Chapter 304

Joséphine d’Orléans.

The Old Human who had asked me about emotion magic earlier. If Joséphine d’Orléans had succeeded in developing an occult magic formula, it would naturally be useless in the pre-magic era. However, I had previously seen Archduke Maria turn an occult magic formula into ‘real magic’. The artifact that I created by replicating a unique ability and gave to Leo, the magic potion used for out-of-body experiences, the material plane projection artifact, and so on, were all realized from occult magic formulas.

Assuming that there were other families besides the House of Austria-Este that thought of materializing occult formulas, there is a possibility that the occult formulas of some of the Éclat Littéraire members were converted into their family’s unique magic in the post-magic era. That is why I had to know the field in which those eight truly wanted to achieve results.

Narce supported his body with his arms behind him, tilted his head back, and looked at me.

“Why did you suspect them?”

Why, you ask?

Because among the eight, only Joséphine d’Orléans desired the ability that the culprit of this theft case possessed.

The problematic ability she desired was ‘the ability to watch the person she loves’s every move without getting caught by the law’. What if her descendants converted d’Orléans’s occult magic formula into a real magic formula and continued to develop it?

Putting aside the unimportant details, the advantage the House of d’Orléans has in this crime is also clear.

As I thought with Emanuel, a divine power investigation of nobles is rarely conducted unless there is physical evidence. Moreover, the House of d’Orléans was originally a relative of the House of Bourbon and the very one that established the Third French Empire in the post-magic world. In other words, they are the current French imperial family. The French Third Republic did not happen in the post-magic world.

The family’s secret technology is not known anywhere except to the magic ministries of each country, and the imperial House of d’Orléans does not have the obligation to report confidential information to the French Ministry of Magic. If records from when the House of d’Orléans was a noble family remain, the story would be different, but if the culprit is really in d’Orléans, it is still true that this game is absolutely advantageous to that family.

Anyway, if I were to say this, where on earth should I start explaining to Narce?

I covered my face with my hands and sighed.

“…Hmm…”

“If it’s difficult to say, you don’t have to. I haven’t even read all of your thoughts yet because I was worried it would be uncomfortable.”

“…Right. Thanks?”

I peeked up and saw Narce looking down at me with a gentle smile. For some reason, I couldn’t understand the meaning of the smile, so I said once more to confirm.

“It’s nice to have a considerate friend.”

“Well, there’s no need for me to keep reading if you don’t like it.”

“I didn’t say I didn’t like it. So, what do you think?”

“D’Orléans, huh. Not German. If it’s France, they don’t border Austria, so… they could have easily passed through Germany.”

Narce closed his eyes and thought. I brought the investigation records, drew a line under the name of the most likely suspect in my opinion, and handed it to Narce. My reasoning is not perfect, so I need him to verify it once. Narce stared at the paper and then looked into my eyes and said.

“I’m curious how you came to this conclusion. It’s definitely worth checking out. It’s information you brought, after all.”

He’s not just saying that because it’s information I brought. He’s also not using Insight on d’Orléans since she’s not here.

Right now, he has checked whether my reasoning is far-fetched or not, and even if there are ambiguous points, he has confirmed if it’s worth betting on by substituting ‘hunches’ one by one with his Foresight ability. In the end, Narce didn’t use his ability earlier, but because of the question just now, it can be said that my brain has been somewhat picked.

As soon as I thought that, Narce let out a light laugh, turned his head, and cleared his throat.

Are you going to keep making it obvious that you’re reading me?

“…Well, you asked.”

Right. That’s why I didn’t say these thoughts out loud. Anyway, thanks.

“You’re welcome~”

“Thanks, but from now on I’ll just say it. I think my body temperature just dropped by about 1 degree.”

“Okay.”

Still, Narce really did use his ability on me minimally, and he returned to the original topic and asked.

“The problem is that it’s realistically difficult to investigate d’Orléans. How are you going to bring in and investigate a French royal?”

“That’s the job of the one who gave us the work.”

“Hmm?”

Narce rolled his eyes and then burst into laughter.

*  *  *

“Hmm.”

Abraham, puffing away on a cigarette in front of me, skimmed through the report I had brought.

The next day, I investigated Joséphine and the House of d’Orléans and went to meet Abraham. Joséphine became the Queen of Switzerland after the time I visited, but records remained that she actively interacted with each of the noble members of the Éclat Littéraire until her death. The possibility that Joséphine’s occult passion did not end as a one-time thing grew larger.

But now is not the time to think about Joséphine. Abraham smiled and turned the page of the report.

“…From this, it is possible to surmise that the culprit or criminal organization has the ability to partially manipulate the magic applied to the objects and the system, and that there is a decisive restriction on the use of that ability.”

She read my report out loud.

In both of these theft cases, the alarm and security magic on the objects were neutralized, so no one knew about the incident immediately at the time of the theft. And the magic on the missing objects was detected again near the border checkpoint. I had heard this story from the beginning.

What does this mean? The culprit has an ability that is good for infiltrating somewhere, and there are limits or restrictions to it.

Abraham looked into my eyes and smiled.

“I was right to entrust this matter to you, Sir Nicolaus. I have no way of understanding why you think d’Orléans is the culprit of this case, as the circumstances are not written down.”

That’s right. Why would I write that? There’s no answer even if I try to write it. I will not tell her everything I have investigated.

Even so, for me, who has accumulated clues, the circumstances are not complicated.

Why was the magic on the jewels detected again around the checkpoint? What can be learned from this fact?

First, the culprit’s ability is not the ability to dismantle security magic. If they had the ability to dismantle security magic, it would have been completely removed from the Austria-Este mansion, so there would be no reason for ‘magic to be detected around the checkpoint’. The same goes for the holy relics. In other words, the culprit’s ability is to leave the system as it is and exploit its loopholes.

Second, what exactly is the culprit’s ability? To use an analogy, the anti-theft magic is a pair of puzzles. The magic on the storage box and the magic on the object are interlocked like a puzzle, so if someone moves the object, an alarm goes off. The culprit must have made another set of this puzzle and switched them on the respective parure and stand to make it seem like the two had never been separated.

[‘The ability to make another set of the puzzle magic’, that is, the ability to neutralize security magic, is their own special technology], up to this point, the Investigation Bureau must have also deduced. At a glance, it seems like an easy thing to do, but why is it a special technology… If any Tom, Dick, or Harry could make another set of the puzzle magic, then of course such security magic would not have survived until now.

Third, even if they exploit the loophole, the ability is not perfect. Why? If the ability were perfect, they would have maintained it as they had been doing even around the checkpoint, so why couldn’t they?

Now, let’s go back to the beginning. How did the culprit go around Spain’s monastery, the Vatican, and the Austro-Hungarian Empire doing the same thing? Inter-country warp is impossible, so that’s a pass. It’s absurd to think they are a servant of all three places, considering the range of their activities.

Here, we must remember again that they are a master of neutralizing security magic. We can surmise that they not only used their special magic when stealing the objects, but also neutralized the barriers around each building at the magic level when entering the monastery, the cathedral, and the mansion, and since they can’t avoid visual detection just by dealing with the magic problem, they must have activated a stealth-type magic at the same time. Of course, they could have disguised themselves as a servant or a clergyman, but we know what Joséphine d’Orléans wanted, so at this point, we will erase that possibility.

And the fact that the neutralization of the security magic was released only around the checkpoint, allowing the magic records to be caught, suggests that the said magics were configured as a set, and the stealth magic and the neutralization magic were designed to operate simultaneously.

This is only a guess based on the clues I have obtained, and it is not certain to be the correct answer, but… at this point, when even the Investigation Bureau has no clue and is just wringing its hands, it is worth verifying once.

So why on earth couldn’t they use the ability at the border checkpoint? Did they really release their stealth and pass through as a normal person to get caught in the inspection?

That’s right. That’s the correct answer.

“The official schedule of the French Emperor’s nephew coincides exactly with the date of the incident.”

At my words, Abraham replied nonchalantly, as if it were not new information.

“It was the ceremony for the new French embassy.”

“That is correct. No matter how good their ability is, it would have been a considerable burden, both technologically and psychologically, to break through the border of another country, which is a concentration of the best existing security technology, in a state of stealth. It is better in many ways to carry out the grand plan when there is a reasonable reason that can be used as a shield. After all, no matter how much inspection there is, they will not go through the personal belongings of a foreign royal one by one.”

“The schedules overlap… Normally, this is called a leap of logic.”

Abraham laughed as if she found it amusing.

Of course, countless people entered and left Austria-Hungary during that period. But I cannot explain all of my thought processes and the evidence I used. No matter how much we are comrades with a common enemy called Pleroma now, as long as she desires me, she is my enemy. I will not think too deeply about this part, as always, but at least for me, there is no reason not to be firm.

I did not answer Abraham’s gaze, which demanded an explanation, and pointed out.

“If you don’t want to believe me, that’s fine. And it’s Askanian, not Sir Nicolaus, Your Highness.”

“……”

“I am surprised that you call me by that name. There would be no reason for Prussia, which has no intention of giving any more credit to Nicolaus, to call me that.”

“I am curious how you came to such a conclusion.”

“It was something that could not be unknown even before the Pentalon terror.”

I was talking about the meeting after the basement incident. Abraham also understood the meaning of my words.

“In any case, I hear that the Minister of Magic sent the letter in the end on that day? It’s a clear violation of an imperial order.”

“It’s nothing special. Was there any place that didn’t send one in that situation? Above all, I am speaking to Your Highness, not the Minister.”

“It was the best consideration I could show you. It’s the same now.”

Since Abraham answered with a gentle face, I also replied with a smile. No one said it directly, but we could accurately understand what we were saying to each other.

“Of course, His Majesty the Emperor is surely sincere, unlike me. Sir Nicolaus Ernst only cares about safety and tries to take on a position like an advisor no matter how high a position we try to give him, so how should Prussia interpret that intention? Naturally…”

Abraham said, exhaling smoke.

“Sir Nicolaus Ernst is a dog of the Wittelsbachs who is thoroughly loyal to Bavaria. Prussia has no choice but to accept that intention.”

“That’s cliché.”

“Doesn’t Sir Askanian also know that and intend to use it?”

“……”

For example, by making Askanian Prussia’s own Nicolaus Ernst.

The insight with which she guessed the correct answer as if reading my thoughts with a casual tone is always admirable. Even though it’s not the Insight of a unique ability, but an ability honed within human limits, it appears transcendent at a glance.

Since she is signaling to me that she will play along with my strategy even though she knows it all, there is no reason for me to argue further. Abraham closed the report and said.

“So, I will have to think a little about how I should be convinced by this suggestion to suddenly investigate a foreign royal.”

“As I said before, if you don’t want to believe it, you don’t have to, Your Highness.”

Abraham, completely unfazed by my rude reply, smiled and then, with a flick of her finger, burned the report in the fireplace. It would be a shocking sight for a third party, but not for her and me.

I did not take my eyes off Abraham’s and continued speaking.

“In any case, Your Highness has already grasped that this report of mine will be to your advantage. Have you not?”

I’m not just talking about it in terms of diplomacy with Austria-Este. The normalization of relations with Austria-Este is a matter of course.

So where exactly is the advantage?

In that the stigma of Pleroma that has been placed on the German Empire can be shared with France on this occasion, this is an advantage for the imperial family. Even though I didn’t say that much, Abraham looked into my eyes without a word, then smiled and clasped her hands.

“You are correct. How can I let you go.”

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