BXBX NOVEL Volume 3, 15: Laughing Clown?
Volume 3, Chapter 15: Laughing Clown⑥
「You lot, fess up everything you know about 『Devil’s Piper』; give up resisting, you’ve been abandoned by them.」
Lambert turned around and shouted toward Viscount Le Gael’s soldiers.
After seeing how Viscount Le Gael had died and his corpse, the soldiers willingly surrendered themselves to Lambert.
The sound of their weapons clashing to the floor resounded inside the room for a few seconds after that.
After all, they had seen with their very own eyes how Le Look, one of the infamous Eight Wisemen, had been brought to the brink of death by the armored man before them.
Fighting against the one who’d beaten Le Look wasn’t even an option for them.
They exchanged looks with each other, and then, the one who was seemingly the oldest amongst them, a middle-aged man, spoke.
「We heard that the royal family’s soldiers were investigating this territory, but… we never expected to meet one this fast.」
The figure of a smug man wearing a mythril helmet, Kreuz, the second commander of the Royal Family’s Investigation Army, 『Phoenix’s Eyes』, resurfaced in Lambert’s mind.
The one that the middle-aged soldier referred to was second-commander Kreuz, but he was currently occupied with the child Lambert had entrusted to him and was thus unable to come.
Lambert had no idea what the other man did after that.
Nevertheless, Kreuz wouldn’t be able to help even if he came along, since his arms were still injured after the battle against Lambert.
「Indeed. Their commanders aren’t lenient people. Now fess up while you can.」
「You’re his… subordinate?」
「Impossible, the royal family army is this powerful?」
The soldiers asked Lambert with flustered voices the moment they realized that he was only a subordinate.
Thus, the stock of the currently injured Kreuz skyrocketed in Viscount Le Gael’s soldiers’ minds.
「『Devil’s Piper』… has been using this territory as the testing ground for their alchemists. And Viscount Le Gael received a promise of high status in exchange for his cooperation after they overthrew this kingdom. Though they planned to move after everything was set in place… it seems they’re speeding up their plan following Earl Aubock’s case.」
The middle-aged soldier finished his story.
「I see.」
Naturally, there was no way they could hide from the investigation of the royal family’s inspection army after providing the testing ground for the alchemist.
But then, Viscount Le Gael might be in a hurry to cut off his involvement with the organization after realizing that the organization’s existence had been revealed earlier than planned, thus resulting in the organization being regarded as dangerous by the kingdom.
「Where’s their testing ground?」
It was a race against time; the 『Devil’s Piper』members who had learned of Viscount Le Gael’s death would be quickly preparing to escape.
He had to kill as many of『Devil’s Piper』’s sorcerers as possible, even if it was just one more.
If it was a small testing ground, there would be quite a few of 『Devil’s Piper』’s sorcerers.
Lambert had found them, finally.
This was the best chance to take them down en masse.
「Tetomburgh… It’s a small town called Tetemburgh. Originally, it was a city built next to a mine, but it was abandoned, becoming a gathering place for poor people and slave laborers… The reason for this was that the few enchanted gems mined in there couldn’t counter the poisonous gas that lingered in the mine. Le Look and her underlings made their base there. But in my opinion, it’s better not to approach that place…」
「Hou!」
「Viscount Le Gael-sama was the very definition of an egotistical man. He only ever cared about his own well being. Even when many workers died due to the poisonous gas in Tetomburgh mine, all he said was “Then send in that useless bunch who resides in the slums to make profits.” In the end, he failed to make a profit even after making so many shady deals behind the scenes…」
Even before he colluded with 『Devil’s Piper』, Viscount Le Gael was by no means a good lord.
He used his authority to establish a crude, poor policy of capturing and selling his own citizens as slaves to make up for the taxes, thinking that his act wouldn’t reach the kingdom’s inspection team.
「Nevertheless… Viscount Le Gael-sama once came to visit Tetomburgh when it was already under Le Look’s control, and he refused to eat anything for a while after he returned from that place. You saw it too, right, the haggard face of Viscount Le Gael-sama? He was originally a fatty, and yet… he lost so much weight after visiting that place.」
The middle-aged soldier was looking at the miserable corpse of his former lord.
Although Lambert had been really surprised when he found out that Viscount Le Gael was a skinny person, unlike the rumors, as it turned out he’d only lost his bulk after visiting Tetomburgh.
「He’d always wanted to sever his connection with 『Devil’s Piper』 after what he saw in Tetomburgh, but alas, he failed. The five soldiers who accompanied the viscount to visit Tetomburgh back then lost their minds upon returning… and one of them even committed suicide. Ever since then, we never wanted to know what happened over there, nor did we want to hear about it. That place, Tetomburgh is… a cursed land.」
「Tetomburgh… the resting town for the miners, has turned into a testing ground for 『Devil’s Piper』, eh.」
Naturally, there was no reason for Lambert to not visit that place.
He, who had lived during the Eight Countries Unification War era, was long since used to seeing the disastrous scenes of sorcerers’ atrocious experiments.
He was sure that he would find several sorcerers of 『Devil’s Piper』 like Gilldoum, who used heat ionization sorcery, in Tetomburgh.
If he played it right, he could even reduce 『Devil’s Piper』’s war potential by a great margin.
Moreover, he could create a great disturbance in 『Devil’s Piper』 if he managed to destroy the research data.
‘That place is my next target, then. And while I’m at it, let’s find the escaped Le Look too.’
There was a high possibility that the sorcerer who used the Hudo Tribe’s secret art, the dark inheritance from the Eight Countries Unification War, was residing in Tetomburgh town.
Lambert couldn’t let them go at any cost.
‘But a town, eh… It’s still way too big for me to cover alone without being discovered.’
But still, he didn’t think that he could recruit a proper combat force in this land.
Although he could take Le Gael’s soldiers with him, he didn’t think that they would have the motivation to visit that place.
The soldiers, who couldn’t go against their lord, were surely being forced to assist their lord in terrorizing his own citizens.
Otherwise, they might receive corporal punishment.
Moreover, though 『Devil’s Piper』 had killed their lord, they saw him as having just reaped what he’d sown.
Anyway, all of them were already trembling just from hearing the word “Tetomburgh.”
‘Kreuz said that his subordinates were coming too…’
Kreuz’s face appeared first in Lambert’s mind.
The one who should investigate Viscount Le Gael was him.
Since Viscount Le Gael was working alongside 『Devil’s Piper』, their judgment should be left to Kreuz.
It would be for the best if they were willingly providing the information.
That was Lambert’s intention. He was definitely going to drag them with him no matter how much they hated that.