Special Force(2)

I didn’t mention the possibility of a traitor among the noble houses on a whim. It was a genuine suspicion. People often say you can know the depth of ten feet of water, but you cannot know the depth of a person’s heart. Among the thousands of noble families, it wouldn’t be strange if one or two harbored different intentions.

“Y-you really plan on going to the marquis’s estate?”

“Yes. There’s a chance the marquis himself is the traitor.”

Of course, that was just something I said.

The marquis was not a lunatic. He practically acted as the king’s proxy and was the most powerful man in the kingdom. Why would he ever join hands with those bastards?

‘…Still, I suppose it’s not entirely impossible.’

In truth, I wasn’t completely sure.

After all, there were plenty of suspicious things about that marquis.

That man was hiding something.

And that was exactly why I wanted to search his house while I had the chance.

“Umm… c-can I go to the restroom for a moment?”

Heh, it was obvious he was trying to step away so he could report this.

“No.”

“B-but it’s really urgent.”

“So you’re saying relieving yourself is more important than saving the country?”

“……”

As expected, Mumu couldn’t argue when the fate of the nation was at stake.

“Do it in your pants.”

“…….”

After that, he didn’t brought up the restroom topic again.

Following my final advice, he refrained from asking to excuse himself again. Still, it was a sign that Mumu might try to slip away at some point, so I put a safeguard in place.

“Raven.”

“Yes?”

“I heard there’s a spell that emits interference waves to block external communication. Can you use it while moving?”

“Unless I have an auxiliary magic tool, I can’t cover a wide area. Maybe a radius of about 3 meters?”

“What if you don’t need to block incoming signals, only outgoing ones?”

“Hmm, then I could probably extend the range a bit more.”

Oh, really?

“Do it immediately. This is a top-secret mission.”

After securing the special force, we immediately moved toward the marquess’s mansion. Talk about intuition — even though I hadn’t given her specific instructions, Raven moved right next to Mumu.

“What are you spacing out for? Let’s go.”

“Um… wouldn’t it be better if you stayed next to Baron Jandel?”

“No? I’m comfortable here. Why do you want me to move?”

“….”

He should have given up and followed without a fuss, yet here he was, resisting until the very end.

People like him usually do not live very long. Even a lizard knows when to let go of its tail—not because it wants to, but because it has to survive.

“….”

When Mumu finally fell silent, the other members began whispering among themselves.

Their topic of discussion was simple.

“Is… is this really okay?”

“Then why don’t you try stopping him?”

“But… doesn’t the baron have a point? Since the unit was created by the chancellor, we won’t have to worry about the aftermath—”

 

“What are you talking about? We’re going to ransack the Marquiss’s residence!”

“Oh. Right.”

“If this backfires, won’t we all end up in court?”

They were all uneasy about the fact that we were about to turn the Marquess’s house — practically the most powerful figure in Raphdonia— upside down.

But still—

“Well, let’s go for now. What else can we do?”

“…That’s true.”

However, knowing that the law was far away and the barbarian was close, they only muttered their displeasure among themselves.

***

“Um… Baron Jandel, what brings you here…?”

Having arrived at the Marquis’s estate, the butler, who had become quite familiar to me, expressed his confusion.

“We haven’t received any word from His Excellency the Marquis. If you don’t have an appointment—”

“I am not here today as Bjorn Jandel.”

“……Pardon?”

“I am here today as the Captain of the ‘Special Search Squad’ under the Military Command.”

The butler looked even more confused. Fair enough—he had no idea what kind of group the special search unit was in the first place.

“Then…” he began carefully. “Why is the special search unit here?”

The butler probably couldn’t even imagine it. As the head servant of the Marquis’s household, someone more powerful than anyone else around, his imagination had likely grown rather dull.

“The reason we are here is simple.”

“…….”

“We’re going to conduct a search.”

“……What?”

Ignoring the butler’s reaction, I stepped inside.

Sure, some of the members hesitated and struggled to move at first, but—

“What are you standing around for? Get inside.”

“…Yes.”

The moment I glanced back, they hurriedly followed.

Naturally, the estate’s soldiers, who were initially unsure of what was happening, stepped in front of us in a hesitant attempt to block our way.

Perhaps because I had caused chaos here once before—

“B-Baron…”

“You cannot do this here.”

“If His Excellency learns of this—”

However, they all remembered the trouble I’d caused here in the past. Instead of trying to force me out, they chose to handle the situation with words.

Well, if it could be resolved with words, I wouldn’t have come in the first place.

“I am Bjorn Jandel, captain of the Military Headquarters’ Special Search Unit! Stand aside! Anyone who blocks our path or interferes with our operation will be treated as a traitor colluding with the Noarkans and executed on the spot!”

When I pressed even harder after they tried to invoke the marquess’s name against me, both the soldiers and the servants panicked.

 

After they tried to invoke the Marquiss’s name against me, I pressed forward even harder, causing both the soldiers and the servants to panic.

Had something really happened? Was I here because I actually knew something?

Everyone was paralyzed by indecision and confusion.

‘I guess there are a few smart ones here.’

A few soldiers, clearly more decisive than the rest, charged at me.

“This is the residence of Marquis Tercerion, the Chancellor of this nation!”

“Guarding this mansion is my duty!”

“Uwaaaaaah!!”

Naturally, the moment they charged, I knocked them out cold with a flick to the forehead.

One might wonder if there was any point in charging when they were going to be defeated so easily, but I respected them for it. If they couldn’t stop me anyway, it was better to be knocked out fighting. At least you could keep your job that way. Unlike those dazed idiots over there.

Uh…”

“Ah…”

With each step I took, the remaining soldiers retreated. Looking at them, a thought crossed my mind

Once I left, there would probably be dozens of people unemployed here.

Of course, that was not my problem.

There is no such thing as a lifetime job these days.

“W-we’ve really entered the building…”

The squad members who had followed me into the building were trembling, clearly worried about the consequences.

It was time to show some leadership.

“Do not worry. I will take responsibility for everything. None of this will come back to harm you.”

A hero who always keeps his word.

A warrior incapable of lies.

Because of my image, the members’ expressions improved a little.

“From now on, you have only one task. Follow me and search this residence for anything suspicious.”

“…….”

“Now, let’s search! An opportunity like this doesn’t come every day!”

After a brief moment of ‘morale boosting,’ the full-scale search began.

Crash!

I smashed a statue that might be hiding a Noarkan.

Rip!

I tore apart a painting that might be hiding a Noarkan.

“Hm. Nothing here either.”

“Is… is this really acceptable?”

“It’s not a question of whether it’s acceptable. This is how searches are done.”

The squad members turned pale when they realized what “searching” meant to a barbarian, but perhaps because I had taken the first step so boldly—

“Ah, to hell with it!”

“Tear it apart! A noble estate like this must have at least one secret passage!”

Like baby birds learning by watching their mother, the search members abandoned all thoughts of consequences and followed my lead.

Crack.

Crash.

Riiip.

The marquis’s estate quickly turned into a wreck.

 

The butler who had greeted me at the start stood stunned, looking as if he’d been struck by lightning.

His reactions were quite amusing.

“Ugh! Do you know how much that costs…!”

He flinched as if his own money were disappearing.

“There’s nothing! Nothing behind that painting, so don’t tear it down!”

“That only makes it more suspicious. Tear it down… Huh. There really is nothing.”

“Aaaaaaagh!”

At times he screamed in rage.

“I’m finished… it’s all over…”

He even muttered to himself in despair, as if he were watching his future crumble right in front of him.

“Hurry up! We don’t have time to be meticulous. Move!”

From here on, it was a race against time.

Given how far things had gone, the marquis had surely already heard about this.

So—

First floor. Second floor. Third floor.

We began a rapid and thorough search of Marquiss Tercerion’s mansion.

Maybe it was because I knew this was the mansion where the marquiss had grown up, and where his grandparents had lived as well.

‘This…’

The stress relief was incredible.

“Behel—laaaaaaaa!”

I smashed things with even more enthusiasm and, whenever no one was looking, swiftly stuffed expensive-looking items into my pockets.

Time flew by as we continued the search.

“Found it.”

In what appeared to be the Marquiss’s office, I pulled the bookcase aside to reveal a hidden steel door.

“Yeah, I figured there’d be at least one hidden room.”

“What are you going to do? It looks quite sturdy.” Raven asked

“What do you think?”

It wasn’t like I hadn’t dealt with this before.

「Character has equipped No.687, Siege Slaughterer.」

After swiftly switching weapons—

Boooom!

I swung my mace at the steel door repeatedly. However, the door was so thick that the mace only left deep dents without showing any signs of breaking.

‘At this rate, it’ll take quite a while…’

As I was thinking this, one of the search members stepped forward.

“M-may I try?”

Ah, right. We had a few knights among us.

“Go ahead.”

When I stepped aside, the knights unleashed their aura and began hacking at the iron door. I didn’t know what metal it was made of, but it resisted the aura to some extent. However, in the end, the lock mechanism was slashed away and the door opened.

“The Chancellor’s secret space, huh… ”

I wondered what was hidden down those stairs. Just as my curiosity peaked and I was about to head down…

“Baron, I won’t go in.”

“M-me neither.”

 

The brave searchers who had combed through the mansion until now began to step back.

Their reason was simple.

“We value our lives too.”

“Knowing when not to see something is how you survive.”

Fair enough.

From their perspective, this might really feel like a life-or-death matter.

They were about to glimpse the marquis’s secrets.

“Understood. Then I’ll go alone.”

“…Alone?”

Raven seemed ready to follow, but I shook my head.

Thinking it over, it was better if I checked this place alone.

“Wait here. Just stop anyone who tries to come down.”

With that, I descended the hidden staircase by myself.

The stairs weren’t very deep, and I soon reached a living space.

However, since I didn’t know how to turn on the lights, I took out a candle from my bag.

And then…

Whoosh!

I looked around and froze.

Bookshelves lined both walls.

In the centre was a small desk and chair.

At first glance, it looked like an ordinary secret study.

But—

“…Holy fuc*.”

I wouldn’t have reacted so strongly even if there had been a secret plan in here to kill me. Instead, on the bookshelves, on the desk, on the walls—and even on the ceiling when I looked up—

“……What the hell is all this?”

Portraits of a single woman were plastered everywhere, covering every available inch of the room.

It looked exactly like the lair of an obsessed stalker.

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