Chapter 28 - The Purge Squad

The title of sage is one of those titles that can never be self-proclaimed, and its standards are applied strictly.

Among the sages known on the Serdes Continent, Hellus Phobidas became a sage by taking an unusual path even among sages.

That was because he was not from Escolaia, the city of scholars, nor was he some genius people had placed hopes in, but merely a common-born scrap of a mage.

Hellus left behind this anecdote about how he became a sage.

He said that while he was sleeping as usual, he awakened and came face-to-face with something absolute.

That absolute being appeared in the form of a god, and told him to choose between two things.

The potential to rise to the position of a 7th Circle Great Mage.

And wisdom and knowledge that encompassed all things.

He could have reached the 7th Circle, a stage where he could rule over everything, but Hellus said he chose wisdom and knowledge in order to help all people.

It was an utterly novel load of bullshit.

But no one dared object to that story.

Whatever the truth, he was a man called a sage, and he possessed knowledge and wisdom that bordered on miraculous.

Though he was a worldly man, people judged that his wisdom never wavered, and in a sense, he could be called superhuman.

However, the real Hellus Phobidas was no such superhuman.

He was a person honest with his own emotions, no different from ordinary people.

And right now, Hellus had a displeased look on his face.

His gaze looked down at a woman kneeling on the floor.

His eyes held anger, as if she were the root of all evil.

That middle-aged woman had once been his attendant.

Hellus had spent half the fortune he had amassed to find this woman.

Skilled mages and trackers had followed her traces, and finally succeeded in bringing her to his mansion.

When she first entered the mansion, she was beaten like a dog.

They kept her up all night under the servants' lash, breaking her entire body until she could barely even hold herself up.

She trembled in terror with her head dropped to the floor.

She opened her mouth.

"P-Please spare me, Master..."

"Master?"

Hellus gave a snort of laughter.

"Yes, I was your master. That's right. Do you know what happens to an attendant who abandons that master and runs away?"

He said it while slapping his palm with the club in his hand.

"They get beaten like a dog."

"P-Please spare me. Please..."

The middle-aged attendant somehow pressed her broken hands together and begged desperately.

There were hardly any teeth left in her slightly parted mouth.

"Yes, I'll forgive you. If you tell me where that little brat you stole from me is, that is."

"I don't know. I was simply deceived and had that child taken from me!"

Hellus kicked the attendant in the head.

"Do I look like a fucking idiot!? They say two gold coins came tumbling out of your pocket, and you think I'm asking because I don't know where they came from!?"

"Agh! Please, just spare my life, please!"

"Yes, I'll spare you. If I find that brat, that is! So hurry up and squeeze out every bit of wisdom you have and don't have, and think! Think! Think!"

Hellus could barely hold back the urge to cut off her breath then and there.

But he could not.

Whatever else she was, this woman was the only clue to recovering "that."

Just then, someone knocked on the door.

A man wearing a black hood entered.

"Sage. I have completed the request you entrusted to us."

It was the best news he had heard lately.

Like a child given a toy, he ran toward the man with a bright, innocent expression.

"Oh! Show me. What on earth was the result?"

"After asking around with the composite sketch made from the attendant's description, we concluded it is Valdrova's Regent."

"Valdrova... Regent?"

"I expected you would be surprised. He was someone even we did not expect."

He had not been surprised by that existence.

He knew Valdrova was a dragon, but did not know what a Regent was, which was why he had said that.

"We confirmed it in the far east, and they said it was the Regent and a maid, so it should be certain."

"What sort of people are they?"

"As you know, he recently became Grand Duchess Valdrova's spouse and began running the Grand Duchy's territory—"

"Ah."

Hellus waved his hand dismissively, cutting him off.

"Enough. So I can take that to mean those damn things took what was mine, yes?"

"That is correct."

Hellus could roughly understand.

It meant the person who had taken it was the spouse of a ruler, did it not?

'They came from the far east and took that? Why? Could they have realized what it's used for?'

Hellus bit his nails in anxiety.

That brat was the reason he had been able to become so famous, and the one who would become his cash cow.

That was why he had cherished the brat while at the same time using her as an attendant.

If one wanted to hide a tree, it was best to hide it in a forest.

'All because of that stupid bitch, of all things...'

He had never imagined the attendant would sell off that little thing.

Hellus looked down at her with eyes full of rage.

The middle-aged attendant sobbed.

"Congratulations, Master. Now you know w-who it is, don't you?"

She forced her broken fingers together and begged again and again.

"Now please let me live. I beg you. Wherever I go, I won't breathe a word about you, Master, and I'll live quietly. Please..."

Hellus looked down at her with dry eyes.

A change of heart after relief.

They said a person's mind differed when going to the privy and when coming out.

Now that the information about the clue had become concrete, there was no reason to leave behind a useless source of trouble.

Hellus turned his head toward the black hood.

"Hey."

"Yes."

"Kill that useless woman."

"T-That isn't what you promised!"

The black hood drew his sword and approached the attendant.

Unavoidable death drew near.

The attendant, who had only cried and begged in humiliation, raged in one final struggle.

"You filthy bastard! I know your truth! I know what you did through that little bitch, too! You're no sage! You're—"

The old attendant's head fell to the floor.

The attendant's head, dead with the same screaming expression on it, rolled pathetically.

The black hood shook the blood from his blade.

"It seems the mission is complete with this, so may I have the payment?"

"Of course."

A jewel box containing a sum equal to one-fourth of his fortune.

The man gave it a rough check and put it into his leather backpack.

"Thank you sincerely for using Black Bandanna, dear customer."

They did only the work to be done, took only the reward, and made a clean exit.

That was the sort of secret organization called Black Bandanna.

With this, he had used up three-fourths of his fortune.

'It was something that had to be done.'

If he tried to save money, he would suffer for it.

Hellus looked down at the two composite sketches the black hood had left behind.

A tall, handsome gray-haired man and a silver-haired girl with a side-up ponytail.

Hellus's fat face twisted with anger.

'Some mangy stray mutt dares covet my property?'

Hellus began to think, vowing that he would never let these bastards get away unscathed.

"How do I take it back from them..."

There were any number of methods.

Who was he?

A sage.

A man every kingdom sent love calls to, asking him to become their adviser.

He was a national-treasure-level figure, and naturally, the Empire had contacted him quite often as well.

'I can use the imperial inspectors. Whether he's a Regent or whatever else, before the Empire he's no better than a dog.'

They said the other party was the Grand Duchess's fiancé, but that was not a problem.

After the assassination of the 3rd Prince, Valdrova had not shown herself to humans.

That had been the case all this time, and naturally, it could be the case now as well.

Hellus placed his hand on the crystal ball on the desk.

Responding to his mana, the crystal ball began to flicker.

A moment later, the crystal ball's light steadied, and a voice echoed in Hellus's head.

-I greet the Sage of Water! I am Hans, a communications mage of the great Arken Empire!

"May I speak briefly with Sir Karl Harvest?"

-Sir Karl Harvest, you say? Understood. Please wait a moment.

After a short wait, a lively voice could be heard.

-Oh, Sage! How do you do!? Have you been well all this time?

"Haha, I have been well enough. And you?"

-I lose sleep every night! Because I am waiting eagerly for the day you join our Empire, Sage.

"Haha, is that so?"

He had a feeling this conversation would go well.

Hellus decided to get to the point.

"Listen. The truth is, there is something that has me anxious these days."

-Something that has you anxious?

"There is a young maidservant, and that maidservant has been kidnapped by some scoundrels. So recently, I wrung out this knowledge and wisdom of mine, and finally found out."

-What place is it? Just say the word! We will help.

"Valdrova's... Regent? That is what they called him."

-Valdrova's Regent!

Karl answered in a startled voice.

"What is it? Is there some problem?"

-No. I was simply thinking what a coincidence this is! As it happens, I have heard that young brat has been throwing his weight around lately.

"He seems to be quite famous."

-As it happens, our Purge Squad was thinking of going to discipline him.

"Oh, is that so? Still, he must be someone connected to a dragon. Will it not be dangerous?"

-Haha! Please don't worry too much! You know dragons cannot interfere in human affairs under ordinary circumstances, don't you?

"R-Right, of course."

Hellus did not know.

-That little brat will have to handle it alone, so what can he do? No matter how much he runs wild, he is powerless under the laws of the Empire! As it happens, we have also heard that the local lords are wary of him, so we must show him who stands above whom!

Hellus smiled.

"Then I shall ask this of you. While you are disciplining him, bring that little thing here! If you do, I will join the Empire side, just as you wanted!"

-Oh! Will you truly do that? In that case, I must gladly grant your request! Haha!

"Good. I will send you one composite sketch. Bring that child here. I am counting on you!"

-Of course. Leave it to me!

Hellus cut off the communication with a satisfied expression.

'This is the power and fame I can enjoy as a sage.'

Once he had tasted it, he could never give it up.

'If I can just retrieve that child... I will become a true sage again, not merely pretend to be one.'

That was why he had to recover her, no matter what.

* * *

"Your Excellency. A letter has arrived from the Empire."

"Hmm, has what was bound to come finally arrived?"

The elderly lord, Ulvera Concillus, stroked his beard and picked up the letter placed on the tray.

Seeing the imperial crest stamped on it, he hoped the supply division might be trying to apologize.

"Hmm..."

However, the moment he saw the sender line, Concillus felt his blood boil backward.

-The Purge Squad

"Hohoho..."

Concillus let out his unbelievable anger as laughter.

"Arwen."

"Yes, Your Excellency."

"A letter from the Purge Squad has flown into our territory. It seems even we have finally become something worth eating."

"That filthy lot dares..."

Arwen was so enraged that he looked ready to draw his sword at any moment.

As if there were no need even to look, Concillus tilted the letter toward the brazier in front of him, about to throw it in.

"Hmm..."

But suddenly, he felt he might as well read what it said.

That intuition proved correct.

-What kind of person is Ferda Valdrova?

They were not targeting Count Concillus, but Ferda.

"These insolent things were aiming for the Regent."

Arwen was startled.

"They would do such a thing to the one who will become a dragon's Consort?"

"Do you think those inside the Empire's walls have ever seen a dragon? They are the sort who fear the trolls in the forest more."

A fist close at hand always feels more real than a blade far away.

People say to fear a dragon's wrath, but this is a generation in which very few have actually experienced a dragon's wrath.

"And if you think about it, it is not completely impossible."

"Is that so?"

"Well, have we not treated Her Highness Valdrova as if she did not exist all this time?"

"Ah..."

"And we looked down on him as merely the Grand Duchess's fiancé."

"That is true, but..."

Only then did Arwen realize it as well, and his face reddened.

"Even so, I doubt a mere knight would dare send a letter like this to prey on the Regent..."

"It is proof of just how rotten the Arken Empire has become."

The nobles were steeped in pleasure, and the knights' swords had rusted.

To win over the public sentiment of the imperial cities, they were sucking dry the taxes of the provinces and killing them.

There had been several attempts to rise up, but each time, they were suppressed and killed without a sound or rumor.

'The pillars built by our ancestors are sturdy, so even if they are gnawed away, they will not collapse.'

But when the time came for them to collapse, they would surely crumble helplessly.

Concillus, who had been nothing more than a mere count, had intended to muddle through and live within that flow.

But now it was different.

"Ferda Valdrova..."

A man like a single ray of light, like a handful of salt.

When help was needed, he was the only one giving support without a word.

For the development and peace of the territory alone.

Perhaps that was why.

"Those impudent bastards."

Concillus could not help but be angry.

He was an old man who only walked a tightrope, but he was a leader who protected the Empire and its subjects.

Now that something was finally beginning to move in the far east, he could not possibly forgive these young fools who dared throw cold water on it.

"We will have to put the Purge Squad on a leash."

Not a check or a threat, but complete suppression.

They could not leave alone those who could turn even a perfectly decent lord into a man marked for death.

What they needed to do that was to use Ferda Valdrova.

'They do not know how great an existence the one who will become Valdrova's spouse is.'

So he decided to spread malicious rumors about Ferda.

More precisely, he wrote the story of how Ferda had gone so far as to threaten the lords, and added that he was a wicked man who enraged heaven and earth.

"Send this to the Purge Squad. A reply will probably come soon."

"Understood. Shall we inform Regent Valdrova in advance as well?"

Count Concillus pondered for a moment, then shook his head.

"No, let us keep it among ourselves. In any case, once we arrive, everything will be resolved."

"Understood."

Though he did not say it, Concillus also had one last thing he wanted to confirm.

How Ferda would respond when he came face-to-face with the Purge Squad.

And his expectations were not betrayed.