The Mansion Awaits Spring - Chapter 62

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

Chapter 62
Shaper, who had never been overpowered by force throughout his growing years, felt a rare pressure. At the same time, his competitive spirit surged.
Among the soldiers, none could match him in raw strength. And so Shaper, moved by something close to instinct, accepted this as a territorial dispute between the military and the police.
Shaper released his grip and threw a punch at Pejin’s face, and the sudden blow sent Pejin’s body staggering.
Pejin spat out blood pooling in his mouth from the force of Shaper’s strength, then muttered under his breath.
“What did I do to deserve that?”
“Don’t play coy.”
As Shaper spoke and threw another punch, Pejin immediately pulled a gun from inside his coat and fired into the air.
Shaper ignored the signal to stop and lunged at Pejin.
What followed was a brawl. The two grappled and traded holds, each trying to overpower the other through sheer force, but they were so evenly matched that neither could gain a decisive advantage.
Dust rose up inside the vast warehouse where the escort carriage sat waiting.
Shaper was born a fighter, and he welcomed this wall he had rarely encountered. Both men threw themselves at each other with killing intent, rolling through the dust, and though both felt their bodies reaching their limits, neither thought of stopping.
Just then, police officers from Special Investigation Headquarters who had heard Pejin’s gunshot came running and all at once trained their weapons on Shaper.
“Both of you, stop this instant!”
Paul shouted, but neither man obeyed.
At that moment, Logan immediately fired at the space between the two, and the bullet grazed past them both.
Only then did the two men stop fighting, and in that moment of hesitation, their bodies gave out all at once—they realized their entire frames had been held up by willpower alone—and they collapsed to the ground.
At the sight of Logan calmly firing at two men bleeding a bright, pure blue, Paul clicked his tongue in disbelief.
“I knew you weren’t in your right mind, but not to this degree.”
To Paul’s astonished yet admiring remark, Logan tipped his hat in a mock bow.
When Paul approached, he found Pejin covered in dust, sweat, and blood, breathing heavily.
Paul examined both men’s faces with objective eyes and spoke.
“This looks like a draw to me.”
At that, the other officers crowded in to check on both men’s condition. They had been subtly enjoying the spectacle of the fight.
“By any measure, Commissioner Pejin won, didn’t he? He’s bleeding less.”
“Well, Shaper only just arrived after collapsing from the fog. If he’d been in top condition, he probably would have won.”
“We should judge by what happened now. By that logic, if they’d settled it fairly by shooting, the commissioner would have just won outright, wouldn’t he?”
“That’s true, but…”
While the officers debated who had won, both Pejin and Shaper were desperately trying to get to their feet first.
Pejin, who rose slightly ahead of Shaper, let out an irritable sigh and then picked up a gun brought by one of the officers, aiming the barrel at Shaper’s heart.
“I didn’t know you’d still be so immature at twenty-five.”
“Are you in league with April Lunos? There’s no other way you’d have dragged me to the police station just for searching that witch’s house.”
“The police exist to protect the law. If someone commits breaking and entering, it’s my job to apprehend them, regardless of the location.”
“Spare me the difficult words. You’re going to have to let me go eventually anyway, so why not just do it now?”
“I’ll let you go when the time comes.”
Pejin replied and had Shaper’s wounds treated. At the very least, immediate care might spare him less scolding from Devin Meyer later.
After arranging treatment for Shaper, Pejin himself went straight to the showers, washed up, and changed into fresh clothes. The fight in the dust had left both his body and garments in terrible condition.
He found himself wishing a day off would come soon.
* * *
The Imperial Palace in the Rasa Empire was quietest in the early part of the year.
The heightened mood of late year had subsided to an extreme, and within the palace hung only the composed atmosphere of blessing the new year.
The Imperial Palace was not particularly cold even in its natural state, but since the Empress, Emily Lilihil, was quite sensitive to cold, heating systems were installed that kept her comfortable even in a thin dress alone.
Emily, seated at a small table for the imperial couple within the palace, raised her teacup and spoke to her husband, August Lilihil.
“It feels empty without Pejin. If he were here, he’d be complaining about every little thing by now and finding fault with the food.”
At her words, August broke into laughter.
“That’s quite true.”
The couple recalled the boy who always sat with furrowed brows.
Always wearing an expression that nothing pleased him, the little one would offer criticism on everything the kitchen sent out, and his blunt remarks would make the adults at the table smile.
Those around the table had held back from saying things they worried might wound the chef’s pride, yet Pejin voiced such criticisms without hesitation.
Emily sighed and spoke.
“How much I missed having Pejin absent from the year-end party. It felt like the party was missing several flowers.”
“I didn’t notice. Though it seemed the ladies felt that way.”
At the Emperor’s words, the Empress laughed with delight.
Emily spoke again.
“That’s why you mustn’t keep Pejin at the Grand Duke’s post for too long. He’s already picking up bad habits from that place…”
“Bad habits?”
“He jumped into the sea after the party ended.”
“Who goes swimming in winter like this?”
“Well, that’s something the Right Island people do when a party ends, you see. He’s even caught a cold from it…”
Emily continued with a sigh.
“One can’t help absorbing the customs of where one was born and raised, but I can’t fathom why he’d follow such foolish behavior.”
August placed his hand over his worried wife’s, clasping it gently.
“Don’t worry. Once the Right Island people come to understand the honor of being citizens of the Empire, they’ll stop such behavior. Pejin won’t be swayed by such things either.”
He spoke thus and fell silent for a moment, lost in thought.
In truth, the Emperor himself found the report of sea swimming unbelievable.
He harbored no lingering discomfort in the massive national undertaking of fully colonizing Right Island.
The moment a question arose in August’s mind, he summoned a Researcher from the Academy who was studying the fog on Right Island.
Research into the fog of Right Island was important from Left Island’s perspective as well. Empire employees continued to enter that place, and fear of the fog had made even setting foot there an increasingly unwelcome prospect.
Yet explaining to every employee that the fog was a byproduct of the fuel extraction process was impossible. Too many people would learn a truth that had to remain hidden.
August discreetly summoned the Researcher to his private reception room and asked:
“How far has the research progressed?”
“It doesn’t seem it will accelerate significantly, but the five-year timeline I mentioned will certainly be met.”
“That’s not what I’m pressing you about.”
As August trailed off and gave a meaningful look, the Researcher immediately understood and nodded.
“Ah, you mean the research on Miss April Lunos.”
“All the research documents you send show the same thing—how Miss Lunos manages to stay healthy in that fog at all.”
“In truth, it’s difficult to determine the cause without directly investigating Miss Lunos.”
“Mm.”
“However, what we can conjecture is that the most probable cause would be that she’s developed immunity.”
“Indeed.”
“The second possibility is that the previous Lord and Lady Lunos took some measure to protect her. They owned merchant vessels, after all—they would have known of distant places and their conditions. So…”
The Researcher paused to consider how best to explain, then asked a clerk for a sheet of paper. On it, he sketched out a chemical formula rendered in a simple diagram anyone could understand.
“From our research into the gas produced during fuel extraction, the problematic component is here, in this section. It’s similar to the sulfur used in matches, but upon closer inspection it differs slightly. It’s toxic enough that even young, strong men collapse from exposure. We haven’t yet named it, so we simply call it the Ignition Source. Miss April must be neutralizing it with something she possesses. If we’re to learn what that something is in secret, either someone would need to visit the Lunos house, or…”
“Or bring Miss April here.”

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