C124: Stählern Kapelle (1)
Even if the Beast of Gévaudan disappeared, the situation wasn't sorted yet.
"Everyone, move! There are still criminals inside Kunst!"
The Clockwork Knights moved in unison and entered the auction house. They overpowered all the Liberation Army remnants and captured criminals who tried to flee while stealing things.
It was Casey Selmore who took the lead and overwhelmingly swept away criminals. As if to vent her anger that she had missed her once-in-a-lifetime enemy, James Moriarty, she went on to subdue the criminals without hesitation.
After blowing off some steam her reason gradually returned and she analyzed the scene immediately.
'At this point, did we catch them all? But the most threatening black wizards, they were all dead.'
The black wizards, who she thought were the biggest obstacle, had already become corpses. All of them had horrible wounds from beast bites. There was no need for an autopsy to determine who killed them.
They must have come for an artifact but the Beast of Gévaudan killed them all.
'But what happened to the Beast of Gévaudan?'
She knew Moriarty knocked it down, but it was strange to see that the giant suddenly disappeared. Because of the smoke she couldn't see what happened and after the smoke disappeared the Beast of Gévaudan was gone. Instead, a huge man was wearing a blanket wrapped around his shoulder. Maybe that was the Beast of Gévaudan?
'Is that little thing a monster that ran wild a while ago?'
It must have been a test object created by some kind of experiment in the Black Dawn Society.
'James Moriarty. He must be an executive of the Black Dawn Society.'
She thought so, but someone approached Casey.
"Magician, the whole scene has been suppressed."
Casey responded with a gentle smile toward the approaching Knight Commander who saluted her.
"Thank you for your hard work."
"No, we're grateful. If you hadn't helped us, it would have taken a long time to wrap this up."
Once again, the Knight Commander bowed his head. He was the head of the Knights representing Leathervelk and a strong man who was a senior knight, but he was no match for Casey.
He knew that she was a famous genius detective and a magician that received the title [Colour]. In fact, if she hadn't used water magic to tie up the Beast of Gévaudan, many lives would have been lost.
"Call me detective, not wizard."
"Oh, yes. I'm sorry, detective. And as you instructed I have recovered the bombs that the terrorists used."
"Thank you."
Okay. Let's think about Moriarty later. Okay. Let's think about Moriarty later. I don't know where the Liberation Army got them, but the bombs they used were not affected by magic.
'They're dangerous because [Silence of fire] doesn't work on them.'
It has been a while since science has developed and guns and gunpowder. This is an era where scary items such as Tesla's gun, reinforced armor, and chariots were also produced.
In this rapidly changing world, old things naturally had to decline to the far side of the times, but wizards and knights did not because guns and explosives were still not a threat to them.
Knights are those who see and avoid ordinary bullets if they are more than apprentices and the wizards were able to use the magic of "Silence of fire," which restrained the action of gunpowder, which is the most important thing for guns.
Therefore, they were still the mainstream of the world, and they were going to stay there forever.
'This gunpowder that the 'Silence of fire' doesn't work on is fatal to a wizard.'
Of course, wizards were not without other defenses. However, a wizard cannot always protect himself by putting a mana barrier around his body.
'Now they're using it as a crude bomb, but if they can apply it to a gun.'
Casey imagined a sniper attempting to assassinate an important national figure.
Usually, the more important the position, the more the wizards keep the 'Silence of fire' active and are wary of the surroundings. Therefore, no surprise attack works, whether it's a bomb or a gun.
But what would happen if there was a special gunpowder? The sniper will pull the trigger and the bullets that shouldn't have been fired will be fired and the person caught off guard is shot.
'……It's dangerous. It's really dangerous.'
It's a game changer.
The Liberation Army cannot have created such a dangerous thing. They have "Liberation" in their name but they're only anti-socialist terrorists that fight against the state.
Although their organization is quite large they have only engaged in guerrilla warfare.
'The Liberation Army doesn't have the technology to make this dangerous thing. There's someone else. A man built this dangerous object and gave it to the Liberation Army.'
The first thing that flashed through her mind was James Moriarty but this was simply not something an individual could do. There is a larger power, not an individual, hiding.
'Black Dawn Society.'
It wasn't that long ago that Casey learned of their tracks. Surprisingly, the Black Dawn was a secret organization that had been lurking all over the continent long before she knew it.
'James Moriarty. No, I'm sure he belongs to this organization, too.'
The Black Dawn Society is very dangerous. Maybe all that happened in the Kingdom of Delica was led by them. She wanted to find them right away, but Casey decided to calm down for now.
'There's still not enough evidence. I don't have enough information and I don't know how big they are and how strong they are.'
In her view, the man named James Moriarty was only part of the Black Dawn. He had at least a high position equivalent to an executive, but it's not enough to call him the boss of the organization.
The mere existence of the Black Dawn and their leader forced Casey to become nervous.
'Since he can subdue James Moriarty their leader it's a very dangerous figure.'
If she tried to find them blindly, they will hide more deeply. She had to step on their tail step by step and aim for that decisive moment when their body could not hide.
'First, I need to analyze how this gunpowder works.'
Fortunately, she had an acquaintance that was very capable in this regard, it was her assistant Betty.
* * *
Workers cleared the wreckage and escorted the injured.
Leathervelk city police set up a guard line to block people from entering. Beyond the off-limits guard line, people came to see what happened during the night.
Enya watched the scene and recalled the tragedy that had just happened. In addition to the sudden raid on the auction house, the appearance of a dead Beast of Gévaudan there was also an unidentified group that overpowered the Beast.
'Detective Casey called them Black Dawn.'
The name James Moriarty is familiar to her. He was the godfather of crime that shook the Kingdom of Delica three years ago.
It was shocking that he was still alive and belonged to an organization called the Black Dawn Society. Above all, the person who made Enya's head dizzy was the masked man who fought with her.
'He knew the swordsmanship I was using.'
The Joyners have long been an orthodox knight family. Although the other knight didn't like them because of their overly practical and brutal arcane swordsmanship their status could not be ignored.
In fact, Enya only recently joined the Nightcrawler Knights, and she proudly ascended to the rank of a senior knight. Her Sting sword was something that even ordinary knights could not stop.
'That man knew my swordsmanship.'
Very few people knew about her skills even amongst her colleagues. The only people who know are her senior Lloyd and the leader Trina Ryanhowl.
Could it be that the family's arcane swordsmanship information was leaked?
'Maybe he's someone I've met in the past.'
Who is it? Perhaps an enemy that I failed to kill in the past?
Suddenly her heart throbbed and hurt as she tried to recall the past. It was not a physical pain, but a recurrence of the wounds in the heart that were engraved a long time ago.
'No, I don't think so. Let's not recall that time.'
It wasn't this that mattered now.
Enya pulled out a communication tool that could only be used between the Nightcrawler Knights. She signaled to the leader through a communication channel.
"Leader, I'm Enya."
She communicated everything she experienced and saw today. And lastly, I added this.
"And Casey Selmore is here."
Enya, who finished the communication, visited the third princess to check her condition. Just in time, as the third princess was with a girl named Betty.
'Detective Casey's assistant.'
However, the reaction of the third princess facing Betty was somehow strange.
"Princess are you alright?"
"Well, that's why he……."
Erendir pointed to Betty with trembling hands.
Enya was also surprised by the reaction and checked Betty's figure, and she was standing with her eyes closed.
"What is this? Did she pass out?"
Was she sleeping standing up? It was understandable because she had slept while walking during the march when she was training at the military school.
"She's not breathing."
"What?"
Enya checked Betty's condition just in case. She put her finger on Betty's neck and examined her pulse. She closed her eyes as if she had fallen asleep, was cold and was not breathing.
Is she dead? So suddenly?
It was so shocking that she died, as no injuries were seen anywhere. At that moment, Casey, who summarized the situation inside, approached them.
"What happened to you two?"
"Ms. Casey! The……Ms. Betty, Ms. Betty……."
Erendir wept but after hearing that, Casey responded,
"Oh, Betty fell asleep again."
"What? She fell asleep? She's not breathing right now!"
"You don't have to panic too much. Hmm. Well, it'd be better to see it yourself."
Casey said so, loosening the hem of Betty's coat, her back flashed down. Erendir opened his eyes wide when Betty's white skin was revealed.
"Casey, what are you doing?"
"Wait a minute princess."
Unlike Erendir, who cried out in panic, Enya found something strange.
"There's a groove on her back"
There was a very small groove in the middle between Betty's shoulder blades.
Casey took something out of her pocket. It was a small key.
Casey put the key in the groove behind Betty's back and turned it clockwise.
"Kirik. Kirik."
The sound of the machine and the gears meshing together was heard, and then Betty's closed eyes flashed.
"Gasp!"
Erendir freaked out when Betty, who had not been breathing until a while ago, opened her eyes.
"Was she resurrected?"
"No, my lady. Ms. Betty is not human."
Enya's sharp gaze examined Betty's condition while Casey put her hand on her waist and nodded.
"Yes, that's right. My assistant, Betty, is no ordinary person. No, she's not a human being in the first place."
"Not a human?"
"As you've just seen, Betty, um……a machine, to be exact, an autonomous machine. It's an automaton."
At the word automaton, Enya realized how Betty displayed a formidable force that did not fit her size.
"Oh, automaton? But Ms. Betty seemed to be the same as us……."
"You're sharp, princess. That's right. Betty knows how to think like us, and she has feelings of joy and sorrow."
It was an automaton equipped with so-called artificial intelligence and emotion. Erendir has never heard of a machine that resembles a human being so much.
"Such a sophisticated automaton should've been famous."
"Betty is different from the crude automatons that are commonly known."
"What?"
"A few years ago in the Kingdom of Delica……It's kind of a secret weapon."
There was a slight shade on Casey's face that said so.
"An illegal project was carried out in secret in the dark of the Kingdom of Delica. Only one among them was a success and her code name was Beta. That's Betty's real name."
They were surprised at the shocking truth that came out of Casey's mouth.
"Huh? Ahhhh! Casey! What did you do with my clothes?"
Betty, who came to her senses, screamed at the sight of her half-splattered top