The Mansion Awaits Spring
Chapter 110
Kritz, an investigator from Division 3 of the Special Investigation Headquarters, clicked her tongue as she stared at the massive duffel bag that even the robust Irsa was groaning under.
“At this point, that’s just outright robbery.”
“It’s fine. April has been robbed so blind in her life that she won’t even bat an eye at this much.”
“How can you say that so casually? Miss April forgave the sailors out of the goodness of her heart, and here you are committing robbery again!”
“She didn’t forgive them. She’s putting up with them because they’re useful. That’s the attitude of someone who’s going to make it big, while I’m just a petty thief destined to die in some gutter.”
Bickering like that the entire way, the two finally arrived at the region where the illicit liquor was brewed.
Though the alcohol had caused a string of deaths in the Empire, in the Grand Duchy, it was merely one of many ordinary, traditional spirits.
Aside from that, there was nothing particularly special about the area. The locals still brewed the liquor using groundwater bubbling up from the earth, but ever since the production and sale of the drink had been banned, the village’s economy had fallen into a severe depression.
Kritz grimaced at the sickeningly neglected state of the streets. Starved rats lay dead, rotting in the open.
“Even without any poison, the stuff brewed here looks like it would kill someone on its own,” Kritz muttered.
Irsa nodded at her observation.
“That’s why even I’m out here smuggling it. This liquor didn't just support this village; it fed this entire region. But then, out of nowhere, they banned it because a bunch of Empire folks supposedly drank it and dropped dead.”
“I see.”
Just then, a few village children spotted Irsa and walked over.
“Irsa!”
“Hey.”
Irsa handed over the food she had brought to the children, whose faces were pale and sallow from prolonged hunger, and said, “Divide it up evenly. I stole this too.”
Kritz, who had been annoyed the entire journey watching Irsa stuff every scrap of food from the Sailor’s House into her bag, finally understood why she had done it.
This was a place where the locals could only survive if sailors stole for them and smuggled their liquor. That was the kind of region this was.
Feeling that she ought to help in any way she could, Kritz headed toward the groundwater source.
She scooped up more than enough water for testing and, borrowing a nearby house Irsa had pointed out, began analyzing the sample on the spot.
Her research continued late into the night, long after Irsa had finished checking on the villagers and returned.
Irsa had spent the evening encouraging the veteran sailors in the village to board the merchant ship.
Every single sailor knew that the chances of successfully navigating a completely severed trade route on a clipper were less than fifty-fifty.
However, the wages Irsa offered were high enough to make the risk well worth considering.
Having finished recruiting the crew, Irsa pushed the door open and asked Kritz, “Did you find out anything?”
“…….”
“Kritz.”
When Irsa tapped her shoulder, Kritz, who had been frozen in place, slowly raised her head.
She looked up at Irsa with a face drained of all color.
“I asked if you found anything.”
“……I don't think I should tell you, Miss Irsa.”
“What?”
“If anyone finds out about this, we’re dead. All of us. Officer Fezin will kill every last one of us.”
“……Even April?”
“Yes. In fact, if he can’t bring himself to kill Miss April, the trouble will only get worse. So, absolutely not. You must never know. No matter what happens……”
Kritz answered and looked back down at her test results.
She had discovered that the groundwater contained the exact same chemical compounds found in the well inside the Lunos estate—the one the previous heads of the family, April's parents, had sealed off and abandoned.
Those two substances were easily identifiable. It was the liquid fuel used by the Empire.
People who drank excessive amounts of this illicit liquor exhibited symptoms strikingly similar to those who died when the fog rolled in. They suffered from severe respiratory distress, and in many cases, bled from their eyes, nose, and mouth.
Having discovered the same compound in two locations heavily associated with the fog, Kritz was forced to reach a single conclusion.
The probability was high.
No, "high" didn't even begin to cover it.
In truth, if Kritz weren't a scientist—and thus bound to never fully dismiss any remaining margin of error—she would have already been absolutely certain of this conclusion.
The deadly fog currently plaguing the Grand Duchy was directly linked to the Empire’s fuel extraction process.
\* \* \*
Though they were called the Twin Mountains, it was virtually impossible for an outsider to distinguish one peak from the other.
Standing at the edge of the cliff, Shaefer muttered candidly, “……They all look exactly the same.”
From behind them, Fezin, who was aiming his rifle toward the treeline, replied, “Doesn't everything look that way to your eyes?”
“What’s that supposed to mean? You’re insulting me, aren’t you? Huh?”
As Shaefer looked ready to grab Fezin by the collar then and there, April scolded him.
“Stop fighting, both of you. I can’t tell if I brought two grown men with me, or Hannah and Fred. Even those kids don’t bicker like this.”
At her words, Fezin remarked, “Those two don’t fight because Hannah constantly lets him win. That delicate little brat is no match for her anyway.”
Unlike April, who had lived isolated from others for a long time, Fezin had met far too many people in his line of work.
To April, it sometimes felt like Fezin understood Hannah and Fred better than she did, even though she lived with them.
April found herself slightly annoyed by this realization, but noticing how intensely focused Fezin was, she asked, “What have you been staring at this whole time?”
“I don’t know. We’ll find out soon enough.”
Shaefer, looking in the same direction as Fezin, asked, “Is there actually something there?”
“Quiet.”
Fezin spoke as he concentrated his senses.
April watched Sebio’s body tremble violently and murmured, “It must be something far more terrifying than Shaefer.”
“Did you guys bring me along just to insult me? Be honest.”
“Shut up, Shaefer.”
When Fezin snapped without even turning around, Shaefer grumbled in frustration. “Why is it only me you’re telling to shut up? April talked too.”
“She said you two aren't close. Call her Lunos.”
“Is that really what's important right now? You're driving me crazy, Fezin……”
Shaefer’s exasperated words cut off as he instantly raised his gun and took aim. Emerging through the dense thicket of trees was a tiger.
Fezin kept his rifle trained on the beast without a single trace of humor left in him, and the tiger slowly slinked out of the forest, its eyes locked onto them.
Fezin did not fire. He was confident he could hit the tiger, but he wasn't sure he could kill it in a single shot. It was already too close.
Fezin realized his own state of mind had been strange for a while now.
If it had been his usual self, he would have pulled the trigger without a moment's hesitation. He wouldn't have worried about the tiger surviving to lunging at him again. He was, after all, that good of a marksman.
But he couldn't do that now. He didn't want to take even the slightest risk.
In this very moment, he couldn't help but realize there was someone beside him whom he absolutely had to protect.
If she were to break, it felt as though his own soul would shatter with her. That was what he felt in this tense, breathless second.
Shaefer’s hands were trembling violently.
Looking at him now, Sebio’s reaction actually seemed quite brave. There was no difference between this hunting dog and himself, even though he was many times larger.
The tiger standing before them looked to be more than double the weight of all three of them combined. Though he had always known such beasts existed in the world, he had never truly comprehended it until now.
To Shaefer, tigers had always been no different from mythical creatures like dragons or unicorns. Unless one saw them with their own eyes, what real difference was there between them?
In such a terrifying situation, he found himself relying on Fezin, who remained utterly unshaken.
How can he not be afraid?
Shaefer had believed that on the day he was arrested by the police, he would have beaten Fezin in a fistfight if only he had been in better condition. But not now.
There was no way he could have beaten this man.
Rather, the only reason he had felt they were evenly matched back then was because Fezin hadn't been fighting with his life on the line. Shaefer realized this now.
The tiger paid no attention to anything else around it, focusing its gaze entirely on Fezin.
Even the beast knew. It knew exactly who the most dangerous threat to its life was.
