The Mansion Awaits Spring - Chapter 110

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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Chapter 110
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Kritz, an investigator with the Special Investigation Headquarters 3rd Division, clicked her tongue as she stared at the enormous Large Bag that was making even the powerfully built Irsa groan under its weight.
“That’s outright theft.”
“It’s fine. April’s been robbed so much that she won’t even blink at this.”
“Did you really just say that? After the way April forgave the sailors, and you’re stealing again!”
“She didn’t forgive them. She’s tolerating it because they’re useful. That’s the mindset of someone who’ll make real money, and I’m just the kind of person who’ll rob a bit and die in an inn somewhere.”
Bickering the entire way, the two of them arrived at the region where moonshine was produced.
It was the liquor that had caused consecutive deaths throughout the Empire, but here in the Grand Duchy of Dieusz, it was merely commonplace and traditional—one of many ordinary spirits.
Beyond that, there was nothing remarkable about the place. They still drew groundwater from springs beneath the earth to make their alcohol, but ever since its manufacture and sale were forbidden, the village’s economy had suffered severe stagnation.
Kritz’s expression twisted at the sight of the neglected streets, so revolting in their decay. Skeletal rats lay scattered across the roads.
“If what they’re making here is being consumed, it should be killing people?”
At Kritz’s words, Irsa nodded.
“Exactly. That’s why I smuggle it out and sell it. This wasn’t just sustaining one village—it fed the entire region. But then all these Empire folks started dying after drinking it, so they just banned it outright.”
“I see.”
At that moment, a few children from the village who had spotted Irsa came walking over.
“Irsa!”
“Hey.”
Irsa handed out the provisions she’d brought to children whose faces had turned yellowish from prolonged hunger, saying as she did so:
“Divide it fairly among yourselves. I stole it.”
Watching Irsa stuff the sailors’ provisions into her bag without restraint—a sight that had infuriated Kritz up until now—she finally understood why she had acted that way.
This region could only avoid annihilation if sailors smuggled things in and if moonshine was sold illegally. That was the kind of place it was.
Kritz resolved to do whatever she could to help and headed toward where the groundwater emerged.
She collected enough water for proper testing and, borrowing a nearby cottage that Irsa pointed out, began examining the water on the spot.
That research continued until late night, when Irsa returned after making a sweep through the village.
Irsa had urged the veteran sailors in the village to take work aboard a Trade vessel.
Every sailor knew that the odds of safely traveling trade routes that had been completely severed while aboard a Clipper were less than fifty-fifty.
But the wages Irsa offered were substantial enough to deliberate seriously about, weighing against the danger.
After recruiting sailors and returning, Irsa opened the door and asked Kritz:
“Learn anything?”
…….
“Kritz.”
When Irsa tapped her lightly, Kritz, who had been frozen in place, lifted her head.
She looked up at Irsa with a face drained entirely of color.
“Did you find something or not?”
……I can’t tell you this, Irsa.”
“What?”
“If you learn this, we’ll all die. Pejin will kill every one of us.”
……Even April?”
“Yes. If anything, if he can’t bring himself to kill April, it’ll only make things worse. So you absolutely cannot know. Under no circumstances. Whatever happens…….”
Kritz fell silent and returned her gaze to the experimental results.
She had discovered that the groundwater contained the same compounds found in a well inside the Lunos Grand Residence—one that the Previous Household Head and his wife had sealed and no longer used.
Both substances were easily identifiable. They were the Liquid Fuel used by the Empire.
Those who drank excessive amounts of this moonshine exhibited symptoms similar to those who had died when the Fog appeared: difficulty breathing, and frequent bleeding from facial orifices.
Because she had discovered identical compounds in these two locations, both of which seemed closely related to the Fog, Kritz arrived at a singular conclusion.
The probability was high.
No—more than high.
In truth, had Kritz not been a scientist, had she been someone who could completely rule out remaining possibilities, she would already be certain of this conclusion.
That the Death Fog now afflicting the Grand Duchy of Dieusz was connected to the Empire’s fuel extraction process.
* * *
Though the place was called the Twin Mountains, to anyone unfamiliar with it, distinguishing which mountain was which would have been virtually impossible.
Shaper, standing on a cliff’s edge, muttered candidly:
“……They all look the same?”
To which Pejin, training his Rifle on their backs, replied:
“Most things probably look the same to you.”
“What’s that supposed to mean? Are you insulting me? Huh?”
As Shaper immediately made to grab Pejin by the collar, April chided them both:
“Stop fighting, would you? I can’t tell if I brought two adults or if I brought Hannah and Fred. Those kids at least don’t fight.”
At her remark, Pejin spoke:
“They don’t not fight—Hannah just lets it go. You can’t fight with someone that perceptive.”
Unlike April, who had spent a long time without contact with others, Pejin had encountered far too many people.
To April’s mind, Pejin sometimes seemed to understand Hannah and Fred better than she herself did, though she lived with them.
April found that fact displeasing, but when she noticed what Pejin was concentrating on, she asked:
“What are you staring at so intently?”
“I don’t know yet. I’ll find out soon.”
Shaper, turning in the same direction as Pejin, asked:
“Is something there?”
“Be quiet.”
Pejin spoke, focusing his senses.
April noticed Sebio’s body trembling and murmured:
“He’s apparently a scarier opponent than Shaper.”
“Did you bring me out here just to mock me? Be honest.”
“Shut up, Shaper.”
Pejin spoke without turning around, and Shaper complained in frustration:
“Why do you keep telling only me to be quiet? April said something too.”
“You’re not close enough. Call me Lunos.”
“Is that what matters right now? This is driving me crazy, Jin…….”
Shaper, in his exasperation, stopped mid-word and immediately raised his gun. Bursting through the dense trees came a tiger.
Pejin trained his Rifle on the tiger without a hint of levity, and the tiger slowly emerged from the forest, watching them intently.
Pejin did not shoot. He was confident he could hit the tiger, but he wasn’t certain he could kill it in a single shot. It had come far too close.
Pejin had been thinking that something felt wrong with his own state since just moments ago.
Had he been his normal self, he would have pulled the trigger without hesitation. There was no need to worry about the tiger surviving and attacking again. He was marksman enough for that not to be a concern.
But now he could not. He didn’t want to take even the slightest risk.
He could not help but realize that in this moment, there was someone beside him whom he absolutely needed to protect.
When she shattered, his own soul would shatter with her. In that urgent moment, he felt it with brutal clarity.
Shaper’s hands were shaking badly.
Now that he thought about it, Sebio’s reaction seemed almost brave by comparison. There was little difference between this hunting dog and himself. Yet the dog’s frame was so much larger.
The tiger before them seemed to weigh more than double the combined weight of the three humans. He knew such beasts existed in the world, yet he had never truly grasped it until now.
Until now, tigers had seemed to Shaper like creatures of fantasy—dragons and unicorns. If you’ve never seen something with your own eyes, what real difference is there between such things?
In such a situation, he found himself relying on Pejin, who displayed not the slightest tremor.
How could he not be afraid?
Shaper thought that on the day he was arrested by the police, had he been in any decent condition, he might have beaten Pejin in a fistfight. But not now.
There was no way he could lose to himself.
Rather, the reason he’d felt they were evenly matched in that fight was probably because Pejin hadn’t fought with his life on the line. Shaper realized it now.
The tiger paid attention to nothing around it, focusing solely on Pejin.
The beast knew it too. Who the real danger was here.

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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