CHAPTER 29………………………………………….
“C‑crazy.”
Why are they already here?!
I didn’t think they’d come this fast!
Bang—!
“?!”
The ventilation cover that had been barely wedged in place fell downward.
“Hey!”
R‑run!
There wasn’t even time to close the cover and leave. If I got caught doing that, the whole plan would completely fall apart.
‘Fall apart? That’d be the least of it.’
Madam Odilon might be able to slip away, but I wasn’t someone who had joined up with her yet.
If I were caught, I’d be dragged straight before Xavier—and whether I’d come out alive after that was anyone’s guess.
“An intruder! There’s an intruder!”
A fierce shout rang out. Beyond the broken vent, multiple footsteps thundered—thump thump thump!
‘If I’m caught, I’m seriously screwed.’
With that thought driving me, I crawled desperately through the narrow space. But veterans were veterans—no matter how fast I moved, the speed at which they chased me was no joke.
“There! Get them!”
“!”
My vision flared bright for an instant. The bastards chasing me had shone lantern light inside.
“Damn it.”
I clenched my teeth and pushed forward. At this point, there was nothing to do but run for my life—no matter what.
There was no way an ordinary civilian could take on several of those sneaky types.
After crawling for quite some time—
‘Light…!’
At last, I saw hope.
But even seeing light, I couldn’t just open it and jump out recklessly. There was a chance the others had already gotten the signal and were waiting outside.
Before exiting through another vent, I checked the surroundings through the old metal bars.
It seemed to connect to some kind of room, but fortunately, I didn’t sense anyone inside.
I glanced once toward the back, where rough footsteps were approaching, then without hesitation slammed my fist hard against the rusted bars.
Bang, bang!
“Why won’t it open?!”
Because of the opera house’s ventilation design, there were no nails driven in.
In case of a fire and being trapped inside, the vents were meant to serve as a final emergency escape route. That was why nails that would’ve been there in other buildings were completely absent here.
But the cover, stiff from having not been opened in ages, stubbornly refused to budge.
Not even realizing my knuckles were bleeding, I kept punching at it with all my strength.
And after hitting it hard several times—
Bang—!
With a harsh metallic screech, the cover tumbled onto the floor.
.
.
.
“There! There’s light over there!”
One of the group that had been chasing her shouted. The only light found in the pitch‑dark interior clearly meant an exit.
“Grab them the moment they come out. They’re an intruder—if the situation isn’t favorable, kill them on sight!”
“Yes!”
“Yes!”
The men following answered in unison. An intruder, at a time this important of all times. If he were to find out…
The one in front shook his head violently.
‘Absolutely not!’
Things were already tense enough as it was. If his mood were worsened too… there was no telling what kind of disaster would follow.
But despite chasing hard—
“W‑what?!”
They couldn’t help but panic when they emerged into a small storage room.
“W‑why won’t the door open?!”
Click, clack.
No matter how much they rattled the handle or pushed down, the door wouldn’t open.
Another man tried—same result.
And there was a very good reason it wouldn’t open, no matter how hard they shoved.
In front of the door stood—
“B‑break it down! Break the door down, now!”
A cabinet taller than a person, standing squarely in the way.
“……Ugh.”
Having barely escaped, I hid myself in a secluded corner. If I’d been even a little slower, I would’ve been caught without a chance to do anything.
By some miracle, I’d managed to get out before they did.
Since the vent led straight into the opera house corridor, I hurriedly shoved a nearby cabinet all the way in front of the door.
Moving something that heavy in one go—guess it really was true that people show superhuman strength in moments of crisis.
But in exchange for not getting caught, I’d pretty much sacrificed my body. I looked down at my stinging hands.
I’d somehow endured punching the bars, but the storage cabinet was covered in splintered wood in places.
Scratched and scraped by it, my hands were now full of cuts and dried blood.
After painfully pulling out the splinters embedded in the center of my palm, I shook my burning hands in the air.
‘At least I didn’t get caught.’
Taking solace in the fact that I was still alive, I surveyed my surroundings.
Tap tap, tap—.
Urgent footsteps followed one after another.
“What’s going on? An intruder? How’d they get in?”
“Looks like they came in through the underground… If they’re moving through the vents, they must know this place really well.”
“Take good care of the VIPs. We’ll capture this bastard quietly and deal with them ourselves.”
‘So it won’t interfere.’
Eavesdropping on their conversation, I clicked my tongue silently.
‘I need to move even more carefully now.’
With security tightened, I couldn’t afford to move recklessly anymore.
‘If I go out like this, I’ll definitely get caught.’
They were already moving around the corridor. Stepping out now would be like advertising myself.
‘If only I knew what floor this was.’
I’d fled in such a hurry that I hadn’t even properly checked where I was.
If this was a storage area, then roughly between the 3rd and 4th floors…
‘It’s not the 2nd floor.’
The auction was being held on the 2nd floor. If it were here, far more people would be moving around. There was no way a place where auction items were constantly being transported would be this quiet—so it had to be either the 3rd or 4th floor.
‘Wait.’
As one guess led to another, a thought suddenly flashed through my mind.
‘How many doors were there?’
The door I came out of was the very last room at the end of the corridor…
‘After that, I saw one, two—.’
And… was there one more?
“Damn it, I can’t remember!”
This is driving me crazy!
According to the building plans I’d memorized to death, there were four doors total on the 3rd floor, and three on the 4th.
That meant I could figure out which floor this was based on how many doors I remembered.
‘C‑calm down.’
I took a shallow breath, then retraced the path I’d taken once more. I’d rushed out in a panic, but I had to remember—no matter what.
Because depending on that, my entire route would change.
If this was the 4th floor, I could go straight to meet Madam Odilon. If it was below, I’d have to climb one more floor, meaning I’d need an even more meticulous plan.
‘The door I came out of—one, two, three—.’
After sprinting along like that—
‘And then I turned the corner immediately.’
On top of that, even while climbing through the vents, I’d clearly felt like I was moving upward more and more.
At that realization, I clamped both hands over my mouth to suppress the scream threatening to burst out.
‘This is it.’
The 4th floor.
Where Madam Odilon was.
“This is insane… seriously.”
If anything, this actually made things easier. All I had to do was find the door to the side room where Madam Odilon was staying.
‘I’d love to call the knights right now, but…’
Not yet. I had to strike at the exact moment the final item was brought up at the auction—when everyone was gathered in one place.
I’d already memorized the layout anyway, so I roughly knew where the madam should be.
‘As soon as it thins out a bit, I’ll move—’
At that moment—
“Mm?!”
A hand clamped over my mouth.
