I hate my sword skills….
‘…He must be keeping an eye on my situation too. Let’s show him I’m truthful to my oath and actually didn’t report him.’
For the time being, it seemed like the feeling of walking on thin ice would continue to grip me.
A deep sigh left my mouth.
***
The next day.
“Captain! I heard Heilbronner showed up in Sapphire Knights’ headquarters in the middle of the night yesterday! And he stole the pocket watch this time!”
“Oh….”
I thought he would give up on the watch since he couldn’t steal it yesterday. But Heilbronner moved unexpectedly.
That was why I said I should stay and help. Gustav, you idiot.
But he sent me away on his own accord, and now the item they were guarding got stolen. Who was he going to blame now? It was a given that the Sapphire Knights’ reputation would fall to the ground this time.
‘And our Ruby Knights are free from the responsibility of not being able to guard the property. Thank you for that, Gustav.’
I finished my report with a smile of satisfaction mixed with gratitude.
Although I wasn’t in a situation where I could, or should feel relieved, for the time being, I felt refreshed.
Around the time to leave work, Sir Sein, who had already left the office to leave work first, returned with a pale face and said.
“Uh… Captain. There is someone waiting for you downstairs….”
“Someone waiting for me?”
“Yes… it’s Duke Ludger Kassen….”
“….”
I’m going to lose my mind.
Thanks for the chapter