“……Yes,” my foot!
‘What the hell is wrong with this crazy little brat…?’
Siss pressed a hand against his throbbing forehead.
“You do realize you’ve just added another crime to your record, right?”
“Yes.”
“There will be additional time added to your sentence.”
“Yes!”
Why did her voice sound even more cheerful?
He wondered for a moment, but Siss continued.
“You might be placed in solitary confinement because of this incident. While you’re in solitary, you won’t be allowed outside for walks. You’ll have to eat all your meals inside as well.”
“Yes!”
“There won’t be any snack time, either.”
“……Yes!”
Karin thought she could endure that much if she just held out.
Seeing her confident attitude, Siss sighed.
He had never actually intended to send her to solitary. He had only been trying to scare her into behaving, but it clearly wasn’t working.
“……Then, one last thing.”
He roughly understood why she had done it.
“How did you make the bomb?”
“There were materials.”
“Materials?”
“The ore scattered across the floor.”
Siss narrowed his eyes.
Wasn’t that ore used to control magical power?
“I know about its weakness.”
“What is it?”
“If I tell you, you have to grant me one wish.”
“What?”
Siss openly showed his displeasure.
“You seem to have forgotten what kind of crime you just committed.”
“Arson against a building owned by the Imperial Family.”
“……”
She knew perfectly well.
‘And she still dares to negotiate with me.’
This child was terrifying.
“Fine. I’ll grant you anything except releasing you immediately or reducing your sentence.”
“You can’t change your mind later!”
“……I said I understand.”
She was ridiculously meticulous about useless things.
Siss quietly clicked his tongue.
“Control stones are meant to compress and contain magical power, right?”
“That’s correct.”
“Then what would happen if they were subjected to an impact?”
“?”
An impact?
Siss narrowed his eyes.
Karin nodded.
“You replace the buffer material periodically, right? Because there’s always the possibility that it might absorb too much power and go boom.”
“……”
“But what if…”
Not only from inside—
“But what if it could also explode from external stimulation?”
“You…!”
“Then wouldn’t making it explode be easy?”
For a moment, Siss was rendered speechless.
Karin then explained the method of making the bomb in a very concise and straightforward manner, breaking everything down so that it was easy to understand.
It was so clear and simple that Siss almost felt embarrassed for not having considered this danger himself.
“You just have to do roughly this, and it’ll explode.”
Karin shrugged, conveniently leaving out the fact that she could create gemstones.
“If you don’t believe me, you can test it right away. But other people might misuse it, so I think it would be better to secretly conduct the test under the guise of a weapons experiment.”
The gemstones she had created from her tears were merely catalysts for making the explosion bigger.
She had already explained the actual principle behind the explosion.
“Then can I tell you what I want?”
“……”
Now that he had already made the promise, Siss couldn’t exactly refuse.
He reluctantly nodded.
“Send me to solitary confinement.”
“That? Well…”
What?!
‘Did I hear that correctly?’
He could have sworn he had just heard something insane.
“Where did you say you wanted to go?”
“Solitary confinement!”
Karin declared proudly.
“I want to go to solitary confinement! Preferably starting today!”
……Was there really something wrong with this child?
Siss was beginning to worry.
And so, the crazy little girl who had spectacularly blown up an entire building—
‘Yes!’
—was sent to solitary confinement.
“This is insane. So you’re saying she really blew up the building to rebel against His Majesty the Emperor?”
“I was going to go easy on her because she was cute, but…”
“At first, I wondered why a kid like that had come to Izteille in the first place. Now I understand.”
Karin had already been the youngest prisoner in the prison.
But after the explosion, she became quite famous.
The guards had seen plenty of prisoners causing trouble in Izteille—beatings, acts of defiance, and all sorts of other incidents.
But—
BOOOOOM!
To actually manufacture a bomb…
And then use it to blow up an entire building.
There might be plenty of lunatics in the world, but with this incident, Karin had made history in Izteille.
And there was one man secretly listening to the guards’ conversation.
Prisoner Number 392.
His name was Nick.
A loyal subordinate of the Emperor, he was currently carrying out a secret mission.
He had been ordered to monitor the Duke of Vankadium and his younger sister, who had been imprisoned there.
Monitoring the Duke made sense because he had committed crimes.
But his younger sister was another matter.
Why had she infiltrated this place?
Was she planning an escape?
Nick had been imprisoned for two months to keep an eye on the two of them and determine their intentions.
But recently, there was someone interfering with his plans…
‘Prisoner Number 100.’
Her name was Karin.
Her crimes included insulting the Imperial Family and commissioning an assassination, among other heinous crimes that were unbelievable for a four-year-old.
Nick had already been watching her carefully when she went and blew up a building on top of everything else.
There was no doubt about it.
She was far from normal.
Which made her an even greater person of interest.
Especially because the Vankadium young lady was constantly doting on her.
At first, Nick thought Veronica might be her accomplice.
But the little girl herself didn’t even seem to know who the person sharing her cell was.
“Going to solitary confinement? Is that really okay? That monster bastard is there too.”
“Well, she’s the one who blew up a building. Maybe she’ll be fine.”
“Still, there are only two people in the solitary section right now. It’s completely enclosed, and the guards stay outside. What if those two actually start fighting…?”
“Hey, have you ever seen a fight break out in solitary? Besides, they can’t even use magic in there. What are you worried about?”
“Damn it. Did you ever think someone would set off a bomb in here? I’m worried about what might happen. I’m on duty there starting tomorrow.”
“You’re scared, aren’t you?”
“Shut up.”
After listening to the guards’ conversation, Nick quietly walked away.
He hadn’t gone far when someone extended a hand from around the corner.
After recognizing the signal from his contact, Nick walked toward him.
“Hehehe.”
I was so excited on the way to solitary confinement.
‘Sis told me I wasn’t allowed to go…’
She had even jumped around, saying that if I went, she would blow up another building and come with me.
But the guards quickly stopped her.
‘Though I’ll only be able to stay for a week.’
This might be my first and last opportunity.
I absolutely had to convince the Duke.
‘If I immediately ask him to become my ally, he’ll refuse.’
I needed to lure him in slowly but surely!
“This door leads to the solitary confinement section.”
The guard stopped in front of a sturdy iron door and looked down at me.
“Once you enter, you won’t be allowed out for a week. No one other than the guards is permitted to approach you.”
The guard looked at me displeasingly before opening the door.
I grinned and followed closely behind him.
As expected of solitary confinement, every room in this section was designed for one person.
The doors were also made of iron bars, just like the cells in the regular prison.
Thanks to that, I could clearly see who was across from me and what they were doing.
“……?”
The Duke, who had been sitting inside, immediately frowned when he saw me.
His eyes seemed to poke at my cheeks with one obvious question:
Why are you here?
I hugged the belongings I had brought with me and bowed my head.
“Hello, Your Grace!”
“……”
“I caused a little trouble…!”
They say that making a good first impression gets you halfway there!
“I look forward to spending the next week with you!”
Surely this would earn me some points?!
