Chapter 53
It had been several days since Lydia and Morgan began their inquiries.
At last, they had reached one side of the Triangle—the people responsible for a large-scale ‘Supply.’ Yet the man had no idea he’d taken part in a dangerous transaction.
Between the commercial district gate and the street.
Lambert, a water seller who regularly delivered water jars, readily opened up as soon as he was paid.
“Well, I only moved a whole lot of water jars once, so… I don’t know much. It was just a little unusual. Was it a prop for a play called <The Knight of the Lake>?”
“….”
Even when Lydia, who was unmistakably a noblewoman, approached and questioned him, the water seller Lambert answered honestly. There was no sign of criminal involvement in his breathing or his eyes.
‘Does he really not know what he was moving?’
Lydia spoke to him calmly.
“Have you ever looked inside the jars?”
“!”
Lambert went pale and waved his hands.
“Goodness, they paid me extra to deliver sealed water jars without looking inside…. If I peeked, my reputation as a water seller would be ruined! Couriers who tamper with cargo in the commercial district get their hands chopped off.”
“…I see.”
His fear was grounded in reality.
It seemed to be an actual law.
Lydia asked him another question.
“Did you see any unfamiliar faces where you delivered the ‘water jars’? Anyone you hadn’t seen in the past year, for example.”
“No. It was a fruit seller named ‘Billy,’ someone I occasionally worked with. We’ve been drinking wine together for years, and going to back-alley shops to pla—. Ahem, anyway, we used to hang out quite a bit.”
To put it another way,
they were business partners who went golfing and to bars together.
‘They probably team up to sell drinks whenever there’s a national event….’
Lydia asked about the fruit seller.
“What was he there to do?”
“He didn’t know the details either. He just had to store the water jars in his shop’s warehouse for a few days. They said the troupe would come get them if he left the warehouse door open on the appointed day….”
“A warehouse?”
Renting out a warehouse.
It was a common side business for merchants with large shops.
“Billy runs a pretty big fruit shop. After the Sun Sabbath Festival ended, he cleared out all his warehouses. He said he’d been making pocket money by renting one out in the meantime.”
“Did he notice anything suspicious?”
“Not at all. In a city like Saintroix, where space is scarce, there are plenty of people who make a business of temporarily storing goods like this.”
“….”
Since it was such a common kind of transaction,
they seemed to have ignored anything that felt a little off.
Lydia asked again.
“Did he say anything about the people who came to collect the ‘water jars’?”
“Hmm….”
Lambert scratched his chin and tilted his head.
“Well, he was just following a contract arranged by the guild. He was probably ready to look the other way as long as he got paid. No matter how close you are, you can’t pry open a mouth sealed with money in the commercial district.”
“…I see.”
‘The reason he spoke so easily must be that no one told him to keep the details of this transaction secret.’
Lydia took a few gold coins from her pocket and handed them to Lambert without hesitation.
“Here’s a little extra. Thank you for answering so readily.”
“!”
Lambert’s face lit up.
A few minutes of answering questions had earned him a day’s wages.
‘Wow! I wondered what was going on when she suddenly started asking me questions. She really does seem like a rich young lady…!’
He rubbed his hands together and bowed.
“Oh, of course, my lady! How could I refuse a noblewoman’s questions? Hehe….”
“But isn’t that dangerous?”
“Pardon?”
Lydia cautioned him carefully.
“If this was such an ‘unusual job,’ you could face retaliation just for telling me about it.”
“Hmm….”
But Lambert shook his head.
“Honestly, whether those were real water jars or not…. It’d be harder to find someone here who hasn’t done a ‘deal’ like that at least once.”
“….”
A deal where everyone knew and yet pretended not to.
The moment money landed in their palms…
they trusted only the words on the contract.
If they were paid extra, they didn’t lift the lid.
It was nothing out of the ordinary.
In this commercial district,
that kind of ‘deal’ was commonplace.
Lydia said,
“Do you think they were really water jars?”
“That doesn’t matter.”
“?”
“Even if they were real water jars, they could be supplies stockpiled at some secret base, or ingredients for poison used by some secret organization…. Even a water seller would be asking for trouble by taking an interest in that.”
“I see.”
Lambert made a show of covering his eyes.
“I just deliver water jars. I don’t care where they go or what they’re used for. That’s how I’ve been able to stay in the water-jar delivery business for over ten years.”
The moment you witnessed something, you became an accomplice.
But if you didn’t witness it, you were an ‘honest merchant.’
Lambert operated on this precarious gray boundary.
“To me, those were just water jars to be used as props in a play. That’s what the contract said. The guards probably couldn’t punish me for that.”
“…Understood.”
Lydia nodded,
then left and went over to Morgan.
‘She always leaves the talking to me…. Is she still not used to speaking with other people?’
Morgan was crouched in a corner where no carriages passed. Her red hair was hidden in the shadows, its color soft and muted like a rose.
Morgan looked up.
“How did it go?”
“He had no idea he’d taken part in a suspicious transaction. He seems to think it was just one of the gray-area deals common in the commercial district.”
“Well, that makes sense.”
Morgan brushed off her skirt and stood up. A few pieces of straw fluttered down from her backside.
“Ugh… It smells like horse manure.”
“….”
She grimaced, then sighed. Then she opened her mouth again, feigning nonchalance.
“…In the first place, sharing the ‘guilt’ is the greatest advantage of an organization structured like that.”
“Sharing the guilt?”
Morgan nodded.
“Since everyone only knows a little, they never feel guilty or sense any danger… so there’s no chance of making a mistake in the first place. It’s a structure that gets even people who’ve never committed a crime to take part without changing their expression.”
The Triangle of Desire was secretive.
And each member knew only a very small part. Only a tiny handful knew the organization’s full picture and purpose. The rest were made to take part without feeling even a trace of guilt.
In a word…
it was an organizational structure designed to keep people from realizing they were doing something wrong.
Morgan marveled at it.
“I don’t know who came up with this, but…. They put it together in a pretty ruthless way. In theory, it could go on for decades without ever being discovered.”
“….”
“Anyway, we just need to go to that guy Billy’s fruit warehouse, right?”
“That’s right.”
“Then let’s go.”
“All right.”
Morgan and Lydia started walking toward the fruit shop. After spending the past several days making inquiries all over Saintroix, they knew their way around.
As they walked quietly together,
only the two girls’ footsteps echoed.
“….”
“….”
Lydia was the one to break the silence.
“Morgan.”
“Yeah?”
“Do you think it’s dangerous?”
“Yeah. It seems like an organization trying to overthrow the country.”
“?!”
What?
‘Has she figured out about the Black Temple?’
Before Lydia could ask,
Morgan answered in a clear voice.
“The way they hide their existence so cleverly and distribute responsibility everywhere…. It would take an endless well of malice to come up with something like that.”
“….”
“Malice grows colder the deeper it goes. A lunatic rampaging with a sword might kill one or two people, but build a structure that puts malice to work, and you can make society collapse.”
“….”
It seemed to be Morgan’s personal philosophy.
‘The deeper malice goes, the colder it gets….’
Her deductions continued.
“If they’ve prepared this meticulously, they’re probably a suspicious organization with ties to high-ranking nobles. One capable of standing in direct opposition to the very structures of religion or the state.”
“Even so, you will help me?”
“We’re already caught up in it. Ever since that country bumpkin pulled out the holy sword.”
“….”
Just how much had she figured out…?
Morgan grinned at Lydia.
She seemed strangely triumphant.
“And these people are connected to that ‘Black Stake’ and the corrupted cardinal from back then, right? You’re probably fighting them as a princess.”
“!”
Lydia’s pace slowed a little.
Morgan’s deductions were that accurate.
“And since you don’t know how far they’ve spread through the kingdom, you’re cautiously approaching them under the guise of an academy student and a princess.”
“…Heh.”
“What, did you think I wouldn’t figure it out after all that commotion?”
“I didn’t think that, but….”
‘…I was going to tell her someday, when the time was right.’
She’d never expected Morgan to figure it out on her own.
Lydia spoke in a slightly deflated voice.
“I didn’t think you’d be completely unaware, but you’ve come remarkably close to the heart of it—no, you’ve got it exactly right.”
“….”
“That’s right. I’m fighting those people.”
“…Hmph. You should’ve just told me from the beginning.”
Morgan crossed her arms with a ‘Hmph!’
To her,
Lydia answered quietly.
“Arti, Aria, and Mave… still cling to some fixed beliefs about this world.”
“….”
“That royalty is noble, the Sun God is absolute, and every social institution, including the Vow of Purity, is absolute…. Those kinds of beliefs.”
“….”
Morgan tossed out,
“They’re a bunch of justice-obsessed fools. They believe everyone is good and that the world works fairly.”
“….”
An extreme level of realism.
Perhaps the despair surrounding her had sharpened her reason.
‘She’s awkward when it comes to relationships with people, but is her insight into reality as someone powerless better than anyone else’s?’
Thinking that,
Lydia spoke softly.
“I was going to tell you all eventually. I hoped that, as you faced the darkness ahead, you would gradually free yourselves from those beliefs.”
“If that’s the case, I’m fine.”
“….”
“…So I’ll help you.”
“….”
Somehow,
that declaration made her feel reassured.
“Thank you. That’s a great comfort.”
“Hmph.”
As usual, Morgan huffed and said,
“Of course.”
“Because you’re a genius?”
“…Hmph. You know it.”
And the two of them arrived at the fruit shop.
After investigating,
it seemed that the fruit seller Billy also had little idea what he’d helped with. But the very same organization Lambert had mentioned came up again.
“Well…. I was only told that the water jars would be used as props in a play by the Hanson Troupe.”
“The Hanson Troupe?”
“Yes, it’s a theater troupe that’s been putting on occasional performances in Saintroix for the past few months….”
“!”
Lydia and Morgan looked at each other.
“Most likely….”
“Those guys are probably lackeys of the ‘unchanged side.’”
The two headed toward the place where the Hanson Troupe was based.
It felt as though the clues to the case were gradually coming to light.