A fierce debate was going on in my head.
‘Of the two, the more likely one… is the noble lady, isn’t it?’
She was none other than a princess of a nation. If she had a twin brother, I would have known long ago. So the place to head to is the noble lady’s vault.
My accomplice seemed to have made the same judgment.
“See, it was number 4, right? Number 4! Let’s go to vault number 4. Vault number 4!”
It seemed the extreme tension had driven him out of his mind. The black shadow before me repeated the words annoyingly.
‘It’s not like he’s a parrot or something.’
But right at that moment, a certain memory suddenly came to mind.
‘Like a parrot, repeating…’
Yes. I had heard repetitive words. In a dark chamber, from beyond a pipe that looked like a sewer pipe. At first, an exotic female voice murmured—a unique accent, a foreign language I couldn’t understand. Then a low male voice was heard.
[The Princess speaks.]
It was clearly a male voice, yet the same tone and accent as the princess. The princess’s words were repeated, only the language changed. Everything except the voice and language was exactly the same. Clearly a man was speaking, but at some point, I could almost mistake him for the princess herself.
‘I thought it was like a parrot, or an echo.’
With my vision limited and only listening to voices, it felt even more so.
‘Let’s think. If I had seen that interpreter and the princess in person, what would it have been like?’ Of course, the two would have looked completely different. But to me and the vault keeper, that wasn’t important, was it? What if the two appeared only as black shadow masses? The same tone, the same accent, overlapping voices. If I had seen those two, I would surely have thought: ‘They are like twins.’
Of course, I still don’t understand the comment about resembling a snake. But my intuition was whispering that this was the correct answer. I decided to trust my intuition.
“You are wrong, sir.”
“Huh?”
“My vault is not number 4, but number 36.”
I glared at my accomplice in annoyance.
“You seem to be in a very bad state. Is it okay to make so many mistakes?”
“S-sorry. I’m sorry. I’m not feeling well today…”
The criminal still stammered, but seemed somewhat relieved. It seemed he was rather relieved that I had chosen the next vault.
“T-this way.”
Soon we arrived in front of vault number 36. I swallowed dry saliva once and turned the key in the vault.
Click! Click!
…It won’t open? This time too?
‘Was my judgment wrong?’
Cold sweat flowed. I felt a prickling gaze on the back of my neck. The armed guards filling this underground floor were watching me.
Click! Click!
I hurriedly tried turning it again, but the result was the same. The key wouldn’t turn properly. Just as my heart was pounding like crazy—
“S-sir! You’re turning the key the wrong way!”
…Ah.
Click!
With an anticlimactically cheerful sound, the vault unlocked. I pulled the key out of the keyhole. The key’s blade was quite severely bent.
‘I-I almost got into big trouble.’
This was not the real key, but a duplicate made from a mold. That meant the material was not iron, but a softer metal. If I had been blinded by impatience and tried the wrong direction one or two more times, this key would have completely bent and broken. Then the vault door would never have opened.
‘Phew…’
I hid the bent key in my hand inconspicuously, then gestured with my chin.
“Please open the vault door.”
Creak.
At last, the vault door opened.
The hidden disgrace of the Grand Duke’s son, Wilhelm. Half of the evidence that the princess desperately tried to complete. The evidence that would become a clue for Taylor John. The object I had been searching for so fervently finally appeared before me. What was in the vault was…
‘A picture frame.’
It was covered with a white linen cloth, so the contents weren’t clearly visible yet. But from the faint glimpse of the golden frame and the rectangular shape, I could tell. This was a frame about the size of an A4 sheet of paper.
“I-I’ll carry it for you!”
“No. I’ll move it myself.”
I lifted the frame. It felt unexpectedly heavy—even considering the thickness, it was a bit too heavy to hold with one hand.
‘The material seems special.’
Is it the frame that’s heavy? Or is there something inside the frame? Anyway, I’ve obtained the target, so the immediate goal is achieved. I didn’t want to stay in this terrifying place for even a second longer.
“Let’s leave now.”
“Yes, yes!”
We hurried toward the elevator. The guards remained silent, as if nothing had happened.
Rumble.
The iron cage elevator started ascending with a noisy sound.
‘Whew.’
I barely let out a sigh, but there was no time to rest. I took a black hood from my pocket and quickly started wrapping it around my face. Even though I was disguised, there was no reason to expose my face unless absolutely necessary.
“Huh?”
But suddenly, the black shadow let out an exclamation of surprise.
“What is it?”
“Ah, no. It’s nothing. I just suddenly remembered something.”
It was somewhat annoying, but I didn’t bother to question it and finished wrapping the hood.
‘This is the final stage of the operation anyway.’ We’ll escape the vault soon. After that, I’ll never see this employee again. ‘Besides, even if that guy noticed something, there’s no time to deal with it.’
Light from the surface was already seeping through the gaps in the elevator’s iron bars above. From now on, I had to prepare for what lay ahead. That is, to secure the object in my arms.
—
“Is that the object the target had hidden?”
The slit-eyed man, realizing I wasn’t empty-handed, brightened and reached out.
“Hand it over here, quick!”
“And if I refuse?”
“What?”
I tucked the frame under my arm in an arrogant manner and said, “Where in the world is there a fool who hands over an item without receiving the payment?”
“What…! How can you demand payment here? There’s no way I brought it!”
“There’s more than one person who uses such convenient excuses to stiff people on payment.”
As if my true feelings slipped out unintentionally, the slit-eyed man’s black shadow flinched.
“Ah, I understand. Then let’s do this! The money we stole from the lobby, you can have all of it. How about that?”
“You—looks like you didn’t hear anything from Jonathan, did you?” I let out a scoffing laugh. “Not with that paltry sum.”
“Then what do you want?”
“What do you mean? Until I receive the payment, this item stays in my hands.”
“Don’t be ridiculous! That item is—!”
“Please stop it!”
Both the slit-eyed man and I turned to look at where the voice came from. The bribed employee spoke in a trembling voice.
“I-is this the time for this! If we’ve stolen the item, we should get out of here first!”
It was a good opinion at the right time. I shrugged and said, “He has a point. Are you going to argue here longer? Let’s move places first. Then you pay the promised amount and receive the item legitimately—wouldn’t that be cleaner for both sides?”
“…Damn it.”
The slit-eyed man clicked his tongue once and turned around to shout.
“Operation complete! Everyone retreat!”
At the declaration that the item was secured, the robbers each cheered. There was no reason to hold people any longer. The robbers flung open the iron gates with the keys they had secured beforehand and started running quickly toward the exit.
“W-what are those guys carrying out!”
“Surely they didn’t touch the items in the vault?!”
Some employees exclaimed in shock at the frame in my hand, but I ignored them and ran. None of them could catch me. When I quickly kicked open a side door, carriages were lined up on the main street.
‘The escape plan is as prearranged.’ It was even decided who would get on which carriage. The robbers smoothly squeezed into their designated carriages.
“Hiyah!”
Soon, with the driver’s spirited shout, the carriage I was on departed. Many carriages started simultaneously, causing a grand sound of hooves to ring out.
“Whew…”
Inside the carriage, sighs could be heard from one person or another. It seemed everyone was secretly anxious about not escaping in time.
‘Let’s see. The people in the carriage… four in total.’ According to the escape plan, everyone except me should be members of the Herbert Clan.
After about five minutes, the people in the carriage seemed to have completely relaxed. Snickering laughter leaked out here and there. Some of them even spoke to me.
“Amazing, Sting. That was quite a performance.”
“That thing in your hand is the item we were looking for, right?”
“Yeah.”
Even with my cold short answer, they giggled foolishly.
“Yeah, that’s the item we were looking for…”
Click.
A metallic sound similar to a key turning but larger and rougher. That was the sound of a bullet being chambered into a gun.
“I quite like you, Sting. So I’ll make you a very good offer. Hand over the item, Sting.”
“Of course, the price for the job is your life.”
“As if.” I let out a scoffing laugh. “If I hand over the item, you’ll shoot without hesitation. Because then you won’t have to worry about damaging the item anymore.”
“You’re sharp, Sting.”
“But whether I hand over the item or not, the result will be the same. I know. That you hired me with the intention of killing me from the start.”
As if my still calm voice displeased him, one of the robbers pointing a gun at me took off his hood and shouted roughly.
“What’s with the confidence? Do you think you can get out of here alive?”
“Yeah! No matter how skilled you are, you’re empty-handed now. Meanwhile, we have three armed men!”
“I guess you want to see me trembling?”
But oh well. There was something they were mistaken about.
“Actually, it’s not 1:3.”
“What?”
At that moment, the black hood that had been silent pounced on the robber beside him like a falcon. At the same time, I kicked the gun barrel of the opponent in front of me and lunged at him.
“Sorry, but in close combat, a long gun is not a good choice—!”
Thud! Thud!
“Besides, guns in this country are still slow to fire!”
Wham!
I had no weapon in my hand, but that’s fine. Bare fists were a perfectly usable tool. It only took a bit more time to knock the opponent unconscious.
“Gugh…!”
I looked around while straddling the slumped opponent; it seemed the other side was also mostly done.
“Phew!”
Posha took off her black hood and showed a refreshing smile.
“Hello? Long time no see, Duke.”
“W-what…! No way!”
Duke, the Herbert Clan member subdued by Posha—his eyes trembled violently.
“When did you? How did you get mixed in with us?”
“I waited for you to dash out of the vault. When you’re distracted escaping, if someone in the same black hood slips in among you, you’d unconsciously think they’re on your side.”
I added, “Besides, strictly speaking, you’re two groups mixed together, right? Even if the black hood running beside you looks a bit unfamiliar, I figured you’d think it’s from the other group.”
“B-but… the carriage had four people. As originally planned!”
“Correct. But the fourth person was Oleg.” Posha said in a singsong voice. Her face, flushed with excitement as she explained, looked more ecstatic than ever. At this moment, Posha was achieving the long-awaited revenge for her lover.
“My benefactor smashed Oleg’s ankle, right? I knew that if I took Oleg’s place, it would be seamless.”
Duke seemed to grasp the situation quite quickly. Just from hearing this, he realized.
“…Jonathan betrayed us.”
“Correct! He told you he’d be in charge of the escape plan, but right now Jonathan is smuggling himself out. He’s probably in the middle of the sea by now?”
That’s a lie. He’s waiting in a quiet countryside village.
“Even so, you’re like mice in a trap!” Duke gnashed his teeth and shouted. “Do you think the front and rear carriages didn’t notice the commotion in this carriage? They’ll soon find something wrong and come to help. Do you think you can take all of them?”
But Posha still looked relaxed.
“Well, even if they witness the commotion, they’ll think you guys are going berserk trying to kill Sting. Moreover, what’s more important is—they won’t even see the commotion.”
“…What?”
“Aren’t you curious? The hoofbeats that were so loud earlier—why can we only hear the hoofbeats of our carriage now? Why isn’t the coachman, who must be one of your men, coming to help despite this commotion? And finally, where exactly is this carriage heading now?”
Fear settled on the man’s face.
Beyond the carriage wall he couldn’t see, on the coachman’s seat, a left-handed coachman was smiling.
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