The One He Was Looking For
That night.
“You’ll be staying in this tent. It’s a bit shabby, but given the circumstances… I hope you’ll understand.”
Juhan took over the tent under Radro’s guidance.
Pretty decent, actually. Not bad at all.
Radro kept apologizing as if he felt terrible about it, but Juhan himself didn’t particularly mind. If anything, compared to the surrounding tents, this one looked rather well off.
Guess that just shows how hastily they set up camp.
It was enough to tell him how urgently they had arrived in the village and how quickly they had begun their investigation.
Juhan shook his head.
“It’s fine. This is more than satisfactory.”
“Thank you for your understanding. I’ve left some basic investigation materials inside as well, so if anything comes to mind, please don’t hesitate to tell me.”
According to Radro, the information they had gathered while searching the village had been left out for him. Juhan didn’t expect much from it, of course. He was an uninvited guest who had shown up without warning; it was hard to believe they would hand over anything classified or truly important right away.
“Understood.”
Juhan answered casually and ushered Radro out of the tent. Then he slowly picked up the documents and began reading through them.
Number of missing persons, testimony from the first person to discover the village…
Just as expected, there didn’t seem to be any information of real importance. Nothing that caught his interest or demanded particular caution.
In the end, the only information that truly mattered to Juhan concerned the Executors.
Maybe I should casually fish for information about the Executors tomorrow.
He figured he would have to ask about them as naturally as possible sometime the next day. Even better if he happened to run into someone who looked like an Executor before then.
With that, Juhan set the papers back down on the table and was just about to rise and settle onto the cot—
Thud.
“…….”
—if not for the faintest sound brushing past his ear.
His gaze snapped toward the direction it had come from.
Nothing was there. Only the sound of the wind and the tent fabric swaying in it.
Some people might have called him oversensitive, or dismissed it as a trick of the mind. But for some reason, Juhan didn’t think so. The first face that came to mind was that of the Holy Knight he had just seen earlier.
…Yeah. Looks like I’m under suspicion after all.
He couldn’t be certain, of course. But judging purely by the man’s behavior so far, he was the most likely candidate to pull something like this.
This might get more annoying than I thought.
If he did anything suspicious and got caught over it, things could become a real headache. That didn’t mean he was about to rush outside and search the area, though. For now, the important thing was to avoid getting tangled up with that Holy Knight as much as possible.
Guess I’ll just pretend to sleep.
Thinking that, Juhan lay down on the cot—with the distinct sense that a particularly troublesome tagalong had latched onto him.
The next morning.
“So what you’re saying is, the Holy Kingdom is taking this incident more seriously than expected?”
“Yes, that’s correct. As it is, lately…”
Juhan was walking around the outskirts of the village with Radro, surveying the area.
“Suspicious incidents have been occurring one after another. I can’t go into detail, I’m afraid.”
Radro trailed off with an awkward smile, radiating the clear impression that saying any more would put him in a difficult position.
I can roughly guess what kind of things have been happening, but still.
Juhan didn’t press him. What mattered right now wasn’t acting with too much enthusiasm. Offering a moderate amount of help while lowering their guard was the top priority.
Then—
Thud-thud-thud!
“Sir Holy Knight!”
“What is it?”
“Huff… huff. Th-they found more traces.”
“Traces? We need to go at once. Lead the way.”
“Y-yes, sir!”
A soldier had come running with word that suspicious traces had been discovered. Radro nodded and turned to Juhan.
“Would you like to come along as well, Juhan?”
It was an invitation to go check it out together. There was no reason to refuse, so Juhan nodded.
“Of course. If I can be of any help.”
“Thank you. Then let’s go.”
The two of them set off after the soldier. It didn’t take long to reach their destination—a collapsed house on the outskirts of the village.
“This is the place.”
The soldier pointed. Two Holy Knights were already there, clearing away rubble and searching from the inside out.
“Felt. Have you found anything?”
“…Nothing again. It’s like they just evaporated.”
Radro was questioning a Holy Knight named Felt, but the man only scowled in frustration as he answered.
“I don’t even know what we’re supposed to be searching for at this point. It’d be better if we could at least find bodies, or traces of a weapon the culprit might have used.”
With that, Felt pointed at the ground beneath the ruined house.
“…….”
There, as if a bomb had gone off, was a small crater gouged into the earth.
“No residual mana, no divine power, no dark energy. It’s like it all just evaporated.”
“…It has to be connected to the other incidents that have been happening in the area recently.”
“All we know right now is that we’re dealing with some unknown mage—one whose control over mana is terrifyingly precise.”
“…….”
The Holy Knights could only frown at the traces, their expressions blank with incomprehension. But Juhan, looking at the same marks, was already certain.
It was Liru.
The traces right in front of him were unmistakably the work of Liru, who had parted ways with him only a few days earlier. Marks like these were exactly her specialty.
Indiscriminate attacks in every direction, and the ability to suck living beings dry. That’s Liru’s forte.
A five-tailed fox. That was Liru’s true form. From that body, she would use her five tails to rain destruction on everything around her. Think of it as scattering dozens of grenades in every direction—except those grenades absorbed people themselves.
The rumor that every single person living in the village vanished without a trace makes sense now, too.
What had been half-formed suspicion solidified into certainty in an instant. Of course, that didn’t mean everything was fine.
Even so… the Executors still haven’t arrived?
He had been wandering around for nearly two or three hours already that day, and he hadn’t found so much as a hint of an Executor, let alone the Executors themselves. With Radro stuck to his side the whole time, he hadn’t even been able to approach the black tents.
This really isn’t easy.
Juhan clicked his tongue inwardly and looked around.
Radro, who had been watching him, spoke up.
“Juhan.”
“Yes?”
“Would you mind looking around this area on your own for a little while?”
“On my own?”
“I’m sorry, but it seems I need to step away for a moment.”
“That’s fine. I came here to do that from the beginning.”
“Thank you for understanding.”
Judging by the atmosphere, Radro was about to handle something he couldn’t easily show or tell Juhan about.
Doesn’t matter. All I need is to find where the Executors are.
Besides, Juhan already knew both the culprit behind the village’s fate and the cause. He had no intention of tagging along after Radro or clinging to him.
“If you don’t turn up anything, you’re free to return to the tent. Just please don’t go outside the village—it could be dangerous.”
With that and a short bow, Radro ran off somewhere with the soldier who had come to deliver the message.
Juhan quietly watched them disappear into the distance, then turned his gaze back to the site.
I’ll kill a little time here, then maybe take a discreet look around the black tents.
Or rather, he was about to.
“Hey.”
“…….”
If not for the Holy Knight who had suddenly called out to him from behind with an irritated look on his face.
“What is it?”
“Radro… that idiot. Tch.”
The one who had called him was, of course, Holy Knight Hadley. He had been the one to speak first, yet he didn’t even bother responding to Juhan’s reply. Instead he just tapped the hilt of his sword lightly, as if the whole thing were a nuisance.
“What the hell is he thinking, letting some nobody of unknown origin wander around freely? I told him clearly yesterday.”
“…….”
“This won’t do.”
“…….”
“You’re coming with me.”
“…With you?”
“That’s right.”
Hadley stated it with complete shamelessness. He wasn’t even trying to hide his intention of sticking close and keeping watch.
“I doubt you can even do anything useful anyway. Feels more like you’re just freeloading off our food.”
At that, Juhan immediately shot back a question.
“And if I refuse?”
“…You seem to be under a misunderstanding. I’m not saying you have a choice.”
Hadley only snorted in open displeasure.
That was when it happened.
“Hadley!”
“…Huh?”
Another Holy Knight cut between the two of them as they stood squared off—more precisely, addressing Hadley.
“You’re being summoned. Move, now.”
“Summoned? Ah… right, they were supposed to arrive today.”
“Seems they have something for you to do.”
Word that someone intended to issue Hadley an order. Hadley nodded as if he understood, then turned back to Juhan.
“You’re coming too.”
“…Why do I have to go?”
“Because I’m taking you there myself, explaining the whole situation, and getting you thrown out of the village.”
Hadley was saying he would get official permission and drive Juhan out. Juhan only looked at him with a go-ahead-and-try expression, utterly unconcerned—until the next words left Hadley’s mouth.
“The Executor has just arrived, you see.”
“…….”
“I’m sure that person will reach the same conclusion I have.”
Executor.
At the news that one had arrived, Juhan’s eyes flickered—ever so slightly—for the first time.