35 – Goals

That night, Lance drawing blueprints in his room. He noticed a brief flash of light from the window, but ignored it.

Although it might be a sign of someone breaking in with magic.

Even when the black-clothed person entered his room, Lance was still busy drawing. "Wait a minute, I'm not finished yet."

The intruder, with their mouth and head covered, sat down on the bed's edge. "As you and Sir Arthur agreed, we will stage a fight, and I will attack you. But I'll avoid the fatal parts. Honestly, this is quite troublesome."

"If sir Arthur just hands over my blueprints to Zashrend, the risk is higher. The Celestenia government will investigate how Zashrend obtained the method to create powered armor. After a while, they might suspect us. If there are reports of blueprints being stolen, the risk of the government suspecting me and Sir Arthur will be small."

"I understand that. You don't need to explain it to me." The intruder snorted.

Lance chuckled. "I'm quite surprised that you did this task, Julian. I didn't know you had this kind of ability."

"That's because Sir Arthur trusts me so much. And my background shouldn't surprise you. Many high-ranking officials take aides from the spy division. It's nothing new."

"But can I trust you, though?" Lance asked. "I know who you are, Julian. Your last name is not Rufford, but Celeste. Two generations ago, rebels overthrew King Alain Celeste. You are his descendant."

"Tobias Ardalle told you, huh? He has a vast network, even though he works in the weapons and magic development department." Julian sighed. "Indeed, I'm a Celeste. What is it to do with anything?"

Lance stopped what he was doing and looked at Julian. "The rebels took down your grandfather because many people were living in poor condition. The Beaumont family ascends to the throne, and they spare the Celeste family. But you guys have to change your last name. They want to erase Celeste's name from the palace."

"You haven't answered my question, Lance Ashbourne." Julian tilted his head. "Yes, I'm a Celeste, so what?"

A smirk graced Lance's face. "You want to restore Celeste's name, right? That's why you became a government employee. Your goal is to become high-ranking officials. With that position, you can pursue your goal more easily. But doing something like this could threaten your mission. Your efforts will be in vain if they find out. The question is: why? Why are you willing to do this?"

"I am indebted to Sir Arthur. He is the only one willing to accept a Celeste like me. I can't just refuse his orders." Julian got up from the bed.

"Really, huh?

"You think I'm going to leak this? No. Instead of being rewarded for reporting a conspiracy, I would end up in prison for accusing a high-ranking official. You think they would believe a Celeste?"

Even though Julian was not shouting, Lance could feel the anger in the aide's tone.

The engineer finished his sketch, then smiled. "It's done."

"Oh, I'm going to enjoy this." Julian raised a knife.

***

Ashe left her room as soon as she heard the commotion. She pulled the lever on her rifle, preparing to shoot anyone who might break into the house.

The commotion was still there when Ashe arrived at Lance's room. Unable to unlock the door, he shot the knob before entering.

"Lance!" The female elf crouched down to examine Lance. He lay on the floor with multiple slash wounds.

"The blueprints." Lance groaned as he pointed at the open window. "Someone stole my blueprints!"

Ashe looked out and aimed with her rifle in various directions, but found nothing.

"No! Go after that person!" Lance insisted when Ashe came at him again. "He brought powered armor designs!"

"I'll treat you first… Ah, thank goodness." Ashe finds Ruth arriving. "Mrs. Ashbourne, help Lance! I will look for the intruder!"

Without waiting for an answer, Ashe rushed out while Ruth kneeled near her son.

"What happened?" With a confused and frightened expression, the mother treated Lance with healing magic.

Lance squirmed. The pain in his body was real. "The blueprints, they took them."

Even so, the engineer held back his smile.

***

Because Lance's injuries weren't that serious, Ruth could heal him pretty fast.

"I'm okay." Lying on the bed in another room, Lance massaged his forehead, continuing his act. "The blueprints…. It would be dangerous if it reached our country's enemies."

"You better not think about that, Lance." Ruth patted her son's shoulder.

Not long after, Ashe came in and reported. "I didn't find anyone suspicious. Whoever it is, they are very good at escaping."

Lance changed his position to sit. "We have to report it to the authorities so they can conduct a large-scale search."

"A guard of this house is reporting to them indeed. The other guards are also looking for the intruder." Ashe took a deep breath. "But I'm not sure I can find it. The intruder got past the house's tight security. That bastard must be very skilled at running away and hiding stolen goods."

Arthur entered with. "Is it true that someone broke in and stole your blueprints!?"

Lance nodded, and that made Arthur lower his chin.

"Excuse me, Lance Ashbourne." Julian squinted his eyes at the engineer. "You're not carrying out the powered armor project anymore. Why are you still making blueprints?"

"That's because I like my job." Lance shrugged. "Yeah, maybe this is my fault. Why did I make those blueprints? If I hadn't made it, this wouldn't have happened."

"Don't blame yourself, Lance." Ruth said. "Nobody knew this would happen."

"And they won't necessarily be able to make powered armor from your blueprints," Ashe added.

Lance wanted to laugh at this charade. Everything went well. Arthur and Julian can play their jobs well.

He just had to wait until Zashrend brought out their mech, forcing Celestenia to act.

"I'll join in the search." Ashe sighed. "Though I'm not sure we'll find the intruder."

"I'm coming too." Lance stood up.

"No." Ruth blocked her son's path. "The intruder clearly wanted to kill you. Maybe he will try to do it again when he sees you…."

Before Ruth had finished speaking, Eve's maid came in and raised a silver badge.

"I'm Olivia Tyrell of the Celestenia kingdom's spy division." The maid approached Julian. "Julian Rufford, I arrest you on suspicion of conspiracy against the state."