Chapter 60: Wouldn’t It Be Boring if You Knew? (1)
November 13, 372 of the Imperial Calendar.
After midnight, the movement of minors is legally prohibited. Minors are the future of the country, so adults have a primary duty to protect minors in any situation, which is the essence of the Imperial Minor Management and Protection Act.
I am quite favorable towards the Imperial law. Although there are old customs, it emphasizes ‘efficient morality,’ which is the most righteous path that the law should pursue.
However, now is the time when it becomes a bit of a hindrance. In a situation where my body is 16 years old but my mind is 26, the law that divides people based on their birth year is not very welcome at this time, past midnight.
“Lucy, are you ready?”
“Of course. I can start anytime.”
The nine blocks that Artshever told me about were clustered in a square of three blocks wide and three blocks long.
Among them, the middle block has a large square in the center, and there are roads extending east, west, south, and north from the fountain in the middle of the square.
The fountain, called the ‘Sun’s Fountain,’ is one of the landmarks of the Imperial Capital Nek, which only spouts water when there is sunlight. And the surrounding square is called the ‘Sun’s Square’ and is a good place to play during the day.
Lucy and I were gauging the surroundings from the rooftop of a building south of the square. Lucy looked down at the square and said.
“If we had come during the day, it would have been bustling with people.”
“Especially on a nice day. Come and see during the day after work.”
“No thanks. I bet everyone will be coming in pairs anyway. How am I supposed to pick anyone up like that?”
“What the hell is going on in your head?”
Please, please don’t say those lines seriously. I sighed and checked my watch.
Five minutes before 2 AM.
“Let’s start.”
“Oh dear, it’s going to be another tiring night.”
Lucy took a deep breath and approached a huge square tray that was 12 meters on each side and about 30 centimeters deep. The wooden tray was filled with clear water to a depth of 20 centimeters, and the surface occasionally rippled when the wind blew.
The night sky reflected in the mirror-like water surface was incredibly clear. The moon and stars reflected on the surface, creating another starry night sky there. Lucy’s figure was cast on that mirror-like starry sky.
He rolled up his sleeves and rotated his arms to loosen his shoulders.
“Now, shall we die once!”
Whoosh! Thud!
The wizard’s staff in his hand—which looked small compared to his physique but was actually a little bigger than an ordinary staff—spun once in the air and struck the edge of the tray.
As the ripples started, the square tray, 12 meters on each side, began to tremble slightly. On the edge, about 10 centimeters wide, white and faint light letters began to appear one by one, starting from the point where Lucy’s staff touched.
Lucy closed his eyes and began to awaken the magic he had prepared for a whole day, swinging his staff and hands.
“I am the one who inherited the enlightenment of Ol Keres Pendens, who knew space in the beginning. My name is Kersilla Creon. The hammer that orchestrates time. The instrument that plays the future. The beast that leaps into the past. The present wind that is everywhere and nowhere……”
Words like poetry flowed from his mouth. Not a magic spell, but a song.
The magic was already prepared and planted by Lucy. The magic letters and magic language that make up the magic are in a dormant state.
It is the current words that awaken them. Words that reveal that he is the owner and has the right to cast magic. Lucy said the larger the scale of the magic, the longer these words become.
Swoooosh……
Without any wind or shaking, the water in the tray began to move. The white letters, which were only on the edge, eventually penetrated the inner walls and the bottom of the tray.
The bottom was slowly being taken over by a group of strange and unknown letters, and as a result, the water swirled, rose, and sank, showing strange movements.
The water, which rose and fell, splitting like a flower, a tree, an animal, then a mountain and the sea, confused my vision.
All the imaginable movements of water and all the unimaginable movements of water stopped when Lucy finished speaking.
“Now, show the promised form! Until the time of the contract!”
Splash!
The water rose upward in an orderly fashion. A square pillar of water, rising neatly, staying at about 3 centimeters, expressing a hard texture. It rises perpendicularly from there.
The water pillars, each defying physics, rose densely. It looked like a village or a city.
No, it was a city.
The water that was in the square tray, 12 meters on each side, rose and sank freely, reducing and reproducing the shape of the nine blocks.
I was honestly impressed by the mysterious sight.
“Wow, you’re a real wizard……”
“Hey, what do you mean by that?”
“Nothing, just.”
Lucy crossed his arms with a dissatisfied expression.
“I’ve been doubted a lot, but this is the first time I’ve been doubted even after showing it. Tsk.”
“Hey, think about your usual behavior.”
I looked at a certain part of the tray. On the small road, a few centimeters wide, small water droplets protruded like bumps. Several dots were moving here and there, but it was hard to tell because they were assimilated with the water.
But that also means it’s ready.
“Lucy, mark the people.”
“As I said before, it’s only possible for humans outside buildings. You know that, right?”
“Of course.”
Lucy rummaged inside his robe and took out blue ink, which he dissolved in the water. Then he muttered something I couldn’t understand, and the blue ink gradually spread under the surface and seeped into the water droplets representing people.
Since the bottom of the tray was still emitting a faint white light, it was easy to see the location of people. However, it was impossible to distinguish individuals.
Lucy looked at it and said with a slightly dissatisfied expression.
“If I had spent a little more time, I could have expressed each individual. That’s a bit disappointing.”
“No, this is enough. It’s great.”
I waved my hand and approached the makeshift table on the opposite side.
There was a map of the nine blocks spread out, and there were chess pieces with flat iron pieces inserted here and there. Comparing the map and the tray, checking the approximate location, it generally matched.
“Good. The placement is good.”
“Oh, are those two moving dots the security officers?”
“I guess so? There are also some people just walking around.”
The people I prepared are ten people, excluding me and Louis. In terms of chess, about four are missing from the total.
Levidian, Jay, Old Man, Joey, Namia, and five organization members. It’s quite difficult to cover nine blocks with ten people. And when we were about to start, there was a problem. Lucy pointed it out, stroking his chin.
“There are too many people walking around, right?”
“Yeah. There are about 100 people moving around in the nine blocks at this time. The models are big, but it’s still a bit small.”
“Actually, even this is a huge stretch to project. Tooting my own horn, but there aren’t many people in our association who can do this in a day. Haha! Even if there’s a four-hour limit.”
Lucy said confidently. To praise himself so openly like that. He might have a hobby of downplaying his own evaluation.
I first reached for the pawn in the center of the top row. It was cut vertically about halfway and had an iron piece inserted there, making it feel like a kind of board game that children play.
“P1. Status report. Can you hear me?”
「Yes? Ah, yes. I can hear you.」
A clear voice flowed from the iron piece.
This iron piece is a magic tool that allows mutual communication. It’s mainly used by the special investigation team of the Security Bureau in real-time operations to catch serious criminals like drug offenders and international criminals.
The ones I’m using are defective products that have been discarded, and some of them, with short validity periods, are circulated through the black market. Old Man worked hard to get these. It cost a lot of money too.
P is the first letter of pawn. They might be upset if they knew they were being used as pawns, but honestly, the others are too strong.
I checked the status of each one and activated the tool at the same time. The validity period is 4 hours and the effective range is 10 kilometers, making it unsuitable for large-scale operations by the special investigation team.
After finishing checking from P1 to P5, I called Levidian this time.
“Teacher, can you hear me?”
「Eh? Oh my? Ah, I can hear you clearly!」
“You don’t have to speak so loudly. Please speak as you normally do.”
「Uh uh? Is this okay?」
“Yes. It’s appropriate. No problems?”
「Yes. None.」
“Okay.”
After that, I finished talking with Jay, Old Man, Joey, and Namia. No problems so far. There were just some passersby, but no murderer appeared.
The blue ink that Jay had sprinkled earlier stayed in the central part of the tray where we were, repeatedly releasing and absorbing ink whenever a person appeared or disappeared.
Ting! Ting!
The pocket watch rang. It was 2 AM.
“Lucy, please.”
“Leave it to me.”
“P1, move to H4. P2, move to G7 in 5 minutes. P3, join P4. P4, P3 is going. Move to D7 after joining. P5, standby for 10 minutes.”
「Understood.」
「Yes.」
「Yes.」
「Okay.」
「Standing by.」
Various answers came back. I glanced at the tray and saw blue dots moving, but I couldn’t tell what was what. I moved three pawns for now.
Although the shape is borrowed from chess, it’s more difficult than chess. All pieces can move forward, backward, left, and right, and there are also diagonally extending alleys. And while chess uses squares as coordinates, I used intersections as coordinates.
I grabbed a white knight and a black bishop.
“Jay, Old Man, from now on, go straight along the main road. When you reach the end of the block, turn right.”
「Heave-ho! I was bored waiting!」
「Yes, Master.」
This time, a black rook. This is Joey.
“Joey, everything alright?”
「Yes, Hyung-nim. I don’t see anyone suspicious. However, the security officers came by quite often. If it wasn’t for the fake ID, I would have been caught three times.」
I guess so. You look the most suspicious. If a giant is standing there in the middle of the night, especially with an appearance that becomes three times more threatening at night, anyone would think so. I shrugged and said.
“Move to A5.”
「Yes, Hyung-nim.」
After that, I called Namia, the white bishop.
“Namia, move to A5, then join Joey. Go to C4.”
「Understood.」
Man, what’s wrong with answering at length?
“Teacher, please wait.”
「Until when?」
“Until I contact you next time.”
「Okay.」
I turned my gaze to the tray. Lucy was carefully examining the tray and said.
“Hmm. I recognize a few people. There are a few that move right after you speak. They’re generally passing by people, right? Did you do that on purpose?”
“Ah, yes. Since I don’t know where the murderer is, I have to check with my own eyes. I wish I could ride a horse at night.”
“What can you do, the law is strict.”
While you can ride a carriage, you can’t ride a horse at night in Nek. You can’t ride a horse and run unless you’re a security officer, and even carriages can’t go faster than walking speed.
If it were possible to ride a horse and run, the mobility would increase. This part is a bit disappointing.
The first instruction ended without any friction. Everyone said that the people they passed by were just citizens. I gave instructions again and moved the chess pieces, alternating between the tray and the map.
As time passed, it was a little past 3:30 AM.
“Phew, is he really going to show up today……”
I stretched and scratched the back of my head. Artshever wouldn’t have told me this just to see me struggle. What I felt when I talked to him the day before yesterday was that the culprit would actually appear here today.
What if Artshever was wrong?
Honestly, I feel a sense of rejection when I consider this possibility. Rationally, I think it could happen, but from a place that could be called emotion or instinct, I feel like it can’t happen.
That Artshever guy is making me feel strange. Really.
“Huh? Risel, look here. This looks very suspicious……?”
“Huh? What?”
I looked in the direction Lucy was pointing. It was an alley in the upper right block from here, and behind the blue dot walking down the street, another blue dot was following closely behind.
“At that distance……how many meters is it?”
“Roughly 10 meters……? Around that. I’ve been watching since earlier, and it seems like it’s carefully following behind.”
“Okay. P3, southwest alley of A1! That is……’Birex’ Street!”
「Yes!」
“Old Man, west of Birex Street!”
「Yes, Master.」
Checking the map, I directed the two towards that direction. If there’s someone secretly following someone else at this hour……wouldn’t the possibility be high?
The blue ink that marks Old Man and P3 is relatively close to Birex Street, but in reality, it’s far away. Even though the city on the tray looks small, it’s about a thousand times smaller than the actual city.
I was watching the two dots approaching, watching the situation in the alley. It seems like the distance between the two isn’t closing.
“Ugh, why is it taking so long? Lucy, is there anything wrong with other places?”
“I’m checking. Hmm, not yet. There are often two or three people walking together, but there’s no one secretly following anyone.”
“Ugh……It’s about time he showed up……Jay. To G7, through the alley.”
「Alright. But boss, how long do we have to keep doing this? I’m bored.」
“Shut up.”
「Risel, I’m sleepy.」
“Please go to F4 for now.”
「Yawn, yes.」
People are getting tired. It’s understandable, since nothing has happened for two hours. I scratched my head and called Joey.
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