"I don't even know where to begin the report..."
"So much happened!"
After dinner, Barrow and Belle arrived to provide their report, both of them chattering away in rapid succession.
They spoke of how neighboring nobles had sent numerous invitations to tea parties.
They mentioned a famous merchant who had visited specifically to request that Jin craft something for him.
Of particular note was the fact that Her Imperial Majesty the Empress of the Shouro Empire had personally visited to ask, "Is Jin-kun not back yet?" (Though the World Conference had commenced just three days after that).
"Oh, and right—there was one more curious incident."
"An incident?"
"Yes. Two men were found stripped naked, tied up, and abandoned in front of the Security Guard station that protects the town of Loizart. When the guards investigated, they discovered the pair were notorious thieves."
"Huh..."
While nodding along, Jin felt certain that this last incident was undoubtedly Laojun's doing.
Once he had retreated to his private quarters, he inquired through his manacam, and the response he received was exactly as he had expected.
"Yes, My Lord. I judged it a trivial matter unworthy of troubling My Lord while you were occupied with the World Conference, so I refrained from reporting it immediately. Was my judgment improper?"
"No, that's fine. It's okay now, so tell me the details."
"Understood."
The following is a reconstruction of the events as compiled by Laojun.
＊ ＊ ＊
Deep in the night.
Two figures approached the mansion.
"Aniki, this is the place, right?"
"Yeah. Word is it belongs to some upstart noble who's rarely home. I’ve confirmed through my own sources that they're away tonight as well."
"And the only ones inside are a butler and a maid, right?"
"That’s the word. It’s a sitting duck."
The two were up-and-coming thieves.
＊
However, Laojun—the Brain of Hourai Island who monitored the mansion—had detected them long ago and overheard nearly their entire conversation.
("Hmm. Thieves of considerable skill. While neutralizing and capturing them would be simple, I shall observe them a while longer for future reference.")
＊
"(The wall's high, but not so high we can't clear it. Let's go.)"
"(Got it.)"
The two men threw a rope equipped with a grappling hook up toward the wall. Once they confirmed it had caught, they began to scale it with fluid, practiced ease.
＊
("True, since this is a rented mansion, no barriers have been erected around the perimeter walls. They have successfully exploited that vulnerability.")
＊
The pair cleared the wall with agile movements. After confirming the garden was empty, they dropped onto the grass without making a sound.
"(Alright, so far so good. Let's circle around to the side.)"
An emergency exit was located on the side of the mansion; that was their objective.
"(This is it. Seb, you're up.)"
"(Leave it to me.)"
The man called Seb placed his palm over the door's keyhole.
"‘Separation.’"
＊
("My, Craft Magic? Indeed, that would allow one to physically divide the lock mechanism itself.")
Laojun was genuinely impressed.
("I recall hearing that the giant golem—the artifact of the Shouro Empire—also utilized Craft Magic for its attacks. It would be wise to implement additional methods of anti-magic defense.")
＊
Ignorant of Laojun's clinical observations, the two slipped into the house.
"(Look at that painting on the wall. I don't know who it's supposed to be, but it looks like it’d fetch a pretty penny.)"
"(It's too big, though. We’d never get it home.)"
"(True. But if this is any indication, the real treasure is going to be something else.)"
They intended to keep their whispers audible only to each other, but the performance of the surveillance devices installed in the mansion—the magic eyes and magic ears—far surpassed human capabilities.
Unaware that their every move was being scrutinized by Laojun, the two proceeded cautiously through the mansion.
"(This is the living room. Doubt there's much here, but let's take a look.)"
They stepped into the parlor on the south side of the first floor.
Suddenly, a pitch-black shadow loomed before them.
"Eep!"
"(Idiot, keep it down! It's just a statue.)"
"(Ah... scared the life out of me...)"
Standing before them was a decorative suit of knight’s armor. Such things were common in noble estates.
However, this was no mere ornament. It was a golem, standing ready to activate and intercept intruders at a moment's notice.
＊
("It is still too early to apprehend them. I shall continue to observe their methodology.")
＊
"(Let's head for the guest rooms. That's where the real valuables will be.)"
"(Was that on the second floor? Think we'll be okay?)"
"(Between your Craft Magic and my taijutsu, there’s not much we can't handle.)"
Whispering back and forth, they passed the rooms where Barrow and Belle were sleeping and made their way toward the staircase.
"(Even the stairs are soft.)"
"(Perfect. It muffles our footsteps.)"
The two finally reached the second floor.
"(Now, which way was it?)"
One side led to Jin and Elsa's private quarters and bedrooms.
"(I'm pretty sure it was the west side.)"
After a moment of indecision, the two chose the wrong path—which is to say, they headed straight toward the wing housing Jin and Elsa's private rooms.
＊
("Well, this is acceptable. If anything, it is preferable that they have approached the area with the most concentrated security.")
Naturally, since these were the rooms belonging to Jin and his partner, the security measures were more than triple those of the rest of the house.
＊
"(...How about this room?)"
The door was unlocked.
They nudged it open and peered inside. It was pitch black.
"(Hey, give us a light.)"
"(Right... ‘Light.’)"
Seb conjured a Light spell, just bright enough to faintly illuminate their surroundings.
"(Hoh...?)"
Just inside the door was a small entryway about a meter square, beyond which the floor was raised by about fifty centimeters.
"(What a weird room.)"
The floor had been elevated to accommodate a sunken hearth and tatami mats, but the two thieves had no way of knowing that.
"(But there's nothing worth taking here.)"
"(True. Let's try the next room.)"
That decision saved them. Had they attempted to step onto the tatami with their shoes on, they would have been paralyzed instantly, and their leg bones likely would have been shattered.
Next, the pair peered into Elsa's private room.
Here, only the bedroom area used tatami; the main living space was a standard floor where shoes were permitted.
"(...Smells nice in here.)"
"(Aniki, are you sure this isn't a guest room?)"
"(Looks like it’s not. This must be the lady's room. That means there’s bound to be dresses or jewelry.)"
That logic was sound. However, given that most of those items were made from Hourai Island materials, it was highly questionable whether they would be correctly valued on the black market.
＊
("If they so much as touch Elsa-sama's belongings, it will be immediate execution.")
Harboring such cold thoughts, Laojun continued his observation.
＊
"(Man, it really does smell good. Is it perfume?)"
The fragrance was actually the lingering scent of Elsa's favorite citran-scented aroma candles.
The aromatic oil had been extracted from citran peels via Extraction and blended into beeswax.
Because the Craft Magic spells Add and Homogenize were used to blend the beeswax and citran oil, the resulting product was of a quality far beyond anything publicly available.
While most commercial products used similar-smelling herbs, Jin had used actual citran peels, which had lower volatility.
Because of this, the scent lingered for an exceptionally long time—even though more than a month had passed since the candle was last lit, the intruders could still clearly perceive the fragrance.
As a result, these prototype aroma candles were used only in Elsa's personal chambers.
"(Noblewomen really do smell like flowers.)"
Holding thoughts that bordered on the voyeuristic, the two continued to case Elsa's room.
Thus far, they had only observed and had not yet touched anything.
＊
("I believe this is the appropriate moment. If they were to soil Elsa-sama's room, I would certainly face My Lord's displeasure... ‘Paralyze.’")
＊
"(This looks like the bedroom. There might be some valuables in... eh?)"
"(I've always wanted to see what a noblewoman's bedroom looked... like...?)"
With those final thoughts, the two thieves quietly lost consciousness.
＊ ＊ ＊
"...And that is the sequence of events. I have since performed a meticulous Deodorant, Cleanup, and Sterilization of every location they traversed."
Laojun's report came to an end.
"I see. And then you stripped the unconscious thieves, bound them up, and dumped them in front of the Security Guard station."
"Yes. And of course, I used Amnesia to Erase their memories of ever entering the mansion."
"Eh?"
"They intruded upon My Lord's room and Elsa-sama's room; it was the only logical course of action."
"We-well, I suppose so. Good work."
"Furthermore, I have extracted their 'thief knowledge,' which I intend to utilize to bolster our future security protocols."
Laojun sounded immensely proud of himself.