How a Wizard Survives (20)
How a Wizard Survives (20)
It was a truly splendid day.
The birds were singing, the flowers were blooming...
And heretics were burning at the stake.
Best of all, Katrina had completely recovered.
She took every single day of the convalescent leave Reinhardt had forced on her, then returned to her post as Holy Knight Captain exactly as she was before.
Regrettably for her, there were no heretics around worth hunting down and killing just yet.
The mage population of Reshutal was currently all but extinct.
Those lucky enough to have survived were lying low, waiting for their chance.
"Consider this the calm before the storm. That chance is coming soon."
On my way to work at the branch office, I walked through streets that felt like a festival for no clear reason...
And the first thing Reinhardt did, right from the morning briefing, was to say something like that.
The other Inquisitors already seemed to have a rough idea of how things were developing.
I looked at Katrina, but she smoothly avoided my eyes.
'She's been like this ever since she was discharged...'
It wasn't outright coldness, but she kept doing it.
Reinhardt shot me a brief glare, then immediately supplied the missing explanation.
"The king's birthday celebration is nearly here. A major event like this is a perfect opportunity for mages who've been holding their breath to run wild."
"Ah, I see..."
"We will be deployed to protect the royal family on the day of the event. Everyone carry out the mission without error."
Strictly speaking, the Wizardvein Family and the Inquisition do not belong to any particular kingdom.
However, since they receive support from the various kingdoms, they cannot ignore those kingdoms' influence entirely.
Only royalty could expect this level of protection from the Inquisition.
Shortly after, the librarian appeared and continued the briefing in Reinhardt's stead.
Normally, someone of a librarian's rank couldn't brief the Holy Knights like this...
But Reinhardt was not the sort of man who cared about pointless customs.
Sometimes he was so unconventional it worried even me, an outside observer.
With a face drained of color, the librarian raised his voice and explained with obvious effort.
"According to past records, a major incident occurred at roughly one in every three events of this scale. Most were attempts to assassinate royalty or high-ranking nobles. Almost all of them failed, but..."
"... At this rate, wouldn't it be better to just not hold the festival at all?"
"That is not possible. The festival is needed to keep the citizens' discontent in check."
At this point, it was less a celebration of the king's birth and more a festival of murder.
Reinhardt, who had let out a chuckle at my comment, announced the assignments for the day of the event.
Katrina and I, her squire, were assigned to guard the female members of the royal family, including the queen and princess.
As the only woman among the Holy Knights, she was the natural choice for the assignment.
The librarian, who was still present, added with what sounded like genuine concern.
"Given the mass arrests of mages just before this, this festival could be more dangerous than ever."
"Why is that?"
"Isn't it obvious that even heretics thrash around when you step on them?"
"Well... it's similar."
"The regular briefing ends here. Everyone return to your respective duties."
At Reinhardt's word, the Heretic Inquisitors scattered in a rush.
I checked the day's schedule and clicked my tongue softly.
Of all things, patrol duty first thing in the morning.
And the location was the worst.
"The Noble Quarter, of all places..."
What good were clean and sophisticated streets?
Unlike the market district, this place offered no respite; you had to watch the nobles constantly.
That's why this area was the second most avoided location after the slums.
My objections meant nothing.
Katrina briskly prepared for the patrol.
"Jaeger, don't be late."
"Understood."
Still in my stuffy armor, I gathered the guards on duty and headed out on patrol, letting out a deep sigh inside my helmet.
'I was hoping to grab a snack with Lady Katrina today...'
She noticed my shameful display from beside me, strode over, and spoke quietly.
"We can go to the market on the way back."
"You've finally learned to relax a little. Ow."
She headbutted me through her helmet, then strode out of the branch office.
I hurried after her.
I'd sensed it on my way to work...
But now out on the streets on patrol, the festival mood was far stronger.
It was still only the preparation stage, yet the festive atmosphere was already palpable.
Decorations I'd never seen before, merchants, and performers filled the streets.
It was nothing like the harvest festivals back in my village.
I muttered, half in admiration and half in lament, and an unexpected reaction came back from Katrina.
"Wow, I'm already looking forward to it. Even if we have to guard the royals and all..."
"Jaeger. Your briefing was insufficient, I see. Guarding royalty essentially only requires us to be outside the royal palace."
"What? Then..."
"The escort mission starts from the second day. We can enjoy the start of the festival too."
So that was how it worked.
A festival this large was bound to be noisy from the day before.
I clenched my fist and entered the Noble Quarter.
Most of the nobles here were low-ranking nobles without even a proper territory. In other words, their status was no different from that of bureaucrats attached to the royal palace...
Even so, they could not be ignored.
How long had I been walking, browsing tailor shops full of customers or high-end restaurants?
While I was making the rounds without incident, flower petals suddenly fell from the sky.
Though it was a novel experience, I frowned deeply.
The thrower, positioned on a second-floor balcony, was aiming at none other than Katrina.
Some noble who looked like a dandy had recognized Katrina even in her armor and was making a pass at her.
Katrina tried to walk past without giving him a proper glance, but the Inquisitors and I were immediately enraged.
"Why, that son of a bitch..."
"Squire! Isn't that bastard a heretic?"
"He's definitely a heretic. Let's go smash him."
Now that things had come to this, noble or whatever didn't matter.
As the furious Inquisitors surged forward, one Holy Knight who had been watching our rear and had not grasped the situation grabbed hold of us.
"Hold on, where are you lot going?"
"Sir! We're fairly certain there's a heretic on the second floor."
"A heretic? From what you can see?"
The Holy Knight, who first glanced up at the balcony, belatedly spotted Katrina picking petals off herself...
And then he took the lead himself.
"That is an extremely wicked heretic! Go search for evidence. If you find none, make some."
"What sort of foolish nonsense are you all spouting..."
Katrina scolded us in disbelief and blocked our path just as we were about to storm the building.
But I persisted, undeterred, and reasoned with her.
"Lady Katrina. Imagine if what flew at you just now had been arrows instead of flower petals. If we let a man like that slide, the other Inquisitors will be looked down upon as well."
"He's right, Lady Katrina!"
"Huh? Hmm. You may have a point..."
I'd been speaking off the top of my head, but the argument was so sound it even surprised me.
After seriously mulling over my logical persuasion, Katrina reluctantly gave permission to enter.
"Then don't cause too much of a disturbance..."
"Everyone stop! We will now commence a heretic search!"
"Let's go! Heretic Inquisitors, entering!"
"Eeek!"
The employees screamed as soon as the search began.
Seeing the fine mansion in the middle of the Noble Quarter, my motivation soared.
The man who had thrown the flower petals earlier remained frozen on the balcony.
Running away now would be pointless.
We decided to search the mansion from top to bottom and punish him.
"Festival or not, to dare throw something at a Holy Knight!"
"I, I'm terribly sorry! I was only trying to admire Lady Katrina's beauty..."
"It is not 'lady.' It's Heretic Inquisitor."
Katrina corrected his form of address with a hard voice from inside her helmet.
One Inquisitor tried to intimidate him by thrusting a cross at him, but unsurprisingly, there was no reaction.
"No mana reaction."
"I am innocent! I have nothing to do with magic or heresy..."
"Who nowadays still gets caught by that sort of thing?"
I gave a small scolding and pretended to rummage through a shelf with a few books on it.
A secret mage's mark scratched somewhere here, and one heretic would be complete.
I had no intention of going that far... but a little scare wouldn't hurt.
The owner recoiled in horror and tried to stop me, but another Inquisitor grabbed him.
But then!
Creeeak...
"Wh, what?"
One side of the shelf slid inward with a clatter.
The wall opened with a faint grinding sound.
Behind the now-open secret shelf was a staircase leading down.
"What the—This bastard really is a heretic..."
"Watch out!"
Katrina, who was closer to him than I was, shouted a warning to her comrades and threw herself forward.
The mage, who had been trying to steal an Inquisitor's sword, grappled with Katrina and tumbled across the floor.
Katrina easily secured the mount position and moved to pin him down, but...
The man gave up on resistance entirely and bit down hard.
Crunch!
"Damn!"
Had he hidden poison between his teeth?
The man killed himself on the spot.
The mage's corpse glowed faintly for a moment before the glow subsided.
The demon he had contracted had collected his soul as promised.
"He, he was really a mage?"
"Pull yourselves together! Patrol, arrest the employees! Jaeger, you come down this way with me. There might be more mages hiding inside!"
"Yes, Lady Katrina."
Heading down the stairs ahead of her, I was on high alert, but still found the whole thing absurd.
Not even my teacher or I had known the man was a mage.
To think he hid so well, only to give himself away by throwing flower petals.
It was practically a miracle he hadn't been discovered until now.
Whether for good or ill, there was no mage hiding in the basement.
Further investigation, however, brought undeniably bad news.
The basement contained books filled with various magical knowledge, magic catalysts, and research materials.
After a quick examination of the materials, Katrina muttered in a grave voice.
"This is strange. Far too much for a single person's research. And he didn't seem like a mage of this caliber, either."
"Th, then..."
"It means he had a teacher who passed on magical knowledge to him. We must return and report this at once."
Leaving the scene to the regular Inquisitors, Katrina decided to head back to the branch office first.
We rushed out of the mansion, and I received a compliment I hadn't expected.
"Anyway, good eye. I honestly never imagined it..."
"I, I could see the wickedness filling his eyes when he looked at you, Lady Katrina."
Breaking out in a cold sweat, I tried to brush it off as nothing.
I'd been ready to plant evidence if he was innocent... so this was actually better.
Reinhardt had been working in the compound. Upon receiving Katrina's report, he headed straight to the scene and personally examined the mage's corpse.
After gathering some of the basement materials, he hurried away.
"Katrina, Jaeger. Follow me!"
"Where are we going?"
"The royal palace."
As I suspected, this was serious.
With a huge festival just around the corner, a mage had been caught in the Noble Quarter, of all places.
Reinhardt practically stormed the royal palace and requested an audience.
I had no chance to look around the royal palace I was visiting for the first time in my life. Instead, I was granted an audience with the king alongside Katrina.
I was apparently a key witness to the incident, so that's why I was brought along.
The king, seated in the absurdly vast audience chamber, was on the stout side.
He was doing his best to put on a grave and dignified front...
But never mind Reinhardt; he didn't look half as impressive as the head of the Einhold Family he himself employed.
He seemed to have been dragged out on short notice and didn't look particularly pleased.
"Duke Reinhardt of Wizardvein. This audience is remarkably sudden."
"That is because the matter is remarkably urgent."
Still, I shouldn't judge people solely by appearances.
Thinking that, I hoped he would show a reliable side.
Without showing any deference, Reinhardt strode up to the king, summarized the incident, and made a forceful demand.
"The festival must be postponed immediately. We don't know where other mages might be hiding in Reshutal."
"Po, postpone the festival?"
The king's expression had grown increasingly grave as he listened, but he was aghast at Reinhardt's request.
And with good reason. This festival was not simply held to receive birthday presents.
Postponing a national event like this at the last minute would not only incur massive additional costs but also damage the royal family's prestige.
"But aren't these mages like rats that keep crawling out no matter how many you slaughter daily? To postpone a national event now just because a few of them have been spotted..."
"This man is nothing like the common mages from the slums or the peasantry. A noble, with a fine mansion in the capital, has given in to the temptation of a demon. When men like this cause trouble, it tends to be exponentially worse."
Despite the repeated persuasion, the King of Reshutal would not change his mind.
His attitude was irresponsible, as if the matter had already left his hands.
"Lords from all over are already en route to Reshutal. Postponement is impossible. See to it that you handle things well. I have faith in the skills of Duke Reinhardt and the Reshutal Inquisition Branch."
"... Understood. At the very least, remember that I warned you."
Realizing that further argument was futile, Reinhardt shot back a scathing remark, then turned on his heel and stalked out of the audience chamber.
Katrina and I looked at him with worry and returned to the scene.