#012
Thud-!
“Ku, kugh…!”
In the yard of an unknown mansion.
A man in antique clothing collapsed on the grass lawn, clutching his neck while choking.
Ding-a-ling-
“Hahaha! Did that really happen?”
“Yes, indeed. And when that lady saw that…”
He tried desperately to call for help, but it was useless.
The sounds of music and conversation from inside the mansion drowned out his voice.
Looking around, even the security guards had disappeared sowhere.
Els, the Imperial Eastern Security Bureau Director who hosted this party, glared at the culprit who had reduced him to this state.
“You, you…!”
It was a small boy.
Judging by his attire, he seed to be the child of one of the party guests, and appeared to be lost.
They had searched for his parents together, and all he did was accept a candy shyly offered as thanks.
But that was his mistake.
The child’s parents weren’t on the guest list, and what he had swallowed was poison.
“Lord Els.”
A monotone voice flowed from the child’s mouth.
A cold tone devoid of any emotion.
It seed almost unbelievable that this was the sa child who had been bouncing around cheerfully just monts ago.
“Who… who the hell are you…!”
“We’re the ones asking questions here, not you.”
The boy who said this waved a vial in front of his face.
“This is the antidote. If you answer our questions sincerely, we’ll give it to you. If not, we’ll leave. Do you understand?”
“…!”
Els hurriedly nodded.
There was nothing else he could do.
“Good. Then let’s begin with the questions.”
The boy nodded with satisfaction, and bringing his face close, he opened his mouth.
“The nas of the police executives who supported the Revolutionary Army with you, your eting locations, and the location of the Revolutionary Army hideout concealed in the outskirts of Belkers territory.”
“…!”
Els’s face turned pale at the words coming from the boy’s mouth.
“H-how did you know that…?”
“I believe I made it clear just now.”
The dagger in the boy’s hand touched Els’s neck.
“We ask the questions. You shut your trap and answer them.”
***
Whoosh-
“The Revolutionary Army prisoners are spilling quite useful information. With this, we can wipe out all the Revolutionary Army mbers hiding in Belkers.”
In the Knifehead operation room.
Supervisor Ben threw the report he had just finished reading into the fireplace.
The fact that he disposed of the report imdiately without pointing out any issues ant there were no flaws in its contents.
Though it wasn’t apparent, Ben was quite satisfied right now.
“Mission complete. Go back and get so rest.”
“Thank you.”
After finishing the report and leaving Ben’s office, Senior Karin who had been standing beside
stretched.
“Whew~! I thought I was going to suffocate!”
The dress she had worn for disguise must have been quite uncomfortable, as she was grumbling with a pouty expression.
“I don’t understand what’s so good about those dresses that everyone wears them. They’re uncomfortable to move in, cumberso…”
“I thought it suited you quite well though? Don’t you think so, Eugene?”
“Not interested.”
The one who spoke from the opposite side was Dwayne Rockfin, a fellow 39th batch mber with Karin.
With his gentle smiling face, he looked like any ordinary countryside youth.
But don’t be fooled by that kind face.
They say you can’t judge a psycho by their face, and that bright smile of his didn’t stop him from gouging out people’s eyes.
“Hm? Where’s Eugene going? What about food?”
“I have sothing stashed in my quarters. I’ll make do with that.”
After arriving at the dormitory and parting with my seniors, I walked through the corridor to my private room.
A small single room about the size of a boarding house room. Being part of a prestigious magic family ant this was too good for a street rat like .
‘Good. No one’s watching.’
After opening the window and looking around, I imdiately jumped out.
Opening a manhole cover past the soldiers on patrol, I found the secret passage of the Elcidore mansion that I had frequently used in the ga.
Splash- Splash-
‘I’ve checked this route already, next is here.’
Though it was pitch black inside the passage with not even a hand visible in front of , I was exploring the underground using touch and experience.
Why am I doing this right after returning from a mission? Obviously to create an escape route.
‘Two years left. Within that ti, I need to kill the Count and escape from here.’
The Mark of Control was slowly eating away at my body even now.
At this rate, becoming the Count’s puppet was just a matter of ti.
So before that happens, I needed to sohow destroy this magic imprint and escape from Count Elcidore.
‘Of course, they’re not the type to let
leave just because I want to.’
The Empire is a country where human trafficking is legally prohibited.
A noble of such a country buying children with money and brainwashing them into loyal tools for their family? It’s a scandal that wouldn’t do well being exposed.
Knowing they wouldn’t let
go easily, I started checking the mansion’s internal structure since adapting to this place.
Fortunately, the Elcidore mansion’s structure was almost identical to the ga, and so was the layout of the secret passages underground.
Days spent training during the day and mapping escape routes through secret passages at night.
Though it had been quite sparse lately due to missions, this half-year-long plan was showing good progress.
‘Route 1 is almost complete, just need to make Route 2 as a backup…’
As I was deep in thought checking the passage structure.
“Sob… it hurts… it hurts…”
“Hm?”
Crying sounds ca from beyond the wall.
Looking to the side, there was a small ventilation duct in the ceiling.
Peeking through the vent, there was a cage blocked by iron bars.
‘There’s soone there. From the voice it sounds like a woman, but who?’
I compared my current location with the Elcidore mansion’s structure I knew from the ga.
Where I am now is the experintal wing behind the mansion.
It was a facility for Count Elcidore’s research, and in the ga, it was a hidden dungeon where synthetic creatures like chiras would pop out.
Usually, I should be hearing the cries of failed byproducts or chiras…
“Hm?”
When I activated the magic imprint to emit so light, the owner of the crying voice in the isolation cell appeared.
It was a girl.
Similar build to
with trembling movents. Disheveled hair covering her entire face, and athyst-colored eyes visible through the gaps.
She was a beauty that even her dirty appearance couldn’t hide. With a face like that, she probably wasn’t an extra…
‘…Wait a minute. Athyst-colored?’
Thinking I might have seen wrong, I channeled magical power into a distant magic orb.
“Hii, hiik?!”
As the magic orb’s light brightened, the girl’s face beca clearly visible.
No doubt about it. They were purple.
That’s why I was even more surprised.
In [Revolution Empire], eye color was inherited through bloodline.
And characters with purple eyes… there was only one in this ga.
“Irene…?”
I called out the na on a hunch.
When the na left my mouth, the startled girl stepped back towards the iron bars.
“H-how do you know my na? Who are you?”
“…Holy shit.”
Seeing her reaction confird it.
Irene Elcryer.
Her na in the ga, [Black Witch Irene]
She’s the woman who kills the Duke of Elcryer, one of the Empire’s 12 great magic houses, and becos an enemy of the Empire.
But why… why is she here like this?
***
Irene Elcryer.
To describe this ga character in one sentence, she was arguably the craziest character in the ga’s history.
[Hi, hehe…! Look! It’s the sun! The black sun has risen! Now we’ll all be liberated from this hell-!]
The Black Sun Incident – where she turned the Elcryer duchy into wasteland and used 100,000 territory residents as sacrifices to open a gate to another world.
The girl before my eyes was the very perpetrator of that catastrophe.
‘But… her image is quite different now?’
I observed Irene again.
Even while fidgeting, her occasional glances my way made her look like just a shy little girl to anyone watching.
She was completely different from that crazy witch I saw in the ga.
“Um, excuse … that…”
When I remained silent for a while, Irene started trembling anxiously.
Co to think of it, being scared was natural.
She was crying in an isolation cell when suddenly there were signs of movent in the ventilation duct.
And then soone even called her na.
What kid wouldn’t be scared in this situation?
It would be trouble if she scread and guards ca running.
I needed to calm Irene down first. But how? As I was deeply pondering this.
Growl-
A sound ca from Irene’s stomach.
“Ah, uh, this is…”
Irene fidgeted restlessly with her face bright red.
Just pick one – either be scared or embarrassed.
While thinking this, I examined Irene’s appearance.
I thought she might be a bit thin for her age, but it seed they weren’t feeding her properly.
“Are you hungry?”
When I asked, Irene, head hung low, weakly nodded up and down.
‘Ah, that reminds .’
I pulled out two stead potatoes I had taken from the dining hall. Originally I was planning to eat them as a snack during my passage exploration, but this seed like perfect timing.
Thunk-
I threw the two potatoes through the ventilation duct. Seeing the potatoes that fell on the bed, Irene stared at them blankly.
“Eat. It’s a gift.”
“Th-thank you…”
Plain stead potatoes that had gone cold. Irene hesitantly picked them up. It felt like feeding a stray cat.
Munch munch…
After quickly devouring the two stead potatoes, Irene looked at the ventilation duct.
Her wariness had noticeably decreased – indeed, if you want to make friends with soone, you should feed them first.
Now, this is where it gets important…
“First, you can relax. I’m…”
“A-are you a fairy?”
Fairy, what?
When I lost my words at the sudden nonsense, Irene timidly spoke towards the ventilation duct.
“M-my nanny told . If you curl up alone and tremble, a fairy will co help you. So, um…”
Ah, right.
Co to think of it, I’m ten years old now. If Irene is around the protagonist’s age, she’s probably only about eight.
If this were Korea at this age, it would be pri ti for running around looking for Elsa dresses and burning up mom’s wallet.
Rather than telling such a child “Hi? I’m a trainee who escaped from the training facility next door! I’m going to run away from this family soday!” with a detailed explanation… it might be better to just play along as a fairy.
“That’s right. I’m a fairy. The great Fairy of the Ventilation Duct.”
“I-I knew it!”
Wow she really believes it.
This is fucking embarrassing.
But what can I do, this is much better for talking with kids this age.
Seeming completely at ease now, Irene trotted over to the ventilation duct and crouched by the wall.
‘…This might be an even better opportunity than I thought?’
Right now I had two goals.
First was killing the Count, second was escaping from the Elcidore mansion.
And this girl’s power… it could possibly provide a clue for both these plans.
At this point before she’s grown up, I could build a relationship and use her.
“So, I, the Fairy of the Ventilation Duct, am curious about sothing.”
I spoke to Irene while acting out my most gentle voice possible.
“How did our friend end up here?”
The Ventilation Duct Fairy, now open for business.
Author's Thoughts
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