The Magic City and the Great Detective
“Pfft… I see. By the way, I’m thinking of doing a job for the two of you soon. Could you help me out?”
“A job…?”
Seong-il looked puzzled by Elysia’s sudden remark. Seeing his expression, Sia continued.
“I told you last time, didn’t I? I decided to lose on purpose to boost our boss’s reputation. Don’t you remember?”
“Oh… that thing?”
“Yes… Shouldn’t we start preparing for it soon?”
“Hmm… What exactly do I need to prepare…?”
When Seong-il still looked confused, unable to grasp her point, Elysia smiled and began explaining her plan.
“I’ll announce that I’m going to steal one of the artworks from the Roengrim Group’s private art gallery this weekend. If the great detective Charlotte and her assistant Seong-il show up, I’ll pretend to be defeated by your brilliant performance and make my escape.”
“Oh… I see… Wait a second…! Roengrim Group…? Why does that name sound so familiar…?”
Seong-il frowned, racking his brain over the familiar name. Watching him, Elysia teased with a smirk.
“Think haaard~ Think reeeally hard~”
“Ugh…”
Feeling a chill from her words, Seong-il thought deeply. Then a single thought flashed through his mind.
“Officer Illina…?”
“Correct~”
Elysia clapped her hands like a delighted child at his answer. Seong-il stared at her in disbelief.
“Why there of all places??”
“Well… logically speaking, the Roengrim Group is rich and owns a lot of valuable art pieces and treasures?”
“…Is that really the reason?”
“Of course not. The second reason is to help you, Detective Assistant.”
“…Help me?”
Seong-il narrowed his eyes and glared at Elysia. She responded with a playful grin.
“Yeees~ Even though it was only one lesson, I heard our dear Officer Illina shows incredible loyalty toward you, Detective Assistant.”
“…”
“So~ if I make her even closer to you, wouldn’t she become even more loyal…?”
“Uh… I don’t think I need any more of her loyalty…? No, I don’t want it at all!”
“Really now~ Is that true, our little playboy detective assistant?”
“Why are you suddenly calling me a playboy…?”
“Pfft… Acting all innocent… Anyway, this is my plan…”
With that, she pulled out a magical blueprint and showed it to Seong-il. It was a mysterious magical tool resembling moving CAD diagrams etched onto a whiteboard.
“Whoa… that’s amazing…?”
“Ah… Well~ my magical tool is pretty great, but I’m in the middle of explaining. Could you please focus?”
“Ah… sorry.”
At Elysia’s half-scolding, Seong-il made a sheepish face, licked his lips, and thought to himself, ‘I wonder if she had the same reaction when she first saw my smartphone?’
Whether she knew what he was thinking or not, Elysia stayed focused on the situation and continued her explanation.
“Alright…! I’ll send the notice on Thursday this week, and I plan to infiltrate and escape like this…”
Elysia’s strategy briefing went on for quite a while. Seong-il listened seriously and began piecing together the plan. After discussing their opinions for some time, they reviewed the agreed-upon result and started pointing out any weak spots.
“Hmm… It seems solid, but blocking variables is the issue. If you were stealing the item alone, there wouldn’t be a problem, but since we’re deliberately handing the credit to Charlotte, we’re taking on extra risk… It could get dangerous if things go wrong…?”
Elysia nodded at Seong-il’s reasonable assessment.
“You’re right. That’s why it would be great if Detective Assistant Seong-il could help me this time.”
“Huh? Me? How…?”
“I want you to secretly relay real-time information from the scene to me without the officers noticing.”
“Eh…? How…?”
Seeing his confusion, Elysia smiled gently and pulled a bracelet from her pocket, handing it to him.
“…A bracelet?”
“Yes. To be precise, it’s a magical tool paired with the magic mask I wear.”
“Hmm… Is that so? What does it do…?”
“Would you follow me for a moment…?”
“…?”
Without another word, Elysia took Seong-il’s hand and led him to the break room. After guiding him inside, she checked their surroundings and closed the door.
“What are you doing…?”
Confused by her abrupt behavior, Seong-il asked. Instead of answering, she simply smiled quietly and pulled a mask from her pocket.
“That’s…?”
It was a pure white cat mask. She silently handed it to him and said,
“Want to try it on?”
Elysia was suddenly recommending he wear the mask she used during her heists. Though Seong-il had many questions about her actions, he didn’t ask and obediently put on the mask as instructed.
Once he had it on, Elysia quietly opened the door and checked outside. After confirming no one was around, she slipped out, closed the door, and spoke to him from the other side.
“Wait just a moment~”
Not long after she spoke, the sound of clicking heels could be heard from beyond the door. After a while, Elysia’s footsteps faded away. Seong-il was growing bored standing there without any explanation when suddenly her voice rang directly in his ear.
“Can you hear me?”
“!!!”
Seong-il jumped at the sudden voice in his ear and shouted into thin air.
“Huh? What? Does it have a built-in radio function?”
But Elysia gave no reply. Thinking he might have done something wrong, Seong-il grabbed the mask, pressing various spots while continuing to speak to her. Just as he was starting to panic from the lack of response, her voice came again.
“If you’re trying to speak through the mask, it’s pointless. The bracelet allows one-way communication from the person wearing it.”
‘So that’s how it works.’
Soon after, Elysia returned to the break room. She took the mask back from him and asked,
“Did you hear everything I said clearly just now?”
“Yeah. It came through perfectly. But why ask? Wasn’t that your item…?”
Elysia gave a bitter smile at his question.
“I’ve always worked alone without a partner, so I knew this magical tool had a communication function, but I never had the chance to test or experiment with it.”
“Aah~~”
“That’s why. In that sense, you understand what kind of information I want you to leak, right?”
“Yeah. I got it.”
Having established the basic framework for how they would coordinate, Elysia expressed her gratitude.
“Thank you! Anyway, since we’ve roughly exchanged methods, I’ll send the notice this afternoon. After that, you can work out the follow-up plans.”
“Sounds good. Once you send the notice, Inspector Lestrade will probably call us through the hotline, so we’ll be able to slip in additional strategies. That should make the plan even more sophisticated.”
“Perfect!”
They were happily discussing the operation when Charlotte came down from the second floor, greeting them in her usual loud voice.
“Hello everyooone!!”
Charlotte’s greeting upon seeing the two whispering in the living room. Seong-il flinched slightly but returned the greeting.
“G-good morning!! Great Detective!”
“Ohohohoh! You too, Seong-il! Ooh~~ By the way, you two look rather heated this morning? Is it official now~~?”
Charlotte teased them while looking at Seong-il and Sia. Sia casually played along with her joke.
“Hehe… Is that so? Maybe it is~”
After brushing off Charlotte’s comment without a care, Sia placed breakfast on Charlotte’s desk and said.
The peaceful day passed, and the next morning arrived. The Moriarty Detective Agency’s household was enjoying another ordinary, tranquil day when a familiar red-haired officer came to visit and greeted them.
“Hello…!”
“Oh! Officer Illina! So nice to see you!!”
Charlotte welcomed Illina, who had come to their detective agency. She asked the reason for her visit.
“By the way, what brings you here…? Is it about 『The Club』…?”
“No…! It’s about something else…!”
“…Something else?”
“Yes… A 『Phantom Thief’s Letter』 has arrived! So I’ve come to request the cooperation of the great detective Charlotte.”
“You mean the advance notice letter from Phantom Thief Luphtesia!!”
“Yes!! That’s exactly it…!!”
“Oh myyy!! The appearance of my arch-nemesis…! I, the great detective Moriarty, will gladly accept the Metropolitan Police Department’s request for cooperation to punish this villain!!”
“Thank you!! Great Detective…!!”
The Moonlit Night
📍 Target: Roengrim Private Art Gallery
📅 Date: This Thursday evening
🎨 Item: The masterpiece The Moonlit Night
— Phantom Thief Luphtesia
‘They’re going all out again after so long…’
Seeing Charlotte’s dramatic outburst for the first time in a while, Seong-il felt his usual irritation return. He jumped into their conversation, pretending he knew nothing about the case, and asked,
“Where and when was the notice sent?”
“Yes! This time, Phantom Thief Luphtesia sent a notice saying she would steal the great masterpiece The Moonlit Night from the Roengrim Private Art Gallery!”
“Oh no! You mean that famous painting?!”
“Yes… exactly that…!!”
“This is absolutely unacceptable!! I, Charlotte Moriarty, will definitely stop this theft!!”
“Great Detective…!!”
Officer Illina looked at Charlotte’s boasting with a deeply moved expression. Tired of their endless theatrics, Seong-il quickly cut in and steered the conversation to the main point.
“Then, is there anything we need to prepare in advance? Or can we just head straight to the scene?”
Illina shifted to a more professional attitude at Seong-il’s question and explained the details.
“Ah…! Since the phantom thief wrote the notice for tomorrow, Thursday evening, please come to the scene by noon tomorrow and discuss defensive measures with Inspector Lestrade…!”
“I see…”
“Also, our Metropolitan Police Department will be dispatching personnel starting today in case of any early intrusion by the thief.”
“Understood. Then we can discuss the rest with Inspector Lestrade at noon tomorrow.”
“That’s correct! Master Seong-il!!”
“….Why did ‘Master’ suddenly come out?”
“Ah… Aah…!”
“It’s fine.”
“Y-yes… I’m sorry, Master Seong-il! But…”
“….?”
“If you’re heading out at noon tomorrow, it seems you should get enough rest this evening. What do you plan to do about today’s training…?”
“Ah… right…”
Charlotte answered as if there was nothing to worry about.
“Just go during the day! Seong-il!!”
“Ah… Is that okay?”
“Of course! There’s no urgent work anyway, so sharpen your combat senses with a proper spar and training during the day…! Wouldn’t that make you even more helpful on the scene?!”
“Ah…! As expected of the great detective!! What a sharp observation!!”
“Ohohohoh!! You flatter me… hehe!!”
“In that case, may I go right now?”
“Please do…!”
After saying that, Seong-il began heading to the training ground with Officer Illina. As they walked together, Illina spoke to him.
“Um… Master Seong-il?”
“Yeah? What?”
“Well… I’m still on duty, so going to the training ground might be a bit…”
“It’s fine. Let’s go.”
“Y-yes…?! Is that really okay?”
“Use me and Charlotte as an excuse. If anyone says anything, tell them to talk to me.”
“Hup…?!”
“Don’t live so strictly by the book~ Sometimes you need to slack off like this. Right?”
“B-but… training isn’t exactly slacking off, is it…?”
“Hmm… Are you talking back to your master right now?”
“Hiiik?! I-I’m sorry…! Master…!”
“Enough. Your attitude today is unsatisfactory. This will be followed by a spanking after training. You’ll set the intensity of the spanking like last time and tell me. Understood?”
At Seong-il’s words ‘spanking,’ Officer Illina’s face turned bright red. She nodded and answered,
“Y-yes, I understand, Master Seong-il!”
Despite the negative connotation of the word ‘punishment,’ Illina wore a strangely expectant expression. Watching her, Seong-il thought,
‘Hmm… This girl… Could she be a masochist too? She’s a character who didn’t appear in the original, so it’s ambiguous… but considering the game developer’s consistent perverted tastes that created this world, it wouldn’t be strange at all if she is…’
After thinking that, Seong-il swallowed hard.