◈ Episode 81: Night Steps Approaching (3)
Terrina gave Lloyd an order before going to interrogate Ludger.
‘Lloyd.’
‘Yes, Captain.’
‘If you can’t get a proper answer from him, give up cleanly.’
‘Is that okay?’
‘okay. Instead, shake hands when parting at the end.’
‘A handshake, you mean?’
‘It’s natural. You know what I mean?’
Lloyd didn’t ask why.
the night before.
In the alley, Terrina explained everything.
The one who killed the Khalsapa Assassin was a wizard specializing in close combat.
If it was enough to defeat the Assassin of the Kalsa faction, it was by no means a level of superficial training.
If so, how can we check the traces of training?
That’s right, the hand.
Handling a cold weapon with your hand, your hand must be rough and hard, unlike a normal wizard’s.
“Did you shake hands with your bare hands?”
“I wasn’t, but he was wearing gloves.”
“is it. But with just one pair of gloves, there’s no way you didn’t notice.”
Lloyd nodded.
In the end, all he was aiming for was a handshake at the end.
The question I had asked before was a trick to divert the other person’s mind to another place.
“So how was it?”
“yes. What I felt while shaking hands with him… … .”
Lloyd told the truth as it was.
“He’s just an ordinary wizard with no training whatsoever.”
“what?”
Terrina’s face twisted incomprehensibly.
* * *
After Lloyd left, Ludger, who was left alone in the office, sat down in front of his work table and opened his fists.
“A handshake, okay?”
A third party might think it was just a courtesy to end the meeting and share lightly.
From Rudger’s point of view, I couldn’t help but think that it was a really revealing act.
Lloyd of the Nightcrawler Knights under the Security Bureau. Age is late 20’s. He wore glasses on his face, and his hair was neatly parted. It must be that he has an unwavering gaze and a personality that handles work neatly.’
I felt it even when we exchanged conversations.
As if Lloyd had prepared all the questions in advance, he calmly and yet confidently asked them one by one.
Like a well-crafted script.
Rudger hallucinated as he was laying bricks.
Piled and piled bricks surrounded him before he knew it.
So he was surrounded so that he could not escape.
And finally, Lloyd’s handshake.
‘I keep asking questions, driving the other person mentally, and throwing a decisive move at the last moment when I’m off guard. be thorough It’s a very sophisticated method.’
If I hadn’t known him, I would have shook his hand without thinking.
But Rudger immediately guessed his intentions.
‘That man named Lloyd must have been looking at my private office before I came.’
When Rudger opened the door and came in, his eyes were on the window frame and the shelf, his fingertips running through the books in the library.
It was to check the places where people’s hands are not easily reached and where dust tends to accumulate.
restrained behavior. A loose-fitting outfit.
A personality that refuses even the light refreshments offered by this side.
Rudger was sure.
He has a bit of mysophobia.
That person asked for a handshake without gloves on?
‘I was trying to confirm something through a handshake.’
If so, what are you trying to check?
Trying to measure the other person’s skill by sending mana through the hands that are facing each other?
It is very rude and can be considered an attack on the other person. Even the Knights of the Nightcrawler couldn’t do such a thing recklessly.
Moreover, he is Seorn’s teacher.
It is a status that can not be treated carelessly even if it is just a security agency.
‘Then, what can be confirmed by simply holding hands?’
That’s right, a trace.
marks on the palm of your hand.
‘Last night, security officers visited the scene where Violetta and I fought. I don’t know how it came about, but it was a close timing.’
And there, he must have got clues from the traces of the fight.
The culprit is a wizard, but he knows how to handle weapons well.
How is that possible? Even if you ask like this, the Nightcrawler Knights would be able to do that.
There was magic, and there were stabbed corpses. As much as they belong to the Security Bureau, they are also elite, so they should have noticed right away.
‘indeed. Did you try to confirm that I was the one by holding his hand?’
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they are smart guys
Trying to convince a suspected suspect to be the culprit simply by shaking hands.
If I didn’t know, I would have wondered if there were all these guys.
but.
In other words, if you know it, it is also possible to deal with it.
Rudger recalled the conversation he had with Sheridan before leaving the hideout.
‘Sheridan.’
‘huh? Why me?’
‘Before I go, I have something to ask of you.’
‘What? What are you making?’
‘okay. Could you make something like an inner glove? Similar to human skin, but with a very soft material.’
‘what?’
‘Is it possible?’
‘of course! However, it is difficult right now to be completely similar. I have to work on the material, but that takes time.’
‘That’s fine. Because I can do the rest with my magic.’
‘huh. okay. There are materials left over from making the bast noodles that Na-ri used, so it will work out somehow. Ah, but what happened to that bast face?’
‘It was torn and thrown away.’
‘what?!’
Artificial skin received from Seridan.
Rudger added some of it to the palm of the inside of the glove.
Yes.
The feeling Lloyd felt through the glove as he shook hands was not Ludgar’s real skin after all.
‘Even a member of the Security Bureau couldn’t notice it.’
Seridan’s skills are real. She said that the artificial skin she created does not compare to her real skin.
A bast face mask made of it can easily pass even thorough inspections in the border area.
If you touch it even once, you won’t know if you don’t recognize the subtle difference from the actual wearer’s skin.
I shook hands with someone I was meeting for the first time today, who would notice that?
‘Articles of the Security Bureau. My head worked well, but that’s it.’
Rudger slightly raised the corner of his mouth and began reviewing the test questions to be presented in the first test.
* * *
“senior. is that really Aren’t you mistaken?”
“Do you think I don’t even know that?”
“No, but… … .”
“Enya. stop. There’s no way Lloyd didn’t notice.”
“But, Captain… … .”
Even if Terrina said that, it was a pretty disturbing feeling.
It was Ludger who thought it was the only clue, but he couldn’t find anything suspicious.
What I thought was the last rope was a joke.
‘Then, did the case fall into the labyrinth again?’
It means that the real culprit is hiding somewhere in Ledervelk.
But I couldn’t figure out who he was.
I don’t know how many people reside in Ledervelk and how huge the city is.
‘Arsene Lupine. I thought I finally found a trace of him.’
Are you saying you missed it again?
Terryna Lionhowl clenched her fists.
The days when she was still called the Protector of the Border, but still raised her name as an elite of the knights.
For the first time ever, she tasted defeat.
She was born into a noble family and has natural talent and hard work to match, and even that to a single thief.
no. I am no longer a rogue.
phantom thief.
A man who stole what couldn’t be stolen and made fun of a lot of code.
Arsene Lupine.
In my heart, I wanted to find him right away.
‘I can’t waste my time on an investigation that doesn’t make any more progress.’
At the point where she couldn’t find a clue, her role ended here.
She is the leader of the Nightcrawler Knights of the Intelligence Bureau.
Because it was a difficult place to move recklessly like now.
“Lloyd. Enya.”
“yes!”
“yes!”
“I am about to leave for the capital again.”
“Then the investigation into this case… … .”
“Without the right clues, we can’t proceed any further. It is a temporary suspension. I have to report that to the higher ups as well.”
“Is that the end?”
“I cannot stay here forever. ‘Cause I’m busy so enya you stay here.”
“yes?”
“Remain here in Ledervelk, and if anything suspicious happens, do not hesitate to report it to me. Got it?”
“Yeah, but what about seniors? I’d rather have a senior than me… … .”
“no. Lloyd has other things to do. Lloyd. Do you agree?”
“If it’s the captain’s order.”
“Uh, uh. Well, even if you suddenly say something like this… … .”
“Enya. please.”
“… … !”
This is not an order from the Security Department.
Enya realized that this was an order from Terina Lionhowl ‘individual’, and nodded resolutely.
“yes! Captain!”
“okay. I believe you will do well.”
Terrina answered that and was about to leave.
At that moment, Lloyd shouted.
“Everything, Captain! Are you going to stay? Still, it’s better for the captain to see the teacher named Rudger in person… … .”
“no. It can’t be.”
“yes? why… … .”
“The reason I came here in the first place was because of ‘those conditions’.”
“Such a condition.”
It was incomprehensible to Lloyd. Is it so difficult to just look at a face?
Terrina was about to explain the whole situation to her confused lieutenant, but turned her head when she sensed signs approaching her.
“You’re coming just in time.”
“yes?”
Lloyd and Enya also stared in the direction Terrina was looking.
There, a woman was slowly approaching us.
‘Since when?’
Even though it was close enough to be easily seen with the naked eye, I didn’t feel any sign of approaching.
Two-tone long hair in white and light pink.
A beautiful woman approaching waving it in the morning sunlight.
She smiled brightly and waved her hand in this direction.
“Hurray! Terina! long time no see!”
“Elisa. It’s been a long time since I saw you early in the morning.”
“Oh dear. That’s how it feels.”
Enya and Lloyd couldn’t help but be embarrassed to see her talking to Terina in a friendly way.
‘Elisa? Elisa Willow?’
‘Aren’t you the president of Seorn Academy?’
A genius mage who achieved the 6th tier Lexorer at a young age.
She, the president of Seorn Magic Academy, appeared.
“Elisa. What are you doing here?”
“What is it? You’re about to leave soon, but can you send your friends off?”
“joy. It’s useless care.”
“What is a good friend?”
“Jung Then, isn’t there any reason why you couldn’t arrange that guy named Rudger Celish with me?”
“no. That’s different.”
Elisa shook her head.
“Don’t bully our talented newcomer too much?”
Terrina swallowed her annoyance inwardly as she looked at Elisa as she spoke in this direction with a smile that she couldn’t understand.
okay.
The reason she couldn’t meet Ludgar Celish in person was because none other than Elisa Willow interrupted it.
“You must have liked it quite a bit.”
“Because he is a rare and talented person. But what if Terrina met in person, she wouldn’t know what to do?”
“You look at me as if you’re destroying people.”
“Wrong?”
“… … .”
Terrina glared at Elisa, then quickly turned her head away.
“Goes. Enya. Lloyd.”
“Ah yes!”
“Yes Captain!”
“ah. Terrina. Will you go on like this?”
“okay. I’m going. So there is no need to see them off.”
“huh. okay. Didn’t you see the princess?”
“He is also the one who inherited the blood of the imperial family. I don’t think I need to check to see if he’s doing well. You will do well.”
Did Terrina coldly cut off her words, as if she didn’t want to mix them up anymore?
Elisa wasn’t dissatisfied or regretful about Terrina’s attitude.
It seemed natural between the two of them.
I just accepted it naturally.
“Goes.”
Maybe it’s because of the old days?
Terrina added the last words.
* * *
‘Is it the president and the national guard?’
Secretly watching the scene outside the window, I shook my head.
Even watching from a distance, it is clear that the atmosphere between the two is not very friendly.
no. Not completely hostile.
However, they don’t even seem that close to each other.
‘Is it an ambiguous relationship?’
Two people who were originally friends with each other, meeting each other as heads like this and keeping the other in check.
It must be because there was some kind of incident in the past between the two.
‘I don’t know what exactly happened.’
thanks it went well
Because I didn’t have to face Terry or Lionhowl in person.
‘It’s all thanks to the president’s protection.’
Chancellor Elisa Willow.
If she hadn’t stopped Terry or Lionhowl, it would have been she, not Lloyd, who came looking for me.
It really couldn’t have been more fortunate.
And one thing I’m sure of in this situation.
‘The president decided to trust me.’
The Werewolf Crisis and the open sparring of Aidan and Jevan Pelio. Even the all-powerful stone incident that followed.
And when the Knights of the Security Bureau came to visit me this time, I was convinced by the measures the president took.
That the president decided to take care of me.
That is to say, I have taken a big step towards trust as a teacher at Ceorn.
‘However, it is different from unconditional trust. He thinks he’s a decent guy now, and he protects him in his own way.’
If I saw something suspicious, the president might rather step out and try to kill me.
So, you have to be very careful not to do that.
‘All that remains now is to find the First Order of the Black Dawn.’
