Justice Does Not Yield (6)
The light of a solitary crescent moon cut cold and sharp through the sky. As if frost might cling to the skin if one tried to scoop it up in both hands, people drew their collars tight against a chill that had not visited in some time.
Yet even in that weather, a girl stood gazing upward without so much as a coat. The Black Lady. Master of the Night. Empress of the Underworld. She had been called by many names, and she felt no need to bother with anything as trivial as outerwear.
Because a man who always stood at her side had been warmth enough without one. Out of habit she reached toward the space beside her—and found only empty air. For reasons of his own, the man who filled that hollow had vanished without a trace.
Three hours and twenty-four minutes. The time since Claus’s whereabouts had last been confirmed.
Naturally, Lia found that fact extremely disagreeable.
"The weather’s chilly."
"Master. A coat, after all…"
"It means this is a poor day for running away."
"…"
"Wouldn’t you agree?"
The casual remark closed like a fist around the hearts of her subordinates. Behind the small girl’s shoulders, dozens of shadows swallowed dryly and clasped their hands behind their backs like guilty men.
But the ones who truly felt fear were elsewhere. Between the guild members and Lia, a cluster of men knelt trembling on the ground. They were the city’s bribed guards—and the last witnesses to have seen Claus.
"So. Who are these?"
"Soldiers of the city watch, Master. Most are locals. Some have family in the organization."
"Our people, then. Is anyone here related to you?"
"…Yes. The one in the middle is my younger brother."
"Then let’s ask that boy."
As Lia stepped forward, the man she had named clenched his fists until blood welled in his palms. Even that failed to stop the shaking; in the end he bit his lip as well.
"Did you see Claus today?"
"Yes, ma’am. Around three in the afternoon… no—four forty-five. He came by."
"Alone?"
"No… he had companions…"
"By companions you mean they were not members of the organization?"
A single choice of words twisted the direction of her gaze. The guild member caught in that flesh-cutting chill hurried to explain.
"That is… Lord Claus said there was no need for anyone to follow…"
"Wasn’t it your duty to monitor his situation to the very end?"
"Y-yes. But Lord Claus said it was fine, so we thought…"
"Is that because he insisted that strongly, or because you simply wanted to pass the responsibility off?"
"We… that is…"
A soft voice. An expression that did not so much as flicker. At a glance she seemed devoid of feeling, yet the man answering felt a blade glide along his throat. If he blinked even once, he was certain his breath would end in that instant; he did not dare close his eyes.
Fortunately the Black Lady’s blade did not split his world in two. But that was only a brief stay of execution; the responsibility had not vanished.
"I have the general idea. I’ll ask the rest later. Now, back to this. So Claus had company."
"Yes, that’s correct."
"Then who was that company? Purpose of the visit?"
"Well…"
"I didn’t think this was a question that required hesitation. Am I wrong?"
"Lord Claus… asked us to keep it secret."
At the stammered words every guild member exhaled as if they themselves were the ones under interrogation. In the present situation, that answer was the worst choice he could possibly have made.
"That wasn’t a very wise reply."
"No—it’s true. He begged us to keep it from the Master."
"So you intend to stay silent?"
"Yes…?"
"Simply telling me would be the better option for you."
His lips sealed again. His tongue curled. His head spun; the world before his eyes seemed to lurch and sway.
In the three seconds of silence that followed, the guard weighed his answer dozens of times. What finally left his mouth was pitifully small for all that agony.
"A woman… it was a woman."
"A woman."
"Her name was Louise Grisha Everdeen. She said so herself, and we wrote it that way on the forms. But Lord Claus kept calling her Ru."
"…"
"She said the woman had committed some crime against him and that he had brought her in. So we followed procedure and locked her in a cell… and after that we simply did as Lord Claus ordered."
The whole time he spoke, his mouth was so dry he thought his tongue might crack. Of course, the chill in Lia’s eyes was so severe that even that pain felt negligible by comparison.
"Louise, is it."
"Yes…"
"And Claus strictly ordered you to keep it secret."
"But since the Master asked…"
"The fact that you spoke anyway means one of two things. Either you were simply terrified—or you decided it was a secret that didn’t matter if it got out."
"…"
"Probably the former. If it’s the latter, things get complicated."
Lia toyed with her fingertips for a moment, as though weighing something. Then she tilted her head and moved on to the next question.
"So what happened after that? Until Claus disappeared, you were still on post, weren’t you?"
"Th-that’s both true and not true. Halfway through, a knight showed up claiming he’d come from the capital."
"A knight?"
"I think he said he was Dyke of the Round Table. He announced his affiliation, then suddenly dropped to one knee in front of Lord Claus and said he wanted to surrender."
"Surrender…?"
For the first time Lia’s expression shifted. When she flicked a glance toward the guild member behind her, a document was immediately placed in her hand.
"There is indeed such a knight among the Round Table. Name: Dyke. Age: twenty-eight. Made knight at a young age, recognized for skill, recently assigned to the Round Table. He’s engaged to Count Gramont’s daughter."
"Count Gramont is a leading figure of the noble faction. The one said to be at odds with the White Knight of the loyalist camp."
"Moreover, there was intelligence that his own excessively progressive leanings had caused frequent friction with the other Round Table knights. Whether the report is true or not, the pretext is sufficient."
"But I don’t recall any report about this man. Did someone drop the ball?"
"No. The only people found at the scene were those guards. There was no one else."
"Is that so?"
As if demanding an explanation, Lia’s gaze returned to the guards. One of them, who still had a scrap of courage left, managed to open his mouth.
"He really was there. Lord Claus must have decided it wasn’t something the likes of us should hear, because he ordered us to clear out. We waited as close as we could."
"Did you overhear any of the conversation?"
"No. It seemed like something we shouldn’t listen to… Then all of a sudden there was a loud noise. We were about to run in."
"And what did you see?"
"Well…"
"…"
"Nothing… There was nothing."
A new species of excuse. Lia’s eyes cooled at once. From behind, a guild member stepped in to support the claim.
"Not only the people mentioned, but every fixture that should have been on site had vanished as well. As if the entire space had been torn out."
"But magic on that scale can’t be prepared in a short time… A scroll, then? I was under the impression every Space Movement Scroll was lost in the Great War."
"Judging by the condition of the scene, the possibility is more than sufficient."
"Yes. It seems so."
If they had meant to lie, they would have cooked up something more plausible than this. Having reached her conclusion in an instant, Lia stepped past the still-shaking guards and approached her own people.
"Just what happened to Claus? Does anyone have an opinion?"
"…"
"No one?"
Naturally no one was eager to speak first in that atmosphere. Yet the organization was not so weak that every mouth would stay shut forever.
"The simplest possibility is still betrayal. After all, he came here as a knight-order man, did he not?"
"Other grounds?"
"The prison sits on the outskirts of the city. It’s the best place to slip the organization’s eyes. Given his level of force, a handful of guards wouldn’t even register as an obstacle—he wouldn’t have factored them in at all."
"And the woman Louise was the accomplice who helped him leave. Is that it?"
"It is the simplest and cleanest hypothesis, Master."
Even as he said it, the speaker himself did not look convinced. Lia, for her part, was already aware of how many holes the theory contained.
"There are three flaws. First: the timing is wrong. If he meant to betray the organization, he would have done it after meeting Master. Only then would he have become a core member with access to the important information."
"…"
"Second: as an escape plan it’s far too crude. He had already earned a measure of trust. There was no need to cause such a noisy incident."
"…"
"And last: before he disappeared, Claus left me a message. He said he hoped we could have dinner together tonight. If he had truly decided on betrayal, that would have been unnecessary."
Unless, of course, he had been trying to leave her some kind of message.
While Lia considered that possibility, the guild members kept silent as well. It was their way of agreeing with their master’s reasoning. None of them believed a man like Claus would have betrayed them in so clumsy a fashion.
They believed the opposite. Which was why the next answer came more quickly.
"Then it must be a kidnapping after all."
"That’s how we have to see it."
"Then what should we do, Master?"
"Whether it was a kidnapping or not, the conclusion is the same."
"…"
"Isn’t it?"
In that moment the clouds of the night sky parted, and the remains of countless stars revealed themselves. Beings that might have died thousands of years ago poured their pale light down upon the earth.
At once the thousands of shadows that had been hidden in darkness stirred as one. Blades ready, necks craned solely to receive their master’s command, they answered Lia’s call with cold, gleaming eyes.
"We have been robbed. Now we rob in turn. And the kingdom is robbed. That law has never changed."
"Yes, Master."
"But we have been robbed again. That is my failing. I do not intend to stand by and watch."
"Nor do we."
"Therefore, we take it back."
Lia’s frigid gaze turned toward the distant sky. Her distinctive, emotionless voice settled over the sword hilt that had appeared at her waist as if by magic.
"Shall we move?"
"…"
The answer was already decided. Without a shred of doubt the gathered assassins bowed their heads to a single girl.
"We obey."