Chapter 10 | The Assassin Is Taken to the Capital
I returned to Tuatha Dé, having finished my work in the capital.
Even though I was home, I kept busy using the telecommunications network to collect information. Just yesterday, I’d finally gained enough evidence to complete the documents proving that Marquis Carnalie was the true criminal.
“Just in time…”
Having an instant method of communication was such a massive advantage that it was unfair.
Normally when gathering data from all over, it would take days just to send orders to your on-site agents, and then days again for their reports to arrive. Additionally, new revelations could lead to more targets to investigate and more time waiting for commands and replies to travel. It all involved a lot of delays.
The only reason I was able to put together these documents on such short notice was because I was able to issue orders swiftly.
If one controlled information, they controlled the world. It was no exaggeration to say that I could conquer the planet with this telecommunications network if I wanted to.
“Coming in, Lugh!”
Dia opened the door and walked into my room. Barging into my room without knocking wasn’t a case of bad manners; I had an agreement with Dia and Tarte that if my door was unlocked, they were free to come in.
“…That look on your face tells me you created another new spell.”
Dia always wore a particular expression when she’d finished crafting some new magic.
“That’s right! I really like this one. Here, write it down for me. I can’t test it until you do.”
Dia proudly explained her new spell.
I’d been too busy lately to help with magic development. As such, I was relying entirely on her.
Earlier, I’d taught Dia a decent amount of knowledge from my previous world that I thought might be useful for magic, and she was doing a superb job of using that to make spells. There were times she even came up with ideas I’d never considered.
Without her help, my magic wouldn’t be nearly as diverse.
“That’s definitely interesting,” I said.
“Your phones and hang gliders made me realize something—magic is useful for more than just battle. Wouldn’t this spell be handy?” she replied.
“Yeah, it’s great.”
Once again, I had to admit that Dia was a genius. This formula was something I’d never have conceived of.
Judging by its function, it was clear she made this for me because I was about to leave for the trial in the royal capital. She was probably too embarrassed to say as much out loud, though.
“Ahem, are you prepared for the trial? You’ll be branded as a criminal if you lose. You can’t let that happen.”
“I’m as ready as can be. My evidence is perfect. How the trial goes will depend on how many cards he has up his sleeve that I haven’t predicted.”
“Do you think it’ll be a hard fight?”
“I’ll manage. No matter what he has prepared, I’ll be able to thoroughly refute his claims.”
“That’s good to hear. I’ve been feeling so frustrated, though. I’m useless in these sorts of situations, and I wasn’t very helpful in the capital, either.”
Dia gave me an apologetic look, and I shook my head at her.
“That’s not true. I was only able to write the formula I used to construct the telecommunications network because of a rule you discovered. You were a great help in the royal capital.”
“I don’t recall doing anything.”
“He jumped at the chance to meet us because of the prospect of inviting three noble ladies to his party. You two also did a great job of serving as my foils.”
“What do you mean by that?”
“You know how I gave you both clothes and makeup to intentionally ruin your beauty? I also made sure you didn’t fit his taste in women. I did that for two reasons: The first was to protect you, while the second was to ensure that my beauty stood out by comparison. Additionally, I displayed a constant concern and desire to protect you two. Count Frantrude prefers women who look after others, so that earned me his favor. A person’s attractiveness is always relative and dependent on emotion. Using other people as a foil to stand out is a common technique.”
I’d engineered Dia’s and Tarte’s appearances so that they wouldn’t fit his type and made them rank lower than me in noble society. This created a contrast that emphasized my beauty.
“I don’t know if I should be happy or hate you for that! Either way, I want you to keep relying on us. You always seem to go off and do everything yourself when I let you out of my sight.”
“Really? I feel like I’m constantly leaning on you.”
“Do so even more. I am your older sister, after all.”
“You’re my younger sister now, though.”
“Grr…”
Dia puffed out her cheeks. It was so cute that I just had to smile. She had no idea how big a help she already was to me.
“Ah, looks like they’ve arrived. Watch over things here while I’m gone,” I said.
I looked outside and saw a jet-black carriage parked in front of the estate. That particular style of buggy was only used by government officials sent to meet suspects and transport them to the capital.
“Good luck, Lugh,” wished Dia.
I was going to the capital alone. Because I was the accused, I wasn’t permitted to bring anyone with me. Dia and Tarte couldn’t assist me in the trial anyway.
The moment I got up to go meet the government official, someone came hurrying into my room. It was a breathless Tarte.
“Lord Lugh! I have provisions for the journey!” she announced, thrusting a large basket into my hands.
A sweet aroma wafted from the food within.
“This is bread that will keep for the trip! I baked it because I thought you might not get a proper meal over there. Safe travels, my lord.”
Looking in the basket, I saw a long-lasting type of bread that contained different fruits and pickled nuts. I’d taught Tarte this recipe as part of survival training. Evidently, she hadn’t forgotten about it.
Perhaps she chose to make this for me in the hope it might help me survive this ordeal.
“Thank you, Tarte. I’ll gladly take it.”
Truthfully, I’d forgotten that I would need to bring food.
I was being taken to the capital as a suspect. I hadn’t yet been convicted, so under normal circumstances, there would be no reason to treat me poorly.
However, there was nothing standard about this predicament. Given Marquis Carnalie’s plot to ruin me, he may have bribed the government official to harass me and rob me of my decision-making ability.
Tormenting your opponent, denying them meals, and sapping their willpower were all common tactics to hinder their ability to debate in a trial.
I gratefully stored Tarte’s basket in the Leather Crane Bag along with the documents for the court case. I then folded up the Leather Crane Bag, put it into a plastic container I produced with an original spell, and swallowed it.
Thankfully, I could fold the Leather Crane Bag small enough that it fit in the palm of my hand. Had it been larger, this trick would’ve been far more difficult.
“Uh, Lugh, that bag is really important! Why the heck did you swallow it?!” asked Dia incredulously.
“I swallowed it because it’s important. With a little practice, it’s possible to store things in your stomach and take them out whenever you want. They might confiscate any belongings on my person, so I need to hide it,” I explained.
“Do you ever run out of surprises?!”
I also could’ve easily hidden the Leather Crane Bag in my rectum.
This was a relatively popular technique. Spies regularly concealed communication devices between their butt cheeks, and criminals hid drugs in body cavities to pass through customs.
“You’re amazing, my lord… Oh no, I messed up again.” Tarte cast her eyes to the floor.
“What’s wrong?” I questioned.
“I forgot about your Leather Crane Bag. I should have made softer bread for you instead…”
The panic was plain on Tarte’s face. She’d baked me something resembling fruitcake. It was firm and held little moisture so that it would keep for a long period of time.
“It’s okay, this is fine. I’m happy to have it. I’ll be back in about one week. You’ll both be in trouble if you don’t finish your homework by then, okay?” Hoping to ease the girls’ tension, I cracked a joke.
“Ha-ha, I’ll get it all done!” said Dia.
“I will master it before you get back!” promised Tarte.
It would’ve been a waste to not have them do anything while I was away, so I decided to give them a special assignment.
I was sure they would both grow a lot by the time I returned.
The government official knocked on the door with obvious impatience. Normally, a servant would have greeted him, but this time I did so myself.
“How may I help you?” I asked.
“Is Lugh Tuatha Dé here?!”
The man at the door was middle-aged and slightly shorter than me. He had an overbearing and vulgar manner.
“I am Lugh.”
“You should have received a letter a few days ago. I’m taking you to the capital under suspicion for the murder of Count Marlentott.”
No such letter had been delivered, of course. They’d tried to catch me unaware by staging an accident that kept the missive from reaching me.
I started shouting in response, saying I never received that kind of letter, I didn’t know what he was talking about, and there must have been a mistake. I watched for the man’s reaction as I gave my performance.
If he had just been a normal government official, he probably would have found it odd that I never received the letter and then explained the situation to me. However, this man had undoubtedly been bribed…
“You shame yourself, murderer! Follow me now!” he yelled, threatening me by drawing the sword at his hip. A mocking smile spread across his face.
He knew the letter never arrived.
“Okay, I’ll go. I can prove my innocence.”
He punched me in the face as soon as I said that. I could tell from the blow that he was a mage. That made sense—only someone with mana would be qualified to take a noble in as a suspect.
I had anticipated the strike, and the slowness of his blow made it easy to turn my head to lessen the impact. It looked like a hard strike, but it barely hurt at all.
Despite that, I staggered and fell on my back, then held my cheek in terror.
“They call you a Holy Knight? How pathetic! Don’t give me that rebellious look. I don’t see any remorse for what you’ve done! I’m gonna beat it into you by the time we reach the capital!”
He could have his fun for now. I would get him for this later.
After I got into the carriage, my hands were bound, and a blindfold was wrapped around my head. They even gagged me so I wouldn’t be able to perform any incantations.
Next, they seized all my belongings, just as I expected they would. All they did was give me a light frisking, though; it could hardly be called thorough.
Two people were assigned to watch me, and it was apparent they were both in the pocket of Marquis Carnalie.
What happened after I entered the carriage was comically predictable. They showered me with verbal abuse, let my meal slip out of their hands and fall on the floor when it was time to eat, and regularly stepped on my feet.
The two government officials were unconscious. Their eyes were open, and their bodies were totally relaxed.
With them in that state, I undid the iron chains binding my hands and removed the gag.
I took out my Leather Crane Bag without difficulty and ate the bread Tarte had made me. It was hard, but the plentiful dried fruits and nuts gave it a luxurious taste.
I was also grateful to find a flask full of warm soup in the basket. The broth calmed my frayed nerves.
“That was delicious. Tarte’s grown even more skilled as a cook.”
I would have gone hungry if not for her efforts. Now that I had a full stomach, I read over the documents for the trial again.
Meanwhile, the government officials were muttering to themselves creepily. They were motionless except for their twitching fingers.
I’d injected a drug into their necks using needles. These fools weren’t skilled enough to locate a weapon hidden on an assassin’s person. Plus, binding, blindfolding, and gagging me wasn’t nearly enough to keep me from striking their vitals.
The drug was a very strong truth serum I’d prepared. I gave them such a strong dose that it left them unsure of the boundary between fantasy and reality. The amount left a person dreaming with their eyes open, seeing what they wished to.
Judging by their muttering, it seemed like they were both tormenting me in their dreams.
I was a rich noble and the heir to my house. I was good-looking and praised by everyone. As such, both of these two despised me, and they were having the time of their lives beating me up while I was incapable of fighting back.
The advantage of this serum was the realism of the delusions it induced, which lasted for hours. That was why I didn’t use a drug that would have simply knocked them out. Their memories of the delusions would remain, and they wouldn’t realize what I had done even after they returned to their senses.
I was going to administer the drug regularly until we reached the capital. That would keep them quiet and serve me later on. Regular injections opened one’s mind and made them susceptible to suggestion. I was planning on giving them a slightly different kind of chemical the day before we arrived at the capital in order to turn them to my side and gain their cooperation.
“I never really wanted to use this on anyone, though. The aftereffects are nasty.”
If they had been simple government officials, I would have behaved during the trip. However, they had been bribed and took delight in tormenting me. I wasn’t so kind as to care about the suffering of such people.
“Okay… I’ve read the documents enough times. I guess I’ll work on some magic development.”
I hadn’t gotten quiet time like this in a while. A little enjoyable research was just what I needed.
I took out a pen and some paper.
Dia had been surprising me with one spell after another lately. I needed to make something that would astonish her.
There was one idea I’d been considering for a while. Dia would surely be delighted when I showed it to her, and then she would build upon it to fashion more new magic.
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