Getting the job on spot

For sake of conveniences:

· MC will be referred as Lucas

·Knights and officers will be used interchangeably.

After detonating the dynamite, the attackers atop the train were enraged to find the noble's compartment untouched.

"Having gone through considerable trouble to infiltrate the train, they disguised themselves as commoners, merchants, and some even got hired as porters by taking advantage of the department's desperation for workers to meet its urgent need to run the train station after the civil war ended.

"Why is he taking so long to find our boss?" one of the attackers yelled, indicating his higher hierarchy among the attackers.

"We don't know. We didn't anticipate it would take him this long to find the boss," replied one of them

They planted the dynamite undetected by guards. They lured all the guards to the detonation site, expecting to kill them there and secure their success. However, despite the guards' deaths, which removed their hindrance, they underestimated the compartment's durability.

One of the attackers was in deep thought, fearing the arrival of Knights who were roaming around the street since morning. Once they arrive, they will undoubtedly fail and worse be captured.

'I don't know what happened to my boss, but since the situation is becoming dire, we must act quickly if we're to succeed,' one of the attackers thought anxiously.

"Commence Plan B!" he shouted, initiating the steps he had instructed to be used in case he was absent—likely busy dealing with external threats beyond their capability.

All the attackers gathered in one place and faced the compartment they would destroy. As they began to chant in silence, with mana leaking from their bodies, forming a gray circle with a simpler design, each identical to the others, until each of them formed the magical circle, glowing gray.

Soon after, the mana within their hearts began to link with one another, and wind swirled around the circle, its design gradually becoming more detailed and complex.

'Nineteen of us are enough.'

They began to chant in silence, with mana leaking from their bodies and forming a gray circle with a simple design. Each circle was identical to the others, glowing gray as the magical circles took shape.

'In the name of our heilige mission, we will purify this land!' the attacker nearest to the compartment thought, who was soon puzzled in the next moment when he found that the mana link with the other 18 was missing.

Turning back, he vomited at sight.

'What happened to the– and who's coming?!' The surviving attacker trembled by the sound of clapping hands and footsteps.

"You know, for guys who are only at the 2nd rank, you did a pretty good job planting dynamite undetected, detonating it to kill all the guards on the train, and even trying to perform a 5th-rank spell through collaboration. Your employer would surely be proud of raising fine people." The impersonator ( old man) praised him from behind while spinning the blade on his hand, before he began to wipe blood on it.

As the surviving attacker recovered from the shock of seeing his beheaded comrades, he mustered the courage to face the assailant behind him.

He knew he was no match; however, he believed his boss was capable of finishing the monster off.

Bringing his palms together, he prayed, "Dear Schäfer of the old, lend me strength to-"

"Visit your grave? Well I can't be judgemental if someone wishes to retire early." impersonator ( old man) said, giving an understanding nod while wiping his blade once again, that was covered in blood.

—-------------

'Oh, well, I found nothing interesting...' he thought. Disappointed after a thorough search through their belongings yielded nothing of interest

He then formed a red magic circle to incinerate the bodies, leaving no trace and a gray magic circle to disperse any remaining evidence across the mountainous terrain.

'I suppose they still have bad blood with others,' he thought, seeing nothing unusual with the situation after recalling the civil war.

Even if the civil war had ended, it doesn't mean the victor won't eliminate the remaining enemies, especially if the victor happens to be the newly crowned Empress of Mitteleuropa, ironically nicknamed the Night Mother.

Or there might be a chance for them to be radicals/rebels based on the words of their supposed boss.

'Oh well, it's nothing for me to worry about.'

Quietly descended from the top of the train, he went to the room where their boss was staying since the 'old nobleman' was 'dead' whose carriage was destroyed when disposing of the deceased boss's body and the 'young nobleman' was 'alive'.

It was similar to his room, with no noticeable differences.

Indifferent to the occurrence, he relaxed and began to 'snore' in his room.

Knock, knock.

"Excuse us, we are knights from the local police department. Please cooperate in the name of our empe—*cough*—empress,' stuttered one of the knights.

He sensed their arrival, so he wasn't perturbed, taking his time to reach the door.

"Good day, officer. How may I help you?" He greeted them with a smile while 'yawning'.

'Hey, is he free for ton- No! Focus, Sara!...' thought the officer, charmed by his face, which he impersonated from the now deceased boss.

'Does my life now qualify to be a rom-com?' He mused while waiting for her to refocus after she slapped both of her cheeks.

"I apologize for waking you from your slumber, but a few minutes ago, a train was attacked by terrorists, killing all commoners and merchants."

"That sounds awful. Who could commit such an atrocity?" He feigned ignorance about the terrorist attack, mourning the atrocity with the officers.

"We are not sure, as they were too discreet, leaving no trace behind." It is one of those cases where her team found no trace.

However, she did find the timing strange.

An hour ago they made it to the train station to arrest the criminal group Commedia dell'arte who committed a robbery on the Museum this morning.

As they found out some trains had already left, they followed the tracks, in hopes of bringing them to bars once and for all, before realizing the horrible state of the train.

'Could there be a possibility of their involvement here?' She speculated.

Despite guessing the truth from his interaction with the radicals, he had no intention to get involved and why should he?

Afterall, police were looking for him since morning and he would be caught red-handed when they verified his identity to confirm his truth anyway.

So just like any noble, who didn't know the commotion due to noise cancellation property of the compartment, he gave the same testimony.

'Just like always, there is no witness.'

Dissatisfied by the lack of clues, Sara left early, leaving her team behind to check other trains that departed around the time frame just to be sure.

There was nothing much her team could do other than inquiring about every noble's identity according to protocol, as they presumed the list of people who boarded was burned during the attack, though he was the one who actually did it for safe measure.

As time passed, the knights eventually made their way to Lucas to inquire about his name.

"Excuse me Lord, apologies for the inconvenience."

"Due to technical reasons and protocol enforced by our majesty, we need to inquire about your identity."

"Understood, you don't have to worry about it, officer." He earnestly said, causing the knights to be touched by his consideration, as they were verbally abused a few times already.

"My name is Lucifer Morning Star."

'Okay, Lucifer Morningstar.'

Jotting it down, it took them a while, going from a nodding face to a bewildered face.

"Kidding! Don't take everything so seriously, you know," he grinned, causing others to sigh in relief.

"My name is Lucas Izar, heir of the Izar family from the northern Kingdom and I came to the empire here for some work." he lied smoothly, confident in his deception

Despite their suspicions after few of them sensed his rank, hearing his land of origin and hearing his vague reason for coming here, they had no evidence against him, and as a supposed foreign noble from a friendly kingdom, they were hesitant to press further to interrogate as the laws to detain him were much more convoluted than usual unless they had solid proof.

Especially in a time when all rival kingdoms may look for an excuse to attack the empire in the name of 'justice'. So they can only follow him in secret.

Lucas who sensed them was untroubled by their presence, adhering to the adage, 'An actor who sweats is an actor who is dead.'

As he relaxed in the compartment and enjoyed meals fit for a noble, he continued to watch the mountain terrain

He thought to himself, 'Definitely going there after this ends.'

Getting off from the train, he decided to go to the patent office found near the train station to file a random patent to get rid of suspicion from officers who were observing him from a distance.

The city through which he walks serves as the empire's knowledge epicenter, attracting minds from across Europa to contribute to humanity's advancement—and he, ostensibly doing the 'same' by patenting, blends in seamlessly. As long as he doesn't patent actual words or actual people, he can patent anything, at least this what he assumed after reading an article where a man patents a concept that makes lots of money.

And the payment from others to use it? It was love, of course…..

Yes, the L-word.

He chuckled to himself at the creative, albeit peculiar, advertising strategy—akin to announcing oneself as a Sugar Daddy

As he was visiting the patent office near the station, amidst the bustling crowd, he felt an unexpected warmth from the black cube in his blazer.

'Hey, why does my stomach feel warm?'

Feeling an unexpected warmth emanating from his blazer, he carefully pulled out a mysteriously glowing black cube, its significance and origins yet to be revealed.

Approaching Lucas amidst the bustling crowd, a man in his late 30s declared, "You must be the teacher I interviewed."

"Indeed, it's an honor to meet you in person, sir." Lucas quickly drew back his right leg as he bowed, his right foot scraping the floor, while his right hand pressed horizontally across his abdomen and his left hand held out from his body.

Caught off guard by the man's assumption, Lucas felt unsure who the man was or what he was referring to, saw no immediate way to correct the misunderstanding, considering possibility of the black cube was given by him to the radical's deceased boss and explaining how Lucas got this while impersonating him was a sure way to get a ticket to prison or get imprisoned by him after sensing his rank.

The man chuckled: "You look better in person. I can imagine you being popular with female students."

Accompanying the man and his assistant, Lucas departs while the officers go their ways, no longer considering him a suspect in the incident.