Ch.162Chapter 162. Wandering Evil (5)

“Ahem.”

After receiving Reika’s signal, I cleared my throat exactly twice from behind.

This was my signal to Irene.

All of this had been previously arranged with them.

She would have noticed it easily.

“What’s the matter?”

“We’ve received multiple reports of theft in this area. Right in front of this house, in fact.”

“I don’t know anything about that.”

“According to witness statements we’ve obtained, we need to have a conversation with you.”

“I don’t know what you’ve heard, but I have nothing to say.”

The man waved his hands dismissively, but Irene didn’t back down at all as she stepped into the room.

“It would be better if you cooperated. Otherwise, I’ll have to detain you immediately.”

“What?!”

The man glared at Irene for a moment.

Knowing that antagonizing the guards wouldn’t do him any good, he reluctantly nodded, though clearly unhappy about it.

“I don’t know what you want to talk about, but don’t complain later that you wasted your time.”

As he turned around and began to walk away—

“…!!”

“You won’t have to worry about that.”

Irene said, drawing the sword from her waist and pointing it at him.

“What are you doing…!”

“Answer my questions truthfully and I’ll at least spare your life.”

It might be a bit extreme, but we were dealing with people suspected of kidnapping.

Setting aside all the other complications, my judgment was that subduing them quickly would be the safest approach.

“…Who are you?”

“You must not have heard me clearly. I said I’ll spare your life if you answer my questions truthfully.”

“…”

There was no response.

Irene slowly posed her question to him.

“Where is Jenis?”

After the question, the man who had been motionless for a while flinched at the name, his shoulders trembling slightly.

Then, with a short sigh—

“…Ha.”

With a sneer, he shouted loudly.

“I’ll give you the answer in the afterlife!”

“…!!”

At that moment.

From some corner, a human figure quickly flashed before my eyes.

It was an ambush aimed at Irene.

And simultaneously—

CRACKLE!!!!

Sharp ice pillars shot up from the floor in the room.

“W-what the?!”

“Haaah!”

CLANG!

The man who had attempted the ambush stumbled due to the ice pillars, and one of the knives he was holding flew far away.

I quickly seized the opportunity, grabbed the knife, and pointed it at the throat of the man who had been pushed back.

“If you resist further, you’ll lose your life.”

“Ugh, ughh…! What is this! What’s going on…!!”

It’s no wonder he was surprised when ice pillars suddenly shot up from the floor.

Well, this was magic, after all.

The second thing I had subtly instructed Reika to do.

It was to prepare ice magic in advance and be ready to use it near me at any time.

* * *

After sending Iolline back, just before we began our full-scale search.

We conducted a few light tests in an open space untouched by human footsteps.

This was on land that Irene had received from Serpina, near where the mansion where we would stay together was located.

“Haaah!”

First of all—

We were checking how much I could control Reika’s magic with my rapier.

Sending Iolline back to the mansion was partly because, as I told her, her resemblance to Jenis could cause various problems—

But also because I was planning to use magic if necessary, and it was advantageous in many ways for her not to be present while Reika and I practiced our coordination.

Explaining magic to her in detail would not only be time-consuming but would also expose our cards to an outsider.

Recently, when I made that hole in the castle wall.

I had been constantly thinking about whether this ability might partially make true the nickname “White-haired Magician” that others had arbitrarily given me.

Reika said she had continued to practice magic while we were apart.

For some reason, this place seemed to be richer in magical energy than Valharat Castle where we used to stay, and admirably, she had consistently repeated the not-so-meaningful training routines we had done together without my instructions.

Whether that really helped or not, I wasn’t sure—but in conclusion, Reika’s magical skills had improved significantly since I last saw her.

“Now then, let’s experiment with a few things. Understand?”

“Yes, yes…!”

First, we tried controlling a basic fireball spell.

I received the fireball she created with my rapier, then launched it at a distant rock.

Swoosh!

With a “poof” sound, it exploded and disappeared, confirming my theory.

‘It seems I can control the destructive power if I don’t hold onto the magic for too long and release it quickly.’

Back then, it had happened so suddenly that I had accumulated the fireball in my rapier for quite some time.

And since I had launched it accidentally, it had carried quite a lot of power.

The next thing we tested was the ice magic she had been confident in lately.

Like the fireball, its power was amplified the longer it was held, and crucially—

CRACK!

By thrusting my rapier into the ground, sharp ice spikes rose up like a wall at a certain distance in front of me.

“Wow…!”

‘Indeed, such applications are possible.’

I thought of this method because this “ice rising from the ground” magic was one of the spells that existed in the game.

It seemed that by mimicking the action of striking the ground with something like a staff when casting magic, the same effect was applied.

“So this is the power of magic… Certainly, if this ability were applied to the battlefield, the nature of warfare would change quite significantly.”

Irene spoke with genuine admiration and an expression of disbelief.

“It’s still too much for now.”

“Huff… hah.”

Reika, who had been repeatedly experimenting, knelt on one knee and panted, seemingly tired.

“To use it meaningfully on the battlefield, it needs to be backed by stamina, which is impossible at the current stage. Sure, it could make an impact on the first sortie… but the word ‘magician’ has already spread somewhat because of me, and after blocking it a few times, it would just lead to the same war of attrition as before.”

“I see. Stamina, is it… However, assuming this ability could be properly utilized, it would certainly be fair to say it could determine the fate of the continent. Even an ordinary general like myself can already imagine various ways to apply it.”

From what I’d heard, Irene was far from ordinary and actually an exceptional general… but anyway, that was beside the point.

“How are you feeling, Reika?”

“I think I can use it a few more times…”

“Good. Then let’s stop the testing here.”

To subdue the opponent effectively, this ‘magic’ ability was essential, so I couldn’t exhaust Reika here.

Besides, as Reika said, using magic seemed to consume mana not only from her but also from my rapier.

‘I’d prefer to handle this cleanly without having to use such things if possible…’

I had tested it just in case, but it would be best if we could get through this without any trouble.

That’s what I thought, but—

* * *

As always, life doesn’t go as planned.

Anyway, as soon as I noticed the man jumping out, I received the magic Reika had prepared with the rapier at my waist, then struck the floor with it.

Just as I had tested, sharp ice pillars rose from the floor, effectively blocking his strike.

From the beginning, according to Reika, Jenis hadn’t met with just one man but had been surrounded by men while talking.

I naturally expected there to be others besides this man, and this time my prediction was correct.

‘Good. If we continue to coordinate like this, I might be able to use magic freely as needed.’

When channeled through my rapier, Reika’s magic was amplified.

This meant that as long as I had her with me, I could use magic too.

For someone like me who could only make accurate predictions but had no means to protect myself, this fact was incredibly reassuring.

Later, when Reika fully awakens to her abilities, I too might have the opportunity to serve alongside Irene on the battlefield.

Since it’s already known that I called down a meteor from the sky, no one would question my abilities.

“D-damn it…!”

“Well, what are you going to do?”

Irene lowered her voice and brought the blade closer to his neck.

“…What… do you want?”

As much as I wanted to kill these bastards who tried to harm us right here—

We had information we absolutely needed to get from them.

“You know about Jenis Al Caskie. You’re not going to pretend you don’t at this point, are you?”

“…”

“Just tell us where he is now.”

Still silent?

I didn’t want to go this far, but if he won’t talk, there’s no choice.

“W-wait…!”

I lightly grazed the fallen man’s neck with the stolen sword.

With just a drop of blood falling from the blade’s tip—

“I’ll talk! I’ll talk, so p-please…!!”

I was able to extract the information without much difficulty.

*

From the two men bound with rope and sitting in chairs, we were able to hear the general outline of what had happened.

“So, you’re saying you’re just errand boys?”

“That’s right! They said they wanted to persuade this man Jenis Al Caskie, so they asked us to bring him to them…!”

“Then who is the client?”

“…”

“Why did they say they wanted to persuade Jenis Al Caskie? What exactly were they trying to persuade him of?”

“…”

So they won’t talk till the end.

I sighed and approached the man I had knocked down.

“Hey.”

“W-what?”

“You saw the ice pillars rising from the floor, right?”

I placed my hand on his chest and spoke in a cold tone.

“What do you think would happen if they burst out from inside you?”

“Hii, hiiiek…!!”

I didn’t want to threaten him—

But seeing how they still couldn’t speak even in this situation, they were likely under some kind of threat themselves.

For people whose lives were at stake, we had no choice but to threaten their lives as well.

They didn’t know how the magic mechanism worked, so they would probably believe my words at face value. After all, they had witnessed something unbelievable right before their eyes.

“I-I can’t tell you… If I talk, we’ll really die…!”

“Do you want to die now, or talk and live a little longer?”

“D-damn it…!!”

Irene, who had been listening to me from behind, spoke in a solemn tone.

“We already know most of it and came here with that knowledge, so speak honestly. If you do, I’ll specially spare your life.”

“W-what can a mere guard like you do!”

“…”

Irene silently removed the hood she had been wearing.

This revealed the breastplate with the royal family’s emblem clearly engraved on it.

“…!!!”

“I am one of the generals serving my lord. If you confess everything, I give you my word of honor that I will at least spare your lives. You may be punished and imprisoned. However, I promise I will not kill you. You don’t have many options anyway, do you?”

To make someone who fears losing their life speak, you need to give them their life back.

I couldn’t help but smile bitterly at the thought that this was a classic “bad cop, good cop” tactic.

Before coming here.

I had explained all my general suspicions to Irene and Reika.

The story that ‘a series of events might be related to treason, and Jenis Al Caskie seems to be caught up in it.’

It was a somewhat far-fetched claim, but both Irene and Reika seemed to trust me quite a bit.

While I expected it from Irene, I was pleased that even Reika believed me… though I wasn’t entirely comfortable involving a civilian like her in such dangerous business.

“Now. Please speak honestly.”

“…You’re… certain you’ll spare our lives…?”

“Of course, absolutely.”

I looked the man in the eyes and smiled as kindly as possible.

Wondering how much of my conjecture would prove correct this time.

“…Open that door in the back.”

When we opened the door the man pointed to, there was—

“…!!”

Jenis, bound all over his body, imprisoned in a small closet.