There were several magical tools that were useful in everyday life, such as thermostats, and one of them was the 'lighting device', which was responsible for lighting.
It required much less mana than the temperature control device, so it could be used freely even in Leopold's Duchy, where the barrier was located.
However, when the light went out, it meant that the lighting device was turned off.
The person who turned off the lighting device was Perdes.
“You all might fall, so don’t move.”
"Shit. Why did the lights suddenly go out?”
“Didn’t you leave an emergency candle?”
The workers suddenly found themselves in the dark, unable to see an inch in front of them, and were confused.
“Miss, are you okay?”
“You’re not hurt, are you?”
In the midst of this, strangely enough, there were employees who cared about me.
"It's okay."
For now.
I stood guard in front of the restaurant door to make sure no one left the restaurant and kept a keen eye on the darkness.
If anyone here is the culprit who brought a new drug to Perdes' bedroom, their hands will be covered in a luminous substance that will make them glow in the dark.
Even if I couldn't find it, it would have been normal if someone around me had found it and asked what it was.
“It’s so dark I don’t know where the candles are!”
“At least draw the curtains.”
“Today is a day without the moon, so it won’t be of any use.”
However, no matter how much I looked around and waited, I could not find any luminous material or hear anyone seeing it.
Are there any criminals among the employees?
It was fortunate.
Paat-
“Oh, the light is on.”
About 5 minutes later, the lights came back on in the restaurant. The workers were relieved and looked at me at the same time.
I was relatively used to receiving people's attention, but it felt a little burdensome to have over a hundred eyes looking at me at the same time.
“I feel like I’ve disturbed you for no reason, so I’ll leave now. Everyone enjoy your meal.”
I finished with a simple smile and quickly left the restaurant.
The next destination was the Knights' dormitory restaurant.
In about 15 minutes from now, the lights in the cafeteria of the knights' dormitory would be turned off, so we hurriedly headed there.
I also asked Sir Aldor to gather all the servants and knights within the Order to the dining hall.
“Ah, Lady.”
“What are you doing here, Young Lady?”
When I suddenly appeared in the knights' cafeteria, the knights were a little surprised but greeted me warmly.
“I’m here because I have something to say to Lord Aldor, so don’t worry about it, everyone, and eat.”
I sat next to Lord Aldor, who was eating calmly and asked in a low voice.
“Everyone is here, right?”
"Yes. Everyone came together, no one left out.”
"Great."
The officials had been sent out in advance so as not to be disturbed, so all they had to do was check here and check everything.
Since the culprit wasn't there, he must be here.
I thought so.
Paat-
After a while, no matter how much I looked around the restaurant with the lights off, I couldn't find anything shining.
***
I prepared an ambitious trap, but I was a little discouraged by the fact that I couldn't salvage anything.
I was also curious.
If the Duke's residence and the knights and knights' quarters aren't the culprits, then who is the culprit?
There was a person in management who did not leave work, so I checked the daily attendance list to see if that person was the culprit.
During management, there was not a single person left in the mansion after 4 p.m.
Everyone was happy with my order to leave work early and left work as soon as 4 o'clock.
Is there a culprit among the five people who went out and have not yet returned?
I immediately checked the outing list. Among the five people who went out was Jack.
I thought I could rule out Jack, but you never know.
Not wanting to leave even the slightest suspicion, I asked Hannes and Sarah to send them to me as soon as they returned.
While I was checking to see if I missed anything, Perdes came to see me.
“Have you had any income?”
As I silently shook my head, Perdes sighed softly.
“It’s not easy to find the culprit.”
“You applied the glow-in-the-dark material to the inner door handle, right?”
“If you have any doubts, do you want to go check for yourself?”
“I’m not suspicious, I’m just asking to confirm.”
"I know. I was just saying that too.”
Perdes sat on the sofa and clenched his chin crookedly.
“Seeing as they immediately brought the same medicine that the Emperor gave them, there is clearly a culprit in the mansion, but where on earth is he hiding?”
"Well."
“Isn’t it possible that the criminal is a wizard and is just using teleportation or something?”
“There’s no way something like that would be possible.”
Even though I was unfamiliar with the magic, I knew very well how difficult teleportation was.
"I know. I was joking because the atmosphere was a bit serious.”
Perdes shrugged his shoulders.
“By the way, that’s what the magic tool that generates electricity looks like. It was my first time seeing it.”
“It must be in the imperial palace, right?”
Is it just the imperial palace? Electric magic tools were common items that could be obtained as long as you had money, so most noble families had one.
“There is, but I don’t really have a chance to go there.”
Ah, I guess so.
The magic tools are kept hidden so that only those involved can touch them.
“I heard that you can’t use magic in Leopold’s territory because it’s impossible to use mana. I guess that’s not true?”
“It’s not that you can’t use it at all. It’s possible as long as you don’t operate a large amount of mana like a mana amplification train.”
“It’s a shame. If that were possible, we could have developed further than we are now.”
“It’s a bit inconvenient, but it’s relatively safe because there are no magic-related accidents.”
In particular, the evil warlocks were not active.
Black magic was unconditionally blocked regardless of the size of the mana operation.
“So what are you going to do now?”
“What should I do? We have to try another way to find the surveillance station.”
“Is there another way?”
“It exists, but I won’t use it right away. If you keep doing strange things like this, the guards might notice.”
"But..."
Perdes nodded as if he understood what I meant.
At that time, a knock was heard.
“Excuse me, Lady.”
It was Jack. Perdes saw him and asked me.
“Did you call Jack?”
"Yes. I told all the employees who went out, including Jack, to send them to me when they return.”
Perdes immediately realized why I gave such an order and said as if it was absurd.
“You can exclude Jack.”
“The more important something is, the more exceptions you can make.”
"Still...”
“I checked everything, including Haness, Sarah, and Lord Aldor.”
Perdes swallowed what he wanted to say and kept his mouth shut.
Dissatisfaction was evident from the straight lines of the lips.
It was a procedure to confirm, not to specifically suspect Jack.
However, from Perdes's perspective, he felt bad enough. He would have done the same if it were him.
“Come here.”
I thought it would be better for both of us to end this sooner, so I motioned for Jack to come over here.
Perhaps sensing the unusual atmosphere between us, Jack hesitantly approached us.
“Hold out your hand.”
“Hands?”
"Yes."
Jack looked puzzled but obediently held out his hand.
As I was about to check his hands, Perdes approached me.
"I'll do it."
"Is it so."
It didn't really matter who checked, so I obediently backed out.
Perdes glanced at Jack with slightly apologetic eyes, then drew darkness onto his palm.
Jack went out before Perdes applied a glow-in-the-dark substance to the inside handle of the bedroom door.
When he returned to the mansion, he came straight to me, so there was no need to go to Perdes' bedroom.
Therefore, it was normal for there to be no luminous material on his palms.
“...!”
That's normal... Why is it buried?
Both I and Perdes looked at Jack in surprise.
"Jack...?”
Golden eyes fluttered aimlessly. It was the most agitated thing I had ever seen.
“What’s wrong?”
Jack anxiously asked if he thought that too.
I couldn't just ignore it as his palms were covered in luminous substances.
"I...”
I was about to ask Jack about something, but Perdes raised his hand and stopped me.
Is he going to ask him directly?
Interrogating someone you trusted was quite painful and difficult.
"I'll do it."
I didn't want to put that kind of burden on Perdes, but his will was so strong that I decided to just wait and see.
Perdes looked at Jack, who was still confused as if he didn't understand what was going on and then asked.
"Jack."
"Yes, Mr. Ferdes.”
“Did you buy what I asked for?”
"Sure. I left it with Haness for a while when I came here.”
"Why? You can leave it in my bedroom.”
“I was going to do that too, but Mr. Haness said I had to go right away because the Lady was looking for me, so I had no choice but to leave it to him and come straight here.”
Jack's words would mean he had never been to the bedroom, but that was a lie.
The evidence was the luminous substance on his hands.
Both I and Perdes looked at Jack's palm again.
Jack followed our gaze and looked at his palm, then tilted his head.
Luminous materials are only visible in the dark.
Even though it was a little sticky when you first applied it, over time, the stickiness completely disappeared and it looked like an ordinary palm with nothing on it.
“Both of you, why do you keep looking at my palms?”
So, from Jack's perspective, it was strange that we kept checking his palms.
From our perspective, it was strange that he had luminous substances on his palms.
If there is nothing wrong with it, he can answer honestly that he went to the bedroom.
No matter how much I thought about it, there was only one reason why he couldn't do that.
Jack, whom Perdes trusted and followed like a family member and friend, was the Emperor's watchdog.
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