Black Mage (5)
The security of the Imperial Capital was relatively good. But perfection did not exist in this world.
Where there was light, there was also shadow. Naturally there would be gaps in the security, and those gaps would inevitably give rise to an underworld.
And of course, that underworld had its thieves.
Thieves who had slipped through the capital’s security and still remained uncaught. They had to possess skills so refined that one had to wonder why they even bothered with thievery in the first place.
“And you ran into those thieves during your righteous-thief activities and just caught them on the spot.”
“To be precise, it wasn’t me—it was my escort who caught them. If they’d bolted the moment they saw me, we never would have gotten them, but they actually charged straight at me instead. Lucky break.”
And these two had been unlucky as well. They’d probably thought she was just some junior thief; how could they have imagined she was a princess with escorts in tow?
Of course, I didn’t feel the slightest bit of pity. What was there to pity about thieves?
Still, even when she was out playing righteous thief, she kept her escorts with her. Yeah—that made perfect sense for personal protection.
I was nodding along in understanding when Chartia’s next words reached me.
“If we use those thieves well, we might be able to get something out of them, don’t you think?”
“…Will they cooperate willingly?”
“If they won’t cooperate, we’ll make them.”
The way she said it with that little smile made Chartia look scary for the first time. …Must have been my imagination.
At first glance, Chartia’s suggestion didn’t seem all that bad. Thieves who’d survived this long in the capital might know something different.
But……
The Fairy of Bombardment says that things are starting to get out of hand.
The Fairy of Bombardment suggests it would be better to ask the Pope or Andreus—or someone—before proceeding any further.
Yeah. The Fairy of Bombardment was right.
Even “act first, report later” had its limits. This was starting to slip outside the realm of what we could handle on our own.
I should tell Chartia. We needed to head back. This was something we ought to decide after talking it over with the others.
“Hey, Cha—r?”
The Fairy of Bombardment says it already seems too late.
Uh… yeah. Looks that way.
Chartia was already standing in front of the two thieves.
Right. I’d completely forgotten that Chartia’s physical enhancement specialized in speed.
Now what?
“…True. There’s no guarantee those two will cooperate with us willingly.”
If they accepted, great. If they refused, we could just pretend it never happened.
“Maria! Hurry up!”
“Got it!”
I answered and quickened my pace toward where Chartia stood. There, locked behind bars and glaring at the two of us, were a pair of prospective criminals.
A man and a woman in their early twenties. The romance sensors inside me were already lighting up. This had potential!
I was staring at them the way one might stare at monkeys in a zoo when the male criminal (prospective) spoke first.
“…Never thought some pampered rich kid would go around thieving.”
……Huh?
“Char. They don’t know who you are?”
“Nope. My escort took them down before I could even do anything. And I’ve been using a bunch of methods to keep my identity hidden, so.”
“I see. Yeah—if they knew, they wouldn’t be reacting like this.”
She was a little more than just some pampered rich kid, after all.
Hearing our exchange, the female criminal (prospective) frowned, sensing something off.
“…Who the hell are you two?”
“Hmm, I suppose it’s fine to tell them?”
Chartia cleared her throat and continued in a more formal tone.
“…I am Chartia Aclessia, Princess of the Empire. And this is———”
“Maria, Saintess of the Goddess Church.”
As I spoke, I tipped back the hood I’d been wearing to hide my face. The moment they learned our identities, the two previously insolent criminals (prospective) went rigid.
“…Doesn’t seem like you’re impersonating anyone… Your Highness.”
Yeah—hard to keep talking casually when the other party held that kind of status. Chartia swept a cool gaze over their frozen faces and smiled faintly.
“You do understand that drawing a blade on the Imperial Princess is a crime worthy of a hundred deaths, correct?”
The content of her words was anything but light. It was basically the same as telling them they were both headed for the gallows.
The male criminal (prospective) bit down hard on his lower lip, then glared at Chartia.
“…To prove our crime, Your Highness’s secret would also have to come to light. Are you certain you’re all right with that?”
I couldn’t help snorting at that. He couldn’t seriously mean it, right?
“Obviously we’d just pin some other charge on you. How does treason against the state sound?”
“That’s not how it—!”
“Have you forgotten whom you pointed your blades at? …You nearly committed a sin even the Goddess Herself could not forgive. You tried to kill my friend?”
“……Maria.”
“…Sorry. Got a little worked up.”
We were supposed to be negotiating. I needed to calm down. Breathe.
At least my reaction had taken the wind out of both criminals’ sails. Not a bad situation. The hierarchy was now crystal clear.
Chartia spoke in a calm voice.
“As Maria said, you two will not be able to escape the death penalty. However, if you accept our proposal, we may be able to show a certain degree of clemency.”
“We refuse.”
And just like that, the man rejected the offer without even hearing what it was. The refusal was so absolute that I was the one left flustered.
“…Shouldn’t you at least listen to what the proposal is first?”
I couldn’t believe I was the one saying that. But the man made it clear he had no intention of listening; he simply turned his back on us entirely.
What now? I hadn’t expected this kind of reaction at all. If we kept talking, was he going to cover his ears next?
That was when it happened.
“…Fine. I’ll listen.”
The woman answered, and the man immediately seized her by the collar and roared.
“Lucy! Are you afraid of dying?!”
But the woman grabbed his collar right back and shouted even louder.
“You know damn well that’s not it, Albert! Didn’t you feel it? The organization is clearly wrong right now! If this keeps up, everyone’s going to be in danger! This is a once-in-a-lifetime chance to set everything right!”
“We could end up driving out the fox only to invite a tiger!”
“What if that tiger happens to care about honor and face?!”
At first I thought it was just an internal split. But the longer I listened, the more it seemed like it might not be that simple.
……Though these two seemed to be laboring under a pretty serious misunderstanding. Did they think we were planning to wipe out their criminal organization in the underworld?
Well, when someone offered clemency in exchange for cooperation, the most common picture was “betray your group.”
I considered clearing up the misunderstanding, then decided to just watch quietly for now. The atmosphere between the two of them was already drifting toward cooperation.
I glanced at Chartia and gave a small nod. She nodded back the same way.
Good. Let’s see how this plays out.
The woman had seized the momentum and kept talking without pause.
“They bring some unknown person into the organization. That one unknown person starts calling all the shots. After he shows up, the boss starts doing things he’d never normally do. He keeps putting the members in danger. At this rate, the organization’s tail would have been caught soon enough anyway.”
…Huh?
“Hold on a second. How long ago did that unknown person appear in your organization?”
“Huh? Probably less than a week. Why?”
Less than a week… The timing lined up. Of course it might not be him, but—
“…I think the person I’ve been looking for might be that man.”
Yeah. This made sense.
If the black mage had taken control of a criminal organization that had survived the capital’s security…
And if he’d used that organization to thoroughly erase his own trail, he might have slipped past the Holy Knights’ pursuit.
I never expected to find traces of the black mage in a place like this. The heavens were clearly on my side—or so I thought, when the man hesitantly spoke to me.
“…So you weren’t planning to wipe out our organization?”
“Hmm, I don’t particularly have any intention of doing that.”
There was no real reason to. Sure, the capital’s security would improve a lot. But wiping out a criminal organization and slaying the Demon King had nothing to do with each other.
Of course, the Confucian instincts inside me were asking whether I was really going to leave a criminal organization alone.
But I knew the saying about losing the big picture over small gains. Obsess over something as trivial as a criminal organization and let the black mage slip away? I wasn’t that kind of idiot.
…Though the problem was how the Holy Knights might react. Still, if I threw myself in the way with everything I had, I could probably cover for them somehow, right?
Whether my sincerity got through or not, the sharp edge in the man’s presence died away.
“…It seems we need to have a proper talk.”
…Holy Knights, are you watching?
I, Saintess Maria, just pulled it off!