NOVEL NEXT WORLD Chapter 21
Chapter 21 “So, what is it?”Katana asked curiously as she finished the story.“No one knows yet, which is why there is so little information. What you need to do is find information about the ability.”Katana nodded, despite her confusion. She seemed to realize that I wasn’t lying. That she trusted me.“Katana, you use magic to get information, right?”“Yes. It allows me to quickly sift through any books, records, and even rumors passed from mouth to mouth.”“That’s right. What I want to know is especially rumors, things that others would dismiss as mere gossip.”“That’s what you need?”Katana furrowed her brow in confusion.“Most of our clients only wanted information from a reliable source.”“That’s usually true, but the information I’m looking for is different.”“Hmm… I can do that.”“Really?”I thought that it would definitely be possible with Katana’s ability.“It’s too vague. What exactly are you looking for?”“That….”That was the problem: not only could I not tell Katana about the Rampage, the Guide, or the Awakening, but it wouldn’t do any good if I did.It was a world where the term ‘guide’ wasn’t even defined in the first place, I said, pondering.“There is a high possibility that it was perceived as a disease rather than an ability. It’s even better if you find examples of seizures occurring once a month or that the person has calmed down or has gotten better.”“Seizure…”“It felt like they’re possessed by the demon, or something like that.”Katana was startled at the sound of a demon. She’d been accused of the same thing back in the magic tower. I patted her shoulder comfortingly and added.“People like to give scary names to things they don’t understand with their common sense.”“… I see. Then I will do it now.”“Right Now?”“Usually, I can handle all requests in about ten minutes. They usually ask me to find someone or investigate an affair or something.”With such great magic, you can look into the background…“Of course, in this case, finding it is vague, so it will take a little longer.”“How long does it take?”“Hmm… Thirty minutes?”It was indeed a great ability.Katana immediately used magic. But she sat still, closed her eyes and didn’t move, as if she was just standing still in my eyes.I sat beside her, equally still, and waited.And when the promised thirty minutes had passed, Katana opened her eyes.“What did you find out?”I asked impatiently, and Katana nodded.“I did find a few. I don’t know if that’s what you want.”My heart was pounding. After all, Katana was right.“What?”“There are a few things that have been passed down as legends and fairy tales, but when you trace them back to their roots, there’s only one. A long time ago, there was a person who had seizures once a month.”‘That really happened!’“So?”When asked urgently, Katana continued.“I think everyone just shrugged it off. There was a plague going around at the time, and sick people were very common. But the reason he became famous was because….”I swallowed dry saliva. Intuitively, I could sense that Katana had found an important clue.“It was because the woman who stopped having seizures one day looked different.”“Different?”“Yeah, that’s…” ***** I gathered all the maids of the Crown Prince’s palace. There were four people in total except me.“What is going on?”Most of them maintained a sloppy attitude.I was the youngest, the most inexperienced handmaiden. They seemed unhappy that I had scored so high in the crown prince’s exams and had become his exclusive handmaiden.Gathering everyone together on such a topic, the prying eyes were not unwelcome.“Actually… there’s something we need to talk about in private.”“What is it? Is it important?”Mamid asked sharply. her position as handmaiden technically not a position to be called to me, so she looked sharper.‘What if Mamid was Caesar’s guide?’Mamid was a veteran maid, almost twenty years older than Caesar.‘Hm….’Of course, being a guide doesn’t necessarily mean being in a sexual relationship…‘Is it because the male and female characters like each other in the novel?’I felt like the guide and the awakened must be in love. In the beginning, the act of guiding was accompanied by skinship.“Surely you didn’t call someone who’s busy with something unimportant.”When I didn’t answer, Devit, the violet doll chimed in. She had seemed unhappy at first to be relegated to a secondary role, but lately she had become Mamid’s loyal assistant. She seemed to realize that clinging to her was a better way to survive in the palace.‘What if Devit was a guide?’Somehow I felt sick to my stomach. Devit and Caesar being destined for each other was eerie.“Hey, why did you call me?”I shook my head in disbelief at Hannah’s call.“Oh, of course it is. And it’s actually very important.”Hannah glared at me with her red hair fluttering.With a strong-willed personality, she seemed to fit in with Caesar. She was a high noblewoman, so if they fell in love, it wouldn’t be hard to see her ascending to the position of Empress.However, Hannah was more likely to fight enemies than help others. She was more suited to using her powers for herself.In fact, she said that she wanted to become the head of her household, but her family’s elders disagreed and she became an imperial maid. She vowed never to return home until they changed their minds.That should have been enough to make me shiver. I stopped thinking and asked the question I’d been preparing.“Do you remember the incident a few decades ago, when the Empress’s necklace disappeared?”All of them looked at each other with faces that didn’t understand the old topic that was suddenly brought up.Only Erinne raised her chin and said.“I know. Dozens of maids who had touched or seen Her Majesty’s necklace were fired because of that.”‘As expected, Erinne.’To be honest, Erinne was the one who matched Caesar the most in terms of appearance. She wasn’t just pretty, but also elegant.Just imagining the two of them standing together made me nod my head.Mamid asked in a still sharp tone.“So? Why are you bringing up that story all of a sudden?”“That incident alone shows how sensitive the palace is to imperial property. The necklace was actually sitting in the Empress’s vault.”“What do you want to say?”Devit asked fiercely.“What do you think happened to the maids who were fired over it? Do you think they came back now that it turns out no one did anything wrong?”Erinne shrugged her shoulders at my gaze and continued.“No one came back.”“That’s right, the Imperial Palace is such a place.”“I don’t know what that has to do with us now.”Mamid made a cold face. I lowered my voice even more and said with a serious face.“It’s important. Because there has been a theft… from none other than the crown prince’s palace.”Gasp – I heard the sound of breathing in here and there. They couldn’t even scream and looked at each other.There was hostility in those eyes. It was natural.Caesar’s handmaiden had been replaced only a few days ago, and there was still no bond between them. If a crime were to be committed in such circumstances, the first thing to do would be to suspect each other.‘Who is it? Who is it? Is it you? I’ve been suspicious since last time, and you were just a few days ago…’Everything was as I expected. I couldn’t help but hold back the laughter that was about to escape.“Everyone calm down.”“Do you know? What has disappeared?”Mamid asked with a hardened face.“No, why are you even talking about it in the first place?”This time Hannah cut it.“Because the Crown Prince said I was the only one he could trust, and coincidentally, I was with him when it disappeared.”“So, what’s missing?”“What has disappeared is the treasure of the Imperial Palace.”“What does it look like? Jewelry, trinkets, swords, gold coins?”Devit blurted out.“I’m sorry, but I can’t tell you that. He said if everyone knew about it, we’d have trouble identifying the culprit, if you know what I mean?”Erinne nodded her head.“He’s saying there’s information that only the culprit knows, and we can use that to figure out who the culprit is.”An uncomfortable silence passed. Hannah folded her arms and looked down at me.“So what? I get the situation, I get why you called us here, but what the hell are you going to do, interrogate us?”“That’s exactly what it is.”“What?”Four pairs of eyes focused on me. I smiled roundly and spit out the words I had been waiting for the whole time.“You will be interrogated by the Crown Prince himself.”Of course, everything from one to ten was a lie.