Part 25: The Miner Unearths the Truth

Part 25:
The Miner Unearths the Truth

AFTER WRAPPING THINGS UP at the dungeon, Alan unlocked his cell using his shovel. From there, Lucrezia led him to her mansion. The beautiful home sat atop a hill just outside the center of town. It was three stories tall and was surrounded by a garden that Alan couldn’t help but make an impressed noise upon seeing. Someone had clearly taken good care of it.

“Surprised? The gardeners in Lactia are the best in the world.”

“I can see that. That shovel over there is also in Grade A condition.”

Alan indicated a shovel standing in the storage area. It was without even the slightest trace of rust. The gardener was obviously very skilled at tool maintenance.

Lucrezia, however, seemed somewhat annoyed with the miner. “Are shovels all you ever have on your mind?”

“Well, I am a miner.”

“What does that have to do with anything?”

So it went, back and forth, as they made their way into the mansion. Lucrezia led Alan to a reception room brimming with all manner of expensive items. Priceless artwork, valuable jewels, and finely crafted furniture adorned the room. One of the largest jewels shone a particularly exquisite green.

“Ha, look at this emerald!”

“Oh, my. You know of it? It is the signature stone in my family’s collection. The ‘Azure Dream.’”

“Of course I know it. I’m the one who dug it out.”

“What?”

While the Azure Dream wasn’t anywhere near as valuable as any one of the Seven Orbs, at 200 karats it had still been quite the find. Back in the day, Alan had dug it out from the mountain on Layer #78.

Of course, Lucrezia didn’t believe a word of this. “Lies! This emerald has been passed down in the Republic for over five hundred years now.”

“Yeah, that sounds about right. Man, this really brings me back.”

“Wh-what are you talking about? That is impossible…” Lucrezia trailed off. Despite her protests, it was clear that Alan was completely serious. She shook her head in denial. Urgh, being around this man is making me go all sorts of funny.

Lucrezia cleared her throat. She had to get to the point. “Alan, you are going to find the person who killed my father.”

“I know.”

“Of course, I shall prepare a reward for you upon your successful completion of this mission. I need you to put your all into this.”

“A reward? Wasn’t saving me from death meant to be my reward?”

Lucrezia’s lips twisted with regret. “You could have freed yourself without me, could you not?”

After seeing Alan’s shovel skills, this much had been made clear.

“Yes, but…”

Lucrezia placed her hands on her hips and puffed out her chest. “Then that would make for a poor reward.”

“Look, I really don’t need a…”

“I shall not take no for an answer.” Lucrezia once again puffed out her ample bosom. “Hard work should be honorably rewarded.”

“Because you’re nobility?”

“You catch on fast.” Lucrezia looked pleased with herself. Her noble pedigree was clear. “Request anything you would like. If it is within my power, I shall see to it that you receive it.”

In that case, there was but one thing Alan sought. “I’ve actually come here in search of the Green Orb.”

Being a secret treasure of Rostir, the orb was unknown to those of other nations, so Alan had to describe the gem and its unique qualities. All at once, Lucrezia cut him off, a serious expression on her face.

“I think I might know the orb of which you speak.”

“Really?”

“I feel as though I have seen one of my father’s guests with something resembling that Green Orb of yours… Perhaps.” On further thought, Lucrezia shook her head. “My apologies. This was back in my childhood, so I do not recall their exact appearance.”

“Hrm, but you do recall seeing an orb-like object, yeah?”

“Yes. I know I saw it, but will such a brief memory help you at all?”

It would, actually.

“Lucrezia, I have a request.”

“What is it?”

“Could you let me shovel your body for a bit?”

“Huh?!” Lucrezia backpedaled away from Alan, all the way to the opposite wall. She held her body close, as if trying to conceal her alluring figure. “Wh-wh-what are you saying?! Shovel my body?! Is that some manner of crude jargon?!”

“No, no. Sorry. I don’t mean shovel you in a physical sense. I mean it in an astral sense.” Alan wanted to unearth her memories via the Akashic Record. By using Lucrezia’s body as a go-between, he’d be able to reproduce visions that she’d seen in the past. But in order to do that, he’d have to “shovel” her. “I promise it’ll be okay. It won’t hurt at all. I’m a pro when it comes to shovels.”

Despite his attempts to explain, it all still sounded terribly salacious to Lucrezia. “Th-there is no way I can let you do such a thing to me!”

“Didn’t you tell me to request anything I’d like?”

“Erk!” The noblewoman went silent. Alan had hit her where it hurt the most. She squirmed in her beautiful dress, creases forming in the fabric. “Urrrrrgh, I did, but… Oh, please!”

Lucrezia went silent in thought again. If she said no, what would become of her pride? At that, she relented. Somewhat.

“You are correct… But I have some conditions.” She raised one finger.

“And what are those?” As far as Alan could tell, she’d come to terms with her fate.

Lucrezia laughed. “I shall only let you ‘shovel’ me if you manage to solve two cases within the day. Who killed my father, and who kidnapped me.”

“Is that all?”

“Huh?” Lucrezia thought she was asking the impossible of Alan, yet he seemed totally unfazed.

Alan meanwhile was certain he could get the job done, and he was ready to start asking questions. “Do you remember when you were kidnapped?”

“No. Someone attacked me on the street, but for whatever reason, I simply cannot remember the culprit’s face,” Lucrezia answered irritably. “So I suppose first, let us have a detective begin investigating. We need information.”

“That won’t be necessary. If there are holes in your memory, we need but fill them with my shovel.”

“Excuse me?”

If Lucrezia remembered her kidnapping, this would be over in a jiffy. So, just as he had done with Riez, Alan brushed his left hand against Lucrezia’s head. From her, he extracted a purple aura. It was shaped like an apple with a bite taken out of it. Alan used his shovel to fill in the gap.

Lucrezia clapped. “Ah! That is right! It was Archon Jistice’s lackey!”

“Perfect.”

“So that insidious man is the true culprit behind all of this… Wait a moment!”

“What is it?”

“Do not ‘what is it’ me!” Lucrezia’s expression changed rapidly as she cornered Alan. “This makes no sense! What did you do to me?!”

“I simply filled the holes of your memory. Shovels are good at digging things up and burying them.”

Lucrezia fell into a state of panic, and Alan realized he was somewhat responsible. Catria and the others no longer had any trouble with his antics, but it appeared manipulating metaphysical concepts was a bit too much for a regular person. He should’ve been more careful.

“What in blue blazes is a shovel?! Ah!” The noblewoman cradled her head in her hands like she was trying to protect herself. Then she realized something. “Wait, are you part of that shady group?!”

“Shady group?”

Earlier that day, Lucrezia’s butler had an encounter with some suspicious folks. He was walking through the city when he stumbled across a tent pitched on an open plot of land with a sign out front. It read, “Shovel Study Group: We’ll Teach You the Ins and Outs of Shoveling!” Next to said sign was a shady young girl trying to draw in customers.

Citizen after citizen was sucked into the tent, almost as if compelled by an invisible force. When they re-emerged, their eyes sparkled as they whispered, “Shovel… Shovel…”

Lucrezia’s butler alerted the city guard but they simply replied, “The shovel is love. That’s an order.”

At this point, the butler realized the situation was not only quite odd, it was likely quite dangerous, and he immediately backed off.

Alan was 99 percent certain he knew exactly what had befallen the citizens of Lactia. “Er, was there a Princess Lithisia with this shady group?”

“Indeed. A fake Princess Lithisia was apparently among them. How dreadful.”

Now he was 120 percent certain.

“Lucrezia, I’m sorry to say, but that princess is the real deal.”

“What?”

“That’s the true Princess Lithisia, first in line to Rostir’s throne.”

Lucrezia blinked rapidly and gave Alan an exhausted smile. “You simpleton. I have spoken to Princess Lithisia before. She is a lovely, pure-hearted young woman. Her every word demonstrated her intelligence and her love for the people of her nation. Princess Lithisia is the perfect example of royal nobility.”

“Sounds quite a bit different from the Lithisia I know,” mused Alan. In fact, it was like Lucrezia was describing a completely different person.

“All it takes is one conversation with the princess for a person to understand her and her qualities.”

“That’d be quite difficult (understanding her, that is).”

“You are correct. Rostir is presently beset by no small amount of conflict, so actually meeting Princess Lithisia would prove to be rather difficult. I hope she is all right.”

“Well, she’s probably doing a lot better than you think, Lucrezia.” Alan decided it was best to drop that thread of conversation. There was something else he wanted to talk about. “You said your father was murdered. Tell me more.”

According to Lucrezia, her father had passed away only a few short weeks ago. While riding his carriage along a cliff, the driver lost control of the horse and drove off the edge. But Lucrezia didn’t buy it. The driver in question had been a loyal servant and skilled driver who had served her family for many, many years. Someone had concealed the truth.

After hearing all this, Alan made his way to the garden.

“H-hey, wait! What are you doing?”

Alan had done a poor job of explaining himself earlier, so this time he made a point to lay everything out for the noblewoman. “The garden is a place deeply connected to your father, isn’t it? The care put into it proves that much. I’m going to use my shovel to unearth the truth behind this mystery.”

“Wha?”

“I’m going to unearth the cause of his death. Shovels are the perfect tools for solving murder cases.”

“E-excuse me?”

Satisfied with his explanation—perfect, in his opinion—Alan set to digging in this place that had held such importance for Lucrezia’s father. About a meter down, he uncovered a stone upon which were carved the words, “no accident.” Three meters down, “it was murder.” Ten meters down, “Archon Jistice called for the hit.”

Voila.

Digging up any further truths would be a bit difficult. Since this was a sea nation, going deeper would uncover water, which would make it hard to read anything.

“There you go.”

“What just happened?!”

“Looks like the culprit behind it all really is this Archon Jistice guy.”

“Th-that is not what I am asking! At all!” Lucrezia was in a frenzy of confusion, tears rolling down her cheeks. “Uuugh, who are you…?”

As she sobbed, she looked down at the words Alan had uncovered.

“But… It was him. He killed my father…” Lucrezia had pieced the puzzle pieces together. She wiped the tears from her eyes and collected herself. “However, this does not mean the case is solved.”

“Right. We have to catch him.”

“Exactly. And we must do so legally!”

“Legally, eh?”

According to Lucrezia, the archon governed all administration in the Lactia Republic. Trying to subdue the archon outside the strict bounds of the law would just let him drag her name through the mud, calling into doubt any case she made against him. The specific law she had in mind was: “All arrests must be made by an officer with a warrant from the courts.”

“I see. I’m a miner, so I’m not so good with this law stuff.”

“All citizens, even nobles, must abide by the rule of law,” Lucrezia explained as she took a book of Lactia’s laws off a shelf in her mansion.

Alan considered this. If he wanted to look into Lucrezia’s past to find the location of the Green Orb, he’d have to solve the case today. But he also had to abide by the laws.

“Lucrezia, hand me that book,” he said. As soon as the tome was in Alan’s hands, he pointed his shovel at it. He imagined digging a hole. As someone who had repeated this process some million, no, billion times, he could dig a hole through anything. His target didn’t have to be a physical object.

“What are you doing?”

“Digging a hole.” Alan focused his energy into the shovel and pierced the legal tome. “Ha!”

The room was filled with the fierce sound of something being pierced. Yet somehow, the book was in pristine condition. Upon flipping through its pages, Alan and Lucrezia came to the chapter about arrests.

“All arrests must be made by an officer with a warrant from the courts, or a miner with a shovel in hand.” Alan let out a sigh of relief. That had been his first attempt at such a change, but it worked. “Perfect. Now I’m authorized to make arrests. Let’s go, Lucrezia.”

The noblewoman stared down at the book of laws. The sound of something cracking filled the air. It was the sound of Lucrezia’s sanity breaking apart.

“Wh-what did you do…?”

“I used my shovel to make a ‘hole’ in the law.”

The silence that followed was actually a sound. It was the sound of the noblewoman’s common sense collapsing on itself.

“Don’t worry. Once everything’s over, I’ll fill the hole in.”

Lucrezia could feel her consciousness floating up into the sky. What exactly was she even talking to? Was it a person, or was it a shovel?

“Lucrezia, if we catch him, don’t forget to fulfill your end of the bargain.”

“My…end of the bargain?”

“You promised to let me shovel your body (to find the location of the orb).”

“Nnngh!” Lucrezia turned crimson upon remembering the promise she made.

She was going to be shoveled? That didn’t strike her as something one should do to a woman. Alan should instead be looking to do such things to some sort of shovel girl, and not until marriage at earliest. But she’d made the promise. Her pride as a noblewoman was on the line. Breaking her word was unthinkable. What could she do?

For an interminable moment, Lucrezia fought on the frontline of multiple fierce internal conflicts. At last, she spoke.

“O-o-of…” She shook her head back and forth, and with a terribly embarrassed expression on her face, declared, “Of course!”

Lucrezia was a proud noblewoman, and at last her pride triumphed. Having made the promise, she would do whatever needed to be done.

“Of course! I shall allow you to shovel me as you see fit!”

Sadly, there was no way that Lucrezia could know that she had made the worst mistake in her life.