Chapter 41
Chapter 41
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Translator: crow
Chapter Title: 40. The Owl's House (1)
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On the way back, clutching the clues.
I spotted Irina gazing up at the burned-down mansion.
The princess's bedroom had long since been reduced to ashes.
It was so thoroughly destroyed that there was no telling what had been stored inside.
Irina turned her head at the sound of my military boots.
Surprisingly, her expression was calm.
"Veil, you're back. Did you catch the culprit?"
I shook my head at her question.
"No, we didn't catch them. However..."
Instead, I showed her the scrap of cloak I'd obtained from the bastards and the blood drops transferred into a glass vial.
"They'll be caught soon."
Irina nodded, as if she believed me, reassured by my resolute expression.
She stepped closer and peered intently at the cloak scrap and blood drops.
"If we send it to the imperial mages, they could probably narrow it down?"
Mana inherently carries unique traits tied to its caster.
Someone strong in fire magic might have mana that's scorching hot, for instance.
But that alone wasn't enough to pinpoint exactly who it was.
It could only filter down to a handful of skilled individuals.
"I'm not sending this to the palace."
I tucked away the clues I'd shown the princess back into my pocket.
After all, there was a far more precise method.
"Then where are you sending it?"
"To the slums outside the inner walls, to Konel."
Konel.
The crime-ridden district beyond the outermost of the capital's triple walls.
This was where lawbreakers who dabbled in black magic or sorcery tended to congregate.
And in that place...
There was one sorceress who was a ghost at tracking people down.
"There's an expert there who can find the culprits for us."
I approached the carriage.
Before climbing in, I spoke firmly to the princess.
"Your Highness, please take shelter in the villa for now. I'll go straight out and track down the culprits."
With those words, I settled into my seat.
But the body I'd just entrusted to it soon shrank back.
Because the carriage door I'd closed swung open again.
The princess, who had by now received a black robe from her maid.
She pulled it over her face and hopped right into the seat beside me.
"F-Fire, Your Highness?"
When I asked again, she crossed her arms by herself.
Then she replied in a forced, casual tone.
"I'm going with you."
"The place I'm headed is Konel. I can't take imperial royalty into the empire's worst slum."
As I tried to persuade her gently, the princess stared at me intently.
Then she chuckled like a silver fox and said,
"It's like you're saying I've never been there before."
Her words made my eyebrows furrow involuntarily.
What she meant was that she had been to Konel before.
"You told me to go to the villa? Well, I have one there too, so I'll head to that one."
I couldn't have imagined it.
An imperial villa in a place like that.
No, did one really exist?
It sounded like a lie...
"While we're at it, I'll tag along to check your clues too. These guys dared to target me, so I should get personally involved."
Her resolute attitude.
At that, I let out a deep sigh.
"Let's get going quick. If my other relatives spot us heading to Konel, it'll be trouble."
Soon the carriage lurched forward powerfully.
Out beyond the sturdy inner walls.
We passed through the inner city managed by the palace and entered the outer city.
Then the bright glow of streetlamps and the noisy voices of commoners began filtering in.
Irina stared openly at the plebeian scene.
And I eyed her back with deep suspicion.
"But when did Your Highness start frequenting Konel?"
"A while back. I had to siphon off some of my accumulated wealth."
"Wealth, you say?"
When I asked again, the princess turned her head toward me.
Her emerald eyes sparkled as she replied.
"I always knew an attack like this might happen someday."
The princess half-closed her eyes and grinned.
"So I hid my assets beforehand in a place my relatives wouldn't think to look."
Like a silver vixen.
"Huh..."
Her demeanor left me utterly exasperated.
So that's why she'd been so calm even as the mansion burned.
"More importantly, how do you plan to track the clues? Is there some superior detection spell even the imperial mages don't know?"
This time, the princess questioned me.
In response, I narrowed my eyes and gazed at the glittering back alleys.
"You know I'm an orphan, right?"
"Yeah, I do."
"Growing up in the slums, I saw all sorts of sorcery and black magic up close."
I asked the coachman to stop the carriage.
Then I opened the door and showed the princess the glittering back alleys of Konel.
"And among them were those who could identify an assassin just from blood traces."
I stepped out of the carriage first.
Then I took Irina's delicate hand and slowly helped her down.
"Since you insisted on coming along, promise me just one thing."
I gazed at the various rough crowds prowling the streets and addressed her.
"From here on, whatever I do, you'll turn a blind eye to it."
The princess looked up at my serious eyes.
"Of course. What could be more important than catching the gang that attacked an imperial?"
Then she pledged confidently.
"In the princess's name, I permit it. Do as you please."
With that, I strode into the back alleys.
And I stopped in front of a dingy basement tavern where a pack of obvious lowlifes looked ready to tangle.
"They won't come out unless we do it this way."
「The Owl's House.」
By imperial law, taverns could only operate until 10 p.m.
And it was now 11 p.m.
I kicked open the door of the building brazenly flouting the law.
With my hand resting on my sword hilt, I bellowed loudly.
"Who said you could keep doing business this late!"
At my shout, the rowdy mercenaries and sorcerers fell silent.
They fixed me with grim, expressionless stares, eyeing my uniform.
"Don't you know taverns close at 10 p.m.? Where's the owner!"
My outburst shattered the mood, and the sorcerers scowled.
They sent their mercenary escorts toward me.
"Hey, knight buddy. What's with the sudden attitude?"
A particularly burly man strode up to me.
As if aware his features were ugly, he shoved his face right in mine.
The approaching mercenary took one look at my youthful face and chuckled knowingly.
"Hey—check out that baby face. This guy's a rookie, huh?"
The mercenary burst into boisterous laughter, pointing at my face.
The others joined in with explosive guffaws.
"Did your seniors send you to shut us down? This your hazing, punk!"
He slapped his knee, doubled over in hysterics.
And it was understandable.
Even though imperial law mandated closing at 10 p.m., the Owl's House stubbornly stayed open 24 hours.
Even the patrols had given up and left it alone.
Thanks to that, rookies the patrols disliked were sometimes sent here by seniors to suffer humiliation.
"Ah... this is hilarious, hold on... and who's that?"
The mercenary scratched his bald head and eyed the princess standing behind me.
Soon he ducked his head to peek under her robe.
"Hey... trying to look cool, so you brought a date along?"
His thick lips twitched.
Then, catching a glimpse of Irina's half-hidden face, his eyes lit up.
"Whoa... look at that peach fuzz. What a pretty little miss!"
At his remark, the princess sighed in clear displeasure.
The bastard smirked arrogantly down at me.
Until I grabbed his cheek with one hand.
"You think this is a joke?"
I shoved my face in his, just like the thug earlier.
This place wasn't just about late-night hours.
It was a dangerous spot where all sorts of illegal sorceries got tested.
"Get the owner."
"You're not worthy of meeting her. Knights make her sick."
Soon he straightened up, mimicking my seriousness.
He pressed on firmly, as if he'd known all along.
"She hates you lot who nitpick sorcery all the time."
"If you know that, then scram. Your precious empire can't protect you here."
I wanted to hold back as much as possible, with the princess watching.
But perhaps because we were in my old haunt of Konel.
My patience was wearing thin, just like back in the orphanage days.
"Yeah, the empire can't touch this place at all."
I squeezed the bastard's cheek harder.
The moment he swung a fist at me...
"That's why I love it."
I slammed him straight into the tavern floor.
KABOOM――――!!
A deafening crash filled the place.
The bored patrons broke into huge grins at the sudden brawl.
"What, a fight?"
"It's been ages— this'll be fun!"
Various patrons crowded in to watch the spectacle.
Among them were mercenaries from the same gang as the thug.
They charged at me barehanded, with no heavy weapons.
I dodged their big, slow punches and grabbed an arm instead.
Then hurled him at another oncoming bastard.
The mercenary crashed into a table where sorcerers had been smoking drugs.
Purple dust billowed out, and the witches immediately protested in annoyance.
Irina watched the chaos from the doorway.
Far from scared, she looked downright intrigued.
"Q-Quick, go call Boss Mago! That guy's a psycho!"
"Is a knight even allowed to act like that?!"
The Owl's House mercenaries plastered themselves against the walls and started fleeing.
But I hunted down every one who'd attacked me first, meting out judgment.
And just as I grabbed a head to smash into a table—venting my stress from the escaped mage—
I froze mid-motion.
"S-Stop...!!"
A door behind the counter.
Out came Mago, the owner of the Owl's House.
A woman in a black silk dress and witch's hat.
Her hair in twin tails, she hurried to the center of the tavern.
"Veil. What's all this about?"
Her black locks swaying, the witch approached me.
She clasped her hands politely and forced a friendly smile.
The mercenaries' eyes bulged at their boss acting so deferential.
"I told you to come when I call. You always make me trash the place first."
"I'm always under soundproof spells during research..."
"Yeah, yeah, more illegal sorcery, no doubt."
The witch rubbed a wrecked table.
She pulled out a clean chair and placed it politely in front of me.
Mago, the witch who ran the top tavern in the slums.
She whipped her head around and glared murderously at her underlings.
‘Get a read on the situation, you trash! That's Mad Dog Veil—don't you remember?’
The mercenaries blanched as they finally recognized me.
They scrambled over and dropped to their knees on the floor.
"You're not mad, right? Want me to pour you a drink? It's been a while."
Mago subtly pinched my sleeve, trying to soothe me.
Only then did I sigh deeply and relax my expression.
"Forget it. I told you to stick to operating hours, didn't I? Even overlooking it as a friend has limits."
"Aw— you know how it is. In Konel, closing at 10 means bankruptcy overnight."
The witch rubbed her shoulder against me like a black cat.
Ignoring her flirtations, I turned my head.
And called out to Irina, who stood dazed at the door.
"You can come down now, miss."
The princess slowly descended the stairs.
She silently came to stand beside me.
"This is Mago, a friend from the orphanage. She's the sorceress who'll examine the blood traces."
With the situation settled, I confidently introduced Mago.
She kept her distance from the law, sure.
But her skills were the real deal.
So I figured the princess would be thrilled, confident we'd find the culprits.
But...
“...”
The princess ignored my words entirely, just staring at Mago.
A chilling green gaze.
Mago, who'd clawed her way to ownership through the slums' dangers, felt a shiver at that look.
"She must be pretty close with that sorceress you mentioned?"
Irina smiled sweetly at Mago and asked.