Chapter 28
The Purge Squad
The title of Sage was one of those titles that could never be self-proclaimed, and the standards for receiving it were applied with extreme strictness.
Among the sages known throughout the continent of Serdes, Helus Phobidas had followed an unusually unconventional path to becoming one.
He had not come from Escholeia, the City of Scholars, nor had he been regarded as a genius with great expectations placed upon him.
He had merely been a lowborn commoner and an insignificant mage.
Helus left behind the following anecdote about how he became a sage.
One night, while sleeping as usual, he awakened and found himself facing an absolute being.
That absolute being appeared in the form of a god and offered him a choice between two things.
The potential to rise to the rank of a seventh-circle grand mage.
Or wisdom and knowledge encompassing all things.
Helus claimed that although he could have reached the seventh circle and gained the power to rule over everything, he chose wisdom and knowledge so that he might help all people.
It was remarkably original bullshit.
Yet no one dared object to the story.
Whatever the truth might have been, he was a man called a Sage, and he possessed knowledge and wisdom that bordered on the miraculous.
People said that although he was a materialistic man, his wisdom never wavered, and in that sense, he could be considered a superhuman.
However, the real Helus Phobidas was no such superhuman.
He was a man who was just as honest about his emotions as any ordinary person.
And right now, Helus wore a deeply displeased expression.
His gaze fell upon a woman kneeling before him.
His eyes were filled with anger, as though she were the source of every evil in the world.
The middle-aged woman had once been his attendant.
Helus had spent half of the wealth he had accumulated in order to find her.
Skilled mages and trackers had followed her trail, and they had finally succeeded in bringing her back to his estate.
The moment she entered the mansion, she was beaten like a dog.
The servants whipped and struck her through the entire night, breaking bones throughout her body until she could barely keep herself upright.
She trembled in terror with her head lowered to the floor.
At last, she spoke.
“P-Please spare me, Master...”
“Master?”
Helus snorted.
“Yes, I was your master. That is right. Do you know what happens to an attendant who abandons her master and runs away?”
He spoke while lightly slapping the club in his hand against his palm.
“She gets beaten like a dog.”
“P-Please spare me. Please...”
The middle-aged attendant pressed her broken hands together as best she could and desperately begged.
Only a few teeth remained inside her slightly open mouth.
“Yes, I will forgive you. As long as you tell me where the little brat you stole from me is.”
“I do not know! I was deceived, and the child was taken from me!”
Helus kicked the attendant in the head.
“Do I look like an idiot to you?! Two gold coins were found in your pocket! Do you think I am doing this because I cannot figure out where they came from?!”
“Agh! Please, just let me live! Please!”
“Yes, I will let you live—as long as I find that brat! So hurry up and squeeze out every scrap of wisdom you have, even the wisdom you do not have, and think! Think! Think!”
Helus could barely suppress the urge to crush her throat immediately.
Yet he could not do so.
Whatever else she might be, this woman was the only clue he had to recovering “it.”
Just then, someone knocked on the door.
A man wearing a gray hood entered the room.
“Sage, I have completed the task you entrusted to me.”
It was the best news Helus had heard in recent days.
He ran toward the man with the innocent excitement of a child who had just received a toy.
“Oh! Show me. What was the result?”
“After circulating the composite sketch created from the attendant’s description, we concluded that the person is the Regent of Valdrova.”
“The Regent... of Valdrova?”
“I expected you to be surprised. He was not someone we anticipated either.”
Helus was not surprised by the person’s identity.
He knew Valdrova was a dragon, but he had no idea what “the Regent” was supposed to mean.
“We verified it with people in the Far East. They identified the two as the Regent and his maid, so there should be no mistake.”
“What are those people supposed to be?”
“As you know, he recently became the spouse of the Dread Queen of Valdrova and began administering the duchy—”
“Ah.”
Helus waved his hand, cutting the man off.
“Enough. So those damned bastards took what belongs to me. Is that what you are saying?”
“Yes.”
Helus could roughly understand the situation.
The person who had taken it was apparently the spouse of a ruler.
‘He came from the Far East and took it? Why? Could he have realized what it was for?’
Helus anxiously bit his fingernail.
It was the reason he had become so famous, as well as something capable of bringing him an enormous fortune.
That was why he had treasured it while simultaneously working it like an attendant.
After all, the best place to hide a tree was in a forest.
‘And all because of that stupid bitch...’
He had never imagined the attendant would sell the child.
Helus glared down at her with fury in his eyes.
The middle-aged attendant sobbed as she spoke.
“Congratulations, Master. N-Now you know who it was, do you not?”
She forced her broken fingers together and continued begging.
“Please spare me now. I beg you. Wherever I go, I will never speak a word about you. I will live quietly. Please...”
Helus looked down at her with emotionless eyes.
People’s hearts changed according to their circumstances.
The feelings one had before entering the privy were different from those one had after leaving it.
Now that the vague clue had become concrete information, there was no reason to leave behind a useless source of trouble.
Helus turned his head toward the gray-hooded man.
“Ah.”
“Yes?”
“Kill that useless woman.”
“Y-You promised otherwise!”
The gray-hooded man drew his sword and approached the attendant.
An unavoidable death drew near.
The attendant, who had done nothing but cry and beg pathetically, erupted in fury in one final act of resistance.
“You filthy bastard! I know the truth about you! I know what you did through that little girl! You are no Sage! You are—”
The old attendant’s head fell to the floor.
Her severed head rolled pitifully across the ground, the expression of rage still frozen upon her face.
The gray-hooded man flicked the blood from his sword.
“It appears my task is now complete. Will you pay me?”
“Of course.”
Helus handed him a jewel box containing a sum equivalent to one-quarter of his fortune.
The man briefly checked its contents before placing it inside his leather backpack.
“Thank you sincerely for using the services of the Black Bandana, valued customer.”
They completed only the assigned task, accepted their payment, and departed without leaving any loose ends.
That was the nature of the secret organization known as the Black Bandana.
With this, Helus had spent three-quarters of his entire fortune.
‘It had to be done.’
Trying to save money at a time like this would only lead to disaster.
Helus looked down at the two composite sketches the gray-bandanaed man had left behind.
One depicted a rugged-looking man with gray hair.
The other showed a silver-haired girl wearing a side-up ponytail.
Helus’s plump face twisted with rage.
‘How dare some mongrel-looking bastard covet what belongs to me?’
Vowing that he would never let either of them escape peacefully, Helus began considering his options.
“How should I take it back from them...?”
There were any number of ways.
Who was he?
A Sage.
Every kingdom sent him invitations, begging him to become their adviser.
He was considered a national-treasure-class figure, and even the Empire frequently contacted him.
‘I can use the Imperial Inspectorate. Regent or whatever he calls himself, he is no better than a dog before the Empire.’
His opponent might be the Dread Queen’s fiancé, but that posed no problem.
Valdrova had not shown herself before humans since the assassination of the Third Prince.
That was how it had always been, and there was no reason to believe things would be different now.
Helus placed his hand upon the crystal orb on his desk.
The orb began flashing in response to his mana.
A short while later, its light stabilized, and a voice echoed inside Helus’s mind.
—Greetings, Sage of Water! I am Hans, a communications mage of the great Arken Empire!
“Could I speak briefly with Sir Karl Harvest?”
—Sir Karl Harvest? Understood. Please wait a moment.
After a short wait, an energetic voice came through.
—Oh, Sage! How have you been? Have you remained in good health?
“Ha ha. I have been well. And you?”
—I lose sleep every night! I have been eagerly awaiting the day you finally join our Empire.
“Ha ha. Is that so?”
Helus had a feeling the conversation would proceed smoothly.
He decided to get to the point.
“My friend, there is something that has been troubling me lately.”
—Something troubling you?
“I have a young maidservant. The poor girl was kidnapped by a group of brigands. Recently, after squeezing every last drop from my knowledge and wisdom, I finally discovered where she was taken.”
—Where is she? You need only say the word! We will help you.
“They said it was the... Regent of Valdrova?”
—The Regent of Valdrova!
Karl answered in surprise.
“Why do you react that way? Is there some problem?”
—Not at all. I was merely thinking what an extraordinary coincidence this is! I have already heard that the young brat has been causing trouble lately.
“He must be rather infamous.”
—Our Purge Squad was already planning to visit and teach him some discipline.
“Oh? Is that so? He is still connected to a dragon. Would that not be dangerous?”
—Ha ha! There is no need to worry so much. You know that dragons rarely interfere in human affairs, do you not?
“Y-Yes. Of course!”
Helus had not known that.
—The brat will have to deal with us alone. No matter how much he struggles or runs wild, he is powerless beneath Imperial law! I also heard the local lords dislike him, so we ought to show him who stands above whom.
Helus smiled.
“Then I have a favor to ask. While you are teaching him a lesson, bring that child back to me. If you do, I shall join the Empire as you have always wanted.”
—Oh! You truly will? Then I would be delighted to fulfill your request! Ha ha!
“Good. I shall send you one of the sketches. You need only bring the girl to me. I am counting on you.”
—Of course. Leave everything to me!
Helus ended the communication with a satisfied expression.
‘This is the influence and prestige I am entitled to enjoy as a Sage.’
Having tasted it once, he could never abandon it.
‘Once I recover that child... I will cease merely pretending and become a true Sage again.’
That was why he had to retrieve her, no matter what it took.
***
“Your Excellency, a letter has arrived from the Empire.”
“Hmm. Has what I expected finally come?”
The elderly lord, Mulvera Consilus, stroked his beard and picked up the letter resting upon a tray.
Seeing the Imperial crest stamped upon it, he wondered whether the supply department had finally sent an apology.
“Hmm...”
However, the moment he saw the sender’s name, Count Consilus felt his blood boil.
The Purge Squad.
“Ha ha ha...”
Consilus released his speechless fury through hollow laughter.
“Arwon.”
“Yes, Your Excellency.”
“A letter from the Purge Squad has reached our territory. It seems we have finally become worth devouring.”
“How dare those filthy vermin...”
Arwon grew so furious that he looked ready to draw his sword at any moment.
As though there were no need even to read it, Consilus tilted the letter toward the brazier before him.
“Hmm...”
Then he suddenly wondered whether he ought to read its contents first.
That instinct proved correct.
—What sort of man is Ferda Valdrova?
They were not targeting Count Consilus.
They were targeting Ferda.
“So those arrogant bastards have set their sights on the Regent.”
Arwon was startled.
“They would dare do such a thing to the man destined to become a dragon’s consort?”
“Do you think those who live behind the Empire’s walls have ever seen a dragon? They are the sort who fear trolls in the nearby forest more than anything else.”
A fist close at hand always felt more threatening than a distant blade.
People were repeatedly warned to fear a dragon’s wrath, but only a tiny fraction of the current generation had ever experienced it themselves.
“And when you think about it, their plan is not entirely impossible.”
“Is that so?”
“Have we not treated Her Highness Valdrova as though she did not exist until now?”
“Ah...”
“And did we not also look down upon him merely because he was the Dread Queen’s fiancé?”
“That is true, but...”
Only then did Arwon realize the hypocrisy of it, and his face reddened.
“Even so, a mere knight would not dare send a letter attempting to exploit the Regent like this...”
“It is proof of how deeply the Arken Empire has rotted.”
The nobles were drowning in pleasure, while the swords of the knights had rusted.
To preserve public support in the Imperial cities, they drained the provinces through taxation and slowly killed them.
There had been several attempts at rebellion, but each one had been silently crushed, its participants disappearing without a trace.
‘The pillars built by our ancestors remain sturdy enough that the Empire will not collapse merely because they are being gnawed away.’
But when the time finally came, it would surely crumble without resistance.
Consilus was only a count.
He had once intended merely to drift along within that current and survive without distinction.
Now, however, things were different.
“Ferda Valdrova...”
A ray of light.
A handful of salt preserving a land from decay.
When aid was needed, Ferda alone had offered support without asking for anything in return.
He had done so solely for the development and welfare of the territories.
Perhaps that was why—
“Impudent bastards.”
Consilus could not help becoming furious.
He might have been an old man accustomed to walking a tightrope, but he was still a leader charged with protecting the Empire and its people.
Things had finally begun moving forward in the Far East.
He could not forgive these brats for attempting to ruin it.
“We will put a ring through the Purge Squad’s nose.”
Not mere resistance or intimidation.
Complete subjugation.
They were the sort of men who could drive even an honorable lord to murder.
They could not be allowed to continue unchecked.
To accomplish that, he would use Ferda Valdrova.
‘They have no idea how great a man the future consort of Valdrova truly is.’
And so, Count Consilus decided to speak as badly of Ferda as possible.
More precisely, he wrote down everything Ferda had done to threaten the local lords and added that the man was a villain whose wickedness cried out to heaven.
“Send this to the Purge Squad. I expect their reply will arrive quickly.”
“Understood. Should we also inform Regent Valdrova in advance?”
Count Consilus considered it briefly, then shook his head.
“No. Let us keep this among ourselves. Everything will be resolved once we arrive.”
“Understood.”
Though he did not say it aloud, Consilus also wanted to confirm one final thing.
He wanted to see how Ferda would respond when faced with the Purge Squad.
And his expectations were not betrayed.