73 Patrones (1/2)

Black haired wise man Chiyuki

'So you didn't find it after all. Sir Decius.

The next day comes and I hear from Decius in the guest room in the theater.

Marcius or something like that hasn't come back to the theater company yet.

After that, Nao and I met up with Rage and the others and stayed at the theater company's quarters.

At noon, Decius came to the theater and I was in the middle of interviewing him.

He said that Decius had been searching for him until late at night. It seems that this is why he was late getting up, and he has just arrived.

'Yes, Chiyuki-dono. I wish I had been able to get into the back of the store: ......

Decius says apologetically.

Well, it can't be helped.

That area is especially unsafe. If I had tried to do a forced search, Decius would have been killed.

By the way, even if it's not that area, the security of the Republic of Ariadia is very bad, because the Republic of Ariadia is not a safe place to live.

This is because the Republic of Ariadia is more open than other countries.

Because it is easier for people to come and go, people with bad behavior also come in.

Since we are strong, we can easily fight off anyone who misbehaves, so we don't mind, but the average woman in this world would be in danger of walking down the street at night, even within the city walls.

However, despite such a state of affairs, the generals who should maintain security are slow to move.

The reason is that he has little police powers.

Citizens' rights may be protected from state power, but this will only increase crime.

The police system in the Republic of Ariadia is immature, despite the fact that it has such a large population.

Something should be done about it, in my opinion. But there are some powerful senators who see the danger of giving the generals too much power, and they say there's nothing they can do about it.

Using our power might help, but interfering in internal affairs by force would invite other problems.

Besides, if we interfere in this matter poorly, we will be drawn into the political struggle of this country.

So we can't do anything about it either.

”Maybe they've escaped altogether?

I let out a sigh.

Maybe Marcias is not in the Republic of Ariadia, fleeing as quickly as he can when he has an incident.

''There doesn't seem to be any movement on Ainoe-san's part either. What do we do, Chiyuki-san?

Reno says, sounding like a bother.

Ainoe is practicing the play with Silone.

That's why Sirone is not here.

Sahoko isn't here either, but that's because she's prepared a cup of tea.

'What do we do?　I don't think it's a good idea to force it, but do you want to use Reno's magic to get it out of Ainoe?

Rage is right, it's not a good idea to force your way into people's minds. But now that Marcius is gone, she's the only clue.

''We might have to do that for sure. ...... And we don't have any other clues.

You can use Reno's magic to make him spit out everything he knows. I don't want to use it too much, but if I don't have any other clues, I don't have a choice.

''Um~. Chiyuki-san, if it's a clue, isn't there another message left by Shenna-san?

Nao says to me timidly.

'Oh, that too. We'll have to find the Moonlight Goddess.'

I remember the message Shenna left for me.

'Moonlight goddess?　What's that?

'That's what was written in the message Shenna left for me,'

I explain to Raige what happened last night.

'I see. Is there such an amazing beauty?

He nodded at Rage's words.

'Well, I haven't seen it myself, so I can't say for sure, but Sir Decius knows the details.

When I say this, all eyes turn to Decius.

'You mean the Goddess of Moonlight? She is ......

Decius begins to explain.

All of them look surprised at the way the man who is usually serious and seems to have nothing to do with s*x appeal explains with a lot of emotion.

''Heh. Decius-san, was that silver-haired beauty more beautiful than us?

Reno asks nastily.

'What?'　It's ......

Decius looks like he has a hard time saying it.

He's a man who can't lie and say that Reno is more beautiful than he is.

Well, it's bad enough that Reno knows that and listens.

'Already, Reno. You shouldn't be asking me that.''

Yes. But it's a bit frustrating. What kind of person is he?

Reno says jokingly. But I think there's a little bit of truth mixed in.

'I'm certainly curious. And this beautiful woman said she was here to see me, right? I'd love to meet him.

Rage says with a laugh.

She says that the servant of the Goddess of Moonlight said that she came to see the brave man. I can see how happy Rage is to hear that.

'Already, Rage-kun. Judging by the circumstances, that moonlight goddess could be our enemy. She might even come to see you to kill you!

I say what I'm thinking.

There is no doubt that the silver-haired beauty that Decius calls the Goddess of Moonlight is involved in the case.

Perhaps she could be an enemy.

'Well, yeah, but even Chiyuki must be curious, right?'

'Well, I'm certainly curious to see what he's like,'

It's enough to make me fawn over Decius when he says she's beautiful. I'd like to see his face once.

But I wonder if Decius has noticed? That she might be the cause of her sister's disappearance.

'I don't know if she's an enemy or not, but we'll find out when we find that beauty.

Rage said and Reno and Nao nodded.

'Well, it's true.

'It is after all, but how do we find them? I don't have a clue.

I say to them all.

'I have no clue where to find that moonlight goddess.

'I don't know if it's a clue or not, but there's an upscale residential area near where I met her. And the clothes she was wearing were quite high class. Based on that, I'm guessing she's somewhere in that residential area.

It was Decius who said that.

The residential area that Decius indicates is a little hilly and sunny. That's why the rich are building houses there, he said.

And Decius must have done his research beforehand. He describes the location of the residential area and how many mansions there are in the area. He also seems to have even researched the owners of the mansions.

Perhaps the reason they came late is because they were looking into it.

I'm a little scared by their preparedness.

''Huh?　Isn't that residential area, as I recall, where Regena is?

Rage responds to Decius' explanation.

Rejena is a former princess from the Kingdom of Algore, and she's now under Kyouka's command.

I'm told that she was given one of Trumarkis' mansions, as I recall.

The residential area that Decius indicated is where that Trumarkis' mansion was located.

Rage must have only talked to Regina for a little while, but he remembered it well.

''Indeed I do. One of the mansions in this residential area is owned by your sister. It seems that Lord Regena-dono is living here.'

Ligeena has been attending banquets and greeting influential people to work on behalf of Kyouka and Kaya in this country. It seems that she had met with Decius at that time as well.

Decius also knew Regena.

''You remembered it well, Rage-kun. But as expected, I don't think there's a moonlight goddess there.'

'I know that. I just thought I'd better go check on Regina after the case is over. Besides, Kyoka might be asking me to do something reckless. If so, I'd like to help her.

Rage says with a serious face.

Rage doesn't lie when it comes to helping women. He really wants to help Regena.

But something is not amusing.

'Yes, yes, that's after we're done. Let's all go check on the situation. For that matter, let's go find the Moonlight Goddess now. Nao-san, it's the residential area Sir Decius mentioned, do you think you can check it out?

I ask Nao as I let Rage's words flow lightly.

''There don't seem to be many houses, so it's easy to find out.

Nao laughs and replies.

It seems that with the help of Nao's power, it is possible to examine this many houses quickly.

''Please wait. In fact, one of the owners of the residence is even more suspicious. The residence of Ainoe's patron, Senator Cornes, is located there.

We are amazed.

Work is fast. Once again, we confirm Decius' excellence.

'That's great ....... You might not have a chance to get out of there, Nao-san.''

Both Nao and Reno praise Decius.

'No. ....... Actually, that's as far as I can go. I can't do much more than this when my opponent is a senator.

Decius looks down and says.

The senator is a powerful man in this country. If we investigate them poorly, it will become a political issue.

Also, a vote of the Senate is needed to arrest, judge or investigate a Senator.

It is said that such a law was made because in the past, powerful generals had punished their political rivals in the Senate for minor offenses and removed them from office.

Therefore, even if powerful senators committed a crime, it was difficult to judge them by law.

Some of them seem to be using their position to do things that are illegal.

Of course, if it's too much, they will be judged, but on the other hand, if it's not too much, they won't be judged.

No matter how good the knights of the law are, they can't do anything in the face of immense power.

If we were to judge them, it would be in an unlawful manner.

It's a problem when there are evil people who can't be brought to justice by law, only the unlawful way can solve the problem.

From what I've heard, assassinations of powerful kings are not uncommon.

I heard that the Republic of Ariadia has also experienced bloody things over power many times in the past.

Surely the anecdotes of the Sword of Damocles may have originated from these stories of power.

A senator named Kornes is said to be a man of ill repute.

But he is a senator nonetheless. We can't investigate this any further.

Then I guess we'll have to take it from here.

Rage smiles wryly.

I don't like it, but I guess I can't blame her.

'You will eventually, I suppose: ....... But you'll have to find out first, Rage. It might be irrelevant.'

But with all this circumstantial evidence, I'm pretty sure he's black.

Hey, guys, I made you some tea.

That's when the story came together. A wooden door is opened and Sahoko enters with a cup of tea.

The tray she is holding has a large round object on it as well as a tea cup.

'Sahoko-san. What's that?

I look at the round object and say.

'Oh, it's a cheesecake. I got some ricotta cheese, so I made it.

Sahoko says with a laugh.

Ricotta cheese is a cheese made by boiling down whey. It seems to be a thing in this world.

'Ooh, this sounds delicious,'

Right? Here's some of that mentee tea Ms. Regina gave me.

Menty is a flower that blooms in the Dark Forest of Nargol. The refreshing tea is said to have a stabilizing effect on the mind.

This tea is said to have been a favorite drink of Sirone's childhood friends.

When Rižena left Nargol, she received a lot of it as a souvenir.

You can tell that Sirone's childhood friend is not a bad person, since he gives you such a delicious tea.

'Let's take a break. I'll go get Sirone and get her.''

I try to stand up and Rage stops me.

'I'll go get Shirone. Chiyuki, sit down.

Yeah?　Thank you.

Rage leaves the room.

Sahoko makes a pot of tea. Reno and Nao cut up the cake.

The delicious scent of mentees wafts into the room.

As the scent envelops me, I think about the Goddess of Moonlight.

Who is she?

There is no doubt that he was involved in this case, but it could be the ringleader.

Oh, well, that's okay. Let's have a cup of tea and think about the future.

Shirone, the Maiden of Swords

The play rehearsal is over and we're going to get some rest.

To be honest, I'm tired.

Ainoe was tired too, and she took her attendant to the restroom.

Maybe I should go with her and keep an eye on her, but I can't bring myself to do that.

By the way, I think this theater's device is amazing.

There is a crane to make actors appear by hanging in the air, and there is an opening to lift them up from the floor.

I wonder how much it cost to build it.

I've seen theatres in other countries before, but nothing like this contraption.

If you look at the walls, you can see all kinds of masks. A gentle woman, an angry man, and a funny clown. There are various kinds of masks.

These are all theatrical masks.

In this world, theatrical performances are usually performed wearing masks. They used to be used for ceremonies, but we don't know much about them.

However, if we use these masks, the number of actors should be reduced. If we change masks, one person can play multiple roles. Therefore, there's really no need for me to play the role of a substitute.

But Commander Midas insists on putting on a play without a mask.

But he insists on doing his plays without masks because he believes that beautiful actors are more beautiful without masks.

This may be the reason why his plays are so popular, but it also causes me a lot of trouble.

'That's very good of you, Lady Shirone. I can't believe it's your first role.

I'm resting and Midas comes to me.