Surprisingly, only one half-fairy had been collected from Marrow Lake.
What had looked like a dozen or so little dwarves moving around had, in reality, been a single being.
“So it can split its body. What a fascinating creature.”
—I’ve never seen one like this either.
“Looks like I’ll be able to save on labor costs.”
The atmosphere instantly turned cold at my casual mutter.
Shugl and Feltron both stared at me with faintly contemptuous eyes.
I flicked each of them on the head with a solid knuckle.
Kong! Kong!
“It was just a figure of speech. I’ll give them proper compensation.”
ᅳEeeh! You’re hitting us because you’re embarrassed!
—Boss! Your personality is completely broken!
Their over-the-top reaction made irritation surge up.
It was clearly fake crying, and I couldn’t just let it slide.
That would only make their habits worse.
I silently raised a fist.
ᅳOkay, okay! We get it!
ᅳO-our boss is kind! Wow. Ah… ah.
The moment I lifted my hand without a word, both of them hurriedly lowered their tails.
I was about to leave it at that since hitting them again felt a bit much.
That was when it happened.
―See? I told you acting pitiful works.
—Keh! As expected of Senior. You’ve reached the realm of playing with the boss.
Ahem! Who do you think I am? Something of this level is easy.
Listening to the half-demons’ nonsense made a fresh wave of deep irritation rise.
I couldn’t hold back any longer and pulled out Hector Punisher.
“Uwaaaaah! Abel-style Hammer Technique, Whack-a-Mole!”
Pababababak!
I took turns smacking their heads until they finally quieted down.
Shaking my head, I moved over to the coachman’s seat.
Staying in the same space as those lunatics was giving me a headache.
“Haha! Your bond looks truly deep.”
Brandon suddenly burst into a hearty laugh.
He said something I couldn’t understand at all.
“Excuse me?”
“Even while bickering, you look like you’re having fun. It’s nice to see.”
“I have no idea where you’re getting that impression from, but that’s not it.”
“Heheheh!”
Why does this man keep laughing?
It made it sound like I was pretending not to enjoy myself while actually having a great time.
I shook my head again.
Before long the carriage smoothly came to a stop.
“We have arrived, Your Grace.”
“Thank you for your hard work.”
After greeting Brandon, I stepped down.
It had been a truly long time since I last returned to Perias.
I looked quietly at the cityscape.
This outing had been especially long.
I had spent nearly a full year living only in the east.
Even so, not much had changed.
Clean streets and people moving about peacefully.
The system and response manuals I had established seemed to be working reasonably well.
The State Council meeting is still a few days away, right?
Paying respects to the Emperor came first.
The procedures for entering the palace were considerably strict.
Multiple identity verifications, and even a full body search.
Something felt off.
They didn’t go this far before.
In the past, an Imperial Guard knight would simply follow me discreetly.
There had never been this kind of unpleasant process.
Of course, that was probably because I was a duke.
Now the same level of scrutiny applied to me as to anyone else.
It wasn’t a matter of privilege consciousness.
There’s probably a reason things have changed.
I just hoped it wasn’t because something had happened to the Emperor’s safety.
Why was I suddenly worrying after always finding him so distasteful?
Without that man’s support, the Dapan Group couldn’t be maintained.
If the Emperor suddenly changed hands,
everyone would come running to tear off a piece for themselves, wouldn’t they?
Of course I wouldn’t just sit still, but it would still be a headache.
A reliable shield should be used properly while it was still available.
With these thoughts running through my mind, I entered the imperial palace.
I was about halfway through the gardens when it happened.
Ssuk!
“Please stop for a moment, Your Grace.”
A person suddenly appeared and blocked my path.
It was almost certainly a Black Agent of the Imperial Guard Knights.
I looked at him with a puzzled expression.
“What is it?”
“A message from His Majesty the Emperor. He says to meet at the State Council meeting instead of today.”
“……?”
Postponing the audience like this felt abrupt.
Something about it was suspicious, but I couldn’t force my way through.
This was a statement from one of the Emperor’s own limbs.
I had no choice but to turn around.
Once I left the palace grounds, I called for Cordell McNeil.
“What happened that made him change his mind halfway?”
“Once an order has been issued, I can only obey.”
“Yes, I know that much. I want to know why such an order was suddenly given.”
“I’m sorry, but even I don’t really……”
Well, this man had only just returned himself. What could he possibly know?
I let out a short sigh and looked around.
Brandon still hadn’t appeared, so he probably hadn’t received word yet.
That was when the city hall and the courthouse caught my eye.
Since I’m already here, should I stop by there first?
I asked McNeil to pass on a message so Brandon wouldn’t wander around lost.
Then I headed to the courthouse.
The judges looked extremely busy.
“What’s going on? Are there so many trials that they have to run around like that?”
I found it strange but didn’t dwell on it.
Sometimes when cases piled up, running was the only way to keep schedule.
Besides, there wouldn’t be anything in my office anyway.
I looked for Judge Emir’s office.
“Oh? Ch-Chief Justice?”
“Have you been well?”
“Haha! Of course. It’s been a truly long time. Would you care for a cup of tea?”
“You look busy. Is it all right?”
“I do have to enter a trial soon.”
“Then never mind. Ah, but why is it so hectic around here?”
“The number of trials has suddenly increased. The security force has been working extremely hard.”
“Their arrest performance must have improved.”
“It more than tripled, so…… Oh no! Look at the time!”
“Go attend to the trial first. I’ll just look over some documents here.”
“Yes, I’ll be back shortly.”
Colrund Emir hurried out.
I shrugged and sat down on the sofa.
Apparently there hadn’t been enough space to put the trial documents.
They were piled high even on the reception table.
I pulled out a few bundles and started reading through them.
They were ordinary cases with nothing special about them.
A vagrant child was caught stealing from a store. This one is similar. This one too……
Theft was a common crime that happened everywhere.
In a world without CCTV, finding the culprit was never easy.
Yet the arrest rate had risen this high?
The security officers must have really worn out their shoes.
Considering the poor environment, achieving this level of results was impressive.
Cheok! Cheok! Cheok!!
As I flipped through the stack of documents, something felt off.
Why did the pattern seem so repetitive?
“There are too many similar cases.”
Why were the defendants almost always vagrants?
And the places being robbed were always jewelry stores or galleries—places full of expensive items.
Common sense said this didn’t add up.
If I were a vagrant, I’d rather hit a grocery store.
Expensive goods would be nice.
One big score might even turn your life around.
But jewels and art pieces were difficult to convert into cash.
High-ranking nobles wouldn’t pay money to some random vagrant.
Items bought from a proper establishment held more value.
“So there’s a mastermind behind this?”
Someone who was encouraging vagrants to steal.
The deduction naturally headed in that direction.
But the security officers weren’t idiots. Would they really not notice?
They caught plenty of small fries, yet never touched the real big shot?
This is too strange.
I immediately opened the employee management window.
I checked it about once a day, and until now there had been no abnormalities.
Every security officer had been working extremely hard.
That was why the results had been so good.
But after seeing these similar trial documents, certain peculiarities stood out.
“A few people’s performance numbers are excessively high.”
It was as if the god of police work had descended.
I focused on those individuals.
Then I began catching strange behavior.
Several security officers were periodically visiting the vagrant dens.
And every time they did, they brought back exactly one criminal.
Ridiculous. A vagrant who was in a den outside Perias suddenly comes all the way into the inner city and robs a jewelry store?
What kind of absurd result was that?
It wasn’t as if the vagrant was some phantom thief.
They wouldn’t have even a speck of that kind of ability.
Being able to run properly would already be fortunate.
I immediately headed out through Perias’s southern gate.
There I found a security officer walking along with a vagrant tied to a rope.
The second son of Baron Mekiscott, was it?
If he could secure a position in the Perias security force, he probably wasn’t a disliked child.
I followed the two of them discreetly.
I didn’t have Cordell McNeil’s advanced stealth techniques, but tracking was still perfectly possible.
I just needed to spread Feltron’s crows.
I had found Radus, the staff officer of the Mandus tribe, the same way.
They continued moving along the road.
─He suddenly turned into the right alley. Stop and wait.
Meki Scott moved here and there for a long while.
As if he had come out for sightseeing.
Obvious.
It wasn’t hard to guess why he was doing that.
Eventually the two of them entered the Security Headquarters building.
I waited outside.
A short while later, Feltron’s voice reached me.
―This bastard is starting now.
I stood up with a grim expression, Hector Punisher already in hand.
As I strode into the Security Headquarters building, a guard blocked my path.
“What’s the mat…… C-Carius, Your Grace?”
“I have something to investigate. Could you step aside?”
“O-of course. But what brings you here?”
From the way he kept glancing at the warhammer out of the corner of his eye, he was clearly quite shocked.
Well, of course he would be.
A duke had appeared holding a weapon.
“I already told you I came for an investigation.”
“Ah, yes.”
When I spoke in a flat tone, the guard hurriedly stepped back.
He must have sensed something unusual in my voice.
Following the directions Feltron gave me, I reached the second-floor interrogation room.
The staff of the Security Headquarters came rushing over after being informed by the guard.
Among them was the Security Headquarters Director himself.
Who was that man again?
Count Devon Callahan, was it?
“Y-Your Grace! What brings you here?”
“I heard something interesting was happening, so I came to take a look.”
“Pardon?”
“Would Director Callahan like to watch as well?”
“No, what do you mean by……”
Before Devon Callahan could finish speaking, I swung Hector Punisher.
Kwaaaang!
The heavy door shattered in a single blow.
It had been reinforced with iron plates to prevent the criminal from escaping, but in front of me it might as well have been paper.
Inside there was another double door.
I smashed that one as well.
Teoeoeong!
Why was I going this far all of a sudden?
Because the door was firmly locked.
If I had told them to open it, they might have coordinated their stories in the meantime.
Barging in like this was the surest way to secure evidence.
A horrific scene unfolded inside the interrogation room.
A vagrant who looked like he had been thoroughly beaten.
And Meki Scott, holding a club and blinking in pure panic.
I let out a long sigh and slowly shook my head.
The evils of performance metrics…… People are the same wherever you go.