Extra's Path To No Harem-Chapter 202: First Bomb [1]

"But shouldn’t we evacuate the people here—even now?"

"No."

Anna answered immediately, her tone calm but firm. "It’s better if we move quietly on our own."

I glanced out toward the grand hall.

The nobles were still enjoying the party—laughing, chatting, raising their glasses beneath the glittering chandeliers. Completely unaware that a ticking countdown hung over their heads.

I had asked whether we should begin evacuating them anyway, but Anna’s response remained lukewarm at best.

"Besides," she added softly, "it’s already too late, isn’t it?"

She wasn’t wrong.

Less than five hours remained.

If the device hidden somewhere in this vast imperial palace truly had enough power to level it, then even an immediate evacuation wouldn’t save everyone. No matter where they ran, they’d still be well within the blast radius.

Worse still—

If panic broke out and people began fleeing in every direction, the palace would descend into chaos. Searching for the bomb would become exponentially harder, if not impossible.

In that sense, Anna’s plan made the most sense.

Move quietly.

Avoid suspicion.

Find the bomb before anyone realizes there’s a problem.

"...Then what about calling for help?" I asked after a moment. "Other knights. Court mages. This is the imperial palace—there are plenty of people here far more capable than we are."

With their assistance, the search would be faster. Safer.

But once again, Anna simply tilted her head.

"I wouldn’t recommend that either," she said. "If the culprits sense even the slightest disturbance, they may detonate the bomb immediately."

I frowned. "That cautious, huh?"

"They planned this carefully," Anna replied. "People who go this far don’t hesitate at the last moment."

Silence fell between us for a brief moment. Then—

"I’ve already captured all of them."

"...What?"

I stared at her, unsure if I’d heard correctly.

"All of them," she repeated, as if stating something trivial. "The ones directly involved, at least. They’re being held in a secure location as we speak."

My thoughts froze.

"You—when?"

"Earlier," Anna said calmly. "Before the party began."

Earlier. Before all this.

Meaning she’d been moving behind the scenes long before I’d even realized the situation had escalated this far.

That alone was unsettling.

Still, one thing didn’t sit right with me.

The people who had planted the bombs had already been captured—by my own hands—and were now locked deep underground. There was no chance they could detonate anything anymore. The threat, as far as I could tell, had been neutralized.

"...Are you sure that’s all of them?" I asked slowly.

Anna paused. "What do you mean?"

"I mean exactly what it sounds like," I said. "It’s highly unlikely those people were the only ones involved."

The imperial palace wasn’t some poorly guarded warehouse. It was one of the most secure places in the Empire.

Just thinking about it made my brows knit together.

Could a small group of radicals really have infiltrated this place, bypassed layers of security, and planted bombs—without any help?

Their abilities alone didn’t add up.

I hadn’t questioned it much at the time. Back then, I’d been too busy dealing with the chaos right in front of me.

But now that I had the luxury to think calmly...

Something felt off.

"How did they even manage to plant the bombs in the first place?" I muttered.

The question lingered in the air.

Then, suddenly, it clicked.

I looked back at Anna. "You’re saying... there might be an insider?"

She didn’t confirm it outright. Instead, she gave a small, noncommittal shrug.

"Who knows?" she said lightly. "But being cautious never hurts, right?"

Her tone was casual, but there was something beneath it—a quiet confidence that made my stomach tighten.

That wasn’t the voice of someone making a random guess.

"...You already have someone in mind," I said.

Anna met my gaze. For a brief moment, her expression didn’t change at all. Then, just as subtly, her eyes narrowed.

She didn’t answer.

But she didn’t deny it either.

That was enough.

I exhaled slowly, fingers tapping against the armrest of my chair.

If there really was an insider... then this incident wasn’t over. Not by a long shot.

And worse—

It meant the danger wasn’t lurking outside the palace walls.

It was already inside.

If that’s the case, then I suppose there’s no avoiding it.

We’d have to deal with this ourselves.

"So it’s up there, right?" I asked, looking toward the ceiling.

"Yes. According to the information I gathered," Anna replied. Then she frowned slightly. "Are you planning to go up there yourself?"

"Of course." I shrugged. "Wouldn’t it be better if I’m there to help disarm it?"

Truth be told, I didn’t know much about magic.

At best, I had a rough understanding of magic circuits—the theory behind how mana flowed, how spells were structured. But the bomb itself? I had no idea who made it, how it was assembled, or what kind of trigger it used.

Still, one thing was obvious.

Going together with Anna—a proper mage—was far safer than letting her handle it alone.

The bomb had been planted at the very top of the grand banquet hall.

A narrow balcony tucked so high it nearly brushed the ceiling, hidden among decorative beams and unused fixtures. It was clearly designed to be hard to access.

The only way up was a long, old ladder leaning against the wall.

"I’ll go up first," I said. "Follow me."

Without waiting for a response, I placed my foot on the ladder.

The wood creaked faintly under my weight as I climbed, rung by rung. Each step upward made the hall below feel farther away, the voices and light shrinking into something distant and unreal.

When I reached the top, I carefully shifted my weight onto the balcony and scanned the area.

Crates. Broken decorations. Dust-covered equipment that looked like it hadn’t been touched in years.

And then—

There it was.

Nestled among the clutter sat a large sphere with an unmistakably unnatural presence. Its surface was etched with unfamiliar symbols, faint lines of mana pulsing beneath the metal like veins under skin.

Found it.

I turned my head just in time to see Anna climbing steadily behind me. Once I confirmed she was safe, I stepped closer to the device.

The closer I got, the worse it felt.

Mana leaked from it in an unstable rhythm, like an irregular heartbeat. This wasn’t something meant to sit quietly—it was waiting.

The exterior was reinforced with thick steel plating.

And the symbols etched across its surface—complex, overlapping, almost crawling—were anything but ordinary. Even to my eyes, they felt wrong. Heavy. Ominous.

If I’d come here alone, I would’ve been in serious trouble.

I still had no clear idea what this thing truly was. A bomb, yes—but not the kind you’d find in any standard military manual.

Of course, I had extracted the disarming method from the man who carried the letter. He’d spilled everything under pressure.

But knowing how to disarm something and actually being capable of doing it were two very different matters.

Just because you’re handed a blueprint doesn’t mean you can suddenly build—or dismantle—the machine.

"Did you find it?"

Anna’s voice came from behind me. I turned just in time to see her pull herself up, steadying her footing after the climb.

"I think... it’s this one," I replied, stepping slightly aside.

Her gaze immediately locked onto the object.

"That’s right," she said quietly. Then her expression hardened. "But I didn’t expect it to be this serious. They really intended to blow up the Imperial Palace."

The device was roughly the size of a small child. Compact. Deceptively so.

Yet apparently, this alone was enough to cause the explosion they’d planned.

Anna moved closer and crouched down beside it, her eyes scanning every symbol, every seam, every irregularity.

And that’s when a chill crept up my spine.

’...She’s being too careless.’

Every time Anna moved, parts of her body that really shouldn’t have been exposed kept slipping into view.

I did my absolute best to avert my gaze—staring at the wall, the desk, the ceiling—anywhere but there.

"Louis. Come here and take a look at this."

"Ah—y-yes...!"

Still struggling to figure out where my eyes were allowed to land, I carefully approached her when she called.

"Do you see this?"

Following the tip of Anna’s finger, my attention finally settled on the object in question.

Embedded deep within the broken mechanism was a strange metal component—dark silver, slightly warped, and riddled with tiny grooves that didn’t resemble any standard design I knew.

"First, we need to extract this," Anna said thoughtfully. "But it’s wedged in so tightly that human strength alone probably won’t be enough."

"I agree," I replied, crouching down to inspect it more closely. "Forcing it out would likely damage the surrounding structure too."

The metal wasn’t just stuck—it was anchored, as if it had fused with the device itself. 𝐟𝕣𝕖𝐞𝐰𝕖𝚋𝐧𝗼𝚟𝐞𝕝.𝗰𝐨𝐦

"So," Anna continued, glancing at me, "I was hoping you could pull it out using your ability."

"...My ability?"

She gave me a look that clearly said don’t play dumb.

"You know. That pulling ability of yours," she said casually. "If you use that, shouldn’t it come out pretty easily?"

Ah. That one.

She wasn’t wrong. If I applied it carefully, I could extract the component without applying any physical force at all.