[Theoard POV]
After a simple lunch at the castle, I patrolled the territory with Marhan.
The main purpose of the patrol is to hear eyewitness accounts directly from the nobles who have been harmed. There were many parts where the enlisted men of the Count's Excellency felt distant from the nobles and could not investigate properly, so I decided to jump in and conduct a proper investigation myself.
"You mean when you get attacked? Hmm."
The nobleman being interrogated by me was the first to be robbed by the "Ten Bandits."
It is said that the count's enlisted men once visited the house for an investigation, but the aristocrat, who was very angry, gave up the investigation, saying,
"Are you going to let the whole world know that I was robbed by city officials?"
I wondered what it would be like to be treated rudely at the door this time for a similar reason, but when I came with Marhan, a female knight of The Knights of the Blue Banner, and several of her soldiers, he was very docile.
My role as regent may have played a part in softening the aristocrat's demeanor.
"It was when I entered an alley to take the shortcut home."
The aristocrat frowned and drooled, probably remembering the situation at the time.
"There were masked assailants blocking the front and back of the alley. My servant panicked and drew his weapon the moment a dagger flew by and pierced his shoulder. Then, as if to behold, he walked over and beat the servant mercilessly. He was about to kill him."
Nobility did not touch; only slaves were killed. He must have acted knowing that if he killed a nobleman, the incident would escalate.
In addition, he aimed for when the noble entered the alley, blocked his retreat by blocking his front and back, and instilled fear in the noble by killing the slave as brutally as possible.
If the first offense had been planned like this, there was a high possibility that it would not be a first offense.
"I was trembling with fear, so he reached out to me. It was a threat, saying that if I gave up all my valuables and money, I would be spared. I couldn't help it, so I handed over everything I had. That's it. Any more me..."
"How did he kill the slave? Did you use only a blunt force?"
It was Marhan's words. It's also a question I wanted to ask. The nobleman stroked his chin, thought about him, then shook his head.
"When I think about it now, there were a few sharp cuts. Something with a pointed end... It's probably a dagger with a sharp edge. A stab to the neck would have surely killed them, but they didn't. As if they were trying to make him die from excessive blood loss."
'He hacked his body with a dagger, but he did not intentionally stop his breath. To enjoy the last sight of a dying person. It was inhumane treatment, no matter how you look at it.'
'No way.'
Three years ago. The method of the crime is similar to that of the man who ruthlessly murdered the woman's husband and burned down the house. It was when he opened his mouth that I remembered him.
"Stand up, Your Excellency Regent!"
The door opens, and a soldier rushes in. He's not the soldier I brought with me. Did he come all the way from the castle? I stared at it for something, and the soldier caught his breath and continued.
"Good news! They say all the robbers surrendered!"
"What?"
I am more embarrassed than happy. Why did they suddenly turn themselves in? I looked around with a puzzled look, but Marhan also made an expression that she didn't know why.
*
When we arrived at the courtyard of the castle on horseback, we saw robbers with their hands tied with ropes, just as the soldier said. Not only did they resemble the faces drawn in the montage, but the weapons used during the crime were well preserved, so it became clear that these guys were the 'Ten Bandits'.
"That is absurd."
"I mean, why would they surrender?"
I responded to Marhan's words, got off the saddle, and landed on the floor. Marhan also gets off her horse and follows me.
"Your Excellency the Regent!"
A knight who was giving orders to his soldiers in the courtyard spotted me and came closer to me with courtesy. It was a strangely excited face.
"Congratulations on your achievement!"
"A pleasure?"
"Ah. Well, these guys confessed because they were afraid of the regent. They must have felt a sense of crisis in the narrowing investigation net. The Count will be very happy to know that the Regent has captured all these troublesome bastards."
'That is... Does it make sense? My pursuit of the robbers took two days at most. Those who hid for a month felt fear and surrendered after two days?'
It was to the point where I felt a strange sense of incongruity, leaving behind something that did not make sense. However, the knight continued his words with a bright face, as if he did not care.
"I heard that there was a big fight between the side that wanted to embroider and the side that didn't want to embroider. In the process, the underboss and subordinates died, and those who finished the fight came to surrender, starting with the boss."
"Are those two dead?"
"Yes. In order to confirm the exact facts, Prince Fred left, saying that he would conduct an on-site forensic inspection. In my opinion, these guys are the real culprits, seeing as the montages match and they talk about the method of the crime without interruption."
"Is it. Who is the boss?"
"There he is."
"Right."
After trying to answer indifferently, I passed the knight and walked to the place where the boss was. The boss, tied to the rope, lowered his gaze, unable to meet my eyes.
"You. Say your name."
"My name is Murnon."
"Do you know Haria? She lost her husband and her house three years ago."
"Yeah, that can't be. I have never set a fire in that house."
"Arson?"
I looked down at Murnon with a cold complexion.
"Strange. I didn't say that the house burned down."
"That, that...."
Murnon, who had trembled in his eyes, lifted his head with an awkward smile, then found something behind me and hurriedly kneeled down.
"Oh, that's right! Three years ago, I killed her husband and burned her house! Sin, sorry!"
It is strange to see him trembling as if he had seen a demon. I wondered why, but when I turned around, I saw an elf dressed in a maid uniform in front of the barn, staring at me emotionlessly.
When the elf met my eyes, she changed her expression and muttered sadly. I couldn't hear her voice because of the distance, but if I looked at her mouth, it was something like, 'I need to be punished, master'.
'I wonder if...'
I understand a little bit now. After the elf tracked these guys down, she threatened them with some kind of confession. Otherwise, there was no way that the leader of the band of robbers would be frightened at the sight of an elven slave.
Should I like this or not? As I let out a sigh, the knight strode over and kicked Murnon. With a dull noise, Murnon rolls on her floor, raising the dust.
"Khehe, kek...!"
"How dare you reverse your words in front of the regent? An idiot criminal!"
The knight who shouted at him clicked his tongue and turned to me.
"Sir. What should we do with them? Why don't you take advantage of it and hang them on the street?"
'I want to do that too, but I can't.'
"I imprison him. It's not urgent, so I'll decide on the punishment after His Excellency returns."
"Ah, yes! Then we will do that. These guys! If you hear it, move quickly!"
The knight, who heard my order, crossed the courtyard, shouting at the resting soldiers. The soldiers caught the criminals and raised them up according to the knight's words, even though they were grumbling.
After watching the scene for a while, I noticed the elf and tapped Marhan's armor. Marhan looks back at me, raising her eye as if asking a question.
"What is it?"
"Marhan. From now on, I will give you a very special mission. It's a serious mission that shouldn't leak out. Will you swear to your family and knightly honor that you will obey my orders?"
The question on Marhan's face deepens. It's not that I don't understand. Would I entrust an important mission to the moment when the case was solved? Even if it were me, I would have tilted my head, not guessing what I was entrusting.
But this was a serious mission for me. Because it was a matter directly related to my survival and the existence of my family. Because I can no longer escape with the excuse that I am absorbed in my duties...
"Well."
Marhan, who was thinking over and over again, carefully nodded her head.
"All right. My lord is the count, but Viscount Theorard, who plays the role of regent, can also be regarded as my lord due to circumstances. If it doesn't go against your Excellency's will, I'll risk my family and the honor of the knight to keep quiet on your orders."
"Thank you."
Marhan seemed to be able to believe it somehow. I cleared my throat and whispered in a rather cautious tone.
"By any chance, are there any instruments of torture left in the basement of the castle? It would be nice if it could be used as a sexual tool."
When I said that, Marhan's face was filled with hatred towards me.
"No. It's not what you think."
It's unfair and miserable.
There was no time to say
*
The basement of the Black Wheat Fields Tavern.
Fred went down the stairs with two men in robes. As he enters through the smashed door, a bloody smell wafts out.
Fred reflexively pinched his nose and moved forward, frowning. Not far away, he sees two strewn bodies.
'... His head exploded cleanly.'
There are no signs of damage elsewhere on the body. Only the head was smashed remotely. In addition, the pressure was not applied from the outside but exploded from the inside.
It was like playing with someone else's body in my hand.
'Magic... is there a black magician among them?'
He's heard rumors that some of the attack magic used by black magicians of the Devil's Realm overloads the opponent's body, causing death in severe cases.
But he's never heard of a whole head being blown off. He has no idea what level one has to reach to be able to use this type of magic.
'Is this the job of the assassin hired by Theorard to solve the case?'
Not. Hiring an assassin who uses such high-level magic to kill bandits at best? That was nonsense.
The navel is bigger than the stomach. For a wizard who reached this level, the commission fee would be ridiculously high. I don't think Theorard paid that much to earn his father's trust.
'Then what the hell?'
Why did this wizard help Theorard? Fred, who repeated reasoning after reasoning, laughed at the thought that suddenly occurred to him.
'He must have signed a contract.'
It was correct to think that the mage was loyal to Theorad through some kind of deal.
Theorad must have been using that to treat the wizard as if it were his own limbs.
'Did he pawn his soul?'
He heard that in a dark place like the Devil's Realm, something after death is used as a medium of contract. If Theorard had made a contract with the mage that way, this scene wouldn't have made sense.
But that nice guy was plotting this kind of scale behind his back. He doesn't know what the purpose was, but it was truly shocking.
'I thought he was infinitely young and innocent.'
When he looked inside, he was a giant from the underworld more than himself. Of course, that doesn't mean he is going to spread this around the neighborhood.
Fred himself was doing something wrong, and he didn't want to put the Earldom in the spotlight by inflating it.
In addition, from what he've seen so far, it seems that Theorard is genuinely in love with Esily. Whatever Theorard was doing behind his back, it didn't matter as long as it didn't harm his sister.
After thinking, Fred pointed his chin at the two corpses.
"Brothers. There's nothing good about this body being uncovered, so let's clean it up."
"All right."
The two men nodded, took off the cuffs of their robes, and walked forward. A black scorpion tattoo was tattooed on her exposed wrist.
"I will go out for a while. I'm not used to the bloody smell yet."
Fred smiled bitterly, turned around, and climbed the stairs. He still had doubts about Theorad in his heart.
'I don't know what purpose he has, but I don't want them to run into each other on business.'
'A guy who is more deeply involved in affairs in the dark than anyone else yet casually reveals his good intentions in front of him. If he ever became an enemy... I just didn't look like I could ever win against him.'