The Unraveling Clue
The man Bagan had grabbed in the kitchen while he was cooking was named Dante. He had been caught trying to flee after hiding the Hwanju in the storeroom. That meant he knew exactly what kind of liquor it was.
“Spill everything you know. Starting with where this liquor is produced, who’s in charge, and where it’s being sold.”
Bagan had seated Dante and was interrogating him.
“Honestly, when I first took charge of storing that liquor, I felt uneasy myself. It’s the kind that ruins people’s minds. But the money coming in was too good to refuse outright.”
The man poured out his circumstances like a plea. Bagan, however, cared far more about the brewing facility and its operator.
“I don’t give a damn about your sob story. Talk. Now.”
“That’s what I’m trying to say. We only handle storage. We have no way of knowing where the brewing happens, who’s responsible, or where the liquor is taken afterward.”
At Dante’s words, Bagan glanced at Sally. He hoped the man was lying. But things didn’t go that smoothly. Sally’s expression told him it was the truth. The man really had only been storing the liquor.
“I’ve been feeling guilty about it too. Why store liquor that can’t even be sold…? Anyway, the pickup is scheduled for two days from now, so I was planning to tell them this would be the last time. It’s the truth.”
Bagan looked at Sally again.
“He’s lying.”
“You little bastard!”
Whoosh!
This time the fireball was especially fierce. When Dante’s cheek burned, he convulsed in panic.
“Still, not everything he said was a lie.”
“What?”
“After this guy, he was going to keep working. But the part about the pickup happening in two days is true.”
“Ah, so that’s what it was?”
Even after hearing the explanation, Bagan didn’t dismiss the fireball.
“Then where exactly did he lie? Want to die? Huh?”
Bagan threatened the man with quite violent words and demeanor. Dante squeezed his eyes shut. Just then—
“Lord Bagan, if the recovery is scheduled for two days later, we can tail them and locate their base.”
Arien had found the decisive clue in the man’s words.
“Right. That’ll work, won’t it?”
If they didn’t know where it was going, they could simply follow it.
“Nice, Arien. Let’s do that.”
Having made up his mind, Bagan absorbed the threatening fireball and spoke.
“So the pickup is in two days? We’ll handle the rest. Just hand over the liquor like usual. And if you breathe a word about us, you know what’ll happen, right?”
Bagan held out the hand that had absorbed the fireball and brought it close to the man’s face.
“Boom.”
“Eek! Y-yes, I understand! I-I’ll do my absolute best to do nothing at all. Just like usual.”
That was the answer Bagan wanted. If they could find out where the men were taking the Hwanju, they could wipe the whole operation out in one go.
Bagan released the man and turned to leave.
“I-Is that really all? You’re not going to beat me to a pulp or destroy the store?”
The man, terrified, blurted out what he had imagined.
“Why would I?”
“N-no, of course not. I-I’ll live honestly from now on.”
“Yeah, make sure you do. Gruon’s working his ass off to feed you lot.”
That was the end of it. There was nothing more to discuss. The man had only taken the job for the money. He was a low-level subcontractor, so if the organization collapsed, he could simply walk away. Bagan knew this, so he had no desire to cause a scene here.
“Whatever. According to you, the other stores are only storing the liquor too, right?”
“Yes. The people moving the goods made it very clear—we weren’t even supposed to touch it.”
Sally confirmed the truth of those words, which meant there was no longer any reason to visit the other stores. If any of them had been selling the liquor out of desperation for money, the situation would have been different, but it seemed none of them were.
Bagan decided to handle the rest later and gave Dante an order.
“Today’s been noisy enough, so treat it as a holiday.”
“But then we’ll take a loss…”
“If investigators show up because of today’s commotion, are you going to deal with them?”
“No. I’ll close for the day.”
He said it just in case the men got suspicious and tried to move the goods early. After receiving the answer, Bagan stood up. Since they had been talking in the kitchen, he headed toward the hall. Before leaving, Dante bowed to Bagan at a perfect ninety-degree angle. Bagan’s pressure had been that overwhelming.
When Bagan’s group emerged into the hall, every eye turned to them at once.
“Did you have business with Dante?”
“It’s been quite a while since we ordered…”
Some customers still hadn’t received their food because of Bagan’s interrogation. That wasn’t his concern. He simply kicked the store door open and walked out toward De Pruna with his companions, already thinking about what would happen in two days.
***
Upon arriving at De Pruna Castle, Bagan headed straight for Gruon’s office instead of the room assigned to him. He needed to share what had just happened and the information he had gathered.
When he entered Gruon’s office, he found Gruon, Daphne, and one of Arien’s clones, just as expected. There was also an unexpected person—the vice-commander of the Silver Eagle Legion. Since Daphne was the commander, this man was her capable subordinate.
“Bagan, you’re here.”
“Yeah. We made more progress than I thought.”
“Oh? That’s good news.”
While Gruon and Bagan spoke, the vice-commander finished his report, offered a light salute, and left. Sally watched him go and spoke.
“That man carries a lot of sin.”
Bagan couldn’t ignore those words.
“What?”
“The man who just left. I don’t know the details, but sin clings to his entire body. He might have been a boss in the underworld before. Not on the level of a demon, but his usual conduct seems rather brutal.”
That was Sally’s assessment of the vice-commander. Bagan immediately turned to Gruon.
“Who was that soldier who just left?”
“Ah, you mean Vice-Commander Jamie? He’s an elite who’s never once lost first place when it comes to strength. Of course, with Daphne here now, the commander’s seat is out of reach, but he’s still more than qualified to lead the legion. He’s especially dedicated to keeping the Sog Kingdom border in check.”
“I see. If he’s been a soldier for a long time…”
Bagan thought that sins like murder were inevitable for someone who had spent years on the battlefield. But if it was something else… was his usual conduct truly that brutal? It was worth looking into.
“More importantly, you said you made progress. What exactly happened?”
When Gruon asked with interest, Bagan answered.
“I found the stores storing the Hwanju. Turns out they’re only keeping it, not selling it. After pressing them, the store owner told me the liquor gets moved somewhere on a set date, so we’re planning to tail it.”
“I see. There must be quite a few stores. You’ve worked hard. I’m sorry I couldn’t deal with this sooner. It hurts to watch the city rot like this.”
Gruon’s expression darkened, as if he truly had been powerless. But Bagan sensed something off in his words and asked,
“Out of all the Seiros Kingdom cities I’ve visited so far, De Pruna seems to have the strongest military. Wouldn’t it have been best to leave this matter to them?”
Bagan had his reasons for thinking this. De Meca, for example, had the most unpredictable underworld. With adventurers and mercenaries constantly shouting about freedom, it was hard to root them out completely. Mercenaries and adventurers already disliked soldiers, so launching a large-scale purge would have provoked strong backlash. That was why Montihol hadn’t been able to use soldiers to crush the underworld.
De Marinda was different. It wasn’t a city where an underworld could easily hide. Thanks to Razeta’s schemes, the city controlled all trade, leaving no room for profit, and monster threats were minimal. Especially since pirates disguised as an underworld already existed, other criminal groups couldn’t encroach. Razeta had arranged things that way.
But De Pruna was different. The city’s overall gloom made it easy for an underworld to hide, and if things went wrong, they could flee across the border. There should have been plenty of criminal organizations. Yet despite having a powerful army, they hadn’t launched a purge. Wasn’t that Gruon’s fault?
Bagan was curious about that point, and Gruon gave him the answer.
“Of course we’ve been dealing with it steadily. But even after we clear them out, the deeply rooted ones keep coming back.”
“So the ones left are the roots? And those roots are behind this incident…”
“Exactly. If my instincts are right, those roots might even be insiders.”
Gruon suspected the untraceable culprits were insiders. It might have been a hasty judgment, but it also meant he had gone through countless failures.
“I hope that’s not the case. Is that why you asked for my help?”
“Right now, the only ones I can trust are Daphne, Jamie, and you.”
Gruon was placing his trust in Bagan. That explained why he had entrusted the matter to him in the first place. Now all that remained was to pull out the roots.
***
After leaving Gruon’s office, Jamie immediately set off. He had somewhere to go after quickly finishing his duties. Fortunately, the only remaining task was organizing the patrol units. He headed to the barracks, rested briefly, then selected a few soldiers with good faces and assigned them to the patrol.
“Lately, the number of monsters brought back from hunts seems to be decreasing. Is the Silver Eagle Legion’s discipline not what I remember?”
“No, sir!”
“Then I’ll be watching today.”
Jamie emphasized the legion’s discipline and fired up the soldiers’ resolve. Once his duties were done, he entered the vice-commander’s quarters in the barracks building. It served as both an office and a resting area, with a space prepared in one corner for relaxation. He placed his silver armor, shield, and sword on the stand and changed into casual clothes.
Jamie’s body was covered in scars, evidence of how painful his life had been. His solid muscles only added to his imposing image. Dressed in light cloth and leather-reinforced pants, he left the room. With the day’s work over, the Silver Eagle Legion was now in rest period. He walked with a stern expression toward the entertainment district, radiating a powerful aura even from a distance.
It wasn’t exactly a suitable place for a vice-commander, but other Silver Eagle Legion soldiers frequented it as well, so it wasn’t unusual. Without hesitation, he entered a store called “Ash Tree Basket,” whose doors were locked with a sign saying it was temporarily closed for the day.
Contrary to the sign, the door opened easily.
“You’re here!”
Inside, the tables had all been cleared away, and his subordinates who had arrived earlier greeted Jamie.
“Dante, what the hell happened here?”
Jamie spoke to Dante the moment he arrived. Dante trembled violently as he looked at Jamie and replied,
“S-so you’re the one who brewed the Hwanju? H-how could the vice-commander of the Silver Eagle Legion—!”
Jamie’s face was well-known among the people. Dante’s shock was beyond words. However—
“That’s none of your business. What I want to know is—”
Thud!
Jamie struck Dante’s chest, each blow harder than the last.
“I told you to hide it well!”
Thud!
“The Hwanju!”
Thud!
“And you got caught anyway, you bastard!”
Crack!
Jamie’s fists carried power no ordinary person should withstand. As a result, Dante’s shoulder dislocated.
“Gah!”
Too terrified to even scream properly, Dante could only clutch his painful shoulder and collapse. Seeing this, Jamie spoke to a subordinate nearby.
“Go set his bone.”
The soldier nodded and reset Dante’s shoulder. Since it had only been dislocated by overwhelming force, it wasn’t difficult to fix. Once Dante was back to normal, Jamie spoke while suppressing his anger.
“Because of your mistake, we have to move the schedule forward. You won’t be getting the money we promised. We’ll take everything at dawn today, so keep a tight watch.”
“Y-yes, sir.”
Dante had been dragged into this without receiving the money he was owed, and fear of future repercussions washed over him. Jamie left the store without doing anything more, but his subordinates stayed behind to harass Dante further. They couldn’t forgive the man who had forced even the vice-commander to come here. Dante fought back tears as he endured their abuse.
Watching from a distance was a small slime—Arien’s clone.
Bounce!