Clue to the Resolution (2)
A few hours later, Jenis bolted into her room at seven in the evening without touching her dinner and stayed holed up for quite a while. Fearing she might have collapsed from some health issue, Jeong-jae knocked on her door several times. When he pressed his ear against it, he heard her soft snoring and breathed a sigh of relief before heading back to his office. Of course, the fact that he'd eavesdropped on his apprentice's snores had to stay a secret.
That day, following his instructions, he unlocked the armory and handed over the well-honed spears to the village head. With all his duties wrapped up and dinner done, he slipped into a deep sleep.
The next morning, as Jeong-jae arrived at his office, he was greeted by Jenis, who looked like she was bursting at the seams to report something.
"Baron! Baron! Baron! Baron!"
"My hearing's fine. I heard you. And you're right in front of my face."
Jeong-jae replied flatly.
Ignoring his lukewarm response, Jenis paced back and forth in front of him, buzzing with excitement.
"I found it! I figured it out! It's all thanks to you, Professor. Thank you!"
"What exactly?"
Jeong-jae asked, even though he could already guess. From the events of the previous evening, there was only one thing she could have uncovered.
"It's the guards. No matter how I thought about it, it was weird that no one had left the territory boundaries in the past two weeks—but guards have to go out beyond the perimeter to patrol, right?"
It seemed like the answer to the riddle that had been gnawing at her. On his first day here, Jeong-jae had speculated that the bandits lurking nearby were draft dodgers colluding with the serfs, and they were likely receiving supplies from them. Jenis had found the theory highly plausible and had been gathering clues under his guidance. Despite two weeks of fervent effort, they'd turned up nothing—until now, when she'd concluded that the territory's own guards were the "food couriers" she'd been hunting for.
"Even so, they can't just abandon their posts. They wouldn't have the guts to defy orders for two-man patrols, not when they never know when I might show up."
"Exactly. That's why I tailed them during shift changes. I'd already memorized the duty roster from the reports, so I could monitor them right on cue!"
It lined up neatly with what Jeong-jae had suspected. The baron flashed a grin and turned to his aide.
"Right, so what were the results?"
"You told the guards they could rest during patrol hours, remember? That's why we never noticed. The incoming shift arrived on time, but the outgoing soldiers didn't return inside the boundaries until thirty minutes later. We'd never paid close attention to the shift mechanics before. And at night, it was normal—done in under five minutes!"
"Exploiting the fact that we tune out during the day for misdirection? Or did they just agree to daytime handoffs instead of night?"
"I think the latter. They don't seem clever enough to assume we'd be watching at night."
"Same here. It just happened to throw us off as a bonus. So, your take: the guards prep the supplies before their shift starts, slip out at changeover to deliver, then blend back in naturally right after the new guys take over—dodging our eyes?"
"Spot on. My god, clever for them. I was fixated on nighttime smuggling!"
"I was too, until you reported zero gains from night watches. Hmm... thirty minutes, though..."
Jeong-jae fell into thought for a moment. Jenis nodded along.
"Round trip in thirty means fifteen minutes on foot each way. Super close. Unless there's a middleman, their hideout has to be right nearby."
"Then this is our chance. If they catch wind of us sniffing around and bolt farther out, it'll be way harder to deal with."
"At most a few hundred meters. Leave it to me—I'll nail down the results!"
"Jenis, use stealth magic to hide yourself thoroughly while moving. If you spot the enemy, no engaging—just confirm the position and report back to me. This is my mess to clean up."
"Not handling it with combat or arrests? You're too soft, Professor."
"I'm cursed with liking people too much. So yeah, a bit of mercy here. Plus, it'll help build trust with the serfs."
"Got it. I could drag them in for arrest, but anything beyond that exceeds my authority. Just don't go too far. The imperial council sends warnings if you're too lenient with lawbreakers."
"Sounds like you've seen it firsthand."
"You can't imagine how often the Hacker family gets letters stamped with the imperial seal. During our trade expansion peak, we got six 'final warnings.' What kind of final warnings were those?"
And yet, the emperor had eventually yielded to Count Hacker's proposals—his influence in his domain was practically regal. Jeong-jae matched or exceeded him in imperial standing, but with the hero party fallout's unknown repercussions, provoking the crown recklessly was risky.
"Thanks, Jenis. Truth is, I'm no good at politics or power plays, so I'd love to leave that side to you."
"So you're stirring up a political mess right now."
"Can't help it. Wishing problems away doesn't make them vanish."
Jenis swept back her fine, silken hair with a sharp huff. For some reason, Jeong-jae felt she looked happier than usual.
"Finally handing me your weak spots, Professor. Honestly, even this tracking felt like one of your lectures. Like, you could've done it better, faster. But this? This is where I can actually assist you properly. Just let me handle it!"
"You're already doing plenty well. What's this about?"
"I want to be essential! Not just useful!"
Jeong-jae went speechless at the subtle nuance in her words. Jenis realized her slip and hurriedly bowed, waving her hands.
"N-no, not in some weird way! I mean as a subordinate—irreplaceable! Not just handling errands you could do yourself!"
"Yeah, I get it."
Jeong-jae nodded. Jenis dipped her head in return, her expression a mix of relief and something unreadable.
To steer the mood back to normal, Jeong-jae shifted to her upcoming task.
"Anyway, how's your stealth magic? I haven't seen much of your combat skills in action."
"Stealth magic? Hmm... I can handle it decently. Good enough for practical use, but not masterfully."
"How good exactly?"
"In a crowd, no one notices me. Anything more's tricky..."
That was already impressive. Especially for someone as distinctive as Jenis—hiding her presence amid people required serious precision. But this mission meant shadowing a lone guard post-shift, ultra-discreetly. Even against dim-witted guards, it was no cakewalk. Without magic aid, not even genius hunter Bernard Silverpoint would take the job. Jenis clearly needed stronger stealth protection.
Jeong-jae rummaged in his office desk and pulled out his blue battle robe.
"Huh? A robe?"
"Jenis, do you have your own personal one yet?"
"No. I filed school graduation papers, but no Magic Tower certification. Don't really need it... though having one would be nice."
Her words carried a hint of longing. Inspecting the robe—kept in surprisingly clean condition—Jeong-jae nodded to himself and offered it to her.
"Want this one? Y'know, I heard in the old days on this continent, when one-on-one mage mentorship was standard, masters passed down their robes to graduating apprentices as tradition. That's why the Tower mass-issues them to university grads now, right?"
"Your robe... to me?"
Jenis's eyes lit up like stars, her body jolting in surprise.
Jeong-jae shrugged.
"We weren't exactly in formal one-on-one mentorship, but you were the only one who kept up with my lessons properly. And if you need one right now, giving you one of mine seems fine. I've got plenty of spares—battle robes tear or get filthy fast, so I rotate through them."
"So this is one you wore and used?"
"Yeah, pretty much. So? Want it? No big deal if not."
"Yes! I'll take it! I'll wear it forever!"
As Jeong-jae started pulling it back—thinking maybe this was too much—Jenis lunged and snatched the blue cloak. Startled, he let go.
"No need to grab. Hold on. The real reason I'm giving it to you is this..."
As she draped it on, Jeong-jae gripped the hem at the back and placed his hand on the cloak's center. A magical seal activated from his palm, etching the Hacker family's white cross emblem onto the blue fabric.
Jenis stared in wonder, her eyes sparkling as she clutched the robe tight.
"A mark that it's mine, Professor?"
"Partly, but not just that. I've enchanted it to boost stealth magic potency. Won't last forever, but a month at least. Should be plenty."
Combined with Jenis's baseline skill, the rune would make her undetectable even if she tap-danced right behind someone.
Ecstatic over finally having her own robe, Jenis rubbed her face blissfully against the blue cloth.
"It's perfect! Thank you so much, Professor!"
Like a kid with a new toy, she held it up, slipped it on, and hopped in place. In that instant, she vanished from sight like a ghost. Jeong-jae jumped—clearly, she'd tested the effect immediately.
"How's it look, Professor? Can you see me? Bet you can't! Wow, this is insane—strongest stealth I've ever..."
Mischievously, Jeong-jae conjured a detection spell in one hand and swept it toward her voice. Crack—the stealth shattered, revealing her.
He expected a pout, but she just looked mildly surprised, no sulk or annoyance. The new robe gift had her way too thrilled.
"But Professor, this isn't some never-worn new one, right?"
At her question, Jeong-jae nodded apologetically.
"Yeah. Occupational hazard—all my robes get used eventually. Should've gotten you a fresh one?"
"No! I love it like this! A new one would've disappointed me!"
Jenis declared, flipping back the hood.
Jeong-jae exhaled in relief.
"Phew. Tradition says pass down a worn one, but I worried it might seem outdated these days. Glad you're happy—it's all I had handy."
"Oh, one thing I thought of."
Jeong-jae gestured for her to go on.
"I'm Hacker family, sure, but right now I'm your territory aide... and who knows the future. Your emblem wouldn't hurt. Both banners share a blue field anyway!"
Jenis beamed—a fox's grin that anyone in the know would recognize instantly.