Chapter 82 …

“Such nonsense!”

Abyss flared up in anger.

His eyes shook, and from his reaction Rachel realized that what Count Noema had said was true.

What mother in the world would wish for the death of her own firstborn son?

Whatever the First Queen’s wish might have been, the Crown Prince had died because of the schemes of the dark magician and Count Noema. Even if that hadn’t been their original intention, it could never have been what she truly wished for.

“Tell me the identity of the dark magician!”

“Heh… hehehe.”

Instead of answering Abyss’s shout, Count Noema only laughed unpleasantly.

The drug had worn off.

Abyss hurriedly searched his coat, but Count Noema suddenly rose and slammed his head into Abyss.

The soldiers quickly restrained him, yet Count Noema laughed like a madman.

“You will never reach the truth. Hell—take my soul!”

No one had expected it.

After shouting those words, Count Noema collapsed like a puppet whose strings had been cut.

[Danger Rate: 55%]

“Hm?”

Rachel’s gaze was caught by the message window that appeared in front of her.

Meanwhile, Abyss hurriedly turned the body over to check.

“He’s dead!”

Abyss spat the words through clenched teeth and slammed his fist into the ground.

Rachel dismissed the message window and looked down at him.

The chance to discover the dark magician had appeared right before us… and vanished.

“Just like Baron Emporus, he had a magical prohibition placed on him. He must have broken it himself and fallen into the hands of a demon.”

Under the heavy rain, the three of them fell silent.

After glaring at the corpse for a while, Abyss stood and headed toward the carriage.

I thought Count Noema was deeply involved… but the danger rate dropped less than I expected.

The danger rate, which had been 57%, became 55%.

The fact that Count Noema accounted for only 2% made Rachel sink into thought.

Enoch watched her quietly, then removed his cloak and draped it over her.

“You’ll catch a cold.”

But Rachel remained lost in thought.

When I told Father to come home, the rate dropped by 2%. Was that it?

Looking at the chain of cause and effect, it was Count Noema who had dragged Henri into Daimon. Now that problem was resolved, it seemed the danger rate had decreased by 2%.

“Thank you. Enoch—Your Highness. You said the count broke a magical prohibition, right?”

Rachel almost spoke casually to Enoch but raised her speech level when she noticed people around them.

Enoch slowly nodded.

“Yes. The aura that appeared briefly and vanished was the same as when Baron Emporus died.”

“He mentioned the late First Queen. What could that mean?”

“I’m not sure either.”

Until now, Rachel had believed that he used his position as the Crown Prince’s tutor to poison him.

But perhaps that assumption had been wrong.

“I think we need to investigate the First Queen.”

Only by understanding why Count Noema mentioned her could they know why he cooperated with the dark magician.

“Eating lunch comfortably is harder than I thought.”

The sun was high in the sky, and lunchtime arrived at the royal palace.

Once again, Carion slipped out of his office through the window and headed toward the Administrative Department.

“Y-Your Highness!”

When he opened the door, an official who had been eating his lunchbox hurriedly stood up.

Since it was lunchtime, most seats were empty.

“Don’t mind me. Keep eating.”

“B-But…”

“It’s fine.”

Who could possibly eat comfortably with a prince—one designated as the next king—standing in front of them?

The administrators eating inside because of their remaining paperwork were so tense they barely knew whether the food was going into their mouths or noses.

Ignoring them, Carion walked toward Rachel’s desk.

He looked through the documents she had approved.

“You work hard.”

A smile spread across his face.

“Work’s been piling up lately. It must be tough, right?”

“I-It’s fine. Since yesterday, the paperwork has decreased a lot.”

The administrator said it was fine, but that meant they had been extremely busy until then.

How many officials were eating lunchboxes simply because they had no time to go to the cafeteria?

Carion knew that until just a couple of days ago, administrators hadn’t even stepped out into the hallway during meal times.

“The urgent matters are almost finished, so hang in there a little longer.”

“It’s an honor.”

Seeing someone answer “It’s an honor” even when told to endure hardship made Carion chuckle.

At that moment, someone kicked the door open and stormed into the department.

“Peristera! How dare you!”

The one who appeared so aggressively was Damian.

Judging from his furious expression, he clearly hadn’t come with good intentions.

“Long time no see.”

“What brings you here, brother?”

“Well, it’s a department I take interest in. But what about you? You usually avoid people who hold pens, don’t you?”

“That’s none of your business.”

Damian glared at Carion as he replied.

But Carion didn’t back down.

“No, no. It is my business. The Sir Peristera you’re looking for is an official I cherish very much.”

Damian’s teeth ground together with a grinding sound.

“You have no idea how good she is at her work. Two months ago, she even brought me a case after taking a half day off with Enoch.”

Carion recalled the incident from two months earlier.

It was the case where many intellectuals—people believed to be pillars of the nation—were discovered to have secretly collaborated with dark magicians.

They belonged to an organization called Daimon, and at its center was Count Noema.

Count Noema killed himself on the spot, but the others failed to do so and were captured by the Silver Knights and thrown into prison.

That was what appeared on the surface.

But Carion knew more.

Paris Emporus, who had been captured earlier, also belonged to Daimon. Many merchants and nobles who supported Damian were members as well.

Now that the organization had been shattered, Damian’s power was practically broken.

“You know, right? Count Noema—the man who used to be your teacher. It was our Sir Peristera who discovered he was collaborating with dark magicians.”

“That’s truly amazing!”

An oblivious administrator responded enthusiastically.

Damian whipped his head around and glared at him.

Only then did the administrator lower his head and bury his face in the pile of documents.

“Of course I know. Because of that woman—!”

“Why? Did something happen? Surely a royal like you didn’t associate with them? Don’t tell me you joined hands with dark magicians.”

“Brother, that’s a frightening thing to say.”

“Well, if that’s not the case, that’s good. I was wondering why you seemed displeased with someone who achieved such merit.”

Carion cut off his words and sneered.

“Father seems to like Sir Peristera very much.”

After learning about the Daimon organization, the king had flown into a rage and ordered the arrest of everyone connected to dark magic.

Thanks to that, the Silver Knights received massive support despite being a newly established knight order.

It also increased exchanges between the royal family and the temple.

The place that experienced the biggest change afterward was the underworld.

“You know the illegal district Baron Emporus used to control?”

Damian flinched.

There was a brothel there that Damian frequently visited.

He had first learned about it through Paris Emporus, and after Emporus died, Damian even funded some thugs as a backer.

“After the baron died, a lot of back-alley groups fought to take it over.”

That area had frequent disappearances, violence, and murder—so much that even the city guards practically ignored it.

But the royal family, wary of dark magicians, began a back-alley cleanup project.

“It was completely cleaned up with the Silver Knights at the center.”

Carion said this teasingly.

Damian bit his lip.

“Actually, it was Sir Peristera who proposed the cleanup project, but that’s not important, right?”

The project lasted two months.

During that time, the paperwork in the Administrative Department multiplied several times, working the administrators nearly to death.

But the results were excellent.

The illegal district, improved through the administrators’ tears, sweat, and lost sleep, became a special district managed by the state.

It was now a clean zone where underworld groups and dark magicians could no longer interfere.

The king was extremely satisfied with the outcome.

Especially since Rachel’s name as the proposer was buried, and the credit went to Enoch, the commander of the Silver Knights.

Carion was also delighted.

After all, many parasites that had been gnawing at the nation were wiped out.

Those who committed serious crimes were sent to labor camps.

There were also people who had originally been commoners but were kidnapped and forced into slavery for years. Their identities had been erased due to being listed as missing.

Their identities were restored, and they were allowed to live in the special district and given jobs.

Someday they would become tax-paying citizens.

How could Carion not find Rachel adorable after seeing the results she brought?

And he had also managed to strike his half-brother, who only pursued his own desires instead of serving the kingdom.

“So if you touch her, things will get quite troublesome. Not only Father, but I—and even our other brother—like her.”

“Fine! I get it! Stop talking already!”

After delivering a long lecture warning him not to harm Rachel, Carion smiled brightly.

Damian kicked a desk and stormed out of the department.

“Whew…”

Sighs of relief escaped the administrators.

Those who knew Damian’s violent temper had been worried he might draw his sword.

“Good grief. I don’t know whose brother he is, but what a nasty temper. He left before my words were even finished.”

“That could have been dangerous, Your Highness.”

“If he attacked me here, even he wouldn’t escape unscathed. But you’re different. If you got hurt, he could just claim you insulted royalty…”

The remaining officials’ faces turned pale.

“So if he appears here again, come find me immediately. I’ll come stop him.”

“Thank you.”

Carion smiled like a good person.

In truth, he wasn’t saying it for the administrators’ sake.

From the looks of it, Damian had come to harm Rachel.

He was worried Damian might target her when he wasn’t around, so he gave that instruction.

“But even though everyone’s come back, Sir Peristera still isn’t here.”

“Ah, she had a visitor today, so we told her to eat lunch leisurely.”

“Really? Thanks for the answer.”

Carion walked toward the window, then turned around.

With an awkward smile, he left through the door.

“Maybe Count Noema was secretly in love with the First Queen? Maybe her last words were something like ‘Please take care of my sons’!”

Rachel listened to Lekeia while taking a huge bite of her sandwich.

The last two months had been incredibly busy.

It was practically as if they had no days off, so the “Defeat Damian and the Dark Magicians Club” had temporarily stopped meeting.

But there had been a big gain.

Now that the illegal district had been cleaned up and the rainy season had completely ended, the danger rate had fallen to 46%.

When the other intellectuals besides Count Noema were captured, the rate dropped by 5%.

During the back-alley cleanup project, it dropped by another 4%.

A total decrease of 9%.

It had only been a few days since the mountain of documents had finally shrunk.

And today, just as things became a little relaxed, Lekeia arrived at the Administrative Department carrying a large picnic basket.

Upon hearing that a marquis’s daughter had come to visit, the staff told Rachel to take her time eating lunch.

Thanks to that, Rachel was able to enjoy a break in the garden.

“But the dark magician took Prince Herion hostage! So Count Noema had no choice but to listen—and that’s how the prince died!”