How a Wizard Survives (45)
How a Wizard Survives (45)
For once, it had been an uneventful day.
The Inquisitors, looking forward to getting off on time, had already let their minds drift to taverns, gambling halls, and the like.
But for once, I couldn't welcome the weekend.
It had already been a week since I received Princess Alina's invitation.
Once the weekend passed, little time would remain before the royal function.
My teacher and Ash seemed to be preparing something, but I couldn't relax.
Wanting to get it over with early, I went to the stables. When I returned, Katrina entrusted me with her armor.
"Jaeger, give it a quick polish before you go."
"Yes, Katrina."
Unlike usual, Katrina sat quietly beside me, watching as I cleaned and repaired the armor.
Her diligent nature normally would not let her push work onto others. She usually handled chores like equipment maintenance herself... This was highly unusual.
I was polishing the armor without complaint when a voice beside me cut in, trying hard to sound casual.
"Come to think of it, I never bought you that handkerchief. Shall we go look for one together this weekend?"
"A handkerchief? Ah, that? I'm fine without one, really..."
Recalling the absurd fate of the handkerchief Princess Alina had gifted me, I reflexively declined. Katrina's expressionless face shifted to deep disappointment.
"You mean you don't want to walk around with me?"
"No! A handkerchief... is absolutely essential! Can't go without it. A knight's staple item, the handkerchief!"
Only when I babbled and changed my tune did Katrina finally offer a faint smile.
We arranged to meet the next morning, then parted reluctantly.
Back at the smithy, Ulysses and Ash, who had been puzzling over the princess's identity, heard my circumstances and, after a snicker, waved me off.
"This guy's grinning from ear to ear. You just go worry about your date route for tomorrow."
"Is it really alright?"
"Yeah. We've already got a rough feel for it, so we don't need your help anymore."
If both of them said it was fine, it must be fine.
The moment I finished dinner, I scrubbed my whole body raw.
I even prepared something like cologne for the first time in my life and went to bed early... Ulysses and Ash's faces were so smug it was infuriating.
The next morning, I fled the smithy to escape their teasing, stepped outside to meet Katrina in plain clothes, and nearly jumped into the air.
It wasn't my first time, but every time felt new and delightful.
"Katrina! Have you been waiting long?"
"No. Let's go quickly."
Meeting in a place out of sight of the temple staff, we headed into the city without hesitation.
It was far less crowded than during the last festival—the perfect environment to enjoy at leisure.
We browsed shops selling items like handkerchiefs and perfumes—things you think you don't need until you lose them.
Conveniently, with the royal banquet right around the corner, we had a suitable excuse.
First, I tried picking out something similar to the handkerchief I'd been given before... but it was rejected in an instant.
Well, it's not as if Princess Alina wouldn't be able to tell the difference.
I briefly considered whether I should tell Katrina about my suspicions regarding the princess, but I decided to hold off for now. It's not that I don't trust Katrina, but I hadn't even secured any evidence yet. What if my teacher and I had simply gotten it wrong? Besides, if she's completely unaware, she won't be able to give anything away.
As I was silently begging forgiveness inside, Katrina headed for the next shop without hesitation.
"There's nothing to my liking here. Let's go to the next one."
"Okay."
We passed clerks who likely thought she was being absurdly picky about a handkerchief and entered the shop across the way.
We wandered here and there, took our time over tea, and continued browsing the shops.
Among the stores Katrina had picked out was Diana's shop, no less!
Well, Miss Diana was a genuine artisan who even made the princess's dresses, so it'd be stranger if Katrina didn't drop by. But even for the Noble Quarter, it was a fairly out-of-the-way shop, and she'd tracked it down with no trouble.
"Welcome, plea—oh?!"
The moment Diana saw my face, she flinched as if wondering whether I had come to string her up.
As I frantically shook my head, Katrina, who had been glancing sideways at her, browsed the garment samples. People reacting to a Heretic Inquisitor like that wasn't unusual at all.
"Jaeger, something like this wouldn't suit me, would it?"
"Of course it would! But ordering it now would make it difficult to have ready for the royal banquet."
"Yes, it would. Ah, Miss Walter. Please don't be too nervous. We're just dropping by as we were passing through."
When Katrina, well aware of the Inquisitors' reputation, put Diana at ease, Diana, who had a guilty conscience, had clearly been overreacting.
It was a classic case of a guilty conscience, though truthfully, for an ordinary person, that reaction is entirely natural.
"Ah, I'm not nervous... it's just that I wasn't able to greet Squire Jaeger properly last time."
"Greet me?"
"Yes. The Squire was passing by and chased off those dreadful men for me..."
I tried to shut the conversation down, but it was already too late. Katrina narrowed her eyes, though she asked with clear concern.
"Dreadful men, you say. Has everything been alright since then?"
"Yes. Fortunately, they haven't approached anymore. I really am so grateful, Squire."
"Don't mention it."
After a Heretic Inquisitor showed his face, they naturally would not dare approach again.
After getting a recommendation for the next shop from Diana, we took our leave.
We browsed a while longer and were about to return to the first shop when a group of familiar white uniforms rushed past us.
"Huh? It's the weekend, what's..."
"Have they summoned the personnel who remained in the garrison for an emergency?"
I had reflexively turned away, but Katrina bit her lip for a moment, then bowed her head slightly and apologized to me.
"I'm sorry, Jaeger. Still, I must go."
"Yes, let's go. That's your charm, Katrina, after all."
"..."
Blushing at my frank sentiment, Katrina nonetheless hurriedly approached the Heretic Inquisitors.
Faced with Katrina in civilian clothes, they froze as if every thought of heresy had vanished from their minds. A Holy Knight walking ahead of them, unaware of the situation, kept chattering.
"Guys, what are you doing? It's unfair enough working on a weekend; let's just string them up and be done... Huh? Ka-Katrina?"
"What do you intend to do, just stringing them up first and asking questions later? What's happened?"
"Ah, it's nothing major. We just received intelligence that items related to the Inquisition are being circulated on the market, so we deployed briefly to investigate."
Items related to the Inquisition. That sounded exactly like something major. Katrina, who had apparently thought the same as me, urged them on.
"Then this is no time to be standing around. Go on, quickly."
Katrina followed them, maintaining an appropriate distance as if ready to provide support should anything happen. I borrowed a sword from a fellow Heretic Inquisitor.
It's a bit unsettling, but if it's just black-market trading at worst, I won't need more than this.
For better or worse, the Heretic Inquisitors stopped at a place I knew well.
A gallery located on the boundary between the Noble Quarter and the downtown streets. It was the shop of the very painter who had drawn the portraits of Katrina and me. I'd stood in front of it for hours during the festival, so there was no way I wouldn't recognize it.
"H-Here?"
"My goodness. To think that painter was a dealer in heretical goods..."
"Isn't there some kind of mistake? That shop owner is a genuine artist."
"The informant is a little unreliable, truth be told. And we don't even know exactly what the goods being circulated are. But still, the rumors had spread fairly wide..."
Once suspicion arises, the Inquisitors' virtue is to charge in recklessly, turn the place upside down, and see what turns up. The Inquisitors who arrived at the gallery stormed inside before any citizens could even react.
"Everyone stop! This is the Inquisition!"
"Packed in tight for such a small gallery."
"Out! Everyone out, now!"
The Inquisitors drove the suspects out at crossbow point. Every one of them looked suspicious, and the piles of money they carried only made matters worse.
Katrina fixed a cold, frozen stare on the painter.
"To think he really was a heretic."
"Captain! We've secured the items they were trading!"
"Bring all of it outside!"
The contraband had been sealed doubly and triply with boxes, thick cloth, and the like. The people who had been dragged out couldn't offer a single excuse.
Then, when one Inquisitor boldly tore open the packaging of the contraband... its true nature was finally revealed under the sunlight.
"Hurk, this is..."
"Ka-Katrina?"
To my amazement, what they had been secretly trading was a portrait of Katrina. A copy with only me neatly edited out, just as Reinhardt had instructed! I'd been wondering why the delivery was so delayed, and here it was, being peddled around in a place like this.
"What? Don't tell me the Inquisition-related contraband is..."
"It is related to the Inquisition, yes."
While I smiled wryly, the other Inquisitors turned genuinely furious.
"You wicked bastards!"
"My good painter, if you've got goods this fine, shouldn't you be offering them up to us first? Do you really lack that much common sense?"
"I-I'm sorry. But the customers threatened to do me harm if I didn't sell them, so..."
Good heavens. They'd even resorted to threats over a painting. As Katrina stood speechless for a moment, an even worse item emerged.
"You certainly printed an awful lot of the same picture. Business must have been good, eh?"
"Wait. This one's a little different. Ah, no? Th-This is...?!"
Slither. As the cloth came away from a painting slightly larger than the others, the painter squeezed his eyes shut as if resigned to death.
The composition of the painting laid bare before the world wasn't much different from the previous ones. But... the attire was different! The skilled painter of Reshutal had copied the face and build directly from the previous picture but had drawn different clothes, dressing her in something new! He had even used his imagination to draw the parts normally concealed by the clothing. The outfit in question was nothing short of audacious.
"O God... Katrina in a Saintess Robe!"
"You scoundrel! Did you truly think you'd get away with doing something like this?!"
"Please, just spare my life! After the last Saintess Election, I was flooded with so many requests... I really would have been killed if I hadn't drawn these!"
The painter's plea had the opposite effect.
"You should have just died."
"Sacrilege! It's sacrilege! Lady Katrina doesn't wear clothes like this!"
"Hey, string all these bastards up!"
The sight of the Inquisitors, hardened by the atrocities of all manner of heretics, flying into a frenzy was terrifying beyond belief. It was a scene like the apocalypse descending upon Reshutal.
Ignoring the commotion, I calmly studied the painting, the real Katrina in the Saintess Robe still vivid in my memory.
"Mm, it does not match the real thing. Human imagination cannot surpass reality... Ow!"
"What are you standing around comparing?! Tear them all up, quickly!"
The sight of Katrina, her face dyed bright red and looking up at me with a tearful expression, was truly magnificent.
I barely talked the Heretic Inquisitors out of marching everyone straight to the gallows. All contraband was confiscated, and the suspects were released with a warning on condition that they make a large donation to the temple.
Reinhardt, who came dashing to the scene after belatedly hearing the news, grumbled quietly as he secured his own share.
"I was wondering why the completion was so delayed..."
"Ah, I'll be taking that one."
Having secured the original that had been stored in the gallery's warehouse, I delivered it to Katrina's quarters.
In the meantime, Katrina had managed to buy a handkerchief and handed it to me.
"Thank you for your work. It's the handkerchief I promised."
"Aren't I getting the short end of the stick here? I'd like to hang a copy in my own home too..."
"Then you could simply come to visit whenever you want to see it, couldn't you."
Katrina murmured this almost too quietly for me to hear, then sat me down on the sofa. We sat there side by side, wordlessly appreciating the painting for a long while.