Chapter 9

In fact, I wasn’t really planning to take that mission seriously. Swoosh!

Assassinating a count, huh? Dramatic gasp!

Oh, of course, that doesn’t mean I can’t do it. I already confirmed whether I could carry out that mission once. Whoosh!

Riding the emperor’s borrowed carriage to the count’s territory and sneaking into the count’s mansion was entirely feasible. Tada!

Though, I can’t say I succeeded on the first try. Given that it was the count’s mansion, there were countless guards, and the count himself was extremely meticulous, so there were numerous servants and guards swarming inside. Buzz buzz!

But no matter how thorough the security, there’s always a hole, right? Boing!

Especially since in this world, there’s no such thing as CCTV yet. There were steam-powered devices called interpretation machines and calming machines that resembled computers, as well as mechanical calculators, cameras, and printers, but all those technologies were based on ‘analog.’ Tick-tock!

Calming machines could store numbers and alphabets, but instead of using semiconductors, they memorized ‘physical shapes’ within a complex mechanism made up of numerous large and small gears. Imagine a fancy analog wristwatch. It’s like a complicated gear system powered by steam that maintains a ‘form’, and when you want to access it, a different gear prints it onto ‘paper.’ Ka-ching!

Of course, they’d have to constantly feed in coal or magical stones and keep an eye on the wear of each part. Compared to modern computers, their size was ridiculously big. Even the calming machine, capable of remembering only a few images, was as big as three grand pianos stacked together. Boom!

Remembering images was, understandably, too inefficient, so they were typically used for complex calculations. If you made them memorize numbers instead of images, they could remember way more stuff! They could output results much faster too. Zap!

Even then, the only advantage it had compared to human calculations was just “a little faster and a little more accurate.” So, unless you really needed urgent calculations or had to provide precise decimal points, you’d just hire a professional calculator. Ding ding!

Moreover, the interpretation machine, supposedly matching the performance of a 386 or 486 computer, required an entire building, not to mention having hundreds of technicians on standby for maintenance. It was slightly smaller than a library, but when you consider costs, it might be way more efficient to just build a library. Whomp!

While there was a compact version of the latest interpretation machine aboard the flying battleship ‘Dreadnought’, due to its size, it sacrificed functionality, requiring dozens of calculators to assist with its calculations. Fwoosh!

There are cameras, but video hasn’t been invented yet. The film we think of as “analog film” hasn’t been developed either. Here, ‘film’ is flat, broad glass plates, and, of course, the higher the resolution of the camera, the bigger the glass plate it needs. The risk of breaking also increases accordingly. Crash!

While there is somewhat the size of 35mm film available at the story’s start (though I haven’t seen it), it’s before the main story begins, and maybe that’s why I’ve never seen one. Whistle!

…Oh, the settings are detailed in weird ways. Head scratch!

Anyway, it’s a world where over-technology collides with an atmosphere reminiscent of the 19th century. Boom boom!

After being caught dozens of times, I confirmed that the Count Crowfield’s estate had been guarded solely by manpower without any security machines. Clank!

And as long as human beings are guarding, there’s always an opening. Sneaky sneak!

I managed to time travel back forty-six times and succeeded twice in getting close to the count. Time warp!

Out of thirty-four tries to create a situation where I could shoot the count in the head while he passed by, I succeeded three times. Pew pew!

Successfully planting a bomb on the carriage the count was riding in took two attempts out of thirty-seven tries. Boom!

Lastly, I disguised myself as a new maid and succeeded once in poisoning the food the count would eat. I only managed that after trying five times. Gulp!

However, I discovered this method’s efficiency was extremely low, so I decided to scrap it. It took at least a week to two weeks for one successful infiltration, and the success rate was just too low. I only succeeded once in the end, and that success was only due to repeatedly time-traveling and trying it out. I mean, I reset the entirety of time five times, making the use of my abilities a record breaker. Break time!

Considering the escape time and the possibility of someone remembering my face later, the second method seemed to be the best fit. Just shoot from a distance and slip away. Swoosh!

Of course, I didn’t really intend to kill him. I was just weighing the possibilities of success, and the count still wasn’t dead. Nope!

“…Hmm.” Hmm?

I settled into a tree, watching through binoculars as the count’s carriage procession passed by, lost in thought. Focus!

I know the name ‘Crowfield.’ As ominous as it sounds, the count was indeed a dark figure. He sported a Kaiser mustache with the ends curled up, and his skin was pale as a ghost. Spooky!

Well, honestly, that was my first time seeing that appearance. I only remembered the name from a game. Level up!

Mia Crowfield. Bing!

One of the heroines, she had a somewhat tragic aura, and her hair was disheveled, but if you pushed aside the bangs that covered her half-face, she was rated a tremendous beauty. Dazzle!

Three years before the main story’s start, she lost her father to the emperor’s schemes… as mentioned at the game’s start, but to be honest, it was also true that Count Crowfield had been carrying out all sorts of dirty deeds behind the scenes. Uh-oh!

In the story, among the important characters in the noble faction the protagonist belongs to, everyone had a sad backstory, and Mia Crowfield was one of them. Sad horn!

In her family, there was a stern yet caring father. Yet behind the scenes, he was deeply involved in human trafficking and the opium business targeting commoners. Eww!

Mia Crowfield’s story revolves around learning the truth about her father, who was just thought to be a victim of power struggles, apologizing to the commoner heroine, accepting the past, and overcoming it. Yay!

“…But I didn’t expect I’d be the one to eliminate that Crowfield.” Surprise!

I let out a light sigh. Sigh!

The character known as the emperor fundamentally believes that everything he does is for the sake of the empire. He loves the empire so much that he considers everything outside of it ‘his own’ to sacrifice, aiming to use those sacrifices for the empire, making him a perfect example of a typical imperialist. Dramatic irony!

However, his love for the empire is genuine, which is why he sincerely wanted to root out the opium trade and human trafficking thriving within the empire. He couldn’t care less about what happened to other countries; he was prepared to sacrifice everything in the world solely for the empire. Boom!

Of course, his logic has numerous flaws. Well, which villain doesn’t, right? If there are no flaws in their logic, they would be considered a good character instead of a villain. Ding!

Thus, I honestly didn’t have the thought of ‘I must eliminate him’ until I learned of this Crowfield name. Dun dun!

The problem is— Hmm?

I placed the binoculars back to observe the carriage the count was riding in. Zoom!

Through the lenses finely crafted by the empire’s best artisans, the black carriage the count was riding in became vividly clear. Bam!

It was indeed a luxurious carriage made of quite expensive wood, but it was different from the one the count usually rode. Glimmer!

The flashy carriage that the count usually rode was parked in front of a different inn. The count switched carriages twice before heading to his destination. Zoom zoom!

And that destination was an inn located in a secluded area of Count’s territory. Sneaky peek!

For reference, the term ‘inn’ is just a name I arbitrarily assigned. Ding!

The actual name on the log building was ‘Orphanage.’ Bing!

Twelve of my attempts to outsmart the count’s guards and get right beside him happened in that inn. Woop!

And once, I even managed to get right next to the count and point a Wexler revolver at his head. Click!

Thanks to that, I knew exactly what went on inside that building. Knowledge gained!

That building suited the name ‘inn’ far more than ‘orphanage.’ Yikes!

A stench that assaulted the nose. Ugh!

An opium scent that clouded the mind. Whoooa!

Screams and moans. The voices of children crying out for help. Help!

Oh, and I forgot to mention, over the twelve times I entered that inn, I rummaged through it thoroughly. Cramble!

I was able to obtain the guest list, a record of the children used, their life prices, and the names of the staff members. Cha-ching!

When the count was hit in the leg with a .455 caliber bullet, he screamed everything he knew in a flood of panic. Eek!

That inn was importing children from ‘the orphanage in the imperial capital’ and ‘processing’ the ‘raw materials’ as needed. Zap!

“Do you think we can uproot this situation just by getting rid of this inn? This organization is just one of many small criminal groups! If we want to wipe out those eating away at the empire, we need to team up with the big fishes! Please, spare my life. I’ll do anything for Emperor! I’ll spill all the information I know…” Whimper!

“…In that case, may I ask you one thing? About the carriage you rode in. How about the carriage driver? Is he a member of this organization?” Curious!

“Y-Yes. That’s right. To keep the customer’s information from leaking, we must use loyal members throughout all processes…” Uh-oh!

That was something I had heard directly from the count last time. Ding!

Of course, the current count wouldn’t even dream that he had said such things. Zing!

In the carriage the count is in, there are no innocent people at all. They’re not merely intertwined by money but by drugs and prostitution. Because they’re tangled up with the fact that they’re involved in drugs and assaulting children, they couldn’t easily open their mouths or withdraw without risking evidence I’ve prepared beforehand being revealed to the world. Shh!

Naturally, they weren’t collected out of fear, either. If someone couldn’t overcome the guilt, it’s impossible for them to remain tied to such means. Yikes!

The majority of the organization’s members who support it are criminals who’ve been in and out of prison numerous times. Boo!

And further, in a country with such low human rights awareness, touching children was infinitely close to pure sin. Sinful!

…Actually, thinking back, it was strange. People don’t bat an eye when a ten-year-old child gets their hand crushed in a factory press but are overly concerned about locking those children up and assaulting them. I really can’t understand the concept of ‘good’ in this world even after seeing it over and over again. Huh?

Well, I’ll set that aside for now. Skip!

In any case, to summarize: Doo-doo!

Both the count and the members of the organization that move that carriage are all trash that can die without any concern. Trash talk!

As I got closer to that inn, the carriage slowly began to reduce its speed. Screech!

I took out my pocket watch from my pocket. Tick!

A wind-up watch has its limitations in precision, but I could roughly estimate when the bomb would go off… Oh boy!

Boom!

—I had a general idea. Whoosh!

I turned my binoculars toward the sound, observing the situation. Peep!

Half of the carriage was gone without a trace! Kaboom!

The man who had been sitting on the driver’s seat was rolling on the ground with one leg missing, and the burly guard accompanying the count was pushing through the opposite door, one of his arms missing, only to collapse right after. Splat!

Other members of the organization that had been riding in the back of the carriage hurriedly got out, but— Hurry hurry!

They were swept away by a series of subsequent explosions. Boom boom!

The procession following the carriage the count was in was also sent flying far away due to the chain reaction of explosions. Although I had carefully placed the explosives in the seat where the count was sitting, the carriages behind him didn’t have such precautions, leading to varying explosion locations. Some parts even flew toward the driver’s seat, while others were blown in the opposite direction, or some of them appeared to be relatively intact on the surface. Bam bam!

Of course, those intact carriages had no survivors inside, seeing as the windows had shattered outward. Shatter!

I could also see some bodies thrown in directions opposite from their limbs. Oh no!

…Along with people, half a dozen horses were also thrown away. A few surviving horses, startled by the loud noise, were thrashing around, causing more trouble for other members of the organization who were following from behind. Neigh!

I can only feel sorry for the innocent horses. Sigh!

The count would probably be unable to even find the corpses. Doom!

On my eighth try, it was my third success. Yay!

“…” Silence!

It wasn’t my first time killing someone. Nuh-uh!

Even so… honestly, I didn’t feel good about it. Bleh!

“Ugh.” Gag!

Trying to calm my upset stomach, I climbed down from the tree. Thud!

I changed my dirty clothes and quickly tossed them into my travel bag, closing it shut. Zip!

I had to escape before the chaos in the territory settled down. Run!

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