Ordinary people use ‘mana,’ not ‘magic.’
Whether it is lighting an electric lamp or making a model train move, mana is both an indispensable resource in everyday life and a biological function.
However, while most people know how to manipulate mana, they do not know how to use magic.
There are several reasons for this, but the main one is that using mana comes instinctively, like moving an arm, whereas magic requires separate study.
In any case, ordinary people cannot use even simple magic, so if someone's attainment was on the level of a State-Certified Mage, that fact alone was enough to arouse Han's suspicion.
After all, someone who had reached such a level without reporting it to the Republic was highly likely to be a member of a heretical mage organization.
‘And if they're even wearing a Skin Suit, that's all the more suspicious.’
A Skin Suit was an artificial mask made to resemble real human skin.
They were not easy to obtain, but if one wore a product made by a skilled craftsman, one could truly look like a completely different person.
The one the young gentleman was wearing was clearly the work of a skilled craftsman, but it could not fool Han's eyes.
‘They're even disguising their voice, and they have forged identification good enough to pass the passenger ship's inspection.’
At this point, it would have been stranger if there were no scent of crime about them.
Han was not so lacking in professional responsibility that he could overlook that fact and enjoy his vacation.
No, if anything, he had far too much of it. Enough that he had not taken a single day off in five years.
BWOOOOOO—!
The sound of the passenger ship forcefully venting steam as it crossed the sea echoed through the corridor.
Han was quietly tailing the young gentleman.
Having received advanced training from an early age, Han did not find it particularly difficult to suppress his presence as much as possible and follow someone.
“Please take my luggage to my room first.”
After receiving his room key, the young gentleman entrusted his bag to an employee at the front desk and headed toward the dining hall.
Han was curious about the bag the employee had taken, but decided that following the gentleman took priority.
‘He goes to the dining hall first instead of heading straight to his room.’
Han could not rule out the possibility that he was simply hungry, but he watched him with suspicious eyes.
Once the young gentleman reached the dining hall, he neither sat down nor placed an order, instead heading straight for the restroom inside.
A wall blocked the restroom from outside view, so Han could not see inside or tell which side the gentleman had entered.
Han could not simply follow him in and use force to uncover his identity, even if he wanted to.
‘I still don't have decisive evidence that he's a criminal.’
‘If I use force and I'm wrong, things will become troublesome.’
‘Even if he really is a criminal, there are too many people here. If he causes a disturbance and someone gets hurt, that'd be the worst possible outcome.’
Considering all of that, Han decided to watch the situation for a while.
Exactly five people entered or left the restroom during that time.
Three men and two women.
Of them, Han saw two of the men and one of the women enter, while he only saw the other two come out.
Exactly fifteen minutes had passed by then.
The young gentleman Han was following still had not emerged.
Han analyzed the people who had come out so far.
‘Those two men were friends, and they weren't acting.’
‘Even if the target removed the Skin Suit inside the restroom before coming out, there's no chance he was one of them.’
‘The man whose entrance I didn't see can be excluded too. He was bigger than the target.’
‘A Skin Suit can compensate for someone's build to a degree, but it can't make a body smaller.’
Han meticulously compared everyone who had entered or left with his target.
Then, deciding it was time to move, he naturally entered the dining hall restroom.
Naturally, the men's restroom was separate from the women's.
‘No one's here.’
Han could not detect anyone whatsoever inside the men's restroom.
Then had the target somehow hidden among the three men Han had ruled out?
CREAK.
Just in case, he checked the window and even the ventilation opening in the ceiling, but found no trace of magic or rope having been used.
In other words, Han had lost his target.
‘So that's what it was.’
Yet rather than panic, Han became even more certain that his initial judgment had been correct.
‘The one wearing the Skin Suit wasn't a man, but a woman. And…….’
Han had already figured out which of the two women who left the dining hall had been pretending to be the young gentleman.
All that remained was to visit the target's room himself and confirm whether his answer was correct.
***
As soon as the woman entered the room, she locked the door.
Just in case, she silenced herself and listened carefully for any sounds outside.
She heard no approaching footsteps.
‘Phew….’
Only then did she let out a breath and loosen the chin strap of the hat she was wearing.
She also placed the Skin Suit she had hidden beneath her skirt onto the bed.
Her dress was not as voluminous as those worn by the other prominent ladies, but it was more than sufficient for hiding something.
‘This is troublesome.’
A black butterfly.
The woman's eyelashes, as flamboyant as one, slowly lowered.
Amid a silence so deep one could almost hear dust drifting through the air, the woman furiously worked through her thoughts.
‘That man definitely realized I was wearing a Skin Suit. I managed to shake him off when he followed me, but he may find this place soon too.’
She did not know why the man had followed her, but it was clearly not a good situation.
The woman could not afford to have her identity exposed.
The ship would not arrive at its destination, District 10, for another five days.
The face of the Skin Suit had already been seen by that man, so she could no longer use it.
Having to keep a low profile and quietly hide for the duration was an extremely unfavorable condition for a woman whose face was fairly well known in high society.
‘It'd be better to change rooms, but if I do it now, he'll probably notice. But if I stay here, all I'm doing is waiting for him.’
By entering the room to avoid him, she had instead narrowed her own range of movement.
And just as the woman began to feel as though she had fallen into the man's trap—
KNOCK, KNOCK.
A knock sounded.
“…….”
Not from the door.
From the window.
—Open this.
Was he some kind of bat?
Her eyes met Han's as he clung to the window.
He did not speak, but with a simple gesture, that seemed to be what he was saying.
—If you don't open it, I'll break it.
Han looked perfectly calm despite gripping the window frame without any equipment whatsoever.
The woman considered using magic, but thought better of it.
If the man's only objective had been to harm her, there was a good chance he would not have politely knocked or asked permission in the first place.
CREEEAK…….
The woman materialized the mana in the air and opened the window for him.
“You opened it surprisingly willingly. I thought you might send an ice arrow at me immediately. Or perhaps you're just about to.”
Han could feel the flow of mana obeying her control.
The mystical mana filling the room could become blades capable of killing Han at any moment at the woman's command.
Letting him into the room did not mean she had lowered her guard in the slightest.
Quite the opposite.
She had done it to subdue him quietly.
“How did you find my room?”
The woman asked.
Her naturally imperious tone, as though she were accustomed to speaking that way, made Han certain once again that his conclusion had been correct.
“I asked at the desk, and they kindly told me. I asked for the room number of the gentleman who requested that his luggage be delivered to his room.”
“That cannot be……. They wouldn't hand over a guest's personal information so easily.”
“Well. Believe me or not, that is your choice, but they cooperated immediately when I showed them this.”
“……That is…….”
The woman narrowed her eyes at the object Han pulled from inside his clothes.
At first she thought it was some sort of notebook, but it was an identification card proving that he belonged to the Mobile Special Unit.
“Relieved?”
Han caught the fleeting change in her expression.
The woman had briefly focused on the identification card and only belatedly realized that Han had drawn his revolver.
“Most criminals become more nervous when they see this. Ah, not the gun. This. Even mages are afraid of guns.”
Han waved the identification card before slipping it back inside his clothes.
He seemed careless at first glance, but there was not a single opening.
The woman was not proficient in combat, but she instinctively realized that much.
The moment she cast a spell first, the man would pull the trigger.
“So, I've revealed who I am. Isn't it your turn now?”
“…….”
“I can tell at a glance that you're the daughter of an important family. From the first moment I saw you at the dock, your perfectly straight posture and the way you walked had already told me that you were a distinguished lady pretending to be a man.”
Han had already picked up a great deal of information from the moment he first saw her.
Including the fact that she was using a Skin Suit with a larger frame to conceal her own build.
“I could even guess what was in that bag from the sound.”
BANG, BANG—!
Without hesitation, Han moved the barrel and fired twice.
He aimed at the bag's lock.
The lock, struck precisely, gave way and the bag fell open.
Expensive turquoise Mana Stones spilled out from inside.
The woman furrowed her elegant brows at the gunshots ringing sharply through the room.
“Did you not wait until I let you into the room because you wanted to settle this quietly? What will you do if the guards come rushing in?”
“You seemed rather skilled, so I decided to test it. The fact that it is still quiet outside means your soundproofing magic is remarkably complete.”
The soundproofing magic the woman had used to conceal her location from Han.
The sounds from outside could still be heard normally inside this room, but not the slightest sound from within could escape.
Han had simply turned the woman's own trick against her.
“However, I do not believe I've received an answer to my question yet.”
“…….”
“Since you've kept me waiting, I'll add another question. Which family are you from, and why were you trying to transport that many Mana Stones? You had better answer honestly.”
Depending on how they were used, Mana Stones themselves could become dangerous weapons.
In other words, the contents of the woman's bag could become explosives powerful enough to blow the entire ship apart.
With the flow of the situation completely in Han's hands, the woman let out a mature, humorless laugh.
“Can you really shoot?”
Her manner of speaking changed.
Yet using polite speech did not mean she had been intimidated in the slightest.
“Do you even know what family I'm from?”
“I do not know which family. But now I know it is the kind of family whose daughter would threaten me by asking whether I know which family she belongs to.”
“……Impressive. Since you're so good with words, why did you become a soldier instead of a politician? I think you'd be better at wrapping people around your finger than my father.”
“That was the last one.”
“Excuse me?”
“The last lie of yours that I will overlook.”
Han had been slowly driving the woman into a corner.
He suddenly closed the distance and seized her wrist.
THUD!
Overpowered by his strength, the woman was slammed against the wall.
In the silent room, with the lights still off, the two leaned against the wall and stared at each other from extremely close range.
“Your father isn't a politician. Your reaction just confirmed that.”
“……I truly do wonder why you are doing this kind of dirty work instead of becoming a politician.”
“If you're thinking of using magic to get out of this situation, don't. My left arm is different from other people's. Instead of blood and flesh, it contains silver, which mages despise.”
Just as Han had said, the woman could no longer control either the mana within the room or the mana flowing through her own body.
She was truly a rat trapped in a jar.
And when a rat was driven into a corner with nowhere to escape—
“The Bradin Family.”
It sometimes bit back.
“I am the third daughter of the Bradin Conglomerate, the one they say sweeps up all the money in the Republic.”