Chapter 25
Chapter 25
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Of all people, Mirta was a maid on the fourth floor.
In other words, she knew I was a fake Pero.
"Just where did she...?"
It wasn't a matter of where she leaked the information.
Someone who clearly knew the consequences of breaking the rules wouldn't go around blabbing without a good reason.
And there were only two families who could protect Mirta from Argenta of Fire.
Cartiel of Wind, or Alloze of Water.
If the secret about me fell into either of their hands, it was over.
"Chase her down immediately. Is it possible to know her location...?"
It wasn't like the contract had a GPS tracker attached; it would be impossible.
But unexpectedly, an answer came.
"According to the shadows, she was last seen heading towards the northern border region."
"North?"
I knew it well from looking at the map. The north of Argenta meant...
"—Cartiel?"
The maid lowered her head at my words.
Pielle's expression also hardened seriously.
The contract was broken if anyone revealed anything about Argenta to someone else.
Had she already spilled the secret to a Cartiel person?
Recalling the map again, I suddenly felt something was off.
"...But, Cartiel and Argenta are separated by a mountain range. Why would she go that way, risking Argenta of Fire burning her?"
No. She didn't necessarily have to go by land, did she?
"...The sea."
"Madam?"
Pielle looked at me at my words.
I quickly turned to her.
The Endless Sea was just a sea when there were no monsters, right?
Of course, ships could sail.
And if there was a Cartiel person next to her who could control the wind?
They could travel at a speed that couldn't even be compared to land travel.
"She's trying to go by ship. Launch a ship at the nearest coast right now."
Pielle's eyes widened at my words.
"...It's certainly possible if she's accompanied by a Cartiel person, but if that's the case, the ship will be traveling at an incredible speed."
She said calmly.
"If we leave now, we won't be able to catch up."
"No, we can. We have to."
I said firmly.
"It's just water, after all."
I was confident because I had stood before the sea before.
At least on the water, I could compete with Cartiel.
Water was entirely Alloze's domain.
Pielle's eyes widened at my words.
* * *
Around the time Krua was about to set out.
The monster disturbance in District 1 was quickly resolved by Dielo's appearance.
Fortunately, there weren't any of those Water Manipulation Ability mage monsters from before among them.
"Thank you, Lord."
Amos, the field commander, bowed his head.
He was actually a bit flustered.
He had reported that sea monsters were invading, but he didn't expect the lord to come in person.
It wasn't even a disturbance that required that much attention in the first place.
But Dielo willingly participated.
It was for the absurd reason of wanting to stretch his body, but the truth was different.
The sea.
He ridiculously wanted to see the sea.
No, actually, he wanted to see Krua.
But seeing her excited at the thought of leaving the mansion twisted his mood.
In other words, this was just a way to vent his anger.
Ridiculously so.
'I'll politely decline. My goal is a peaceful retirement.'
Just as Dielo raised his eyebrows, as if hearing that resolute voice again...
"—Ah."
He felt a burning pain at his fingertip.
It was the spot where he had drawn blood to sign Mirta's contract.
—Whoosh!
A deep blue flame erupted in that spot. It was the flame of punishment that burned when the other party broke the contract.
Mirta.
Dielo smiled as he thought of that name.
It seemed she had finally made her move.
"What was the most recently reported location of Mirta?"
At his question, Cassilerus, the vice-captain of the Argenta royal guard next to him, immediately answered.
"The northern coast."
As expected, she was clearly trying to cross over to Cartiel.
There were quite a few others besides Mirta who were trying to move to Cartiel.
Dielo and the informants under Rick, the head of the intelligence department, had already grasped that fact.
But they had left them alone.
As the traitors began to move one by one, they would reveal themselves, so there was no need to chase after them.
They would just keep them within reach, ready to crush them before they reached Cartiel.
"The timing is perfect."
It seemed a suitable target for venting his anger had appeared.
It was very unfortunate for Mirta.
Originally, she would have been dragged back to the Argenta mansion and disposed of through legal procedures, but now she was about to be summarily executed by the lord before she could even be dragged back, without a chance to explain herself.
"I'll go myself."
Dielo started walking.
Cartiel would keep it a secret anyway that they were trying to take people from Argenta.
Even if he caught the Cartiel person with Mirta, they would pretend not to know.
They would cut off the tail.
He could extract information by interrogating the captured Cartiel person.
Who else was trying to go to Cartiel.
"Cartiel..."
He turned to look at the distant mountain range.
The Caltain Mountains, the border between Cartiel and Argenta.
A typical runaway would try to hide in the mountains, but Mirta wouldn't go to the mountains.
Not if she didn't want to become a roasted chunk of meat.
With Cartiel of Wind in front and Argenta of Fire behind, going to the mountains would obviously turn the mountain range into a sea of fire.
Then there was only one answer.
"The sea."
The monsters had invaded the northern sea near there once before, so the number of monsters would be small now.
"It will take time to break through Cartiel's sea defenses anyway."
Dielo gestured.
The whirlpools that roamed the waters off the coast of Cartiel.
The wind barrier that was also the cause of the Endless Sea monsters flocking towards Argenta.
Even if a Cartiel person accompanied her, it would take time to break through that.
He could just go and take care of it in the meantime.
"Lord, personnel have already been dispatched to capture him."
"I know."
Dielo replied briefly to Vice-Captain Cassilerus's words.
"Prepare a ship."
If he started chasing from here, he could catch up in an instant.
Dielo's lips curved into a smile.
But the leisure was only temporary.
Before long, he would have to face an unexpected situation... no, an unexpected person.
* * *
—Swish...
Manipulating water wasn't difficult after all.
Coming out onto the sea, I felt confident once again.
Was Krua's Water Manipulation Ability really weak?
Was it because the original novel's heroine wasn't Krua herself, but a maid, that I didn't know Krua's abilities?
"When is the time when Cartiel's whirlpools subside?"
Pielle came and stood next to me at my question.
"There was a report that it occurred two days ago, so it won't be today at least."
It was a quick answer, as if she had been waiting for it.
"Then we won't be late."
The ship glided swiftly across the water I was manipulating.
Still, because of the time it took to travel by land and arrive at the coast, it seemed impossible to catch them at sea.
If I could see Mirta's ship, I could manipulate the water to prevent it from advancing, but unfortunately, the ship was not visible.
"Instead, there is an uninhabited island nearby where we can wait. She's probably there."
Pielle said. I stared at the sea.
Pielle and the Argenta informants said that the whirlpools off the coast of Cartiel would not disappear today.
But that didn't mean we had plenty of time.
Mirta's contract had already been set on fire as evidence that she had spoken about Argenta.
Then that obviously meant she had contacted someone outside of Argenta.
Most likely that was a Cartiel person, and the Cartiel person was likely to know exactly when the whirlpools would disappear.
Then Mirta's departure today meant?
That the whirlpools would disappear soon.
—Swish!
We wouldn't be late, but we weren't relaxed.
I manipulated the water even faster.
The surroundings rushed past as if gliding on ice.
It was as if the water was directly lifting and moving the ship, so it couldn't move any faster than this.
"An uninhabited island is visible!"
After a while, one of the Argenta people observing ahead shouted.
Something was faintly visible to the naked eye.
"That is..."
But the closer we got, the stranger things looked.
