168 – theorem-2

“Now go get some rest…”

The captain of the guard was looking at me with worried eyes.

“It’s okay. I washed my body, and time is running out. It doesn’t matter if I don’t sleep for a few days.”

Actually, I didn’t want to lie down. I felt like I would go crazy if I didn’t keep thinking about something.

I didn’t want to get into bed. I didn’t want to stop walking.

Whatever it was, I didn’t want to stop thinking about it.

“Once we’ve sent the guards, news will come soon… I hope you’re all right.”

“It should be.”

If there is a wizard who wants to harm innocent people by saying that he will follow Farseer, then I will have to kill more people.

“Still, I won’t be able to conduct a proper investigation. It’s because… I don’t have enough strength.”

On Earth, when the armed police are ready and dispatched, that’s it. There is no way to cope with public power unless it is a moderate criminal organization.

However, this world is different. This is an era where individual differences in power are severe. If the proper articles were not put in, it would not be possible to deal with the unexpected situation.

“…I guess I should have followed you.”

“No! I think you should rest for a while, hero. If the testimony is true, something terrible must have happened.”

After I killed Farseer, I joined the guard without going anywhere.

There was still the possibility that the evidence would disappear if any time was wasted.

The Farseer is dead, but it’s not all over. Whether burned or buried, the body had to be disposed of, and the guilt and treatment of the remaining people had to be determined.

“Oh, it’s a big deal!”

The guards who opened the door roughly and entered, gasped for breath and began to report.

“Oh, there was nothing inside. I must have entered the abandoned house and checked for signs of a suspicious cellar… but it was empty.”

“what?”

The captain of the guard stood up in surprise. I couldn’t hide my bewilderment either.

The guard’s response was quite agile. Even though I’m a warrior, I dispatched the guards in a matter of hours based on my testimony and the blood and debris on my body.

If it had taken him a day or two longer to get the facts or to select the guards for the dangerous mission, he would have been hard to blame.

“So quickly…”

Should I have stayed? However, there was no one to trust.

I didn’t have a copybook, and I couldn’t catch people on the street saying, ‘Please pass this news on to the guards.’ So I did my best.

“Ha, but I was certain there was something. There was a lot of suspicious liquid inside, and that, the smell of a corpse…”

“Emergency! Summon all remaining guards and send news to all knights guarding the capital!”

“All right!”

The guards moved busily. Slumped down in his seat, he let out a deep sigh.

“…was it like this originally? That, the power…”

“I didn’t expect these kind of cunning, dangerous, and strong guys to wreak havoc in the capital.”

Sweat was dripping from his forehead.

“Besides, usually the Platinum Knights rushed out like they’d been waiting for something like this. But now… they’re faltering too.”

I had heard that Eleanor worked tirelessly with her knights to keep the capital and the empire safe.

“Since Her Majesty the Princess has returned, we should be able to get together now…”

Come to think of it, I didn’t hear that she was moving.

Returning to the capital, I thought she would spread the news here and there for the sake of the emperor’s seat, but she didn’t do anything like a non-existent person.

“…”

You might have to tell her that you’ve been offered the position of heir directly by the emperor.

I didn’t think she would argue with me about it, but if misunderstandings piled up, she might consider this a betrayal.

Still, the first thing to do was to finish this case right now.

“Anyway, do we have to go to the Magic Tower? I will go with you.”

His voice trembled a little. I wasn’t tired, but my head was pounding.

“You don’t have to…”

“It will take more time to come and save the other knights. Still, at least the wizard will have to be saved.”

The guard commander reluctantly nodded.

/////

The door of the Magic Tower was firmly locked. The atmosphere was more gloomy than usual. The captain of the knights asked to open the door several times, but the door refused to move.

“Hmm… I tried, but it doesn’t seem to open it as expected.”

A few wizards from the imperial and noble families were brought in for minimal verification, but in the end, they couldn’t be trusted and relied on.

After all, these people must also be from the Mage Tower, and depending on the situation, they were people who could close their eyes or sympathize with the wizards of the Mage Tower.

“Aren’t you forced to go in now?”

One of the guards shouted in an urgent voice. It was the guard who entered the basement.

“Let’s wait a little longer.”

“They may be erasing the evidence while doing this!”

“If you go in by force, there could be a bigger problem. Do you want to activate the Mage Tower’s defense system?”

It was a fairly solid-looking door. It didn’t look like there were no windows, but there was nowhere to step up to the 4th or 5th floor of a decent building.

I quietly estimated the size of the door. The strength didn’t seem weak, and although it was enchanted, it wasn’t something that couldn’t be cut if it was determined.

Rather than cutting, it would be a form of continuously swinging the sword in the same place to create a small crack and break it through the crack.

“This is the last warning! Mage Tower, please cooperate with the guards’ investigation!”

The captain of the guard vomited out the words he had shouted over and over again.

Aside from the strength of the gate, the Mage Tower boasted as strong a defense as any castle in a fairly modest territory.

The moment we forcibly open the door, the protective magic will activate and devastate the surroundings. Even if I could save my life, all the guards here were as good as dead the moment they opened the door.

It was a tense moment. But fortunately, the old man’s voice came from inside.

“I’ll open it. I need time, so please wait.”

With a harsh sound, the lock on the door moved. The huge metal rattled and the protective magic that was guarding it disappeared one by one.

“You are accused of smuggling corpses on a massive scale and committing a terrible secret without permission. If you are not guilty, please cooperate with the investigation.”

It seemed that the old man’s magical achievements were not insignificant. A robe decorated with gold leaf gently wrapped around his body.

“You won’t get anything out of this. Already, I think you’ve arrested one of us…”

“We have new evidence.”

Arresting a person with circumstantial evidence and testimonies of smuggling a corpse and revealing the place where the corpse was stored were different in importance, although the actual body was not left.

In addition, there were not a few scams that were swaying around the altar. Whatever magic was cast within it, it was extremely unlikely that it was magic permitted by imperial decree.

“Come in. Many of us are away, so we cannot accommodate many.”

“Wizard. I’m sorry, but we’re not in a position to accept negotiations.”

The captain of the guard was polite to the wizard who seemed to be an elder, but he did not let go of his firm attitude.

“I can’t accept all of them. At most ten… well, I don’t think there’s that many, so I guess that’s fine.”

I wondered if they were trying to ambush us by leaving us apart, but ten of them were already full of strength.

Except for the few knights and magicians who rushed in, the captain of the guard and me, there was no one who could use it as a full force in a strict sense.

“I will guide you.”

The guards who followed had no choice but to stay behind, but the others followed the mage up the mage tower.

“Finding those involved is…”

“Haven’t you already executed the person who was involved in all this planning?”

He looked in my direction and gave me a look of resentment.

“…”

I knew Farseer was dead. Perhaps, they may be managing the missing corpse.

“Dead people…”

“I’ll tell you in advance, it’s not here. It’s already out of our hands. Those trusted by the Archmage must be managing it.”

“If so, is there any way to find it?”

“How can I know. The things he hid with his magic… The difference in skills is too big.”

That he was involved in this incident, the wizard lightly leaked it as a matter of course.

The knights were enraged, and the wizards could not hide their embarrassment.

“Then, the vertical lake that the Farseers were hiding? Do you know something like a mirror?”

“Are you looking for it?”

He looked at me with a slightly surprised look.

“Of course, he would have told the hero not to show it, but… Well, he’s already dead. It’s none of my business.”

It was strange. Until just now, the wizard’s attitude seemed to be that he would keep his allegiance to Farseer even if he died.

But as soon as the mirror was mentioned, he lightly changed his attitude.

“You’ll need some time to appreciate it. I’m sorry to the others, but you’re watching it alone. I’ll be guiding you around the Magic Tower in the meantime.”

“We’re here to investigate!”

The captain of the guard shouted, but the wizard calmed him down with a calm voice.

“I’ve summoned you, but you won’t get anything.”

He rode the magic-powered elevator and led me to the highest level of the mage tower.

“It’s inside. You’d better go in alone. It’s not a difficult item to use.”

The magic-locked door opened with just a few simple touches from the magician.

I stepped into it.