Chapter 46

"…An airship?"

The man looked at Jian Cheng with surprise. In response, Jian Cheng asked Lu.

"Are you saying that the unidentified flying object is the airship owned by Mrs. Weatherwood?"

"White body. A blue stripe is painted on the bottom, and the wings are blue. Is that right?"

The man, his mouth agape, replied to Jian Cheng with a look of surprise.

"Yes, it is. Sir, the appearance of the unidentified flying object matches exactly what the lady described."

Equally surprised, I looked at Lu.

'An airship too? When did she call for it?'

Even the support troops requested from the capital Lagal would take at least seven hours to arrive. How early did she contact them?

Or was the airship waiting nearby all along?

"…It may be troublesome, but given the current situation, I cannot grant immediate permission to dock. I would like you to answer a few questions according to procedure."

Lu nodded, looking very annoyed.

After answering more than ten questions, we were finally able to leave the shelter.

Perhaps worried about our movements without the Viscount Weatherwood, Jegers and Volkwin reluctantly followed us.

It was appreciated, but it was also a bother.

"Here it is."

The man led us to the back of the villa, to a vast meadow that was hard to take in at a glance.

There, a giant airship, the Black Lagal, and a black airship presumed to be owned by Raphaelo, as well as a white airship, were docked.

Actually, the subsequent procedures were also very troublesome.

"Mrs. Weatherwood. So, what you're saying is… that Viscount Weatherwood is currently resting in the Rigel villa, and the airship crew needs to enter the villa to bring him out? I'm sorry, but only those whose identity is properly guaranteed can…."

The subsequent persuasion process is too tedious to describe, so I will omit it.

While I was half-listening, the crew from Lu's airship entered the villa and came out carrying a suspicious bundle on their backs.

The suspicious bundle, wrapped in a blanket.

'Could that be me?'

Well, at least I can't see my face. Still, for a viscount, it's a bit too rough.

"Daisy?"

Lu pulled my hand, which was hanging limply, towards her.

"It's over."

At the same time, the airship's engine started.

As the loud engine noise spread, green leaves and dirt rose into the air like dust.

Jian Cheng, who had approached, greeted Lu.

"Then, Mrs. Weatherwood. If there are any problems during your return, please feel free to ask for help. I hope to see you again soon."

He tried to greet me as well, but was interrupted by Lu's timely interference.

"Let's go, my puppy."

Blocking Jian Cheng's view, Lu led me to the ladder connected to the airship entrance and climbed up.

Jegers and Volkwin, who had closely followed us, shouted from the bottom of the ladder.

"Mrs. Weatherwood! Tell Gray that Jegers and Volkwin are very worried, and when he recovers, please send a letter! You can send it to the newspaper office or the Parulla mansion!"

"Please convey my greetings as well!"

This is a bit touching.

'But will the day ever come when Viscount Weatherwood contacts those friends?'

As Lu and I boarded the airship, the entrance door closed completely.

It was the moment when the long and arduous noble outing finally came to an end.

…Or so I thought, five minutes ago.

Was I too naive?

Indeed, the end is often the beginning of something new.

As I boarded the returning airship, a new and strange scene unfolded before my eyes.

"--- --- ---!"

"--- --- --- --- ---!"

About thirty people knelt and lowered their bodies.

As if welcoming a king. They opened and closed their mouths simultaneously, only for one person.

"--- --- ---!"

For only one person, Lu.

"--- --- --- --- ---!"

Even in a foreign language that I couldn't understand at all!

* * *

The Lagal support troops arrived a little earlier than scheduled, at 7:00 PM.

Raphaelo silently observed the military airship with the royal emblem.

More than a dozen terrorists were being led away by soldiers, their limbs restrained.

Under normal circumstances, after requesting support troops from Lagal, he would have to conduct a simple on-site investigation.

However, Raphaelo had not yet begun to investigate the mental magic trap set by the terrorists.

The reason was simple: it would be a waste of time.

'At least four oaths per person…'

This was the first time he had encountered assassins so thoroughly silenced.

It felt like a determination to completely block any leaks of information from all directions.

Oath of Silence.

Fourteen years ago, the Oath of Silence was considered an unbreakable, flawless top-tier magic.

No one had found a way to break it.

But that was not the case now.

The turning point was the Mage War.

Modern magic theory achieved remarkable success starting from the Mage War, and the Oath of Silence was no exception.

Humanity eventually discovered a method to break it.

However, this remarkable achievement was not publicly announced.

It was discovered within the military magic department, and due to its instability, it was kept strictly confidential for nearly three years.

During those three years, endless improvements and modifications were made, but the method to break the Oath of Silence remained extremely complex and difficult.

To break a single Oath of Silence, the full magical power of the empire had to be utilized, making the process of mobilizing personnel extremely arduous.

This time, the assassins had four Oaths of Silence each.

It would take too much time and manpower to break them one by one.

Moreover, the process of setting the trap was so professional that it was difficult to determine whether the person who set it was ignorant of the characteristics of the Oath of Silence.

This means:

'The person who led the terrorist attack likely knew about the method to break the Oath of Silence. The culprit is quite familiar with the Pen Rota military secrets.'

Then, what was the culprit's purpose?

Not long after, one of the officers leading the terrorists approached Raphaelo.

"Commander. The preparations for the transfer of the terrorists are complete. The twenty troops mobilized are also deployed on the Black Lagal, and the identities of all passengers have been confirmed. We are awaiting your departure order, Commander."

"Is Duke Dijark present?"

"Yes! He is protecting the victims on the Black Lagal."

"We will depart for Lagal."

"Yes!"

Raphaelo boarded the airship under the escort of a subordinate officer.

Since he was not the captain of this airship, he was led to a private cabin where he could rest until they arrived in Lagal.

Knock knock.

As soon as he reached the cabin, Dsherro knocked on the door.

"Sir. There is a new report regarding Queen's Island."

Dsherro handed him a confidential letter that had arrived with the support troops.

Raphaelo looked at the letter envelope in front of him with a stern expression.

"Dsherro, didn't I say you didn't need to report to me anymore?"

He said this but still took the envelope.

His hand opened the already opened envelope slowly.

The fact that the envelope was already opened meant that Dsherro had already confirmed its contents, and it also meant that Dsherro remembered Raphaelo's instruction to handle it on his own.

"Yes, I know. But you should check it."

Dsherro's eyes were resolute.

"I'm talking about the maid of Lady Weatherwood we met today. Do you remember her name?"

He recalled the young woman who had been hiding behind the beautiful lady.

"Verty Lushan."

That was definitely her name.

Dsherro slowly continued after the brief answer.

"You remember. As you know, the refugees from Queen's Island are gradually becoming self-sufficient through vocational training in the shelters. One of the first to become self-sufficient recently visited the refugee shelter…."

Dsherro took a deep breath and continued in a steady voice.

"He testified that Verty Lushan is a person who died 14 years ago. It seems the survivor has forged their identity."

Identity forgery.

In Raphaelo's mind, the information about the maid he had met seven hours ago was re-imprinted.

The woman found on Queen's Island recently.

The maid of Lady Weatherwood.

Her real name is Verty Lushan.

Green eyes and brown hair. Tall for a woman.

"After securing the testimony, I investigated the Midwinter personnel agency that Verty Lushan visited. The interview records for Verty Lushan are as follows: Name Daisy Fager, hometown is the southern port, and family consists of one younger brother."

However, among these….

Except for her appearance, all of Verty Lushan's personal information was fake.