She Professed Herself The Pupil Of The Wiseman (LN) - Volume 13 - Chapter 28

Chapter 28

“WE CAME TO INVESTIGATE all the noise, but it was just you, Spirit Queen. We heard about you—specifically, we heard that an exceptionally talented A-rank adventurer was lending us a hand. Wow! Judging from the racket, it must’ve been quite the battle,” the captain said, his eyes brimming with excitement as he set foot on the scene. This wasn’t Desmond but the captain of another troop. 

“You got caught in that smokescreen, huh? Well, who could’ve guessed he could escape like that?” 

This speaker was a man from the Cross-Border Judicial Force. As he addressed Mira, he stared into the distance toward where they’d last heard Fuzzy Dice’s voice before it faded. Because the man knew so much about the phantom thief, he looked shocked to see such an escape. 

At the same time, perhaps because the Cross-Border Judicial Force secretly conspired with the thief, he seemed to speak of Fuzzy Dice with a certain admiration. That said, he remembered to acknowledge Mira’s efforts.

“It’s quite impressive that you got as far as you did,” he noted. “A-rank adventurers really are astounding, huh?” 

“He was a tougher opponent than any I’ve ever faced,” Mira answered humbly before remembering the necklace in her hand. Fuzzy Dice had given it to her, and she figured she might as well ask the men about it. She showed them the necklace. “By the way, do you know anything about this…?”

“Whoa! That’s Eurus of the Silver Sky!” The Judicial Force agent’s eyes widened. 

The soldiers fidgeted; even the captain stared intently at the necklace with astonishment. “You recovered that from Fuzzy Dice?! That’s quite the find!” 

The moment he said that, the soldiers and Judicial Force agent began chattering about how Mira was now a billionaire, and how she’d virtually won the lottery. 

“Um…I don’t get it. Is this thing really that special?” Mira had thought it was just some trinket that Fuzzy Dice had tossed to her. Not really understanding all the fuss, she could only ask what exactly “Eurus of the Silver Sky” was. 

“It’s incredible that you recovered it without even knowing what it was… I’m impressed!” 

Seemingly even more shocked and fired up, the captain began giving her the details. Eurus of the Silver Sky, which she’d supposedly claimed from Fuzzy Dice, was an incredibly valuable treasure prized by the Dorres Company president. The jewels that it was set with, as well as the incredible workmanship with which it had been crafted, made it a work of art. Furthermore, the natural colors that graced it were in such perfect harmony that no one believed it could’ve been made by mortal hands. 

The necklace was meant to represent the stars shining in the night sky and was said to be imbued with the blessing of the God of Trade. It was apparently worth no less than three billion ducats. 

“Wow… Three billion?!” 

The starry “sky” in her hand cost an arm and a leg. Not only that, the Cross-Border Judicial Force agent elaborated, the necklace’s price would probably go up after the incident it’d just been involved in. The stuff about it containing the God of Trade’s blessing was no joke, but now that it’d been recovered from Fuzzy Dice by the famous Spirit Queen, its value was sure to rise. 

There was apparently also a legend that said whoever got their hands on the necklace would become one of the most successful merchants of their lifetime. That hadn’t just happened once or twice, but enough times that it couldn’t be written off as mere coincidence. The miraculous boons the necklace granted extended to trade routes as well. Companies in possession of it suffered very little damage from either bandits or monsters. 

And now, the necklace would be known for being recovered after its theft. That meant that if Mira put it up for sale, she’d immediately have dozens of company presidents on her doorstep making bids, he continued excitedly.

“Jeez, I’m jealous,” he remarked. “If I had three billion, I’d just spend the rest of my life having fun.” 

With that fortune, he could live in the lap of luxury. Despite being an agent of the Cross-Border Judicial Force appointed by the church, he let his imagination run wild just like anyone else. 

The captain, meanwhile, said, “I’d probably start a business.” 

He proceeded to detail his dream of marrying a woman whom he’d fatefully meet while he worked there. Hearing what their captain said, the soldiers laughed that he wouldn’t find anyone without making money first. 

“I was going to hire you guys as personal bodyguards. I sure as heck won’t now,” the captain retorted, miffed. 

The soldiers took back what they’d said, trying to smooth things over.

What a peaceful scene… Mira smiled indulgently to herself as she watched the men become impassioned as they talked about their fantasies. 

Then she suddenly started to feel uneasy. The captain and Cross-Border Judicial Force agent had both talked about Eurus of the Silver Sky as if they themselves owned it. But if what they said was true, Mira reflected, it was stolen. In that case, it was their duty to return it to its owner.

When she mentioned this, their responses were unexpected.

“That’s right. You’ve been chasing Fuzzy Dice this whole time, huh?” 

“So you wouldn’t have any way of knowing.” 

They explained what they meant: While Mira chased down Fuzzy Dice, a bunch of things had gone on behind the scenes, all related to the phantom thief’s evidence.

The church had carefully examined the evidence he’d left at the cathedral, uncovering the evil deeds that the Dorres Company had committed. Personnel had then immediately left to apprehend the president. After combining that evidence with what Fuzzy Dice had submitted to the Mages’ Guild, they’d opened a court case against the Dorres Company, and it had been ruled that the business would be dissolved. 

Furthermore, all its assets had been seized. The necklace had already been stolen at that point, though, and so it wasn’t subject to seizure. 

In other words, there was no longer a Dorres Company to which to return the necklace. So since Mira had recovered it from Fuzzy Dice, ownership had passed to her. 

“Wow… Really…?”

Without even knowing it, she’d come into possession of a treasure worth three billion ducats. Hearing that, Mira looked at the necklace and grinned triumphantly, amazed at her unexpected good fortune. Fantasies danced in her head as she thought about whether she should sell it or keep it and take advantage of the blessing of the God of Trade or whatever. 

Then a thought suddenly crossed her mind: Why had Lastrada given it to her when he did? What was he up to? 

After thinking that over for a moment, the answer came to her. More than anything, it had become clear upon seeing the soldiers’ and Cross-Border Judicial Force agent’s reactions.

Mira was an extremely skilled adventurer who’d managed to recover treasure from Fuzzy Dice. At least, they’d said as much. But what would they have said if Fuzzy Dice had just run off, never giving her anything? In that case, it would simply have looked like he’d escaped from her.

It was fair to say that they were old friends, and so he’d probably given her the necklace to help her save face. 

That was considerate of him. 

Understanding why she’d received Eurus of the Silver Sky, Mira thought she was obligated to be equally considerate. If she hadn’t shown up, Fuzzy Dice would’ve invested the money from selling that pendant into the futures of a host of poor orphanages. What she had to do was clear. 

“If this is really mine, then…I guess I’ll donate it to the church. Send the money to help the children in its orphanages.” 

As part of its charity work, the Church of the Trinity ran a large network of orphanages. Announcing that she wanted to donate the necklace’s value to that network, Mira handed it to the Cross-Border Judicial Force agent. 

“Are…are you serious?” 

With the necklace right in front of him, a clearly conflicted look rose on the agent’s face. The captain, for his part, was utterly speechless, looking at Mira as if she were insane. 

“I wouldn’t joke about something like this. Sorry to say it outright, but I’m not that hard up for money. And I’ve got no plans to start a business. If it really grants some boon from the God of Trade, it’d be better off with someone who can put it to good use, right?” Mira answered. She added that it might be a good idea to stipulate that whatever merchant ended up with the necklace also supply orphanages at a low price. 

“You really are serious, huh…? All right. Understood!” The Cross-Border Judicial Force agent took Mira at her word, but added that he couldn’t take the necklace at that moment. Suddenly, he declared, “If you plan to donate something this precious, we ought to have a donation ceremony at the cathedral!”

He insisted that he couldn’t possibly just accept this type of donation there, under such modest circumstances. He was intent on preparing a proper setting for Mira to donate the necklace directly to the archbishop, who happened to be in Haxthausen at that very moment. 

For the record, the agent’s sudden suggestion was half because he feared carrying something so valuable and absolutely wanted to avoid doing so. 

“Um…I’m not sure that’s really necessary…”

“No! We should go about this properly! Letting everyone know that you’re making such a large donation will deter anyone on the inside from trying to get their own cut.”

The moment Mira showed the slightest uncertainty, the agent doubled down. He might’ve worked for the church, but that didn’t stop him from readily suggesting that there were those inside the institution who would embezzle the funds as he very earnestly emphasized the importance of a donation ceremony. 

It’ll be such a pain, though. 

Those words entirely summed up Mira’s resistance to his idea. Lots of people, including herself, weren’t fans of such formal events. Furthermore, she’d have to stand opposite the archbishop, a high-ranking church official, at the ceremony. If at all possible, she really wanted to leave the necklace to the Cross-Border Judicial Force agent.

“All right, then, I’ll take my leave! And I’ll tell the archbishop your donation plans as soon as I can. It’ll probably take two or three days to prepare everything, so if you can come to the cathedral whenever you get a chance, that’d be great!” 

The agent must’ve guessed what Mira was thinking, since he quickly left after saying this, as if fleeing the scene. Before hurrying off, he finally added, “Ah—and I’ll just let him know that you might be coming.”

Might be coming. No doubt he said that just in case Mira had a change of heart. 

“This has become a whole dog and pony show…” But she wouldn’t rethink whether to donate the necklace, which meant they’d really have a ceremony. Eurus of the Silver Sky still in her hand, she sighed deeply and quickly shifted her gaze to the captain. 

Reading from Mira’s expression that she was practically begging him to donate the necklace in her stead, he took a couple steps backward. “Well…it’s about time I go back to give my report,” he said quickly, then added, “All right, then. Good luck with the ceremony.” 

He hurried off briskly, followed by the soldiers. They praised her generosity, chattering about how they expected nothing less of the Spirit Queen. 

After the agent and captain had fled—or rather left—Mira got the details on what’d happened in the underground waterway from Christina, who was still on the scene. 

“Hunh…I see. So it was that sort of place. Well, good work. Have a nice rest… Hm? What…? Oh. In that case, tell them that I said to take tomorrow off. Mm-hmm. No, I don’t mind.”

With those final words of praise, Mira dismissed Christina and reflected. While she’d been locked in her epic showdown with Fuzzy Dice, quite a lot had gone down in the underground waterway. 

“They really were hiding something criminal. Still, to think…” 

According to Christina, they’d followed Fuzzy Dice’s trail until they reached a stout iron door. Inside it, they found five suspicious-looking men and twelve bound children. They managed to neutralize the men quickly and recover all the kids unharmed. Interrogating the men had confirmed that the spot was a base of operations for human trafficking. In other words, Fuzzy Dice had led everyone there to bust the place. 

He escaped into that underground waterway specifically to uncover the trafficking base. Jeez… That’s so like him. Finally understanding Fuzzy Dice’s inexplicable behavior, Mira laughed at how little her old friend had changed. 

The owner of the mansion above the waterway’s entrance had been detained for questioning regarding his involvement in the trafficking, along with his staff. Christina said that, while they weren’t sure about the servants, the mercenaries agreed unanimously that the owner was absolutely a perpetrator.

“Well, that’s one case closed.” 

Fuzzy Dice’s work had exposed the evil deeds of both the Dorres Company and another nobleman. From his point of view, Mira was sure, this must’ve been a great success that went exactly according to plan. Mira also knew Fuzzy Dice’s identity now and had gotten her hands on the treasure known as Eurus of the Silver Sky. She’d get the details from Lastrada later. 

Although she now had to participate in a donation ceremony, Mira had managed to save twelve children that night. In high spirits, she mounted Pegasus and headed back to the city.