6. The Case of the Vanishing Classified Books
BACK at the palace, I took the crystal Karina chose with me as I went in search of Ed.
However, when I arrived at the Magical Research Lab, something was odd. The magicians and the palace guards were all standing in a group. They were all gesticulating wildly, talking about something. And right in the middle of the group was Ed, looking concerned.
“Charles? What’s going on? Is Ed all right?”
I spotted Charles amongst the group and went over to talk to him. Charles was frowning and looked surprised as his eyes focused on me.
“Bel? What are you doing here?”
“Princess Karina wants a protective Magic Crystal made, so I came to ask Ed.”
I held up the bright yellow Magic Crystal to show Charles. It was attached to a golden chain for easy wearing.
“Ed’s a bit busy right now, though, huh? What’s all the commotion?”
Ed seemed to be explaining something to a knight and a palace guard as they all stood by the entrance to the Magical Research Lab. I wasn’t sure exactly what was going on, but it almost looked like they were interrogating him.
Charles looked in their direction, his jaw stiff, his eyes serious.
“They’re looking for something.”
“What? Why can’t they just use Locating magic to find it?”
“There’s no response to the spells.”
“No response? Whatever are they looking for?”
“Classified magic books. They were present at the evening check, yesterday evening. But between then and the next check an hour later, they vanished. Ed’s the only one said to have visited the palace library’s Classified Books Room during that hour. But Ed doesn’t know anything, either.”
“You mean…”
The words stuck in my throat.
The classified magic books contained research notes on various forms of magic not shared with the general public. The research was very advanced. For a country like Najir, renowned for its magic, the books represented top government secrets. They were incredibly important.
Ed was a Royal Magician. So, of course, he had the right to freely access the Classified Books Room. But the rules said that the books could never be taken out of that room for fear that their contents might be leaked to foreign nations.
“Maybe he just made a mistake and put them back on the wrong bookshelf after reading? Ed would never take a Classified Book out of the library, after all.”
“That’s what the guards thought, too. They’ve been searching all over for them, but there’s no sign. I got the report, and then Ed was brought in for questioning, too.”
“What did Ed say?”
“He said he never even visited the Palace Library last night.”
“What? So then, it must be a case of mistaken identity.”
“No, that’s not possible.”
Charles shook his head.
He sounded like he didn’t want to believe it either, but apparently, there was irrefutable evidence.
“The palace guard on duty outside the library saw him clearly. And he knows Ed, so he knows it was him. In fact, several guards on duty that night saw and confirmed that it was Ed.”
“I see…”
I frowned.
Certainly, any guards on duty near the library would know Ed by sight. And if several guards were saying the same thing, then it was hard to believe they were all mistaken.
Why would Ed tell such a blatant lie?
Just then, I remembered what Daniel had told me last night at the ball.
“Oh, yeah…”
Daniel said he’d asked Ed to give his countrymen some magic lecture. It was supposed to be happening while the ball was on. I told Charles about that, and Charles said he’d confirm it as soon as possible.
Later, I accompanied a very bewildered Ed and Charles to Daniel’s room.
Daniel seemed annoyed by the sudden intrusion but smiled at us anyway.
He seemed to have already started packing for his return home the day after tomorrow. Through what we could see of the room behind him through the half-open door, it was strewn with belongings.
“Can I help you with something?”
“Yesterday evening, this Royal Magician was with some of your magicians visiting from the Sunruta Kingdom, or so I hear. Can you confirm that?” Charles gestured toward Ed as he spoke.
Daniel listened to Charles’s frank request in silence. Then he turned and called back into the room. Immediately, two young men appeared from within.
They both wore magicians’ robes like Ed. One was short with black hair, and the other was very thin and had tied-back chestnut hair.
“Yesterday evening? Yes, we were together. What about it?”
The shorter man looked at Charles and Ed in concern. Then he looked at Daniel.
“Could you tell us what time that was? If you could remember the exact hour?” Daniel prompted.
“Uh…it was about thirty minutes after you left for the ball. We were there for about three hours. We ate dinner while the speaker talked us through the lecture.”
Charles pressed the man further. “Did anyone leave their seat during the lecture?”
“No, not even once.”
The short man looked to his companion to corroborate. The chestnut-haired man backed him up with a nod.
“……”
Charles fell silent.
We didn’t know the exact time when Ed was allegedly spotted, but it seemed clear that it’d been during the time when he was delivering his magic lecture to this pair.
“If I may ask, what magical techniques did the lecture discuss?” Charles narrowed his eyes on the two magicians.
“Oh, various ones. A little Levitation, some Transference, Magic Sigils, and so on. And he showed us his Illusion again. That one, now that’s very impressive.” The chestnut-haired man spoke this time, a little breathlessly.
It all lined up with what Ed had told Charles on the walk over here. In other words, there was no doubt that Ed had been busy instructing these magicians last night.
What on earth is going on?
I was honestly confused. How could one person have been seen in two different places at the same time?
“Has something happened?”
Daniel looked around at us, picking up on the tense vibe.
Finally, he rubbed his chin with his hand and spoke.
“The same person, the same time, two different places… Prince Charles. You should search the luggage of every visitor in the palace. Each and every one. Of course, I give you full permission to check the luggage of every Sunruta visitor, too.”
“I don’t think that’ll be necessary…”
Rifling through guests’ private possessions would be construed as blaming them for theft. Charles shook his head at the idea. He’d relations between Najir and her neighbors to consider after all.
“You can say that there’ve been rare, clothes-eating moths spotted in the palace, and you need to check everyone’s belongings for signs of damage. Or make up another excuse like that. It’s better to act fast before it’s too late.”
“Ah… I suppose you’re right.”
Charles nodded, taking in Daniel’s solemn expression. Ed and I just looked at one another.