Chapter 161: An Empire?

“What the…?”

At the sight of Rauel abruptly drawing an empty bowstring, a hollow laugh escaped me, but.

Woooong.

Soon, the antique crest on the bow’s riser began to emit a bright light.

The moment I felt the flow of spirits and mana gathering on the string, I couldn’t help but slightly harden my expression.

‘It’s pretty big?’

Wooooong.

Just as my gaze was stolen by the pure white arrow of light that had suddenly formed.

Rauel bit her lip and turned the arrowhead towards the sky.

Twang.

The bowstring was released lightly.

However, the result was anything but light.

– Kkyaaaaaaaaaaah!

“Ugh!?”

A demonic shriek, utterly unfitting for the arrow of light that had felt almost divine, erupted.

Paaaaaaaaang!

A torrent of light, containing immense mana, shot up toward the empty sky.

Up, up, endlessly up.

The arrow of light, shot like a lightning bolt from the ground, soon caused a massive explosion in the distant sky.

– Kwaaaaaaaaang!

– Ruuuuumble.

The explosion occurred at a height beyond the clouds, invisible to the eye, making it seem as if thunder was striking a clear sky.

Anyone with keen senses could even feel that a considerable storm was raging in the upper atmosphere.

The moment the dazed eyes of the onlookers turned to Rauel.

Pitter-patter.

From the sky where the storm was raging, a fine drizzle suddenly began to pour down.

“A-as expected, it’s gotten stronger than before. Hehe.”

I reflexively supported Rauel, who was staggering and sweating as if she alone had been caught in that rain.

“Rauel!”

Despite my urgent voice, she looked at me and smiled with an exhausted face.

“Why would you do this…!”

“It’s alright……. It’s not, my life force.”

Pant. Pant.

“What?”

“Now, I know for sure. Pant. It’s not life force, it’s mana……. Pant. I-it recovers.”

“Rauel!”

“I just, Hooo

……. drew out all the power at once, Heuk. That’s all. I’m…… okay.”

“No, this is….”

Could this be explained by that alone?

I couldn’t take my eyes off Rauel, filled with worry.

Another voice came from the side.

“I’ve heard of it, too. They say a demonic shriek can be heard when it’s fired, and it’s called the Ghost’s Bow because it devours its user. Still, to have such power, that young lady seems stronger than I thought. Hoho.”

The Flame burst user, Imadi.

“This flow of energy is definitely mana and spirits. It does seem difficult to control, so I can see where the superstition about it devouring people came from.”

The middle-aged Spirit Master, who looked much more sun-tanned than Rauel, reassured me with a dry laugh.

Despite that, my expression didn’t ease up.

Rauel smiled as she heard that.

“As I said once more, Hoooo. It’s not, Hoo, life force. Sir Muno.”

“Are you sure?”

The moment I asked again, Rauel straightened her staggering body.

“Yes. It’s mana, Hoooo. I know that now.”

Her breathing seemed to be stabilizing, so I finally felt a little relieved.

Rauel asked with a face full of anticipation.

“With this much power, I could have landed at least one hit on that monster, right?”

“…Yeah.”

You would’ve landed one hit and then been stomped to death, though.

Swallowing the honest words I couldn’t bring myself to say, I forced a smile from inside my helmet.

Instead, I added a firm warning.

“Until you can control it, meaning until you can move normally even after firing that bow, it’s forbidden in combat. If you really want to use it, control its power. Got it?”

“But if I control its power, it won’t work on a monster like that….”

“Got. It?”

“…Yes.”

As I turned away from the sullen Rauel, the short rain created by the Ghost’s Bow began to stop.

“Then, this way….”

The group, having gone through the commotion, started moving again, following the steward.

* * *

“This is the lodging where Ian, that bastard, stayed.”

A mansion located relatively on the outskirts, even within the splendid inner castle of Aslan.

Seeing the room, which felt like a hotel room that had been completely cleaned and was ready to receive new guests, I openly clicked my tongue.

“Tsk tsk. Well, I expected as much, but it’s going to be a problem if this is all you present as evidence….”

At those words, Evan sneered as if he had been waiting.

“Or what, are you going to search all of Aslan? Well, it’s not like you’ll find anything even if you do.”

“Still, that would be better to be certain. Better than looking at a room that’s already been cleaned out.”

“……Mark my words. This is a deal, punk. Now that you’ve accepted that bow, I won’t forgive any pointless nitpicking.”

“Since I received payment, shouldn’t I be more thorough?”

“What?”

Just like an accounting audit.

Suddenly, a memory from my past life came to mind.

Before I headbutted that trashy boss, back when I worked in the accounting team.

The accounting firm we had clearly paid and commissioned would demand data as if they had power over us and expected to be entertained.

Isn’t this situation similar to that?

“That’s how we build mutual trust, and it gives me the confidence to publicly announce the investigation results.”

Knowing that not only the poison master Chamber but also that woman named Kallin had infiltrated Aslan, I had no intention of conducting a careless investigation.

“……But punk, haven’t you been speaking informally to me for a while now?”

“Ah. It’s just your imagination, just your imagination.”

“This punk….”

Evan furrowed his brow but didn’t press the issue further.

Of course.

“Do as you please. But don’t forget that I’m watching. If I see you doing anything stupid, I’ll cut off your limbs immediately.”

He left a chilling threat.

“Of course.”

I just playfully shrugged my shoulders.

While thinking how absurd it was for this guy to nitpick about my speech when we were already hostile to each other.

‘I wonder if your sword can cut through my armor so easily?’

I swallowed the provocation and turned my gaze.

“Rauel, do you see anything?”

“If it’s cleaned up like this, there’s nothing to find. Nothing at all.”

“Well, all their lodgings will be the same. Let’s check the family members. I glanced over them in the Great Hall earlier, but there must be some who weren’t there….”

Besides, if there’s a user of the Double Veil, I need to get close to identify them.

As Evan frowned at those words, Imadi suddenly cut in.

“You mean you already scanned them in the Great Hall? Over a hundred people? All of them? While standing in one spot?”

I wonder if this man knows how burdensome his sparkling eyes are.

“……Yes. Well, roughly. It’s within the realm of my senses.”

I gently pushed him away with a grimace as he thrust his face toward me.

“Something that couldn’t be revealed even with Spirit Arts, you did with mere senses…?”

“I’m a bit unusual.”

“……Hah, good grief. And I can’t even dissect you.”

I flinched at that gruesome mumble.

“Is there, is there no other way? One that uses spirits or mana?”

“There is… a method called Veil Lifting, something that can be taught to knights who can use mana.”

“Oh, what’s the principle behind that…?”

Since it seemed the royal family was spreading it widely anyway, it probably wouldn’t matter if I told him here.

“It’s a technique that uses the repulsion between mana and demonic energy. If you focus a small amount of mana and inject it into the opponent’s body….”

I explained the principle of Veil Lifting while being conscious of Evan, who was inconspicuously perking up his ears.

And so, the group’s footsteps began to head toward where the household members of the inner castle were.

The first place they visited was, naturally, the mansion of Geron Aslan, who had just been thrown in prison today.

“If you were going to suspect his blood relatives, you should have just said to come here from the start.”

…Well, that’s because Geron definitely didn’t have any demonic energy.

I only answered Evan’s irritated grumbling internally and entered the mansion.

However.

“Sir Evan…!”

“R-really?”

“Th-this way….”

The servants, already in chaos because of the incident in the Great Hall, obediently cooperated with the investigation, but there was nothing to gain.

There were no items that gave off demonic energy, and the people, aside from being stressed under a brutal master befitting (?) the Aslan bloodline, had no peculiar points.

‘As expected, there’s nothing. If they were Demon Cult bastards, they would have hidden long ago in this situation.’

Was this really an unnecessary task?

Just as I confirmed my suspicion and gave a bitter smile.

I suddenly felt the cloying scent of perfume approaching.

‘This, fuc…’

A curse almost shot out of my mouth.

“Excuse me… S-Sir Black Knight?”

The moment I confirmed it was a chubby-looking, blonde young lady in a dress that screamed ‘sheltered noble girl’, I forcibly held back the curse.

Then, the young lady, glancing at the indifferent-looking Evan, began to move closer to me.

“I-I have something to tell you.”

“What is it?”

The overpowering perfume smell elicited a blunt reply.

“Well, um….”

It was only when I saw her hands and feet trembling that I belatedly sensed something was amiss.

“I, I know what my father was doing in secret.”

At her stuttered words, the gazes of the entire group focused on her.

“So. Among the people Geron Aslan often met, there was a person named Evelyn….”

“She was the one who introduced Ian and the others to the family, and she has already been executed?”

At the exchange between me and Imadi, Geron’s youngest daughter nodded her head frantically.

“Y-yes. Th-that’s right. The family head executed or exiled everyone who associated with that bastard Ian. Though he left alone those who were merely close to the ones who were disposed of.”

“That’s to be expected. If he enforced collective responsibility to that extent, the family would be torn apart. But young lady, why are you saying such things? Are you perhaps planning to frame your own father?”

As Evan frowned and issued a threat, Rudis’s face froze solid.

“Th-that’s not what I mean!”

“Then what?!”

“Don’t pressure her. I’m worried she might commit perjury.”

“No, what this young lady is saying right now…!”

“My father was investigating that Ian and the person named Evelyn!”

The shout that erupted in the tense atmosphere contained truly unexpected circumstances.

“……He investigated those bastards?”

“Yes. Yes! W-with all due respect, my father wanted to find a weakness on the first and second young masters. He said those bastards were strange. He was always quick-witted.”

“Oh?”

“Father often said that if he found their weaknesses, he could use them! H-he absolutely did not associate with a group of magicians. I, I’m trying to prove that….”

“And so?”

“……If that’s proven, my father can be released, right!?”

It wasn’t directly related to the investigation, but it was a tempting piece of information.

“First, tell me. It’s meaningless if it ended with just suspicion.”

“Well… Father said he had almost caught the tail of the backer who infiltrated them into the family. In the meantime, they were all expelled, so he stopped, fearing he’d be charged with negligence, but….”

Just as my ears perked up at this unexpected and unanticipated fact.

“But?”

“Father said he had seized evidence that they were connected to a noble family in the Deus Empire.”

At the words Rudis Aslan spat out, everyone’s eyes widened.

Source: Webnovel.com, updated by NovelKeep