224 26 Zai mkyo (1/2)

--Princess's office.

It's been two days since the social party that had Richter scratching his head.

It's been two days since the social party that Richter was pondering over. Richter was again drooling, wondering why the royal family's call was so cold compared to the glittering feast hosted by the nobility.

But that's what I'm saying.

I can't really say it out loud.

I am in the service of the royal family, and I will serve the kingdom.

...... You're becoming more and more comfortable with me being here, aren't you, Your Highness?

I've never had any qualms. I'm glad to see that you've shed your unnecessary caution.

It's not unnecessary. ......

I'm glad that you're the one who's losing your guard.

I guess one of the changes is that I've been able to get some idea of what she's up to from this mysterious, fearful creature.

Although she is indeed a frightening person, and I don't know what she is thinking. But I somehow know that she is not the kind of monster who summons you and then tries to eat you.

Nevertheless, I understand that if I say something careless, I will be immediately subjected to all kinds of inconveniences as a pledge, and will be cut off as soon as I am no longer useful.

The only thing I can do is to show my competence and plan my countermeasures against her behind the scenes.

She tilted her teacup and looked up at Richter standing in front of her desk and smiled.

I wonder if Richter is the only one who sees a tremendous amount of evil in that troubled smile.

”This terrorist attack.

The way she broached the subject was more like a tyrant than a princess.

What?

Wouldn't it have been better if we had formed a common front a little earlier?

Well, I don't know. I had to find out who the enemy was.

I've been trying to figure out who the enemy is.

Richter narrowed his eyes slightly.

Richter had a pretty good idea what the purpose of the call was.

It was definitely something to do with terrorism.

On top of that, was she an ally or an enemy of Richter? While leaving aside the fact that both would have the article ”for now”.

Can I assume that you have some idea of the situation?

”Well, yes. Well, yes. At least you know that His Highness wants to stop it.

Yes. Of course, ...... it's clear that their goal is to stop the Spectacula show - and thus destroy your economic base and mine.

”Yes.

Affirmative.

Richter nodded his head in agreement.

At least a statement has been made. And now they're calling for the restoration of the Shah.

That's what they're after.

However.

The princess and the Lord Treasurer are not fools to believe that.

If they really took it at face value, the meeting would have been held a little earlier, and more importantly, it would have already been crushed.

Why not?

And then there's the question of what the people behind it are thinking.

What do you know about that?

I know that a certain nobleman is in cahoots with a branch of the court mages.

Oh, about the same. Gracials, right?

Yes.

In the first place.

I'm sure you'll be able to find something that will help you.

It's a high price to pay for taking a stand against the nobility. However, the fact that this situation is still going on makes it almost certain that there is someone in the same ”nobility” who is protecting them.

Both of them have thought about that line for a long time now - they don't even know if they are each other's enemies, which is why it has taken them so long to meet each other.

But on the other hand, the fact that the two of you are now in agreement means that you both know that you are innocent.

”The terrorism of the bombing of the nobleman's residence and others. Leave aside for the moment the bored people who mistake it for justice. I know roughly what Gringott's behind this.

I thought it had something to do with the court mage.

Yes. I thought it was a court mage. - Yes. It's probably to extract Spectacular's magic technology, including Diffused Voice Magic.

I'm not sure what to say.

It's not surprising that Richter was upset.

It is true that Richter also thought about that line.

In addition to the factions led by Hura, there are several other groups of court mages.

And in the past, the group of mages connected to the warlords had held the power.

Hura has the most power now because he's the one who's in charge of all Spectacula-related matters with Lilac.

Of course, it's not surprising that there are forces that don't like that, and considering the decline of the warlord faction, which is rapidly diminishing, there's no doubt that there are feelings of envy.

There are times when different factions keep their technologies secret from each other, and diffuse voice magic is one of them.

It's not surprising that they would want to take advantage of the situation and steal the formula, but...

Where can you get enough gunpowder to blow up a spectacle?

Yes, .......

Lilac's lips pursed in contemplation.

In fact, this is the reason why Richter himself dismissed this theory.

In the event that you're blowing up the mansion of an aristocrat, it's unlikely that you'll be able to prepare enough gunpowder to shatter the Spectacula, a stone stronghold with a capacity of 5,000 spectators.

Even the private sector is forbidden to manufacture this stuff. The same goes for the aristocracy.

I understand you have enough explosives hidden away to blow up a mansion, but that's outrageous.

Just...

The fact that she said it means that she thinks it's at least possible.

”What do you mean?

There was nothing else to do but ask.

I'm not sure what to make of that.

Have you heard about the bombing of a private restaurant?

”...... Yeah, well. It was so far out there that it was a little hard to piece together as information.

There are three main levels of intelligence investigation skills.

First, the ability to gather a lot of information. This simply requires a wide network of people and the ability to determine where information is likely to be found.

Second, the ability to scrutinize the gathered information. The ability to gather false information, disinformation, and other such inaccurate information, and to verify its authenticity.

And finally, the ability to connect the situation from the gathered information and derive the truth.

Richter also had the information itself, but had cut it off after the last ability. He had been sitting on the idea that it was another group that had stolen the gunpowder, or that they were bluffing or something.

I went to the scene.

”Yourself?

Yes. Yes. I found out something interesting.

...... doesn't sound very interesting at all, does it?

There was hardly a trace of gunpowder.

”What ......?

Instead, what I found was a small piece of stone that I randomly rolled onto my desk.

Richter quietly picked up the thumb-sized piece, which could have been a fragment of the wall from the explosion.

He looked at it carefully, as if inspecting it, and realized.

”............ What's this imprint?

I had Hura check it out, and she said it was definitely a magic imprint.

”What the hell is ......?

I'm not sure what to make of this.

The premise was wrong in the first place.

There was no such thing as gunpowder production in the background.

No wonder they couldn't find the site of the smuggling, and there were no signs of intrusion into the abandoned mine.

Richter sighs as he realizes that most of his hard work has been for naught.

Even Richter had gone to the burned nobleman's house to investigate.

But he couldn't tell which was the gunpowder and which was the embers of the mansion because the house had completely collapsed.

--The scary part was this woman.

How could she look at such a small piece of stone among the debris of the bombed wall?

”You mean that?

I'm not sure what to make of that.

I'm sure you'll be able to figure out what's going on.

So that's what you're saying.

I'm not sure what to make of that.

”Well, we'll see what we can do.

I'll take care of it.

”Oh, yes?　Blow it up?

”Yes. Well, as far as blowing up Spectacula, to be precise.

”Well, ......, okay. If that's okay with you, Your Highness.

I still have a hard time believing in blowing up the spectacle.

But if it happens, it will be the biggest deal of all, that's for sure.

If you're willing to do whatever it takes.

Why did you call Richter?

...... It's kind of weird, isn't it?

What do you mean?

A small, sigh.

A small, sighing sigh, with a lustrous breath and boring eyes.

She tells me in an annoyed tone.