Chapter 23
Chapter 23
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 23
Chapter Title: Visit to Alchemists' City Ars
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"Whoa... what are we gonna do with these guys now?"
"Yeah. They're so damn pitiful...."
—What are you staring at?
Enri, passing by the training grounds, approached the knights who were whispering while looking at their newspaper. The knights stiffened and saluted at his sudden appearance, but Enri snatched the paper from them and scanned the front page.
[Shock! Noble Assassination Rocks the Land! Culprit Unknown... Not a Shred of Evidence Left.]
The newspaper featured an article about a noble assassination that had occurred in some distant territory. Enri clicked his tongue and handed it back.
"Don't buy into this stuff at face value. Newspapers are ultimately made by those in power. You gotta read between the lines. The intent."
…Yes, sir.
"Thanks for the advice!"
The two knights, well aware that Enri readily believed street-corner folk tales and rumors, inwardly chuckled and hastily excused themselves.
As the knights scurried away like they were fleeing, Enri recalled the photo printed in the paper. A noble collapsed in a pool of blood, a gaping hole through his head. In a world without mosaics or journalistic ethics, printing corpse photos outright wasn't unusual...
'...That photo.'
It looked familiar somehow. Not the body itself—some noble from a far-off territory he didn't even know, who cared?
But the pose of the corpse. The splattered blood, the way he lay dead... it triggered a strange sense of déjà vu. The problem was, even rifling through a decade or so of memories turned up nothing.
'What was it...'
Well, if nothing came to mind within the last ten years, it probably wasn't that important.
With that thought, Enri shrugged it off, hummed a tune, and headed to his room.
On the way, a maid grabbed him. The Lady had summoned him.
—It's a trip.
"Eh... Where to?"
"Alchemists' City Ars."
Alchemists' City Ars.
The city of alchemists.
Enri thought it was quite the trek, then paused as the name jogged his memory.
'...Wait a sec, wasn't that just—'
The noble assassination from the newspaper.
Alchemists' City Ars wasn't far from the territory where it happened.
The Lady surely knew this fact as well as he did.
Enri asked with a face full of reluctance.
"Sounds dangerous... Do you really have to go?"
"They say the commission's complete. Gotta go check it out."
"What the heck did you commission?"
An item worth risking assassination dangers to fetch personally. And one the Duke's Lady herself had ordered? He couldn't even guess.
These things were usually something you didn't want anyone knowing about... Enri figured it might be an adult toy.
'Nah, no way. If it was that, there'd be no reason to bring me...'
"You'll be shocked when you see it, Enri."
'It's an adult toy...'
Eve hid the item's true nature while flashing a rare sleazy grin. Enri's suspicions solidified as he prepared for the journey.
Alchemists' City Ars.
Long ago, granted by the first Gracia King to an accomplished alchemist.
Now, it had transformed into a holy site for all alchemists, a cradle of intellect.
Obviously, being the alchemists' city didn't mean it looked like some hyper-futuristic sci-fi hub. Guns and trains existed, sure, but magic still played a huge role.
The moment they stepped off the train, alchemists hawking their wares from all directions turned their gazes toward them.
—Noble.
"...Should I pretend it's a coincidence and approach?"
"Don't bother. She's got an escort. You'll just get stabbed for your trouble..."
The instant they spotted the noble Eve, their eyes lit up, scheming ways to connect. Alchemy was a money pit, after all, leaving sponsors perpetually desperate.
Eve, with her refined air, looked loaded at a glance. To cash-strapped alchemists, she seemed worth a shot, crazy as it was.
If not for Enri glaring daggers at them from her side, half a dozen alchemists would've swarmed her already.
"What's wrong, Enri? You okay?"
Eve frowned worriedly at his uncharacteristically sour expression. If he wasn't at 100%, she'd need to rethink her security. But Enri shook his head, saying he was fine. It wasn't poor health. The environment just didn't suit him.
The overpowering herbal scents assaulting him from every side scrambled his senses. Plus, the densely packed buildings left tons of spots to watch. All in all, a pain for escort duty.
Not enough to bail, though, so Enri kept scowling and stayed vigilant. At least it kept the nuisances at bay—small mercies.
"More importantly, Lady."
"Yeah?"
"While you're getting the item, where should I wait?"
"...What nonsense? Right by my side."
"Huh? But... wasn't it a secret what the item is?"
Even for an escort, knowing the Lady's sexual tastes felt a bit much, so Enri asked cautiously. Eve spoke casually, as if the secret didn't matter anymore now that they were here.
"You're so dense, Enri... hard to explain simply."
"What the heck is it?"
"Something that'll change the future."
With that, they arrived. Eve flashed her seal at the guards. Spotting the crest of one of the kingdom's five pillars—the ducal house—they gawked and dashed inside.
During the brief wait, Eve explained the commissioned item.
"You know what happens when you boil water?"
"Boiled water."
"...It turns to steam. Super hot gas."
"Ah, got it."
"And that gas takes up way more volume than liquid water. So, if you put liquid in a small container and boil it furiously until it all turns to gas, what happens?"
"......"
Enri's jaw dropped at Eve Claudia's explanation, speechless. She seemed to think it was because he couldn't grasp the "complex" idea, but it was the opposite. He understood perfectly.
Maybe even better than she did.
Because what she was describing was none other than...
"The steam will push a heavy piston and make it move. The machine built on that principle is..."
—Steam engine.
"...Oh my, was the name too obvious? Even for you, Enri, to guess right away."
The early steam engine.
The invention that let humanity leapfrog millions of years of progress in mere centuries.
The spark of scientific revolution.
And it was coming from our Lady's own hands? Well, not built by her personally, but her idea birthing it? Surreal.
He'd never doubted her elite status, but that was in managing people and territories. Not epoch-shattering genius.
This went beyond "genius." Like she'd seen the future...
"...Lady."
"Hm?"
"Are you from Earth? Korea? Japan? America?"
"What? Where'd that come from?"
"...Nothing."
Darn, not it?
No flicker of reaction from Eve. No telltale biological signals of lying she couldn't hide. So, she wasn't a reincarnator like him.
Which meant she'd truly conceived the steam engine through sheer genius... Rather her hiding reincarnation would've made more sense than this insanity.
As Enri grumbled in doubt, the guards returned with the mansion's owner in tow.
"Huff, huff—! S-sorry for the wait, Lady Eve."
"No, my fault for dropping by unannounced."
"P-please, come in."
The man who appeared was none other than the territory's lord.
Current Count of Ars.
Magna Ars.
He led Eve inside.
Trailing close behind, Enri glanced at a mansion window far off and caught something glinting. His eyes shifted.
Inside the mansion, a single girl stared this way. Expressionless, devoid of any emotion or pulse.
'...The young lady here?'
Enri gave her a light bow before heading in.