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Chapter 29
‘C‑crazy.’
Why are they here already?!
I didn’t think they’d come this fast!
Bang—!
“?!”
The ventilation cover that had been barely wedged in place fell down.
“Hey!”
R‑run!
There wasn’t even time to close the cover and leave. If I got caught, the entire plan would be completely ruined.
‘And it wouldn’t just be ruined.’
Lady Odilon could slip out safely, but I couldn’t—I hadn’t even joined up with her yet.
If I were caught, I’d be dragged straight before Xavier, and whether I’d come out alive again would be the real question.
“An intruder! There’s an intruder!”
A fierce shout rang out. Beyond the open ventilation shaft, multiple footsteps thundered—thud thud thud!
‘If I get caught, I’m really screwed.’
With only that resolve, I crawled desperately through the narrow space. But veterans were veterans. Even though I was moving as fast as I could, the speed at which they were gaining on me was no joke.
“There he is! Get him!”
“!”
My vision suddenly flared bright. The guys chasing me had shone lantern light inside.
‘Damn it.’
I clenched my teeth and pushed forward. At this point, there was nothing else to do but run—no matter what—like my life depended on it.
There was no way an ordinary civilian could handle several of those sneaky bastards at once.
After crawling like that for a long while—
‘Light…!’
At last, I saw hope.
But even seeing light, I couldn’t just open it and rush out. It was possible that they’d already received a signal and were waiting ahead.
Before exiting through another vent, I checked my surroundings through the old bars.
It seemed to connect to some kind of room, but fortunately, I didn’t sense any presence.
After glancing once toward the back where rough footsteps were approaching, I struck the rusted bars hard with my hand, without hesitation.
Bang, bang!
‘Damn it, why won’t it open!’
Because of the opera house’s ventilation design, there were no nails driven in.
It had been designed so that if someone became trapped due to a fire, this vent opening could be used as a final emergency exit. That’s why nails that would have long been hammered in elsewhere didn’t exist here at all.
However, the cover—having gone unopened for far too long—had become stiff and showed no intention of opening.
I kept punching hard, not even realizing that blood was running from the scraped skin on the back of my hand.
And after hitting it several more times with full force—
Bang—!
With a harsh metallic sound, the cover tumbled to the floor.
“There! There’s light over there!”
One of the group that had been chasing her for a long time shouted. In the pitch-dark interior, the only light they’d found clearly meant an exit.
“The moment we’re out, seize them. It’s an intruder—if the situation isn’t favorable, execute immediately!”
“Yes!”
“Yes!”
The ones following shouted in unison. An intruder, at such a critical time of all times. If that person were to find out…
The one in the lead shook his head sharply.
‘Absolutely not!’
Things were already tense enough as it was… If they irritated them further, there was no telling what kind of punishment they’d suffer.
But after chasing so hard—
“W‑what is this?!”
They had no choice but to panic when they emerged into a small storage room.
“W‑why won’t the door open?!”
Click, click.
No matter how much they grabbed and shook it, no matter how much they pulled down on it, the door wouldn’t open.
It was the same when another guy tried.
But there was a good reason the door wouldn’t budge, even when pushed with all their strength.
In front of the door stood—
“B‑break it down! Break the door down, now!”
A cabinet taller than a man was planted firmly there.
“…Ugh.”
Having barely escaped, I hid myself in a secluded spot. If I’d been even a little later, I would’ve been caught without a chance to do anything.
By sheer luck, I’d managed to escape before they came out.
I happened to emerge into an opera house corridor, so in a hurry, I shoved a nearby cabinet all the way up against the door.
Moving something that heavy in one go—guess it really is true that people display superhuman strength in a crisis.
But in exchange for not being caught, I’d gloriously sacrificed my body. I looked down at my stinging hands.
I’d somehow endured punching the bars like an idiot, but of all things, there were splintered wooden parts sticking out all over the storage cabinets.
Getting scratched and scraped by those, my hands were now covered in cuts and dried blood.
After painfully pulling out the splinters embedded in the center of my palm, I shook my burning hand in the air.
‘Still, better than getting caught.’
Finding meaning in the fact that I was still alive, I surveyed my surroundings.
Tap tap, tap—.
Urgent footsteps followed one after another.
“What’s all this noise? An intruder? How’d they get in?”
“Seems like they came in through the underground… If they’re moving through the vents, they must know the structure of this place well.”
“Attend to the VIPs properly. We’ll catch this one quietly and deal with it ourselves.”
‘Because it can’t cause a disturbance, I suppose.’
Eavesdropping on their conversation, I clicked my tongue softly.
‘I’ll have to move even more carefully.’
With security tightened, I couldn’t afford to move recklessly anymore.
‘If I go out like this, I’ll get caught.’
They were already moving through the corridor. Going out now would be like advertising myself for capture.
‘If only I knew what floor this was.’
I’d fled in such a hurry that I hadn’t even properly checked where I was.
If this was where the storage rooms were, then roughly between the 3rd and 4th floors…
‘Not the 2nd floor.’
The auction was being held on the 2nd floor. If this were there, a lot more people would be moving around. There was no way a place where auction items were constantly coming and going would be this quiet—so it had to be either the 3rd or 4th floor.
‘Wait.’
As my guesses piled up, one thought suddenly flashed through my mind.
‘How many doors were there?’
The door I came out of was at the very end of the corridor, so…
‘After that, I saw one… two—.’
And… was there one more?
‘Damn it, I can’t remember!’
This is driving me crazy!
On the building plans I’d memorized to death, the 3rd floor had a total of four doors. The 4th floor had three.
Which floor this was depended on how many doors I remembered seeing.
‘C‑calm down. Think.’
I took a light deep breath, then retraced the path I’d taken once more. I’d come out in such a frenzy, but I had to recall it somehow.
Because my entire route of movement would change depending on it.
If this was the 4th floor, I could go straight to meet the lady. If it was below, I’d have to climb another floor, meaning I’d need an even more thorough plan.
‘The door I came out of—one, two, three—.’
After running straight like that—
‘And I turned the corner right away.’
Besides, when I’d climbed through the vents, it had felt more and more like I was going uphill.
At that moment, I clamped both hands tightly over my mouth to suppress a scream.
‘This is it.’
The 4th floor.
The place where Lady Odilon was.
‘This is insane, seriously…’
If anything, this made things easier. All I had to do was find the door to the side room where Lady Odilon was.
‘As much as I want to call the knights right now—’
Not yet. We had to strike at the exact moment the final item was brought up at the auction—when everyone had gathered in one place.
I’d already memorized the layout anyway, so I roughly knew where the lady would be.
‘Once it clears out just a little, I’ll move right away—’
At that moment—
“Mmph?!”
My mouth was covered.
