Margrave’s Bastard Son was The Emperor [EN]: Chapter 937

“Ian, uh, he’s really good at his job.”

Arena’s murmur was met with agreement from the other mages. It had only been a day since they entrusted the Black Order investigation to him, and he had already captured a suspect? They stared down at the man, bound tightly to a chair, gagged, and unconscious, and nodded in agreement.

“I know, right? He really handles things quickly and efficiently.”

“Did he even submit a report?”

“Of course. He gave it to me along with this guy.”

“Scary… When did he get so capable?”

“Where did he even catch him?”

“The report only said the Rugerspell area.”

“But it’s seriously amazing. I wish Ian would do my work for me.”

“Me too, me too.”

While the mages were surrounding the suspect and chattering about trivial things, Ian, having changed his clothes, came outside.

Ian stood quietly, watching the mages. It was amusing to see them hunched over, scrutinizing the suspect’s face from various angles. Ian put on his sanitary gloves and called out to them.

“Minister, seniors.”

“Oh? Oh, you’re here?”

The mages turned around in surprise, and Ian, wearing thin white leather gloves, tilted his head.

“Aren’t you working?”

‘I didn’t catch him for you to just watch.’ At Ian’s calm question, the mages scattered slightly. They stood together, glaring at Ian.

“What’s wrong?”

“You’ve changed, Ian.”

“Pardon?”

“You’ve changed!”

Before, he would come running with a ‘pororo’ [onomatopoeia for a small, quick sound] and carefully cling to your waist, showing his sparkling eyes. Now, he’s wearing leather gloves and looks like he’s about to tear someone apart.

Ian looked puzzled, urging them to say more, but the mage wisely shut his mouth. If he said any more nonsense here, he’d really get scolded. By Ian, and by the Minister.

“Truth serum?”

“Yes, it’s ready.”

“Remove the gag.”

Arena gestured to wake the Black Order member. Then, one of the mages, with magic swirling around his hand, lightly pressed near his heart.

Zzzing! Zzzing!

Thump!

The mage lightly pressed the Black Order member’s heart with magic. The magic flowed into his heart, causing a temporary shock-

“Kuh-heok!”

The Black Order member screamed at the sudden heart jolt and opened his eyes at once. Covered in sweat and dirt, he stared blankly, not immediately recognizing the people looking down at him.

Arena, holding the report, clicked her tongue.

“Rubbing the heart makes them wake up all dazed, it’s not good.”

“It’s the most effective, though. It wakes them up in a second, why bother pouring water and hitting them?”

“That’s true.”

Chak.

Arena handed the report to a mage and approached the Black Order member. She calmly and coldly conveyed the situation, as if she couldn’t spare any more time for him.

“I’m going to ask questions now. You just have to answer.”

“Wh-where, where am I?”

“Ian.”

“Yes.”

No one responded to his question. There was no need to.

Swoosh.

Ian approached the Black Order member with a bottle of truth serum.

He recalled a boy from his last memory. The mage who blocked his sword with his fingertips and bound his entire body! Then this is a mage’s den… no, the Imperial Magic Department?

“Wait! Please spare me! I’ll tell you everything!”

“What did you do to ask to be spared? What a funny guy.”

“Anything, I’ll, I’ll tell you the truth to whatever you ask!”

Hmm. Ian lightly shook the bottle of serum and looked back at Arena. But she shook her head without mercy.

“Feed it to him.”

“Wait, wait! Ugh-”

Ian grabbed his cheek firmly and opened his mouth. He tried to resist, but it was futile. A mage, who was watching with his arms crossed, chuckled and added.

“Ian, you can put it in through that gap in his front tooth.”

The strange-tasting liquid went down his throat. Half of it was dripping down his chin, but Ian didn’t care and poured the rest of the serum in. As soon as he was done, he frowned slightly, as if displeased, and threw off his gloves.

“Okay, good. Hey, Black Order member.”

Arena patted Ian’s shoulder to thank him for his work and then nudged the man’s forehead. The man, turning his head, looked at Arena with fear.

“Was what you said earlier true? That you’d tell the truth to whatever we ask?”

“It’s a lie- Ugh!”

The man stopped, surprised at the words that had come out without him realizing. Arena’s eyes narrowed.

“The effect is great.”

“Please tell that to Senior Ako yourself.”

“Yeah, no. I can’t stand seeing him showing off.”

What happened? The Black Order member’s eyes shook violently, but Arena straightened her back after confirming the effect. Now, she just had to continue with the questions.

“Name?”

“…Kane.”

“Short.”

“Sorry, I’m not sorry.”

Ian took out his pocket watch and checked the time. Since he spilled more than half of the serum, the effect would probably last about 10 minutes.

“Okay, Kane. You’re a Black Order member, right?”

“Yes, Nio.”

“Yesnio? Can you even answer like that?”

Arena frowned, puzzled. Then Ian added his opinion.

“The truth serum makes the user speak the truth based on their own perception. The immediate answer is ‘yes,’ but he seems to have recognized ‘no’ and said it afterward. I suggest asking more specific questions.”

“Hmm. I see.”

Arena smiled with her arms crossed.

“You were a Black Order member, right?”

“Yes.”

“But not anymore.”

“Yes.”

“Were you kicked out?”

“Yes.”

“When?”

“The year before last… summer.”

So, he’s not with the Black Order now. They didn’t disband right after Crony died.

Ian recorded Kane’s words in the report without missing a single syllable. The sound of the pen scratching echoed in the underground prison.

“Tell me what the Black Order does and who their leader is.”

“Th-the Black Order does anything for money. But they don’t do work for just anyone, they mainly do errands for the high-ranking people or gather information. Guys like me mostly did odd jobs.”

“Odd jobs, like what?”

“Delivering letters or organizing things, stuff like that.”

“You had a base? Where is it?”

“34 Rugerspell, the basement of the green building.”

It was that area after all.

Arena had thoroughly searched the central area at the time, but she couldn’t find any clues about the Black Order. It was partly because they disappeared quickly, but mostly because they were hidden in the chaos of Rugerspell. There were dozens, even hundreds, of organizations with names like ‘So-and-so Order’ there.

“Do you remember when the Imperial Defense Force’s Captain Crony died 10 years ago? That’s when Bariel rose, right?”

“That’s right. The leader told us to quickly pack up and leave the central area.”

“Who is the leader?”

“I don’t know.”

“What’s their name?”

“I don’t know.”

“What? That’s impossible.”

“It’s true. We just call them ‘Leader,’ we don’t know much about them. They pay us regularly, why would we need to know such dangerous things?”

Sometimes, not knowing is a blessing. He might have left the organization safely because he didn’t know much about the Black Order leader.

“All I know about them is that they went to the Hawan Kingdom, hid for a few years, and then came back to Bariel a few years ago.”

“His business card was found in Crony’s mansion.”

“Then he must have been a regular customer. The leader only gives business cards to special people. You can call the Black Order with that.”

“What?”

Arena asked back in surprise. So, according to this guy, the business card was a ‘pager.’ A kind of privilege given only to VIPs to easily request tasks.

But the mages couldn’t understand.

“That sounds like a lie. Isn’t the truth serum’s effect over? It definitely wasn’t an item imbued with magic.”

“Exactly. If it was, we would have noticed it by now.”

“Ian, you have it, right?”

“It’s in my office drawer.”

Was it not a device using magic? How could that be possible without magic? Arena slapped Kane’s cheek hard.

Slap!

“How is it? If you say it hurts, you’ll die.”

“It, it hurts!”

“It seems the drug is still working.”

The mages became serious in an instant and whispered among themselves. Ian was also suspicious, but he tried to calmly finish the report.

“Let’s keep asking questions, Minister.”

“Ah, right. Tell me what the relationship between the Black Order and Idgal is.”

“I’m a low-ranking member, so I don’t, I don’t know well.”

“What about the requests Crony made?”

“There are people who serve the leader closely. The Black Order’s work revolved around them.”

“Ugh. Then what are you?”

“I told you! I’m a handyman! I was kicked out because I tried to steal some money and got beaten up badly.”

“I’m going crazy.”

Tsk. Arena sighed, running her hand through her hair. He might not have access to the core information, but he was still useful for getting a grasp of the situation. Arena snapped her fingers and gave an order.

“Go get the business card.”

“Understood.”

As Ian put down the report and was about to go up the stairs, another mage who was coming down called out to them.

“Minister! The administrative department contacted us.”

“Why? Do they want us to give a congratulatory speech together at Romandro’s wedding?”

“…Are you serious? The payment documents came, so please check them. And Ian.”

“Yes?”

Arena grabbed Kane’s hair in annoyance and shook him silently. The mages took Ian’s report instead.

“Someone came looking for you.”

“Who?”

“Berik, he’s a bit, how should I say it, a noisy person.”

Ah, Berik.

It had only been one night, and he was already moving around? It was strange. The healing magic was reacting unusually fast.

“I don’t know how he got into the Imperial Palace… he’s a strange person. Ian, he said he picked up your button. Did something happen?”

“Ah, yes. Something like that happened.”

“Okay. Go up quickly. Minister, please follow me too.”

“Hey. Are you my superior?”

“Do you want to move the payment documents by yourself?”

“…Let’s go.”

Arena sighed and was about to turn around when she stopped. Then, she signaled to another mage.

“Keep him organized. Let’s do it again tonight.”

“Yes, understood.”

Then Kane was startled.

“Wh-what do you mean organized? What do you mean organized?!”

“Well, take another nap. I’m so jealous.”

Zzzing! Zzzing!

As the mage approached with his golden eyes gleaming, Kane screamed in terror. He was already trembling, remembering how badly Ian had treated him.

But the mage, with an emotionless face, simply put his hand near his temple and briefly injected magic.

Zzzing!

At the same time, Kane’s head snapped back. He had fainted in an instant. Arena glanced at him with a worried look and muttered.

“Isn’t he going to become an idiot like that?”

“Ah, Minister. Don’t you trust me?”

“Put him safely in the prison. Let’s go up.”

With Arena leading, Ian also came up from the underground prison. They dispersed to take care of their own work, and Ian walked towards the Magic Department lobby.

“……?”

And then, he encountered Berik, who was sprawled on the sofa as if it were his own home, wiggling his toes.

Berik was rolling the button around, examining it, when he noticed Ian and jumped up.

“Hey!”

The loud voice echoed. He was already feeling annoyed. Ian considered going back to his office as if he hadn’t seen him, but Berik was faster. He came running towards Ian and shouted.

“You thief! Give me back my money!”