Chapter 60
Chapter 60
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Translator: Ace
Chapter: 60
Chapter Title: Assassination Attempt
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Just as promised to the client, he'd successfully planted the bomb at the construction site and detonated it.
He'd even shouted the slogan.
But the catastrophe he'd expected didn't happen.
So he'd bolted for it.
"Huff... huff!"
His breath was burning all the way up to his throat.
He'd never run this desperately, not even back in his days as a Field Mage.
'What the hell happened?'
The bomb had gone off.
The construction site was a total mess, just as planned.
But no one had died.
The massive stones collapsing from above had come to a gentle halt in midair.
He'd never seen magic like that in his life.
Not even the magic beasts on the northern front, who spat spells from their mouths, used magic that way.
Terror washed over him.
He could feel that something had gone terribly wrong with his life.
Where exactly had his life gone off the rails?
His days as a Field Mage had been hell.
Everyone said mages could handle it, but not him.
So he'd deserted.
But freedom came at a brutal price.
He'd had no choice but to kill the pursuit squad that tracked him down.
'Was deserting... murdering them... the mistake?'
After that, he'd hidden out in the underworld.
While scraping by day to day somehow, a man in a black robe had approached him.
-'Attack the Uphills Foundation.'
The man handed him a heavy pouch of gold coins.
...They weren't even properly minted, that much was obvious.
But gold was gold.
He'd accepted the commission.
'Was taking the job the mistake?'
Huff, huff!
His lungs felt like they were about to burst.
A carriage he'd prepared in advance came into view ahead.
If he could just climb in... toss some money at the driver and yell to floor it...
The moment he reached for the door handle—
Krunch!
The handle shattered right in front of his eyes, shards flying everywhere.
Thud!
A steel ball from who-knows-where punched straight through the handle and buried itself in the ground, kicking up dirt.
"Wh-what...?"
Neighhh!
The startled horse tried to bolt.
Before he could even grasp what was happening—
Halt.
His body froze in place.
He needed to run, but his body wouldn't obey.
It was mana.
An overwhelming mana pressing down on his entire body.
'What the—?!'
He strained to roll his eyes and spot the source of the mana.
Far off, atop a low hill near the construction site.
A small child stood there, commanding the mana.
It felt like the entire sky was crushing down on him.
Crack. Drip.
His body inched closer and closer to the ground.
It pricked.
It crumbled.
Eventually, he couldn't even breathe properly.
"Gack...! Hack!"
His vision blurred.
Right before blacking out, it hit him.
It wasn't about not taking the job.
It wasn't about not deserting.
Everything had been wrong from the very start.
I stopped firing.
First shot wrecked the carriage; I'd aimed the second at the Achilles heel...
But I didn't even need to fire it.
Anna had already taken down the perp.
I turned to look at her.
"..."
Anna glared silently at the fallen criminal.
"Sis. You okay? Not too shaken?"
"Yeah. I'm fine."
"..."
Anna stared down at the ruined construction site, holding back her anger.
Anna said,
"Just... pissed off. Because of that guy... those uncles almost died."
"..."
Fair enough.
Anna wouldn't get rattled or scared by something like this.
War, test subjects... she'd been through a lot lately.
Still, my hand reached for her back.
Pat, pat.
I patted Anna's back.
Even anger needed some comforting.
A moment later, Anna and I approached the workers.
"Everyone alright? Anyone hurt?"
All eyes turned to me.
"Thank you, hero! You saved our lives!"
"You must hear this every day, but thanks!"
"How can we ever repay this favor..."
They kept bowing repeatedly, which made me uncomfortable.
This incident probably happened because of me, after all.
I told the workers,
"It's fine. As long as no one's hurt."
At my words, Anna bowed to them too.
"Please build our foundation nice and sturdy."
"You bet! Leave it to us!"
I asked a few of them to call the Capital Guard.
Then Anna and I examined the unconscious perp.
Anna hadn't used any magic in this incident.
She'd simply crushed him with raw mana.
Raw mana before it becomes magic has no physical force, but a mage's mind perceives it differently.
It must've felt like being slammed into the deep sea.
A suppression method tough for any mage to counter.
...Who even comes up with stuff like this?
"Sis."
"Yeah?"
"Keep this mana trick a secret from everyone else."
"Got it."
Anna agreed readily.
A moment later, she said,
"But why'd this guy do it?"
"Remember what he shouted after setting off the bomb?"
"Yeah. 'The stars' movements lie within God's providence.'"
"That's the doctrine the theology faction trotted out back during the planetary motion debates."
Anna's eyes went wide.
"You don't mean..."
"Yeah. Probably pissed about our orbital research."
"Killing people over something that petty?"
"..."
I had nothing to say to that.
In this world's history, mages had killed theologians over the same thing.
An hour later, the Capital Guard and Magic Investigation Bureau arrived on scene.
"Huff huff..."
"You folks okay?!"
I asked the rushing group,
"...How'd you get here so fast?"
This was a pre-modern era without phones—the response was too quick.
I'd figured it'd take half a day at least.
A young investigator named Jonathan from the Magic Investigation Bureau answered,
"Word came straight from the Magic Tower. The Dean said she detected unusual mana reactions around you, Uphills."
"...Oh. I see."
Impressive, Dean.
How'd she know?
Even after introductions, Investigator Jonathan kept staring at me.
"Why the stare?"
"No, it's just... I actually investigated the Malakai and Kaien Winterheart case."
"Ah. Small world."
"You're way more approachable-looking than I imagined."
"...What'd you imagine?"
"Honestly? Thought you'd look like a wind mage or something."
"..."
Investigator Jonathan glanced at the unconscious perp and tilted his head.
"But... how'd you subdue him? No external wounds."
"That..."
I couldn't just spill Anna's ability.
I bullshitted,
"Subdued him with some new magic I'm researching. I'll publish a paper on it eventually—check it then."
"..."
Would this fly?
Jonathan stared at my face and nodded.
"Makes sense. Knew it had to be something like that."
"..."
What?
Passing that easily?
Jonathan continued,
"Got it. We'll take custody of the perp then."
The bureau folks dragged the perp away.
Now the scene just had me, Anna, and the Capital Guard.
"..."
"..."
The guards were watching me carefully.
Marcus approached me.
"Sorry, Uphills. We should've protected you properly..."
"No. This is outside the capital."
"Still, you helped us when we were in danger..."
Anna cut in,
"It's okay, Uncle Marcus."
"...Really?"
"Yeah. Really okay. No one got hurt."
Anna's voice was back to normal. Calm.
She'd bottled up her anger quick.
Marcus said,
"...Even so, focusing only on inner capital security was our mistake."
His words made me flinch.
Danger outside the capital... did that mean my workshop too?
No way, guys!
"Marcus! Head to my workshop too, quick!"
"Huh? Sure!"
Marcus came along without knowing why.
We boarded a Guard carriage with suspension.
I yelled to the driver,
"As fast as you can!"
We sped like mad and reached the workshop—situation already handled.
In a good way.
Tobin and Calren had two thugs trussed up tight with rope.
Our eyes met.
"Whoa! Isaac! Long time no see!"
Calren beamed.
"Gotta get this bad before you show your face."
Tobin snarked.
...I'd been a bit neglectful.
But nothing had changed.
People the same, equipment intact.
Whew.
I told them,
"Was worried, but glad you're safe."
Tobin smirked,
"They set off bombs, but they were so weak, just a few scratches on the workshop."
If they'd packed a real punch, it would've collapsed—but terrorist bomb quality sucked.
Pre-modern era perks.
Lucky break for me.
Calren followed up,
"Quarry uncles nabbed the runners after."
The quarry folks Dolloren had swiped stones from.
Good thing I'd compensated them properly back then.
'Both sites failed, so maybe quiet for a while...?'
Urgent fires out, but future was the issue.
Prevention was always key.
Not that I'd asked for this much...
Magic Investigation Bureau Chief (portrait only).
Capital Guard Captain.
Goldie—no, School Head Dolloren.
Archmage Valerius.
Plus the Dean and Princess.
Meeting the day after the terror: Every power player in the capital except the Emperor.
All this for my personal terror attack?
Touching, but... don't you people have jobs?
Anna and I stood awkwardly before them.
The Princess approached, face worried.
"No injuries, Isaac?"
"None, Your Highness. I'm fine."
"Good. I should've been more careful—my oversight."
"No, Your Highness. Your graces already overflow."
Thanks to her insane promotion, my bank account was still printing money.
Lump sums good, cash cows better.
The Princess smiled at my words.
"Thanks, always."
She guided me to the seat beside her.
Uneasy.
Dean straight ahead, eyes flicking between Anna and her.
...I knew that look.
New toy—no, rare talent spotted.
Top of the university entrance, unavoidable?
Anna tugged my sleeve, whispering,
"Bro, something wrong?"
"...Sis. Don't go if anyone from grad school tries luring you."
"Huh?"
Reports began.
Guard Captain to Princess,
"No signs of perps entering the capital. They targeted Uphills's outskirts site from the start, no infiltration planned."
"Tricky."
Princess eyed the Bureau Chief.
"Interrogation results?"
"Apologies, but they're using no magic, delaying the investigation."
"Mage-perpetrated incident, no magic?"
"Yes. All attacks via black powder bombs. Focusing on tracing the village where they claim to have received them."
"Report anything new immediately."
Reports done, Princess asked me,
"Uphills. Any suspects for backers?"
"Yes."
Bureau Chief's words confirmed it.
Commissioning a mage for terror but no magic...
Those cultist prayer nuts really hated mages.
I addressed the room,
"Remember the planetary motion debate?"
"Vaguely..."
Half knew, half didn't.
Then the Dean spoke,
"Ah. Those guys' doing."
"...You know them?"
"I lived through that era."
The Dean explained in my stead.
Explanation over, Princess tilted her head.
"Surprising an old history-book group still lingers... but why now?"
Probably my 'elliptical orbit' paper.
...But stopping there felt off.
Time to kill two birds.
I told the Princess,
"Actually, that's because I'm writing a new paper."
Valerius muttered,
"...Another one?"
"Yes. It mathematically explains planetary orbits, so they must've risen up over that."
"...Hence this."
"Should I delay publishing until the perps are caught?"
Princess shot back,
"No."
"..."
"Publish on schedule. We'll handle any physical threats, whatever it takes."
Free protection secured as planned.
I pressed the Princess,
"Anna Uphills next to me will be co-author—can you protect her too?"
"Of course. The Empire doesn't bow to terror."
"Thank you."
That's the spirit.
No negotiating with terrorists.
Just sit back and enjoy universal gravitation, you era's losers.