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Translator: Kazumi
Editor: Silavin
As Kousuke and Rein looked on, the inspection by the two Orders continued.
The inspection itself went smoothly, in contrast to the commotion at the gate.
Kousuke did not know what roles the two Orders usually played, but it seemed to be a task that they were accustomed to doing.
Rein had told him that the knights sometimes inspect goods, so they must be used to doing so.
The two groups were watching each other, not daring to make any strange movements.
Perhaps it would be more accurate to say that they could not, but the truth was unknown.
“We did not find anything unusual. We thank you for your cooperation in the investigation.”
The inspection of the luggage by the knights was concluded when a member of the First Order declared, “We found no abnormalities in the goods being transported”.
Perhaps he had no particular intention of framing them, he directly stated the results.
After the inspection, the warehouse was once again quiet.
“By the way, what did those knights want?” Rein tilted his head as Kousuke asked.
In front of them sat a box disguised as the goods to be sent to the royal family.
The real items were in Kouhi’s item box, so what was in the box in front of them was all fake.
However, the Knights did not attempt to inspect the contents of the box, although they did look at the exterior of the box.
No matter how many warrants were issued for the inspection, they probably would not have opened goods being offered to the royal family without permission.
“Maybe they really only intended to inspect the goods here?” It was Kousuke who asked that, since the knight who checked did not do anything else other than that.
As Kousuke and Rein both tilted their heads, advice came from Mitsuki, who had been listening in on their conversation.
“Isn’t it possible that the First Order wanted to inspect only the offered goods, instead of the entire collection?”
“…Ah?”
Kousuke reflexively was about to deny Mitsuki’s words, but halfway through, he understood what she meant.
“Are you saying that the First Order simply wanted to endorse that the offerings is genuine?”
“That’s right.”
Kousuke’s words made Rein look as if he understood.
Kousuke and the others had assumed that the First Order, which caused the initial commotion, was the mastermind, but in fact, the mastermind was the one who gave the order to the Third Order, which they thought had come to help them.
Since the First Order did have a warrant, the inspection would have been conducted without the Third Order’s involvement.
If the inspection was completed smoothly as it was, it would become an endorsement that the Knights’ inspection had been completed.
If the actions of the First Order were the handiwork of those who wanted to see that the item was successfully carried to the capital, it would be more than enough of an endorsement.
Furthermore, the Third Order, which arrived late, was not willing to have the First Order’s inspection complete, making them the ones who came to interfere.
The reason they intervened in the inspection of the First Order was to see if they could somehow do something with the inspection.
This was only Kousuke’s guess, but it might not be far from the truth.
“Hmmm. It’s certainly not inconceivable… ”
“Well, I guess there’s no point in worrying about it here. Anyway, we’ve successfully overcome the annoying situation.”
“That’s right.”
From the beginning, both Rein and Kousuke and the others have been unaware of the commotion associated with the royal offering.
They thought that all they had to do was to carry the goods safely to the royal capital.
To put it bluntly, it was not relevant to them what the two Orders were doing behind the scenes.
Kousuke and Rein, who had come to that conclusion, left the place with a relieved look on their faces.
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Midnight, on the day of the Order’s on-site inspection.
In the warehouse where the offering was placed, there was a blatantly suspicious figure.
The warehouse was more heavily guarded than usual because of the presence of the offering, but even so, the figure that had slipped through the security could be said to be quite skillful.
In fact, two guards were left lying beside the figure.
The one lying on the ground was the guard who was standing guard right next to the offering.
The fact that the two guards were knocked down instantly showed that the figure was a powerful person.
The merchant association that managed the warehouse was not skimping on the cost of the guards. They had hired adventurers of considerable ability. The fact that they were defeated instantly suggests that the attacker was exceptionally skilled.
The shadow was fidgeting for a while in front of the offering, but soon left the scene.
After a while, the two guards recovered from the shadow’s attack and hurriedly checked the offering, but were relieved to see that it was still in place.
Nevertheless, it was clear from their physical condition that they had been attacked in some way.
At first, they thought about deceiving their higher-ups, but eventually, they decided to report it with honesty.
The next morning.
Kousuke was leisurely washing his face and having breakfast when Rein, who was also looking relaxed, reported to him that the warehouse had been broken into last night.
The two were not panicking because they knew what was in the warehouse was not the real thing.
Incidentally, the only people who knew that Kouhi was keeping the real thing were Rein and Kousuke – and his group.
Therefore, when Rein appeared relaxed, the person in charge of security at the warehouse approached him with an angry look on his face.
“Why are you so relaxed when I reported that your goods got attacked!”
“Well, that did happen, but I also heard that the offering itself is safe, right?”
“That’s not the point!”
The person in charge of the case continued to complain to Rein for a while, as if he had not slept since receiving the report of the incident.
Meanwhile, Kousuke was conversing with Kouhi and Mitsuki a short-distance away.
“…Well, from the looks of it…”
“They’ve been replaced perfectly, right?”
“The whole case?”
“Yes.”
“I see, I see, It’s difficult to tell from the outside.”
The royal offering was placed in the same place as when the Knights inspected it yesterday, but it was entirely different from what was inside it yesterday. The person who broke in last night had replaced it with an identical case.
It was according to Kousuke’s prediction, and they even had a similar case to replace it.
Kousuke had asked Kouhi to identify the intruder in advance in case this would happen.
Incidentally, what the intruder took with him was a fake to begin with, so it was completely meaningless to think about it.
“We can chase after them, but what do we do?”
“Hmmm? Well, why don’t we just leave it with them? It’ll be quiet until we get to the Capital if this misunderstanding keeps up.”
Kousuke answered Mitsuki’s question in a relaxed tone.
If the mastermind who had been attacking their caravan so far thought that he had the real thing with this, it would make their travel much easier.
“Okay, I understand. So it’s okay to leave it alone?”
“Yeah.”
After briefly deciding on a plan for the future, Rein was finally done.
He had been pressured hard, or perhaps, right now, he ended up having a sour expression on his face.
He could not tell the inquirer about their plan, so he just kept listening to his complaints.
“They finally let me go…”
“Thank you for your hard work.” Kousuke and the others called out to Rein, who looked exhausted, as if to comfort him.
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