Ch.145Report on the Downfall of Diligence (10)

Kain briefly reflected on the situation after his disturbing dream.

Theodore must have been the one who sent someone to follow them. Not only had the tail failed, but they’d been exposed to their targets—making a second attempt at surveillance unlikely.

Instead, they would either launch a direct attack or try to detain them somehow.

“Maria. Do you have anything important in your lodgings?”

“Just some clothes and a little money. The money is important. Why?”

“Can you retrieve them secretly? Remember Brother Theodore asked how much longer we’d be staying here. And the brother already knows where you’re staying since he asked to leave messages at your front desk.”

“Do you think they’ll attack?”

Kain considered this for a moment.

It was entirely possible. From Theodore’s perspective, he could simply send patrol guards to Maria’s room during curfew hours, claiming a thief had sneaked into the inn, and arrest her.

Or he could place watchers in the alley to monitor their every move, applying open pressure to force them to leave, then ambush them the moment they tried to exit the city.

“Kain. Wait a moment.” Maria grabbed his arm.

“Theodore—or should I say Hans of Diligence?—already knows we’re investigating him. When we mentioned William’s letter and hope, he must have been irritated enough to have us followed, even if incompetently.”

“That’s right.”

“So what if we catch him off guard instead?”

Kain was about to say the risk would be too great, but Maria’s next suggestion was something he hadn’t considered.

“Let’s confront Fat Hans. If we want to catch a big fish, we need to use small bait.”

“That’s good, but we should consider the possibility that Theodore isn’t actually Hans.”

“Doesn’t matter. If that fat man is truly ‘Hans of Diligence,’ he’ll have to answer our questions. Otherwise…”

Maria ran her hand along her waist.

To an uninformed observer, it would look like a slender nun inappropriately emphasizing her figure by placing her hand on her hip. But Kain knew she had at least three sharp daggers hidden there.

“Alright.”

* * * * *

Kain and Maria climbed over a residential wall. The guard dog was asleep, and the clothes on the drying line were warm from the sunlight.

They each took one set of clothes, leaving an Imperial silver coin in exchange. Maria also snatched a hat that completely covered her hair, revealing her slender, elegant facial features.

While Kain waited in the alley, Maria retrieved her bag from her lodgings.

“I told them I’d be staying longer. Even if intruders break in, they’ll only find an empty room. I’ll have to impose on your room for a while, though.”

“If we even need to go back to the rooms.”

Maria chuckled at Kain’s response. His lodgings were some distance away. They collected the room key and stored their belongings, completing their preparations.

Maria’s room was empty, and Kain’s lodgings remained unknown to outsiders. This would allow them to evade at least one attack.

“Good. We can’t raid ‘Fat Hans’s’ house. Besides the heavy security, he lives with his family. We can’t intimidate him while evading all those eyes. We need to isolate him.”

Maria shared information she’d gathered while doing odd jobs at the city hall. Kain agreed that directly targeting his home would be impractical.

“We can’t enter the city hall either. Security is tight because of frequent clashes between Imperial and Elector officials. Guards would immediately respond to any suspicious activity.”

They couldn’t raid his house. They couldn’t enter the city hall. Fat Hans wouldn’t meet with anyone without proper credentials. Sending threatening letters or setting fires would be meaningless.

But there was still a vulnerability.

* * * * *

Another day came to an end.

Like other council members, Hans had a designated carriage. As a councilor handling important city matters, he needed to be able to travel throughout the city whenever necessary.

However, no council member used the city carriages for personal purposes. Broadly speaking, these carriages belonged to the Empire, and the coachmen were Imperial civil servants.

Neither the Elector’s councilors nor fellow Imperial councilors would use official carriages to visit secret lovers. It would create unnecessary gossip.

Therefore, city hall carriages were used strictly for official business, and councilors weren’t particularly choosy about their coachmen. Since they only traveled within the city or at most to outlying villages for official business, it didn’t matter if the coachman was silent or talkative.

“Fat Hans” was no exception. True to his advocacy for a simple life, he didn’t indulge in luxuries. While he didn’t refuse the authority and benefits he was entitled to, he didn’t demand anything extra. As a result, his relationship with the coachmen was neither particularly good nor bad.

But now Hans was sweating profusely, wondering what he had done wrong. A dagger was freely moving between his Adam’s apple and groin. Whenever the carriage wheel hit a bump in the road, Hans would shudder as if struck by lightning.

Something had seemed off from the moment he boarded the carriage. The coachman was smaller than usual. Hans didn’t recognize him but assumed he was new and thought nothing of it.

As soon as he entered the carriage, a strong hand covered his nose and mouth.

“Make a sound like a pig and I’ll slit your throat.”

Before he could finish speaking, something sharp pressed against Hans’s neck.

Hans instinctively tried to scream, but his constricted throat only produced wheezing sounds. His throat was already narrowed from excess weight, and now being choked made it unbearable.

The coachman’s “Giddyup!” and the horses’ neighing drowned out any noise.

“I poked you with my fingernail this time, but next time it will be a blade,” the man’s voice was sinister.

Hans wanted to close his legs, but his sagging belly and thick thighs kept them spread apart. He couldn’t prevent the man’s dagger from moving back and forth between his thighs.

“Now. Time for truth. Scream and you die. Even if you survive, the pleasure in your life will be permanently castrated. So think carefully before you speak. Understood?”

The hand moved away. Hans gasped for air with a “Phew,” then choked and coughed. The man beside him flexed his thick fingers.

“H-Hans. I am Hans—gack!”

He couldn’t scream as the man covered his mouth again. His eyes bulged in terror, but fortunately, the blade didn’t pierce his belly fat, as the man twisted his hand at the last moment.

“S-spare me, please spare me…”

“I don’t intend to kill you. Just answer my questions properly. But whether you leave this carriage ‘whole’ or leave ‘parts behind’ is another matter. Ever thought about losing weight? Tell me your name. I know you’re not Hans.”

“Why, why are you doing this?”

“The Knight is coming,” Kain growled.

“The Knight of the Scabbard wrapped in shadows is coming. If you insist on being Hans of Diligence until the end, he will lift you into the air and skin you alive. Then he’ll stuff a piglet into your lower body. Tell me quickly before that happens. I’m trying to help you, idiot!”

“Who’s coming?”

“The Knight of the Scabbard!”

Hans’s face turned deathly pale. His legs trembled violently, making the carriage floor rumble.

“No. No. That can’t be. That can’t be… no, no.”

“Yes. It will happen.” Kain poked Hans’s belly with his finger.

“He has already defeated Arius, William, and Roberta. Arianne has fallen too. Only three heroes remain.

So I ask you one last time. Are you truly Hans of Diligence? If you say yes, I’ll throw you out of this carriage.

Then soon after, the Knight of the Scabbard will descend from the sky on a ghost ship to punish you. So if you want to save your pig-like life, tell the truth. Are you really ‘Hans of Diligence’?”

“No, I’m not! I am not Hans of Diligence! Spare me, please spare me!”

Just as expected. The pig-like man was even tearing up. There was a slight smell of urine which was disgusting, but they couldn’t stop the carriage.

“Then who exactly are you?”

“My, my name is Jakob. Jakob.” The man begged, wringing his hands like a fly.

“What’s your relationship with Hans of Diligence? Brother Theodore is the real Hans, right? How did you meet him, and how did he come to control you?”

“Y-yes. He is ‘Hans of Diligence’.” The man sobbed quietly. “I’ve been working with him for a very long time. The circus. I was in the circus that Hans ran.”

“What about Sister Grace from the shelter? Was she also in that circus?”

“Yes. Yes, she was.” The man nodded.

“But she really did become a nun. She and Hans were even living together, but when Hans fled from debt collectors and joined the crusade, she entered the convent.

But when Hans returned as a hero… she came out too. When Hans of Diligence was appointed to the committee, they came here together.

The people here knew Hans’s name but not his face… so it was easy to deceive them.”

“That’s why you came to a place where no one knew you. But that doesn’t make sense. How did you get appointed to the church recommendation committee? That couldn’t have been Hans’s plan!”

“Arius of Temperance!” Jakob groaned. “Bishop Arius did it. He had the power! He exerted his influence on the papal office!”

Arius again. Kain gritted his teeth. The beginning of everything. The end of everything. Every investigation always pointed back to Arius.

“What kind of man was Arius that made the other heroes fear him?”

“I don’t know that much!” Jakob whimpered.

“I, I wasn’t even part of the crusade! I was just, just dragged along by Hans who grabbed my ear, and all I did was carry cargo on Leonardo of Charity’s ship!

Back then, I, I was skinny too. You understand? This fat, I didn’t want to gain it. Hans forced me to eat because he didn’t want anyone to recognize me! The marriage, the children! None of it was what I wanted!”

Jakob burst into tears. Kain recalled what he had said in his office. ‘A fake life,’ ‘Things experienced when people knew the name but not the face.’ His words now took on an entirely different meaning.

“You were afraid, weren’t you?”

Jakob didn’t answer. He just sobbed quietly, rocking his body back and forth.

“You were afraid of how much longer you could continue this life. You came because Theodore—no, Hans of Diligence—promised you good things. But it was uncomfortable. Because…”

Because.

“It wasn’t yours.”

“That’s right.” Jakob sighed heavily.

“I was, I was afraid. Always afraid. What if they found out I wasn’t the real one? What if all this was exposed?

So I was selective about who I met, and I worked really hard. I’m an ignorant, foolish con man, but with Hans beside me—bullying me, b-beating me sometimes—

I, I sincerely tried my best. I sincerely worked for the people of this city… because I didn’t want to be exposed. Because I could do good, good things.”