He had succeeded in planting and detonating the bomb at the construction site, just as promised to the client. He had even shouted the required slogan. But the great disaster he had anticipated did not occur.
So, he had fled.
"Huff, huff!"
He was panting, his breath catching in his throat. Even during his days as a combat mage, he had never run with such desperation. 'How did it come to this?'
The bomb had detonated. As expected, the construction site had been thrown into chaos. But no one had died.
The massive stone blocks that were collapsing had simply frozen in mid-air. He had never in his life seen such magic. Even the magical beasts on the northern front, who spat magic from their mouths, did not use it in such a way.
Fear washed over him. He felt that something in his life was going terribly wrong. Where exactly had his life gone wrong?
His days as a combat mage had been dreadful. They said any mage could endure it, but for him, that wasn't the case. So he deserted.
But the price of freedom was harsh. He had no choice but to kill the pursuers who came after him. 'Was desertion, was murder, the mistake?'
Afterward, he hid himself in the underworld. While he was barely surviving day to day, a man in a black robe came to him. 'Attack the Upperhills Foundation.'
The man handed him a heavy pouch of gold coins. At a glance, they were clearly not properly minted gold coins. Still, gold was gold.
He accepted the commission. 'Should I not have accepted the commission?'
Huff, huff!
He was so out of breath it felt like his lungs would burst. Up ahead, he could see the carriage he had prepared in advance. If he could just get on it... shove the money at the driver and scream for him to go...
It was the moment he reached for the carriage's door handle.
Crack!
The handle shattered before his eyes, sending fragments flying.
Thwack!
An unknown iron ball pierced the handle and slammed into the ground, kicking up dust.
"Wha, what...?"
Neigh~!
The startled horse tried to bolt. Before he could even grasp what had happened, he froze. His body stopped moving.
He needed to run, but his body wouldn't obey. It was because of mana. A mana so powerful it pressed down on his entire body.
'What is this...!' He struggled to move his eyes and identify the source of the mana. Far away, on a low hill near the construction site.
A small child standing there was controlling the mana. It felt as if the entire sky was crushing him.
Creak. Crack.
His body gradually lowered to the ground.
Crushed. Collapsing.
In the end, he couldn't even breathe properly.
"Gah...! Kkh!"
His vision began to blur. Just before losing consciousness, he realized. It wasn't that he shouldn't have accepted the commission.
It wasn't that he shouldn't have deserted. It was just that everything had been wrong from the very beginning.
I stopped shooting. I had planned to disable the carriage with the first shot and aim for his Achilles tendon with the second... But there was no need to fire the second iron ball.
Because Anna had already taken down the culprit. I turned my head to look at Anna. Anna was glaring at the fallen culprit without a word.
"Little sister. Are you okay? You weren't scared?"
"Yes. I'm okay."
Anna looked down at the ruined construction site, suppressing her anger.
Anna said.
"I'm just... angry. Because of that person... the workers almost died."
That made sense. There was no way Anna would be surprised or frightened by something like this. After the war, being a test subject... she had been through so much.
Still, my hand moved to Anna's back.
Pat, pat.
I patted Anna's back. Even anger needs comfort. A moment later, Anna and I approached the workers.
"Is everyone alright? Is anyone hurt?"
All eyes turned to me.
"Thank you, hero! You saved us!"
"You probably hear this every day, but thank you!"
"How can we ever repay this kindness..."
They kept bowing, which made me uncomfortable. This incident probably happened because of me, after all. I said to the workers.
"It's alright. As long as no one was hurt, that's what matters."
At my words, Anna also bowed her head to the workers.
"Please build our foundation strong and sturdy."
"Oh! Of course. You can count on us!"
I asked a few of them to call for the capital guard. Then, Anna and I examined the unconscious culprit. Anna hadn't used any magic in this incident.
She had simply moved pure mana to crush the culprit. Mana, before it becomes magic, has no physical force, but a mage's consciousness doesn't perceive it that way. It must have felt like being plunged into the deep sea.
It's a method of subdual that would be difficult for a mage to counter. ... What kind of method is this?
"Little sister."
"Yes?"
"Let's keep the fact that you can use mana this way a secret from others."
"Okay."
Anna readily agreed. A moment later, Anna spoke.
"But why would this person do such a thing?"
"Do you remember what he said after detonating the bomb?"
"Yes. The movement of the stars is within the providence of God."
"That's a doctrine the theological faction put forward during the old debate on planetary motion."
Anna's eyes widened.
"Then, don't tell me..."
"That's right. It seems they're angry because we're researching orbits."
"They'd try to kill people over something like that?"
There was nothing I could say to that. In this world's history, mages had also killed theologians over this very issue. About an hour later, the Capital Guard and people from the Magical Investigation Bureau arrived at the scene.
"Huff, huff..."
"Are you alright?!"
I asked them as they ran up.
"... How did you get here so quickly?"
For a pre-modern era with no telephones, the response was too fast. I thought it would take half a day. In response to my question, a young investigator from the Magical Investigation Bureau named Jonathan answered.
"We received a direct call from the Magic Tower. The Dean said a peculiar mana reaction was detected near you, Sir Upperhills."
"... Oh. I see."
The Dean is amazing. How did she know? Even after we introduced ourselves, Investigator Jonathan kept staring at me.
"Why are you staring at me like that?"
"Oh, no. It's just... I was actually the one who investigated the Malakai and Cayenne Winterheart cases."
"Aha. So we've crossed paths before."
"I was surprised. You look much gentler than I expected."
"... Well, what did you expect?"
"To be honest, I thought you'd look like a Wind Mage."
Investigator Jonathan glanced at the unconscious culprit and tilted his head.
"But... how did you subdue him? There are no external injuries at all."
"That's..."
I couldn't just reveal Anna's ability. I gave a vague answer.
"I subdued him with a new magic I'm researching. I'll publish a paper on it when the time is right, so you can check then."
Will this excuse work? Jonathan stared at my face and nodded.
"I see. I should have expected as much."
What?
He bought it that easily?
Jonathan continued.
"Understood. We'll take custody of the culprit then."
The people from the bureau dragged the culprit away. Now, only Anna, myself, and the Capital Guard members were left at the scene. The guards were looking at me, trying to read my expression.
One of them, Marcus, approached me.
"We're sorry, Sir Upperhills. We should have protected you properly..."
"No, it's fine. This is outside the capital."
"But you helped us when we were in danger..."
Just then, Anna joined the conversation.
"It's okay, Mister Marcus."
"... Really?"
"Yes. It's really okay. No one was hurt."
Anna's voice had returned to its usual calm tone. It seemed she had quickly composed her anger.
Marcus said.
"... Even so, it was a mistake to focus our security only within the capital."
I flinched at Marcus's words. If it's dangerous outside the capital... does that mean my workshop, too?
You bastards!
You can't do that!
"Mister Marcus! Please come with me to my workshop, quickly!"
"Huh? Yes!"
Marcus, without knowing what was going on, agreed to accompany me. We climbed into a guard carriage equipped with a suspension. I shouted to the driver.
"As fast as you can, please!"
After racing at a frantic speed, we arrived at the workshop to find the situation was already over. In a good way, of course. Tobin and Callen had two assailants tied up tightly with ropes.
I met their eyes.
"Wow! Sir Isaac! It's been a while!"
Callen smiled brightly.
"Look at you, only showing your face when things get this bad."
Tobin said sarcastically. I had been a little neglectful lately. Still, nothing much had changed.
The people were the same, and the equipment was intact.
Phew.
I said to the two of them.
"I was worried, but I'm glad you're okay."
Tobin chuckled and said.
"Those guys set off a bomb, but it was so weak it only managed to scratch the workshop."
If it had detonated properly, it would have collapsed. The terrorists' bomb quality must have been quite poor. That's just how the pre-modern era is.
It was a great relief for me. Callen answered right after.
"The men from the quarry next door caught them when they tried to run away."
The people from the quarry where Doloren had taken stones without permission. It was a good thing I compensated them properly back then. 'Since the terror attacks on both places failed, will things be quiet for a while...?'
I had put out the immediate fire, but the future was the problem. The most important thing is always preventing a recurrence.
But I didn't mean for it to go this far... The head of the Magical Investigation Bureau, whom I had only seen in portraits. The guard captain of the capital.
That problem child, no, school head Doloren. The Great Mage Valerius. And on top of that, the Dean and the princess.
At the meeting held the day after the attack, it seemed like almost every powerful figure in the capital was present, short of His Majesty the Emperor himself. They're going this far for my personal terror incident? It's touching, but... don't they have work to do?
I stood there blankly with Anna in front of all those people. The princess approached me and asked with a worried expression.
"Are you hurt anywhere, Isaac?"
"No, Your Highness. I am fine."
"That's a relief. I should have been more careful. It was my oversight."
"Not at all. I have already received more than enough of Your Highness's grace."
Thanks to the princess's insane marketing, money was practically printing itself in my bank account. A lump sum is nice, but a cash cow is even better. The princess smiled at my words.
"Thank you, always."
The princess guided me to the seat next to her. I was on pins and needles. The Dean was sitting directly in front of me, and her eyes kept meeting Anna's. ...
I know that look. It's the look of someone who's found a new toy, no, a rare talent. I guess it can't be helped, since she was admitted to the academy at the top of her class.
Anna tugged on my sleeve and whispered.
"Brother, is something wrong?"
"... Little sister. If someone tries to tempt you into graduate school, don't follow them."
"Huh?"
Soon, the reports began. The guard captain spoke to the princess.
"The culprits showed no signs of having infiltrated the capital. It seems they never intended to enter the capital from the start, and were targeting Sir Upperhills's properties located outside the city."
"Troublesome."
The princess's gaze turned to the head of the Magical Investigation Bureau.
"What are the results of the interrogation?"
"My apologies, but the investigation is delayed because the culprits committed their crime without using magic."
"A mage committed the crime, but didn't use magic?"
"Yes. All attacks were carried out with bombs using black powder. We are currently focusing on identifying the location of the town where they received the bombs."
"Report immediately if you find anything else."
When the report was over, the princess turned to me and asked.
"Sir Upperhills. Do you have any suspicions about who might be behind this?"
"I do."
The words of the head of the Magical Investigation Bureau just now made it certain. To ask a mage to carry out a terrorist attack and then forbid them from using magic... Those pseudo-religious fanatics must really hate mages.
I spoke to everyone in the meeting room.
"Does anyone happen to remember the debate over the principles of planetary motion?"
"Well, vaguely..."
Judging by the reactions, it seemed half the people knew and half didn't. Just then, the Dean opened her mouth.
"Ah. So it was their doing."
"... You know of them?"
"I lived through that era myself."
The Dean explained in my stead. When the explanation was finished, the princess tilted her head.
"It's surprising enough that a group that only appears in history books still exists... but why now of all times?"
It's probably because of the 'elliptical orbit' problem I proposed. But it would be a shame to stop there. I might as well take care of my own business while I'm at it.
I said to the princess.
"Actually, it's because I'm writing a new paper."
At my words, Valerius muttered.
"... You wrote another one?"
"Yes. It's a paper that mathematically explains planetary orbits, so I believe they've risen up because of it."
"... So that's why this happened."
"Should I postpone the publication until the culprit is caught?"
The princess answered immediately.
"No." "Publish the paper on schedule. We will block any physical threats, no matter what it takes."
Just as planned, I secured free protection. I asked the princess again.
"Anna Upperhills, who is beside me, will be a co-author. Could I ask for protection for her as well?"
"Of course. The Empire does not yield to fear."
"Thank you."
Yes, this is how it should be. You should never negotiate with terrorists. Just quietly taste the might of universal gravitation, you losers of the era.