Chapter 1 – I Woke Up and It Was 5 Years Ago (9)

What Chloe believed in this time was also a story she had heard from Etienne. The so-called ‘Metropolitan Police Official.’

Etienne, who usually only brought up ridiculous complaints or crimes of passion at the dining table, occasionally shared behind-the-scenes stories of major incidents that caught the capital’s attention. While Chloe’s father, the Count Palatine, would have already been briefed, knowing this information a bit earlier was crucial for other family members to establish their footing in the social circle. These were not stories that would appear in newspapers fluttering on the streets, as they could incite public fear, but they were tales that would eventually spread through the nobility.

‘It was an inn room in the Artisan District. A place where no one would notice who comes and goes, targeting mercenaries.’

‘They used tiny magic stones to avoid inspections. Who would have thought they could engrave magic on such small gems?’

‘It seems they attached magic stones to decorative flowers sold at the market, and those magic stones caused a chain explosion, escalating the chaos.’

‘Citizens who threw decorative flowers into the parade unknowingly became the fuse.’

Etienne’s voice, which surfaced one after another, was it really from a future that hadn’t come yet?

“It was somewhere in a room here.”

“Aren’t all the rooms above inns?”

“Listen, it was right above Marcone, not the back.”

“Half of the first floor is Marcone.”

Chloe shot a glare at Mirabelle, who kept teasingly picking apart her words.

Having only heard about it and not witnessed it herself, Chloe was frustrated too. If it were truly a dream, she’d at least have the memory of seeing it.

“Did the Lord not tell you which floor and room number?”

“Hold on a bit.”

If Etienne was going to tell her, why didn’t he give more details? 

Chloe imagined shaking him by the collar for a moment, then thought what’s the use of all this.

It would be nice to search each room, but they were just two women. Two women looking at each other didn’t exactly inspire confidence, at least not in themselves. More so in the opponent. Moreover, Marcone was a large building. It was a six-story building with a wide lot, likely having about thirty rooms.

“Since it’s the biggest inn around here, they probably chose it because there are many people coming and going day and night.”

Chloe let out a low sigh.

“Rabi. The bombs aren’t big.”

Thinking that adding even one more head might yield something, Chloe spoke whatever came to mind.

“They’re smaller than we usually think. If the magic stones were large enough to fit in there, they would have been caught at the outer city checkpoint by now.”

Indeed, Mirabelle might have teased her, but she didn’t respond. Hearing Chloe’s serious tone, Mirabelle also began to listen intently, holding her breath.

“…Is it related to what you asked Marco earlier?”

After a moment’s hesitation, Mirabelle asked, and Chloe nodded cautiously.

‘Is a Scandarian staying in this building?’

When she carefully posed that question, Marco didn’t answer but pursed his lips a bit, confirming Chloe’s suspicion.

‘Was there a middle-aged woman with graying hair? Was there anything suspicious about their luggage?’

‘We have dozens of people coming and going from our inn every day. Wouldn’t the outer city checkpoint have been strict at times like this?’

Chloe felt frustrated watching Marco recite prepared answers, just like when the guards came to question him. 

Because of that, your business is about to close! 

She couldn’t really say it out loud though.

‘I suppose so…’

There wasn’t anything else to probe further, so Chloe withdrew before being treated as an odd noble lady.

‘What a surprise that you were talking to Marco.’

Recalling the events of the day, Mirabelle’s face showed curiosity.

“If it’s a middle-aged woman with graying hair, she was at the magic tool stall earlier… Could it be the separatists? Are the separatists causing trouble again? What do they gain from it?”

“Exactly.”

In reality, they didn’t gain anything. Their operation was effectively successful, but it ended with the Scandar royal family bowing down and apologizing. Since being subjugated, Scandar had always demanded independence, and terrorist attacks in Gotiue were like a plague occurring once every ten years.

That’s why Etienne didn’t show much enthusiasm when he brought this story, and Chloe wasn’t deeply curious about it at the time either.

“They’re just continuing to assert their independence…”

Without a clear answer forming inside her, Chloe felt her confidence waning. It was good when she boldly left the house, but nothing was certain.

Chloe cast her gaze back to the outdoor plaza behind Marcone. Most of the mercenaries staying in the area and the drifters wanting to blend in with them enjoyed their nights here.

‘If I can find them among those out there, it’ll make things a lot easier.’

Scandarians were easier to recognize compared to people from other regions of the Imperial Federation. Due to their closed nature, they avoided marrying foreigners, and as a result, they traditionally had bright blond or greenish hair. The royal family was even more closed off, so it was natural for the imperial consort with tangerine-colored hair to be rejected.

Chloe and Mirabelle naturally scrutinized the revelers at the outdoor seats, focusing on their hair color. However, they couldn’t find anyone who appeared to be from Scandar. A few bald mercenaries caught their eyes, but their companions all had dark-colored hair.

‘Well, they wouldn’t be drinking and chatting the night before the operation.’

Chloe, feeling anxious, pulled her robe tightly around her.

As the second queen of Scandar for four years, a desire to prevent this misconduct, which would only deepen hatred toward Scandarians, began to grow. Most importantly, someone who would become her husband was still in Gotiue…

Bang!

It was then. A loud noise came from the opposite side of the building.

While the revelers in the plaza slowly turned their gaze, Chloe and Mirabelle were already running towards the sound.

Bang!

As they rounded the corner of Marcone, another explosion and the sound of shattering glass erupted. The glass window and the wall below it on the third floor of the building were collapsing.

As they approached, they could see through the hole large enough for a person to escape. A man was standing with his back to the hole, seemingly blocking it, when suddenly someone charged at him, engaging in a scuffle, then leaped out.

“Rabi!”

Seizing the opportunity to showcase her skills, Mirabelle darted out after the figure that had jumped into the alley before Chloe could even shout. The figure’s hair, undulating like a cloud at the far end of the alley, shimmered lemon-yellow even as it sank into the dark alley.

Bombs, bright blond hair. Found it.

“Don’t kill him!”

“Worried?”

Thud, thud, the sound of Mirabelle’s daggers hitting the pavement was followed by a thud. The fugitive, startled by the dagger that wedged between his legs in the darkness, tripped over his own feet. He tried to get up and run again but seemed unable to regain his balance quickly, as if he was carrying something heavy. Mirabelle, who had caught up, tripped him again, causing him to fall.

Now it was time to check the third floor. The situation was clear, and the place to go was obvious, but the sound of the bomb exploding still seemed to resonate within her body.

Why did I come all the way here! 

Chloe bit her lip, reproaching herself.

‘Since I sent Mirabelle, I’m already involved… Should I go up first? Should I wait to see who comes out? Will someone else jump out the window? What if the man up there is also with the separatists? What if I get caught up in it? What if this building collapses?’

Although she often went on night outings, they had never been secret missions, so she lacked experience. At that moment, when Chloe was stuck near the entrance, unable to decide, the man who had been standing as if blocking the hole beyond the broken wall glanced outside. His face seemed to be checking the fleeing person.

Chloe could clearly recognize the face illuminated by the interior lights. Especially since it was a familiar face. A large man with short red hair…

‘Sir Faigen!’

Suddenly feeling as if she had thawed, Chloe lightly stepped forward.

“We caught him!”

At the shout heading towards the building, the man at the window, Faigen, who had been doubting his eyes, widened them.

‘No, what is that young lady doing here? Since earlier today…’

Chloe, who knew a bit more about the current situation than the utterly bewildered Faigen, ran up the stairs, forgetting her previous hesitation and feeling only relief.

Faigen’s presence meant that he was here.

With the sturdiness of her training shoes supporting her, Chloe, with an unladylike vigor, breezed past the second floor. Even on Mercenary Street, where all sorts of things happened at night, it was hard to ignore explosions coming from the building they were staying in.

By the time she reached the third floor, most of the guest room doors were open. Some guests had come out into the hallway to look around. They didn’t seem inclined to interfere since it wasn’t a matter that affected their profits.

Glancing at them, Chloe’s heart felt like it would leap out of her throat the closer she got to the broken wall. It was partly because she was out of breath, but mostly because she was nervous.

The shadow blocking the door of that room. And the master of Sir Faigen. To think she would encounter him again in such a situation…

Unable to suppress the worry that had been boiling since he heard Chloe’s shout, the owner of that shadow glanced towards Chloe.

“Loi, why are you…?”

Those blue eyes wavered with confusion.

For some reason, Demetrian had arrived a step ahead with his escort knight, Faigen.

In the brief moment their eyes met.

“Demi, in front!”

The man confronting Demetrian took the opportunity to charge. Demetrian, eyes gleaming sharply, deflected the opponent’s sword with little effort. The man, losing his balance, fell over.

“Nice try.”

Muttering while looking down at the man, Demetrian’s mind was filled with entirely different thoughts.

‘What are you doing here?’

It was the same question Chloe’s gaze was throwing at him. Although questions for each other were welling up to their throats, it wasn’t the time to ask them now.

With Faigen blocking the broken wall and Demetrian guarding the entrance, they pointed their swords at the group inside the room.

There were five men in the room. Excluding the one who had just fallen, the remaining four alternated pointing their swords at the two intruders, seemingly trying to move gradually towards the corner along the wall they were leaning against.

In the direction they were heading, large black objects the size of fists were piled inside and outside a large sack. Chloe immediately recognized them as the ones she claimed to have seen in her dream.

‘Those are what will be used in tomorrow’s terror attack…’

Considering that military-supplied magic stone bombs were the size of a baby’s head, they were indeed much smaller.

And the pile of artificial flowers in one corner. Nothing remained in the surgical part where the magic stones had been attached. It seemed they had been disassembled from the flowers disguised as decorations and reassembled into sockets of specially made casings.

“We have another guest.”

A single woman is more underestimated than two women. The Scandarians inside chuckled at Chloe’s appearance.

For the first time, Chloe heard Demetrian grind his teeth.