Vol 3 Chapter 64 – Interrogation Results and Haruto’s Mission【Empire War Arc】

Ganalkin, who held the rank of “Knight,” had fallen to become a criminal. He had violated the Imperial Duel’s “combat prohibition for a designated period”—a rule enforced by the Geas binding contract.

What happened after the Geas was enacted fell outside the contract’s scope, and the “combat prohibition” was ultimately just a rule humans had tacked on afterward.

If you lost a duel and then killed your opponent through ambush, you could evade the Geas’s enforcement. The Noble Assembly could justify anything, and Ganalkin had apparently orchestrated the Cerberus attack with exactly that loophole in mind.

In the end, Eiden’s new forces far exceeded even that contingency, and Ganalkin was crushed outright.

After reports reached the imperial capital, the Noble Assembly ordered Ganalkin subjected to interrogation in the basement of the Ignia estate. The results revealed he’d been operating beyond Ignia territory as well. His true objective: mining Dark Matter—a substance that could only be extracted in minuscule quantities from certain deposits.

The technology to embed Dark Matter in monsters and control them at will… neither the Empire nor even the Magic Association had established such a technique.

No matter how they tortured him, Ganalkin refused to reveal where he’d obtained the technology.

When Eiden emerged from the interrogation chamber, he called for Roy and shared a theory.

“Roy, the way he’s acting… maybe he actually doesn’t know.”

“What do you mean?”

“It’s technology the Magic Association hasn’t even developed. Dwarves, inferior in magic, couldn’t manage it. As for Elves, the very subject would violate taboos. If any other race possessed this level of technical capability, it would be the Demon race.”

“The Demon race… if I recall correctly—”

The Demon race—those who dwelt in untamed wastelands alongside demons. The race that challenged the world’s enemy, the Demon God itself. They weren’t on good terms, but through a ceasefire agreement arranged by the Demon King of that era, they’d managed to seal the entity away. That’s how the Kingdom recounted it.

The events were so ancient that different nations told the story differently. Some nations even claimed humans had once been demons themselves. Yet one thing remained constant across all versions.

“The Four Towers governing attributes must never be released”—every nation possessing these towers had upheld this principle without exception. For this reason, the Regzeria Kingdom, which had released the Tower of Agni for its own benefit, continued to face international condemnation.

“Any Demon race sightings in the Empire?”

“They’re a rare species even before my time. There haven’t been any confirmed sightings in recent years. How often do they appear in the Kingdom?”

“I’ve heard they show up in dungeons about once a year, but reliability-wise, it’s pretty questionable.”

“I see. In any case, continuing interrogation would violate Imperial law, so let’s call it a day.”

Roy nodded and began heading to the first floor with Eiden. As they walked, Roy’s mind lingered on Ganalkin’s fate, and he asked Eiden about it.

“What happens to Ganalkin?”

“Mmm, he’ll face further interrogation in the imperial capital, and the outcome depends on whatever additional crimes they uncover… execution at worst, enslavement at best.”

“He brought it on himself. So what’s next for us?”

“You must be tired, yeah? I’ll explain what comes next gradually, so just rest until then.”

Roy and Eiden parted ways on the first floor, and the party settled into a brief period of respite.

☆☆☆

~Regzeria Kingdom—Haruto’s Private Quarters~

A century ago, the technology of inscribing magical circles into clothing linings had become widespread. Now it had advanced further; ordinary fabric now bore magical barrier properties. In such a world, black armor was thoroughly outdated.

This “relic of a dead age” was pestering Haruto, who was preparing for travel.

“Come on, you really don’t need an escort?”

“I don’t need one. I’m sufficient alone. Rather than loafing about here, shouldn’t you be making up for the failure of letting Arcange die?”

Haruto arranged his travel supplies beside the bed while Kairo sat on a long chair.

“About that—don’t worry. I dumped the responsibility on my most useless subordinate and cut him loose. Though I do have to keep His Majesty in a good mood for a while!”

…

Haruto ignored Kairo and continued his preparations. Hearing about Kairo’s latest misdeeds meant nothing to him at this point.

Kairo, watching from his chair, began feeling complicated emotions as he observed Haruto’s subtle transformation. The brown hair, now long, was tied back like Sarina’s. His clothes were predominantly black. His face and body were leaner than when they’d last met.

Somehow, watching him reminds me of my younger self, and it bugs me a little. I keep wanting to help him… wait, that’s wrong. For my own freedom, I’ve got to use him down to the bone.

Kairo stood and tossed a fist-sized red stone onto the bed.

“Take this. If you get too defiled along the way and lose sight of yourself, it’ll be a problem.”

“What… is this?”

“A replica of the Agnate attached to my heart. Replica or not, it costs ten million G, so don’t lose it, yeah?”

The red stone on the bed possessed the same purifying properties as a genuine Agnate—cleansing corruption. Unlike the holy sword, it couldn’t purify endlessly, but it was invaluable to Haruto.

“What happens when the Tower of Ulas is conquered?”

Haruto asked, holding the Agnate replica as he studied it.

“First, earth-attribute magical particles will activate throughout the Empire. That’ll spread worldwide, and minerals in general should see a quality boost… why do you ask?”

“Coming to this world, destroying things locally, using those achievements to get closer to the King… I’m becoming a pretty terrible person, aren’t I? At least I wanted to know what kind of impact my actions would have.”

“What are you saying? You’re doing this to win back the girl you love and bring down that King, right? Get your head straight…”

Haruto laughed with bitter self-deprecation and drew the Demon Sword Laevatein.

“Have I improved at all?”

“Only about twenty percent of…”

Kairo burst into laughter at hearing this.

“Hahaha, that technique you showed back then? You’re still at seventy percent of it! The ceiling’s way higher, buddy.”

“Then I’ll depart in two days. Train me until then.”

Kairo laughed even harder and slung an arm around Haruto’s shoulder.

“Perfect. I’ll go easy on you—we’ll spar barehanded!”

After that, Haruto got thoroughly beaten by barehanded Kairo, managing only half a day of actual training.