Chapter 126: The Fake Play (3) Chomp, chomp.
Hannah stood with her arms crossed, chewing gum. She wore thick horn-rimmed glasses, and makeup had been used to draw wrinkles around her eyes to make her look older.
"So. Are we doing this deal or not? I'm a busy person."
She was attending the meeting as 'Harmush,' an Imperial businessman. Opposite her were the weapon sellers—a man and a woman with fierce expressions—while a broker smoked a cigarette between them.
"...How can we trust you?" the woman asked, her eyes sharp.
Hannah snorted.
"Who trusts people in this business?"
Thud. She placed a suitcase on the table.
"You trust the money."
Click. The case opened.
"500,000 Imperial Dollars. The down payment."
"...Hmm."
The man and woman's eyes wavered. They exchanged glances.
"Feel it for yourselves. It's not counterfeit."
At Hannah's nod, the man reached out and flipped through the stacks of bills. The crisp texture met his fingertips. They were genuine notes issued by the Imperial Central Bank.
"Well. To talk business, explosives, rifles... those are all well and good, of course."
Hannah closed the case and got to the point.
"But first, I need Synthetic Mana Stones."
"...I thought you were buying weapons?" The man furrowed his brow.
Hannah let out a short laugh.
"Ah, well."
They were likely flustered. According to the broker's information, they had almost no stock of Mana Stones.
"I've been in this game a long time. I have connections at customs, too."
She crossed her legs with feigned arrogance.
"You know about the Gigantes incident, right? It hasn't even been a year, so weapon regulations are tight right now. Once you factor in the money for greasing palms, there's no margin left.
But Mana Stones are different. Imperial factories are running like crazy right now, so if you disguise them as natural stones, they all go through."
Synthetic Mana Stones. Their purity was far lower and they were more dangerous than natural ones, but they could be passed off as power sources for trains or cars.
As long as they could be brought into the Empire, they were items that guaranteed at least a 300% profit.
"Rather than selling weapons to those anti-imperialist bastards, it's much more profitable to feed illegal Mana Stones to the Imperials. That's what I'm saying."
The man and woman stared intently at Hannah before their lips curled into smirks.
"...Then let's meet again tomorrow."
"Fine, do that. But my patience isn't long, so you'd better hurry. If I find another supplier, I might jump ship."
The reason they wanted to meet tomorrow was clear.
Hannah picked up her case, stood up, and returned to her suite at the Volska Hotel.
Beep.
She opened the door with her key card.
...It's gone.
Her eyes quickly swept the bottom of the door frame. The tiny scrap of paper she had wedged into the door handle before leaving had vanished. It was proof that someone had broken in, yet the room itself was spotless. There were no signs that her luggage had been searched. Even the money was untouched.
In other words, the intruder hadn't come to steal something. They had come to 'install' something.
As expected—a wiretap.
Hannah pretended not to notice, casually kicking off her shoes and humming a tune.
"Hmm-hmm~"
She threw herself onto the sofa. She pulled out a terminal and dialed a number.
"Hello?"
The person on the other end was an administrative official.
— Yes. How did it go, President Harmush?
"Ugh, damn it. Those guys are so suspicious. They could just make money like they're told, but no..."
She grumbled in an annoyed voice.
"They want to meet again tomorrow, but I've got a bad feeling. Look into some other suppliers for me."
— I agree. It'll be troublesome if they drag their feet.
"Is the bribe we paid to that customs official still valid?"
— Yes. We've definitely fed him enough.
"Ah, thank goodness. I need to make one big score before that guy retires."
She continued the conversation, intentionally sounding like a greedy opportunist.
— What about the weapons?
"Mana Stones are good, but the real money is in weapons. Those revolution, anti-empire types... those bastards buy them at a premium."
Hannah tapped the case containing five million dollars sitting on the bed.
"Thanks to the Gigantes, supply has dried up and prices have skyrocketed. I poked them about the Mana Stones first on purpose."
She spoke in a clear, greedy voice, intended for the invisible listeners.
— Then how much more money should I have ready?
"Five million for now... but I'll have to see the volume first. Does our retirement fund amount to about thirty million this time?"
Most likely, every single word of this conversation was being transmitted to them.
* * *
A corridor in the Royal Opera House. Under the pale, flickering emergency lights, a figure draped in blood-stained rags slowly approached.
"..."
Leonard swallowed hard. However, he did not let go of the Princess's wrist. The script was already torn to shreds, and the operation seemed to have failed, but—
Bang!
A gunshot rang out in the darkness. The back of the man holding the axe jerked. Thwack!
It was cover fire from the revolutionary members.
Bang! Bang-bang! Bang!
A succession of shots hammered the man's back. Leonard took the opportunity to lead the Princess away. The Princess followed calmly behind Leonard.
"This way!"
Whirrrrr—!
The sound of air being torn. Leonard looked back.
Whoosh.
The axe, having left the stranger's hand, spun through the air. It decapitated, dismembered, and crushed the armed members before returning to his hand.
Swoosh!
The man hurled the blood-stained axe at him. Leonard swung his sword to parry it.
Clang—!
Mana sparked. His wrists went numb. However, there was no time to catch his breath. He ran down the hallway, protecting the Princess.
Thud! He grabbed and flung open a random door. The interior was a warehouse for stage props and equipment. Fake trees, plaster statues, ornate costumes, and winches were piled high, covered in dust.
The two of them hid among the piles.
Thump. Thump.
His heart pounded as if it were about to explode.
Thump. Thump.
Leonard looked back at the Princess. Her hood was pulled low. However, the glimpse of her jawline and her jewel-like, brilliant eyes confirmed she was the woman Leonard knew.
"Please stay calm."
"...You should be the one staying calm."
Just as Leonard managed a bitter smile.
BOOM!
A collision occurred in the hallway. A battle between the mysterious assailant and the armed revolutionaries who had appeared according to the script. Screams and gunshots echoed together.
Rat-tat-tat! Bang......
The noise subsided at some point. More accurately, the gunfire stopped. The assailant had slaughtered them all.
Step. Step.
In the hallway where silence had settled, wet footsteps drew closer.
Step. Step.
A blood-soaked stride.
He was coming.
"...Listen to me carefully."
Leonard turned to the Princess.
"When I give the signal, run and don't look back."
He quickly mapped out the Opera House in his head, identifying the escape route he had noted in the script.
"Go out the back door of this warehouse and turn right. At the end of the corridor in Sector B3, there's a staff emergency elevator. But don't go up; go down. It connects to the underground sewers. You'll be safe if you go there."
Leonard let go of her hand.
"And... by any chance, did you know? That I, to you, a long time ago—"
He hesitated, trying to convey something to her. His lips wavered, but he simply lowered his head. This person probably wouldn't understand no matter what he said.
"What?" she asked back.
Leonard changed the sentence lingering on the tip of his tongue.
"...It's nothing. Please, stay safe."
Crack!
The assailant tore through the door with his axe. Leonard stepped forward, and the Princess turned toward the back door.
Whirr-whirr-whirr.
The axe flew in first.
Claaaaang!
Leonard squeezed out every drop of mana in his body to block the axe. The impact nearly buckled his knees, but he managed to hold his ground for now.
Behind him, he caught a glimpse of the fleeing Princess's hem.
The assailant swung the axe.
Claaaaang—!
Twice.
That was all it took. The sword shattered into pieces. Leonard, thrown back by the recoil, tumbled across the floor. Only the broken hilt remained in his hand.
He panted, looking up at the man.
"Haah..."
Despite being hit by multiple bullets, the assailant didn't shed a single drop of blood.
The man raised his axe toward him. Leonard didn't close his eyes. He simply stared at his own death.
BOOM! CRASH—!
Amidst the overflowing sounds of explosions from all directions, Justine ran down the passage. As Leonard had said, she reached Sector B3 and found the staff emergency elevator at the dead end of the corridor.
She stood before it and pressed the button.
Whirrrr.
She stared up at the slowly moving elevator.
Ding.
The doors opened. Justine hesitated, staring into the elevator. There were people inside.
"..."
Another group of strangers, hooded and armed with rifles and grenades.
However, their faces were filled with terror.
"Who are you!"
Click. Muzzles were aimed at her.
Even so, Justine did not back down. She faced them composedly.
"I said, who are you!"
The men glanced nervously at the passage she had come from.
"Where's Leonard? Where did Leonard go?"
The Princess did not answer the question. The men's ragged breathing and the smell of sweat wafted toward her like a stench.
"Speak!"
These men were also confused. Fear, bewilderment, dismay. They had fallen into a panic where rational judgment was impossible.
Click. One man hooked his finger around the trigger.
"I said speak, before I fucking kill you!"
The words he spat out while glaring with bloodshot eyes, as if to intimidate her—
"Where is Leon—"
Stopped abruptly.
.....
A quiet line was drawn in the air. Like moonlight, or a thin thread. A silver flash traversed the interior of the elevator. A faint trajectory appeared on the necks of the men holding guns.
Slice.
Their throats were lightly slit, their heads lolled, and they collapsed to the floor.
Step.
Soon, a man walked out from behind Justine. A knight with a silver current emanating from his entire body, Maximilian. Even in work clothes, he exuded the dignity of a noble.
"Rude fellows, aren't they?"
He murmured softly, flicking his sword clean.
BOOM—!
An explosion was heard from afar. The entire Opera House vibrated.
"Let us go."
Maximilian held out his hand. Justine looked at him blankly but boarded the elevator herself without taking it.
She stood tall in the empty space between the corpses.
Maximilian didn't mind.
Ding.
Standing side by side, the doors closed, and the elevator descended.
Ding.
They arrived in the basement. The two walked through the sewer in silence. Maximilian led the way, and Justine followed behind him.
The damp sewer.
In the silence where even footsteps didn't echo.
"Why were you watching?" Justine asked.
Maximilian's steps paused for a moment.
"...Did you know?"
"From the moment you were standing backstage disguised as a staff member."
Maximilian could have saved Leonard, but he had remained a bystander. Rather, he had waited until the situation reached its worst.
"As you know, Princess, I have been constantly monitoring this Opera House. That—"
"Why?"
"..."
He seemed momentarily at a loss for words, but calmly continued.
"Because it is a place you like, Princess. However, it was relatively safe until recently. Yet, of all days, a terrorist attack occurred on the day you went out without an escort."
The Princess quietly calculated.
"...Is someone in the Imperial Palace monitoring me?"
"The possibility is not zero. However, for your sake, Princess—"
"Then did you let Leonard die because of me?"
"Do you admire that actor?" Maximilian asked back coldly, moving forward again.
The Princess snorted.
"Emotions are useless to me. This is a matter of necessity. In this false world, there are not many beings that provide me with entertainment."
Emotions.
The Princess had very little emotion. It was partly her innate nature, and partly because she was surrounded by people who either monitored her or tried to get some scraps from her.
"Now even that is gone. Thanks to you."
That was why she was the 'most dangerous' person in the Imperial Palace.
Anyone who fell out of Princess Justine's favor would surely die or, at the very least, meet a miserable end.
"Leonard is likely part of the Revolutionary Group. At the very least, someone close to them."
"..."
A quiet smile appeared on the Princess's lips.
"Did you know?"
"No. I didn't."
The Princess toyed with her Opera House bracelet.
"But even that was entertaining."
Maximilian looked at her and placed a hand over his mouth.
"Shh."
The two stopped for a moment. Further ahead stood another murderer draped in rags.
"I will cut him down."
A single sentence.
Followed by a single stride.
.......
Ebenholtz's sword is silent. It moves forward like a flowing stream or a settling breeze to sever the enemy's neck. The murderer's head soared into the air and quietly settled.
Fwoosh.
Where the steel had passed, only a silver flash lingered.
"..."
The texture of such a high-class sword was quite elegant and tasteful, even to the most noble being in the Empire.
"Let us go."
Maximilian guided her in Leonard's stead.
.......
The escape was easy. To begin with, this terrorist attack couldn't last long. The Royal Opera House was relatively far from the center, but it was still definitely within the central district.
Rumble.
The two pushed aside a heavy manhole cover and climbed out.
The place they escaped to through the sewer was a back alley quite a distance from the Opera House. It was likely the Revolutionary Group's escape route.
"It's quite far."
Maximilian first brushed the dust off his clothes.
"What did you tell the Imperial Palace?"
"I just snuck out, what else?"
Justine answered bluntly, pulling her robe tight.
"Let's go."
They exited the alley and walked slowly toward the Opera House.
Siren wails echoed loudly from afar, and the scene was already filled with police and Sentinel Knights.
As they approached slowly, blending into the crowd—
"...?"
The Princess's eyes widened slightly as she looked toward the scene.
At the end of her gaze was a man.
Leonard.
Contrary to the Princess's expectations, he was alive.
Maximilian said to her, "It was a two-man cell."
Beside Leonard was Leo.
The silver-armored Shepherd. A divine creature that stood solemnly, having fully performed the role of a knight.
Now, let's rewind time for a moment.
At the moment Leonard stared at the axe swinging down at him, his eyes wide, just before the blood-red blade split his skull.
Flash!
A silver cannonball flew in from somewhere. A speed Leonard's naked eye couldn't follow. A very quiet and stealthy maneuver that didn't even stir the wind.
Leo leaped in a single bound and bit the enemy's neck.
Crunch!
"..."
The man bitten by Leo clutched his neck, swayed back and forth, and then collapsed like a puppet with its strings cut. Leo's teeth already possessed mana equivalent to a masterwork sword.
"...A dog?"
Leonard stared blankly at the sight.
An Aran Shepherd. No, his physique was too grand to be called a Shepherd, and he wore such precious armor; in Leonard's eyes, he felt more noble than any human...
"Grrr."
Leo nudged the fallen enemy with his front paw. Leonard's brow twitched.
The assailant was a doll. The reason no blood flowed even when hit by bullets was that he wasn't human to begin with.
"Woof."
Leo turned around as if telling him to follow. Leonard stood up with a start and followed him.
In this way, Maximilian had given Leo an order.
If Leonard abandoned the Princess and fled, do not help him. For he would be a man of no consequence.
However, if he took responsibility for the situation and fought back at the risk of his life, then save him. For he would have at least proven himself worthy of keeping his life.
Leonard, at the very least, did not show his back. He did not pathetically beg for his life or use the Princess as bait. Instead, he had tried to protect the Princess by risking his own life.
Therefore, Leonard had saved himself.
Returning to the present.
"However. The more this incident is investigated..."
Maximilian gestured with his chin toward Leonard's surroundings.
"The more it will be revealed that Leonard is deeply connected to the Revolutionary Group."
Police were arresting the staff members being dragged out from the basement of the Opera House.
Those who should have been treated as mere victims according to the script were caught because the play had collapsed.
"So, I now dare to ask."
Maximilian's gaze sharpened.
"Lady Justine... what is it that you want?"
The Princess looked at Maximilian with an enigmatic expression.
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