Chapter 71

He Saw What He Shouldn’t Have

“She’s asleep.”
“You said it’s her first time sleeping outside.”

Isaac and Carlson confirmed that Enette had fallen asleep.
Wrapped tightly in fur near the campfire, she had collapsed into a deep slumber.

“Well, after working her that hard, she was bound to be exhausted.”
“Hmm.”

After finding a place to camp, Isaac had made Enette work relentlessly.
He had her gather dry branches and start the fire.
She prepared sleeping spots for the three of them in a sunny patch and even handled the food.

Enette had carried out everything quietly, without complaint.
And the moment Isaac allowed her to rest, she had fallen asleep as if she had fainted.

“Anyway, time to move.”
“Is it really alright to leave her like this?”

Carlson asked.

A lone girl sleeping defenseless by a campfire in the open—
she would make an easy target for bandits.

But Isaac had another group trailing them from a distance.

“There are hell wolves nearby. If something happens, they’ll protect her.”

Carlson accepted the explanation.

“Isn’t it about time you explained things?”

He asked as he drove the carriage.

Fortunately, even as the carriage departed, Enette did not wake.
Those accustomed to camping kept their ears open even while sleeping—
but Enette, used to life in the estate, slept so deeply she wouldn’t wake even if carried away.

“We’re going on a night hunt.”

Isaac answered, sitting beside Carlson on the driver’s seat rather than in the passenger compartment.

“What are we hunting?”
“Akanlaufer. If they’re coming from Baldarin to Bern City, there’s only one route—unless they go through the Black Forest.”
“They could have gone through it, or already passed.”
“They didn’t go through it, and they haven’t passed either.”
“How can you know that? Unless you sent scouts.”
“I did.”
“I don’t recall you hiring any mercenaries.”
“Do scouts have to be human?”
“…Don’t tell me.”

At Carlson’s look, Isaac nodded.

“Wasn’t that large beast supposed to be guarding the maid?”
“I called in a few faster ones as well.”
“Then…”
“It’s not far from the Black Forest to here. I placed one along the roads leading from Baldarin to Bern City. Eight people total, including the driver. Three nobles and two scholars among them.”
“How do you even know that?”
“By scent. Nobles wash themselves with perfume, and scholars can’t escape the smell of ink and paper. Hell wolves have a keen sense of smell.”
“…I still can’t understand sharing senses with magical beasts. But it seems there was a reason you were taking it easy.”

Carlson let out a dry laugh.

While Isaac had been leisurely drinking mead in Black Goose Village—
no, perhaps even before that—
he had already set hell wolves to monitor the roads near Valden.

It was a clever move.

“So those mage mercenaries are on their way now?”
“If we time it right, we’ll meet them. We have some leeway.”

Just as Isaac said, when they reached the main road after passing the trail,
there were no fresh carriage tracks.

There were some, but they were faint—old.

“Stop the carriage here.”

Understanding Isaac’s intent, Carlson halted the carriage in the middle of the road.
He removed the harness, breast strap, reins, and bridle from the horse, then lightly slapped its hindquarters.

Freed from its master, the horse trotted away.

“Should we break the wheels too?”
“No. This won’t take long.”

Isaac stared toward the vanishing point of the road leading to Baldarin.

There was nothing visible yet.

“Are we killing them?”
“That could cause trouble.”

Akanlaufer was a mercenary mage group that appeared often in historical texts Isaac had read.
Most were first-class mages, at best second-class—mediocre.

Even gathered together, they couldn’t stand against a single third-class mage.
That was true both in actual combat and in terms of usefulness to employers.

But Akanlaufer was more troublesome than they seemed.

Among them were nobles and members of academic factions.
Because of that, attacking them recklessly was dangerous.

Kill one carelessly, and you might make enemies of an unexpected noble house or a prominent figure from a mage tower.

That was why they wore hoods and masks—
to conceal their identities, making it impossible to know their background, lineage, or connections.

Even within Akanlaufer, members didn’t share personal information.
They used aliases or identification numbers.

Only the commander knew their true identities.

“We’ll knock them all out. You stay put.”
“There are eight of them. It’s not easy to knock them all out alone. They’re still mages.”
“That’s why I’ll do it before they can even use magic.”
“…Is that possible?”
“If it fails, you can finish it, right?”

“….”

Carlson glared at Isaac’s carefree attitude.

“Relax. Hide over there. They’ll be here soon.”

Carlson looked toward the horizon like Isaac.
But he saw nothing—only darkness.

Even when he focused his hearing by raising his aura,
all he heard were willow branches rustling and nocturnal animals moving.

“Are you sure they’re coming?”
“Absolutely. Within half an hour.”
“…Ha.”

Carlson sighed.

Normally, he trusted only what he could see and sense himself.
But when he was with Isaac, he often felt like a fool.

Isaac knew and sensed things Carlson could not.

“What are you doing?”
“This side will be better for hiding.”

Carlson trudged ahead.

The two of them took position in a spot thick with trees and brush, ideal for concealment.

After several minutes of silence—

rain began to fall.

For Isaac and Carlson, it was perfect.
The sound of rain made it easier to hide their presence.

And for Isaac, there was no need to gather moisture from the air—
the raindrops were enough.

Crack—
Crackle—

All he had to do was draw them in.

At Isaac’s fingertips, two palm-sized spheres of ice formed.

Carlson watched silently.

Even as someone uninterested in magic, he couldn’t deny how fascinating it was.

Isaac had been right.

Carlson soon sensed the approaching carriage as well.

A faint light in the distance grew clearer.
The sound of hooves and wheels became distinct.

As the wagon drew closer, Carlson gripped the hilt of his sword.
No matter how low-level they were, mages were still mages.
Even second-class mages could wield strange and unpredictable spells.

“…Looks like a noble carriage.”

As expected, the blocked road forced it to stop.

The driver’s annoyed muttering could be heard—

Then suddenly—

he collapsed.

“…One left.”
“…?”

Carlson looked at Isaac in confusion.

Then his brow furrowed as he realized what Isaac meant.

The ice spheres that had once gathered at Isaac’s fingertips were already gone.
Inside the covered carriage, now stopped on the road, there was silence.

Only one presence remained.

Isaac had already knocked out seven people—
including the driver—without even being seen.

Without needing an explanation, Carlson understood how.

Two ice projectiles—
striking the temples or the jaw with precision.

But to cast such precise and rapid magic at multiple unseen targets hidden behind cloth—
Isaac’s technique itself was magic.

There was no time to admire it, however.
It was now Carlson’s turn.

Since the opponent had already noticed Isaac’s magic, they wouldn’t fall for it twice.

“…He’s more capable than expected.”

Isaac gathered mana at his fingertips.
Carlson would handle it, but he prepared just in case.

The opponent showed no sign of coming out of the carriage.
Not even a breath could be heard.
For a mage under ambush, it was an unusually calm response.

Isaac and Carlson cautiously stepped out from the bushes and slowly closed the distance to the carriage.

Then—

“Hah… hah… hah…”

Someone came running down the opposite road, breathing heavily.

“…Enette?”

“Why is that maid here?”

Enette spotted the carriage standing alone on the road and hurriedly checked inside.
It was the carriage she had come in with Isaac.

Finding no one inside, she moved toward the Akanlaufer carriage.
She looked terrified, as if she had seen something she shouldn’t have.

“…Wolves… wolves…”

Her mind seemed half gone already.
She had drawn in a large amount of mana, but she lacked the ability to imbue it with intent.
Her hands glowed faintly blue, but she couldn’t cast any actual magic.

In that state, she looked into the Akanlaufer carriage—
and became even more horrified.

The people inside were all slumped over as if dead.

“…!”

With the expression of someone trapped in a nightmare, Enette looked around the carriage—

Then her gaze froze.

The clouds parted briefly, and moonlight illuminated the surroundings.

“…!”

A boy stood there, holding a floating sphere of ice in his glowing hand.

It was someone she knew well—
the young master she had been serving that very day.

“Mas—”

But before she could process why he was using magic—

A staff suddenly thrust out from the carriage and struck her on the head.

Thud!

Enette collapsed.

An Akanlaufer member stepped out of the carriage and lit a flame spell to check her face.

Carlson didn’t miss the moment.

He moved behind him and struck the back of his head with the pommel.

“…Damn.”

“What about Enette? Is she okay?”

Isaac arrived a moment later.

“It seems so. Shall I kill him?”

Carlson asked, gripping his sword hilt.

But the question wasn’t directed at the Akanlaufer mage.

It was about Enette.

The ambush of Akanlaufer—
Isaac using magic—

Enette had seen something she was never meant to see.

***

The City Council building in Bern City surpassed even the grandeur of Goethe’s residence.

The four-story structure, built in a grid pattern, looked far more refined than anything in the north.
Geometrically arranged fountains, statues, and landscaped trees filled the garden.
Elegant curves, golden ornaments—
even the interior ceiling featured a grand mural depicting a scene from scripture.

But all that splendor had long since faded.

Because of the corpses scattered everywhere.

Most of them were retainers of the great noble houses working within the Council.

“Would you like to look around further?”

Schiller, Goethe’s steward, asked.

The steward and two guards accompanied the Marquis—
under the pretense of escorting him, but in truth, they were watching him.

“…No. I’ve… seen enough.”

The Marquis anxiously wiped his mouth.

The hall, which should have been filled with the noise of bustling merchants, was silent.
The reception rooms and offices of key officials were equally still—like a graveyard.

“The great houses… do you know where they went?”
“I do not.”
“And the mercenaries and private troops…”
“The bodies you saw on the southwestern plains are all that remain.”

The steward replied politely.

“That can’t be… that can’t be…”

The Marquis stood frozen.

Outside the Council building, a carriage was waiting.
Inside it sat the Count.

The Marquis had to find a reason—any reason—
why the Count should spare him.

But there was none.

According to the plan, the great houses should have been waiting inside the Council building.
The twenty mercenaries left behind, the hundred private soldiers of the noble houses,
the hundreds of mercenaries gathered on the southwestern plains,
and even the mages sent by Akanlaufer—

All of them should have been there.

But none of them were.

It was as if everything had been staged against him.

Even Weissman was nowhere to be seen.

“…That damned woman…”

Only then did the Marquis consider the worst possibility.

If Violet had betrayed him, this outcome made sense.

Unlike the other noble houses, there was more than a simple alliance of interests between Violet and the Marquis.
Once he established an independent Bern City,
he had promised to support not only the moderate exiles of the Republic,
but also the expulsion of the radicals.

Their ambitions had aligned.

Violet sought true equality and freedom through revolution.
The Marquis sought the immense wealth that upheaval would bring.

That alliance had been his last safeguard.
Even if others betrayed him, he believed Violet would not.

But if—just if—

Violet had been the one who burned down the House of Mercy,
if she had discovered his secret dealings—

The Marquis clenched his teeth.

It was too late to blame his own carelessness.

“Then let us return. The Count is waiting.”

“…I know.”

The Marquis clenched his fists, his palms slick with sweat.
He tried to think where things had gone wrong, but his mind spun.

As he staggered, the guards supported him.

“We will escort you.”

The steward spoke.

Like a man being dragged toward the gates of hell,
the Marquis slowly stepped outside against his will.

The grand double doors of the Council building stood wide open.
Beyond them stretched the lavish garden.

The Count seemed tired of waiting in the carriage.

Leaning on Valerich, planted into the ground,
he stared directly at the Marquis.