Chapter 131
The story continues off the page
The Dare in the Back Room
Two academy girls, one lethal measure, and your slate paying for it
That night.
Even though the sun had long since set, the lights in the workshop district stayed on late into the night.
The artisans preparing for the Founding Festival worked through the night as if it were day, and hammering never stopped even past midnight.
And then there was Belkman's workshop.
Its door was firmly shut. Even the manastone lamp hanging under the signboard was dark.
Inside that building,
a faint light still leaked from the deepest part of the workshop.
“Damn it.”
Belkman ground his teeth and rummaged roughly through the workbench drawers.
He hurled the papers into the flames. The documents blackened by the fire vanished without leaving even a trace of ash.
They were blueprints for a manastone lamp.
However, there was a subtle difference from the original.
It was a manastone lamp with a special resonance formula added.
It had been designed to burst apart as if burning itself up the moment it received a specific mana signal.
Belkman had personally made it after taking the commission.
Even Belkman, who had taken the job, didn't know exactly who had placed the order.
He had only accepted because they promised him enough money to live idly for the rest of his life.
He had planned to sneak it into the original batch of manastone lamps, deliver them, take the money, and run, but things had gone strangely.
“What the hell was that weird bastard?”
Belkman immediately thought of the two knights who had come to the workshop that afternoon, especially Leon.
A knight who wore a ridiculous restraint device around his neck like some kind of fashion accessory.
He'd never seen anyone that suspicious in his life.
He looked like a snot-nosed brat, but every word he said sent a chill down Belkman's spine.
Because the lighting function he mentioned was already engraved in the manastone lamp.
He had no idea how Leon knew, but that wasn't the important part.
He had taken the manastone lamp.
If the imperial mage engineers investigated it, uncovering the secretly hidden formulas would be child's play.
Then he wouldn't get off-scot-free either.
He planned to run before the knights uncovered the manastone lamp's secret and came after him.
-Grip.
Belkman stuffed the things he needed right away into a bundle.
The ledger.
The remaining blueprints.
A few gold coins he had received as an advance.
He hadn't taken much, but it was enough to save his life for now.
He slung the bundle across his chest and slipped out the back door of the workshop.
“…….”
The back of the workshop was dark, unlike the street in front. Belkman looked around and hurried off.
He pressed himself into the darkness and masked his footsteps with the sound of hammers.
He had memorized his escape route in advance.
The eastern canal.
There was a hidden way out of the city there.
He only had to make it that far.
Belkman walked quickly. He wanted nothing more than to run, but that would only draw attention.
So he walked.
Like always.
Just with a slightly hurried step.
Thinking that, he soon reached the eastern canal.
Surely no one had followed him, right?
Feeling guilty for no reason, Belkman glanced back once and entered the canal.
That was when it happened.
“Where are you going?”
“Ugh.”
Belkman let out a short groan and froze in place.
Beneath the stone bridge.
Someone stepped out from the shadows of the night.
A pair of golden eyes gleamed in the dark. It was the knight with the restraint device he had met during the day, Leon.
“Y-You, why are you here...?”
“This canal has a secret passage that leads outside the city. I was keeping watch in case some bad people tried to use it.”
“…….”
“But what brings you to such an out-of-the-way place at this hour, master artisan? You look just like someone trying to flee in the dead of night.”
“W-What do you mean, flee in the dead of night? What are you talking about? I only came out for a little fresh air.”
“And you even packed a bundle?”
Leon's gaze fixed on the bundle hanging from Belkman's chest.
Belkman reflexively hugged it to his chest as if trying to hide it.
-Splash.
Water splashed.
Leon began walking toward Belkman at an unhurried pace.
Belkman instinctively took a step back.
“W-Why are you doing this? What crime have I committed?”
“What a misunderstanding. I never said you had committed a crime. We simply happened to meet by chance.”
-Splash.
Leon stopped directly in front of Belkman.
“Isn't that right?”
“……Wh-what do you want from me?”
“Hmm, let's see.”
“I don't know anything. I just did as I was told. You can torture me all you like, but nothing will come out of it.”
“Are you sure about that?”
Leon smiled faintly.
Belkman's face stiffened. He couldn't guess what Leon was thinking.
Whatever it was, he was certain it would be harmful to him.
“Well, I suppose that could be true. The people who order jobs like this wouldn't reveal their identities to a mere artisan.”
“R-Right. I only took the money and...”
“But tell me, do you really think torture would be meaningless?”
“What do you mean by that...?”
“Torture isn't only about tearing flesh and breaking bones, is it?”
Belkman still didn't understand what Leon was talking about.
Unresolved doubts, and the fear that sprang from them.
Savoring the look in Belkman's eyes as those feelings mixed together, Leon continued his explanation.
“You were never out tonight. You'll go straight back to the workshop and work as usual.”
“What?”
“And you'll repair every manastone lamp you made.”
“R-Repair them? How?”
“So the mana stones won't explode. And so we can trace the sender of the signal.”
“A-Are they all?”
Leon tilted his head.
“Isn't that obvious? If even one of them explodes, it'll be a disaster. You have to fix them all.”
The color drained from Belkman's face in real time.
“That's absurd! How much time is left until the Founding Festival...! There's a mountain of stock that needs reworking. You want me to tear apart and rebuild all of it? I'll work myself to death!”
“It's torture because it's hard. Or did you think I'd let you go just like that? A criminal who tried to terrorize the capital?”
“…….”
“If you can't do it, then there's no helping it. We'll just have to dispose of you along with the manastone lamps you made...”
“I-I'll do it! I'll fix them all!”
Belkman shouted desperately.
“It's nice that you're answering so obediently. There's nothing in the world that can't be done with effort, so cheer up.”
Now that the game had become reality, Leon even got to see this man's flustered expression.
He thought that was a nice little bonus.
“But there's a problem. I only know how to make them according to the blueprints. I don't know how to modify them differently.”
“The manastone lamp you took earlier is already being analyzed by the court mage engineers. We'll send you new blueprints, so there's no need to worry.”
“…….”
Realizing there was no way out, Belkman let out a resigned sigh.
Leon nodded as if satisfied.
“Now then, I'll escort you safely back to the workshop.”
***
Belkman returned to the workshop the same way he had come.
Leon opened the door.
“There. Your cozy home.”
“……A workshop isn't a home. My home is elsewhere.”
“You won't be able to leave this place until the festival is safely over, so yes, it's your home.”
“How is that a home? It's a prison.”
Leon didn't care how Belkman saw the workshop.
He jerked his chin as if telling him to hurry up and go inside.
Belkman was extremely displeased, but he didn't have the strength to resist a knight and run. He reluctantly went inside.
“There'll be guards watching you, so don't waste time doing anything foolish and just work hard. Good night.”
Leon offered a polite farewell and left the workshop.
He joined Rosanna and the other knights not far away.
“Seems like that's done.”
“Yes. I think it should be enough to keep him under watch so he can't do anything stupid.”
“I'll assign someone to him separately.”
The knights left Belkman under surveillance and returned to the imperial palace.
Richard greeted them when they returned to the main building.
“You've had a long night. How did it go?”
“As Leon predicted, Belkman attempted to flee in the dead of night through the eastern canal. We caught him safely and sent him back to the workshop, and we've placed him under covert surveillance.”
“I see. Any other unusual developments?”
“Nothing else.”
After hearing Rosanna's report, Richard nodded.
“Thank goodness we caught it in advance. We almost suffered major damage.”
Manastone lamps linked to the caster's magic, of all things.
If all those manastone lamps had exploded at once during the festival, the capital would have been thrown into chaos.
Just imagining it sent a chill down his spine.
All he could do was be grateful they'd stopped it in advance.
Richard's gaze turned to Leon. It was all thanks to Leon that they had been able to prepare for this incident.
“It's all thanks to you, Leon. You've already made a big contribution since the moment you arrived.”
“Not at all. I was just lucky. Besides, the matter still isn't completely resolved.”
“That's right. The matter isn't over yet.”
The mastermind who had commissioned Belkman to modify the manastone lamps.
They had to catch the bastards who'd dared to carry out terrorism in the very heart of the empire.
The court mage engineers were already reworking the manastone lamps.
If the culprit activated them without knowing that, the signal could be traced back and they would be caught. That was the plan.
'Of course, I already know who it is.'
Leon already knew who they were.
But if he carelessly revealed their identities, it would only arouse suspicion.
Besides, there was no way to catch them unless they came to him first.
With Elodie absent, the best option was to set a trap and wait for them to take the bait.
'Then, for now...'
They could catch the mastermind behind the manastone lamp incident during the Founding Festival, so they'd have to wait until then.
Should I deal with something else first?
***
-BANG!
A magic tool shop on the commercial street.
The door shattered and was violently blasted open.
“Kyaaaah!”
“W-Who the hell are you?”
Leon stepped inside, treading on the shattered door.
“Now, please remain calm. I'm a slave. There will be a brief search, so I ask for your cooperation.”