Chapter 92 : Chapter 92

Chapter 92 - Detective Jamie

Drrrrrk─

The carriage wheels rolled over an unpaved road.

The luxurious carriage that Edwin had once ridden.

Today, instead of another guest, the one who had bought it was riding inside.

I had bought it and never ridden it once, but today I would ride the carriage instead of an airship.

The ultra-luxurious carriage, twice the size of a normal luxury carriage, was even flanked by an escort.

It smelled a bit like wet dog, but armed mercenaries guarded the surroundings.

So even the capital guards of the kingdom’s army couldn't help but be on high alert.

“Welcome!”

“Welcome to Krawl, the capital of the Julsin Kingdom!”

Not just their spear-wielding hands, but their waists and legs were ramrod straight.

The soldiers, standing at sharp attention for someone who wasn't even their superior, asked cautiously.

“May I ask where you are from?”

There was no aristocratic family crest, nor a proper flag.

The coachman gathered the reins in one hand and reached into his coat.

Ssk─

“We are from the Maxman Merchant Troupe. The Troupe’s Head is riding here, so it would be good if we could pass as quickly as possible.”

The Millesdusk family merchant’s seal.

And even Jubel Maxman himself.

Even if they reported it up the chain, they couldn't hold him here now.

He was not a person that a mere guard could hold up.

“P-please enter!”

“Thank you for your cooperation!”

“Thank you. Ahem.”

Marvin, clearing his throat from unnaturally lowering his voice,

Began to drive the horses once more.

The ultra-luxurious carriage soon passed the guards and the main gate and entered inside.

The capital was the heart of the kingdom and its brightest place.

Which meant the deepest shadows were also here.

The wolves acting as escorts twitched their noses in the air.

“There are quite a few humans, but how is it that the smell of food is even less than in Dusk Citadel?”

“Why do you think? It’s because it’s been a while since they’ve seen any food.”

“Didn’t they say it’s the capital? Wealthy humans should be living here.”

“Such humans are in the minority.”

An elderly werewolf said.

“Usually, there are far more humans who are not like that, and those are called commoners. And the wealthy ones are called nobles.”

At that dichotomy, another wolf whispered.

“Our employer isn’t a noble, is he? But he has a lot of money.”

“Our employer is a merchant. A great merchant at that. Recently, the power of gold has become stronger than the power of status.”

“So he has the same power as those things called nobles. Is that what you mean?”

“Compared to those who live trapped in the pretense of status, it’s only natural.”

The sound of the wolves chattering trickled into the carriage.

And what they felt, those inside were also seeing.

“…Still, the capital was always prosperous. Why has Krawl become like this….”

The all-too-changed appearance of his hometown.

Given the time that had passed and the power he had seized, even killing his own kin, I had hoped it would have improved.

But the capital, Krawl, looked like a living corpse waiting only for death.

An agent from the Intelligence Department, a profession that sees the most living corpses, acknowledged it.

“The faces of the people we see have sunken cheeks and no life in their eyes. It seems they are barely getting by on their meals.”

Of course, not everyone was like that.

Among the commoners, there were those with greasy faces, but they were also merchants.

They were also Jubel's targets, aside from the prison break team.

“As the Young Master said, I will handle the Julsin Kingdom's merchant association.”

The Youngest Son, who had been sitting alone at the very back, gave a silent nod.

Inside and out.

The merchant association was a bomb to be placed inside.

The merchant association, which supplied goods throughout the kingdom in exchange for tax cuts, was a visible blood vessel.

“If you grasp those blood vessels, no king will be able to breathe. It won’t be a difficult task.”

“The Young Master is right. The signs of the kingdom’s ruin are probably being felt most keenly on their own skin right now.”

Jubel smiled and nodded.

“I hope your side’s affairs will also be resolved safely, Young Master.”

“My role is not important. I just hope those two do well.”

“……”

“……”

Reggie and Lubosch, who were listening, remained silent.

The Youngest Son himself said he wasn’t important here?

They didn’t say it out loud, but they thought it to themselves.

‘What a joke, really.’

‘No way.’

The two of them knew.

That they were nothing more than cogs.

He fits, adjusts, and assembles those cogs within a circle to finally create the art that is a clock.

That was entirely the role of the Youngest Son.

Jubel, knowing that as well, laughed heartily.

“No matter how good the gun is, can it be better than the shooter?”

“You know how to flatter, too.”

“These words come from the heart, so there is no need to filter them.”

The Youngest Son gave a small smile.

He neither denied nor affirmed it.

Jubel's words were not wrong, but in this situation, they weren't entirely right either.

‘The shooter is more important than the gun, but I’m not holding a gun, I’m holding a cannon.’

When it came to a cannon, the shooter became less important.

Of course, having the eye to recognize a cannon was an ability in itself.

‘Today, I’ll use these cannons to break down the prison gates.’

For that, I brought a cannon used for cleaning the house and a cannon that was known to be dead.

The money cannon would go meet other rich people.

We get off here.

“See you in Eclipse.”

“I wish you good luck.”

The three-man prison break team quietly disembarked from the carriage.

Each pulled their hat down low.

Pretending to have come for market research, they entered a secluded alley.

Taking the lead was the local’s role.

“…The people have changed, but the streets are the same.”

“The Administrative Grand Officer we’re about to meet will be the same, too.”

Reggie smiled bitterly.

“It might be difficult if he’s the same. He was the one who first advised me not to leave the front lines.”

And yet, he didn't seem to resent him.

His expression, rather, seemed to show concern for him.

Why was that?

That was a matter between the two of them, so I didn't concern myself with it.

What I had to be concerned with was the possibility of the plan proceeding.

“I wonder. Would he still be the same now, locked up in prison?”

I had planted a seed of doubt in a man full of inferiority.

The seed, having absorbed the energy of the soil, sprouted in an instant.

It devoured the farmer who was trying to cultivate the land even a little and cornered him.

By now, that farmer's mind must be in a turmoil.

“Having been a powerful official of a nation, he’ll be even more so. Am I going to be forgotten like this? Is the country where I was born and raised going to fall like this?”

But the world is surprisingly simple.

You wouldn’t know how simple it can be if you try to see it that way.

“We will throw him a rope called a solution. And no matter how dirty that rope looks, the one who threw it is the Third Prince, so he will try to grab it somehow.”

The Youngest Son smiled from under the brim of his hat.

***

The Fourth Son’s faction, the Black Giant Castle.

And within it, the Black Floating Castle.

Normally, he would be in the Giant Castle, but these days he spent more time outside.

It was due to the recently started project: the great operation to track down the Forest Witch, the culprit behind the destruction of Hojeopgung.

“Ugh! I feel like I'm about to catch something, but it makes no sense that there isn't a single trace!”

The Fourth Son, Jamie, looked down from within the castle at the destroyed Hojeopgung below.

First, it was about seeing the whole picture.

After seeing the whole canvas, I would then meticulously observe each brushstroke.

I descended to the ruins named Hojeopgung and examined the broken fragments.

“Chief Secretary! It seems the Forest Witch really is the next great witch!”

He spoke to her, who was following behind without making a sound.

There was no reply, but he confessed helplessly as if talking to a doll.

“While fighting with the world’s strongest illusionist, no less! She controlled her power enough not to kill! And also controlled her power enough to destroy the building. And she left no trace.”

His voice grew lower towards the end.

The thumping footsteps also subsided.

“Mother’s magic is scattered all over the debris. But I can’t feel the Forest Witch’s magic. Anyone would think Mother made a mess all by herself!”

He shouted loudly, as if into a bamboo forest.

His hands reached out towards the clouds he couldn't grasp.

He did it out of extreme frustration.

I promised.

I even made a pinky promise with Mother.

Then it's a promise I must keep!

“Uwaaaah! I don’t know anything!”

He lay down on the ground.

Lying down, he flailed his arms and legs wildly.

It was as if a fire that wouldn't go out was burning inside him.

The sky I looked up at while lying on the ground.

The weather was also damn fine.

The wind blew gently and pleasantly.

But just getting hit by the gentle breeze here wouldn't solve anything.

“Kuaaaah! I can do iiiit!”

He shot up.

He put strength back into his loosened legs.

He put strength back into his head.

Finally, he strained his eyes until they were bloodshot, searching for the remnants of magic.

“If I find even a tiny speck, that’ll be a sample. With just a sample, the minimum foundation for reverse-tracking can be made.”

A rare serious moment in his life.

In the first place, the number of times he had put in effort for more than a few days in his life could be counted on one hand.

It was natural since anything could be solved in an hour or two.

Even sorcery that others found difficult.

Even combination formulas that others couldn't understand.

Once it entered these ears, this head, it was understood in an instant.

The prodigy, for the first time in a long while.

Perhaps for the first time in his life, met a formidable opponent.

.

.

.

The sun was setting.

The Fourth Son, who hadn’t left the ruins all day, slowly rubbed his eyes.

He had kept them open for so long they felt like they would pop out.

Even so, his head tried to find an answer.

“Maybe… it was never here in the first place.”

A trace. An answer. Magic. A sample.

Call it whatever you like.

Anyway, that thing.

“It’s easy to erase during battle because your senses are sharp. But what about while moving? Even if she’s the Forest Witch, she couldn’t have just dropped out of thin air, right?”

He dashed towards the Crystal Gate, of which only the pillars remained.

There were no traces here either.

But as Mother had said.

“The Forest Witch walked in this way, she said. That means she followed the path in front.”

She followed the path.

A path. A path. A path, you say.

He closed his eyes and thought deeply.

Then he asked the person standing behind him.

“The one who first encountered the Forest Witch, as the Bronze Mask said. Who was it?”

“It was Land General Manager Felson.”

The Chief Secretary, who hadn't uttered a word until sunset, answered without delay.

The questioning did not end.

“The encounter between the Land General Manager and the Forest Witch, as testified by the Bronze Mask. Recite the situation.”

“The two appeared to be benefactor and beneficiary. The Forest Witch asked the Land General Manager for directions, and he did not answer. The Forest Witch knocked him out. That is all.”

“No.”

The Fourth Son denied it instantly.

“That can’t be the end of it.”

He turned around.

A place to go had emerged.

“Guide me to the encounter point!”

“I will guide you.”

The Fourth Son’s voice brightened slightly.

It wasn’t like his usual self, but it was similar to his usual self nonetheless.

The reason was at the encounter point the Chief Secretary had guided him to.

“I can picture the situation perfectly~”

He saw what he couldn't see when he first came.

The difference was the effort he had put in until now and the conviction that came from that effort.

At first, he had wondered if there was any great secret here.

The answer lies at the scene of the incident.

He believed that firmly.

But after wasting a day, two days, three and four days straight, a thought came to him.

“The answer isn’t necessarily in the magic! The standard procedure is to search in the magic, but I should have thought outside the box for something like this. I definitely should have!”

He rustled his dark purple hair wildly.

His green eyes sparkled despite the fatigue.

His gaze was directed at the ground.

The cracked ground, the earth that the pickaxe had struck.

“Forest Witch! I admit it! I can’t chase you down right now! But I know where to start!”

Hahahahat!

He threw a victorious laugh at the world.

That laugh continued until he boarded the Black Floating Castle.

The destination was the Pantheon.

The Land Development Department.

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