Chapter 426
Chapter 426
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>Translator: Ryuma
>Chapter: 426
>Chapter Title: If You Can't Pinpoint the Suspect
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They say there's always a bigger mountain beyond the one you climb.
As the case plunged deeper into a labyrinth, Hermit announced the end of the day.
“I’ll guide you to your quarters. What about dinner? I can have it prepared in your room if you’d like.”
“Hmm.”
Kahazar shot Hermit a dissatisfied look before standing up first.
“Lead the way. Have dinner sent to my room.”
“Understood.”
Kahazar strode off briskly. Even with mana restraints on, he showed no sign of being cowed.
Next to move was Keyston.
“Have dinner prepared in my room as well.”
Keyston left the drawing room, exhaustion plain on his face. With all the fuss over the Golden Horse riders and such, it was only natural.
After Demeia and Parapus had gone as well...
Aster sank into thought.
‘...Ugh.’
Let’s take stock.
‘Finding Decullan’s lackeys was good. Real good.’
Baron Maroon and Parapus.
Both grand mages, Decullan puppets who’d planned to lure him to a quiet spot after Sanctuary and eliminate him.
Parapus stubbornly denied ever accepting any offer, but it was a plan no innocent could know.
Anyway.
‘This part’s solid. Real solid.’
Facing two grand mages wouldn’t be easy for anyone.
Meaning it had been a close call.
And that wasn’t all?
One of them had to be Parapus. The imperial mage, someone Aster had believed ‘no way in hell’ would betray him.
One slip, and he’d have taken a brutal hit from behind...
‘...But we got past it.’
However.
Another thought crept in.
‘Is this really the end of Pahren’s schemes?’
Two grand mages. Baron Maroon and imperial mage Parapus.
Pulling them in wouldn’t have been easy even for Decullan. Grand mages commanded hefty prices.
But if this was their full hand, it felt a bit short...
‘...Actually, that’s not the point right now.’
Aster’s gaze settled on the far corner.
...Baron Maroon, eyes closed.
The Hermits were moving him respectfully, but what muddled Aster’s mind was Baron Maroon and Keyston.
‘Baron Maroon’s a Decullan lackey...’
Keyston claimed.
That the man there was a fake, a Golden Horse rider.
So, what did that mean?
‘The real Baron Maroon’s a Decullan lackey... but happened to disguise himself as one in Salvatium?’
It was the most likely scenario...
But he couldn’t jump to conclusions for one reason.
‘Too many possibilities.’
Keyston and Parapus.
Even if both were telling the truth, with Baron Maroon dead, the full story was lost.
So, what now?
Normally, it’d be simple.
‘For complicated problems, just eliminate the problem itself.’
But the situation wasn’t forgiving.
Sanctuary’s rules were one thing, but everyone here was a transcendent grand mage.
“Tch.”
So this was the limit of master detective Aster. It stung, even if the title never sat right.
Of course, he wasn’t about to give up here...
‘No way in hell.’
Unraveling Pahren’s schemes was a given.
Same for Salvatium’s.
‘What if the dead Baron Maroon was fake, and he was Salvatium’s Golden Horse rider? If his death foiled their plot?’
Best-case scenario.
But.
If not, they’d just have to sit back and take it...
“Now it’s just the two of us.”
“...?”
Aster tilted his head at the sudden voice.
“Judge of Zammal?”
The voice belonged to him, sipping tea Hermit had brought and nodding.
“Yes, I am the Judge of Zammal. Call me ‘Ahola.’”
“Ahola...?”
“In your tongue, it means something like king.”
“But...?”
Honestly, Aster thought:
‘What’s your angle?’
Just the two of us now... What, small talk? If so, wrong guy.
Specialty: elder respect.
‘Aura’ and ‘aura’ were a hair’s breadth apart.
‘Ruler of half the desert?’
Not scary.
‘Me? Lord of the Tower.’
What was there to fear?
But.
“Ahem, got something to say... do you? Speak if you’ve got words... sir?”
Violence was uncivilized. A refined grand mage favored talk over fists.
The Judge of Zammal tilted his head.
But only briefly.
His mouth opened soon enough.
“I do have words. I planned to observe silently. But watching your suspicions, I figured speaking out was better.”
“What’s so important you’d go that far...?”
“I am your ally.”
“...Ally?”
“Indeed.”
Aster tilted his head.
Ally?
“When did we ever meet to be allies? Allies my foot.”
“Do you know Schwartz?”
“Schwartz...”
It rang a vague bell.
Who was...
“Oh? Headmaster senior?”
“Yes, even the Devil of the Sandstorm is human after all. Teaching kids, they say. Anyway, I came here to repay a debt to Schwartz.”
“So that means...”
“Consider it an honor. Few stand shoulder-to-shoulder with Ahola. Glory in past life, this life, and futures to come. Know it comes by the sun’s blessing.”
“...”
Ahola or whatever.
Truth be told, Aster wasn’t sure if this was Zammal’s Judge or some cult leader.
But one thing was clear.
“You... were sent by Headmaster senior.”
In the end.
“My ally?”
“So it is.”
Aster stared hard at the Judge of Zammal. Then he looked up at the sky.
Naturally, no sky—just a ceiling.
Gazing at it, Aster gently closed his eyes.
‘The sun, who knows...’
But gratitude upward.
‘Thank you, moon.’
Justice was never lonely.
Forever, always.
* * *
One thing to clarify, though.
“Um... as an ally, how far can we go together?”
“Show respect. As I do for you.”
Aster blinked at the stern Judge of Zammal’s words. But it didn’t grate.
“Of course. Allies, right? So, what can our esteemed Ahola offer me? I’m dying to know, sir?”
“I was asked only to ensure you leave Sanctuary alive. Incidentally, it took Schwartz considerable effort.”
Not just summoning him here.
...Jenuri School’s master.
Schwartz had twisted arms to make him forfeit his observer seat and nominate the Judge of Zammal instead.
Wouldn’t have worked without their ties.
And that wasn’t all?
“I sit here to repay a debt, but time was short—hasty steps. The price Schwartz pays my tribe is no trifle. So deem it an honor to stand with me, and thank Schwartz’s generosity.”
Insanely arrogant words, yet the Judge of Zammal didn’t seem arrogant. Natural, even.
Aster blinked at the sight, then nodded.
Deeply moved.
‘Headmaster senior...’
Never dreamed he’d go this far.
But wait.
“Ensuring I leave Sanctuary alive... you say?”
“Exactly as spoken. Until the moment you enter your domain, Ahola stands with you. In that time, your foes are mine, and mine are yours.”
More generous than expected.
Which explained.
“Right... got it.”
Uncontrollable cheekbones. Lips split in a grin, flashing white teeth. Mask hid it, of course.
Let’s tally.
Restrained: Keyston, Kahazar
Favorable: Demeia, Parapus
And...
‘Me and Judge of Zammal on the same side.’
Observers no longer a worry.
Conflicts? Parapus the opportunist would flip here if needed; Demeia would ignore them outright.
...Shoulders rising naturally.
Chest puffing out.
But truly... wasn’t confidence man’s lifeblood?
‘It’s coming.’
Aster trembled in ecstasy at the creative idea surging in his mind.
Decullan? No sweat.
‘We’ve got two.’
Unlikely, but if Aevyron or Holland came, two could crush them fair and square.
No.
‘...Might be more than two, but anyway.’
Two or three, he’d know after Sanctuary.
Aster methodically unfolded his thoughts.
...How to screw over Salvatium.
He didn’t assume no Salvatium involvement or them backing off due to fake Maroon’s death.
Right now, Aster firmly believed Salvatium was in deep.
So.
‘What to do.’
Brief contemplation.
Aster turned to the Judge of Zammal.
“Ahola, sir, could you back me up on something?”
“Is it important?”
“Yes, potentially vital. A golden chance to purge those mongrels blaspheming the sun god Salvatium.”
“...? Sun god? The sun is no god. It is holy in itself...”
“Anyway.”
Aster fixed on the Judge of Zammal.
“Can you do it?”
“I can... but.”
“Good. Then I ask you.”
Aster bowed his head politely.
At the refined demeanor, the Judge of Zammal narrowed his eyes.
As Ahola ruling half the desert, he’d seen countless souls before becoming a grand mage—claimed insight into essences.
And in his eyes, Aster was...
‘...Chaos.’
If anything, like a desert leech parasitizing the outer hide of a Great Sandworm devouring travelers deep in the dunes...
Thriving stronger the bigger its host.
The sight sparked doubt.
‘Schwartz, Devil of the Sandstorm... have you fallen?’
Pouring effort into such a vicious thing? Unfathomable.
Anyway.
“Then... see you tomorrow.”
“Understood.”
“Oh, Ahola, sir. Tomorrow, just one word. ‘Yes.’”
“...Yes.”
Whatever it was, the Judge of Zammal nodded.
And the next day.
“Gather ‘round—!”
Booming voice.
Confidence hadn’t lacked yesterday, but today it pierced the heavens.
Hermits furrowed brows at the sudden shift.
Aster’s voice echoed through Sanctuary.
“The great Ahola... ruler of half the Zammal Desert... Judge of Zammal has uncovered the Golden Horse riders’ traces—! Thus, all Sanctuary Hermits must prepare against Salvatium as the mighty Ahola commands!”
“...”
“Ahola, sir! Is it true the Golden Horse riders have infiltrated the Hermits?”
Booming voice.
The Judge of Zammal pondered.
Briefly.
He had no choice but to answer.
“Y-Yes.”
“You divined them with desert mysticism?! Traces even the empire’s ancient compass couldn’t find?! Is that right?!”
“Y-Yes.”
This was Aster’s solution.
Can’t pinpoint the suspect...?
‘...Make them all suspects.’
All under ‘Ahola’s’ name.
That was it.