kscans

Chapter 76 - Chapter 11: Second Half - The Main Race Begins

"Hmph. Found them."

Two points of light flared on Fulsy's crystal.

"Right... here," Noel said, placing two red pieces on the map. They had located the two carriages that vanished during the qualifiers. They were hidden in the shadow of a forest right alongside the road. It was set up to look as though Kenwell's deliberately lagging carriage was isolated after Prince Craig's three carriages had passed. In reality, they had simply staggered their break for meals and maintenance.

We were currently past the first checkpoint of the main race, the stretch of road from Bertold to the Royal Capital. The section leading to the second checkpoint had the fewest eyes on it.

"How unoriginal."

"Well, they probably don't think we can see them plain as day with those license plates," Noel remarked as she arranged the carriage pieces on the map.

"You're not much help, are you?"

"It can't be helped. I have zero aptitude for magic. I can take a turn as driver once we've cleaned this up."

"I'll pass. Your driving is too reckless. You should focus on your scheming instead."

"You can say that again," Noel laughed.

"That's harsh."

"It's a matter of putting the right person in the right place. Besides, if you actually had a talent for magic... They're on the move."

Noel shifted the pieces onto the road on the map.

Incidentally, trailing behind Kenwell's carriage were two others from the Carriage Guild's qualifying group, clearly struggling to keep up. Trying to cut off our retreat, are they?

We're the ones setting the pincer trap.

I sent a signal out the carriage window, using a mirror to flash a beam of light. A return flash came from the forest ahead. With that, the Knight Order would move. I said nothing, simply watching the observations of Fulsy and Noel. The red pieces, representing the enemy, closed in on Kenwell's blue piece.

Suddenly, the red pieces stopped. They must have been intercepted by the Knight Order's cavalry as suspicious carriages. Count Adele, who was supposed to be guarding the Knight Order's baggage train, was clearly having an active day.

The point of light flickered twice, then vanished. The signal for successful enemy neutralization. It seemed they had even brought weapons along.

"What about the two carriages behind them?" Noel asked.

"We'll let them keep going. It'll be a good demonstration of the gap between our work and the Guild's, won't it? Two samples are more than enough. Besides..."

Now what about our other enemy?

Unlike the last ones, this enemy wouldn't appear on our radar.

"The First Knight Order is holding its position as planned," Clau said, having come to deliver the report. The First Knight Order was sandwiched between Prince Craig's modified carriages and the old-model carriages. In other words, they were in second place. It might be a very distant second, closer to third, but second place it was. Meanwhile, the Monster Extermination Knight Order held first and third. So if things stayed as they were, the match between the First Knight Order and the Monster Extermination Knight Order would be a draw, with an average rank of second place for both.

Of course, they had likely intended to use their new carriages to defeat Prince Craig. But after the results of the qualifiers, they must know they can't catch up. And using extraordinary measures against a carriage led by a prince would be an act of treason.

For our purposes, however, this situation posed no problem at all. We just needed to demonstrate that the Monster Extermination Knight Order could now traverse the country faster than ever before.

If it were just a race between two of our own knightly orders, it might be dismissed as a charade. But with the First Knight Order finishing in second, it actually lends our results more credibility.

For our company, having Prince Craig finish first is perfect for promoting the new carriages and building excitement for the trade fair. If the First Knight Order wants to claim it was a draw afterward, that's perfectly fine with us.

We achieve our goals, and they get to save face. From a self preservation standpoint, it's the perfect form of victory.

"What about the Bertold faction?" I asked.

As I've said before, the moment the enemy decides to resort to extraordinary measures, they've already stepped completely into our territory. What cards could they possibly play in Bertold?

The answer was obvious. It had to be that company under the Carriage Guild Master's control. And that particular card had been marked by the Grand Duchess's people before we even left Bertold. By now, the old butler's light cavalry should be tailing them.

"Looks like that's taken care of."

I glanced out the window. We were passing the criminals as they were being led away. There were six of them. Some were injured, suggesting they had resisted. They were surrounded by the Grand Duchess's soldiers and knights.

"Does this mean Pegatta Company's men got what they deserved?" Dolph asked, cautiously peeking his head out from the carriage. Among the captured men was one with a scar on his cheek, a man who had apparently threatened Dolph before. A look of relief washed over his face.

This was a major blow to them. People like that are not easily replaced. And with them being caught red handed, their backers could also be questioned.

"What will happen to those thugs and the carriage you just captured?"

"It all happened within the Grand Duchess's domain. They'll be taken back to Bertold, I imagine."

"So we've gotten our hands on their new carriage too, then," Remi chimed in.

"Yeah. When we get back to Bertold, I'll need you two to reverse engineer it," I said to the two artisans. Both of them tilted their heads in confusion.

"He means you need to take it apart, study it thoroughly, and steal their technology," Noel explained.

"Oh, right, of course. Actually, we'd love to get started on that right now," Dolph said, glancing back toward Bertold. Bowgan nodded in agreement.

"Now, now, you can have your fun after we've finished our work in the capital. So, with all the trouble neatly taken care of, all that's left is..."

"Something is wrong."

Just as I was about to breathe a sigh of relief, Fulsy cut me off. A single, brightly glowing point of light had appeared on his device.

"It is that carriage. It suddenly began emitting magical power."

"That carriage? You mean the Guild Master's? But wasn't it supposed to be blocking magic?"

I looked at the map. Despite having been behind the two carriages that were left in the dust by Kenwell after the failed ambush, it had already overtaken them. It was moving at a considerable speed.

I checked the map again. It had already passed the third checkpoint. From here, all that was left was the final stretch to the capital. Could they possibly catch up from this far back? Was this some kind of desperate attack?

No, that's impossible. Kenwell's carriage is back right behind Prince Craig's. They shouldn't be able to lay a finger on them.

"M-Master Fulsy, what is this?"

"What in the world?"

The path of the red piece Noel was moving across the map was strange. I looked at Fulsy, who was staring intently at the crystal.

"There is no mistake. It is traveling through the forest. What manner of magic are they using? A carriage enhancement?"

"At this rate, Kenwell will be overtaken. And the Knight Order too," Noel said.

"You mean we're going to lose? If that happens, our workshop will be..."

"I don't know about the magic, but can a carriage really travel where there's no road using magic alone?"

The inside of the carriage erupted into a commotion. In the face of this sudden development, everyone began talking at once. I was getting confused. What's the real issue here? Is it the business, the race ranking and our honor, or the capabilities of that mysterious carriage?

I struggled to rein in my chaotic thoughts.

Of course, it's all connected. The performance of that carriage will affect our ranking, and our ranking will affect our business.

"If they're using magic, isn't that a disqualification?" Noel asked.

"No, that's a rule for the Knight Order."

The ban on using magic only applied to the Knight Order's carriages. It was assumed that merchants wouldn't be able to use such a thing anyway. But Noel's words helped me regain my composure. Even if they win by using magic, it's meaningless when it comes to selling carriages in the kingdom.

"The workshop will be fine. A level of performance that can only be achieved with magic is not something we can sell in this kingdom."

Let's assume the Empire is considering selling, or exporting, that carriage to the kingdom.

That's impossible. The Empire strictly limits its export of magic crystals. It's a contradiction. Maybe they could supply one or two, but even the Knight Order wouldn't be able to operate a whole fleet of them.

Besides, if that was their goal, there would have been no reason to hide its capabilities until now.

"Y-yeah, you're right. Our modified carriage can be handled by anyone, just like the old ones."

Of course, losing the publicity from a race victory would be painful. But it wouldn't be a fatal blow. We had other tricks up our sleeve to promote it at the trade fair.

"They were trying to block magic at first, and this route they're taking now... it's not just a shortcut, is it?"

"They clearly don't want to be seen," Noel agreed.

"Indeed. And if they are using magic crystals, procurement becomes an issue. How would a carriage merchant get their hands on them?" Fulsy mused.

"I've heard that in the mountainous Empire, they have carriages made specifically for such terrain," Remi said from the driver's box. The Empire again. So the connection between the Carriage Guild and the Second Prince's faction through Kurtheite is certain.

"Still, if that's the case, they should have made their move much sooner," I said, feeling that the enemy's actions were half-baked.

"There's a message from Bertold," Remi called out, pointing behind us. We could see the glint of a mirror's reflection.

"It seems a fast rider from the capital made contact with them right as they started their move," Remi relayed. A message from the old butler had arrived.

"So something happened that forced their hand, making them act desperately?"

"For the Carriage Guild, taking first place has meaning, even if the carriage itself isn't a sellable product. And for the Second Prince's faction, their goal might simply be to crush the Third Prince's prestige," Noel suggested.

"But does the risk really justify the reward? And what's in it for the Empire?"

The information we had, about a forty percent increase in carriage performance, already had a significant military impact. We had simply judged that the benefits of releasing it for civilian use outweighed keeping it a military secret.

Even if that information leaks to the Empire, it would act as a deterrent, helping to maintain the kingdom's influence over the western regions. That was a decision made by both Prince Craig and the Grand Duchess.

So what does the other side have? This technology, something like an off-road vehicle... isn't that the kind of information they should be desperate to hide?

"Perhaps they aren't a united front? The interests of the capital side, meaning the Second Prince's faction, may have taken priority."

"But still..." I wasn't convinced.

"Normal people care more about that sort of thing than you do. You remember how I acted when we first met, don't you?" Noel said.

"...That was just you being shy."

"W-well, that was part of it, but not all of it. A-anyway, what are we going to do?" Noel turned her face away, her ears turning red. So the Second Prince's faction and the Carriage Guild played their trump card simply to save a bit of face?

And the Empire was reluctant to go along with it? Do they not realize we're watching them? I suppose they wouldn't know about this radar of ours.

"Alright then, let's do what they would hate the most. We'll expose that carriage's information, and we'll do it aggressively." I had decided on our course of action.

"I understand. But... does that mean we're giving up on the race?" Noel asked, her voice tinged with disappointment. I shook my head.

"No, not necessarily. I am a strategist, after all."

"Then please change the antenna," I said to Fulsy after explaining my plan.

"This one consumes a great deal of magic crystals, you know. And it was not made for this purpose."

Though he grumbled, Fulsy worked with Noel to swap out the antenna at the center of the gimbal.

"Well then, let us begin."

"Start as weakly as you can, please."

"I know, I know. It would be pointless if they were to spot us."

To use a submarine analogy, what we had been using until now was a passive sonar. We were simply listening for the magic they emitted. What we were about to use was an active sonar. We would emit magic ourselves and then measure what bounced back. It was a feature originally intended to increase the sensitivity of our measurements.

Essentially, we were going to let them know, "You're being watched by magic from somewhere."

"They've stopped," Noel announced.

"Good. Then stop our signal as well. Just as I thought, they have some kind of device on their end too."

That was our first piece of intel. They possessed something similar to a radar, just like us. However...

"Will they be able to pinpoint our location?"

"No, the fact that they stopped suggests we are safe." Their device must not have sufficient precision while in motion. At the very least, they didn't seem to have a radar capable of detection while navigating rough terrain.

We were on a flat road while they were in a forest. It would be a crushing defeat if our measurement device, a product of Fulsy's expertise, Noel's skill, and my own modern knowledge, was so easily bested.

"When they start moving again, repeat the same process."

"They've changed their course. This is going to cause a significant delay before they can get back to the main road."

My strategy was to not only force the enemy to waste their time and magic, but also to thoroughly investigate their carriage's performance in the process.

And just as planned, the magical energy emitted by the enemy carriage began to decrease. Were they trying to hide from us, or were they starting to run low on power?

Even so, it was incredible that their speed had barely dropped. This is definitely not just magic.