Chapter 40
The water that had been around their knees somehow rose to about their thighs. Yet the others laughed it off casually.
“Did you forget this happened before? You were all fussing then too!”
“Such a scaredy-cat! Heh heh.”
The man who was being mocked turned red with embarrassment. But that didn’t last long — soon, he was seized by terror.
“Uh, uh-oh?”
“Ahhh!”
And the same happened to the other miners.
In an instant, the water had risen above their heads.
“Phew, aah! What the heck is this all of a sudden?!”
“Do something, anything!”
“Damn! What is going on… gulp!”
They were thrown off by the sudden phenomenon. They flailed their arms and legs wildly, struggling not to be swept away by the current.
Jorge shouted desperately:
“Just keep your head above the water for now! It’ll stop eventually!”
“That’s right.”
At that moment, a clear and enchanting voice rang above their heads.
“Y-You are…!”
The first to recognize the speaker was Jorge. It was only natural—he was a knight of the Verdi family.
“Ka-Kalliopé Verdi!”
“I expected as much, but still, I hoped it wouldn’t be you.”
Kalliopé recognized the familiar face and muttered bitterly before coldly ordering:
“Rescue them.”
“Yes, Lady Viscountess!”
The soldiers behind her rushed forward, pulling them out with large nets.
As soon as they were hauled out of the water, they were thrown onto the ground outside the well.
Waiting soldiers rushed in and tied the culprits tightly with ropes, restraining them.
“Ugh! That hurts…”
“Shut up.”
The soldiers barked fiercely, and the culprits, who were whining about the pain, fell silent.
“Why are you doing this?”
Kneeling and caught, Jorge spoke up on their behalf. He was confident, as if he’d done nothing wrong.
Kalliopé was dumbfounded.
“You sneaked into the well illegally and got caught, and you still pretend you don’t know why?”
“We were only investigating the strange phenomenon with the well. And see, we solved the problem — the water level’s back to normal!”
He said shamelessly. Kalliopé let out a laugh at how ridiculous it was.
“What do you think, Lerazie?”
She asked him for his opinion on how to deal with these shameless criminals.
Lerazie twirled his sword in its sheath, then rested his chin on his shoulder and said:
“For a stubborn bastard who won’t learn, a beating’s the best medicine.”
“That’s too harsh on dogs. Dogs are such kind, pretty, and clever animals.”
Kalliopé poked him jokingly, scolding him for speaking badly.
She swung her hand, and the culprits’ bodies floated up.
“Aaaah!”
“I guarantee some thrills. It might be a little dizzying.”
At the same time, their heads flipped downward sharply.
“Down.”
Following Kalliopé’s command, their bodies dropped toward the ground.
“Ugh, aah!”
“Up.”
Then they were shot back up, still with their legs pointed toward the sky.
“Repeat.”
Their bodies began shaking violently up and down in midair, like dusting a carpet with a duster.
“Ugh, ugh, ack…!”
Clang, clang.
Each time, the magical stones hidden in their clothes fell to the floor with a clatter.
“Wow, what a sight.”
Lerazie was genuinely amused.
“To see magical stones raining down from the sky like rain.”
He took out a magical recording orb and started filming the scene.
“We have to keep solid evidence.”
“Probably to watch when you’re bored later.”
“That too.”
Kalliopé’s retrieval of the magical stones ended only when there was not a single stone left on their bodies.
“Ugh…”
When the culprits hit the ground again, they started vomiting one after another, faces smeared with tears and mucus.
“All illegally obtained items are collected. Now take these offenders to the security forces and prepare to escort them to the capital.”
“Yes, Lady Viscountess!”
The soldiers dragged the vomiting culprits and loaded them onto the escort carriage.
“And as soon as dawn breaks, bring the refuge’s villagers here.”
“Of course, Lady Viscountess!”
The knights and soldiers brightened at the thought of reuniting with their families.
Seeing that, Kalliopé also felt happier.
“We caught the culprits earlier than expected. Above all, I’m glad the well’s back to normal.”
While the culprits were complacent and searching for the next target well, Kalliopé and Lerazie located the blocked ley lines.
“They were either careless or unimaginative — their method was too obvious.”
Surprisingly, they found the method easily.
It was impossible to disrupt or sever the ley line with ordinary human power; therefore, the only method the culprits could have used was:
‘Magic.’
Kalliopé and Lerazie searched for places where mana was strangely clustered or pooled.
Whenever they dug into such ground, they inevitably found artifacts — devices that disrupted the ley line flow.
After confirming all artifact locations, they concealed the fact and laid a trap to catch the culprits.
The result was a huge success.
“Let’s head back now.”
Kalliopé and Lerazie climbed into the carriage. In one corner was a sack.
It was the sack holding the artifacts collected from the ground surrounding the well.
“Will you investigate the artifacts yourself?”
“Yes. I’ll take them to the capital and dissect them one by one. They’re unlike anything I’ve ever seen.”
Especially, the artifacts were sealed with very high-level magic. They should help identify the masterminds.
“I plan to depart for the capital at first light tomorrow.”
“Well, we caught the ringleaders and fixed the well’s problem, so there’s no reason to stay here.”
“That’s right.”
Kalliopé nodded and stretched her intertwined arms above her head to loosen her stiff body.
Then she noticed something outside the window and narrowed her eyes.
“Oh my, they arrived earlier than expected?”
Lerazie’s eyes followed Kalliopé’s gaze.
Through the carriage window, they saw the Verdi manor.
And Gilbert appeared to have just arrived at the main gate.
“Well, it’s all done already, so it’s useless now.”
Kalliopé shrugged as if it didn’t matter, but an uneasy question lingered in her mind.
‘How did they get here so early?’
The day after things were roughly settled, Kalliopé and Lerazie left the Verdi territory and set off for the capital.
A guarded cart carrying the miners was hitched behind the carriage.
The cart, enclosed on all sides by walls, was so sturdy that ordinary weapons couldn’t scratch it.
“Interrogate the miners as soon as we arrive at the capital.”
Lerazie said, locking the door on the cart’s rear.
“What’s going on?”
Kalliopé rarely praised him.
Instead of using the gate to return, they traveled by carriage because the capital’s gate was one-way, only allowing departures.
‘Think about it. What if a territory with two-way gates is occupied by a foreign country? Enemy soldiers could enter through the gates, and the capital would be directly threatened.’
When Kalliopé, as a child, complained about the long carriage trips, her parents explained it that way.
‘They never overlooked even minor curiosities or questions.’
She smiled faintly, recalling those distant memories.
The carriage was now traveling along a forest path. The uneven road caused the carriage to bump slightly.
The riders bounced accordingly, and sure enough, Lerazie grumbled.
“Ugh… Won’t I get calluses on my butt from this?”
“Stop whining.”
Kalliopé lightly chided the man who could survive rolling on rocky ground bare-skinned.
Suddenly, Lerazie grabbed the sword he had set next to him still in its sheath and warned Kalliopé in a serious tone:
“Don’t come out while the defensive magic is active.”
