Chapter 61: Witness Interviews
Translator: ShiroiKaze/Soyokaze Translations
The Cornus Knight Order is the largest knight order in the Forneus Federation, the nation in the southern part of the Garm continent.
Within the united city-states that make up the federation, they can travel across as many municipalities as they want, and nobody can complain. I suppose they could be considered something similar to a U.N. military?
Of course each city probably has their own expectations of them.
By the way, Mareba is considered a pioneering village affiliated with Cornus. Comb, being between the two, doesn’t look too kindly on that.
“It’s smaller than I expected…”
“Well, the most favored place of the knight order here is their school facilities. The knight school is of the largest scale in the south; it’s designed to motivate students, and their main forces are established there.”
“The knight school… That’s where Alec went, right?”
“Yeah. I went there for a short while too. When I was a kid, my boss had his eye on me and told me to go to school, then tossed me into it.”
“Oooh, that… Is something I want to see too!”
“Unfortunately, it’s on the outskirts, so it’s a ways away.”
“Ugh. Well, I’m sure we’ll have the opportunity to actually go eventually. We’re “immortal” after all.”
We have plenty of time. To the extent that we’ll have an excess even after Alec and Marle die of old age…
Thinking about that made me a little sad.
Perhaps Haster noticed that I was feeling down, because he hugged my head close to him.
“Yes, we have time. Both of us together, always.”
“… Yeah.”
“You two sure have guts to be flirting in front of the all-male knight dorms. Do you want us to have at your ass?”
“Y-you can’t do that! His butt belongs to me!”
“Let me take care of my own butt.”
They’ll give us a pounding from behind if we let our guard down?! What a frightening place the knight order is!
At some point a knight who’s tall, bulky, has a crew cut, and is manly to the point where he even smells manly stood before us.
“Haster, it’s dangerous here. Let’s hurry and get out!”
“No, could you remember why we’re here? Aah, sorry. My name’s Haster and I’m acting as mister Oreas’ helper. We came here hoping to hear about the repeated phantom thief incidents.”
“Oh, that. Sure, I’ll take you inside to wait. I’ll call the related individuals.”
Since Haster’s in his boy form right now, he probably only trusts us because we used mister Oreas’ name.
Come to think of it, mister Oreas mentioned that having a sage join in the investigation would act as a deterrent. Is it okay that Haster’s sticking to his child form?
While we were sitting in the waiting room, I decided to ask about that.
“Yeah, we have to gather information and stuff, too. If we’re formally moving, then my adult appearance would probably be best, but we planned on going out to town after this, right?”
“Oh, now that you mention it… Then that form is for gathering information?”
“Yeah, I suppose. That and of course, I was thinking I wanted to walk around town with you in my natural form.”
In other words… He came here in this form for our date afterward?
That’s uhh… Yeah… Not a bad idea.
I like his adult form too, but people are bound to look at us like we’re father and daughter in that form, so this… ‘Desire to show off’ kind of feeling wouldn’t be fulfilled.
… My personality has gone a bit rotten too.
“Anyway, our investigation takes priority right now. I wonder what kind of story is going to come popping out at us.”
Not a moment later, three men came into the room.
They’re rather slender, but well-cut handsome men in their late teens or early twenties.
Alec was the same way, but I wonder if this knight order has some sort of correction towards handsome men…? Oh, come to think of it, that wouldn’t include the gatekeeper would it?
Well, there should be some demand for his type in a different group of people.
“A pleasure to meet you. My name is Haster, and I’m working as an assistant for mister Oreas. I truly appreciate you taking time out of your day for us.”
“Y-yeah. Wow, you’re quite the proper boy. Nice to meet you, I’m Atol. I was on site when she was captured. A pleasure.”
“I’m Pele, and I took in the offender.”
“This petty officer’s name is Byzak. ’twas I who was guarding the prison.”
“Oh, I am Yuuri. I’m his wi-… His aide.”
I almost told them I’m his wife. Their suspicion of us would definitely switch to maximum, so I stopped.
I am a woman who can read the atmosphere.
“She’s my wife, so don’t lay a hand on her.”
And he blew my consideration to smithereens.
“S-such a young boy’s wife, you say…?!”
“You mean to say you’re getting it on with this beautiful girl every night?!”
“Go explode… Just go right ahead and explode…”
The knights made a sudden about-face, and I heard them muttering things full of hate!?
Though we certainly do get it on every night.
“Wai-, what do you think you’re doing, suddenly building an emotional blockade?!”
“No, I just… I figured your appearance would be dangerous for these women-deprived knights, so I was drawing a line…”
“Geez! Think about the time and place a little!”
“Yeah, sorry about that. So about that phantom thief…”
Perhaps because of the sudden switch to a serious topic, the knights tightened up their expressions, and responded in kind.
I’m getting thirsty, so I’d like some tea or something, but… They’re not the most considerate of people. Are men really just like this?
Yeah, I said that all haughtily, but I used to be a man too.
I went to the coffee maker installed at the end of the room, made enough tea for everyone and distributed it.
“Oh, my apologies. That’s something we should have been doing, and yet… I suppose we’ve gotten inconsiderate, being in all-male housing.”
“It’s fine. This is a woman’s job, after all.”
I responded with my most well-mannered smile. Well, I also used to… No, it’s a little late for that.
The knights may have been feeling ashamed at their lack of consideration, seeing as they were blushing fiercely while hanging their heads.
“Ahem, Yuuri, that should be enough… So?”
“R-right. I guess I’ll start.”
Mister Atol elected himself to go first.
What he told us was a story about what happened after Livyatan had a rare success in stealing her target.
While feeling fortunate that she stole the correct target, the knight order found her. Apparently their first pursuit succeeded.
Within the darkness of night, relying on torchlight, they called “Stop!” while pursuing her.
It’s a sight often seen in movies and anime, but Livyatan then turned around and replied, “Nobody would stop just because you tell them to!”
… Yeah, she turned around.
Becoming inattentive to what was in front of her, she didn’t notice the horse carriage flying out from the street corner, and she plowed magnificently into the frame of it.
Thankfully there were no serious injuries, and she was restrained. When he called his companions and had them take her away, he suddenly realized something.
He couldn’t remember a single thing about her face.
At the time, he didn’t think it mattered by that point and let the matter be, but he didn’t think for a moment that she would break out of prison.
“And there was no trace of her casting magic?”
“At the very least, I don’t recall her activating any magic circles.”
Does that mean it wasn’t a spell she herself actively used…?
An always-in-use type magic tool? But since they break without the ability to recharge them, always-active magic tools shouldn’t be in wide-spread use.
Anyway, let’s hear what the next one has to say.
“Next is me, who took her in.”
Mister Pele was apparently trying to corner her from a different direction, but when he heard his companion calling he ran over to the scene.
Livyatan was already restrained when he got there, and he carried her off to the prison where she would be cooped up.
That was because mister Atol had to stay and respond to the plight of the carriage that got into the accident.
Unfortunately, the carriage belonged to a city official, and it got a big gash on it when Livyatan crashed into it.
The repairs for it, and returning the stolen gem, were both cleanup duties that still remained.
Mister Pele confirmed that the stolen jewel was in good hands, and got a good look at Livyatan before taking her in.
She was tied up with rope, and he kept behind her cautiously, so he could respond to any suspicious actions by her, then handed her over to mister Byzak.
And then, of course, when he returned from doing that, he realized that he couldn’t remember what Livyatan looked like.
While he was taking her in, he was constantly behind her, and she didn’t have any opportunity to cast a spell.
“You’re certain you don’t remember her casting a spell?”
“That is so. When I first got a look at her and thereafter, I was always behind her standing a cautious watch, so in my humble opinion I believe it would have been impossible for her to cast anything.”
“Using a spell does require confirmation of the target, after all. In which case, maybe it really was an always-active spell?”
“If that is true, then it is extremely troubling. Even if we catch her, that means we won’t be able to remember who she is.”
And then last is mister Byzak’s account.
That night he was on prison guard duty, and when he took Livyatan in, he removed her armaments, locked her in the cell, and monitored her while sitting at the desk in front of the cell.
Livyatan took no suspicious actions as the night passed, and when morning came near he felt sleepy, so he went to get a pot of coffee from the corner of the room… And that’s when he apparently realized she was no longer there.
He leaped to the front of the cell in a panic, and took a good look inside, but she really was not there.
Moreover, when he searched his memory, he could not remember the person’s appearance. In confusion, he opened the cell and went in to seek any trace of the escape, but there was nothing.
Still in a state of disorder, he reported to his superior, received a terrible reprimanding, and that’s how we got to where we are now.
“That part, when you ‘took your eyes off of her for a moment’; about how long was that?”
“Let me see now… At best I believe it was one or two minutes or thereabouts.”
“What if she used that time to open the lock and escape…?”
“Regardless of how adept, ‘twould be impossible. ’twas not only the cell, but also the monitoring room which remained under lock.”
“What state was the lock on the cell in?”
“It had remained locked.”
“… Hmm?”
If it was me, then I probably would have been able to escape while locked inside.
That’s if I had placed a [Teleport] spell of course. But even so…
“The installation of always-active magic, [Teleport]… Even though they’re things Haster and I developed together in recent years…”
“Yeah, this means she may be a magic genius like us.”
I develop the spell, and Haster puts it into practice. That combination skill we eventually attained together, but done by only one person?
I can’t believe it. Someone who could surpass his genius in magic would have to be a total cheat.
—Cheat? What if… There were other reincarnated people besides me?
No, if reincarnated people were just rolling around here like that, then this world’s culture should have advanced more. I mean, they didn’t even have air conditioning.
Which means… There must be some kind of trick to it I suppose?
“May we see the jail where she was imprisoned?”
He must have reached the same conclusion as me. He wanted to see the jail too.
Without a single unpleasant look, they guided us to the jail.
And then we concluded that we couldn’t find any trace of whatever trick was used.
In the end, Livyatan’s means of escape remained a mystery, and we ended up leaving the headquarters.