Chapter 14
Could it really be because this is a world of magic?
The airship I saw upon entering the airport was truly enormous.
It was roughly three or four times the size of the large airplanes I had seen in my previous life—big enough to make the comparison feel inadequate.
It was so large that I found myself wondering whether science alone could have made it.
While admiring the airship, I held out two tickets to a man who looked like a crew member.
"Confirmed. Lord Abel and Lady Mist, please take your seats at E-13 and E-14."
After being guided aboard by the crew member, I immediately sat in my assigned seat and began lighting a cigar.
Smoking onboard would probably have been prohibited in my previous life, but there was no such rule in this world. That was the only part I liked.
Having proudly achieved the feat of smoking onboard,
I leisurely waited for the airship to depart.
Hissssss
How much time passed like that?
With the distinctive sound of steam being expelled, the airship began to depart. It rose vertically, then began flying properly.
Once it reached an altitude where the buildings on the ground looked like miniature toys, an announcement came through the speakers installed inside the airship.
[We would like to inform you that we promise a safe journey to all passengers using this airship. Our destination is Elea, a village near the capital.]
"Elea?"
"What? Wasn't it supposed to go straight to the capital?"
The nobles and wealthy businessmen who heard the announcement began muttering without realizing it.
The next announcement rang out once again, amplifying their doubts.
[Once again, the destination of this airship is Kromiel, a village near the capital.]
The destination had changed again.
It could happen once.
People made mistakes. But when the passengers heard yet another announcement, their anxiety began to accelerate.
"Did something happen?"
"You there, go ask the crew member what's going on. That's an order."
Krrrrr
As if it had heard the people's anxiety, another announcement began to play.
But this time, it was not the smooth broadcast from before. It was filled with unpleasant static.
[Krrr... announce... this... tion... this destination is !@#!@. @@$%.]
"..."
"..."
"..."
The unpleasant mechanical sound at the end of the announcement was as if a machine were repeating the same words over and over.
Everyone who heard that voice froze without realizing it.
At first, they had thought it was merely an accident or an inexperienced broadcaster, but anyone could see that this was far beyond that.
Breaking the brief silence, people began ordering the servants who had boarded with them to investigate the situation.
Everyone in this first-class section was either a noble or a businessman, so surprisingly, they did not panic.
"Shall I investigate and return?"
While I was watching them, Mist, seated beside me, spoke.
I gave a faint smile at her usual expressionless face and waved my hand.
"No, it's fine. I'll do it."
Fwooooo
At the same time, the smoke I exhaled began to move.
The smoke slowly spread across the floor, leaving the first-class section where I was and exploring every corner of the airship.
Business class, economy class. When I looked through the various sections, the situation was a spectacle.
People trembling with anxiety, and others shouting that they would get off immediately because they had children with them.
They say fear and madness are contagious.
I knew there was nothing to be gained from panicking like that, but
Well, it would be strange for people to maintain their composure forever.
'Where is it?'
After looking through each section, I did not find any particularly conspicuous object or person.
"What happened?"
"Please wait a moment. We're contacting the cockpit and the broadcasting room as well. If you could just wait..."
"No! How can you tell us to wait after hearing an announcement like that!"
Against the backdrop of people shouting at the crew assigned to first class, I began gathering the information from the smoke I had spread.
'The captain... Yes, there doesn't seem to be any problem here. He doesn't seem to know what's going on, either. The first officer is the same.'
The most dangerous possibility—that the cockpit had been seized—was not the case, either.
Unusually, the airship had rooms corresponding to a kitchen and broadcasting room, fitted to match its enormous size.
'Oh, bingo.'
At the door of the broadcasting room I had found, numerous crew members were struggling to open it.
They kept ramming their bodies into the door, trying to force it open somehow, as though it were locked.
After passing the crew members, I saw that the situation inside the broadcasting room was a spectacle.
Blood.
The crew members responsible for broadcasting were all dead. Meanwhile, men in red uniforms stood in formation.
"Ha..."
Knowing who they were, I unconsciously let out a sigh.
Bang!
[It's open! What the...?]
[Congratulations, gentlemen.]
They were a completely different breed from an underworld organization.
Simply put, it was like not placing mafias and indiscriminate terrorists in exactly the same category.
Yes, putting it that way should make it easier to understand.
The world we lived in now took the form of empires and kingdoms.
They were an organization that had fallen into the socialist ideology born from disillusionment with such a world.
But that ideology had eventually stagnated, and socialism had mutated and twisted until it was no longer socialism at all.
[And farewell.]
Nazis.
That was probably the clearest way to describe them.
***
"Those guys don't even listen to reason."
After seeing the situation in the broadcasting room, I muttered that without realizing it.
They were people who had fallen into Nazism.
Of course, their roots differed somewhat from the Nazism I knew, but they held an ideology extremely similar to it.
Screeeeeech
It was then, just as I was letting out that lament,
that the announcement came on once again with an unpleasant noise.
Not only the people here, but also the passengers and crew in the other sections, all began focusing on the announcement without realizing it.
[Ah, can you hear me?]
It was no longer the unpleasant machine-like sound from the uncanny valley. This was a human voice.
[Good, it sounds like you can hear me. Hello, gentlemen!]
Yet that human voice only made the foreboding intensify.
[This airship is now under the control of our [Red Dawn Society].]
The reason he was saying this was probably to throw everyone into a panic.
In reality, they had merely seized the broadcasting room, but they were using psychological pressure.
They were deliberately spreading false information for that purpose.
It was a fairly classic tactic.
[You are blessed beings! For you will become precious laborers in building the empire we desire!]
'Oh, that was quick. They seized the engine room.'
[However, unfortunately, the bourgeois scum cannot join us. What a shame.]
His voice sounded as though he were sniffling in genuine regret.
The faces of the nobles and businessmen nearby began turning red as they listened to him.
[Ah, and for reference, I would prefer it if you did not move.]
As if he knew what was happening in first class, the voice from the announcement stopped them from moving.
[There are mana bombs we secretly planted inside this airship. If you move, all the innocent civilians will die.]
The announcement ended with those words.
As soon as it ended, I stood up and began moving to leave first class.
Mist followed one step behind me.
"Wait!"
Just as I was walking toward the exit to leave first class, the crew member guarding the door blocked it with his body.
"You can't! If you leave now!"
His pupils trembled with fear, and his breathing had grown rough. Anyone could see that he was on the verge of panicking.
"Didn't you hear what those guys said?! They're the [Red Dawn Society]! Those lunatics never make empty threats! Please, return to your seat!"
"..."
"I beg you! Please!"
I quietly stared at the crew member, then turned to look at Mist, who had been following behind me.
By then, every noble and businessman around us was staring at me.
"It's all right if I tell him, right?"
"Yes. From the moment you became part of House Nebla, you may use that name as you please."
"D-ducal house?"
The crew member who overheard our private exchange began to turn deathly pale without realizing it.
No matter how many nobles were aboard the airship, the pressure carried by the name of a duke was not something that could easily be shaken off.
"Nebla."
"Yes?"
"We're people of House Nebla. Here's our proof."
House Nebla.
The true king of the South.
But there was another title that was even more famous.
The king of the underworld.
"We'll handle this matter. How about it?"
At my calm words, the crew member nodded without realizing it.
***
I had already grasped the entire situation aboard the airship through my ability.
So the moment I left first class, I headed straight for the place where the [Red Dawn Society], which appeared to be the root of the whole situation, was located.
"Oh my, you refuse to follow my orders."
That was the engine room I arrived at.
It looked as though a massacre had already taken place, with the bodies of countless crew members piled up like a mountain.
The engine room reeked of blood.
Members of the [Red Dawn Society] were holding revolvers to the heads of the captain and first officer.
"Didn't you hear me? Ah, no, perhaps you really are deaf."
His gestures were exaggerated, as though he were acting in a play.
"What a pity. Everyone is going to die because of your rash actions."
The man pulled a bomb switch from inside his coat, flashed a mad smile, and held it out as though he were showing off.
"Can you see this? This is the detonator that can set off the bombs installed in this airship."
Click.
"Do you realize that everyone will die because of your arrogance?"
I listened to the man's voice in silence, drew on the cigar in my hand, and let out a deep sigh.
"Phew... What a bunch of pathetic fools... Looking at this mess, that vaunted ideology of yours is garbage too. Then again, no wonder it has no public support."
I was already in a bad mood because the shop I frequented had been half-destroyed.
In that state, I had tried to calmly listen to the people who had hijacked the airship, only for them to talk like third-rate villains.
That was why a sharp response slipped out before I knew it.
"What...?"
The man's face stiffened, and his body began to tremble.
"How dare you... insult us! Insult our dream!!!!"
"..."
"I will never forgive you. How dare you, how dare you!! I'll throw every morsel of your flesh to the dogs!"
The man began throwing a hysterical fit.
I quietly watched him, exhaled cigar smoke, and spoke to the still-ranting man.
"Twelve bombs in the engine room, two on the floor of the engine room, one on each of the airship's wings, and countless others. Twenty-two in total. Right?"
I had determined the number of bombs they had planted using my smoke.
"I've already made sure none of them can explode."
[Warning]
[You have revealed information advantageous to yourself.]
[You have learned that the opponent's decisive move has been blocked.]
[Ability destructive power slightly increased]
It was the first time in a long while that I had seen the status window.
After seeing it, I stopped the man from raving and gave a contemptuous smile to the members of the [Red Dawn Society] who were staring blankly at me.
"It's a hassle, so let's finish this quickly."
***
Nostra Family capital branch.
The top floor of what could be called the most important branch among the Nostra Family's many branches throughout the Empire.
Breck was preparing to welcome Abel, who was due to arrive today.
"Good, this should do."
After perfectly organizing the information he was going to give Abel, Breck habitually turned on the magilight panel and began watching the news to gather information.
[Breaking news!]
The rather urgent voice of the announcer reached Breck's ears as he brewed himself a decent cup of coffee.
[An incident has occurred in which an airship bound for the capital was hijacked.]
"Huh?"
Wait. Wasn't that the airship ticket I had given him?
[The perpetrators are said to be the terrorist group designated by the Empire, [Red Dawn Society].]
"No, what the..."
Of all the countless airships—and with so many dates to choose from—did they have to hijack today's airship?
What kind of cruel trick of fate was this?
[Ah! What a relief! We have just received breaking news that the airship has landed at the capital airport again. Wait... What?]
The announcer looked stunned as he confirmed whether the information he had heard was correct, apparently having received something bewildering.
[Yes, yes... I'm sorry. The person who apprehended the organization [Red Dawn Society] that hijacked the airship is none other than one of House Nebla's heirs. Apparently, he hurriedly left the scene and was unable to give an interview.]
An heir of House Nebla.
Combining those two pieces of information, there was only one person Breck knew who fit the description.
Abel.
"Oh, my God..."
Once he reached that conclusion, Breck rubbed his aching forehead and sighed.
He had not even started the drug commission yet, and Abel had already had what kind of spectacular experience?
Was that man perhaps beloved by the god of pleasure and madness?
Breck genuinely thought so.