Chapter 17
Chapter 17
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Translator: Vine
Chapter: 17
Chapter Title: Assassination (2)
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Late evening after the sun had set.
An alchemist visited the mansion.
"Good evening. I am the alchemist serving as a consultant on poisons for the security force."
"Has the examination of the assassins' swords from earlier today concluded?"
"Yes. That said..."
The alchemist glanced furtively at Isabel over Lian's shoulder before hesitantly speaking again.
"To begin with, no traces of poison were found on the boys' bodies."
"Even in that state of death?"
"Yes. Aside from their entrails melting in a bizarre manner, there was nothing unusual..."
"I see."
Lian nodded calmly, as if he had expected as much.
"Was there any sign of disease, or a cause of death other than poison?"
"No. Nothing notable there either..."
As if ashamed of the autopsy's lack of results,
the alchemist kept bowing his head, his forehead nearly touching the floor.
"Three trained guards were killed. Even when I tested their strength myself, it was hard to believe they were mere children."
"I apologize. There was nothing special there either..."
The superhuman strength of the child assassins.
And the eerie deaths that struck just as they were about to confess their backers.
This was clearly no ordinary incident.
Yet the alchemist had found nothing...
"Could it be... not a drug, but magic?"
"Wh-what dangerous nonsense is that! That would implicate the lord himself...!"
It was a natural reaction, given that the only known mage on the island was the lord's court mage.
"There's no rule saying it couldn't be his doing."
The alchemist's face drained of color at Isabel's icy remark, which had been silent until now.
This was an unprecedented crisis that could unleash a bloodbath across the entire island.
"I-I'll examine the bodies more thoroughly once more! There must be something we missed..."
"Then I'll ask you to do that again."
"Y-yes, sir!"
The alchemist retreated as if fleeing, but Lian no longer held high hopes for him.
From the start, the scales in Lian's mind had tipped slightly toward magic.
"That sly old fox Francis has finally..."
"It's reasonable to suspect him, but it's too early to conclude. Let's wait for the reexamination results."
"Right. And with the Rajur family's history... suspecting just the lord alone..."
Isabel rubbed her lower abdomen with a pained expression.
There was an old scar there.
The work of an assassin, presumed to have been hired by her late husband's family.
She had hovered between life and death, regaining consciousness only after a fortnight.
That incident was the reason Isabel rarely left the mansion nowadays.
"Even if it was a mage, it could be someone hired from off-island. I'll look into the harbor as well."
"You've always had a knack for this sort of thing. Handle it yourself."
Lian gently clasped Isabel's cold hand.
"Leave it to me. I'll do everything to ensure you can live without worry, as always."
If Isabel died, the Lapis Lazuli Merchant House and all its assets would go to the Rajur family.
Meaning the efforts Lian had poured in over the past year would all be for naught.
'After coming this far...'
Lian vowed to uncover the mastermind behind the assassination, even if it truly was the lord.
A little past noon the next day.
In a tavern at the alley mouth where the government district met the market.
Lian scanned the room for his companions, who should have arrived first.
Only idle sailors drunk in broad daylight were visible.
The person he was meant to meet here was nowhere in sight.
"Ahem."
A fake cough from the counter.
As if annoyed at Lian loitering without ordering,
the owner met his eyes and nodded toward the door beside the counter.
When Lian pointed at it to confirm, the owner silently nodded again.
"Feels like a spy movie."
Then again, it made sense given the conversation he was about to have.
Following the owner's lead, Lian opened the door and peered inside.
"Ah, there you are."
A knight in a red cloak.
Security Commander Leon sat using a large barrel as a table.
"Is this some secret security force hideout?"
"Something like that."
Before sitting, Lian checked that the door closed properly.
No wonder it had been eerily quiet when opening and closing.
Thin rope was wrapped around the frame like weatherstripping to muffle sound.
"Have you identified those kids?"
"No, not at all."
"Can't determine cause of death, can't identify them. What does the security force even do?"
"Who knows. Steal taxes?"
Leon brushed off Lian's impudent jab with a light laugh.
Of course, anyone else saying that would have drawn steel by now.
But he was unusually favorable toward Lian.
"Bottom line, they're kids with no homes or parents. Though they didn't just sprout from the ground."
"Did you check the orphanages?"
"You didn't take my tax-stealing joke seriously, did you? Of course we checked every single one."
"And yet blind spots still existed."
Castel's household registrations were thorough to the point of obsession.
Enough that the saying arose: "The government knows of a child in the womb before the husband does."
So the existence of unidentified children like these was no small matter.
"Remember that incident last year?"
"So many things happen, I can't recall what you mean."
"The family assassinations carried out by slaves."
"Ah, that one. Yes, I remember."
At those words,
the shy phantom voices from the child assassins suddenly reminded him where he'd heard them before.
"But those kids weren't wearing slave collars, right? And slaves would be registered as property."
"Different story if they were illegally procured slaves."
One person immediately came to mind.
Though when Lian had been sold to Isabel, he was disguised as a legal slave.
Human trafficking for slaves was illegal in this country.
"And you wanted info on the court mage of Madela?"
"Yes. No matter how I think about it, a mage has to be involved behind the scenes."
"Then it probably isn't that old man."
"Why not?"
"I've never seen him use any magic besides spells to command birds freely."
Lian focused on sounds inaudible to others.
Not just now, but nothing false in anything Leon had said so far.
Of course, truthfulness didn't guarantee the whole truth.
"A court mage who's surprisingly underwhelming."
"Think so? Then consider this: every bird on this island is his eyes and ears."
"...I take that back."
That one line made the need for a secret hideout crystal clear.
"Wait. Then couldn't we use his help...?"
"Impossible."
"Why?"
"My relationship with my father has been seriously strained lately."
An awkward silence fell between them.
"An ordinary reason. Can't be helped, then."
Lian felt a faint sense of kinship with the man.
On the opposite side from the market square.
In a dingy corner of the outskirts, another special market opened.
"Ended up coming back like this after all."
"Well, well! Who might this be? You've grown beyond recognition in just a year."
Filthy children bound in chains, watched over by rough-looking men.
And at the center, a burly man of imposing presence.
The leader of the human trafficking ring who had made a fortune selling Lian a year ago.
"I heard you've become the new owner of the Lapis Lazuli Merchant House. Quite the rise."
"Watch your words. I'm just the executive. Isabel is the rightful owner."
"Whoops, sorry. I'm just an ignorant brute; I don't get those fine distinctions."
But still?
It turned out just like I said, didn't it?
As if saying that, the boss grinned, baring yellowed teeth.
"You said you wouldn't look at this filth again, so what brings you here personally?"
"Dirty business, what else?"
Lian frowned as he surveyed the boss's wares.
The children captured as slaves.
Mostly around ten years old.
And dressed in familiar lower-class Bordian garb.
Facing boys and girls from his homeland like this stirred a surge of disgust.
But right now, half-hearted justice plays took a backseat to the main objective.
"Ever seen these kids?"
Lian held out portraits of the child assassins and asked.
"Hmm. Doesn't ring a bell. I don't memorize every product's face anyway."
Even focusing on phantom voices yielded only a clean tone, free of static.
Undeniable truth.
But...
"What? Something on my shoulder?"
"No, nothing."
As Lian's gaze lingered on the boss's shoulder, he brushed it off casually.
Yet Lian's ears still caught a faint snickering near the man's shoulder.
It had been the same when hunting a Bordian spy colluding inside the merchant house before.
Those hiding secrets Lian sought always came with such phantom laughs.
"Heard about yesterday? Security investigated, but all the assassins were unidentified."
"No kidding. That's rare around here."
"You know something. Spill it."
Ting-
A clear, crisp sound.
A gold coin arced through the air.
"Gold, not silver? You sure think big."
The boss bit the coin and grinned wider, flashing those yellow teeth again.
"Head north a bit; there's a place called Delico Farm. Check it out."
"Not a trading partner of our house, then. So?"
"That old hag buys up our leftovers in bulk sometimes. Grateful customer for us."
"I see. Delico Farm..."
Murmuring the name stirred an indescribable whisper in his ear.
Impossible to tell if good or bad.
The phantom voices seemed to urge him to go,
or stay away, waffling in hesitation.
"Hey, boss. Remember I suggested a proper business partnership before?"
"Oh, you remembered that?"
Jingle jingle-
As Lian shook his money pouch, the boss's greedy eyes followed it.
"Let's do a job together."
And those yellow teeth gleamed even brighter.
Really.
Still a face begging for a punch.
A vast flower field bathed in hazy moonlight.
Men with sinister faces, utterly out of place among the flowers, moved stealthily in the shadows of the moon.
"Boss, that old lady's still a regular customer of ours. Isn't this a bit unethical?"
"She once dropped three hundred gold in one go. What are you comparing?"
"Heh. Fair point."
"Time to play in the big leagues. How long we gonna mess with barbarian snot-nosed brats?"
Kidnapping one dying geezer. Simple job.
And they could reclaim the slaves they'd sold her, no issue.
What a profitable deal!
"Hee hee. Hee hee hee."
"Heh heh heh."
Thoughts of easy money bloomed smiles on their faces.
"Kuk kuk."
"Uh heh heh heh."
"Kee hee hee."
Before long, they dashed through the flower field like kids on a picnic.
Stealth forgotten entirely.
Suddenly giggling and running like a pack gone mad.
Their minds a flower field.
The expression fit perfectly.
"Kee yah hot!"
"Hee hah hah ha!"
Just as their glee peaked,
Boom- Bang-
Heads exploded suddenly, and literal showers of petals rained down.