Chapter 121: Sica

Chapter 121: Sica

It was fifteen minutes later that Crimson Sword and Ilarion returned to the 『Kingdom Magic Research Institute』.

It was only about a kilometer away.

Abel, Warren, and Ilarion went straight to the basement with the leader in a bag.

It was the room where Hector of 『Dawn Star』 was interrogated.

Abel asked Ilarion, dropping the still-unconscious leader to the floor.

“Gramps, what were the contents of that barrel?”

There was something that a man like Ilarion was anxious about. He would be lying if he said he wasn’t curious.

“That’s what they call 『black powder』.”

“Black powder?”

They were certainly black ... and Abel remembered that they were like powder or sand.

“Originally, it is something that shouldn’t be in such a place. I’d love to get this guy to spit some information out ...”

After saying that, Ilarion’s words stopped.

Now, for the first time, he looked at the leader’s face properly ... and it was a face he knew.

“Isn’t this the half-brother of Finance Minister Fuka ...”

“Younger brother?”

Ilarion made a deeply surprised voice and Abel asked quizzically.

By involving his younger brother in a conspiracy ... wouldn’t he be suspected of being involved as soon as it was revealed?

Abel thought so with common sense.

“Although he is his younger brother, there must be about fifteen of them. His father is an energetic one. He is the youngest brother among them ... he is more than thirty years younger than his eldest brother Fuka.”

“I’m surprised you know him then.”

Abel was honestly impressed by the amount of knowledge Ilarion had.

“Because the brother directly older than him is working at my place, that is, here.”

“......Ha?”

“He’s a researcher here. So, when he was still coming over from their mansion, this boy sometimes came with him. His name was ... Sica? By the way, his brother is Saca.”

It wasn’t that his amount of knowledge was great, but that he was the younger brother of his subordinate.

(The eldest son Fuka, the fourteenth son Saca, the fifteenth son Sica ...? Is that right?)

Abel was organizing the information.

Mainly only the names of the brothers ...

The leader, Sica, according to Ilarion, woke up.

“Ku ... where is this?”

“So you’re awake?”

“I-Ilarion-sama ...”UppTodated from nô/v/e/lb(i)n.c(o)/m

Ilarion answered the man’s monologue. And the man soon realized that the old man in front of him was Ilarion.

“It’s been a long time, Sica.”

“W-Why are you ...”

“Here, you can tell if you look at this guy?”

Ilarion called Abel to stand beside him.

“You were the one just now ...”

Seeing that, Sica, who was the leader, was at a loss for words.

“Well, that’s that. And, Sica, as you know, your brother Saca works under me. Oh, to be more precise, he works in this building.”

“Then, here is ... Ilarion’s House”

“Yup. It will be really painful to tell Saca that you had betrayed the country.”

Ilarion shook his head.

“W-wait! I did not betray the country ...”

“Then what was hidden in that location! That was 『black powder』!”

“That ......”

Sica couldn’t continue his words.

“You know ... what that is? That is something not meant to be stored in such a place.”

Sica drooped and muttered in response to Ilarion’s words.

“That’s what we took back ...”

“Took back? From whom?”

Sica did not answer the question and remained silent.

Abel couldn’t stand the silence ... instead, he moved to solve the question he had been thinking about since he saw the barrels in the previous place.

“Hey, gramps. Tell me while Sica is keeping silent. What are the 『black powder』 in the barrels?”

“Hmm ... it wasn’t until Abel became an adventurer that it was mass-produced. So you wouldn’t know. That is ... a powder that explodes when a fire is brought close to it.”

Ilarion replied seriously to Abel’s question.

“Explode ... Does that mean something like the Fire-Attribute Magic <Explosion>?”

“Yes. In the central nations, mass production is done only in the eastern part of the Kingdom. Well, mass production per se, but it is not at a large quantity. However, depending on how it is used, it will change the form of war. Therefore, it is not exported. Of course, the existence itself is top secret even in the Kingdom. It is only stored in Slanzewi to the east and here in the royal capital. I and Alchemist Baron Kenneth Hayward created the storage facility for the royal capital so we are aware of it but ... a lot of care is needed when storing it. Those barrels, of course, were created through alchemy, but they are still quite unstable.”

During Ilarion’s, Sica shook his head several times.

It seemed that he was in conflict internally.

Seeing that, Ilarion gently called out.

“Sica. Is it because some of your brothers are involved that you are so worried?”

His words struck Sica ... a few moments later, he raised his face with a snap and stared at Ilarion.

His eyes were wide open.

“I know. You are loved by all your brothers, even, Fuka, who is nearly thirty years older.”

Ilarion paused there.

It seemed that Ilarion already had an idea of ​​which ‘brother’ was involved.

“Abel. I can guarantee that is it fine, may I reveal your identity?”

“What?”

Abel was surprised by Ilarion’s sudden proposal.

At this timing?

Abel’s gaze at Ilarion said that.

However, it took only a few seconds of hesitation.

“Well, that’s fine.”

It was one of the three major powers of the central nations, along with the Kingdom of Knightley and the Debuhi Empire.

Its territory borders the eastern part of the Kingdom and parts of the north.

Ten years ago, they were defeated in a large-scale war with the Kingdom of Knightley.

As a result, neighboring countries such as the Inbury Duchy, which had been treated as client states, became completely independent.

In addition, a part of the territory of the Union was also ceded to the Kingdom, and the country suffered considerable damage.

With that history, of course, the relationship between the countries was not good.

Nonetheless, a peace treaty had been signed, diplomatic relations had been restored, and people were coming and going.

“What is the relationship between your brother, who was captured by the Union, and giving 『black powder』 to the Duke of Flitwick ...”

After saying that, something seemed to flash in Ilarion.

“No way ... that rumor.”

“Yes, that rumor is true.”

“What rumor?”

Ilarion muttered, Sica affirmed it, and Abel asked.

“It was rumored that the Duke of Flitwick, His Royal Highness, had signed a secret agreement with Sir Aubrey of the Handal Union.”

Sica explained the rumor.

“Secret Agreement? Sir Aubrey is the de facto leader in the current Union after the war?”

“Yes, he’s a man we’re wary of.”

At the time of the war, Abel was still in the royal palace, so he was in a position to have access to quite a lot of information about the situation in other countries.

As one of the princes, he was still learning about the situation in each country, although he was not as adept in judgment as his older brother, who had a weak body but excellent brain and had already gained a reputation as a sharp and able man.

“Secret Agreement ... Duke Flitwick wants the throne, Sir Aubrey wants ... the territory lost in the war?”

Abel described a possible scenario.

“Well, that’s what was rumored. The diplomat who accused him committed suicide in a protected mansion after the first hearing, so it remains a mystery.”

“His mouth was sealed huh.”

Hiding the truth by faking it as suicide ... it seemed to be the same in any world.

“But ... it’s such a huge matter that big names are in play ... Isn’t it dangerous for you to rob the black powder? It will be revealed someday.”

“Yes, I’m prepared for that. Right now, a separate corps should be rescuing Luca. There, Fuka had ordered elites under his direct supervision to do it. The black powder transaction is just a means to save time for this rescue operation ... The black powder we stole is evidence, but it’s also a secret item that many don’t know the real number of. So nobody could pursue it openly.”

Sica fully affirmed Ilarion’s worries.

“Hey, I’m just checking ...”

“Hm?”

Ilarion tilted his head to Abel’s question.

“Knight-Captain Baccara removes the black powder from the vault and sends it to the Duke of Flitwick. The Finance’s aide, Sica, steals it from the side and hides it. Because his younger brother is taken hostage, Fuca pays the Knight-Captain for the black powder. In addition, he is withholding the reports about the black powder. Am I correct so far?”

“Yes, that’s right.”

Sica affirmed Abel’s explanation.

“Then what is the Duke of Flitwick, who has been robbed of black powder ... doing?”

As promised, the Knight-Captain withdrew black powder from the vault to hand it to the Duke of Flitwick, and receives money from the Finance Minister. There was no problem there.

However, the Duke of Flitwick had not received the goods ...

“At first, we let them take the real black powder, but now we exchange it for a fake and the fake is transported to the capital city of Carlyle.”

“I see.”

Abel was convinced by Sica’s explanation.

(If they get their younger brother back, they will have various bargaining chips against the Knight-Captain, using the black powder that he stole as evidence ... politics is difficult.)

Abel honestly didn’t want to get involved too much.

Of course, he knew that he wouldn’t be able to do that as part of the royal family.

Just when they had finished confirming all the information.

The earth shook.

“Is it an earthquake? That’s rare in the royal capital.”

“No, that was not tremors from an earthquake just now ...”

Then Ilarion rushed out of the room.

“Sica and Warren remain in the room. It’s bad if others see Sica.”

With those instructions, Abel also charged out of the room and ran up the stairs to the first floor.

And they went out of the building almost at the same time.

Both looked around.

They saw smoke rising from the east.

“There?”

Ilarion chanted.

“Wind, carry me in your hand <Float>”

After the super-fast chanting, Ilarion’s body levitated on the spot.

Ten meters, twenty meters ... The height soon exceeded the Ilarion House.

“How is the situation, gramps?”

He heard Abel ask from below.

With that, Ilarion slowly descended to the ground.

“It’s that building. Probably the explosion is from 『black powder』. It seems that the whole building was damaged.”

“Damn. Did they erase the evidence first?”

They didn’t know who made their move. It could perhaps be just an accident.

However, the timing was too good for that.

It was natural to think that the explosion was deliberately caused.

“I’ll check the scene and tell you later. Abel, I request you ensure the safety of Sica.”

“So there’s a possibility that they will also try to erase Sica?”

Abel nodded and answered Ilarion.

“Yes. By the way ... I wonder if 『Dawn Star』 managed to escaped properly ...”

When escaping from the building, Ilarion whispered to Hector, the leader of the Dawn Star, to escape immediately ...

“They’ll be okay. They are C-rank adventurers even if they are rotten. If Ilarion hurries to escape ... I think they would have gathered the scent of danger.”

An adventurer who has risen to C-rank would have a strong ability to avoid crisis.

Abel had high assessments of adventurers because he was an adventurer too.