Oh no.
That was my first thought. The ground, weakened as much as it could be by the fire, collapsed outright as it was subjected to impact.
An unpleasant sensation as if my lower body was floating in the air. Instinctively, I recalled a spell I had read about in a book.
Immediately, the magic core resonated, emitting green mana.
Just before my body was slammed into the ground, a sensation of gently floating in the air enveloped me.
Feather Foot.
It was an intermediate wind-attribute magic.
My body reacted automatically without any clear visualization. Finally, the fruits of all my hard practice with magic were paying off.
After slightly twisting my body in mid-air to stabilize myself, I lightly landed atop the collapsed debris.
“First Platoon Commander!!!”
“Ahh, Lumina! Over here!”
Responding to the urgent voice that came almost immediately after the floor collapsed, Lumina’s face appeared from the corner of the fallen ceiling.
“Are you alright?!”
“As you can see, I’m fine.”
“…Just wait a moment! I’ll come down soon!”
Lumina said this and then jumped down toward me while deploying her mana.
Just like I did earlier, Lumina cast Feather Foot while descending.
Indeed, being a Grade 1 Red-ranked Mage, she seemed to have mastered intermediate wind magic.
“Ahhh.”
But the problem wasn’t that.
While jumping down, Lumina’s skirt caught the wind and billowed upward, revealing for a brief moment… a garter belt connected to black…
I hastily turned my eyes away, but Lumina didn’t seem to notice anything as she quickly ran over to me.
“Are you hurt anywhere?”
“No, I’m not.”
“Thank goodness…”
Yeah, sometimes ignorance is bliss. I asked Lumina without showing any expression as much as possible.
“What about the external fire?”
“It’s all been extinguished. What kind of magic did you use to put out that fire so quickly?!”
“For now, that’s not important… Judging by the looks of it, isn’t this where the ledger storage room should be?”
I pointed at the door which was left only as a blackened outline. Black ashes were falling off it.
The moment Lumina carefully approached the storage room and grabbed the doorknob,
Bang.
The standing door collapsed weakly. Fortunately, it fell inward, so Lumina wasn’t injured, but the state of the ledger storage room was utterly devastated.
Since it was a closed space, there were definitely some lingering embers.
And since paper burns more easily than wood, there was a lot of ash scattered on the floor.
There was no way the ledgers would survive in such a situation. Even if they did, a proper search wouldn’t be possible.
“There are traces of a physical barrier on the door… but they probably didn’t expect it to be set on fire, so the barrier didn’t work properly.”
“Who would have known? I wouldn’t have expected someone to set fire to the guild master’s building either.”
I realized anew just how much authority Chief Ramur held in Chernov City.
To set fire to the Merchant Guild building itself…
It was an attitude that disregarded everything else. They didn’t hesitate to go through such reckless measures for evidence destruction; they might as well have been royalty.
‘It’s strange that he hasn’t been reported already.’
But it wasn’t exactly surprising.
Merchants likely chose appropriate coexistence rather than resisting.
Whether it was the First Platoon turning a blind eye to all sorts of unjust treatment or the city closing its eyes due to the benefits brought by criminal organizations, it was all the same to me.
“Hey, suspicious guys! Come out right now!”
As I was inspecting the storage room, the sound of many footsteps rushing from the upper floor that had been blown open reached my ears.
They were the guards of Chernov City.
The ones who merely watched while the building burned and entered afterward once the fire was extinguished. There was only one reason for them to do so.
“Lumina, did you bring your ID?”
“Of course.”
“Find it now.”
Because, the political games were about to begin.
Soon, the guards from upstairs descended via the stairs, and the man who looked like he held the highest rank among them shouted threateningly.
“How dare you commit arson against the guild master! You deserve capital punishment!!”
Well, yeah.
How could we not get framed when some random strangers went inside?
Laughter naturally escaped me at their too predictable behavior.
“Looks like your mind has gone too, huh? Let’s see if you can laugh like that even in jail, …huh!”
Of course.
It didn’t take long for them to shut up upon seeing the IDs we presented.
“So, officer… Is that correct?”
“As you can see, I am Enok Revendale, Second Lieutenant of the Third Magic Battalion. While visiting the city, I took appropriate action regarding the fire that occurred.”
“Ah…!!”
“Is there any problem?”
Even a second lieutenant, the lowest-ranking officer, is fundamentally different from mere local non-commissioned officers or soldiers like these guards.
While thugs might ignore ranks and pick fights, the guards, as part of the law enforcement organization, apply the exact same rank system as the Okhraine Army.
In other words, I was clearly their superior.
If you want to challenge me, you need to bring someone like Chief Ramur who sucks up to people like that.
As if to show that fact plainly, the guard who was talking aggressively just moments ago cautiously approached me.
“Umm, let us confirm your identity first.”
The very nervous guy alternately checked the ID and my face.
“What!? Your appearance is different!! You forged the official document to mock me!? Tie these guys up and take them away immediately!!”
“Yes-!!”
Wait, what?
This isn’t right…
*
“It’s confirmed. We apologize for the inconvenience.”
Fortunately, since Lumina wore a robe without any significant disguise, we were able to clear the suspicion relatively quickly.
“Why did you suddenly dye your hair?”
“I had a reason.”
The guard who conveyed that the suspicion was completely cleared tilted his head in confusion.
You couldn’t really say it was to avoid the attention of the city’s criminal organization, could you?
“Well… Some of us also dye our hair as a hobby.”
Still, it was just hair dyeing, so the guards seemed to pass it off without much concern.
“But why did the perfectly fine guild hall suddenly catch fire?”
“The Chief said it was Shakhov destroying evidence. When they tried to confiscate and search the ledgers, the guild master set fire to it.”
So that’s the story they’re going with.
Having roughly understood the whole matter, the explanation made me snicker.
“Did the guild master commit any corruption?”
“Isn’t that what merchants usually do? They only care about filling their own bellies.”
“Was the suspect arrested?”
“Yes, fortunately, we arrested him on the spot. He’s currently being interrogated downstairs.”
I exchanged glances with Lumina. Understanding the meaning, she suddenly clutched her forehead and winced.
“Uh… Wait a moment, my head suddenly hurts so badly…”
She swayed her body. It felt like real anemia had set in.
“I must have used too much mana while putting out the fire earlier…”
“Oh, if you go straight out and follow the left corridor, you’ll find the medical unit.”
“I don’t know this place well since it’s my first time at the police station… Excuse me, could you guide me?”
Showing a pitiful look, the guard swallowed nervously.
Men, aren’t they all the same?
Even I, the platoon leader, occasionally lose myself staring at her beauty. If Lumina puts on such an act, there won’t be any male who can resist.
“Go ahead for a bit, Lumina. I’ll be outside smoking.”
“T, then I will escort you.”
“Commander, I apologize. I’ll quickly get the prescription and return.”
A performance nearly flawless.
I watched the two disappear down the opposite corridor for a while before heading down the stairs.
It was around the time when the guards were actively patrolling. With only the minimum number of personnel remaining in the barracks, I reached the basement without any interference.
‘According to the facility map I saw when I came in, the detention center should be around here…’
While wandering around briefly, I started hearing footsteps from not far away.
Were they the personnel stationed in the barracks?
When I opened the nearest visible door, a cluttered warehouse appeared. Without hesitation, I slipped inside and hid.
Soon, the voices of their conversation became distinctly audible.
“…So, what do you plan to do?”
“We’ve already secured all the evidence, haven’t we? The merchant types are tied together more by money than loyalty, so they’ll deny knowing Shakhov if they don’t want trouble themselves.”
“Just keep him detained until the National Gendarmerie takes the bait.”
“Yeah, don’t mistreat him too much. We don’t want unnecessary trouble.”
A familiar voice.
It was Chief Ramur’s, whom I’d heard earlier at the guild hall. Given that they were talking about Shakhov, it seemed like this was indeed the detention area.
Since the investigation at Belgorod Fortress had already begun, Ramur must have already received news that the National Gendarmerie was coming.
‘Seems like he’s got his scenario pretty well planned out.’
Of course, they hadn’t anticipated that there was a second lieutenant cooperating with the National Gendarmerie who witnessed everything.
If I had come here completely unaware, I might have believed the story that the guild master, Shakhov, did all of this.
“So, what’s this about a magic officer extinguishing the guild hall fire?”
“Yes, we just finished checking his identity. He belongs to the Third Magic Battalion.”
“The Third Magic Battalion? What’s his name?”
“Enok Revendale… he has black hair.”
“If he has black hair, it’s probably not the guy.”
“Are you looking for someone specific?”
“Not me, but my younger brother is.”
Anyone listening knew it was the story about when I cleaned up the thugs with Bell last time.
‘Ha, turns out the entire security force, including the chief, was backed by someone? That explains why they were so bold.’
A clear indication of why the city’s security forces were like this. Who knows who the mayor is, but they’re clearly neglecting internal management entirely?
If this were a real game, the mayor and related bureaucrats would all have been dismissed.
‘Should I just wreck it right now?’
I still have the insignia given to me by Colonel Lannister.
Just from the conversation I overheard, it was enough to confuse the wits out of that chief… but I decided to wait for the next opportunity.
All I need is a spear.
A massive spear that will send the chief, the mayor, and the guild master all in one set.
Sending them off piece by piece and halfway isn’t what I want.
I can’t afford to waste the chance created by Colonel Lannister, who is affiliated with the National Gendarmerie.
“…Saying… something.”
“…Keh.”
I confirmed the gradually fading voice of Ramur and carefully slipped out of the warehouse door.
The hallway was quiet.
Moving stealthily and swiftly in the direction where the voices had come from, a long-forgotten sensation returned, making my steps lighter.
Yeah, this was it.
The memories I had momentarily lost. Entrusting myself to the senses, I raced down the hallway like the wind.
Naturally, there was no guard.
They wouldn’t have expected some crazy person to infiltrate the police station and make it all the way down to the detention center.
Successfully infiltrating the detention center without much difficulty.
I approached closely after confirming the guild master slumped between the empty iron bars.
As my shadow flickered across the wavering torchlight, Shakhov lifted his head.
“…Who are you?”
“Shhh, be quiet.”
I showed him the insignia of the National Gendarmerie.
“If you don’t want to be falsely accused and dragged to the central authorities, speak only the truth.”
Upon recognizing the insignia of the gendarmerie, Shakhov’s eyes widened in surprise.
