Chapter 46: First Double Flight (2)

Chapter 46: Square 40: Reasons I Can’t Run

The lavishly eye catching carriage rolled along a somewhat poorly maintained road. Small bumps in the road jostled the wheels and shook the cabin. Even through that, I kept working my pen across my notebook.

"That girl said she saw Shiran on a dimly lit street, right..."

Trying to organize this case properly, I jotted down what little information I had. But there just wasn’t enough to work with. The more I tried to clear Shiran’s name, the more suspicious she started to look instead.

"Better find witnesses at the scene just in case... no wait, that just brings up the possibility it was a case of mistaken identity..."

"I don’t believe it was mistaken identity."

Selva, steering the carriage, responded to my muttering.

"Lord Luganis mentioned recently that a blood covered girl had been taken in by the Knight Order about two weeks ago. This might be referring to that incident."

Luganis, right, Elizabeth’s father. Being her father, he’d rank fairly high among the nobility. Information coming through him should be reliable, probably well corroborated.

"At the time, Lord Luganis mentioned the name Shiran. That girl earlier was also called Shiran. Perhaps she really is the culprit."

I wanted to argue against that immediately, but right now I had no evidence or grounds to back it up. If only I could learn more details about Shiran’s father, that might change things.

"...Right! Selva, mind if I ask something?"

"What would that be?"

Being a butler serving a knightly family, he might have information on the guards too.

"Do you know a guard named Clover?"

"I do. Dennix Clover, captain of the sixth division. A fairly well known figure."

"Well known?"

At my question, Selva answered with some reluctance.

"Mostly for bad reasons. Whenever he harms ordinary citizens, his superiors end up cleaning up after him."

"What!? Shouldn’t they just fire him!?"

"That’s not so simple. For whatever reason, he has considerable support among the nobility. I don’t know exactly what he’s involved in, but honestly, I wouldn’t be surprised if Lord Clover turned out to be the culprit here. Ah, please keep what I just said between us."

"So, looking into him would..."

"Looking into him would be pointless."

Selva cut in before I could finish.

"As for the time of the incident, Lord Clover was in the middle of a divisional meeting at that time. Plenty of witnesses."

"An alibi, then?"

"Yes."

Which meant Duke Vade was the real culprit? But could someone actually pull off making it look like Shiran did the killing? And if Shiran really was innocent, there was no explaining why she fled the scene. If she’d actually been there, she should have seen the culprit. Even if she hadn’t seen them, the culprit would’ve assumed she had. Close enough to get covered in blood, why wasn’t Shiran killed too?

"Ugh, the more I think about this, the deeper the hole gets."

Every question that came up just led to more question marks, nothing cleared up. In a situation like this, maybe some brilliant detective from a novel would have a flash of insight. But unfortunately, an ordinary high school graduate without even a college degree couldn’t find so much as a thread to pull on.

"We’ll be arriving shortly."

Glancing out the window, the scenery looked familiar. Old Man Beard’s house was close now.

"We’ve arrived. Please, step down."

"Thank you."

With the road barely paved at all, my back ached a little. Even the finest seat cushion apparently has its limits absorbing shocks.

"I’ll go park the carriage, please wait a moment."

Selva parked the carriage somewhere out of the way along the roadside and locked it. Come to think of it, would he be waiting outside? If he ended up accompanying me while I talked with Old Man Beard, things could get complicated. Just as I was thinking that, it seemed things would work out fine.

"I’ll be waiting outside, then."

Felt like he’d read my mind exactly. Was it written all over my face? Still, someone under suspicion being left unguarded while talking to someone alone made me a little uneasy, like there had to be some catch.

"Is that okay? What about the monitoring?"

"Yes, my lady instructed me not to follow inside."

Elizabeth might trust me more than I’d realized. Either way, that was a relief.

"Please, go ahead."

With Selva’s voice at my back, I knocked on Old Man Beard’s door.

"Who’s there?"

Good, sounds like he’s home. I gave Old Man Beard’s real name, the way I’d greeted him before. That should signal that I’m a fellow reincarnate.

"Peter Dixon, this should tell you who I am."

"What!? Coming, hold on!"

The sound of the door lock releasing. The door swung open forcefully, nearly hitting me. Seeing me dressed in a suit, Old Man Beard broke down in tears of emotion.

"So... you finally came. Ah, no, that’s not it. If you already know that name, you must have met me once before, then?"

"Yes. I need your wisdom."

"Understood. Come in."

"........It’s hopeless."

That was his first reaction after I explained Shiran’s situation in full detail.

"Based on that story, anyone would conclude this girl, Shiran, is the culprit."

If even Old Man Beard reacted this way, I really had no choice but to ask Shiran directly. But she’d probably just run off without answering, that much was obvious.

"And, I’d steer clear of Vade entirely."

"Why!?"

Old Man Beard took a sip of coffee, swallowing slowly.

"That blue man you mentioned. He’s a professional fighter known as Vade’s Shield. Duke Vade has a persistent reputation for wrongdoing, but because of that man, even the guards can’t get their investigation off the ground. Running, without fighting, is probably the wiser move here."

Running. True, that would be the simplest and most reliable path to survival. Just take Shiran and Flaut and disappear. Anyone would think that way. ...But I’d already seen it. This country’s future, turned into hell itself.

"No, I’m fighting. That’s the only path I’ve got!"

I slammed my hand on the table and stood up forcefully.

"I can’t afford to keep reacting after the fact. Before the foreign summit in a few days, I’ll keep Shiran safe, and then stop the summit itself!"

Against my forceful declaration, Old Man Beard regarded me with remarkable calm.

"This country is going to fall. That’s what you’re saying, isn’t it?"

Following Selva, now even this man could read right through me. Seeing me thrown off balance, Old Man Beard let out a light laugh.

"Heh, I’ve been through something similar myself. Listen. Don’t give up. If you want to remain human, never give up!"

Words from a man who’d had death itself taken from him carried weight, backed by real conviction. Old Man Beard, appearances aside, looked remarkably reliable in that moment.

"The reason this country falls is probably that the king dies at the summit, isn’t it? No, Luganis, the knight captain, might be at risk too."

"Yes, at the very least, Elizabeth Beyonetta losing her life is certain."

"A city full of ruffians. Without the military keeping order, it’ll collapse from within immediately."

Which meant, again, time was the real problem. Protect Shiran from Duke Vade, hopefully track down the real murderer, arrange a meeting with the king, and beg him to cancel the summit. If things went well, Flaut might be able to appeal to the Knight Order, but time was simply too short no matter how I looked at it.

"A way to stop the king’s summit... sorry, but I don’t think I can be of help on this one. My apologies."

"...No, just having someone to talk this through with helps enough."

Old Man Beard was reliable, but he obviously didn’t have the power to move an entire nation. Guess I’ll try pleading with Elizabeth about this too. Slim chance, but with some luck, I might get a direct audience with the king.

"Thank you for the valuable talk today."

I bowed to Old Man Beard and got up from my seat.

"Ah, right! Almost forgot to give you this."

Old Man Beard raised his voice, stopping me as I was about to leave.

"Ah, right, the gun!"

"So, you already know about that."

He pulled the silver lump of metal out of the box. How far could I actually fight with a small weapon like this?

"You already know, I imagine, but there’s only three rounds left. Have you fired this before?"

"Yes, it’s been a huge help so far."

"I see, then take it with you again."

I took the gun, tucked it into my bag, and left the house. Feeling guilty for keeping Selva waiting this long, my feet naturally broke into a jog toward the carriage. In the end, what I’d learned from talking with Old Man Beard was the grim, unavoidable truth, that nothing would be resolved unless the king’s summit itself was stopped.

"No matter what, I need to get an audience with the king."

Somehow convince Elizabeth to arrange a meeting with the king. Shiran and her father’s problem, and everything else, piling up endlessly. Weighed down by a mountain of seemingly impossible tasks, I let myself be jostled by the carriage once more.