novelraw Chapter 78 : Departure
Chapter 78 : Departure
Chapter 78: Departure
Before the troops moved, provisions always came first.
For Levi, the very first thing he naturally needed to do was gather intelligence.
After some investigation, Levi finally discovered why Her Majesty the Queen cared so much about the Baskerville family.
The reason was not complicated—because the Baskerville family were descendants of one of the twelve Knights of the Round Table who had once followed Emperor Arthur.
No wonder.
In fact, the origin of the Knights of the Round Table was quite legendary.
When Emperor Arthur first rose, he wanted to unify the world.
Knowing he could not accomplish it alone, he sought out the twelve most famous heroes of that time, subdued them, and brought them under his command.
As for the process—well, it was more or less like an RPG.
Something like—a hero needed companions to defeat the demon king; the hero found the companions, the companions refused to join for various reasons, then the hero solved their troubles, and the companions were moved and joined the hero’s ranks.
That was basically the process.
Emperor Arthur and the twelve knights were no different.
In the end, he successfully gathered twelve heroes, conferred knighthood upon them, and began his great endeavor to unify the continent.
The ancestor of the Baskerville family was one of them.
Legend said he had been an abandoned infant left in the wilderness, raised by beasts, and became king who commanded the creatures of the forest.
When Emperor Arthur heard tales about him, he went to find him.
After a series of contests, the Baskerville ancestor admitted Arthur was stronger than himself, and thus submitted to him, becoming Arthur’s loyal knight.
After Emperor Arthur unified the continent and established the Macaron Empire, he granted the Delicat Region as the fiefdom of the Baskerville clan.
Incidentally, among Arthur’s twelve Knights of the Round Table, six families still held their fiefs within the Empire.
The other six knights’ fiefs were either now in other countries or had long since declined and vanished into history.
For the Empire, maintaining the survival of these six knightly families symbolized its inheritance of legitimacy from the Macaron Empire.
Should one of them perish, it could very well shake and endanger the legitimacy of royal authority.
No wonder the Queen had entrusted Levi with this matter.
After finishing his intelligence gathering, Levi drove his brand-new car and putt-putt-putt set off.
Irene had wanted to accompany him, but Levi considered such tasks dangerous.
Unlike Katie, Irene did not have powerful combat abilities, so in the end he left her at home.
Moreover, if Levi discovered anything there, Irene could investigate further in Mist City.
Thus, Levi departed alone, driving his brand-new steam car, putt-putt-putt down the road.
Though the windows were hand-cranked and the seats had no adjustment function, the appearance of Levi’s car was indeed eye-catching.
As he drove along, it attracted many looks.
In this era, steam cars still emphasized practicality; few cared about looks.
But Levi’s car was clearly designed for style over comfort.
Whether user experience was good or not, at least its fashion sense was maxed out.
Even in modern times, it would be the same—if you drove a Hongqi and someone else drove a three-wheeled camper van, no matter if the Hongqi cost a hundred times more, people’s eyes would first go to the camper van.
Why? Because it was rare.
As for the Hongqi? No matter how understated or luxurious, to outsiders it was just a black iron box with sharp corners—nothing particularly noteworthy, right?
Seeing others cast admiring, surprised, curious, even envious glances at his car, Levi felt quite proud.
Though he often encountered similar situations on the street, especially with girls, that never really mattered to him.
After all, that was simply because he was born with it.
He had done nothing to earn it, so it was hardly worth mentioning.
But this car was different.
No matter what, it had been designed and built according to his own drawings.
Receiving praise and recognition for it held real meaning.
Though Levi wanted very much to drive around all of Mist City, he restrained his excitement, left through the southern gate, and set off on the road to the Delicat Region.
“Putt-putt-putt, putt-putt-putt……”
In movies, supercars always leapt from zero to one hundred and twenty in a flash, but unfortunately Levi’s car, though it looked like a supercar, had none of a supercar’s speed.
Strictly speaking, it was basically an old utility car wrapped in a Ferrari’s shell.
Cool, yes.
Fast? …At best, one hundred kilometers per hour.
Of course, this wasn’t because steam cars couldn’t go faster—on the racetrack some reached two hundred kilometers per hour.
But Levi’s was for daily use, not racing.
Add to that the road conditions and the lack of traffic laws, and he worried that going too fast and flying too low might end with him blowing up like some unlucky soul who couldn’t turn the wheel in time.
“Putt-putt-putt, putt-putt-putt……………”
There were few cars and few people on the road.
Levi drove on swiftly, soon growing bored.
This era had no radio, naturally no broadcasts.
The only entertainment was a punched-card music player.
Levi had bought several music cards, but they were all classical pieces, making him drowsy.
Truly a little boring.
Holding the wheel, staring ahead, Levi’s mind emptied.
Out of sheer boredom, he recalled the newspaper reports he had read about the disappearance of Sir Baskerville.
According to the news, on his thirty-eighth birthday Sir Baskerville invited many notable and respected guests of Delicat to his manor.
Everyone knew of the Baskerville family’s situation; perhaps they attended partly out of curiosity, wanting to see with their own eyes what was going on.
The manor was overflowing with guests, while dozens of police officers were stationed to guard it, surrounding the place tightly.
The banquet lasted into the night.
Most guests left, but several of Sir Baskerville’s old friends remained, playing cards with him in the recreation room.
At dawn, Sir Baskerville went to the lavatory, escorted by two policemen, while the others waited at the card table.
But he never returned.
Half an hour later, a guest went to look for him.
They found two police officers dead in his study, but Sir Baskerville himself was gone.
They immediately called the guards stationed outside, but the latter claimed they had remained at their posts all night and seen nothing.
The reporter clearly did not believe them.
He suspected negligence, perhaps even that they had fallen asleep and failed to notice.
Since the police had been solely responsible for guarding the manor, it was understandable they might wish to shirk responsibility.
…The rest was not worth reading, just pointless venting of emotion…
“SCREEEEEEEECH—！”
Just then, Levi stomped on the brakes.
His “Phantom” (the name he had finally given his car—better than calling it Death Steed) let out a deep growl and screeched to a halt.
Not far ahead, a girl in a red cloak with a basket on her arm had fallen to the ground, staring in fear at the iron beast before her.
Levi stepped out, one hand on the gun at his waist, swiftly scanning the surroundings.
Highway bandits—such things existed not only in this world, but even twenty years ago in Levi’s old one.
One common trick was to pretend to need help, lure the driver out, then have accomplices rush in, kill the driver, steal the car and belongings.
It happened often.
But Levi used 【Soul Sight】 to sweep the area.
He saw no ambush nearby.
Hmm… Could it really be an accident?
“Apologies, miss.”
Levi approached, lifting his hat, nodding to the girl in the red cloak.
“Did I frighten you?”
“Ah……………”
Seeing Levi, the girl’s face flushed red.
She quickly lowered her head in embarrassment, then took Levi’s outstretched hand and stood up.
“Are you hurt?”
“N-no, nothing, I’m fine.
Sorry, it’s my fault… I shouldn’t have run out like that…”
“No, I shouldn’t have been distracted.”
In fact, the girl was right.
Levi had braked because she had suddenly darted out from the crossroads.
Helping her up, Levi studied her carefully.
She looked about sixteen or seventeen, with brown hair and a rather cute face.
She wore the long skirt common to peasant girls, with a red cloak over it.
From the calluses on her hands, she clearly often did farm work—a typical countryside maiden.
…………………Hmm?
Why did she seem familiar somehow?
“Tell me, miss, what are you doing out here alone?”
Levi glanced around, then asked.
Although the “highway” was open and clear, this was still the middle of nowhere.
For a young girl to be out here alone was extremely unusual for the era.
“I was on my way to the village ahead.
I’m really sorry just now…”
“If you don’t mind, why don’t I give you a lift?”
“Eh? Really?”
The girl was clearly surprised at his offer.
“Of course.
I’m going to Delicat anyway—it’s on the way.”
“Truly?”
Hearing Levi’s reply, she broke into a joyful smile.
“That’s wonderful! The village I’m going to is in the mountains near Delicat.
Could I trouble you to take me there?”
“Of course.”
Levi said as he opened the car door, gesturing invitingly.
The girl hesitated, glanced at the seat, then carefully sat inside.
Levi returned to the car, and they set off again.
Inside, the girl seemed very curious about the vehicle.
Holding her basket, she kept looking around with wide eyes, as if everything were fascinating.
“Wow… sir, is this a steam car?”
“That’s right.
Have you seen one before?”
“I’ve seen a few on the roadside, but they didn’t look like yours…”
“Heh, this is the newest model, naturally different from the old ones.”
Levi chuckled.
Indeed, having someone to talk to on the road was far more interesting.
Driving alone was far too boring.
“Do you often go there?”
“Sometimes. But it’s so far—if not for you, sir, I’d probably arrive only by nightfall.”
“That’s dangerous. By the way, why are you going to that village?”
“Ah, I’m visiting my grandmother.”
The girl spoke happily.
“My grandmother lives there. I’d like to live with her too, but father and mother must work at the lumberyard here, so I can only visit when I have time, bringing food and wine. She treats me so well—this red cloak was sewn by her own hands!”
“Yes, that’s truly wonderful……………Hmm?”
As Levi listened, he suddenly felt something was not quite right.
This… why did it all sound so familiar?