Chapter 444

Silence fell. The eyes of my four friends were wide as they stared at me from their seats. I stood there blankly in front of four pairs of eyes that were practically round.

“Uh…”

Ulrike’s small voice broke through the silence. A moment later, a scream tore through my eardrums.

“Whaaaaaat?!”

“Lukas, what…?!”

“What are you talking about?”

“W-Wait, what?! Why? How?! It was definitely hanging from Heike’s cabinet handle…! And you…! Huh…?!”

My ears were ringing. I was ultimately robbed of the note quite helplessly by Ulrike, who tried to snatch it away by force. There was no particular reason to stop him anyway. Ulrike unfolded the note and shouted.

“H-How could you say you wrote this?! But…!”

I wrote it, but how am I supposed to prove that? Thinking that, I retraced my memories.

“This just fell out of your secretary’s file.” It hadn’t fallen out. I had taken it from my pocket. The secretary would obviously deny that it was his note, but that was beside the point.

“The person who drew this certainly wasn’t very skilled, but this is unmistakably an alchemical symbol.” I had wondered why he was pointing something like that out, but quickly accepted it and admired the chairman’s quick-wittedness. Yes. It was an alchemical symbol. I had needed the chairman to recognize what it meant and take an interest in it.

“May I take this?” I had to take it.

After that, I stopped by the residence briefly after dinner before warping to the conference room. As I remembered it, my friends had all gathered there about thirty minutes later. Why had I stopped by the residence instead of going straight to the conference room after dinner? If I had intended to arrive before the others anyway, there had been no reason to stop by the residence at all…

I gave Ulrike, who was clutching the back of his neck like he was about to collapse if I didn’t answer, a serious reply.

“Yeah. I left the note hanging from Heike’s cabinet handle.”

“…! N-No, but back then…!”

“Hahahaha! This is hilarious.”

Zähringen burst into hearty laughter with his arms crossed. Leo sat there with an utterly dumbfounded expression, as though he couldn’t decide whether to laugh or sigh in disbelief. Surprisingly, Elias looked exactly the same.

Anyway, after Narke saw the note back then, he called me over and gave me a peculiar smile. He had realized immediately that I was up to something the moment he saw the note. Right. I never thought he’d actually fall for it. If anything, I was just glad at least one person had seen through me.

‘…It would have been nice if Narke were here.’

My head ached from guilt. Of course, I hadn’t lied because I genuinely wanted to deceive them. Elias lowered his brows dramatically and slammed his hands on the table with a whine.

“Whyyy?! Luka! You should’ve told me! You did something this fun all by yourself?!”

“…I’m sorry. I needed you guys to believe it was a message sent by someone you didn’t know anything about, too.”

Even with just that, Zähringen seemed to understand what I was trying to do and nodded to himself. I looked at the others, who still seemed completely stunned, and continued.

“There was a chance the enemy might approach you. If they came disguised as civilians and you reacted like you knew something… that would have been the end of the plan.”

“The plan?”

Zähringen asked even though he already knew the answer. I narrowed my eyes slightly and replied.

“Your safety.”

Not everyone was as good at acting as I was. The smallest movement of the eyes, a slight tightening of the muscles in the neck, a subtle change in tone—or an unnecessarily exaggerated way of speaking. Any of those things could become a problem. Could I really guarantee that nothing would go wrong? A plan could always be rebuilt if it fell apart. This was the kind of game where that was still possible. But lives couldn’t be brought back. Neither could these days of their lives.

Everything that could happen to them because of this situation would be an experience they never needed to have. Unless my friends wanted it, I didn’t want to simply follow wherever my own judgment took me.

“No matter how I think about it, you really aren’t suited to be a subordinate.”

For a moment, my eyes almost darted toward Leo. Instead, I raised my head toward the source of the voice—Zähringen. He was staring straight at me, his fingers interlaced, without a trace of a smile. I stared back at him in silence.

“I can’t understand how you’re not the heir to your duchy.”

“…….”

Ulrike’s mouth fell open in shock.

That was a challenge to Adrian Askanien. Otherwise, Zähringen would have to be mocking me. But there was that look in his eyes—the same look I’d seen before, the one that seemed to look forward to the day when we’d meet again as rulers of our respective states. There was no way Ulrike could fail to sense it, too.

I studied Zähringen’s eyes for a long moment before answering.

“Thanks.”

He never said everything outright, but I could guess what was hidden in his way of speaking. He was praising me for keeping all of this to myself until now. In Zähringen’s eyes, as someone who thought and acted like a ruler, my decision hadn’t been wrong in the slightest. He meant that when the greater good was at stake, it was right to suppress the urge to speak.

This was praise from someone born with the fate to become a ruler. Naturally, I understood what that implied. At the same time, something Leo had once said came back to me.

“…….”

My mouth tasted bitter. I was too ashamed of myself to look my friends in the eye.

But I still didn’t know how to do any better than this. Should I have followed my emotions and told them everything? I couldn’t accept the thought of them dying or suffering. I still remembered the look on Leo’s face during that lost time in Brandenburg.

I didn’t have many chances left to turn back time.

Zähringen gave a faint smile and touched his temple.

“So that’s why. I thought it was strange that you never said you’d found a note with clues about 11:50 and Giesing. And… that’s why you said earlier that we needed to find the people lying in wait.”

“Hmm, you caught it there.”

“Yeah. It must be a script where we use the enemy’s enemies against them, so there’s no way the person we’re after would show themselves. It all makes sense now.”

Zähringen had skipped over several steps in his reasoning as well. Leo pressed a hand to his eyes and forehead, letting out a weary groan.

“So when you said ‘11:50, as late as possible’… that’s what you meant…”

“Sorry I couldn’t tell you beforehand.”

“So you weren’t given another note somewhere. You meant you’d decided on the time yourself…”

“You heard?!”

At Ulrike’s question, Leo nodded. Zähringen paid no attention to Leo’s words. He rested his chin on his interlaced fingers and looked at me.

“Then we need to understand why you brought this up in the first place. If you’re the one who wrote this note, then you had to lure the enemy out to Giesing before 11:50 PM.”

“Yeah, exactly.”

“Then you needed the enemy to see this note. And from what you’re saying, you think they’ve actually seen it.”

His reasoning flowed naturally. I nodded. Zähringen raised the corners of his lips ever so slightly and asked with a sharp look in his eyes, “Are they still watching us right now?”

“…….”

“If they were, we wouldn’t need to go all the way to Giesing, would we? Between searching for someone lying in wait around Giesing and searching for someone hiding around the Headquarters, it’s obvious which would be safer.”

So, if we take one step further?

I smiled at him. Zähringen stared directly into my eyes with the same expression, then raised his brows.

“…Ah.”

He gave a quiet chuckle and pressed a finger to his temple.

“Come to think of it, the fact that you wrote the note actually makes this safer. At least the target you’re after would never, ever think of ambushing you.”

That was right. My target could never ambush me. It was fundamentally an impossible game for them to play. The chances of another enemy besides my target ambushing us were also relatively low compared to other operations. That didn’t mean we were completely safe, though, so I wasn’t going to let my guard down.

Zähringen had figured out everything I hadn’t said. I was going to explain it all to them one by one anyway, but it was still impressive every time. Ulrike thought hard for a moment before asking,

“I don’t get it… If you wrote this note yourself and were the one holding it, how did the enemy see it? Don’t tell me there’s a spy inside the Command?”

“No, it’s not that. You don’t have to worry about that.”

There was something worth thinking about here.

I had shown one of these notes to the Hermetische Gesellschaft. Why had I done that? Other than Leo, Narke, and Elias, none of them knew that I had visited the chairman and obtained the note there. But Leo and Elias would naturally wonder about it. I turned my gaze toward them.

‘They’ll figure it out themselves.’

The setup of this case was actually quite simple. The mere fact that the incident had happened was enough to make a good guess at the culprit, and I had singled out the most likely suspect almost immediately after figuring out what had happened. Based on everything I’d verified by going back and forth between the Extra Chapter and reality, my initial deduction hadn’t been wrong.

As if to prove that this wasn’t a difficult problem, my friends had also figured out the culprit from just a few hints from me. Narke was obviously quick to catch on, and Leo had figured it out too, just as Elias had.

Since they had accepted my deductions so readily until now, they would also be able to figure out why I’d told them I’d brought the note from the place I’d just visited—the Hermetische Gesellschaft.

And that brought us to the next question.

I continued, looking at my friends.

“This is what I wanted to tell you. There’s a chance the enemy won’t show up in Giesing at 11:50 tonight.”

Now, let’s go back to the thought I’d been following. What was the biggest problem we’d faced so far? Who the culprit was?

No.

I’d already figured that out before even entering Mecklenburg’s Extra Chapter. Unusually, we were playing a strategic game where we had been almost certain of the opponent’s identity from the very beginning. We’d never played a game like this before, one where we knew exactly who was on the other side.

And that was the real problem we couldn’t do anything about.

Why had we dragged out a game where we already knew who the enemy was?

“I knew who the culprit was, but I didn’t know where they were. Even now, I have no idea where I need to go to find them.”

Not knowing where the culprit was—that was the problem we had to solve. Ever since I returned from the Extra Chapter, I had spent days thinking about it. How were we supposed to find an opponent who had no intention of showing themselves? To lure out a rat, we had to put bait in a trap.

That bait was the “top-secret information” we sent to the Papal See, the Papal See’s lockdown order, and finally, this blue note.

Now we were at the end.

We knew how the other side had reacted after we made the “top-secret information” move. We had to keep that in mind. So I made my next move the same way. And once again, the other side responded in kind. Sorry, but we were running out of time. We couldn’t drag this game out forever, so we needed one final move.

But no matter how much I thought about it, there was no way to force a checkmate. There was nothing I could do about it. The board itself had been designed to put us at an extreme disadvantage. Our opponent had started the game with twice as many pieces, and our chessboard was already covered in white pieces. It was an absurd setup for a beginner.

‘We can’t force a checkmate, but we can’t accept a draw, either.’

I tried to create a position where we could avoid a draw while still accomplishing as much of our objective as possible. I picked up the note lying on the table and continued.

“So I threw out the bait to draw our enemy out.”

Ulrike looked devastated, as though he had just heard something shocking. He grabbed my arm, his eyebrows drawn together.

“How is this supposed to be bait…? They can just ignore it, Lukas…!”

“I tried to make sure they wouldn’t ignore it, but yes. Like you said, Luise, I have to consider the possibility that they’ll ignore it.”

“So you’re one of those people who just makes a move first and figures it out later…”

“I’m learning a lot about myself today.”

Because I had written the note myself, I had to consider the possibility that the other side might not show up after seeing it. I looked at Elias and Zähringen, who were listening with serious expressions, then at Leo and Ulrike, who still looked utterly bewildered, and continued.

“You’re right, Luise. Catching the culprit will be difficult, but this is why getting them to show themselves is even harder. What if they consider this note worthless?”

“…….”

“Then they might simply send one of their weakest and most useless mages to watch us, or have someone observe us from outside Giesing. In that case, we’ll have no choice but to come back empty-handed. And I don’t mind that. If that’s how it plays out, it just means we’ll have another chance.”

I picked up the pen and continued.

“Then we need to come up with a new bait plan for our next move. I want to work that out with all of you from here on.”

We had to clear our schedules from eight tonight through tomorrow, and we reported the matter to the Headquarters exactly as it was.

Leo and I were sitting in the Chief of Staff’s office—this time, we had actually made a proper appointment. After a brief exchange of greetings, Leo spoke first, politely.

“We would like to investigate the person responsible for attacking Lord Heike Einsiedel and Sir Mikhail Ismailov.”

“…….”

The Chief of Staff—or, more accurately, this high-ranking government official—looked at me as though wondering why I was involved in this matter yet again.

‘Leo said it. So why are you looking at me?’

With his fingers interlaced, the muscles beneath his eyes drawn tight and the corners of his mouth pulled down, it wasn’t hard to guess what he was thinking. The rumors circulating through political circles and the Investigation Bureau said that the culprit hadn’t been caught and they didn’t even have a lead. So what exactly were we planning to investigate?

I quietly corrected him.

“Your Excellency, this was investigated and led by the entire 101st Unit, not me alone. I’m only here as the vice captain.”

As I said it, I felt like I was only reinforcing the Chief of Staff’s preconceived notion of me, but there was nothing to be done about that. Once I finished, Leo calmly delivered his prepared line.

“After tracing the matter using classified materials from the Kingdom, we concluded that the enemy may have a base in Munich. If Your Excellency grants permission to mobilize the 101st Unit, we would like to deploy five Bavarian divine power mages of Special Management Grade to investigate the remaining leads in Munich.”

“…….”

We deliberately didn’t say that we intended to operate in Giesing. Nor did we mention that we would be lying in wait there. Until we found a way to save Heike, we needed to negotiate with the culprit, so we couldn’t tell these people too much.

The Prussian Intelligence Bureau might try to track us down, but Special Management Grade divine power mages were practically state secrets in their own right. There were a few whose names were widely known, like Nikolaus Ernst, but most weren’t. Their residences, movements, and assignments were all kept under strict protection. There were only twelve in Prussia and twelve in Bavaria in total. It would be stranger if their movements weren’t managed that carefully. In other words, even if their movements were documented, those records would be kept somewhere Prussia couldn’t access.

More importantly… there was still no answer.

‘Could you just answer us already?’

I had a somewhat impolite thought as I looked at the older mage in front of me.

The German military had faced all kinds of problems during World War I, and one of them was the issue of social status. On the front lines, nobles and commoners were all equal, but things were not quite the same behind the lines. Even if this world was a little better in that regard, it was not all that different. Being from a ruling house did not automatically earn us any special treatment, but the moment someone brought a matter unrelated to the Association into the picture—especially when a mage from a ruling house brought up something connected to the affairs of his own state—even a senior member of the Association found it difficult to give permission.

If he approved it, what did he actually know about the situation, and how would he take responsibility for it? But if he refused, who would take responsibility for the consequences of that decision?

The mage before me had the look of someone with far too much to say, yet he merely rubbed his chin with an uneasy expression, as though he could not bring himself to say any of it. Finally, he spoke.

“Do you have any evidence that they will actually be coming to Munich? Where in Munich? Show me at least some record of your investigation.”

“I apologize, Your Excellency. It is connected to classified information. We intended to formally discuss the disclosure of classified material with the Royal Ministry of Magic, but since the Investigation Bureau of Prussia took charge of the case itself, I came here to receive your verbal approval for the operation before proceeding.”

“Good Lord… This is… Well, with Atropos going around these days, for you to suddenly say you want to investigate…”

Perhaps because the issue of authorization kept going around in circles, he gave an awkward little laugh and shook his head, clearly unsure what he was supposed to say. It was true that he had a responsibility in this matter, but I had no idea why he had so much trouble saying anything.

When he could not come up with an answer, Leo opened another envelope bearing a classified seal himself and politely slid it across the table.

“Perhaps I should have mentioned this first. The Kingdom of Bavaria has sent a request for cooperation. Once permission is granted, the Prussian Ministry of Foreign Affairs will send you a document through your warp mail.”

“…….”

The fatigue disappeared from the mage’s face almost instantly. Perhaps because the responsibility had been taken off his shoulders, he adjusted his glasses and calmly skimmed through the request for cooperation, his expression returning to its usual composure.

I was beginning to wonder why he held two positions in the first place, if all it meant was getting paid twice. But whatever. Never mind.

All that remained was to stop by the Bavarian National Medical Center and the Ministry of Magic, have protective measures applied using divine power, and then head to Giesing.

11:00 PM, Munich.

Giesing was a district that had only recently been incorporated into Munich, and it was hardly what anyone would call a bustling part of the city. North Giesing was home to a huge park cemetery, while Stadelheim Prison stood in the south. With a cemetery and a prison on either side and undeveloped fields stretching in every direction, there was little foot traffic.

Green fields stretched beneath the night sky, crossed by sandy-colored roads, with the occasional two-story house scattered here and there. The trees planted along the streets for landscaping had been neatly trimmed into round shapes. Low shrubs and walnut trees that brought monasteries to mind swayed in the wind. All of it looked dark beneath the lightless night.

I stood at Giesing Station with a mask over my face. Whenever I blinked, I caught sight of my bright eyelashes at the edge of my vision.

‘Hmm.’

It had been a while since I had wandered around the city in the guise of Nikolaus Ernst. It felt strangely unfamiliar—I usually only went back and forth between palaces and government offices.

But to everyone else, I would still look like Lukas Askanien, with black hair and red eyes. I had changed my hair color with divine power, then covered myself with a cognitive distortion spell, specifically an illusion spell, and layered another illusion over that.

I often did something similar, but this time I had layered the illusion over my entire body instead of just my mana and eyes, and I could already feel the strain. Much like when I had been in Austria-Hungary.

I slowly turned to look behind me. The two-story wooden building looked plain at first glance, with long windows that could be opened from either side. Since railway traffic had been suspended, there were no lights on inside the station, so we had to rely solely on the streetlamps.

— [Luka~]

Elias’s voice came through the artifact tucked against my ear. He was waiting behind the station.

Elias and I were in North Giesing, while the other two were in South Giesing. All of us had come equipped with divine power artifacts in case of Atropos contamination. Infusing divine power into an artifact was practically impossible without Papal See technology, so they were items not easily obtained, but Bavaria had willingly handed over the ones they had in their possession. Still…

They would probably only work twice at most. They weren’t exactly something we could rely on.

At least we had one advantage: Pleroma had nothing to gain by killing nobles in German territory. But that, too, could change at any moment. As long as they didn’t kill us, and as long as they weren’t caught. That was enough to let them drag us into the swamp of mind control magic whenever they wanted.

Leo has stationed people around the neighborhoods near Giesing, most of them up in the bell towers of the churches. From there, they’ll watch over the town and report to us the moment they notice anything.

— [My heart’s pounding. My palms are sweaty.]

“…….”

— [What did they say back at the headquarters?]

“We don’t have time for pointless chatter.”

I cast a soundproofing spell before replying. Elias was probably doing the same on his end while continuing to make small talk.

Even after that, Elias kept chatting until 11:10. It was probably safe enough since no one had sent us a signal yet, but I couldn’t help smirking as I listened to his idle chatter coming through the artifact.

— [Shouldn’t I walk around a bit~? They’ll notice us more easily that way, right?]

No.

Apart from its houses, Giesing didn’t have many particularly noticeable buildings. Since most people, when they hear only the name of a district, would probably head for its square or train station, the station was the best place to wait. I slowly walked from one end of the station to the other, adjusting the artifact in my ear.

KRAAA-BOOM―!!

“…?!”

— [What was that?!]

What just happened? I immediately turned toward the sound. There was no mistaking it—the sound of a building exploding. Even though it seemed to have happened far away, the shockwave reached all the way here.

“…!”

Far to the south, the air in the sky glowed an eerie blue, as though a wall had suddenly appeared across it. Crack. A dark line split through the air and shot upward.

‘The barrier…!’

Wheeeeeeeeng―!

— [Sir Ernst!]

A shrill, oscillating sound stabbed at my ears through the artifact. At the same time, someone shouted urgently through the artifact.

— [Black liquid is exploding inside Stadelheim Prison!]