Chapter 237 – Chapter 58. The Case of Theft.
The case of the theft of the seeds of Aitara, the raw material for the hero’s medicine, Aitrophthalate.
The matter was too serious to be dismissed as just one of those common cases of theft. Aitara was a herb that was managed and harvested under the leadership of the imperial family, and even touching it was a crime of treason.
Ironically, dealing with the hero potion itself was a much lighter sin than handling the raw material, Aitara’s seed. The warrior medicine disappears after eating it, but the raw material, the seeds, can be cultivated.
Aitara is a plant that only grows in cold regions, so it was grown only in Pierta, a large city in the North Continent. It was a virtue that the count family was a distant relative of the imperial family. In other words, they have connections with the imperial family.
In fact, even if it was a theft, if the scale was small, the count would have been silent, but the fact that it came up to the regular meeting meant that the scale of the incident was so large that it could not be hidden. In a word, it must mean that even a count could not keep his mouth shut.
So, the imperial family decided to send a directly appointed officer to the North Continent along with Ji-hyeok. The officer in charge is Prince Felik, the younger half-brother of the current emperor. He was a vigorous young man who had just turned twenty.
He was good at academics, fair in handling work, and generous in his personality, and he was a talented person recognized by the imperial family. Ji-hyeok met him by chance and had no contact with him other than a short greeting, but he was familiar with his rumors after hearing them several times.
Anyway, Jihyeok gathered a team and left the capital with Prince Felik’s team and headed to the North Continent.
Among the team members who followed along were the honest guard Kurg and the fairy wizard Lenny, who had never matched with Ji-hyeok. The intention was to take this opportunity to get used to each other.
The healer was the warm-hearted goblin lady, Grug, and the calm orc archer, Grendal, followed as the dealer. It seemed that there was no need for a buff sorcerer, so the buff sisters were not taken.
The number of members of the warrior team is five in total, including Jihyeok. It was a bit ambiguous to call it a high-level team, but with Jihyeok and Grendal, I thought that even if an unexpected accident broke out, it would be possible to deal with it to some extent. Of course, that doesn’t mean the other three don’t have any skills at all. It’s just that I lack some experience.
Inside the carriage leaving the capital, it was as quiet as a dead mouse. There were no trifling idiot brothers, and all of them were serious people, so they weren’t the first to speak out. At least kindly, Grendal would lightly ask this and that question to lighten the mood, but that too ended with a short answer.
… This expedition will be a bit boring.
Of course, an expedition isn’t a picnic, but having at least one guy like Gide made it a little less boring. Even trivial bullshit is better than having the carriage go silent like a coffin every day.
In any case, thanks to Jihyeok, who was semi-forced to practice silence, he had more time to meditate.
… However, that’s for a while.
As the wagon left the central continent, the relaxed atmosphere changed rapidly. The security of the continent, where the Devil Church and bandits ran rampant, was getting worse and worse, and wagons moving in small numbers were apt to become their targets. In addition, vigilance against strangers has increased significantly in cities and towns.
In the meantime, the thieves fearlessly attacked even the carriage with the imperial flag. Apparently, the fact that the escort was a bit light since the S-class warrior team moved right after them seemed to have touched their desire for a challenge.
The number of thieves on horseback numbered in the hundreds. The bandits were very diverse in race and age. The muscular orc, who appeared to be their leader, threatened them wielding a black-edged axe.
Team Jihyeok got off the wagon and lined up in front of the royal wagon. Still, there were so many opponents, Lenny and Grug looked quite nervous.
Prince Felik boldly got off the carriage and spoke to Ji-hyeok.
“Let’s talk first.”
Ji-hyeok knew that thieves were not a people to talk to, but he did not bother to speak directly about it. If you play tabletop a lot, there are many cases where you lose your sense of reality, but that’s because you only realize it when you bump into it yourself. Still, Prince Felik is smart and wise, and after a few experiences he will quickly learn the right way.
Jihyeok took himself as an escort. He stuck close to the prince and walked towards the beast. The orc rode proudly and stepped forward a bit.
“I am Prince Felik. This is an act of challenging the authority of the imperial family. If you leave right now and open the road, I won’t hold you accountable!”
The prince raised his voice so loudly. When the orc heard that, he started to laugh out loud. The other 100 or so subordinates also laughed along with the boss. Of course, that was an insult to the imperial family, but there’s no way all thieves don’t know that the dead don’t talk.
“He cuts off his tongue and cock and rolls them.”
The orc man boldly pointed his ax at the prince and said so. If he had been frightened by the word imperial family, he would not have done the robbery in the first place.
Ah.
The prince was startled and took a step back. I didn’t know that insignificant thieves would come out like this. It was a misjudgment by the prince who thought that the authority of the imperial family would be eaten anytime, anywhere.
With the leader’s order, the bandits started attacking in earnest. However, Ji-hyeok, an S-class warrior, was overflowing with composure even in front of numerous thieves.
Once he brought the prince to his teammates, he began to wield the holy sword mercilessly. How can an insignificant creature withstand his blows that even powerful monsters couldn’t withstand?
Jihyeok cut through dozens of enemies in an instant. In an instant, the fields were piled up with corpses and turned into a sea of blood. Ah. Prince Felik, seeing such a terrible sight for the first time in his life, was so shocked that he forgot his face and fell backwards, stamping his butt on the floor. The direct servant quickly helped the prince, but he couldn’t get up easily.
Only a few of the thieves escaped, and all the others died. The orc leader was also dead with his neck and torso separated.
Kurg and Lenny, who first met Jihyeok, were quite surprised by the hero’s inaction. Although he went on several expeditions with the mixed-race beast Mahu Shu and the telekinetic magician Sally, Ji-hyeok’s power was completely different. Contrary to the expectation that it would be quite a struggle with this number of heads, they defeated the thieves so easily. Of course, Jihyeok’s contribution was very large.
Prince Felik had also heard a lot about the S-class hero’s great inaction, but he clearly realized through this battle that just hearing and seeing are very different. The prince confirmed that he was far beyond the human category.
“Su, good job.”
“You’re not hurt anywhere, are you?”
“I am fine.”
Prince Felik praised the hero’s achievements. However, the prince was shocked and fell ill that evening. It was because he was tormented by both witnessing a mass murder for the first time and realizing that reality was far from ideal.
Although he was still young, his weak body, which had never been trained, was already somewhat weakened by the long expedition. The shock was added to it, so of course I had no choice but to lie down.
Reluctantly, the group stayed in a nearby village until the prince recovered. Thanks to the devoted care of the servants and maids, the prince got up from the hospital after a week and headed back to Pierta, the big city.
The North Continent, which has been coming for the first time in a while, feels very different from before. I couldn’t feel the generosity and generosity anymore. Of course, the reason is obvious.
… There are a lot of incidents and accidents in the North Continent.
The advent of the demon king, the actions of the Devil Church, and even the theft.
In addition, the murderous cold of the North Continent bothered me, and I couldn’t help but feel annoyed. Maybe it’s because the custom of men and women rubbing their warm skin against each other in cold regions, so many incidents and accidents are related to sexual instinct.
So, don’t the mercenaries of the continent like the women of the North continent because they are pretty and good at sex?
The group, slightly delayed in their journey, arrived in the big city of Pierreta in two months. Even on the northern continent, where the population was small, the size of the large city was considerable, probably because it was a large city. Of course, it’s not comparable to the capital city, but it’s still several times larger than the cities on the northern continent we’ve been through so far.
Of course, as it grew, so did the floating population. Looking at it, Jihyeok was convinced that the stolen seeds were not here. Still, if you want to start tracking, you have to do a thorough investigation from the starting point.
As soon as the group reached the city, he headed straight for the castle. Earl Pierta warmly welcomed the prince and warrior.
However, the principled, albeit generous, prince was inflexible and raised the idea of responsibility as soon as he saw the count. Doing that shit as soon as we met made the count feel bad. So Ji-hyeok went back to the back and comforted the count a little later.
“How do you keep an eye on the work of the lower ones? I understand the Count’s situation.”
“… I’m really glad that even the hero understands me.”
“I will tell Your Highness well later. Don’t worry about that.”
“I will only trust the warrior.”
So, Ji-hyeok was able to calm the count and gain his active help. Still, it seemed that the quick-witted Prince Felik was not unaware of Ji-hyeok’s tricks.
“It’s not that I don’t know how to comfort you with nice words. However, I was dispatched here as an officer in charge of the imperial family. You have to show him the authority he deserves, that is.”
It seemed that he was secretly worried that Ji-hyeok, who liked the prince, would look at him badly. He smiled generously, saying that the hero understands everything.
“I know. Your Highness, please follow the rules. I will assist from behind.”
“… Thank you.”
Prince Felik thought that all of his warriors were strong and ferocious like his sister, Princess Ganesha, but after meeting Ji-hyeok, his prejudice was erased. Ji-hyeok, who is calm, generous, and has a lot of consideration, was an attractive person that Felic wanted to keep by his side for the rest of his life. … The prince seemed to know why people were praising Jihyeok so much.
Unlike the smirking and lazy royal family, Jihyeok also liked Prince Felik, who was fair and sincere. What if you are a bit principled? Much better than an egoist who acts on his own.
Still, Prince Felik was also changing for the better little by little as he accumulated experience. While he values principles, he has also begun to take into account the situation. That he has come to consider unavoidable circumstances.
Anyway, with the close cooperation of the prince and the hero, the investigation of the theft progressed quickly. They reduced the number of suspects one by one and finally found the culprit in 15 days. Even the count, who had been persistently researching for a long time, was surprised by the rapid results.
The culprit was a nanny who took care of the count’s youngest daughter. She said that she had been forced to give the seed to her unknown beings because of her own son’s huge debts in her gambling.
The nanny begged her to save her life, but she was guilty of touching the imperial family’s property. Finally, a few days later, the nanny and her son were sentenced to death for high treason.
“I think we should look at the gambling hall one by one.”
“I think so too.”
The hero continued the investigation with suspicion that there might be a demon cult behind it.
