238 – The Earl’s Identity
It was hard to accept the unexpected favor from the queen.
“Help? What are you talking about specifically?”
“The Count of Monte Cristo is not only strong in his family, but also in his individual strength. If he’s really the ringleader of the rebellion, he’ll be hard to deal with alone. I will send reinforcements, so move together.”
I roughly understood what he meant. My answer was, of course, a polite refusal.
“That’s not a good idea. If the count is truly a great nobleman with such great influence, the royal family’s reckless action could cause an irreversible catastrophe.”
The queen frowned slightly as if she didn’t like my answer.
“Does that mean we should just sit still after we get information about the mutineers? Sucking your fingers until you move first and solve everything?”
“There is no clear evidence.”
“I know you are on your way out after hearing the testimony from below.”
“That’s right. But who would believe me when I say I’m from a foreign country and I’m just a student? Even if the queen believes it, others will tilt their heads.”
As she continued talking, her expression hardened.
“If Jim believes, that’s it.”
“Maybe not now. Isn’t the fact that the nobles joined the rebellion itself is proof that the royal authority is shaking? At times like this, we shouldn’t act rashly.”
If you finish talking like this, she will only be arguing, so she immediately followed up with an explanation.
“I don’t mean to separate from the Queen. I’ll head to the mansion first to find Sharon and gather evidence, and the queen will sort it out when there’s clear evidence.”
She seems to have a lot to say, but the Queen finally let out her long sigh and looked at me with her confused eyes.
“Alternatively… You don’t seem like an ordinary boy. Be honest. Who are you?”
I brushed past her queen and answered nonchalantly.
“I am just an ordinary academy student.”
***
The count’s mansion was not far from the palace.
It’s not long before dawn. I took a step while staring at the sky slowly beginning to take on the blue light of the cold dawn.
Even if it should be said, the front gate of the mansion was heavily guarded.
Of course, I didn’t head for the front door, showing myself proudly. In the current situation, doing so is not brave, but stupid and foolish.
Why fight the guards when there is a much easier, faster and safer way to break through?
I am Raven the Phantom Thief. It was close to impossible for even the strongest guards to notice my presence and block my infiltration.
You’re moving not to steal something, but to get it back.
Looking back on the current situation, I felt irony in the composition opposite to the usual.
To be honest, I was a little scared. Judging from the flow so far, the opponent must be an ordinary person
Because it wasn’t the same.
I was concerned about the fact that he cast a strong utterance prohibition spell on his comrades who were imprisoned in the dungeon, but more than that, the vision he showed me at the inn was the root cause that couldn’t be ignored.
If the view of burning Paris is magic that the Count cast, then he might be more skilled than I am, at least when it comes to mind magic.
Don’t get confused. The priority target is Sharon, not the Count of Monte Cristo. Even if the count is not here, if Sharon is trapped, it may be beneficial for her to save her and get out of there.
If this is the Resistance’s stronghold, as I predicted, then Sharon must be trapped here somewhere.
And there is a high probability that the unidentified wizard who imitated Juliet is also nearby.
It’s okay. Because you already have insurance. If you are not careful, you will be able to solve it without any major problems.
The inside of the mansion was quite spacious. This level is comparable to that of the Duke of Grace in London.
But the difference was just as clear. If the Grace family’s mansion had an unostentatious restraint, as if in contrast to its long history, this place was overflowing with the nobility that only nobles possess.
That’s why I couldn’t understand it even more. Why did the count, whose pride as an aristocrat was so great that he could feel it just by looking around the mansion, joined the revolution? If the caste system was abolished and everyone was equal, the one who would be most disadvantaged would be the Count of Monte Cristo, right?
I suddenly felt that I was missing something. It’s not that I don’t know at all, but maybe I forgot about it too naturally.
But even after thinking about it, no answer came to my mind right away. Right now, the priority is to save Sharon. My reasoning is enough to be with Sharon after escaping this dangerous mansion.
I put my thoughts behind me and resumed exploring the mansion.
There was not much time left. Apparently the fantasy Juliet said she must find Sharon before dawn. The sun was already revealing her face over her horizon. The warmer the sunlight coming through the window, the more anxious my heart became.
‘Where are you…!?’
The space is much larger than expected. Even inside the mansion, there were guards stationed all over the place, so it took time to get away from them.
I was the first to go downstairs just in case it was underground, but after I was completely fooled, I realized that I had no choice but to search the entire mansion like a tooth.
After going up one floor like that, when they finally reached the office on the top floor of the mansion.
Inside, Sharon was found restrained, tied to her chair.
“Sharon!”
As soon as I saw the faint-hearted girl, I hurriedly ran and shouted her name, but soon a hindrance appeared to stop my movement.
“Don’t run around in a fair way. Bantling.”
A man in a suit leisurely sipping wine with his back turned to the window.
From noble mtl dot com
Instinctively, I noticed that he was the Count of Monte Cristo, the main culprit.
He tensed his body to the fullest and did not take his eyes off the opponent. He continued dizzyingly calculating how to increase the odds of winning even a little in a battle that was about to unfold.
But the other person didn’t even give me a glance, as if he wasn’t interested in such a trivial game, he was just staring out the window.
That kind of attitude rather heightens the awareness towards the other person, so I threw a question at him without even a bit of vigilance.
“Why did you kidnap Sharon?”
“Because that is the key.”
A key? I naturally frowned at the symbolic metaphor that was ambiguous to cut and interpret.
“Why did you show me a fantasy?”
“Because that’s the script.”
The key followed by the screenplay. Even if you ask something else, the same answer will come out anyway.
I didn’t feel the need to continue the dialogue with him anymore, so I started a full-fledged battle posture.
But this time, the other party asked me a question first.
“How stupid you are. Are you still not aware of it?”
“…If you’re that frustrated, why don’t you talk to them so they can understand?”
After the Count quenched his thirst with wine, he began to answer my question.
“Don’t you think it’s strange? Do you believe that the series of events you have been through lately are all coincidences?”
I couldn’t answer right away. In fact, I was stabbed right in the middle.
Ever since the school trip started. No, maybe even before that, every day was too spectacular.
All I wanted was to live a leisurely life as a phantom thief. When I came to my senses, at some point, unmanageable events hit me every day.
“Doesn’t it feel strange why the head of the resistance, who dreams of a Frankish revolution, kidnapped a Britannia girl?”
It was a question I had been thinking about from the beginning. No matter how much I think about it, there is no reason for the opponent to kidnap Sharon. Even openly terrorizing the dorm, earning the academy’s blatant disapproval.
“Doesn’t it linger around in your head that you seem to know the answer, but you keep missing something?”
What irritated me most was the uncanny intuition that I had already found the answers to all these riddles.
“You don’t seem to have realized it yet, so let me tell you the answer.”
What the hell is the identity of the other person, so they guess everything as if they were looking into my head?
At some point, I stood alone, forgetting even the purpose of saving Sharon. The flow in the room was already leaning towards the count.
“A person who sympathizes with the revolution even though it is clear that the current system should be maintained. Haven’t you met me before?”
It was only after hearing those words that I realized the identity of the memories I had forgotten.
I realized why I felt uncomfortable when I saw this mansion.
Because I thought the same thing before.
Those who called for a revolution in Britannia, not in the Franks.
A group of phantom thief followers before Yulia became the new leader.
A strange sight found while chasing after Drake.
···Lappano. Thinking over the name brought back all the memories.
Finally, the face of the count who looked away from the window and looked back at me came closer.
“Looks like you remembered it now. I still vividly remember the back of him running away like a mouse at that time.”
An unidentified strong man encountered in the garden while spying on Lappano’s mansion.
A third mysterious entity that is neither a Drakan nor an enforcer.
The past and the present interlock.