Chapter 408 - Episode 391: A Subtle Mastermind
"Hey Igor, it's been since yesterday. I hear you've spat out the information. Thanks for the cooperation."
As Noein entered Igor's cell with a smile, a powerful stench wafted through the air.
"Wow, this is something."
The smell of blood drifted in the stagnant air. And the smell of excrement, likely leaked from being unable to withstand the pain and terror of interrogation. Among the waste, urine had dripped onto the floor, forming puddles; near the cell entrance where Noein stood, a thick carpet had been laid out to prevent the sovereign's shoes from getting dirty.
Pence, who was in charge of the interrogation, and the Guard soldiers acting as sentries had cloths wrapped around their mouths, and even so, they seemed composed, perhaps having grown completely accustomed to the smell.
"...Ugh? Uaaah?"
Then, Igor, who seemed to have been sleeping with his head slumped, raised his face and showed hollow eyes. He looked like a completely different person from yesterday.
For the sake of later use, almost no wounds had been inflicted on his face. At most, there was some swelling around the eyes and cheeks from being punched, which would likely subside in a few days.
However, from the neck down, the marks of interrogation—or rather, torture—were clearly visible.
The tips of both hands and feet. The heels. The thighs. The flanks. The upper arms. Bandages were wrapped in numerous places across his body, or cloths were applied, and red blood seeped through them. Among them, the bandages wrapped around the tips of his right hand revealed that several fingers were missing due to the lack of bulk.
Furthermore, a cloth was placed between his crotch, and that cloth was also dyed bright red.
"Igor, are you awake?"
"...! Hi, hieeee!"
Igor caught sight of Noein with hollow eyes, looked around to confirm his situation, and his expression shifted abruptly to one of terror.
"I don't want to! I can't take it anymore! I told you everything! I really told you everything! So please stop it! Stop itttt..."
Igor screamed while tears and snot flowed, and a blood-mixed liquid dripped from between his legs.
Unable to bear the stench, Noein heard Matilda, who was waiting by his side, give a small sniff.
"Ahaha, it's okay. I've been properly informed that you told the information without lying. The interrogation is already over."
"R-really? Thank goodness, thank goodness... Th-then, let me go. I told the truth. Let me escape, it's a promise, you promised meeee..."
Noein smiled brightly at Igor, who looked at him with clinging eyes.
"Yes, it's a promise. I'll release you... or so I'd like to say, but,"
Igor's face, which for a moment became filled with hope, turned pale in an instant.
"Unfortunately, you weren't the first one to spit out the information... or rather, before I even told you the conditions for release yesterday, that young man over there had already babbled everything. So, there was never a possibility of you being released from the start. How unfortunate."
"...W-what is that... But that guy, the guy who was torturing me, said it. He said if I spit it out now, I'd make it in time, that I should spit it out quickly and become free. He said it... Why? This is cruel. This is unreasonable..."
"How pitiful, I understand your feelings. But you see, Igor. The world is an unreasonable place. Surely you know that well, don't you? As a mercenary who took on this kind of dirty work, you were on the side of inflicting unreasonableness on others until now. And now, it's your turn to suffer unreasonableness yourself. That's all."
As Noein spoke, Igor showed a look of despair.
"...Damn it, don't screw with me. Don't screw with meeee! I'll kill you! I'll kill you!"
"Ahaha, you're quite energetic despite being beaten this much."
"If you weren't going to let me go, why did you come here! Was it to mock me!"
"Of course not. From here on, you will take responsibility for what you've done with your death. I came personally as the sovereign of this country to convey that. It's my own form of sincerity."
"Damn it! You're making a fool of me! I'll never forgive you, you bastard! Right now—Mugoh! Mugu, mogooo!"
Pence stuffed a cloth into the mouth of the screaming Igor, and further wrapped a cloth over it to seal it.
"Well then, Igor, see you next at the execution platform."
Waving to Igor, who was still struggling uselessly, Noein left the cell.
.....
"Haa, I feel like the smell has finally left my nose..."
"Thank you for your hard work, Noein-sama."
Having returned to his own office, Noein deeply inhaled the aroma of the tea Matilda had brewed for him and muttered. To heal his nose, which had been exposed to the stench until a moment ago, today was unusually herb tea.
In the office were Yuri and the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Baronet Bart Heidemann.
"Even so, the mastermind was in an unexpected place."
As a result of interrogating the three who claimed to be members of the Milleritz Company, the mastermind they spoke of was a company based in a certain noble territory in the southwestern part of the Kingdom of Roadberg.
The House of Baron Solnheight, which borders the territory of the House of Marquis Galdwin, the leader of the Southwestern faction. The Helder Company, based in that territory. Two merchants who were henchmen of the company president, and one mercenary hired as a helper for dirty work. That was the true identity of the three.
The company president's order was to disturb the public order of the Grand Duchy of Arqvist, especially in the capital city of Noeina, and to greatly lower its reputation as a trading city.
As a means for that, he was instructed to strike at the instability of the Grand Duchy's unique characteristic—the point where commoners, demi-humans, and beastmen are treated equally. It seemed that Igor was the one who thought of specific crimes such as theft, assault, and graffiti based on those instructions.
"I also know the names of the House of Baron Solnheight and the Helder Company. One of the major highways connecting the southwestern border of the Kingdom of Roadberg to the Kingdom of Lancel passes through the Solnheight territory, and the Helder Company should have been the one controlling trade via that route."
Hearing Bart's explanation, Noein thought for a while. Yuri also appeared to be deep in thought while stroking his beard.
"If I recall, after trade via the Bezel Highway began, the scale of trade via the southwestern border became a bit smaller, right?"
"...Which means, the truth is an interference against the Grand Duchy of Arqvist by the Solnheight family and the Helder Company, whose profits decreased due to the shrinkage of trade scale."
Regarding Noein and the others' deduction, however, Bart tilted his head.
"Normally it would be so... but personally, I feel a slight discrepancy regarding the Solnheight family's involvement. At least according to the reputation I've heard, that house should have been a decent noble house. Regarding the current head, I've heard he is a capable person as one of the major nobles surrounding the leader of the southwestern faction."
"In that case... I can't imagine a noble of that stature allowing simplistic sabotage activities right under the nose of the Grand Ducal House of Arqvist, which has deep ties with the Roadberg Royal Family."
"Yes. Moreover, although the scale of trade at the southwestern border shrank for a time, I hear that it hasn't become a major blow. Especially the Marquis Galdwin territory, which possesses a major highway, is actually prospering more than before due to the activation of diplomatic relations with the Kingdom of Lancel."
"Hearing that makes it even more discrepant. No matter how you think about it, the profits gained from sabotage and the losses upon failure don't balance out."
Hearing Bart's further explanation, Noein and Yuri tilted their heads even more. Bart also showed a puzzled expression.
"...It seems we should investigate this a bit more."
"True. With only the information at this stage, there's a limit to what we can speculate."
"Then, I will try to gather more detailed information about the Solnheight family and the Helder Company."
For what reason did the Helder Company carry out sabotage activities in the capital city of Noeina? Is the Solnheight family involved? The discussion concluded that further investigation was necessary regarding the truth.
"Then, I'll ask Bart to continue the information gathering. As for us... it's preparations for the public execution."
Saying so, Noein once again wore a thin smile.