7. Transgressions 2
“There are rumors that a witch has appeared.”
At Chesa’s words, Hyderlin responded indifferently:
“A witch in this age? Maybe a wizard, but not a witch.”
There had been no appearance of witches since Witch Valburga, who woke the dead from graves and made corpse-eating monsters her servants. Even that was when the Demon King’s influence still remained in this land, 200 years ago.
Witches had now become mythical beings.
Even when people suspected of being witches were captured and examined, most turned out to be skillful magicians or wizards researching alone. This case was probably similar.
“People have been disappearing from the outskirts of Nadirotsa for several months. Eight have been officially reported, so the actual number of missing persons is probably several times that. Rumors are rampant that a witch obsessed with extending her lifespan is capturing and eating people.”
“I doubt it. In my opinion, it’s the work of human traffickers with their eyes on money.”
People disappearing from the suburban slums wasn’t particularly rare. She thought it would be solved by investigating human trafficking groups and remained composed. Unlike Hyderlin, the king had quite a serious expression.
“I thought so too. But there were no traces of transactions at all. Those people truly vanished as if they’d evaporated.”
“Even so, it doesn’t seem like a matter for Your Majesty to spend time worrying about. Order it handled at the level of the city guard.”
“That was my plan… but the youngest son of House Rodichi has gone missing.”
“Hmm.”
Hyderlin groaned. The disappearance of slum residents was the work of Nadirotsa’s city guard, but if a noble’s child had gone missing, it was the king’s business.
The king, whose raven-black hair shone, stroked his chin. Chesa, who had been an eighteen-year-old boy king, had now become a twenty-year-old young man king. His broadened shoulders and wide back were unmistakably those of a man.
He stood with his hands behind his back looking out the window. Below, the scenery of Nadirotsa was visible.
“We should do our best to console the grieving heart of Baron Rodichi. Count Biche. Take charge of this matter.”
Actually, the search for missing persons wasn’t business that should reach Hyderlin. The king was just showing sincerity. If Captain of the Guard Hyderlin Biche, the king’s right hand and sister, took charge of supervising the search operation, Baron Rodichi would be satisfied.
Even if the youngest son wasn’t found, the king would have an excuse.
“It’s regrettable. I did my best too, but it turned out this way…”
Chesa seemed to have gotten his head screwed on properly. Well, he was already twenty. Having turned twenty-two, Hyderlin bowed her head.
“Understood.”
Chesa, who had been looking outside, said in passing:
“There’s talk it might be a witch’s doing, so you may cooperate with the church.”
Hyderlin didn’t believe the rumor that it might be a witch’s doing. But there’s always a “what if” in the world. And in this age, the group that knew most about witches was of course the church.
Since Chesa had mentioned it, she naturally went to find Sarg as if it were obvious.
“A witch’s doing—that’s absurd. Actually, most things attributed to gods, demons, or witches are committed by humans. People with shallow insight drag in the names of gods or witches to explain things they can’t understand.”
Sarg added matter-of-factly:
“It’s the same when they want to hide the truth beneath the surface.”
The church explained many unsolved cases as God’s will or demons’ work. And they quietly covered them up.
At these sarcastic words, Hyderlin smiled faintly.
“Don’t you think that’s an impious thing for a holy knight to say?”
“Will you report me?”
“As if.”
Sarg handed Hyderlin a bundle of papers.
“Please take this.”
“What’s this?”
Hyderlin unfolded the bundle. It contained organized information about missing areas and personal details of missing children. The content was quite detailed, as if it had been collected for a long time.
Then Margarite entered the room carrying a map and basket.
Margarite spread the map on the table. The map had the residential areas of missing persons marked with circles.
“Missing person cases in the slums often remain unsolved. So Sir Sarg and I have been personally investigating and collecting this data.”
Margarite smiled brightly at Hyderlin.
“I’m glad you’re in charge of the investigation. The Nadirotsa city guards show no enthusiasm for the investigation…”
Oh ho. So that’s how it is.
Hyderlin whistled internally.
Chesa had been having regular meetings with the saint, building friendship. They had dined together recently, so surely Margarite must have told Chesa about the slum disappearance cases.
Chesa, who wanted to score points with Margarite, must have jumped at the disappearance of Baron Rodichi’s son and appointed Hyderlin as investigation head.
This was killing two birds with one stone, catching both the pheasant and the egg, slaying the dragon and marrying the princess.
Hyderlin decided to help her blood relative’s tearful unrequited love as family.
“His Majesty the King is deeply concerned about the disappearance of the kingdom’s subjects. He greatly looks forward to swiftly identifying the kidnappers who make the subjects tremble in fear and severely punishing them according to national law so justice may stand. That’s why His Majesty commanded me, his direct knight, to investigate. This knight promises to catch the culprit of the disappearance cases and put them on the execution platform.”
Hyderlin shamelessly spouted lies without even wetting her lips. Margarite, who took Hyderlin’s words at face value, brightened considerably.
“Count Biche! Thank you so much!”
Margarite said with flushed cheeks:
“Could you also… convey my thanks to His Majesty…?”
“Wouldn’t it be better if the saint conveyed those words to His Majesty directly?”
“Ah, that would be much better… but His Majesty must be busy…”
“His Majesty would gladly welcome the saint’s visit anytime.”
Margarite nodded her head repeatedly with a reddened face.
“Then I’ll visit briefly soon, so as not to be a bother.”
Oh, how adorable.
Hyderlin internally grinned ear to ear while externally looking at Margarite solemnly. Margarite stamped her feet and said:
“Oh, this isn’t the time—I’ll bring more refreshments and drinks. I just baked some fresh ones. Wait just a moment! At least have some of these!”
When Margarite removed the basket’s cover, fragrant cookies appeared in abundance. Margarite handed the basket to Hyderlin and dashed outside.
Sarg, confirming the door was firmly closed, asked in disbelief:
“…His Majesty is concerned about the disappearance of slum people?”
“Mm. Otherwise why would he send me?”
At Hyderlin’s evasive answer, Sarg seemed to be thinking about something. He seemed to have received something like admiration.
Hyderlin shoved several cookies from the basket into her mouth at once and chewed. She was hungry, having rushed out without even eating breakfast.
Having emptied one basket in an instant, Hyderlin looked into the basket with a sad face.
“When will the saint come…”
Sarg, who had been blankly watching Hyderlin’s amazing feat of making cookies vanish like magic, sighed.
He took out a cookie tin from a drawer and pushed it toward Hyderlin. Hyderlin’s face lit up as she bit into a large cookie.
“I made those.”
“These taste bad.”
The two spoke almost simultaneously. Hyderlin’s eyes met Sarg’s, who had instantly returned to being a cold holy knight. Hyderlin was at a loss for words.
What kind of holy knight bakes cookies…
Hyderlin slyly glanced at Sarg. Though his face was as cold as ever, it was even more so now. Hyderlin shamelessly shoved the half-eaten cookie back into her mouth and said:
“They say what’s good for the body tastes bitter. Thanks for the health snack.”
“…Where is your conscience?”
“My conscience is always here in my chest.”
Hyderlin placed her hand reverently over her heart and gulped down the cookie that somehow tasted like vegetables—what did he put in cookies?—then smiled brightly.
“Shall I show you?”
How do you show conscience? Sarg, who had been standing dumbly, was horrified when Hyderlin started unbuttoning her top. He turned his head and even squeezed his eyes shut.
“Please… maintain your dignity as a princess…”
“Holy knight. Open your eyes.”
“I refuse.”
“I have something to show you.”
“I won’t look.”
“It’s an investigation cooperation request document, so look.”
Sarg opened only one eye. Hyderlin pulled a document from inside her chest and held it out to Sarg.
“I forgot to give you this first.”
When Sarg took the document with his fingertips, Hyderlin buttoned her top back up. As the holy knight unfolded and read the paper, Hyderlin explained further:
“The possibility is low, but since there’s talk it might involve a witch, I’d like to seek cooperation from holy knights and priests. If you’re interested in officially participating in the investigation, please review and sign.”
Hyderlin picked up another tasteless cookie. Sarg glanced at her, then turned his eyes back to the paper.
“Ah, and Baron Rodichi’s youngest son has gone missing. He seems to be connected to this disappearance case.”
“Baron Rodichi’s youngest son… I see. I thought it strange that the captain of the guard would get involved in a case like this.”
Sarg seemed somehow deflated. Hyderlin shrugged her shoulders with her hands shoved in her coat pockets.
“It’s not exactly a secret, but… don’t tell the saint. She’d definitely be sad to know His Majesty moved his hand because of political interests rather than justice or goodwill.”
Sarg didn’t answer. When Hyderlin opened her mouth to get a definite answer, the door opened again and Margarite entered. She came carrying another basket from which a savory smell wafted.
“Count Biche. It’s not much, but please have more. I’m not sure if it suits your taste… but I used good ingredients.”
“Oh my. I don’t know if I should eat this.”
“Of course you should. I’m happy to help a busy person even in this way!”
Margarite seemed so pleased that Chesa had taken interest in the disappearance cases. She kept a bright face as she handed refreshments to Hyderlin and talked about the data they’d collected.
Sarg stared intently at Margarite’s bright face, then said curtly to Hyderlin:
“Understood. It’s for Mack.”
“For what?”
Margarite tilted her head. Hyderlin chuckled.
“Mack… Ah, Margarite-nim.”
“What are you two talking about?”
Sarg corrected himself:
“…It’s for Margarite-nim.”
“So what is for me? Why do only you two know?”
Margarite made a tearful face. Hyderlin just smiled saying “there’s something like that, saint.” while Hyderlin only grinned.
