Chapter 50 47: Firework Thief

I met up with Lady Sophia and others near the garden again. This time, the vice-captain had already prepared the carriage.

"My, lord Eugene," Lady Sophia smiled when she saw me. "Did you sleep well?"

"I did!" I said, smiling back. "What about you, my lady?"

"I slept just fine too! Then, shall we set off?"

At her words, we went out to the carriage again, though not before I offered a few words of greeting to the two other knights as well.

We quickly got into the carriage like yesterday and set off again.

We planned to check the town, comment about how busy it seemed, and suggest we check out the industrial buildings. It was a good plan that Lady Sophia had come up with. As the carriage started moving, I activated the soundproofing magic again.

"I think we should consider letting Sir Buhini in on the matter."

"It is considerable, lord Eugene," Sophia said. "But I think we might be too hasty with that."

As expected.

I nodded. "I understand, but do keep it in consideration. If we do end up needing the knights' help, the earlier we tell them the better."

Sophia nodded and so did Alec.

Eventually, we reached the plaza.

With just a day left for the beginning of the founding festival, the hustle and bustle of the town were greater than ever. The cobblestone path and the stone and brick buildings all around were leaving behind their hues of gray and brown in favor of the shades of red and mahogany.

People were putting up banners and flags, inviting others to the beginning of the festivities, and marking great deals like none other.

The congestion of the city increased many folds as carriages ushered through the streets every now and then. The crowds moving around for last moment shopping and renovations alike made it almost impossible to move around peacefully.

Our plan seemed to be working well.

After moving around a bit, Lad Sophia spoke up.

"I believe it's a bit too difficult to move like this."

"I agree, my lady," Alec chimed in.

"Sir Buhini." I patted his shoulders. "I think we should move to a place with lesser crowds."

Buhini nodded, ever the taciturn man.

"How about going to the outer streets? Near the industrial lines?"

"Is that a good place, lord Eugene?"

"We'll both learn a lot, I believe."

When I brought up learning, Sir Buhini seemed slightly conflicted but nodded eventually.

We got back in the carriages and then to the outer zones of the city. Eventually, we found ourselves in front of the widespread industrial buildings at the northern ends of the city.

The cobblestone roads were replaced by well-cleaned dirt roads.

The buildings around had enormous yards with more than enough space for the large caravans of goods to come in and go while all of them were made simply into a wide space with chimneys reaching out.

This was the part of the city that not only forged the steel used all over the city but also where the bricks were smelt and the fabrics were processed. It was, in a way, the heart of the city.

One that they seriously needed to move away from and replace with better supply chains. It was limiting the growth of both the town and the industries.

Well, not my thing to worry about.

We let go of the carriage and started moving about. First, with Sir Buhini taking the lead, we went to the largest factory one around.

It was an iron Smithy that processed it from ore to final products with in-house blacksmiths.

It wasn't a place we wanted to look into...

"So do you get it? You need to go to really high temperatures to melt the ore. Even magicians have a hard time reaching it at once."

But we were here nonetheless. Tricking Buhini continually was not going to happen. It's not like I didn't understand where Sophia was coming from, but it was fine.

"And so, we are shifting to the latest mana combustors to heat it up rapidly in the blast furnace—"

"Lord Eugene," lady Sophia called out to me. "This seems to be pushing our plans back."

And what was I to do about that?

Though I wanted to ask her that, there was something else more important.

"I think the opposite, my lady."

"Hm?"

We were whispering, so there wasn't a problem anyway. As far as the employee turned lecturer from the Smithy went, even if he noticed us talking he better not dare interrupt two nobles.

"Think of it. If he's to steal a large amount of gunpowder, won't he need to prepare a base first?"

"Right. Some place quiet and secure. There's no better spot for a base than this industrial district, even more so during a large festival."

"Yes, this is the best place." I reaffirmed her words. There was no better hiding spot than here. "But while we will look at them, don't you think hiding anything in the abandoned buildings be rather foolish."

"Right. He would rather hide it in plain sight. But while it would make sense that a fireworks production chain to have gunpowder in store, it'll be used up eventually. He can't hide it in any of those places."

"The next best option would be large places like these, where there's not only a lot of people but also a lot of storage and space. After all, planting them already would oust him by the citizens in no time. It's possible he'll make the swipe later, but he would have to prepare his base."

We just had to find the signs of tampering.

Sophia understood this immediately. She then clasped her hands and went up to the employee-turned-lecturer.

"You say a lot of interesting things," she said. "So, as you speak, why not give us a quick and thorough tour of the place?"

The employee flinched.

"Quick and thorough, got it?"

The employee nodded, and off we went again.

***

I didn't know how the day darkened, but even after moving through so many places, we couldn't find any other clues. After asking Alec to get some information from the knights about any recent adultery or robbery, we went back to our rooms.

First the things from the Marquis and then the lack of clues on the other end. My mind felt strangely filled today.

As I passed by the rooms, I overheard the voice of a group of maids.

"Lily, are you enjoying here?"

At the mention of a familiar name, I chose to hide and listen through.

"Um yeah! It's not as fun as back home but I like it! The work is less and a festival is coming up, it's like a vacation!"

Vacation.

Those words rang in my ears.

Sure, it must be feeling like a vacation to Lily and Keith who were relaxing these days. Same with Maria who was currently fixing her emotions.

At such a time, telling them about the demon would only throw them off.

And well! I didn't care if it did.

I usually didn't. Yet, when I thought that way today, I could remember the conversation from this morning.

It seemed I was slightly affected by his words. Just slightly.

I thought about my people in this place. They deserved a vacation after continuously working in Apollon.

I was thinking of letting them be and taking harsher steps to catch the demon, even if it screwed over both the Marquis and lady Sophia.

'She was a terrible person'

That phrase resounded in my ears.

I was of a different opinion. Someone who would stick out for their people was actually very strong.

Just till I couldn't anymore, only till then, I decided not to tell the others about this matter.

When I entered my room, a repeat of yesterday's events ensued.

I pulled Maria onto the bed this time instead of my lap.

She looked at me, fidgeting.

I sighed and held her hand in mine.

Yawning, I stretched my back and plopped my head on Maria's lap.

After a tiring day, I fell asleep with comfort.