Volume 3 - CH 6.3

“I was suffering from fever and dying of boredom,” Victorique said.

“I think you got it switched. Don’t you mean you were dying from the fever?”

“Silence. So you see, I was reading a young priest’s journal about an incident that took place in a medieval temple.”

Kazuya frowned. He had no idea what she was talking about, but he was afraid that Victorique would get mad, so he kept quiet.

“A bishop from Saubreme was scheduled to arrive one night. Just as the villagers were thinking of showing their piety, two incidents occurred. One was the theft of silverware from a wealthy merchant’s house. The other was the theft of a pig from a farmhouse on the outskirts of the village. The villagers were outraged and quickly captured those who they believed were responsible for each incident before the bishop arrived. The men accused of stealing the silverware were drifters. A poor farm boy was accused of stealing the pig. Each of them claimed they were innocent, but the angry villagers refused to listen. Now, just as they were about to be tried for their supposed crimes, the bishop arrived.”

“Okay…”

“The bishop learned about the incidents. He told the villagers to forgive them. He also muttered cryptic words to the priests: ‘You are also forgiven.’ The written account ends there. The monks who stole the silverware and the pig—”

“Wait, the monks stole the silverware and the pig? Why?”

“Were you even listening?” Victorique hissed. “I just told you.”

“But you didn’t though.”

“Is that so? Then take a guess.”

“I can’t!” Kazuya snapped.

Victorique was silent for a moment, flabbergasted. Then, with a sigh, she said, “The monks were the culprits. The villagers saw the incidents as two unrelated cases, found the likely culprits, and tried to forcefully bring them to justice. But think about it. Two incidents on the same night. In a village where such things rarely happen. Wouldn’t it be safer to assume that the two incidents were caused by the same culprit with the same purpose? In other words, there were people who needed silverware and a pig that night. They were the culprits.”

“Why would they need silverware and a pig?”

“To serve the bishop, what else?”

“Oh!”

“Their temple was poor. But they didn’t want the bishop to know that. Perhaps they feared that the temple itself would be closed. The monks could have begged the villagers and asked them to lend them silverware and give them meat. But they couldn’t do that, and had to watch as innocent people were arrested for their crimes. The young monk who wrote the journal was not a part of it, though, and was absolutely clueless until the end. According to him, prayers filled the temple. He assumed it was because of the incidents. And there was also a horrible smell of raw blood. It should be obvious if you think about it for a bit. It was not the smell of sin. Someone was chopping a pig.”

“I see…”

“Let’s forget about the dumb young monk. The bishop, who arrived late, immediately realized what was going on. He helped the arrested people and forgave the monks. The young monk didn’t seem to see the connection, but when the bishop returned to the capital, he reviewed the temple’s operating expenses. Do you get it now?”

She was about to hang up the phone, when Kazuya said, “Get what now?”

A puzzled silence followed on the other end of the receiver.

“It’s the same with this case,” Victorique continued with hesitation. “Two different things were stolen, but the culprit and the purpose were the same. It was the temple that took the silverware and the pig. It was Jeantan who took the artifacts and the missing people. Your account of what happened contained the fragments of chaos that needed to be reconstructed. For example, the stolen goods brought from the colonies and the treasures of the Romanov dynasty.”

“Hmm…?”

“Anastasia said that after the demonic ritual, a girl disappeared. She was auctioned. That same night, she came back cold, bandaged in a coffin. Anastasia thought that it was the same girl’s dead body, but it wasn’t.”

“What was it?”

“Stolen goods brought in from the colonies. The kind of thing that collectors fight to get their hands on. It was probably a mummy from colonial Egypt.”

Kazuya gasped.

Anastasia’s words came to his mind.

“Never came back until later that night… in a coffin.”

“Her whole body was covered in bandages. I called her name, but she wouldn’t answer.”

“I touched her, and she felt cold. She was already dead.”

“Ah, I get it. Anastasia mistook the mummy for the girl.”

“Yes, she did,” Victorique said. “There were also treasures of the Romanov dynasty in that room, which were brought to Europe just before the Russian Revolution and supposedly disappeared.”

“Really?”

“Do you remember what Anastasia said about the two-headed eagle?”

“Yeah…”

“The two-headed eagle is the emblem of the Romanov family.”

“Oh, I see…”

“The Romanov family’s treasures were probably among the artifacts in the secret room. Do you understand, Kujou?”

Kazuya nodded. “Y-Yeah…”

“Do you understand, Kujou, the pathetic halfwit who doesn’t understand anything unless I verbalize it for him?”

“Say that again, and I’ll really—”

Before he could say any more, the door opened, and Inspector Blois entered.

“Later, Victorique,” Kazuya said. Before he could hang up the phone, he realized that Victorique already ended the call before him. He stared at the receiver for a moment, his face a mixture of emptiness and fury. “Victorique, you little…” he mumbled with a sigh, then gently put down the phone.

Superintendent-General Mr. Signore entered the room along with Inspector Blois.

“Grevil, the king is very pleased with your finding the Blue Rose,” Mr. Signore said. He shrugged, and his voice took on a bemused tone. “But he says it’s a bit ironic that Marquis de Blois’ eldest son should find the Blue Rose for the king.”

“Is that so?”

“Yes. The king has not forgotten the incident with the alchemist Leviathan, who once tried to seize the kingdom, and the subsequent plotting of the Marquis during the Great War.”

“That’s all in the past,” Inspector Blois said.

Mr. Signoret smiled thinly in silent rebuttal. Then he shrugged again. “Come to my office later. I’m not there, but there’s someone who wants to see you.” He looked at Kazuya. “Oh, you come too, young man.” He then left in a hurry.

Inspector Blois and Kazuya headed to Mr. Signore’s reception office located on the fourth floor.

Kazuya was calm, but Inspector Blois was coughing repeatedly. He tugged at his suit, fixed his hair, and then sighed. Kazuya glanced at him uncomfortably.

They reached the fourth floor, and the elevator’s steel cage rattled open. Inspector Blois stepped out quickly, but suddenly tripped over nothing. In his panic, he grabbed Kazuya’s clothes, bringing him down with him, and the two of them tumbled down the hallway.

“Ouch!”

“S-Sorry…”

Inspector Blois rushed to his feet and fixed his hair.

What is wrong with him?

Watching the inspector suspiciously, Kazuya followed behind.

When he opened the door to the reception office, the sound of laughter rolled out. A blue-eyed, good-looking boy of about ten years was rolling with laughter. The person making him laugh was a lady standing across from him. Wearing an elegant brown dress with few ornaments, she appeared to be in her early twenties. Her straight brown hair didn’t receive that much care, it seemed; it was dry and lacked the shine.

“Is it funny? Is it funny?”

“Wahahaha!”

The boy laughed again. Kazuya glanced at the lady’s face, and burst out laughing.

The lady was squishing her face with her hands. Every time she moved her hands, her face would magically change, which was even funnier than the previous one. Kazuya couldn’t help but laugh as he glanced at Inspector Blois.

Huh?

Inspector Blois had a deep frown on his face. He cast the lady a glance and sighed.

The lady seemed to be the type to get carried away; when she saw that her clown act was well-received by Kazuya, she made even more ridiculous faces. But when she noticed Inspector Blois’ displeasure, she pulled her hands away from her face.

She was surprisingly quite pretty, possessing the beauty typical of the nobility. If she put more effort into buying dresses and fixing her hair than making funny faces, she’d be captivating.

Who’s this lady? Kazuya wondered. I’m pretty sure this is Mr. Signore’s reception office, but the only people here are this weird lady and the boy.

The blue-eyed boy wiped the tears in his eyes with the back of his hand. “Sup!” he greeted.

“Huh?” Kazuya stared at the boy’s face.

Blue eyes and milky skin. He seemed quite the clever boy. He only reached Kazuya’s chest in terms of height, so he was a little shorter than Victorique. Kazuya didn’t think he knew a boy like him.

“You have the memory of a goldfish or something, you dumb Chinese?”

Kazuya cocked his head. “Oh!”

“Finally remembered, huh?”

“Luigi?!”

It was Luigi, the street urchin with the sharp memory. He rubbed the bridge of his nose. “I’m going to school,” he said proudly. “Mrs. Signore here does volunteer work. She’s helping send smart kids to school. I’m going to boarding school.”

Luigi told him the name of a school by the sea. He kept proudly repeating that he was going to school.

Kazuya rubbed Luigi’s head, then turned to the lady—Mrs. Signore.

Mrs. Signore took on a serious look and nodded. “I heard about the incident from my husband last night,” she said. “I told him that I would do what I could for those poor girls and then I would take care of this child who was instrumental in solving the case.”

“I see.”

Kazuya studied Mrs. Signore’s face. She had that dignified demeanor befitting of the wife of the Superintendent-General, but for some reason, Kazuya thought that she looked like a precocious young girl trying her best to pretend to be an adult. Unable to contain himself, Kazuya chuckled.

“Huh? Why are you laughing?” She turned to the inspector. “Tell me, Grevil!”

“I’m sorry,” Kazuya said. “I just remembered the face you were making.”

“I-It’s my special skill since I was young. Right, Grevil?”

Kazuya’s eyes darted between Mrs. Signore and Inspector Blois. The inspector was scowling at the floor.

Mrs. Signore took out a handkerchief and wiped the tears from the corners of her eyes. “It’s been a long time, Grevil. I see you’re still sporting the same weird hairdo.”

“Your face is much weirder, Jacqueline.”

Kazuya stopped laughing. Jacqueline? He glanced at them both again.

Jacqueline was the name that Inspector Blois had blurted out at the Charles de Gilet station yesterday. The inspector looked, as he recalled, a little agitated and sad at the same time, and when he realized that he had mistaken the lady for someone else, he was clearly dejected.

“Um, so your name is Jacqueline?” Kazuya asked.

“Yup. Why?”

“What’s your relationship with the inspector?”

“We’re childhood friends. He didn’t always have this hairdo. He was fashionable and handsome, and every girl wanted him. And now he looks like this. What happened?”

“A lot,” Inspector Blois said curtly. “A lot has happened.” His face turned grimmer.

“So right now…”

“My husband has been promoted to Superintendent-General, and as his wife, I do a lot of volunteer work, such as helping child victims of crimes. I was surprised to learn yesterday that Grevil was in Saubreme for work. Since when were you interested in police work? Doesn’t really suit you, does it?”

Inspector Blois was silent, then said in a low voice, “Is that why you called us here? To give us an update on this boy?”

“Yes. I thought you might be a little worried. And I also wanted to see you, Grevil.”

“Well, if that’s all…” Inspector Blois turned and headed for the door. Kazuya quickly went after him.

Mrs. Signore and Luigi watched them go with smiles.

“Ah, yes! Grevil.”

“What is it?”

“I heard you played a huge part in this case. Congratulations. That’s amazing. I was bragging about you to others, telling them we’re childhood friends. So don’t tell me we’re not friends anymore. Although we’ve grown apart since I got married.”

“…”

The inspector opened the door and stepped out into the hallway. Before he left, he peered back into the room and mumbled, “It was nice seeing you, Jacqueline.”

“Same here. See you later.”

“Yeah…”

Inspector Blois closed the door.

The inspector walked down the hallway with Kazuya by his side. He had a strange look on his face—a mix of frustration and sadness, like a child who had his toy taken away from him.

Kazuya studied his expression.

The inspector ignored him for a while, until eventually he couldn’t take it anymore.

“Stop staring at me with your dumb face!”

“What?”

“Eyes front and walk straight! Right. Left. Right. Left!”

“I-I’m sorry…?”

Kazuya wasn’t sure why he was apologizing, but the inspector’s menacing look gave him no choice but to quietly obey.