The Archduke's Shadow
The situation was resolved swiftly.
The Rune Sentinels.
Composed of the most outstanding combat mages from the family's cadet branches, they were the elite forces of the Benheim family, second only to Patriarch Stern's personal guard.
As if to prove their reputation, every single sentinel was of the 5th-tier or higher. Their commander, Valen, was a mage at the absolute peak of the 6th-tier.
In the modern magic system, which was divided into ten tiers, the prestige of a 6th-tier mage was immense.
Since those of the 7th-tier were revered as Archmages, and those of the 8th-tier and above belonged to a transcendent realm beyond human limits, the 6th-tier was practically the highest peak an ordinary mage could ever hope to reach.
"So, are you the cockroaches infesting this place?"
Such was the entrance of Valen von Benheim, a 6th-tier mage.
The black mages stood frozen, not even daring to think of resisting.
And for good reason. Their leader was merely a 5th-tier mage. Now, a whole squad of 5th-tier mages had raided their hideout. To make matters worse, they no longer had their barrier or the mercenaries to protect them.
To these cowards, who had already been frightened out of their wits by Barg's corpse just moments ago, Valen was nothing short of the Grim Reaper himself.
"W-we surrender."
The leader of the black mages fell to his knees.
Taking this as a cue, the other black mages knelt one after another, placing their hands behind their heads.
"How boring," Valen snorted. "Bind them all."
After that, everything proceeded like clockwork.
The sentinels brought out magically treated ropes and began tying the black mages together.
It went so smoothly that it almost felt too easy.
"Now then."
Valen, who had been directing the sentinels, turned around and approached us.
"Raygan. Let's hear your explanation. Who are these children, and what is this corpse?"
At Valen's question, I explained the entire situation—how we had infiltrated the hideout, rescued the captives, and defeated Barg, the mercenary guarding the barrier stone.
Valen listened with a nonchalant expression, but his eyebrows twitched when I mentioned defeating Barg.
"Barg?"
"Did you know him?"
"No. I don't. Benheim is not so weak as to rely on the help of some petty mercenary."
"..."
"Raygan, what's with that look on your face?"
"What about my face?"
"You look like you're holding back a laugh."
"Then you saw correctly."
How could I not laugh?
The heir of the Benheim family, who claimed they would never cooperate with mercenaries, had handed over a family heirloom to a wandering mercenary.
"Anyway, judging by his corpse, this mercenary seems to have been around the level of an Aura Expert."
"He probably was."
"A kid who barely managed to scrape into the 4th-tier defeated an Aura Expert-level mercenary? What kind of magic did you use?"
"Well, I am a mage, so I simply cast some magic."
"Forget it. Why do I even bother asking you?" Valen waved his hand dismissively.
"So, are you going to let me off the hook?"
"For what this time?"
"I deserted without permission and killed a mercenary leader. But surely my achievements here are great enough to make up for it, right?"
"Do not use your achievements as a get-out-of-jail-free card."
While we exchanged idle engagement, the sentinels finished binding all the black mages. Valen checked to ensure the restraints were secure, then nodded.
Now it was time to check on the rescued victims. There were twenty-one in total. Valen scanned their faces one by one, then suddenly stopped in front of one person.
Gray hair, gray eyes, and pale skin. It was the girl from the solitary cell.
Valen stared intently at her face before speaking in a hesitant voice.
"...Could you perhaps be Lady Yusefin Airid?"
At Valen's question, the girl gave a barely perceptible nod.
In that instant, Valen hurriedly summoned his subordinates and began barking orders. Seeing him move with far more urgency than when they were capturing the black mages, it was clear that even Valen hadn't anticipated this.
I had brought her along thinking she might be someone important, but judging by his reaction, her status was even higher than I had guessed.
"Commander? Who is that girl?"
"She is an Airid."
"Yes, but what exactly is an 'Airid'?"
Valen swept a hand over his forehead as if dumbfounded by my question.
"Are you telling me the son-in-law of Benheim doesn't know of the Airid of the Prism?"
"...The Airid of the Prism."
As I chewed on Valen's words, a memory suddenly surfaced. The five great magic families of the empire that Lunia had told me about in my past life.
"Wait, by Airid... do you mean one of the five great magic families?"
"Yes. A prestigious family with a history as long and illustrious as Benheim's."
"Then that girl is..."
"She is the direct successor of the Airid family. Mind your manners."
The direct successor of the Airid family.
In other words, she held the same status as Lunia.
"Well, I'll be..."
I clicked my tongue and looked at the girl. She had already cast her gaze downward, looking entirely uninterested in the conversation.
I figured she was from a noble family since she was already a 3rd-tier mage at such a young age, but I hadn't expected her to belong to one of the five great magic families.
"Then why was a direct descendant of the Airid family in a black mages' hideout?"
"That is something we will have to find out. There is no need for you to concern yourself with it. It is not Benheim's business."
"Then whose business is it?"
Valen replied rather bluntly.
"The Imperial Magic Academy will dispatch an investigator to look into it."
"The... Imperial Magic Academy? What's that?"
Valen's brow furrowed at my words.
"Do you know anything at all? If you crawled into Benheim on your own two feet, you should at least have some basic common sense."
"Well, I have my reasons. What can I do?"
During the height of my active years in my past life, most of the magic families and organizations had already been destroyed by the Archduke of Demonic Magic.
The information Lunia had shared with me in my past life was mostly limited to Benheim, so I was practically ignorant when it came to things like the Imperial Magic Academy or minor magic families.
In the end, Valen sighed and explained.
"The Imperial Magic Academy is an organization of mages run directly by the imperial family. They represent the authority of the crown with both the pen and the sword. They are primarily responsible for investigating magic-related crimes, tracking down black mages, reviewing magic theses, and managing ancient artifacts."
"They certainly have a lot on their plate."
"Indeed. Since they are under the protection of the imperial family, the authority they wield surpasses even that of the five great magic families. The black mages we captured today will also be handed over to the Imperial Magic Academy to receive their rightful punishment."
"You're not going to execute them on the spot?"
"Watch your mouth, boy! Do you think we are in the middle of a war? There is a proper procedure for everything."
True.
In an actual war, there were no procedures; the moment a black mage's identity was revealed, a blade was driven straight through their neck. In that sense, the current era was relatively peaceful.
"Still..."
Valen looked out over the abandoned mine with a bitter smile.
"So this entire abandoned mine was a site to extract the Airid family's unique magic formula. They must have kidnapped those people to draw out and refine the pure mana within their bodies."
Valen shook his head in disgust at the sheer cruelty of the black mages.
If Lunia had been captured during the hunting festival, would she have suffered a similar fate?
It was a thought I didn't even want to entertain.
"That aside... it seems the rumors were true after all."
"Rumors? What rumors?"
"The hereditary disease that runs in the Airid bloodline."
"A hereditary disease?"
"They call it the Black Sickness."
The Black Sickness.
The name alone carried an ominous ring. I wanted to pry further, but Valen seemed reluctant to speak more on the matter.
"It's better if you don't know."
Sensing it was a highly sensitive topic, I decided to keep my mouth shut.
Valen placed a heavy hand on my shoulder.
"In any case, you executed the operation brilliantly. Thanks to your plan, we were able to bring down the black mages' hideout without a single casualty. Although we failed to capture Markel von Benheim, which was our initial objective, the Patriarch will surely understand since you saved innocent lives, including the successor of the Airid family."
"That's good to hear."
"Yes, it is."
Valen said so, but his expression remained grim.
I didn't bother asking why.
If I asked Stern later, he would surely give me an answer.
Since the Rune Sentinels and the city council took charge of cleaning up the aftermath, I had nothing left to do.
Ultimately, I ended up confined to the mansion in Rodel. It wasn't a formal imprisonment, but my restless nature made me itch for action.
I wanted to at least practice my magic, but I couldn't even do that because Valen had strictly warned me not to show Benheim's unique magic to anyone else.
In the end, I spent three days killing time by chatting with Brock.
"An investigator from the Magic Academy has arrived."
An investigator had indeed been dispatched from the Imperial Magic Academy.
Seeing how they had reached Rodel even faster than Benheim's main force, they must have traveled in a carriage drawn by pegasi, just like we had.
"The investigator specifically asked to see you. I've already explained the details of the situation, so you don't have to worry too much. It seems he just wants to verify a few things with you."
An investigator sent by the imperial family.
In my experience as a mercenary, nothing good ever came from dealing with the imperial family.
"Is there a chance this investigator might try to frame me?"
"No matter how much authority the investigator wields under the crown, you are the son-in-law of Benheim. You are practically one of us now. Who would be foolish enough to touch you?"
"True."
Since they said it was just a few questions for verification, they probably wanted to ask about the deaths of Gerkin and Barg.
Thinking nothing of it, I headed to the city council building. I was guided to an inner room as if they had been waiting for me. Upon entering, I saw a man standing with his back to the door.
"I was told you needed to hear my statement."
The man did not react to my words.
Just as I was about to speak again, thinking he hadn't heard me, the man suddenly spoke.
"The man who just walked in... is Raygan von Benheim, correct?"
"..."
In that instant.
A cold shiver ran down my spine, as if a bucket of ice water had been poured over my head.
I remembered this voice.
There was no way I could forget it.
I could never afford to forget it.
"Excuse me, are you alright?"
When I didn't answer, the man turned his head.
I saw his face.
Long black hair, a beauty mark under his left eye, and those distinct crimson eyes.
Except for looking slightly younger than I remembered, it was a face I knew all too well.
"The Archduke of..."
...Demonic Magic.
I barely managed to shut my mouth in time, stopping the words from escaping my lips.
With wide eyes, I glared at the man before me. He was smiling, which only made him look more familiar.
Because that expression overlapped perfectly with the twisted, tearing smile he wore when he killed me in my final moments.
It's him. There's no mistake.
The Archduke of Demonic Magic.
The villain who had plunged the empire into the flames of war.
The madman who had turned the world into a living hell for his own selfish desires.
He was standing right in front of my eyes.