I Became a Heavy Smoker in an Arcane Punk Romance Fantasy — Chapter 78: No, I Don't Want To, Please Don't

The next day.

[You mean the city of Marita?]

[That's right.]

After getting up, I immediately used the typewriter that let me exchange messages with Ariel to ask her about the city of Marita Bellias had mentioned.

I wanted to find out what had happened in that city before her regression.

I might as well make use of a regressor's advantage.

But her answer was a little disappointing.

[I'm sorry. I don't know anything about that city of Marita either.]

[Oh, really?]

[Yes... I'm sorry. I wanted to help.]

Come to think of it, Ariel had said she'd grown up being persecuted by a certain count's family before her regression.

Human memory had its limits.

I'd forgotten most of my own past-life memories unless they were particularly vivid.

Ariel's situation was similar.

Since she'd grown up persecuted in a count's household, the information she could obtain had been limited, and she'd said she'd been busy rushing around after regressing.

[No, it's fine.]

[...]

[I only asked on the off chance.]

If she didn't know, there was nothing to be done. That was all I thought of it.

But it seemed that Ariel's thoughts differed from mine.

[Ariel?]

The typewriter remained completely silent, offering no answer.

A little while later, the typewriter that had stopped began moving again.

Tap. Tap.

[I just remembered something.]

[Before I regressed, the City of Artists, Marita...]

[I think I heard that it disappeared...]

What?

[Disappeared?]

What did she mean, it disappeared?

The typewriter, which had paused as though flustered by my question, began moving again.

[Ah, I'm sorry. I misspoke while trying to recall it. It didn't disappear; I heard the city had collapsed for some reason.]

It had collapsed.

After receiving Ariel's message, I quietly removed my hand from the typewriter and stroked my chin.

[I don't know the exact reason, either.]

The City of Artists.

[I had only just become an adult then.]

That was around the same time as now.

[But so many things were happening back then that it wasn't reported in the newspapers or on the news.]

"Hmm? What did you say?"

[Wait, you mean it wasn't reported on the news?]

An entire city had collapsed?

[Ah, yes. I told you, didn't I? Terrorist attacks on airships began, and all sorts of things happened around the world.]

I had heard about that.

The first airship terrorist attack carried out by the [Red Dawn Society], which hijacked the airship I'd boarded to deal with the drug [Mirage], and the first terrorist attack in which an airship crashed into a magic tower.

After that, more terrorist attacks took place, destabilizing the situation in every country until a world war eventually broke out.

[But a whole city collapsed, and it wasn't even reported?]

[Yes... The situation was so unstable back then that newspapers and the news were controlled, so information like that wasn't made public.]

[Ah.]

Then it made sense.

No matter how strange the state of the world was, there was no way a city's collapse wouldn't be reported on the news.

On the other hand, if it had been such a huge incident that the government had buried it, that would be understandable.

[Well, either way, thanks for telling me.]

[No, I'm sorry I couldn't tell you more.]

[No, it's fine. I'm grateful just to know this much.]

[That's a relief. Oh, I should get ready for my morning classes soon. I'll be going, then.]

"Hmm..."

My thoughts began to grow a little complicated.

The City of Artists, Marita.

The final destination of the person who recorded my battle with Azak.

And, finally, the place Ariel had said collapsed for some reason before her regression.

"Ugh."

I unconsciously frowned as I stared at the ceiling.

"Who should I send?"

[White Shadow]?

No, they were currently devoting all their efforts to interrogating Azak, who had killed Rihardt.

Last night, I believe Captain Lin of [White Shadow] explained it to me after hearing that Bellias had returned and I'd awakened.

Captain Lin had said that everyone in [White Shadow], except those currently out in the field, was putting all their effort into interrogating Azak.

Well, they would obey if I gave the order.

"But do I really need to?"

What they were doing right now was quite important too.

If I had no other cards to play, I would have given the order, but that wasn't the situation now.

For now, set that aside.

Then what if I mobilized the knights?

"Impossible."

Right. It was impossible.

Given the nature of the knights, if they moved, other factions would almost certainly notice.

They weren't inclined to move covertly like assassins.

Even if I sent a small elite unit, what needed to be done in Marita was an intelligence operation.

So the knights were out.

"That leaves..."

[Shadow].

Or I could go myself.

"..."

Let's make a move, then.

Having made that decision, I immediately set out.

***

[So that's why you came to me?]

After I roughly explained why I'd come to her, Bellias looked at me with a slightly bewildered expression.

She seemed to have been modifying my escort automaton right up until a moment ago.

I calmly nodded at her telepathic message.

"Well, then."

'Though that's a lie.'

In truth, it was a lie.

Bellias was certainly capable of infiltration as the boss of [Shadow], but was she really the best fit for this job?

That was less clear.

But.

'Then I recommend Lady Bellias over myself.'

That was what Nella, a member of [Shadow] who had disguised herself as the maid of Bella, who had once been an illegitimate child, had told me before I came here.

For the record, Bella had finished her recuperation and had now been transferred to [White Shadow].

She'd completed her recovery, had no trouble moving around, and could live normally as long as she avoided magical combat.

Perhaps because she was ambitious as well, she had gone along with my wishes and joined [White Shadow].

'Though I suspect she'll form a faction there.'

It didn't matter.

Once everything was over, I planned to retire and live a leisurely life, doing nothing but eating and loafing around.

If she formed her own faction and threatened my position, all the better for me.

'Why?'

'Because Lady Bellias is more suitable than I am.'

Nella had said that and begun explaining her reasoning.

'The City of Artists, Marita. From what I know, nearly everyone living in that city is an artist.'

'...'

'And you're going there to investigate the [Organization] that went silent after entering the city, correct?'

'Right?'

'This is merely my personal opinion, but if that's the case, I think it would be better to disguise yourself as an artist.'

'Because you'd be an artist like them, making it easier to gather information?'

It was a method I had often used in my previous life.

Taking a very ordinary job to gather information about a country, then building relationships with people in the same profession to obtain information.

If people had something in common, they naturally became closer, and if that common ground was the same profession, so much the better.

'Yes. Unfortunately, I possess abilities that are quite far removed from that sort of art.'

'...'

'So I judged that Lady Bellias, who makes automatons and is skilled in puppetry, would be better suited here.'

It was a fairly reasonable opinion.

But.

'Well, that's fine, but you do know Bellias herself has weak combat ability, right?'

Outstanding mana control.

Countless automatons created with that mana control, each capable of taking on a small country.

Yet, in stark contrast, Bellias herself had pitifully weak direct combat ability.

Ah, calling it strength sounded strange.

Let me put it another way.

She had plenty of power, but it would be more accurate to say that, astonishingly, she had no talent for offensive magic.

It was almost as if it were an equivalent exchange.

It was enough to make one think she had sacrificed her talent for offensive magic to obtain that immense mana control.

I couldn't begin to describe how dumbfounded I'd been when I first learned that.

'Yes. So I would like to make the suggestion once again.'

'Hmm?'

'Would you perhaps accompany Lady Bellias to the City of Artists, Marita?'

[Abel?]

"Oh, right. Sorry. I was lost in thought for a moment."

Coming to my senses at Bellias's telepathy, I casually shrugged and spoke.

"So, what do you think?"

[Hmm.]

"If you accept, I intend to go with you as well."

[Pardon?]

Bellias looked at me with a briefly startled expression and tilted her head slightly.

Well, I called it a startled expression, but since her default expression was blank, I was mostly just guessing.

It was simply the impression I got.

Since I could feel all her emotions through her telepathy, I probably wasn't wrong, either.

[You're coming along with me?]

"Yes."

[...]

As I answered lightly in the affirmative, her emotions began flowing into me through the telepathy.

Doubt, anguish, inner conflict, worry, and a tiny bit of anticipation?

It was an utterly complicated mix of emotions.

[Weren't you tired from what happened with Azak?]

This was worry.

She was worried that I was about to set out immediately without first recovering from the fatigue weighing on me.

[Why me?]

This was confusion.

[Ah, of course, I'm fine with it.]

Anguish and inner conflict. And a tiny bit of anticipation.

[Could you explain?]

"First, I'm not tired. I'm fine. And Bellias, I'm going with you so that we can pose as artists using your puppetry."

[Ah...]

"So, what do you think? Will you accompany me on this operation?"

[Then... I look forward to working with you.]

She had accepted.

"Right. Likewise."

After Bellias agreed, I smiled lightly and held out my hand to her.

She took the hand I extended with a slightly pleased expression.

Watching Bellias, I recalled my earlier conversation with Nella.

'Would you care to explain why I need to accompany her?'

Honestly, saying I wasn't tired would have been a lie.

Well, by tired, I meant I merely felt a little stiff.

There was no particular problem with my going on this operation.

I was simply being lazy.

At my question, Nella slightly raised her bowed head and calmly began to speak.

'Don't you know what Marita's specialty is?'

Flinch.

'Christo Cigars. One of the finest cigars, with a perfectly balanced flavor and excellent burn. It's a premium cigar whose aroma is even more exceptional when smoked directly in the City of Marita.'

That was also why Marita had come to be called the City of Artists.

The cigar that the great author Christo, who had written timeless masterpieces, was said to have smoked all his life.

When Christo died, he spoke with the owner of the shop that made the cigars he often smoked and obtained permission to use his name; the cigar created as a result was the Christo Cigar.

Captivated by this story and seeking inspiration from the great writer Christo, artists began flocking to Marita to smoke its specialty cigar.

That was the origin of the City of Artists, Marita.

'I concluded that you came all the way to me and gave me this order because of these Christo Cigars. Am I wrong?'

'That's right. You got it.'

The defining feature of Christo Cigars was that they amplified their aroma rather than preserving it for a long time.

Thus, people even said that, because the aroma was highly volatile, one had to go to the city and smoke one there to truly experience a genuine Christo Cigar.

That was why I had debated whether I needed to go myself.

'I'm glad to hear it. In that case, if you're going to taste a Christo Cigar anyway, I thought it might not be a bad idea to visit the city yourself, so I wanted to suggest it.'

I wasn't sure whether it was all right for her to say something like that.

As Nella said this with a smile, she looked remarkably like someone arranging a blind date.

[Hmm. Then I suppose I should prepare clothes for our cover.]

Unaware of these circumstances, I watched Bellias calmly prepare her cover outfit and mentioned something I hadn't been able to tell her.

"Ah, come to think of it, try to avoid using telepathy during this operation if possible."

[Pardon...?]

"We're planning to infiltrate as artist colleagues—or perhaps lovers—but it would be a little strange if you didn't say anything, wouldn't it?"

Well, being mute would make a good cover, but still.

If we did that, gathering information would inevitably become a little difficult.

[...]

Bellias stared at me silently at my words, then immediately bowed her head politely.

[I'm sorry. I believe someone else would be better for this operation. Please consider someone else.]

Even through telepathy, her tone was dry and devoid of a single grain of emotion.

"No..."

She hated speaking that much?

I'd only poked at her out of curiosity, but her reaction was beyond anything I'd imagined.

"You just have to speak aloud, don't you?"

[No.]

"I'm not telling you to keep talking."

[I don't want to.]

"It's just acting. You know that too, don't you?"

[Please don't.]

Anyone watching would think I was trying to pounce on her.

After a long back-and-forth, I finally managed to calm her down.