“I heard your name is Isaac. Is that right?”
When Chester asked, the man nodded slowly.
It seemed he was indeed in a state where conversation was possible.
After the general direction for solving the case was established, Chester had given separate orders to Morgan and Toby: track down the man they saw at the black market and bring him in quietly.
According to what he heard, after showing abnormal behavior when Chester and Ruite visited the black market, Isaac had been dragged away by brokers, beaten, and kicked out.
The two knights found him sprawled helplessly at the entrance of Veter Village and brought him to the Knights’ headquarters, treating him first so he could speak.
Having confirmed his name, Chester placed a glass bottle on the table.
Recognizing it instantly, Isaac flinched and avoided his gaze.
“I trust you won’t claim you don’t know what this is.”
“I-I don’t know. I didn’t do anything…”
“A member of the Knights personally witnessed you possessing this and collected it. You’re still going to try and play innocent?”
However, Isaac kept his mouth tightly shut.
Knowing he would be punished if caught, he intended not to confess easily.
“Tell me where you received this plant root.”
“…”
Isaac completely averted his eyes.
He seemed determined to stay silent.
Morgan and Toby threatened him to answer, but nothing changed.
Chester stared intently at Isaac before speaking as if he had made up his mind.
“Brett Kayard.”
As soon as Chester uttered the name, Isaac, who had been looking elsewhere, turned his head in shock.
Watching his eyes shake uncontrollably, Chester continued.
“The person who is cultivating this plant you had, and the mastermind who planned this Magic Beast evolution incident.”
“H-How do you… ah.”
Isaac realized he had spoken unconsciously and covered his mouth.
But it was no use.
Chester’s gaze was already piercing through everything.
“I didn’t bring you here for interrogation because I knew nothing. I was simply giving you a chance. The Knights already know exactly who the culprit behind this is.”
Brett Kayard. That was the name of the culprit the task force had discovered after much effort.
After the last meeting, Chester had met with Hale personally.
When he reported all the findings and requested access to records managed by the Imperial Magic Department, the Commander nodded without further question.
A few days later, an order came for Chester to appear at the Imperial Palace.
It was thanks to Hale’s word.
At the Magic Management Department, Chester succeeded in obtaining a list of mercenary mages currently active within the Empire.
Afterward, he cross-referenced that with the Knights’ internal records of those who had failed the entrance exam or had been forcibly expelled.
There were thirty people who met both criteria.
Ten were excluded from the suspect list as they were currently mercenaries cooperating with the Knights to handle the incident.
The task force began tracking the remaining twenty.
They divided the list and filtered out those showing suspicious behavior, successfully narrowing the suspects down to five using a process of elimination.
One of them stood out particularly: Brett Kayard.
He had barely passed the entrance exam when he joined the Knights, and during his time as a member, he was notorious for causing trouble due to his lack of skill combined with excessive, misplaced ambition.
He also harbored a strong sense of inferiority, reportedly bullying juniors who achieved greater accomplishments than himself.
Eventually, he was expelled from the Knights when it was discovered he had bought and secretly used illegal magical tools from the black market.
Vice-Commander Elka, who remembered him, described him as a member who felt deep inferiority regarding his skills as a mage.
There was another notable fact: Brett was the second son of Viscount Kayard, who held territory in the North.
After being expelled from the Knights, he returned to his family, but was reportedly kicked out of the household shortly thereafter.
Since then, he had lived as a mercenary mage, but his whereabouts had become a mystery at some point.
Just in case, they questioned other mercenary mages who knew Brett, and they all said similar things: that Brett often cursed the Knights and that they didn’t know where he was since he had stopped appearing some time ago.
Chester and the task force confirmed Brett Kayard as the prime suspect.
The fact that the evolution incidents began in the North near the Kayard estate, his strong motive, and his disappearance all fit perfectly.
“Isaac, not only did you use a plant root that is taboo for mages, but you possessed a plant whose cultivation is strictly prohibited within the Empire. This violates not only magical laws but also major laws set by the Imperial Palace. Can you imagine how heavy your sentence will be? I tried to give you a chance for leniency, but I didn’t expect you to kick it away yourself.”
“Ugh… I-I…”
Isaac began to tremble violently.
He was a far cry from the man who had vowed not to open his mouth just moments ago.
“I… I’ll tell you everything! I’ll confess everything you want! I only helped because B-Brett told me to! He’s the one who planned it all!”
Chester signaled to Morgan.
Morgan brought a rolled-up cloth from the side and spread it on the table. It was a map of the Empire.
“Then tell us. Where is Brett hiding? Where is his hideout?”
Isaac nodded frantically and reached toward the map without hesitation.
“Morgan, Toby, assemble the combat unit members of the task force immediately. Also, see if you can recruit about ten more available combat members and prepare to move out within an hour.”
“Understood.”
Receiving the orders, Morgan and Toby moved swiftly.
Chester stared at the map in his hand.
The location Isaac had just indicated was marked precisely.
Likely, Isaac would be detained within the Knights’ headquarters before paying for his crimes through the proper legal process.
Since he had a change of heart and cooperated at the end, there was a high possibility some of his sentence would be mitigated.
As Chester left the building to make final preparations, he happened to run into Ruite.
“Ruite.”
Approaching Ruite naturally, Chester took his hand and stroked his cheek.
Come to think of it, it didn’t seem like they just “ran into” each other; Ruite appeared to have been waiting for him the whole time.
“Did you find the location?”
“Yeah, he confessed as soon as I gave him a little scare. It’s thanks to you keeping a close eye on Isaac.”
Ruite mumbled that it was a group effort and fiddled with Chester’s hand.
“Are you leaving right away?”
“Yes. There’s no benefit in dragging our feet.”
Ruite’s expression turned slightly sullen.
“Somehow… at times like this, it’s a bit disappointing that I’m not in the combat unit.”
The research unit generally had no reason to get involved in cases dealing with criminals.
Their workload was already heavy enough with research and data organization related to magic beasts.
The reason Ruite’s research unit was drafted into the task force this time was that the case involved a criminal using magic beasts as a tool.
However, now that the prime suspect was identified and the location specified, catching them was the combat unit’s job.
“Why?”
“Because I think people are more dangerous than magic beasts.”
Magic beasts were less intelligent than humans, so even if they had great power, they were relatively simple.
But what about humans?
They could think of unimaginable evils and had no qualms about choosing them even while knowing they were wrong.
In fact, quite a few members of the research unit preferred dealing with “simple-minded” magic beasts for that very reason.
“Because I don’t want you to be in danger. If I were in the combat unit, I could fight alongside you and protect you.”
At Ruite’s dejected voice, Chester reflexively covered his mouth.
He had been bracing himself to catch the heinous villains, but seeing Ruite act so cutely made his tension dissolve helplessly.
“If you’re going to be that cute, do it after I get back.”
“Hey, I’m talking to you seriously…”
“That’s why I think it’s actually a relief you’re in the research unit. I’d rather die than see you in danger. One experience like that was enough.”
His heart still sank when he thought of the time Ruite was in great danger due to an evolved magic beast during his first field mission as a knight.
But Ruite didn’t seem to like that answer, as he pouted grumpily.
“Don’t worry. I’ll resolve this and come back without a scratch.”
“Of course you will.”
Chester smiled slightly and gave Ruite a light kiss on the lips.
Ruite stood there, staring at Chester’s receding figure until he vanished from sight, after one last pat on the head.
