Ch.81Looking Back to Speak (1)

# The Simple Art of Holding

It’s simple. Just remember three things.

First, holding with the proper posture is more important than gripping with force. Don’t hold it the way you want to—you need to cradle it gently.

Second, use moderate strength. If you grip too tightly, it will break and hurt you. If you hold too loosely, you’ll drop it.

And third, this is just like power. Never let it go.

– Emperor Alexios I’s advice to his daughter Anna, who was crying after dropping and breaking a plate.

* * * * *

Allen, an art auctioneer in Grönbruck, is heading toward his late forties after passing the mid-point.

With his distinct features and well-balanced physique, he’s quite popular with women, both in his youth and now.

Still, he envied Kain’s youth as the man sat across from his desk. “At that age, I could party with women for three days and nights without issue.” After staring with envious eyes, he clicked his tongue with a “tsk.”

Kain raised an eyebrow, and Allen felt compelled to explain his rudeness.

“Wouldn’t it be better if you read more books?”

Kain didn’t get angry. He instinctively sensed that this Royal Guard Bureau man disliked him.

Since yesterday, when Kain had visited the auction office requesting to send an urgent letter to Anna, the man had been grumbling continuously as if he found Kain extremely distasteful.

And now, he was responding this way to Kain’s request: “I need to discuss the story of the Seven Heroes, so please arrange a meeting with Professor Osrant Koch from the Literature Department at the Southern Imperial Academy.”

Kain wasn’t particularly worried. Allen had to help him anyway. And both Kain and Allen knew that if he was going to help, he might as well do it properly.

Kain decided to treat this irritation as a transaction cost. But he didn’t forget to counter elegantly.

“The more I read, the more I get lost in a labyrinth. Each book cleverly presents different content. Some authors insert their own wishes and twist the facts, while others make six of the heroes look like fools to make their favorite hero shine brighter. That’s why I want to hear the early testimonies.”

“Surely you’ve read Professor Osrant Koch’s original texts.”

“I have. But I couldn’t find the answers I’m looking for there either. That’s why I want to meet him in person and hear what he has to say.”

“What do you want to ask him?”

Kain looked Allen up and down.

“That’s confidential.”

Allen muttered something like a small curse.

“You’re the one who supposedly plunged Emmaus into Armageddon, aren’t you?”

“Half right and half wrong—seems the Royal Guard Bureau’s intelligence gathering has gone to pieces.”

“Have you ever seen a whale?”

Allen mentioned a creature that one would have to travel to the Eastern Union to see.

He asked this thinking, ‘This country bumpkin couldn’t have seen such a thing,’ but when Kain answered “Yes,” Allen grumbled as if he wanted to hit him.

As it happened, Allen himself had never seen a whale.

“Then you should know that to see the whole whale, you need to step far back, and that’s what headquarters should do.

Field agents like me should properly report what we’ve directly seen and heard. If I see a whale’s fin, I should report just the fin, not make assumptions about its tail or head.

So your comment about the Royal Guard Bureau’s intelligence gathering is your misunderstanding.”

“Then just do your job, senior.”

Kain remained calm, while Allen burst into a nervous laugh.

“I apologize if I was rude. But I really need your help. It’s for the sake of both the Empire and the Imperial Family.”

“Doing my job is my business, so that’s fine. But don’t call me ‘senior.'”

If Maria were here, she might have said, “That’s a strange thing to get angry about.” But Kain thought it was justified.

The relationship between the Imperial Security Bureau and the Royal Guard Bureau exists somewhere between “subtle” and “potential hindrance.” The Security Bureau works for “the entire Empire,” while the Royal Guard Bureau works only for “the Imperial Family.”

Originally, the Royal Guard Bureau handled everything, but the current Emperor drastically reduced their authority and launched the Security Bureau. With their scope of work significantly reduced, their opportunities to flaunt power also diminished.

The problem is that the two groups’ work forms an ambiguous intersection.

For instance, if the Emperor suddenly went mad and ordered “Kill all Imperial citizens,” the Royal Guard Bureau would have to comply.

Meanwhile, the Security Bureau, tasked with protecting “the entire Empire,” would have to carry out the order to “Capture and kill all those insane mass murderers.”

Naturally, Royal Guard Bureau agents wouldn’t reveal their affiliation, and Security Bureau agents would keep their organization secret.

In this context, Kain’s use of “senior” could be considered almost insulting. It’s similar to responding “Yes, father” when someone says “Hey, you dog,” essentially accepting being called a dog.

Finally, Allen sighed and rubbed his forehead.

“Fine. But how should I introduce you? Just so you know, that professor has tremendous ambition for power and fame.”

Kain had prepared an answer.

“Please introduce me as Professor Anna’s research assistant.”

Though no sound was made, veins popped on Allen’s forehead. How dare this youngster casually use that name?

“…Doesn’t that require her approval?”

“That was the content of the letter I sent yesterday. I told her I’d introduce myself as her research assistant, so please be aware. There wasn’t enough time to ask for permission. Act first, report later. Isn’t that better than causing another Armageddon?”

Allen had to take deep breaths for quite a while. Kain even flashed a slight smile.

“In my official report, I’ll mention that the Grönbruck branch provided a lot of help. By the way… has what I requested when I sent the letter yesterday arrived?”

Now he was being treated like an errand boy. Allen gritted his teeth. But ultimately, as a loyal member of the Imperial Family, he opened his desk drawer with a clatter and handed over a disc.

It consisted of six concentric circles like an archery target, with alphabets written on each circle. The wooden disc was designed to rotate freely.

“I treasure this. Return it before you leave. I’ll bill the Security Bureau headquarters for every scratch, so keep that in mind.”

Allen wrapped the disc in a thin cloth before handing it over.

“Thank you.”

Kain bowed his head gratefully as he accepted it. He briefly imagined that if he broke this disc in half, he could not only inform old man Verneith of his survival but also give him a gift.

At the same time, he thought about extracting something more from this annoying Royal Guard agent.

“I’m taking this to Count Edessa’s mansion, but I’ll maintain strict security. There are many visitors there, after all.”

“Are you out of your mind!”

As expected, Allen jumped to his feet.

“You’re taking that to a place full of gossips!”

“Then what should I do? I have nowhere to stay. Wouldn’t it be stranger to sleep on the streets with this disc?”

Allen gritted his teeth and quickly wrote something on a piece of paper.

“Central street, show this at the Arterre Gallery residence. Oh my goodness, the Empire is doomed. Doomed! How can people like this claim to be protecting the Empire?”

Kain nodded with genuine satisfaction. Before elegantly standing up to leave, he didn’t forget to say:

“Senior, thank you very much. Please let me know when a reply comes from the capital.”

He heard something being broken in the office, but he didn’t pay much attention to it.

* * * * *

Maria blinked her eyes with apparent disappointment.

“Dad, are we moving?”

Kain looked at Maria with a sour expression, while Lily giggled.

“I like it here because they give us lots of delicious food.”

“…I’ll buy you something more delicious.”

“Hmph. Don’t make me suffer. Where are we going? Is the food good there?”

The Arterre Gallery was established by Grönbruck’s “meaningful patrons” who pooled funds, with the Southern Imperial Academy serving as advisors.

The facilities were splendid and the decorations magnificent, but there was no lowly place like a restaurant to be found. Instead, there were substantial refreshment tables and quite luxurious accommodations.

Kain’s party presented their documents to the gallery manager. The elderly man, who had been making groaning sounds, nodded elegantly.

“Ah. Referred by Auctioneer Allen. He’s one of the patrons who helped establish this place. Please make yourselves at home. How long do you plan to stay?”

“About three or four days.”

Maria quietly murmured “Yay.” From the moment they entered, she seemed quite pleased with the place.

“How would you like the rooms arranged?”

Lily looked at Kain with eyes full of expectation. Kain answered as if it were obvious.

“One room for four will be sufficient.”

“This way, please.”

The room was spacious, and the furniture was beautiful. It was dynamic, like a wooden taxidermy of a stormy wave. Maria stroked the delicate carvings with her fingertips.

“I was hoping for one double room and one single room.”

Lily also looked at Kain wistfully, as if disappointed. Kain pulled out the cloth-wrapped disc as if making an excuse.

“What’s that?”

“A toy that the three of us need to work with all day today. Lily, you know what this is, right?”

“I do. It’s a disc used for creating and deciphering substitution ciphers. But I’ve never seen one this complex and precise. The one I saw during my training only had two concentric circles. But why…”

Kain placed the disc on the desk.

“I don’t know if we’ll manage it tonight, but I want to try deciphering the letters in the back of William’s diary, volume 3. The encrypted letter we got from Arianne’s house might help.”

Maria frowned.

“That wasn’t helpful. You know that.”

Arianne had only translated a small portion of the beginning of the letter sent by William, the Knight of Chastity.

The first line read: “Arianne. I’m only saying this now, but I wish you knew how much my body and heart fluttered whenever I saw your elongated curved sword. I was young then and more sensitive about skin color. Now that I’m older, I’ve come to accept more things…”

The decoding ended there. And the first part of William’s letter was missing, perhaps torn off by Arianne. They couldn’t match the encrypted original with the decoded version one-to-one, so the decryption work had stalled.

“That was true until now. Not anymore. With this converter, it should be a bit easier… even for a tricky Vigenère cipher.”

“So. You’re planning to decode all the letters in volume 3 today?”

“I don’t think we’ll have time to do them all. We’ll do what we can. First… this letter.”

Kain pulled out the rest of William’s letter from his bag and waved it. The page marked “-4-” was quite intact, while the page marked “-3-” was missing half. Of the four-page letter, only the last page and half of the one before it remained.

“Let’s start with this.”