Those Who Live Without the Law

Chapter 66

The Misfortune of the Archaeologist (3)

I walked confidently through the entrance of the garrison.

The soldiers and officers inside had already been briefed on the battalion commander’s orders, so none of them could stop me from striding through the base.

‘It’s just like card games.’

When the standard rules and local rules differ in a card game, the local rules always win. The military was no different.

Standard procedures and the battalion commander’s orders.

Unless someone of higher rank gives conflicting instructions, the commander’s orders always take precedence over standard procedures.

That’s how I arrived at the targeted barracks building without raising any suspicion or being stopped.

‘This is it.’

It was the barracks used by the company assigned to the most troublesome patrol route in the garrison.

A three-story building, each floor was allocated to one company. The company I had business with occupied the third floor of this building.

If I could temporarily disable the patrol route managed by this company, I’d be able to move the corpse hidden in the cabinet to the battalion commander’s quarters.

‘First thing I need to do is…’

The inside of the company barracks was quite quiet.

Well, of course. The unit’s main duty was standing guard.

The primary purpose of this battalion’s existence was guarding the Rezantin Museum. Whether it was the sun or the moon in the sky, most officers and soldiers were assigned to guard duty.

Naturally, with the sun high in the sky, there was little reason for many people to be inside the barracks.

‘If I can move without getting caught…’

I could make it to the third floor. Not just arrive, but maybe even finish what needed to be done.

I moved with light steps, minimizing any sound.

‘Sheesh, this isn’t Featherwing. This is Lunaseeker. The family elders would beat me senseless if they saw me.’

Slipping around unnoticed, severing a target’s breath in an instant, and retrieving the desired item—that was not the Featherwing way, but the method of the Republic’s Lunaseeker Agency.

The Lunaseeker and the Featherwing had long lived as mortal enemies who should tear each other apart, but in the end, the Lunaseeker had won on points.

Featherwing had fallen, but the Lunaseeker Agency was still in business.

“Tch.”

Even as I had that thought, I slid through the building, checking for signs of life.

Other than the presence of two people in the administration office, there was nothing. The only other notable sound was water boiling in a kettle placed on top of an oil stove.

‘The winter uniforms for the next shift should be stored in the administration office, right?’

I tried to recall buried memories of my time in the military.

When soldiers switched shifts, they had to put on the proper uniform and report to the officer on standby in the administration office.

It made sense to store the communal winter patrol uniforms in the administration office, since it was a mandatory stop before heading out on patrol.

‘Eventually, I’ll have to go in there.’

But it was better to finish everything that could be done beforehand before entering.

“First…”

I cautiously avoided the administration office and peered through the window of one of the living quarters, which were divided by platoon.

Even though it was the middle of the day, about five or six soldiers were sleeping under blankets.

‘This won’t do.’

It looked like they were grouping the soldiers who’d finished night duty into one of the rooms to sleep. Easier to manage that way.

That meant the other living quarters should be empty. I checked a nearby one and entered an empty room.

When I searched the cabinets holding the soldiers’ belongings, I found a matchbox.

‘There really is nothing like playing with fire to draw attention.’

It was obvious the other soldiers and officers were out on duty, with only two remaining in the administration office as a precaution.

In a situation like this, if a fire broke out, those two in the office would be held 100% responsible. The moment they smelled something burning, they’d lose their heads and rush to the source of the fire.

That would be my chance to slip into the office and take the winter uniform.

‘I’m not planning to start a real fire.’

As long as there’s enough smell and smoke, that’s enough. A real fire would be troublesome in its own right.

‘If a major fire breaks out, they might restrict access in and out of the garrison until the cause and culprit are found.’

If it escalated that far, I wouldn’t be able to get away either. The ideal scenario was something like “There was a fire, but it was quickly extinguished thanks to prompt action!”

“It’s about time for the next patrol unit to head out.”

After checking my pocket watch, I struck three or four matches and lit them, then flung the matchbox and matches toward the blankets.

Right after, I slipped out of the room and hid near the staircase connecting the third and second floors.

The acrid smell and smoke began to spread.

Then, with a clamor, I saw a middle-aged NCO and a young soldier rush toward the living quarters.

‘If not now, there won’t be another chance.’

The moment I saw the two of them enter the room, I darted into the administration office.

“…Calm down. Steady.”

I quickly scanned the inside of the office. If I let myself panic, I wouldn’t be able to find anything. If anything went wrong, I’d die here.

That was all there was to it. I kept telling myself that as I scanned the administration office—until I finally spotted the winter uniform hanging on the wall.

“What now…”

I heard someone running toward the office. Then, my eyes fell on a bottle-shaped fire extinguisher inside the office.

It was a carbon tetrachloride bottle. Throw it into the fire and the bottle would break, releasing carbon tetrachloride to extinguish the flames.

“Ah, damn it.”

So that’s where it was. The NCO must have told a soldier to fetch the extinguisher after confirming the fire.

Now was the time to keep a cool head.

‘No way the guy coming now is thinking clearly either.’

The fire had broken out suddenly. No one could stay composed under those circumstances.

I ducked under the desk in the office. The moment I hid, the door slammed open as if it had been waiting for me.

“…”

Holding my breath under the desk, I watched the soldier’s legs as he hurried about.

He grabbed a few of the bottles and left without hesitation, as if he had no more business in the administration office. He was clearly heading back to put out the fire.

As soon as he was gone, I crawled out from under the desk, snatched the winter uniform, and jumped out the window.

‘Faster, faster.’

Landing on the ground, I immediately flattened myself and began crawling on all fours. With the winter uniform slung over my back, crawling on all fours, I must have looked like a cockroach.

It didn’t matter how ridiculous I looked while moving. What mattered was not getting caught.

I didn’t plan to go far, and I didn’t intend to hide it too carefully.

‘Just a little while is enough.’

By now, the next patrol team should’ve already departed.

But the fire delayed their departure. And with the winter uniform missing too, it would be delayed even further.

I tossed the winter uniform into a corner of a communal warehouse near the barracks, then immediately left the vicinity and ran toward the barbed-wire fence surrounding the garrison.

‘It’d be a disaster if I tried to leave through the front gate.’

Leaving right after coming in? Anyone would find that suspicious. And a fire breaking out in one of the barracks while I just happened to be leaving the garrison at that exact time?

It’d be like announcing I was the culprit. No way I could allow that.

I cranked up the output of the stained glass and leapt right over the outer wall surrounding the garrison.

Like a high jumper, I soared over the wall and landed on the ground, then immediately sprinted toward the spot where I had left the cabinet.

I was moving fast enough that I would appear blurry to the eyes of others.

“Ha, fuck. Thank god.”

The cabinet was still right where I had left it. I didn’t have much time. There was no room for any additional measures.

Though I wanted to pull the body out and stuff it into a sack or something to carry it, now wasn’t the time.

“Ugh…”

Using the power of the stained glass, I hoisted the cabinet onto my back and once again sprinted toward the garrison, leaping over the outer wall.

“Kh…”

I landed carefully, doing my best not to make a loud noise as I crossed the wall. Using the gap in the patrol, I managed to arrive near the battalion commander’s quarters.

‘No need to do anything more.’

I placed the cabinet in a spot clearly visible from the small courtyard inside the commander’s quarters and left the door ajar.

‘The military flechette’s already embedded.’

There was no reason for me to linger here. Leaving the quarters, I headed toward the training ground where Irena would be.

‘The Rezantin Museum is the real deal.’

Before heading there, I needed to secure Irena’s cooperation.

It would take time before the commander discovered the corpse of the newspaper editor-in-chief in his quarters anyway.

Getting Irena to cooperate was simple.

When I arrived at the training ground, I found her still wrestling with a tissue, glaring at it with intensity.

“Still not done?”

“Shut up. Just a bit more.”

She roughly wiped the sweat trickling down her forehead and lifted the battle gear next to her.

It wasn’t the violet-bladed battle gear she normally used. It was a military-issue battle gear designed for mass distribution.

“Treating it like it’s disposable.”

“That’s what this battle gear was made for, wasn’t it?”

Once its magic was used up, you just tossed it aside and trained with another one.

“So, what’s with you all of a sudden?”

“I’ve got something I need to take care of. I’ll be gone for a few hours.”

When I said that, Irena looked at me with a questioning “Hm?” sound.

She couldn’t understand why I was telling her that so suddenly.

“Then just go and do it.”

“I’m from Bennett City. And the thing I need to do is related to that city.”

Hearing that, she let out an “Ah…” and made a complicated face.

If it involved Bennett City, it was almost certainly a crime. And the reason I was telling Irena was simple.

“If someone comes looking for me, asking where I went, I’d appreciate it if you came up with some excuse.”

“What a damn headache.”

Irena looked down at the battle gear in her hands, sighed lightly, and said,

“I’m still a knight of the Empire, you know?”

“Yeah. I know that very well.”

At my response, she let out a drawn-out hum.

“I swore to protect the Empire for the sake of His Majesty. And now you’re asking a knight to aid in a crime? Unbelievable.”

I didn’t say anything in response. If she really had no intention of helping, she wouldn’t be talking to me like this.

“Then go to the garrison HQ right now and report that I’m planning a crime.”

Irena folded her arms and answered,

“Forget it. Honestly, I figured something like this would happen someday, ever since I heard you were from Bennett City.”

She gripped her sword again and pulled out another tissue.

“I can help you indirectly. But I won’t get involved directly.”

She meant she wouldn’t commit a crime herself. I gave her a bitter smile at those words.

“That’s hypocrisy.”

“Yeah. I’m not confident I can be a good person. So I’m trying to at least be a hypocrite. It means I still have some sense of shame left, right?”

She didn’t have the confidence to live virtuously, but she at least wanted to hide the ugliness of her actions, to show she knew they were shameful and disgusting. That was what hypocrisy meant to Irena.

“Thanks for helping, anyway.”

“Now you say that? Even if I didn’t help, it’s not like I could rat you out to someone else.”

She had made a vow to herself for the sake of using her battle gear, so unless it was a mistake, she couldn’t harm me.

“That’s blackmail, and this is cooperation. Either way, thanks.”

I gave a parting nod and left the training ground with a bitter smile.

‘A knight who swore to protect the Emperor, huh.’

But the head of the Kellogg family, Simid Kellogg, was planning treason. What an irony.

Thinking that Irena Kellogg’s fate was thoroughly twisted, I hurried on my way toward the Rezantin Royal Museum.