Ch.60Chapter 60. The Wrong Path (2)

“I will report.”

Nigel’s words were met with a simple nod from Landgar rather than a verbal response.

Though Nigel kept his gaze fixed on the floor while kneeling on one knee, he somehow sensed Landgar’s movement and began speaking.

“First, regarding the Undead. We’ve secured sacrifices capable of summoning Undead comparable to the Green Flame Knight we lost previously.”

“Who are they?”

“…They’re subordinates who were under my command.”

“…What’s next?”

Though it was a statement anyone would find disturbing, Landgar didn’t inquire further.

“The potion is also complete. Mass production is now possible.”

“The side effects seemed severe.”

Landgar recalled the first-year student, Cain Hover, whom he had witnessed firsthand not long ago.

A student who couldn’t handle the surging power and ultimately went berserk.

Landgar knew very well that the reason for Cain’s rampage was overdosing on the drug they were producing.

“The mana rampage phenomenon won’t occur unless it’s overused. Other minor effects are deemed insignificant for ‘combat’ purposes.”

“Hmm.”

Landgar was somewhat aware of what Nigel meant by “minor effects.”

Typical symptoms included becoming much more aggressive than usual or being unable to control emotions.

These were understandable phenomena that inevitably occurred when awakening latent power.

“Then preparations are complete. What about summoning the Undead?”

“I’ll have everything ready without issue by the execution date.”

“Good. I’ll leave that to you.”

Though he would have preferred to verify with his own eyes, Landgar decided to give Nigel another chance and not concern himself further.

Besides, Landgar had many other matters requiring his attention.

There had been several issues since the beginning of the year, but the most important task was still proceeding smoothly without problems.

The day when the organization would reveal itself to the world and declare war on society for a full-scale revolution.

‘I wonder if the other side is preparing well.’

Landgar started thinking about whether things were progressing well with the First and Second Elders, then stopped.

They were probably all doing fine.

Especially the Second Elder, who had mocked him so much during the last meeting—surely they must be doing well.

“What should we do about the drug we’ve been distributing to students?”

“Hmm. Keep supplying it for now. We don’t know how they’ll react if the drug is suddenly cut off.”

“Understood.”

Landgar was well aware of how addictive their drug was.

Though the drug itself wasn’t addictive, giving up that feeling of omnipotence when taking it wouldn’t be easy.

Especially for students who were still in their formative years.

“Then, I’ll remain as quiet as possible until the planned date.”

“Yes. And manage the kids thoroughly.”

“Yes.”

Whoosh—

Landgar stared briefly at the spot where Nigel had disappeared with the sound of wind.

He felt vaguely uneasy.

‘Perhaps it’s because we’ve had so much going on lately.’

According to Nigel’s report, everything seemed to be proceeding without issues, but something felt oddly unsettling.

“Hmm.”

The uneasiness that gripped Landgar continued to trouble him for quite some time.

**

“That girl?”

“Yes. The one with purple hair.”

“…You’re not planning to do something weird to a student, are you?”

“No.”

“Then surely you’re not getting into some kind of romance business…”

“I said no.”

Erika’s voice, with her distinctive silver hair hidden under a robe, was full of mischief.

This is exactly why I didn’t want to ask Erika for help.

“If we follow her, she’ll definitely meet someone suspicious. She’ll probably receive something like candy.”

“Candy?”

“Yes. It only looks like candy, but it’s likely some kind of drug.”

“A drug?”

“Yeah. By my guess, it’s something that temporarily makes you stronger.”

“Oho.”

While Erika and I were talking, Cynthia was getting further away.

If she got just a bit farther, she’d disappear into the crowd.

“Aren’t you going to follow her?”

“What? Starting now?”

“Of course. How would I know when, where, or who she’ll meet?”

“But this is too sudden. I was hoping to walk around downtown for a while.”

“…Haven’t you been resting and playing around all this time?”

“Hey, walking alone is different from walking with you. If I’m with you, I won’t have to spend money, right?”

“…This is a pretty serious matter, you know?”

After following Cynthia for the past two days and finally reaching my limit, the method I chose was to use my connections.

Erika, who happened to be resting after completing a major request recently.

For Erika, who specializes in tailing and tracking people, monitoring a single Academy student would be a very simple task.

“Yawn. When you suddenly called me downtown, I thought you wanted to hang out together.”

“Next time. For now, just follow her well. Nothing happened in the last two days, so the chances of something happening soon are high.”

“Alright. But you’ll take care of me in return, right?”

Erika wiggled her fingers in the shape of a coin.

I was planning to compensate her anyway, but her gesture made me not want to.

“…Depending on how you do?”

“You know I’m high-quality personnel, right, Captain?”

“Fine, just go now. You’ll lose her.”

“I’ve already placed a tracker on her. She’s walking 234 meters ahead.”

“…Nice.”

I wasn’t sure when she had done it, but it was reassuring.

That’s Erika for you.

“Then I’ll leave it to you?”

“What are you going to do now?”

“I have some things to look into on my end. If things go well on my side, you might not even need to follow Cynthia.”

“Hmm. Alright. Go and work hard then.”

Erika nodded at my words and started walking in the direction Cynthia had gone, waving her hand.

Despite what she said, Erika would probably do her best to monitor Cynthia.

‘With that, Cynthia’s side is taken care of.’

I looked away from where Erika had disappeared into the crowd.

I wasn’t planning to just relax while leaving everything about Cynthia to Erika.

‘It’s infuriating.’

The more I thought about it, the more outrageous it seemed.

If my guess was correct, the “candy” that Cynthia ate was likely the same type of potion that Cain Hover had consumed.

It would be a drug made with abnormal ingredients that could never be sold through official channels.

To distribute such drugs to students, of all people.

And to people I know, at that.

Of course, I wasn’t particularly righteous either, but this crossed a line.

If I hadn’t found out about this, that would be one thing, but now I knew everything.

Moreover, I had a good justification in the form of a sub-quest.

If they were distributing such drugs to Academy students, it couldn’t be a small organization.

That meant I could find some information if I just shook up the underworld a bit.

‘Just wait until I catch you.’

Today marked the beginning of the weekend.

It seemed like this weekend was going to be busy.

**

Crescen, the capital of the Crescen Empire.

The underworld of Crescen had always been tense due to the conflict between two organizations for the past few years.

The Black Crows and the Ten Arms.

These two organizations, which emerged around the same time, had been growing similarly and forming a competitive structure.

Recently, when the Black Crows lost a major request and many combatants, it seemed the competition might end, but the Black Crows didn’t collapse easily.

The reason the Black Crows didn’t fall was that their leader remained intact.

In fact, the core of both organizations wasn’t money or the number of members.

It was the power of Toby, the leader of the Black Crows, and Berolie, the leader of the Ten Arms.

The combat abilities of these two men, who were evenly matched, were the strength supporting both organizations—indeed, they were the entirety of their organizations.

These two men, rumored to be strong enough to match Imperial Knight Captains, were the backbone of their respective groups.

There were even rumors that if they were to fight properly, it would cause chaos in the capital of Crescen.

“So, neither of you knows?”

“No.”

“No, sir.”

Toby and Berolie, said to be as strong as Imperial Knight Captains, were kneeling side by side.

“Really don’t know?”

Flinch—

When the black-masked man sitting in front of the two kneeling men raised his hand, they instinctively shrank back.

“Y-yes! We really don’t know. Even if we made drugs, spreading them inside the Academy would be…”

“Th-that’s right. We don’t even have such manufacturing facilities!”

Toby and Berolie were speaking with absolute sincerity.

Both looked terrified.

They couldn’t help it.

The black-masked man sitting comfortably in front of them.

Toby and Berolie knew this person’s identity all too well.

Not an organization that operated in just one city like theirs, but a world-renowned organization.

The Captain of the Black Shadow Corps.

It would be impossible to work in this industry and not know about the Black Shadow Corps.

The overwhelming aura they felt when first meeting the masked figure.

They didn’t even dare to think about resisting.

“Is that so… Hmm.”

“I really don’t know anything about this! If someone did something, it must have been this Berolie guy…”

“What are you saying, you bastard? If anyone did it, it would be you. Acting all suspicious…”

“Ah. Be quiet.”

“…”

Toby and Berolie immediately closed their mouths at the Black Shadow Corps Captain’s words.

“Then find me some information.”

“Pardon?”

“What kind of information do you mean?”

“Cain Hover.”

Toby and Berolie focused on the name that came from the Captain’s mouth.

Hover was a family both men knew well.

A prestigious family, after all.

“Find information about that guy first. There must be someone behind him who delivered the drug. It doesn’t make sense that you don’t know. As people working in the same industry, I’m disappointed. You should know everything that happens here.”

“…”

Toby and Berolie couldn’t respond to the Black Shadow Corps Captain’s words, which he spoke as if it were obvious.

“Find out who’s making the drugs and distributing them. I’ll be back in three days.”

“Th-three days…?!”

“Why, is that not possible?”

“N-no, it’s fine!”

The two men reflexively answered, startled by the immense aura emanating from the black mask.

They were determined to find something, anything at all.