How to Tame That Gentle Hero - Chapter 8.4
Resena nodded with a kind smile. She was grateful that Lorona was willing to schedule the purification of the black mana by riding a hot air balloon, even though she must be very tired.
“There are no more people being controlled within the palace, so all that’s left is for Renard and Alken to capture the black mages.”
“Judging by how quiet the palace is, it seems they’ve succeeded in capturing them.”
“Let’s wait for a messenger here. Renard and Alken will send word after everything is finished.”
Soon after, a messenger bird hovered above Resena and Lorona’s heads. The blue-tinted messenger bird let out a long cry before landing on Resena’s shoulder.
“Alright. Let’s see what we have.”
It didn’t take long for Resena’s face to change to a confident expression. Seeing her expression, Lorona and Ian could easily guess what was written inside.
“It seems Alken and Renard have eliminated one black mage and captured the other.”
Resena said with a smile and attached a letter to the messenger bird before sending it off. When Lorona asked curiously about the contents, Resena replied with a grin.
“We need to feed them a truth serum to confess why they controlled the Amarast royal family and what they were planning to do next. It’s not too late to eliminate them after that.”
“Is that acceptable? The unwritten rule is that black mages should be eliminated immediately…”
“If we eliminate them right away, we’ll miss what connection they have with Zergard. For the sake of revealing Zergard’s identity, it’s right to interrogate the surviving black mage and then eliminate them afterward.”
“…Hmm. I agree with Resena’s thinking.”
Lorona, who said this, seemed dizzy and leaned on Ian. Seeing Ian embrace and support Lorona, Resena spoke gently with a comforting tone.
“Then, Sir Ian, let’s head to the hotel for now. Everyone needs rest, and in the meantime, I’ll handle the interrogation.”
“You shouldn’t do it alone.”
“Hehe. Of course. I plan to interrogate with Renard, so don’t worry.”
Resena looked up at the sky with a confident face. The messenger bird flew high above her head, circled once, and then headed west, where the gates were located.
Amarast had only one gate for entering and exiting, as the royal city was small in scale. Thanks to that, they were able to easily capture the black mages, and she intended to use this opportunity to interrogate them and find out Zergard’s identity. Resena slowly began to walk.
***
The evening glow had already turned a golden brown. The red light tinted even the hair color and cast long shadows between buildings. Sunlight crept through the window of the interrogation room, illuminating the hair of the black mage who had drunk the truth serum and a drug that made their mind hazy.
“Zergard’s identity… I don’t know. The name that person uses in Crevasta was not revealed to us black mages.”
Only honest answers were repeated in a dazed state without full consciousness. Even when asked again, the only change was in how the words of the previous answer were expressed differently, but no matter what interrogation method was used, it was impossible to find out anything about Zergard’s identity.
“…Hmm. Sister. What should we do? They’ve been repeating only this since earlier.”
“It seems Zergard only directly faces high-ranking black mages. Since these small fry don’t even know Zergard’s face… I don’t think there’s any more information we can extract here.”
Resena regretted killing Ain, the high-ranking black mage. If they had interrogated him, they might have quickly uncovered Zergard’s identity… Resena instructed the knight beside her.
“Eliminate them.”
“Understood.”
After leaving the interrogation room and going outside, they could see the sunset light covering the entire Amarast palace. Unlike the splendid appearance of the Crevasta palace, it had a simple yet elegant charm, and Resena slowly looked around the garden.
And Renard, who was walking beside her, quietly gazed at the palm trees standing tall and the blooming marigolds. The brown stamens and pistils among the yellow petals had a subtle charm, and as he reached out to touch them, Resena spoke.
“Renard. What do you think about Zergard’s identity?”
“I think it’s one of the nobles from the Empire. But probably not someone of high rank. If they were high-ranking, they wouldn’t try to create a world based on the survival of the fittest.”
“That’s right. I think so too. If it’s a noble, it would be around the rank of a Baron. To cause a large number of victims, they must be a noble, and because their position is low and they can’t fully realize their desires, they would dream of a survival of the fittest world through black magic.”
Renard nodded as he listened to his sister’s words.
Resena looked at him and then stroked the rough surface of a palm tree. After being lost in thought for a moment, she continued.
“But the rank of Baron is very common in the Empire, so we can’t monitor all of them. In the end, we need to narrow down the search, and I’m thinking about what criteria we can use to filter them.”
“Hmm… Then, Sister. How about looking for Barons who don’t use magical items?”
Renard added as Resena’s eyes widened.
“As you know, black mages solve most problems using black mana. Because of that, they rarely need magical items. Even if they use them, it’s limited to specific cases. So if we focus on Baron families who rarely use magical items… couldn’t we narrow down the range of suspects who could be considered black mages?”
“That’s amazing, Renard. I hadn’t thought of that… You’re right! Black mages wouldn’t use magical items much, so if we narrow the range to those who barely use magical items, the number will definitely decrease!”
Resena clapped her hands together with a bright smile. She took out a pen and paper from her pocket to record this, and immediately a messenger bird took flight. Resena watched the departing messenger bird and then firmly grasped Renard’s hand.
“Renard. Thank you so much.”
“Well, it’s nothing special.”
“No, it is. You came all this way following my words. You helped eliminate the black mages too. Without you, dealing with the high-ranking black mage would have been overwhelming.”
Renard grinned and scuffed the ground with his booted foot. After a moment of silence, he noticed someone passing outside the palace garden and spoke.
“Sister.”
“Yes?”
“Now that we’ve captured the black mages and normalized the Amarast royal family, establishing merit… if His Highness the Crown Prince asks what you desire, what will you say?”
“…What, is that what you wanted to ask?”
“Yes. You don’t seem to have any particular wishes. I was curious about that.”
Hmm. Resena swept her hair up as she faced the hot gusting wind.
“I don’t particularly want anything. If there is something… preventing the end of the world?”
“What’s that about? Hahaha.”
As Renard burst into laughter, Resena smiled wryly.
“I’m serious. His Highness the Crown Prince knows how to use Sernaus’s light. My goal is to prevent him from using that light aura recklessly.”
“Hmm. I don’t think His Highness would use it recklessly.”
Resena swallowed the words that had risen to the tip of her throat. Renard. After that Crown Prince loses all his precious people and his lover, he will go berserk and destroy the world.
‘I can’t bring myself to say this. Renard would think it’s strange too.’
“Well… I wonder. No matter how righteous His Highness is, wouldn’t even he change if he lost all his precious people?”
“…You speak as if you’ve seen it yourself, Sister.”
Resena pondered slightly. Should she tell Renard that she had prophetic dreams? Or keep it a secret? After hesitating for a moment, Resena opened her mouth.
“Well… Actually, I’ve been having dreams lately.”
“What kind of dreams?”
When Renard asked immediately, Resena answered slowly.
“I talked about it with Saint Lorona, and she said they were prophetic dreams. And I feel that they are prophetic dreams too.”
Renard turned to look at Resena with a serious expression.
“Have they actually come true in reality?”
“Yes. Strictly speaking, during the summer ball.”
Renard’s eyes widened. Her younger brother’s lips quivered before he covered his mouth with his hand.
“It’s hard to believe. Could it be… Sister, that tip…”
“Yes. There was no informant. All of it was exactly what I saw in my dream.”
“….”
Resena looked straight at Renard as she spoke.
