Chapter 18

The ceremonial hall was soon swarming with Royal Guards and Holy Knights, descending into utter chaos.

We were all moved to the Grand Hall.

The tables had been cleared away and chairs were lined up haphazardly, transforming the space in an instant into a combination of a waiting room and an interrogation chamber for the knights.

“What is the status?”

Ice asked curtly amidst the noisy hall where someone was constantly shouting.

“Thinking simply, someone tossed in an explosive and used the opening to infiltrate the hall and kidnap Princess Victie,” Leo answered.

“But based on the reports from the security detail, it should be impossible to bypass the outer perimeter and raid this hall.”

“I hold the same view,” Archbishop Mintz agreed. He looked as though he had aged significantly, clearly shaken by the incident. “The Holy Knight units I requested are patrolling the perimeter of this hall in a complete circle. On top of that, we have the Royal Guard. Yes, security was perfect. So how could this…”

Mintz’s shoulders slumped as he spoke, sounding as if he were exhaling his very soul.

“And yet, something did explode, and Victie is gone. No matter how great the mage, it’s impossible to blast a hole that large in that wall with Explosion Magic alone. Right, Professor?”

Prompted by Leo, Merlin asserted:

“I will guarantee that on my honor as a Court Mage. Even a god-like mage could not destroy that stone wall with magic alone.”

“R-Raika, don’t you know anything? You were right there, near Victie!”

A frantic Uraenus questioned Raika imploringly, but she only looked down.

“I am deeply sorry.”

Uraenus looked around at everyone’s faces seeking help, but upon seeing that no one spoke up, his shoulders dropped in defeat.

“Jin, do you know nothing either?” Mintz asked wearily.

“I apologize, but… nothing,” the Paladin shook his head, his face still devoid of color.

Just then, several knights hurried toward Ice, their armor clanking.

“I see. Understood. Continue the search.”

Ice replied with a sigh, and the knights bowed before running off.

“They’ve searched the forest and the interior of this hall thoroughly, but Victie is nowhere to be found.”

At Ice’s words, everyone’s gazes locked.

Suspicion filled the air. Everyone was doubting one another.

“I can only think there was someone on the inside helping them. I knew we shouldn’t have invited such suspicious people to a place like this.”

Bob said this while glaring pointedly at Kirio and me.

Kirio flinched.

“Stop that,” Merlin interrupted with rare irritation. “Don’t be ridiculous at a time like this. Even if there were an inside collaborator, how would they bypass the security net, raid the place with explosives, and where would they even take Victie?”

Silence fell over our group.

As Merlin said, it was completely unclear what had happened. But that uncertainty was exactly what was breeding the paranoia.

Looking at the grandfather clock in the Grand Hall, it was already nearing 4:00 PM.

“It seems—unbelievable as it is—we must consider that intruders somehow bypassed the forest security, snatched Victie, slipped back through the woods, and are far away by now,” Ice said, her brow furrowing with exhaustion.

“N-no…” Uraenus’s face twisted as if he were about to cry.

“But is such a thing even possible?” Mintz shook his head. “To break through that security, kidnap her in a smoke screen without being noticed by two skilled guards, and then break through the security again?”

“But if she isn’t anywhere in the vicinity…” Raika said tentatively, causing Mintz to groan.

Then, a heavy silence.

“Um…”

The one who broke the silence was a characteristically easygoing voice.

Arle spoke in her gentle, slow-paced tone.

“I wonder, has anyone checked the Chapel?”

The atmosphere in the room turned strange at those words.

“Hm, I wonder…” Ice pressed a finger to her forehead as if trying to remember.

“Not yet. Neither Raika nor I have handed over the keys.”

“Oh, right, that’s true,” Raika agreed with Jin.

“Then the Chapel hasn’t been opened, so it’s irrelevant, isn’t it?” Bob muttered.

“Regardless, we should check it just in case,” Merlin suggested, and it was decided they would investigate the Chapel.

“Jin, Raika. The keys.”

At Ice’s call, Raika immediately produced her key.

“Here it is.”

However, for some reason, Jin did not produce his.

He stood there with his hand thrust into his breast pocket, his mouth hanging open.

“What is it, Jin?” Mintz asked suspiciously.

“It’s gone,” Jin said, his eyes wide with disbelief.

I stopped thinking for a moment, unable to process the meaning of those words. It wasn’t just me; everyone in the room froze.

“What do you mean, ‘it’s gone’?”

Ice was the first to recover and ask the question.

“It’s gone. I had it tucked away safely,” Jin muttered, still in a state of dazed shock.

“St-stolen!” Uraenus jumped. “The culprit must have stolen it when they snatched Victie! That means Victie is in the chapel! We have to go, now!”

“Calm down, Uraenus,” Ice soothed her husband. “Stealing only Jin’s key wouldn’t open the chapel doors. Besides, what would they gain by taking Victie into the chapel?”

“Queen Ice. Regardless, the chapel must be investigated,” Leo pointed out calmly.

He was right. Regardless of the logic, a search was necessary.

“But the door won’t open without the keys. It’s a custom piece. Do you have any ideas, Merlin?” Ice turned her gaze toward the mage.

“Blowing up the outer walls with explosives would be dangerous if the Princess is indeed inside. I suspect our only option is to force the door open.”

“Force a mythril door?” Mintz snapped irritably.

“We set explosives near the lock and use magic to direct the blast inward against the door. If we repeat that, we should be able to pry it open,” Jin proposed, having regained some composure despite his lingering pallor.

“You’re quite well-versed in this,” Arle noted, impressed.

“I’ve used that method often to force open locked treasure chests,” Jin replied shortly.

It was decided; they would proceed with that plan.

Ice ordered the nearby knights to arrange the explosives. The task of triggering the magical blast was entrusted to the top-tier mage of the kingdom—Merlin.

“Is the information lockdown holding?” Archbishop Mintz groaned as they waited for the preparations.

“It is, but don’t expect too much. We’ve given most of the knights only the bare minimum, but given the circumstances…” Ice trailed off, and Mintz buried his face in his hands.

The fact that Princess Victie had vanished was something Mintz, as the Church official in charge, feared down to his marrow. The life seemed to drain out of him instantly.

“Hey,” Kirio whispered, clutching my sleeve. “I have a really bad feeling about this.”

“Me too.”

Finally, the explosives arrived.

4:40 PM.

Merlin left the Grand Hall surrounded by knights.

The sounds of intermittent explosions echoed through the air.

And then, 5:00 PM.

The screams of several people rang out.

“What happened!?”

At the sound of the horrific shrieking, the knights stationed in the Grand Hall scrambled to their feet. Ice shouted as well.

“K-King Uraenus! Queen Ice!”

A knight came sprinting in, yelling something that was barely coherent.

In the chaotic hall, Uraenus could no longer contain himself and bolted out.

After that, it was pure madness.

Everyone was running and shouting.

Following the King, all the knights in the hall rushed out; Ice and Mintz followed as if in a feverish trance. Raika and Jin were hot on their heels. Seeing nearly everyone depart, I found myself leaving the hall and sprinting toward the chapel as well.

What happened? What am I doing?

The chapel doors were wide open. A large crowd of knights was gathered in front.
Our group from the Grand Hall collided with them, creating a scene of total disorder.

“Whoa!”

I pushed my way through the vortex of people.

Before I knew it, I had stepped inside the chapel.

“AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!”

A scream. From deep within the chapel. It was King Uraenus.

Unconsciously, I moved toward the sound.

And then.

“Unbelievable.”

Merlin was there too. The old mage’s voice was uncharacteristically unstable, unable to hide his agitation.

The source of the scream, King Uraenus, was slumped on the floor as if his legs had given out. Beside him, Ice was trembling violently.

Yes—the two parents of the victim stood there, eyes wide and speechless.

“This is…”

Leo—the brilliant young genius, the man who was supposed to be perfect in my eyes—was covering his mouth as if to endure the shock.

The usually arrogant Jin and even Yasha, who hadn’t lost her composure until now, were ghastly and stunned.

Me, my companions, students, teachers, outsiders—everyone rejected the scene before us as impossible.

We stood frozen in that room, surrounding the corpse of a girl.

No one could accept this development, this sight, as reality.

But among them all, I was the one who found the scene most unbelievable.

Because… this was an impossible crime. No one else had realized it yet, but this was exactly like the impossible crimes that appear in mystery novels.

In this world of swords and magic… an impossible crime?

An incident that shouldn’t have been possible.

No, that’s not right.

I had been moving all along with the thought that it was possible.

It had simply happened.

At the worst possible timing.

The interior of the room, which should have been sacred and pure white, was stained with blood. The girl’s corpse had no head.

However, the white cloth wrapped around her body—now soaked in blood and shredded to pieces—and the overall situation made it easy to imagine who she was.

Princess Victie was dead. Beheaded, inside the chapel.

No one spoke; no one moved. The knights inside the chapel were dazed. They couldn’t believe what they were seeing, or perhaps they couldn’t even comprehend the meaning of it.

I felt the same.

“…Seal this chapel. No one is to speak of this to anyone outside this room. I will kill anyone who leaks this.”

The silence, which felt like it might last forever, was finally broken.

With her lips turned purple and her body trembling, Ice stood her ground and addressed the knights.

Her voice was hoarse, but her words brought us back to our senses, if only slightly.

“And then,” Ice continued, covering her mouth as if to suppress a surge of nausea. “Send a fast horse to call for a detective. Call ‘Silent Geralt’.”