READ NOVEL ONLINE “That’s enough.”
With that, all the preparations were complete.
The waiter returned only after all the customers had fled and the ruffians had all been knocked out cold.
However, while there had been one person leaving, there was not just one returning.
“That’s far enough.”
With a growl, a group of large men burst in. Behind them stood a surprisingly spry old man, given his age. He must be the one running this place. The waiter stood beside him.
“I came out because I heard there was a ruckus, wondering if I was dealing with some firefly or something.”
The old man glared at me from behind the intimidating bulk of his men.
“Seeing a Knight is going to make things a bother, isn’t it?”
He raised his hand as he spoke. Maria’s eyebrows twitched.
Then it happened.
*Click.*
The Magic Stone Lantern illuminating the room went out.
Simultaneously, some guards, who had snuck in without my notice, drew the curtains. Instantly, all sources of light disappeared from the room.
“Maria!”
“Barrier!”
With the sound of magic activating, the flow of air around us shifted. And simultaneously, extremely hair-raising noises reached our ears.
*Crash! Crack! Squeak…*
Something flew through the air, colliding with the barrier. But it was not just one; there were many things crashing against it. The sounds of whatever was hitting the barrier didn’t cease. Had we not been prepared, it was easy to predict I wouldn’t be standing here intact.
It seemed they’d taken considerable measures to prepare their hideout.
But even so, they were still far from breaching 5th Tier Magic.
…Though, it was completely unreasonable to expect them to fortify against a passing 5th Tier Mage.
“Bill.”
“Yeah?”
“That old man…something seems off, doesn’t it?”
“What do you mean?”
“I can sense a flow of magical power from his face.”
Taking advantage of this moment, Maria whispered a Silence spell within the barrier.
“…Really?”
Are they trying to hide their face?
But it felt odd. What reason could there be to hide a face?
Certainly, criminals often disguise themselves with masks during their acts, but that merely covers the face, not changes it.
Unless they intended to provide misleading information.
‘Providing misleading information?’
For criminals, the fundamental premise of hiding is that “no information should be given.” After all, if they provide any information, the others could trace them.
However, especially in situations where they’re deliberately “giving” information, it suggested that their basic premise had already collapsed—meaning they were aiming for something else entirely.
And that they continued to move about in spite of this collapse…
“It seems that old man is more of a big shot than we thought.”
Maria nodded, as if she reached the same conclusion.
“We should capture him, then?”
“Right.”
About a minute had passed since the lights went out. The attacks were gradually dwindling, and my eyes were starting to adjust to the darkness.
“Oh, but I feel like we need to catch one more person.”
“Who?”
“The waiter from earlier. He was more observant than I expected. I think he could be helpful in various ways.”
“Got it.”
She nodded obediently. It seemed she was willing to hand over the reins to me for this situation.
Perfect.
It was about time for me to let loose, and more importantly, I had a request to make.
Maria couldn’t use attack magic on people. However, that didn’t mean she was useless. A 6th Tier Mage was essentially a multi-tool on the move.
“When you give the signal, throw me out of the barrier. At the same time, make sure no one escapes this space.”
“Got it.”
Slowly, I could start to make out the shapes of people moving through the darkness. They were approaching, each carrying something. I wondered how they planned to fight, but since they were the ones who deliberately created this darkness, they must have some tricks up their sleeves.
What those tricks were, I couldn’t say for sure, but it was highly likely they had something resembling night vision goggles.
And I was very good at countering whatever those night vision goggles could do.
I stretched my hand back and wrote in the Imperial script on Maria’s hand with my fingers.
‘Light.’
Maria nodded as if she understood.
We exchanged signals, and I waited for her incantation to finish.
In the meantime, the hulking figures that moved without making a sound had crept close to the barrier.
“Now!”
“Barrier, Light!”
As soon as I signaled, Maria recast the barrier and unleashed a blast of light.
Light was a very simple 1st Tier magic that created a sphere of illumination. However, if a 6th Tier Mage cast it, things were different. I could tell that Maria’s spell wasn’t just the barrier and the light; it involved several spells to amplify the intensity of the light.
I wasn’t a mage, so I couldn’t tell exactly what tricks she pulled off.
But I could certainly see the results.
“AAAH! My eyes!”
“I can’t see! I can’t see!”
Since I had my eyes closed, all I witnessed was a flash of light shining through my eyelids. But its impact was astounding. Those who had been moving in the darkness were now clutching their eyes and collapsing to the floor.
*Thud!*
Maria had burst the light so fiercely that even I could see white. Regardless, now that visibility was established, I had no trouble moving.
I dashed forward. I had little interest in the combatants of the organization. They were no threat; I could easily subdue them whenever I wanted. The real targets were the old man and the waiter.
Realizing something was amiss as the light exploded, they tried to make a run for it.
*Bang!*
“Where do you think you’re going?!”
I blocked their way by shoving my fist right in front of them.
Before long, they were captured by the Knights of the Holy Kingdom who had rushed in upon hearing the commotion and were whisked away to the Holy Kingdom.
When everything wrapped up, all that remained in the restaurant was the corpse of Jack, who hadn’t been protected by the barrier.
―――
“Ha ha, what a surprise. I never thought you’d be the one who took that request.”
Pin, the leader of the Golden Shield Knight Order responsible for maintaining security in the Holy Kingdom, scratched his head. True to his name, which suggested he could see through any nonsense, their efficiency in handling matters was rapid and seamless.
Having heard reports of fleeing guests in the chaos I had caused, the Golden Shield Knights hurried over and intended to take both Maria and me in for causing a violent disturbance.
If I hadn’t secured a clearance document from the Deputy Minister of the Security Department, I would have been in a real pickle.
“It’s fine. I get it. As someone who’s taking on a request, it’s understandable you wouldn’t know what was going on openly.”
“Thank you for your understanding.”
After all, we were both Knights, and our shared identity as Sword Experts helped keep the mood light.
After exchanging a few pleasantries, I dove right into the main topic.
“By the way, could I attend the interrogation of the criminals we handed over?”
“Eh? That’s not really our area, so it might be difficult…”
Surprisingly, even if it wasn’t a strict separation of powers, this world had a fairly high standard of administrative and judicial division, at least close to the medieval age. Especially in the Holy Kingdom, a sort of judicial body had been formed, selecting individuals specialized in interpreting morals, ethics, and doctrines.
Though the Security Department and the Golden Shield Knights apprehended the criminals disrupting the peace, the actual investigations were strictly conducted through the judicial branch. The Security Department merely maintained order; they weren’t experts in the legal domain, so there was no actual police force. Of course, the judicial department operated more like a bailli court than a prosecutor’s office.
“Don’t worry, I’m not asking for any extrajudicial powers. I’m simply requesting that you write a letter to the judicial branch. They’ll get in touch with the Deputy Minister of the Security Department anyway, so the discussion will wrap up there.”
“That much is certainly doable.”
His expression, which had briefly furrowed in suspicion that I was making an underhanded request, quickly relaxed. He promptly fetched paper and pen, writing out the letter before sending a knight off to deliver it.
The response came back almost instantly, confirming the request.
“Then, shall we go in for a visit?”
“Yes.”
Thanks to Pin’s consideration, we were able to enter the detention center where the criminals were being held on the same day.
Following the knight’s guidance, I stood in front of the iron bars where the two captives were confined. They were clearly beaten, their bodies swollen from the thrashing they had received.
One thing puzzled me, though: the old man’s face was still disguised. While the knights’ ability to manipulate magic might have been restrained, they could still sense it.
Yet, how did the knight order, equipped with professional detection tools, fail to notice this…?
That was rather strange.
I turned to Maria.
“Is that really him?”
Maria appeared equally perplexed, narrowing her eyes. This time, she completely closed her eyes and used magic. A light emitted from her, examining the old man’s body.
“Um…?”
When she opened her eyes, blinking several times, she said to me, “This person not only altered his face but transformed his entire body with magic…?”
Her words left me a bit dumbfounded.
I was well aware that transforming one’s entire body with magic existed.
If dragons are a staple in fantasy, then polymorph is an inseparable spell associated with them, often used as a versatile escape route for those suspiciously fond of interspecies transformations.
However, that spell was one usually reserved for dragons. Although it seemed simple, it belonged to the 7th Tier level of magic.
Of course, that old man couldn’t have been using polymorph magic.
Grand Mages or Sword Masters were treated similarly to nuclear weapons in modern terms, so nations always took great care to monitor their locations. While keeping track of these flashy figures was complicated, they inevitably left traces when they moved, making it easy to know their direction.
But this old man emitted no aura reminiscent of such natural disasters.
“What on earth…?”
And considering Maria’s formidable achievements in magic, she was even more bewildered by this situation. As far as I knew, there weren’t any spells that could completely transform a part of the body, although there were magic-based disguises that merely changed hair color or the like.
However, I had some inklings that perhaps even I, who was a novice in magic, might sense something.
Looking around, I noticed the knight who had led us had already left. The guards monitoring us had also temporarily stepped away. And as Maria had confirmed earlier, there were no magical surveillance devices in the vicinity.
This was the perfect environment to test my hypothesis.
Using the key I received, I unlocked the iron bars and stepped inside.
“Ugh, wh-who are you…?”
The old man barely regained his senses and attempted to resist, but it was too late. I drew the sword I had brought and slashed at his back.
To be precise, I made a shallow cut just beneath the skin of his back.
“…Just as I thought.”
Inside the incision, another layer of skin emerged.
“Huh.”
This bastard was wearing someone else’s skin.