Chapter 41
A Strange Sword (3)
Spring Parsley had been able to come up with this plan precisely because I was such a rare resource who could convincingly pretend to be a noble.
Unlike posing as one of the Republic’s wealthy merchants, disguising oneself as a noble of the Valorn Empire was not something just anyone could do.
“It’d be best to mobilize every means we can.”
It was only possible because my circumstances were so peculiar.
“By the way, how is it even possible to pass yourself off as the mayor’s son?”
“Seems the Rose Garden has him by the throat pretty tightly.”
Apparently, the son’s name had been listed as a co-author on three Royal Academy papers.
At the time, the boy had been about thirteen years old, and until now, no one had made an issue of it.
“Damn, that’s no child but a shackle clamped around your ankle. They say one worthless child is more dangerous than a wildfire.”
I laughed bitterly. Just when would parents realize there was no point in raising a child that way?
“Anyway, he succeeded, didn’t he? That son’s life is set on an easy path now.”
At Spring Parsley’s words, I answered coldly.
“That kind of short-sighted thinking is what ruins a family.”
Thoughts like that were the sort of foolishness that struck people who suddenly grabbed fistfuls of wealth and honor.
“The value of an achievement is proven through the process.”
Without a process, the so-called achievement was nothing but worthless trash.
“What are you talking about?”
“Even if you pay money to get your hands on a gladiator tournament trophy, it doesn’t make you the gladiator champion.”
Having a medal you bought with money didn’t make you a decorated knight, and getting your name onto a research paper through your family’s power and wealth didn’t make you intelligent.
“It doesn’t matter. The fact remains that he’s a co-author on those papers. In the end, that mayor’s brat is going to live comfortably.”
I nodded with a smile at Spring Parsley’s words.
“A son whose father is a puppet moving at the beck and call of Bennett City’s crime syndicate. Oh yes, I’m sure that life and that family will turn out splendidly.”
If anything, dark clouds had already settled over their future. In exchange for putting his child’s name on a paper, the mayor had gotten a ring in his nose and was led around by the criminals of Bennett City.
And the result?
“If I disguise myself as that mayor’s son and rob the Treasury Chief’s mansion, isn’t it obvious what will happen afterward?”
The mayor who had made the foolish decision to list his thirteen-year-old child as a co-author would face the annihilation of his house as the price.
“If the child is worthless anyway, you may as well abandon him.”
It was only natural for blood relatives who were no help to the family to be left behind.
That was one of the conditions I knew a noble house needed in order to thrive.
“Isn’t that a bit cruel?”
At Spring Parsley’s words, I answered.
“No, you make it sound as if I’m talking about murdering one’s own flesh and blood.”
You could give them all the affection and love you wished. After all, they were your children.
However, that didn’t mean you entrusted them with important matters of the family. Loving your child was one thing, and handling the critical affairs of the house was another.
“Is it normal to be unable to separate public matters from private feelings and, driven by the affection of blood ties, ruin the house that your ancestors protected through generations of sacrifice?”
I calmly looked over the maps and documents spread across the table and left a short remark.
“Even if someone says they can’t do it, I understand. It simply means that house’s worth ends there.”
Children without talent were left behind. Houses without the right to endure would perish.
The Featherwing family, too, had nearly met that end. They had no right to survive.
It was just that, by chance, I had managed to stay alive, narrowly avoiding total annihilation.
Perhaps, depending on how much effort I put in, Featherwing might one day make its name resound in the world once again.
Strength gathered in my hand as I examined the papers.
‘Which comes first the revival of the family, or the destruction of everything that brought Featherwing to ruin?’
The truth was, even I still didn’t know my own heart.
Revenge for a ruined life, or the restoration of a house standing at the brink of collapse.
If the time came when I had to choose between the two?
I still hadn’t decided which path I would take.
What if the Emperor, bound hand and foot before me, promised to restore Featherwing if I spared him?
Would I be able to suppress the rage I felt toward that man?
I thought about it for a moment, then shuddered slightly.
If I hadn’t been good at fighting, the first day I was sent to Carlson Labor Correctional Facility, the other inmates would have torn me open from behind.
“God damn it, to hell with the family sometimes I just want to kill them the moment I see them.”
I wanted to torture them in the cruelest way I could imagine, kill them, bring them back to life, and then kill them again.
“Huh?! What are you going on about all of a sudden?”
Spring Parsley, sitting next to me, flinched in shock at my murderous words.
If a monster like me started leaking killing intent while glaring at empty air and saying I’d kill someone, even an enraged hippo would calm down as though struck in the head with a hammer.
“It’s nothing. Just talking in my sleep.”
I unclenched my fist and looked at Spring Parsley.
“If the Treasury Chief is hosting a Winter Feast, most of the invited guests must be anti-Emperor.”
Normally, the Treasury Chief was appointed by the Emperor and would therefore be pro-Emperor unless something unusual happened. But the current Treasury Chief, Simid Kellogg, was anti-Emperor.
Skimming off national taxes was not something a pro-Emperor faction could attempt lightly. It was like a servant stealing his master’s money grounds for immediate dismissal.
“Kellogg’s mansion, huh.”
I had no memory of ever being invited there. I wasn’t the successor, after all. It had been my eldest brother, the heir, who concerned himself with networking among the other houses.
“I’ve already reserved your train ticket.”
Spring Parsley handed me an envelope.
“A first-class seat on the Kensington Express. You know, we could just as well take any random train.”
At my words, Spring Parsley spoke with a serious expression.
“It’s fine to get into disguise after arriving, but if we’re receiving support from the Rose Garden, minimizing the chance of failure is more important.”
Spring Parsley’s eyes held no trace of mischief. I, too, remembered very well the warning Cecilia had given me.
So long as I was receiving the Rose Garden’s support, failure wasn’t even a word I could allow to cross my lips.
“I do appreciate the cooperation. It must have been quite a burden.”
Feeling a sudden wave of gratitude toward Spring Parsley, who had drawn up all these plans, I offered a rather polite thanks.
Spring Parsley replied without delay.
“To climb into bigger waters, you have to seize dangerous moments and forge them into opportunities. I’m not someone who desires a steady life—I want a life that everyone admires. So you don’t have to feel sorry.”
What had troubled Spring Parsley wasn’t the risk of the Rose Garden. It was the fact that there hadn’t been time to rest before the next job came barreling in.
Dangers like the Rose Garden were hardly worth worrying over. After all, the flower of opportunity always tempted people from cliffs wrapped in bramble thorns.
“Hearing you put it that way is a relief.”
I took the ticket. In the bundle beside it were the identification documents and personal records I’d be using until the mansion heist was over.
“This is so well-made, I honestly can’t tell it from a real ID.”
I murmured in quiet amazement as I turned the identification over in my hand. Spring Parsley answered in a matter-of-fact tone.
“Of course. The materials used aren’t fakes they’re the genuine articles.”
“Ah…” I let out a small sound and examined the ID again. If there were ranks among forgeries, this was the very highest tier.
They had made it by using all the actual materials that went into Imperial identification cards.
It was like counterfeiting currency by using the same paper and inks the mint itself used to print real bills.
“If it’s like this, even if it’s illegal, there really isn’t a way to detect it.”
To spot the difference between a fake and a genuine, there had to be some difference. But the ID I was about to use had no difference at all.
If I got exposed at the mansion’s party, it wouldn’t be because of the documents, but entirely because of my own failure.
“And this is the blueprint of the mansion.”
Just how did they get their hands on this? The more I thought about it, the more my head hurt.
It hadn’t been that long since Cecilia had said, “I will support you.”
Yet every single document spread out over this table was full of mysteries where and how had they managed to obtain all this information?
“He sleeps naked and drinks a glass of tomato juice every morning instead of breakfast.”
“The soap he uses is Alleglance Lilac. He showers in cold water in the mornings and bathes in hot water at night.”
Of course, his favorite foods were also listed.
There was even information about the most recent woman he had slept with and how long they had spent making love.
Not even the servants or maids working in the mansion were exceptions to this kind of meticulous intelligence.
“Counting the forks in the mansion doesn’t even seem impressive compared to the rest.”
I glanced over the part of the documents listing the number of forks sorted by material and gave a wry smile.
“If you worked in the Rose Garden, I wonder just how far you’d be able to go.”
Spring Parsley looked almost entranced. From an architect’s perspective, that was an understandable reaction.
If you worked for the Rose Garden, what kind of support would you receive? And with that support, how far could you push yourself?
It was a powerful temptation. After all, there was no way Spring Parsley could have gathered all this on his own.
“Let’s focus on the job. Even if we happen to meet again later in the Rose Garden.”
At my words, Spring Parsley gave a small nod.
“Right.”
I would disguise myself as the son of a nearby city’s mayor and attend the Winter Feast hosted at the Treasury Chief’s mansion.
With all the documents and credentials prepared, no one would dare to suspect my identity.
“The Treasury Chief’s mansion has five floors, arranged in a □ shape with a large central garden.”
It was built so that the mansion enclosed an open-ceilinged garden.
This design allowed the highborn nobles to enjoy the garden safely, so it was quite popular among them.
The Featherwing family had never liked such architecture.
“If you’re afraid of assassins or raids, you should just grow stronger. Anyway, is there no basement or anything?”
When I asked, Spring Parsley replied.
“The basement mostly consists of the servants’ quarters, the kitchen, and storage rooms, but…”
“But?”
If Spring Parsley was pausing like that, it meant there was something.
“The blueprint the Rose Garden provided shows an area underground that isn’t in use.”
Spring Parsley unfolded several schematics one by one as he spoke.
“Since the mansion was built, there have been five major renovations…”
The blueprints laid out on this table reflected each of those changes in the mansion’s layout.
“Strangely, there’s one area they never touched. And its purpose is unknown.”
A small space of about three square meters remained on the second basement level. It was enclosed by walls on all sides, with no way to enter or exit.
“The problem is that if someone wanted to connect that space to the upper floors, it wouldn’t be impossible.”
“We can’t go around smashing walls in the middle of the party, can we?”
While the Winter Feast was underway, the place would be crawling with guests.
And of course, the mansion’s underground would be bustling with servants coming and going.
In that state, you couldn’t recklessly break down a basement wall.
“Among the invited guests are decorated knights and even a Knight Commander.”
I was fairly skilled with a blade myself, but I was nowhere near confident enough to smile and promise victory if those monsters came charging at me.
“This time, you’d better refrain from any displays of strength.”
If I tried to show off in the Treasury Chief’s mansion, the moment I did, the truly powerful people would come tearing me limb from limb.
“The Winter Feast lasts for three days and two nights. So there’s no harm in being cautious.”
Winters in the Valorn Empire were long and harsh.
That was why the Winter Feast, held to mark the moment when the season reached its peak and the warmth would soon return, was celebrated so grandly.
“If we want to keep to the schedule and plan, we’d better hurry.”
At my words, Spring Parsley nodded. The plan began the moment I boarded the Kensington Express.
“All preparations are complete. You can depart at any time.”
At Spring Parsley’s words, I gathered up the luggage that had been arranged and set off.