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Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 8
Chapter Title: Arsène Lupin (2)
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"Everyone, freeze!"
"This is the Grammaton, the Empire's Central Intelligence Bureau. Please have your identification ready and cooperate."
The day after Kratos left, the tavern was in chaos.
Black leather coats, red embroidered epaulets, and suits.
"You, you. And you."
The team leader of the Grammaton unit, the force in charge of the Empire's security, pointed at several citizens with a blank expression, as if picking out items.
"N-No!"
"It wasn't me! It wasn't me!"
At his gesture, Grammaton agents began checking patrons' IDs and dragging a few people away.
"You can sort out the truth at the intelligence bureau!"
"Arrest them all!"
Seamus also calmly took out his tag and waited for his turn to be inspected.
"The White… Mercenary Corps?"
"Yes. I'm on vacation, traveling around after finishing a mission."
Seamus swallowed dryly, trying his best to calm his racing heart.
The Grammaton officer addressing him so formally… judging by his sleeves and epaulets, he was a high-ranking officer.
The Empire's intelligence agency. The Central Intelligence Bureau, an organization the Emperor himself had painstakingly established, had now become a symbol of terror, reporting directly to him.
'An officer like that is arresting commoners in a tavern like this?'
No matter how he thought about it, he couldn't help but suspect a connection to Kratos and Sejanus.
Kratos suddenly buying a shabby house and holing up inside.
And the Grammaton showing up right on cue. Didn't it all fit together perfectly?
'Did he go to that house to report me and make contact with Sejanus?'
One suspicion led to another. It seemed too excessive for a Grammaton unit to raid a tavern just because some drunkard had bad-mouthed the Empire or Sejanus.
"Traveling alone in such difficult times. A member of the White Mercenary Corps, no less. Hmm… well, I hope you have a pleasant journey."
The officer carefully examined the mercenary tag, then stepped back with a pleasant expression. Five people had already been taken from this tavern alone.
"Well then, thank you all for your cooperation."
Though the Grammaton had left, the tavern's atmosphere had turned icy.
Seamus wiped his tense, sweaty palms on his trousers and downed the lukewarm beer before him in one gulp.
Thanks to them, his range of movement had narrowed even further.
'Surely he didn't go to these lengths just to keep me in check?'
He had thought it was a simple matter of tailing a single mercenary.
But in just the last few days, he had felt he was in danger more than once.
While there was no direct proof, the circumstantial evidence was more than enough.
He had to prepare to kill him, one way or another.
"Hah… I'm going to have to ask for a real vacation after this is over."
***
*Thud— Thud—*
The sound of digging echoed relentlessly through the small passage. Each shovelful brought out a heap of rocks and dirt.
It was a tunnel just large enough to crawl through.
He'd have to measure to know the exact length, but it felt like at least twenty meters.
Twenty meters in a few hours. What astonishing strength.
*Crack—*
A single punch shattered a boulder the size of his torso into pieces.
The power of this body was truly something else.
Digging the tunnel itself wasn't that difficult.
The real challenge was moving the resulting rock fragments and dirt piles, and even more so, the disgusting, sticky feeling of sweat and soil mixing with the stale air.
"Phew."
All that was left was to reinforce the tunnel with the purchased lumber to prevent a collapse. A drink of cool water to quench his throat tasted like honey.
It was a universal truth that food and drink tasted best after hard labor.
Besides, when engaged in such simple, repetitive work, his mind often went blank.
That was why, even back on Earth, he had a strange fondness for grindy games and activities.
'At this pace, it should take about four days. That's reasonable.'
It was exactly as he had predicted.
Would the box still be there? And what would he do after he got it?
There was the matter of the owner of the mansion he was currently tunneling into, and his plan to go to the capital.
Nothing was certain yet, but one always had to prepare for the next step.
It might be impossible now, but if he could just get that box back, he could surely cause some trouble. As long as the items inside were intact.
*Thud— Thud—*
Ah, might as well keep digging. Every extra meter he dug today was a meter he wouldn't have to dig at the end.
At this rate, he might even gain a shoveling skill or something.
***
*Shing—*
A finely honed blade slid from its sheath with a strange hum.
He had wasted three whole days since the Grammaton had inspected the tavern. They had put a tail on him after learning he was from the White Mercenary Corps.
But he couldn't shake them. Doing so would have only raised more suspicion.
They wanted to find out his purpose for being in Libria, to see if he was truly just traveling.
Thanks to that, he spent three days genuinely visiting markets and taking strolls around the area.
That feeling of being watched wherever he went… even though he himself was skilled in infiltration, tracking, and surveillance, it was a sensation he could never get used to.
He could only hope that nothing significant had happened in the meantime.
He might have already met with Sejanus and left Libria.
Or he might still be here.
'Please be here. So I can make you pay for all this trouble.'
He gritted his teeth. Right, how strong could that bastard be? He felt he needed to take at least an arm to quell his anger.
Seamus made his way to the dilapidated house where Kratos was last seen. As he neared the house, he moved stealthily.
Tonight, even the moon seemed to be on his side, a crescent sliver that gave off almost no light, hidden behind thick clouds.
*Creeak—*
On a night like this, he naturally had the advantage.
'What's this, a tunnel? What in the world is he doing here?'
Opening the door of the completely unguarded house, he found small hills of dirt scattered everywhere.
And that weapon. It was definitely the one he received from Rzhev. That ridiculously massive weapon.
That meant Kratos was still here.
Below was a deep tunnel, leading in the direction of Sejanus's mansion.
His mind reeled. So he wasn't cooperating with Sejanus? He wasn't his spy?
Judging by the state of the soil, it had all been excavated recently.
And it was quite deep.
The soft earth muffled his footsteps. He moved on the balls of his feet, silent and careful.
The tunnel stretched for what looked like well over a hundred meters. What was his identity, his purpose, for digging something like this?
Passing by the sparsely placed lamps that cast a dim light, he reached the end.
When he saw Kratos's shadow, Seamus hid himself in the darkness, even quieting his breath.
In situations like this, the smallest slip-up could mean the difference between life and death.
'A box?'
The mercenary named Kratos was crouched in front of a box as large as his torso.
A smile of pure elation spread across his face.
***
"Found it."
That was a close call.
The owner of this house had expanded the underground space more than I had anticipated.
If I had dug just a little further, this box would certainly not be here right now.
Even from here, if I listened carefully, I could faintly hear sounds from the basement.
Of course, it was hard to make out distinct words.
It seemed twenty years was a long time after all. This was a past I had buried before pledging myself to the kingdom that had become an empire.
The iron box, as large as my torso, was caked in dirt and had lost its shine, but its sturdiness remained.
*Click—*
I ripped off the lock with brute force, unfastened the latch, and opened the box. A past I had tucked away in a corner of my memory greeted me.
How embarrassing.
After arriving in this world, I had wandered aimlessly until, on some whim, I decided I wanted to emulate the phantom thief, Lupin.
It just so happened that a particularly wicked and corrupt official lived in this region of Libria at the time.
That's how it began.
Sending calling cards, stealing goods, stealing money. And then distributing it back to the people.
Thanks to that, I made quite a name for myself. From the northernmost tip of the continent to the southern end, there wasn't a soul who didn't know the name Arsène Lupin.
"Heh. I actually considered going with Robin Hood."
But a phantom thief had to be Arsène Lupin. Like the Japanese anime *Lupin the 3rd* or the Netflix drama *Lupin*. Both were strongly etched in my mind.
Inside the box were a mask, various identification cards, a few artifacts, and a dimensional pocket.
And my trademark: a calling card with the Lupin drawing on it.
The artifacts had mostly reached the end of their lifespan and were now little more than decorations. They might work once or twice at best.
Well, they weren't that great to begin with. The most important thing was this mask.
The dimensional pocket had a lot of stuff in it too, but it was less important than the mask.
More of a bonus, really.
[You have acquired a Dimensional Pocket. Converting to Inventory.]
Yes! I knew it!
The moment I fastened the dimensional pocket to my waist, a familiar voice spoke, and a 6x6 inventory window popped up before my eyes.
Inside were the artifacts and various items I had stored away long ago.
"Good, very good."
I decided to check the inventory later and put on the mask. It enveloped my entire head like the squishy body of a jellyfish.
Simultaneously, I pictured the face I wanted to become. It was an easy task for me.
All I had to do was recall one of the countless faces in my memory.
The reason I was never caught while living as Arsène Lupin.
It was called many things in this world, but I called it this:
An artifact that changed my face to whatever I desired.
For some reason, it couldn't even be detected by common magic. It was a strange product I had made myself, yet I couldn't fully grasp its operating principles.
Of course, it wasn't without its weaknesses. A strong impact could sometimes disable the artifact.
And I could only cycle through the eight stored faces, but I could always add a disguise on top of that.
That made the number of possible faces limitless.
After confirming that my face had changed properly, I turned my head.
"Ugh—!"
A woman in a mask was charging at me.
Wielding a vicious-looking blade, no less. A sudden assassination attempt! I haven't even done anything!
*Clang—*
Moving on pure instinct, I parried the blade with the box that had held the artifacts.
"Agh— damn it!"
Unable to withstand the force of Kratos's swing and the ravages of time, the box's handle broke off and flew into the ceiling.
*Ruuuumble—*
With the sound of something collapsing, a torrent of dirt and debris rained down.
Directly above was the mansion's basement. If that basement floor gave way, the guards would surely come swarming.
'No, this is actually good.'
I needed to announce Arsène Lupin's return anyway, so this was perfect.
You have to cause this much of a scene. Besides, public opinion of this mansion's owner already seemed quite poor.
I smashed the tunnel ceiling with the box with all my might.
"You crazy bastard! Stop! Are you trying to get us both killed? It's going to collapse!"
"That doesn't sound so bad!"
The masked woman, who had briefly distanced herself to look for another opening, tried to stop me, horrified by my insane actions.
And when a huge stone appeared.
*CRACK—!*
I shattered the stone with a powerful punch.
Damn, that hurts like hell.
It must have been a pretty thick and sturdy rock. It made sense, since it was the bedrock that formed the basement floor.
"Crazy… with his bare hands? Just how strong is he?!"
I casually ignored the voice from the side and leaped up through the hole.
"Hey, you crazy bastard!!"
The assassin cursed as she followed me up into Sejanus's mansion basement, but she was too stunned to react.
That wasn't the important thing right now.
"No… what the fuck is this."
Even the assassin stammered, clearly shocked.
The basement was a gruesome scene that would make anyone curse.
Bodies were piled up like mountains. Their faces were all contorted in agony, a testament to the torture they had endured before death.
Moreover, all the blood had been drained from the corpses.
"Sejanus. That crazy son of a bitch!"
"Is the owner of this mansion named Sejanus?"
Kratos asked in a low, trembling voice.
"Huh? Uh… Marcus Sejanus. The Empire's Northern Inspector."
For some reason, the flustered assassin stuttered out a reply.
Marcus Sejanus. Sejanus. The Empire's Northern Inspector.
How could a human do something like this?
This place… no, these traces.
Torture implements hung on the walls. Bits of flesh clung to them, and blood dripped down.
They had been used so much that the tools had lost their original color, now stained a dull, gloomy crimson.
Commoners who had died without their bodies intact.
Some of them were even familiar faces. People I had seen in the tavern when I arrived in Libria. The ones who had cursed the master of this mansion.
*Grit—*
I ground my teeth, my clenched fists turning white from the lack of blood flow as they began to tremble.
Why were these people piled up here like this?
Why couldn't they even have a proper death, left abandoned like discarded objects?
All sorts of geometric patterns were drawn on the floor.
They looked ominous at a glance. Anyone could see these were traces of black magic.
"Catch the rats!"
"How dare you trespass here!"
The basement door burst open, and soldiers began pouring down.
Before Seamus, momentarily at a loss, could even act.
*Splat—*
The head of a soldier rushing toward me simply exploded.
There wasn't much I could do for them.
I couldn't bury each of these victims. I couldn't hold a memorial service for them.
Nor could I reveal a truth that no one would believe.
In this world, the words of the powerful were the truth.
I could only stir things up a bit before leaving, but there was one thing I could do for them.
"Today, I'll have to turn this place into a giant tomb."
To make a massive stone tomb for them.
And the materials would be this very mansion.