novelraw Chapter 33 : Chapter 33
Chapter 33 : Chapter 33
Chapter 33: Grave Robbing
The sunny land was dimly submerged in darkness.
Under the pale moonlight, tombstones stood lined up in rows.
I, Ered, strode deep into the National Cemetery.
On the other hand, hesitation was felt in the footsteps of Lensis, who followed behind.
“I really don't know if this is okay.”
Lensis let out a low sigh with an uneasy expression.
I had lost count of how many sighs he had let out already.
“How long are you going to grumble?”
“To dig up another's grave is an act that would provoke the wrath of both heaven and man. My noble dignity is in tatters.”
“Oh, I'm sure it is. If you're really that reluctant, I, this lowly one, will take charge of the 'wrath-provoking' work, so you, Young Master, just follow quietly.”
I can understand why Lensis is so anxious.
He is a noble who values honor.
The act of digging up someone else's grave must have been something he never even imagined doing.
‘I’m not particularly fond of it either.’
But there was no other way.
Since no one would tell us the truth, we had to dig it up ourselves.
The National Cemetery late at night was silent.
Occasionally, the lantern of a patrolling gravedigger floated through the darkness, moving sluggishly.
“It's here.”
With that one word from Lensis, I stopped immediately.
It was an impressive epitaph.
It was the name of the dead Royal Guard member.
The grave of one who met an honorable death.
Perhaps because of that, it was full of commemorative bouquets.
There was even a medal displayed on one side of the grave.
The Iron Lion Medal of Military Merit.
It was a distinction the Royal Guard member had earned in exchange for his death.
I pulled out the shovel I had prepared.
This is strictly a crime.
If caught midway, we would be in considerable trouble.
‘It won’t end with a simple disciplinary action.’
Because the owner of this grave is a hero who died gallantly while protecting the 8th Prince.
I bowed my head before Alter's tombstone, showing a minimum of respect.
Thwack.
Immediately after, I dug into the ground with the shovel without hesitation.
“...Yes. This is for the sake of Prince Marcus.”
Lensis kept muttering to himself as if brainwashing himself.
Soon, he reluctantly picked up a shovel as well.
Thud.
Thud.
We devoted ourselves silently to digging up the grave.
In the silence, only the sound of turning earth echoed.
Clang.
Something hard caught the tip of my shovel.
When I swept away the surrounding soil with my hand, the sleeping coffin slowly revealed itself.
“Are you ready?”
“Yes.”
At my question, Lensis nodded heavily.
Creeeeak.
We pried open the coffin lid.
“...What.”
I let out a hollow sound.
I had no choice but to doubt my own eyes.
‘...It’s not here.’
Alter’s body, which should naturally be there, was nowhere to be seen.
The inside of the coffin was empty.
“Did they even predict this far? It’s as if we’re dancing in the palm of their hands.”
Irritation flashed across Lensis's face.
“It’s not that there’s no gain at all. The fact that they made off with Alter's body is proof that there's a clue on the corpse.”
I, Ered, spoke with conviction.
Though the problem was that we couldn't secure the actual important corpse.
Thud.
I quietly closed the coffin lid.
“The time the body was taken wouldn't be very long ago. At least until the funeral was finished, the body would have existed in the coffin.”
Lensis spoke in a certain tone.
“On what basis?”
“It was the Royal Guard who carried Alter coffin.”
The Royal Guard not only protected the safety of the Imperial Palace but also presided over major events or ceremonies held within it.
Especially since Alter was a member of the same Royal Guard.
“If the coffin had been empty before then, the Royal Guard would have sensed something wrong. Because the weight would be different.”
Lensis asserted.
“That makes sense. But the story changes if the Royal Guard members who carried the coffin were also in league with the mastermind. They would have pretended not to know even if they realized the coffin was empty.”
“...What do you take the Royal Guard for?”
Lensis's eyebrows twitched.
“Can you state for certain that there isn't a single person within the Royal Guard who has colluded with the mastermind?”
“That is, naturally....”
Lensis's voice gradually lost its certainty.
“...Dammit.”
In the end, a short curse escaped his lips.
For now, prioritizing the restoration of the dug-up grave was first.
Eventually, we picked up the shovels again.
We began to fill back the ground we had dug.
To think we shoveled in the middle of the night and gained nothing.
It was literally a 'futile effort.'
“…….”
Lensis was pacing around the tombstone.
He looked lost in thought.
“Is there someone else designated to do the shoveling?”
Even though I gave him a look, he remained silent.
“What are you staring at so intently?”
Only after I approached him did I realize his gaze was fixed on one specific spot.
“Look at this. These are our footprints.”
Lensis pointed to the ground with his finger.
The distinct, rugged tread marks unique to military boots were clearly imprinted.
Since the boots themselves are heavy, the footprints were deep and vivid.
“So what about it?”
“And these would be the traces of the mourners who participated in the funeral.”
Alter's funeral was yesterday morning.
And now it is the dawn of the second day.
A point where one day has elapsed.
Perhaps because of that, the mourners' footprints were relatively faint.
“Then, who is the owner of these footprints?”
Lensis pointed to one spot.
Vivid footprints.
The edges of the footprints were distinct, and the moisture had not yet dried.
‘The vividness is similar to our footprints.’
It meant they were footprints left very recently.
“Probably the gravedigger.”
I, Ered, replied dismissively.
It’s not strange for a gravedigger to walk around the cemetery.
However, Lensis's expression remained serious.
“The gravedigger’s footprints are separate.”
He pointed to footprints left on the narrow path between the tombstones.
‘Certainly, that is true.’
Since entering the National Cemetery, I had been constantly watching the gravedigger's movements.
Because we couldn't be caught in our grave-robbing act.
Considering the gravedigger's movement path, it wasn't hard to deduce which footprints were his.
‘Footprints left around the same time as ours. These footprints are concentrated around Alter's tombstone. It means they had business here.’
I couldn't help but slowly admit the abnormality.
Until Lensis pointed it out, I hadn't noticed the third party's footprints.
My attention had been buried in the corpse inside the coffin.
‘Two, no, three people.’
I guessed through the number of footprints.
The multiple recent footprints.
And Alter’s missing body.
“The ones who moved the body must be these guys.”
A strong conviction took hold.
“It might already be too late.”
Lensis expressed his concern.
It would have been good if we had sensed the anomaly as soon as we arrived at the tombstone.
We wasted time digging up the grave.
“Are you planning to give up then?”
“No way.”
The two of us immediately set out to track the footprints.
The traces led toward the back gate of the National Cemetery.
Up to that point, it was fine.
But once we left the National Cemetery—covered in grass and soil—and stepped onto a hard stone path, the footprints mixed with soil and moisture gradually faded.
“...Is this the end.”
Lensis, who was walking ahead, stopped.
The footprints we were tracking had completely vanished.
Coincidentally, it was in front of an intersection.
I checked the time.
It was well past midnight.
‘The gates were sealed a long time ago. It's impossible to leave Neustadt without being caught.’
In other words, there is a high probability they are disposing of Alter's body inside Neustadt.
‘Where would they go.’
I fell into thought.
It would have to be a place without people.
If it also had facilities easy for disposing of a body, it would be the icing on the cake.
‘Did they sink it in the sea?’
That would have been difficult.
The trading port bordering the sea is a military-dense area.
It's not easy to dispose of a body while breaking through that surveillance network.
‘The way to completely destroy a body is, after all, burning it.’
Of course, that isn't easy either. Because fire at the level of a campfire wouldn't even come close.
It would take a long time, too.
It means high-temperature fire is required.
‘Few people. High-heat fire.’
I, Ered, thought of a place that satisfied both conditions.
Conveniently, the distance wasn't far from here.
“Follow me. I have a place in mind.”
I beckoned to Lensis and hurried my steps.
***
‘It’s been a while.’
Sector 28.
The place where I had a battle with Spark.
As expected, it’s a desolate place.
Not a soul could be seen.
It’s a perfect place to conceal something or commit a crime.
Once, this place was a factory complex.
The types of factories were also diverse.
Steel mills, foundries, glass factories, etc....
What they have in common is the existence of a furnace.
Something that can melt anything in an instant with high-temperature heat.
Step.
Step.
The two of us occupied high ground by stepping on the roofs of the factories in succession.
Countless abandoned factories unfolded like a panorama.
‘...There are a hell of a lot of them.’
The two of us activated our magic circuits.
To expand our senses as much as possible.
“This way.”
Soon, Lensis left a brief word and moved ahead.
Clatter.
A bothersome noise caught my ear.
It was quite a distance away.
Lensis must have sensed this sound earlier.
‘I’m one step behind him again.’
I, Ered, clicked my tongue and followed Lensis.
I concentrated on my sense of smell.
A harsh, acrid smell of burning.
A scent that felt like a mix of soil and metal.
It's the smell of burning bone char.
Bone char is the main fuel for furnaces.
‘A furnace being operated in an abandoned factory complex that stopped operating a long time ago? And in the middle of the night?’
Anyone could see this is not a normal phenomenon.
We moved quickly following the smell.
‘This is it.’
I looked up at the chimney.
Black smoke was rising.
We slowly entered the factory.
‘Is it a refinery?’
Various dusty tools were left abandoned.
“...Here... move....”
The sound of voices murmuring caught my ear.
The two of us exchanged glances.
There were at least two opponents.
The sound led to the basement stairs.
“It’s taking a hell of a long time.”
“This isn't enough. We need more bone char.”
Two men in black clothes were bickering over a furnace.
Sacks containing bone char were scattered around them.
While watching that scene, I, Ered, captured a familiar smell.
A smell I had smelled enough to be sick of on the battlefield.
‘It’s the smell of a corpse.’
Naturally, my gaze was fixed on one spot.
A bag sitting alone in a corner.
It was a body bag.
A size appropriate for one person to fit inside.
“Will this be enough fuel? Let's finish it quickly.”
“Wait. The temperature is still insufficient.”
“Damn it. How long do we have to wait?”
“Anyway, we can't leave until we completely incinerate that thing.”
One of the men pointed to the body bag with his hand and soothed his companion.
“...I guess. It’s not like they’re giving us a huge sum of money for nothing.”
They are merely hirelings.
I could deduce that much just from the content of the conversation.
(Torturing them won't get us much information.)
In the silence, I exchanged opinions with Lensis using only hand signals.
(We must not contact them carelessly.)
If we did, it would be like advertising to the mastermind behind Unnormal that there are others besides Marcus who are tracking them.
Flick.
Flick.
Meanwhile, the men lit their cigarettes one by one.
“Phew.”
They exhaled a long breath mixed with smoke and headed toward a nearby window.
It was the opposite direction from us.
If we couldn't touch them carelessly and couldn't be discovered....
(The opportunity to check the body bag is only now.)
When I quickly sent a hand signal, Lensis nodded and completely killed his presence.
Without anyone needing to go first, we approached the body bag.
Slowly.
I unzipped the body bag.
The men were facing away, smoking and staring blankly out the window.
“…….”
I faced a corpse draped in a white shroud.
I pried open the closed eyes of the corpse with my fingers.
Red pupils.
It was undoubtedly a Prominence.
Lensis looked at me and nodded wordlessly.
It must mean the identity of the corpse is indeed Alter.
‘It’s strange. He must have had a fierce battle with an assassin until he died.’
Despite that, not a single trace of resistance could be found on Alter's body.
There should have been at least minor wounds.
‘Does this mean Alter was taken down unilaterally? Just what kind of guy is he?’
For me, I couldn't help but grow increasingly curious about the assassin's identity.
I carefully removed the shroud.
The moment I checked his naked body.
‘...What is this?’
Confusion rushed in.
Alter’s chest was hollowed out.
A hole the size of a human head.
While he was alive, a Red Magic Stone would have occupied that spot.
It was gruesome.
As if he had been caught in an explosion.
As if to prove this, the inside of the chest was charred black.
‘This is not the result of force applied from the outside.’
Rather, the opposite.
It was an explosion that occurred from within.
It meant an assassin didn't intervene in the Royal Guard member's death.
‘Does this make sense?’
It's an impossible thing.
Unless an explosive device existed inside the body.
‘Are you saying Alter self-destructed? With an assassin who wanted to harm Marcus right in front of him?’
It's an absurd deduction.
But there's no other way to explain this phenomenon.
I, Ered, examined the body closely.
There must be something I missed.
Tap.
Tap.
At that time, Lensis touched my shoulder.
When I followed the direction Lensis pointed with my eyes, I discovered something subtly sparkling around the corpse's chest.
A red fragment.
It was undoubtedly a remnant of a Red Magic Stone.
‘Strange.’
The hardness of a Red Magic Stone surpasses even diamond.
To a Prominence, the source of power is the Red Magic Stone.
It would be problematic if such a Red Magic Stone were easily destroyed.
Nevertheless, the Red Magic Stone of the corpse appeared to be completely shattered into pieces.
‘Internal explosion. Shattered Red Magic Stone.’
Combining the two clues leads to only one conclusion.
‘The cause of death for the Royal Guard member is an internal explosion of the Red Magic Stone.’
My heart sank.
I hadn't even heard of a Red Magic Stone exploding.
‘They put a self-destruction function in the Red Magic Stone as a last resort? To take even one more enemy to the afterlife with them?’
If that were the purpose, they should have given prior notice to the prospective Prominences.
At the very least, it would be normal to have told them how to activate the self-destruction function.
If Alter himself didn't self-destruct, then who on earth exploded the Red Magic Stone?
‘...The Red Magic Stone has an explosion function. And the majority of Prominences do not know that fact.’
The two of us stared at each other in silence.
The eyes of Lensis, who was always calm, were shaking visibly.