Chapter 42
“Damn it!”
Lerajie gnashed his teeth at the gruesome sight inside the open wagon.
Earlier, all his focus had been on protecting Calliope, so he hadn’t spared a thought for this side.
“Lerajie, what’s—”
“Don’t come closer. Calliope Verdi.”
At his low, commanding voice, she froze on the spot.
“They’re all dead.”
“What do you mean…?”
She looked back and forth between Lerajie and the wagon with a blank face, then her expression hardened in shock.
“Don’t tell me… you mean it was a silencing?”
Lerajie nodded with a grim look—just then.
“Sp… spare me…”
A faint, dying voice pierced their ears.
Before Calliope could even react, Lerajie rushed into the wagon.
Moments later, he emerged supporting someone—Jorge Dippel. He had a wound across his abdomen.
“At least being a former knight wasn’t for nothing.”
With those biting words, Calliope cast a healing spell. As the wound began closing, the man lost consciousness.
“He only fainted. Fortunately, his life isn’t in danger.”
Calliope and Lerajie carried Jorge, the sole survivor, into their carriage. For safety, they bound his arms and legs.
As Calliope caught her breath in the carriage, she asked,
“Will they attack again?”
Lerajie nodded.
“Very likely. Especially if the assassins are tied to the illegal mana-stone mining.”
If the assassins’ goal had been silencing, one attack wouldn’t be the end.
“The miners must have known something. We must protect Jorge if we’re to interrogate him.”
After a moment of thought, Calliope made her decision.
“We’ll have to return to Verdi territory.”
Half a day hadn’t even passed before the two returned to Verdi lands.
They went straight to the security office.
“I’ll handle the interrogation.”
At the very least, there was certainly someone pulling strings from behind the scenes. They had to find out who.
“Really? You’ll be all right?”
“Look who’s worrying about who. You should do something about that pale face of yours.”
Embarrassed, Calliope rubbed the bridge of her nose and nodded.
“Then I’ll leave it to you.”
With Calliope safely set aside, Lerajie entered the interrogation room alone.
Jorge was tightly bound to a hard wooden chair.
Thanks to Calliope’s magic, his wound had nearly healed.
But the fear of death he had faced only hours ago had not left him.
“You’re awake.”
Lerajie sat across from the man, who trembled like a leaf and rolled his eyes nervously.
“…”
Lerajie knew very well how to make this man talk.
Of course, none of those methods were particularly gentlemanly.
But if I did that, there’d be an uproar.
Calliope Verdi, who clung fiercely to law, rules, order, and morality, would never accept a confession extracted through illegal means.
Recalling how she had said she wanted criminals punished through trial, Lerajie began.
“Jorge Dippel.”
The man flinched at the sound of his name.
“Passed the Verdi family’s knight entrance exam five years ago. Unmarried. Family: mother and younger sister. Father, also a knight, died when you were a child.”
Listing his profile casually, Lerajie fixed him with a gaze that seemed to pierce through his soul.
“The Verdi family didn’t treat their knights poorly, did they?”
“T-that’s…”
“The reason is obvious.”
A man who had thrown away a knight’s honor and loyalty for money deserved no courtesy.
Lerajie asked bluntly,
“Tell me who’s behind this.”
“I-I don’t know anything!”
Lerajie tilted his head, hands clasped loosely.
“You don’t know?”
“No matter how many times you ask, it’s useless. I only wanted to make money selling mana stones…”
“You still don’t get it.”
Lerajie chuckled, though his eyes did not smile at all.
“Do you know what would happen if I let you go right now?”
His voice dropped, heavy with menace.
Jorge swallowed dryly.
Leaning closer, Lerajie whispered coldly,
“I guarantee you’ll be a corpse within the hour.”
Seeing the man’s eyes widen in terror, Lerajie curved his lips into a thin smile.
“Now then.”
He crossed his arms and sat back with his legs folded.
“Shall we have a frank and honest conversation?”
While Lerajie was battering Jorge with words in the interrogation room, Calliope examined the enchanted artifact.
After a long while of studying it, she let out a hollow laugh.
“This… the mastermind must be a big shot.”
The formula was far more complex and advanced than she had expected.
There was no way a handful of people could have designed such magic overnight.
Lowering her eyes, she sank into thought.
The information network to locate mana-stone deposits. The funds to mobilize experts of this caliber. The power to kill people and cover it up without consequence.
One possibility arose in her mind.
Could it be…
She fixed her gaze on the tightly closed interrogation room door.
If the mastermind is the Imperial Family…
She couldn’t be certain yet. There wasn’t nearly enough evidence to make that judgment.
She couldn’t act rashly or speak carelessly.
But if, by any chance, the Imperial Family was involved—
Lerajie.
Calliope clenched her fists tightly.
…Which side are you on?
Knock knock.
“Come in.”
Now’s not the time for these thoughts.
Calliope quickly adjusted her expression and posture as Lerajie entered the room.
He placed several documents and a magical recording orb on her desk.
It was a record of the interrogation.
Calliope swiftly flipped through the papers.
“So he claims to know nothing of the mastermind?”
“He didn’t even know the broker’s identity. But we did secure the meeting location. Apparently, he was supposed to hand over the mana stones at midnight tonight in exchange for payment.”
“But what good is that? With him captured and assassins already sent, do you think they’ll still show up?”
“That’s why we need bait.”
Calliope’s eyes narrowed, then widened in realization.
“You mean… you’re going to let him go on purpose?”
“More precisely, stage a ‘security office escape.’”
“And Jorge Dippel agreed to this?”
“Oh, he did.”
Lerajie grinned.
“In exchange for protection until we catch the mastermind. Without me, he wouldn’t last long anyway, right?”
At his remark, Calliope let out a dry laugh.
“So this is what a plea bargain looks like.”
“It’s been legal for ten years now.”
“I’m not arguing. Besides, we’d need him as a witness later, so protecting him does make sense.”
Sighing, she then clutched her head as if weighed down.
“Ugh, but another undercover investigation…”
Still, to resolve this, we must catch the broker.
Though she complained, her expression was resolute. Lerajie thought, I knew it, as he looked at her.
Stretching his arms behind his back, he advised her,
“Rest for a bit first. Save your strength.”
“You’re right.”
Calliope nodded.
After she left the security office, Lerajie entered an empty room.
From his cloak, he drew out another magical recording orb.
“…”
The one he hadn’t shown Calliope. The one that wasn’t part of the “official” interrogation record.
This couldn’t be used now. If it was, everyone would be in danger.
Until he had a firm advantage, it had to remain buried.
His grip on the orb tightened.
