Episode 91. Settlement of Capotini (1)
A back alley bar in the magical city of Capotini.
This bar has a secret that the citizens of Capotini don’t know about: the secret offices of the Imperial Commission are located in the basement.
“Hmm… … .”
A man spits quietly in one corner of a noisy bar. He is smoking a pipe, then takes a sip of his drink.
Rosenthaler. He was an administrative officer of the Imperial Commission, and was once considered the new star of the Imperial Commission.
If things had gone as planned, he should have been in a high-ranking position in the Imperial Department by now. He was thrown into Capotini because of the political fallout from the palace.
“Rosenthaler, go to Capotini.”
“Suddenly Capotina? Am I the scapegoat this time?”
Rosenthaler’s mind flashed back to his last conversation with Rulfo, the head of the Imperial Department. He had been Rulfo’s loyal dog, and up until then, he had had no choice but to accept Capotini’s order as a tail-cutting measure.
“No way. It’s not enough to think of it as shaping your future.”
“yes?”
“In five years, something will happen that will shake up the wizarding community. It will be in Capotini. Your job is to make sure that our Imperial Department can control the situation. Before the other departments.”
The Imperial Order was an organization directly under the Emperor and a secret political force in the palace. However, in order for the Imperial Order to exert its power, there was an organization that was absolutely necessary for its connections: the secretive Assassin Sword Family.
“First of all, externally, you will be demoted. To a low-level manager.”
“yes?”
“If you’re too high up, it’s hard to move around. You have to be lowered to the level of an administrator to take full charge of Rubin.”
“If it’s Rubin… … .”
“He is the youngest son of the head of the Assassin family. He is the one who used Capotini as a disguised annex this time.”
Psutt …
Rosenthaler, who had thought about it to that extent, put out his cigarette. He was holding a piece of paper in one hand. It was a piece of paper on which the message from the Imperial Communications Office had been copied.
Philimond, whose plot to revolt against Amret had been settled, wrote on the paper that the city’s festival was now over.
Along with that, the fact that the assassin’s scion, who will be in charge of Rosenthaler, left for Capotini this morning.
“Hmm… … .”
Rosenthaler lit another cigarette.
The weather outside the window was nice. He could see the whole of Capotini from where he was sitting. In particular, the ‘Matap District’ where Capotini Magic School was located was more clearly visible than ever.
* * *
When the week-long festival was over, Philimond returned to the quiet atmosphere of the White City.
After observing the entire festival period according to the lord’s orders, Rubin boarded the ship bound for Capotini.
Phew hoooooo.
The five-day voyage began with the sound of the Blue Cat’s horn announcing its departure.
The western route was extremely peaceful. It was a sea area famous for being calm, and there was enough food to make it unnecessary to stop at any port.
The Blue Cat showed off its speed and sailed day and night.
“Master Luden, we will arrive at our destination shortly.”
A loud noise echoed outside the room. Rubin nodded.
In fact, I had felt that Capotini was getting closer even before Warak told me. This was because the mana contained in the third ring was responding to Capotini’s giant mana stone.
The small grains that make up mana increased sporadically, and my body became much lighter.
“What’s wrong, Warak?”
As Rubin opened the door and came out, Warak, who had been waiting outside, looked slightly surprised.
“Oh, now that I look at it, it seems like you’ve grown a lot taller. Isn’t that right, Kuze?”
Kuze, who was standing next to me and was asked a question, nodded slightly with a puzzled expression.
“Is that so? I’m not sure… I guess it’s because you’re still growing up.”
“Ah, growing up… … .”
“The fish dish you guys let me taste was also really excellent.”
“… It’s a shame I can’t make that kind of dish for you anymore.”
Unaware of Kuze’s rambling, Warak said with genuine regret. Regret at parting. It wasn’t just Warak. The expression on Akoki’s face, standing at the end of the hallway, was also dark.
A benefactor who preserved the rights to the Blue Cat and a noble who allowed him to experience the Philimond Festival, which only the bloodthirsty could enjoy.
It was natural that the Rubin family was special to the bloodthirsty siblings.
“Has the captain of the Blue Cat been decided yet?”
“I’m going to try to catch up on the Gray Harbor.”
“This time it’s a naval battle.”
The regret of parting was fleeting, and challenging looks exchanged between Warak and Awook. As if they had forgotten that they had never been able to decide the winner, the two siblings were confident of their victory.
“The defeated man agreed to join the Bloodthirsty Brigade.”
“I was going to hire you as a crew member on my ship. You were the one who suggested it first.”
“The Bloodthirsty Brigade.”
“Lord Luden, enjoy the life of a nobleman in comfort. Here, my cozy older sister will protect the safety of the empire.”
“Whew… I’m about to say something. If my brother wants to enlist easily, I’ll have to teach him how to read and write first.”
Given the fighting skills of the two giants, it wouldn’t be difficult to join the giant tribe brigade. There could also be an unpleasant situation where one of the two would be faced as an enemy.
If we were to engage in an all-out war with the Emperor, the Giants would definitely be on the battlefield.
‘I’ll have to fix this sometime. It’s not urgent right now.’
That was when.
Puuuuuuuuu.
A trumpet sounded outside. At the same time, the Blue Cat seemed to stumble once, and then its course changed.
“Don’t worry, we’ll just tow our boat from Capotini’s dock.”
“Capotini is a city of wizards. So if you leave the rudder on the dock, it will pull us towards it with magic.”
They went up onto the deck, listening to the brother and sister’s kind explanation. As they said, the disabled Blue Cat was approaching Capotini’s dock on its own.
“Third-class nobles, Luden Poinen and his servant Kuze?”
When Rubin had just disembarked from the Blue Cat, someone was waiting for them.
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A man with a large build, sharp eyes, and bloodshot eyes. Next to him is a short, fat man.
Rubin knew who they were immediately.
‘Administrators of the Imperial Department.’
An imperial order connected to the Assassin’s Sword. Among them, the administrative agents were low-ranking officials who delivered imperial orders to assassins operating in the city or provided them with cover identities.
It is also their role to manage the children of the assassin family living in the annex.
“I am Rosenthaler. And this is Kiessling, who came along to assist me.”
Rosenthaler, who introduced himself briefly, pointed to the Blue Cat.
“Before we talk amongst ourselves, we need to send that ship back.”
As if the order had already been given from the Imperial Command, the stern of the Blue Cat changed course as soon as Rosenthaler spoke.
A giant’s ship cannot set sail without passengers. So, it decided to stop at a nearby port city and pick up passengers heading to Ash Harbor.
Puuuuuuuuu.
The horn sounded again on the dockside and the Blue Cat slowly moved away.
Rubin and Kuze looked at the bloodthirsty siblings moving away. The two of them, who had been standing awkwardly on the deck, realized that they were parting ways and quickly bowed their heads to show their respect.
“Please follow us for now.”
Rosenthaler nodded.
“Where are you going? Are you going through the city checkpoint?”
“You are the son of the main family, so you should skip that kind of trouble.”
“… … .”
Kuze glared at Rosenthaler’s back. As a vassal of the Croquis family, Kuze had carried out many missions, so he had encountered the Imperial Order’s management agents many times.
Even if it was an imperial edict, you can’t treat an assassin from the Assassin’s Blade like that. Especially when you know that Rubin is the young master of the Assassin’s Blade?
But Rubin thought differently.
‘To this extent, he must have had some influence within the Imperial Department.’
The assistant agent who followed me, Kisling, is a rookie. He is probably the only one who came here today.
But Rosenthaler was different. At least, he was a senior officer. It wasn’t just because of his attitude toward me. The unmanned air I felt from him was unusual.
If the level of a typical manager was only 1 star, then this person was at least 4 stars. He was definitely not someone to be taken lightly.
“The color of the water is beautiful.”
As they walked along the dock, Rosenthaler chuckled at Kuze’s admiration.
“Is this your first time in Capotini?”
“This is my first time.”
“Your Highness, too?”
Instead of answering, Rubin just nodded.
It wasn’t really my first time though, since I had stopped by briefly before returning.
Capotini, the city of wizards.
There were several magical cities built on the giant mana stone fields on the continent. The most famous and most powerful of them was, of course, Americmana, also known as the ‘Island of the Sky’. It was the territory of the Witherspoon family.
If Americmana was a large magical city, Capotini was a medium-sized magical city.
‘But if you only look at fame, this place is no less than Americmana.’
It was because of the city’s unique scenery.
“Get on.”
Rosenthaler stopped walking and nodded to a small gondola, a famous means of transportation in the floating city of Capotini.
The gondolas, specially made by the Capotini School of Magic, were moved by magic rather than manpower. This was possible because some of the mana stones were embedded in the back of the gondolas. That is why there were no boatmen in Capotini.
This is also the reason why you don’t see carriages on the road. Magic gondolas and two legs were enough to get you around the city, because it was much faster and more efficient.
Steady, steady, steady.
Rubin, Kuze, Rosenthaler, and Kiessling all climbed aboard the gondola, which was moving along at a steady pace. Soon, the once monochromatic waterway began to reveal a dazzling array of colors, and it drifted along the waves.
“Do you know what that is? It’s called the Matap District.”
Rosenthaler pointed to the heart of Capotini, the Matap district, a district where, literally, the mataps were lined up like pillars.
All the waterways of Capotini are entangled like a spider’s web around it.
“They say the towers are connected by sky bridges. But I’ve never been there. Do you know why?”
Rubin shrugged but didn’t answer.
“It’s essential to have mana. Also, only those who are related to the Capotini School of Magic can enter the Magic Tower.”
In a way, it was natural. The Matap District was where all of the city’s administrative facilities were gathered, and it was also where the legacy of the Samhwi magic series, which could be called the symbol of Capotini, was all gathered together.
“That’s why it’s true that there are many holes in the internal information of Capotini in the royal edict.”
The topic of conversation seemed to be gradually becoming more intimate. However, when Kuze looked around, no one was looking in his direction. Only then did Kuze realize that the gondola was designed with soundproofing magic.
‘The Imperial Edict wants something. It’s something that it wants to realize through me.’
Rubin decided to get straight to the point.
“So what exactly is your business?”
Then Rosenthaler laughed with interest.
“Hmm, I guess I should call it a mission?”
“I apologize for interrupting, Rosenthaler. My lord and I have chosen this city for our education according to the family tradition. The mission can only be carried out after independence.”
“I understand your position, Mr. Roynenser. But we also have our own position. The problem is that the information we need to collect is inside the magic school.”
“Then, where would you recruit a child from a magical family… … .”
At that moment, Rubin waved his hand and stopped Kuze from speaking.
“Keep talking, Rosenthaler.”
“Of course, we would like to recruit children from the magic family, but they are far from being talented enough to deceive someone or actively escape a crisis. However, it would be different if they were children from the assassination family. Especially if they are young masters who have passed the exams with excellent grades.”
“So, the bottom line is, you’re telling me to go to magic school?”
Rosenthaler smiled and nodded.
“I think it might be a bit too much?”
“no.”
How could that be? On the contrary, it was something Rubin had hoped for.
The biggest obstacle for Rubin, who originally planned to enter the magic school in order to eliminate Per Lorenzini, was the existence of the Imperial Order.
The Imperial Order would not have thought it was normal for a child of the Assassin Sword Family to enter a magic school. But it was the Imperial Order that made the first offer.
It doesn’t matter what information they want, it’s just a pretext, Rubin will do what he has to do.
“Even if you want to do that, there are problems that need to be solved, right?”
The prerequisite for admission as a magic cadet. If you don’t meet that requirement, you won’t be able to enter, let alone infiltrate, no matter what you do. Then, Rosettaller smiled.
“That’s why I brought Kisling here.”
At that moment, the gondola they were riding came to a halt. Rosenthaler nodded to indicate that they should get off.
Down the alley, the annex they were to stop at was visible.
