As soon as Luxion led us into the castle’s treasure vault, we began our search in earnest.
“Now, where are those flutes?”
The first game only ever mentioned the Magic Flute the princess used; it wasn’t shown. Therefore, I didn’t know the flutes’ exact properties beyond their ability to manipulate monsters and summon final bosses. Still, those abilities were enough to show they were dangerous.
As I hunted for our marks, the other treasures inside the vault distracted Marie. “Look at all this, Leon!” she exclaimed. “These accessories are amazing. I wonder what kind of price they’d fetch?” She was drooling over a selection of royal necklaces and the like, but rather than fantasizing about wearing them herself, she was interested in pawning them off. It was ironic that she’d been so eager to land a rich man not long ago, yet now it didn’t even occur to her to want any of this treasure for herself.
“Don’t take anything,” I warned her.
“I wasn’t going to!” Marie snapped back. “At any rate, I’m shocked that we got in here so easily.”
It wasn’t surprising that she found it strange; it had really been a piece of cake. We had Luxion to thank for the smoothness of the operation.
Still scanning our surroundings warily, Luxion responded, “Belated though his reaction was, after hearing you speak about the game’s sequel, Master finally requested that I investigate the Principality of Fanoss. I was pressed for time, so I was unable to gather as much intelligence as I would have liked. Still, it was easy enough to find schematics detailing the castle’s layout, security detail, and patrol schedule.”
Marie blinked at him. “You’re really capable of anything, aren’t you?”
“Of course. I’m an exceptional AI.”
I sniffed at that. “And way too full of yourself.”
“I am merely stating facts, but let’s return to the matter at hand. The two Magic Flutes are secured in separate locations. Only one is hidden in this treasure vault.”
When Marie first told me there were two flutes, I’d been shocked. I had to send Luxion on a rush job to investigate, and subsequently to plan our infiltration. None of this would’ve gone so smoothly without him.
Spotting a fancy pedestal with a flute at the center, Marie declared confidently, “I found it! That’s got to be the Magic Flute! I’m pretty sure it looked like that in the game, too!”
“Unfortunately, that is not the real Magic Flute,” said Luxion.
“Huh?” Marie blurted, deflating.
“It’s a replica. The real one is tucked away in a secret room here.” He then explained how to access that room.
Following his instructions carefully, Marie and I soon discovered a switch allowing us passage through a hidden door. As Luxion had indicated, there was another flute within. It looked exactly like the replica Marie had found.
“There it is,” I said.
Marie scoffed. “Just how scared are they of it getting stolen that they made a replica and put it in plain sight to trick people?”
Both our hands stretched out toward the black flute, only to stop short when Luxion said, “Please do not touch the flute heedlessly. There is a trap in place to stymy would-be thieves. We must disarm it to retrieve the flute safely.”
“Wow,” said Marie. “They’re super cautious.”
Once the trap was disarmed, we snatched our prize. The flute was an ominous-looking object if ever I’d seen one.
“What’re we gonna do with it?” Marie asked with a slight tilt of her head.
Destroying it would put our minds at ease, but there was no telling what the consequences of doing so might be. It could unleash the behemoth sealed within, which would be absolutely terrifying and defeat the whole purpose of our coming here.
“I think our only option is to take it and have Luxion analyze it,” I said. That seemed the safer route.
“First the Saint’s necklace, now this. Everything could be cursed,” Marie grumbled.
Speaking of, we’d left Luxion the necklace to analyze as well, since there was no way to do that ourselves.
“I am in the process of analyzing it now,” Luxion said, referring to the necklace. “As for the flute, please place it in this case for safekeeping.” He had brought along an attaché case the perfect size to hold the Magic Flute. Marie hurriedly tucked the item inside, then snapped the case shut. The locks on the lid clicked, securing it. They were sturdy enough that no one else would be able to crack the case open.
“Good,” I said, dusting my hands. “That’s one flute safely recovered.”
Marie wiped sweat from her forehead. “Yeah, and one more to go. Here’s hoping it’s this easy. Let’s get moving.”
“Hold on. Before we do that…” I started messing things up in the vault, making our break-in more obvious. It was important that Fanoss realize the Magic Flute had been stolen. “Once they know their ace in the hole is gone, they’ll think twice before declaring war on us.”
The whole trigger for the conflict—or, at the very least, a major contributing factor—was the Magic Flute itself. Fanoss wouldn’t go to war with Holfort without the flute to fall back on.
I placed a card on the dais where the item had been. Written on it were the words We took your flute.
“Now, I feel like a real phantom thief.”
With that, we left the treasure vault.