The Source of the Rumor
Although a plan had been established, it wasn't something that would yield results overnight. Several tasks had to be carried out in parallel, and the immediate priority was cleaning up the collapsed Security Bureau headquarters.
The operation was massive in scale.
With the investigator directly spearheading the effort and even utilizing magic, the sluggish progress suddenly caught fire. To the residents, it felt like a symbolic reconstruction of peace.
Of course, Aiden hadn't rolled up his sleeves just to rebuild the Security Bureau. Those privy to the bureau's internal information could easily deduce his true objective.
"...The investigator is trying to salvage the remains of Harmensales."
"He probably couldn't just leave it be."
"Indeed. It's one thing when its existence was unknown, but now that he knows..."
Shadia Drury, who had finally risen from her hospital bed, wore a bitter smile.
"Perhaps it's for the best. It was a power far too immense for the Security Bureau—no, for all of Redline—to harbor. It will undoubtedly stir up a storm in Orangeline as well. A true disaster."
Shadia was excluded from the investigation to root out the mastermind.
It was Aiden's consideration for his former senior. With her magic circuits severely shaken on top of the restriction placed on her, she needed to recuperate for the time being.
At the same time, it highlighted the limitations of a fallen Security Bureau chief.
There was no role left for Shadia to play. The surviving security officers could simply be commanded under the investigator's authority. There was no reason to risk an information leak by involving her.
Meanwhile, Muzark Bespard had to keep busy in his own way.
With all those demons wiped out, this is a real pain.
To Muzark, Yen's survival was far more critical than dealing with the mastermind. He needed to record the magical formula to anchor her soul to another vessel, but finding sacrifices to feed Harmensales was proving to be a problem.
He had spent the past few days roaming around to hunt demons. Although the task went smoothly thanks to the twins Aiden had assigned to him, there was no avoiding the mounting fatigue.
Which brought him to his current situation.
There was a reason Muzark had carved out time to visit Shadia. As the existence of the mastermind began to surface, a fundamental question had coiled tightly in his mind.
"Chief. May I ask you a question?"
"Of course. Though I'm not sure if I can answer it."
How had this entire incident begun?
It was time to fit the final piece of the puzzle.
"Going back a bit, Yen infiltrated Claude Regan's workshop as a laborer. I heard that wasn't originally her assignment. Is that correct?"
"Yes. Yen stands out in many ways, after all. We originally planned to send another mage or a highly experienced field agent, but Yen was incredibly stubborn about it..."
"Which means the information regarding Harmensales was obtained by the Security Bureau itself, not by Yen individually. That would explain why the rumors of me becoming the contractor spread so quickly."
Shadia nodded blankly, still unable to see where he was going with this. Feeling a slight pang of frustration, Muzark delivered the decisive question.
"Where exactly did that information come from?"
When he thought about it, it was highly suspicious.
Claude Regan's workshop was located in a secluded area outside the city. He might have lured and kidnapped people from the city, but would he really go around blabbing about Harmensales to everyone?
The Security Bureau's information-gathering capabilities, as Muzark had observed, were clearly limited. How could they be so certain that a high-ranking demon was buried in a mine they had never even visited before Yen's infiltration?
In the first place...
"Who started the rumor that Harmensales was in Redline?"
Shadia remained silent for a long time under his barrage of questions. She closed her eyes, swallowed a sigh, and her lips trembled before she finally squeezed out a voice thick with self-loathing.
"...It started as a rumor of unknown origin."
"And you believed it without any suspicion?"
"Of course not. At first, no one took it seriously. It was dismissed as nothing more than an unreliable ghost story about a dungeon harboring a high-ranking demon. But gradually, more details were added."
The nonsense was eventually refined into plausible intelligence.
The demon's appearance, its abilities, and its vast treasury of knowledge like an ocean. It was far too detailed to be a mere fabrication.
Furthermore, there were two mages from Yellowline who possessed extensive knowledge of magical lore. Through the characteristics described in the rumors, Yen and Shadia had deduced the demon's true name.
Naturally, the Security Bureau grew greedy for Harmensales—and actively launched a search. The most powerful organization in Redline, a land dominated by outlaws, had taken the bait.
Hearing the full story, Muzark couldn't help but let out a sigh.
"You did all the hard work only to hand the prize to someone else. Or rather, you're still handing it over."
The outline was taking shape.
The mastermind knew Harmensales was hiding in Redline, but they didn't know the exact location.
So, they spread rumors to the Security Bureau.
And probably not just to the Security Bureau.
They had likely leaked it to various factions across Redline.
It just so happened that the Security Bureau was the one to find Harmensales first.
They had been manipulated from the very beginning, and now they were reaching the endgame.
"..."
Shadia remained silent even when pointed out that she had been played like a fiddle. Seeing her cover her face with both hands and rub her dry eyes, Muzark realized another truth.
She must have already suspected it.
To be perfectly honest.
In Muzark's eyes, Shadia Drury was an incompetent leader. While he acknowledged her skill in expanding the Security Bureau and stabilizing the city, that was all before he met her.
Was she blinded by greed?
It wasn't entirely incomprehensible.
Shadia's past had been brilliant. A successful young elite, a stickler for rules and principles. A woman who had been flying high on the wings of success had suddenly plummeted.
They say she was embroiled in some disgraceful incident. It's a ninety-nine percent chance she was framed.
Would someone who worked herself to the bone to maintain order even after being banished to Redline commit a crime during her golden days? It was far more likely she had been caught up in some messy political struggle and ousted.
Her mental state was bound to be fragile.
How many horrific sights had she witnessed since coming to Redline? There must have been countless absurdities that a rational person raised in the upper Lines would find impossible to tolerate.
She had compromised, worn down, and grown dull.
Is this the end of a discarded mage?
Shadia's shoulders trembled. It wasn't out of anger or resentment. She was suffering, utterly disgusted by her own pathetic state.
Watching her, a cold sensation pricked a corner of Muzark's chest.
Though they hadn't exactly opened up their hearts to each other, she was the person he was most closely tied to after Yen. Seeing her in despair, Muzark felt compelled to say something.
"Don't worry. I'll make sure to hunt them down and tear them apart."
Having received the answer he wanted, he was about to leave.
"...Muzark."
"Yes?"
"May I offer a word of advice?"
When he gestured for her to speak, Shadia hesitated before opening her mouth.
"Be careful of the investigator."
"What do you mean by that?"
"Now that the investigator has his eyes on Harmensales, you are in a more dangerous position than anyone. To him, you will look like both an obstacle and a peerless traitor."
"A traitor? That's a bit of an exaggeration."
"It is absolutely not an exaggeration."
Shadia's tone was incredibly firm.
"Even a normal high-ranking demon that merely grants power is highly dangerous, so what of the Apostle of Knowledge? It is an entity that possesses the dark history of the Empire and secret magics that must never be revealed. As its contractor, you can easily reach the abyss if you so desire. If that doesn't make you a traitor, what does?"
She concluded with a piece of advice he had heard once before.
"You must understand the weight of your burden."
It was a warning he couldn't afford to ignore.
"Yes, I'll keep that in mind."
Their conversation ended there.
Leaving the hospital, Muzark headed toward the outskirts of the city. Inside an abandoned factory, about a dozen demons were trapped, slowly dying. They were the prey he had secured with the help of the twins.
"Come out."
He performed the ritual, which had now become familiar, and summoned Harmensales. The oppressive pressure of a transcendent being flooded the desolate factory.
A single demon transformed the space into a demonic realm.
Muzark's chest felt heavy, as if filled with water.
The burden grew heavier with each ritual. It was proof that control over the contract was gradually shifting toward Harmensales.
A body formed of dark red smoke, and yellow eyes glowing wickedly like amber. From the creature that had initially seemed like the very incarnation of terror, Muzark could now discern something else.
He could read its expression.
"What are you smiling at, you bastard?"
That disgusting demon was definitely smiling.
"You probably think you're using me. You're playing nice with a lowly human for now, but you'll show your true colors eventually. Whether it's taking over my body or plotting your own resurrection."
He had thought about it briefly before.
Harmensales was a convenient encyclopedia. As long as he kept offering sacrifices, the demon would be a source of immense power in the future. Rather than a sly, untrustworthy snake, it could be seen as a highly capable partner.
Now, he knew that was a foolish delusion.
Power one cannot control is worse than having no power at all.
And most decisively...
Everything started with this bastard.
From his very first day adrift, the day Baek Si-woo became Muzark Bespard, Harmensales had been deeply involved in every single incident he faced—even if it wasn't by the demon's own choice.
Though he hadn't shown it, he deeply agreed with Shadia's analogy. Harmensales was a disaster. A monster like a jar of greed that brought ruin simply by existing.
He had to admit it honestly.
Beyond being sick of it, he was afraid. The situation of all kinds of pests swarming around him would be the same even if he climbed to the upper Lines; in fact, it would only become more insidious and violent.
He couldn't know when the demon's malice would swallow him whole. It was only a minor discomfort now, but before he knew it, it would become an active threat.
"But if you fail, you'll just be sucked dry by me and thrown away, won't you?"
"Do me a favor and tell me this. You said demons are magical creatures born from mana. You might be on a completely different level than those runts over there, but you're still a demon, right?"
Muzark curled the corner of his mouth.
"Can I kill you with Cryptofetica too?"
The air shifted instantly.
The encroaching smoke choked the breath out of Muzark. It was an illusion of his brain. Harmensales had never once inflicted unreasonable harm upon his contractor.
The creature that replied was no longer smiling.
"Yeah, sure. I hear you loud and clear, you cute little bastard."
That day, Muzark finished recording the magical formula.
It was his final transaction with the companion he had journeyed with so far. A demon that had not yet seized control was no different from a giving tree.
On his way back after completing the ritual.
Muzark finally made up his mind.
Once I crush the mastermind and resolve Yen's problem...
I will kill Harmensales.
Aiden Bern heard the story from Luca and Rio. It was, of course, about Muzark. The reason he had assigned the twins to the demon hunt was partly to ensure safety, but mostly to evaluate him.
Summarizing Rio's long-winded description of every single movement and Luca's comments about how Muzark was handsome, kind, and—unlike her brother—extremely handsome, the report boiled down to this:
"He just beat them with his bare fists...?"
When Aiden asked, Rio nodded in agreement.
"Yes. It was pretty wild. He just beat the crap out of them, and they dropped like flies."
"He looks like a noble young master, but he's totally wild! The gap moe is insane!"
"Don't make me laugh. If a Redline bumpkin is a noble young master, then what does that make me? Royalty?"
"Are you crazy? Did you just call yourself a prince? Aren't you embarrassed?"
"N-No, I was just making a comparison...!"
Aiden ignored the bickering brats and fell into deep thought.
Even if they were low-tier demons, they collapsed with every punch?
He had wiped out the terrorists, so he was clearly no ordinary bottom-tier mage. The magic the twins described—where iron armor manifested on his hand—was also incredibly unique.
Intriguing. Is it a bloodline magic?
Aiden stroked his chin, pondering, before letting out a smirk.
Our connection might not end here.
He predicted it would go one of two ways.
He would either have to kill him, or send him up.