kscans

Chapter 59 - The Traitor's Confession, The Shadow of the Mage Order's Captain Revealed

"Rainer, the captain of the Mage Order... Is that really true?" The words escaped her lips, and Mireille stared at Kyle.

At the end of her master's diary, the words "a creepy feeling" were written over and over. She was supposed to have consulted Darius about that.

Kyle turned to her with an unreadable expression, it was unclear if he was smiling or mocking her.

"Do you believe me?"

"I can't say whether you'll switch sides or not. But... if you know something about Rainer, please tell me."

Without thinking, Mireille poured a High Potion into Kyle's mouth. His wounds healed in an instant, and Kyle's lips curled into a smirk.

"Heh... you know, you can look like an angel or a devil."

"..."

"But don't you think it's a bit rash to jump on anything that piques your interest?"

"Wait, Mireille!" Leonhard quickly stepped in to stop her.

"He hasn't switched sides yet! It's too dangerous!"

"I'm sorry. But... I have things I need to ask him. It concerns my master's life. If I don't find out, I can't cooperate."

She declared this firmly, glaring back at Leonhard. Struck by her gaze, Leonhard was momentarily at a loss for words.

"You couldn't win her over in a week. Man, she's got a great look on her face." Kyle smirked and shrugged.

"My mission is a failure anyway. I'd rather be killed by a cute girl than by that old geezer of a king. So, what do you want to ask? I'll answer what I know."

"Does that mean you're joining our side?" Leonhard asked, probing.

"No. I have my own reasons for siding with the King. But in the end, both sides are just the King's puppets, right? I just can't go back now that I've failed my mission," Kyle muttered, his eyes downcast.

"I can understand your sense of justice, Mireille-chan. Honestly, though, having a High Potion shoved down my throat when I was half-dead was hell. I can't say I understand the hobby of doing that to women, though."

"Is... is my master being subjected to that?"

"I don't know for sure. But, yeah. It's true he's desperately seeking Potions. I heard the Mage Order is rounding up every Potion in town. At first, I thought maybe it was because the Moonshadow Teahouse was gone. Having experienced this myself, I just thought that might be another way to use them."

"Then what about the Potion swap?"

"According to Cerio, there was an order from Rainer to replace the Potions made by the previous Tree Sea Defense Force captain with ones made by Rainer himself. I only found that out after I came here."

A chill ran down Mireille's spine. It was exactly what her master had feared.

Kyle sighed.

"My mission was to leak information about the First Knight Order to the King. But after being transferred into the Tree Sea, it changed to 'hunt monsters like crazy. gather magic cores.' It was as if the lives of the knights didn't matter at all."

"Why would you become a King's shadow like that?" Mireille asked, curious.

"It's a stupid reason. There was this girl I grew up with. We lived together in a poor village, but she was taken in by a noble family... and I found out that in the end, she was exploited and sold to a brothel."

"...!"

"I didn't have the money to free her, so I visited her often. Not for sex. It's just... she contracted a disease. The kind that Potions can't cure."

"Even a High Potion can't cure diseases..."

"Right? So when the offer first came, I jumped at it. They said, 'The captain of the Tree Sea Defense Force can make a panacea that cures even fatal diseases'."

"Who was that from?"

"Julius, the man who became Supreme Commander. He whispered to me to leak your information, Leonhard, and the movements of the First Knight Order."

"...!"

"I didn't believe it at first. But the King told me himself. He said he could ask for the panacea for me. Since the previous Supreme Commander was the King's nephew, I figured leaking information the King probably already knew wouldn't be a problem. I thought Julius was just jealous."

Kyle shifted his gaze to Leonhard and continued.

"But then things changed. The Supreme Commander supposedly eloped with his lover after embezzling funds. I heard that the previous Tree Sea Defense Force captain, who was supposed to make the panacea, became a subordinate of the Mage Order captain. I didn't even know the owner of the Moonshadow Teahouse was the former captain. Then, we were ordered to become the defense force. I felt like one strange thing after another was happening."

Kyle muttered regretfully.

"Then the story changed again. 'The Mage Order captain will make the panacea. In exchange, have the First Knight Order gather magic cores from the monsters of the Tree Sea.' He said the panacea required a huge amount of magic cores."

"A panacea... cannot be made yet," Mireille said, looking straight at Kyle.

"Even my master couldn't complete it. There's no way Rainer can. Because..."

She pointed at the fake Potion.

"Even I, or my master, could create a forgery of a level that wouldn't make you think the effect had weakened if we used these ingredients. If he can only make a low-level fake like this... then he's just that level of alchemist."

Her voice was quiet, but it was tinged with anger and frustration.