Chapter 92
Episode 92 - Chaos and Hero (10)
"...I don't know about other things, but that Rozes also needs to be investigated. He violated the strict military law and ran away."
"Of course, if the councilor accuses the Vice Leader, we will investigate him."
Austin, who was subjected to an investigation without detention, was confined to his residence.
The Investigator treated him, a current councilor, politely, courteously, and formally.
Formality meant that common sense was applied, but in other words, it was truly stale and dragged on endlessly.
Austin realized that the purpose of the accusations against him was precisely that.
"Arbitrary and irrational command, violation of peacetime regulations, bribery... I could endure all that. But a sex scandal?! Now that's... My grandchild is entering the academy this year!"
"But since a key witness has come forward, we must investigate."
The problem was that the accusations against Austin were not just one or two.
Seeing the Investigator's indifferent look, Austin collapsed into his chair as if his strength had left him.
Vice Leader Rozes Leblanc was not stupid. He mobilized every means to make his move.
Austin realized that, in addition to Rozes, opposition councilors who had clashed with him were also involved in his accusations.
By an unfortunate coincidence, he had assumed the role of Supreme Commander of the Defense Corps and, regardless of the enemy he faced, ultimately lost 10,000 troops and was defeated. Politically, it meant he was in a very unfavorable position.
"The monsters we faced must never be underestimated! Other survivors will testify, but they are monsters that devour the world!"
"I did receive reports. Indeed, if they could defeat 10,000 Defense Corps members, they must be truly bizarre monsters."
"...This is an undeniable fact."
Although he noticed the Investigator's inner thoughts — 'Aren't you just exaggerating the enemy to cover up your defeat?' — Austin swallowed his pride and sincerely warned him.
Through the communication network, news had reached even here in the Center, but compared to the hellscape at the Frontier, the Center's attitude was lukewarm.
"Aren't they just primitive beasts? Of course, the Vice Leader was defeated, but he blamed it not on the monsters' strength but on the lack of training and weak will among the troops. He said the elite Central Army wouldn't lose."
The Investigator's reaction was the average response.
No matter how much Austin, who had faced them directly, explained the power of the Over-sized Species and Higher Species, it was dismissed as the excuses of a defeated general.
'Foolish... They will find out soon enough, but by then, many lives will have already been sacrificed. The old ones have become wicked snakes engrossed in power struggles, and the young ones who don't know the fierce times have become arrogant, indulged in peace.'
Austin clicked his tongue and shook his head. True chaos is unknown until experienced.
And now, that chaos was undoubtedly approaching.
"Let's just wait and see. And didn't you say those monsters originated from the Ancient Labyrinth, and that the Vice Leader of Blakel knew about it but covered it up?"
"That's right. Do you think I'm lying about that just to avoid responsibility for my defeat?"
"Oh, no. That's not what I mean, councilor."
The Investigator, waving his hands, smirked. Then he personally poured tea and handed it to him.
"It's just that the source of that testimony isn't you, councilor, but that Research Mage Reina... Couldn't she have deceived you with some nonsense 'lies'?"
He subtly gestured with his eyes. Seeing that, Austin closed his eyes in despair. He instinctively knew what might be happening to Reina, who was likely detained at the Investigation Headquarters.
"Let's talk again."
A dim underground interrogation room. No, it was closer to something else than a proper interrogation room. After all, the room with the interrogation sign was located separately above.
"What exactly happened?"
"...Vice Leader Rozes of Blakel ignored the plea of a Moonlight Fairy survivor boy who came out of the Labyrinth seeking help, colluded with the Head of the Research Lab, and killed him for personal research. He attacked and imprisoned me for witnessing this and concealed the truth about the monsters crawling out of the Labyrinth."
Water dripped from Reina's soaked blonde hair and sharp nose. Despite her pale face trembling and her teeth chattering, she repeated the testimony she had already given dozens of times.
"Hmm, it's been a while since I've seen such a fierce little girl."
"Mmph..."
At the Investigator's command, her head was plunged back into the icy puddle.
Her frail body, firmly restrained and pressed down by rough men, convulsed violently, but they didn't pull her out until two minutes had passed.
"Urgh... Ugh!"
Two minutes later, when she was pulled out, she vomited water. Her trembling worsened, and her eyes were almost unfocused.
She had endured hours of continuous water torture. Most people would have surrendered by now.
"Now, shall we try again?"
"V-Vice Leader Rozes of Blakel..."
But even as she spat out water, Reina repeated the same words. Even the Investigator, skilled in such brutal interrogations, clicked his tongue in amazement at her resilience.
"But you know, no one cares about a mere Research Mage like you, right? Hang her up. Let's make sure she spits out every drop of water left in her organs."
However, the Investigator, who had received a directive, had a specific answer he needed to hear.
Reina's soaked body, unable to regain her senses, was tied by her ankles and hung upside down. Her face turned red as blood rushed to her head.
Her skirt, which had reached her shins, flipped over, exposing her underwear, but there was no time to worry about such things.
"I didn't want to touch such a pretty face, though."
The men, following the Investigator's orders, brought large clubs. Through her blurred vision, Reina saw the clubs being raised above her body.
*
"Why don't you calm down and stay composed, Vice Leader of Blakel? Even the Conference Leader has stepped in to help."
"...Do you think I can stay calm in this situation?!"
"I don't understand what you're so worried about."
While Austin was under house arrest and Reina was being tortured in the underground interrogation room of the Investigation Headquarters.
Rozes, who had accused them both, was also in an uncomfortable situation.
"Senator Schultz is already a defeated general, and all sorts of suspicions have erupted at once. That Research Mage Reina could just be killed during the interrogation or framed and executed. You'll have to take responsibility for the defeat, but is that really enough to make you so anxious?"
"It's more complicated than that!"
Rozes, who had been pacing the carpet nonstop, eventually shouted in frustration.
The man addressing him, leisurely seated in a chair, was a young man with brilliant silver hair. His golden eyes gleamed.
"Complicated? What is?"
"Those monsters... must never be underestimated."
"Really? When you testified, you spat out that they were nothing special. Did they perhaps look like units to you?"
His lips curled into a smirk. Seeing that, Rozes involuntarily broke into a cold sweat.
From the beginning, it was he who had recognized Rozes as a player and approached him first. After confirming that their worlds did not overlap, it was also he who first extended a hand for an alliance.
"I'm not sure... Anyway, 'you people' can tell just by looking, can't you?"
"Indeed. The Divine Authority obtained through His blood grants us foresight, allowing us to see what others cannot."
He was a unit. And quite a powerful one at that.
Others might not know, but Rozes was aware that they had secretly massacred nearly a thousand people across the continent, claiming they were competing units.
'The youngest Chairperson of the Continental Assembly is a unit, and with the entire continent effectively in his hands, there's no way others can resist.'
Rozes, known for his pride, acknowledged that this was one of the few individuals who could crush that pride.
Lost in thought, he absentmindedly ran his hand through his silver hair and muttered.
"I'll have to see for myself."
"If they are units? Aren't you being too relaxed?"
"Do you think we'll lose? The entire continent is with us. Besides, according to reports from the frontlines, those monsters disappeared all at once."
"That's..."
Rozes fell silent. The monsters had suddenly disappeared. The monsters that had been rampaging endlessly.
If their rampage had continued any longer, they wouldn't even be able to have this leisurely conversation.
'What on earth?!'
This left Rozes in a very ambiguous position, unable to determine whether this was an opportunity or a crisis.
"Still, it's better to deal with it quickly, just in case. Who knows how much stronger those monsters could become if given time."
"That's a valid point, but since we have the chance, we should ensure internal discipline as well."
Rozes was impatient, but he remained composed, relying on the Divine Authority bestowed upon him by the player.
By using that authority combined with his own abilities, they grew stronger as time passed. Time was on their side.
That was his belief.
However, they were not the only ones that grew stronger with time. And at a pace beyond imagination.
The problem was that they didn't know this, or rather, couldn't even imagine it.
The world was vast, and they were ultimately nothing more than frogs in a well. They had fallen into the same arrogance and complacency that the Former Demon King Kaltas had so strongly warned against.
"This is an opportunity to eliminate opposition like Austin and take over the entire council. You should focus on the Guild side."
"...Understood."
"Don't worry about that woman exposing your corruption. She can be killed during interrogation or executed after being framed."
He, whose radical nature even Rozes found intimidating, leisurely refilled his teacup.