Chapter 24
Serigel Guard Headquarters.
Guard Captain Jerad, at Reinhardt's visit, rushed out without even putting on his shoes properly.
Then, seeing the still-unconscious Malcolm and the bruised Ikron, he looked at Reinhardt with a cautious gaze.
“Um, is it a warlock?”
“No. Ikron, confess.”
“Yes! I received a request from outside the city and contacted the Rom Caravan…”
Ikron's confession continued. Thanks to the use of some physical means, the intermediate process was very smooth.
Guard Captain Jerad ordered his soldiers to throw Malcolm and Ikron into the underground prison.
“Please leave it to our guard! We will definitely handle it with impartiality and fairness. Thank you for your hard work, Sir Reinhardt!”
“I will trust you with it.”
“Yes! Of course! We will also make sure to report on the future progress!”
Jerad snapped a salute.
Anyone seeing it would think he was a direct superior.
Although a knight was of a higher rank than a guard captain, there was still no need to be this polite.
Naturally, reporting on the progress was also an excessive measure.
“Keep up the good work.”
However, Reinhardt accepted the salute without protest.
In the current Serigel, he was practically a byword for justice.
Unlike the majority of knights who were moderately weathered by the world, he was one of the few who could be called a 'real knight'.
'This is enough of a clue. I have a rough idea of where to stir things up.'
The warlock of Agrio-s was coveting the sealing stone.
What that fact meant was simple.
'The sealing stone is needed to summon a demon.'
If so, the story had become simple.
Before the warlock set foot in this city, Reinhardt himself had to secure it quickly.
The aftermath was a problem to think about later.
“Bitdori.”
“Bbit? Bbibit? Bbit!”
He had only called its name, but the answer came back three times.
By now, Reinhardt could roughly guess Bitdori's mood. Seeing it fly around distractedly, the creature was currently very excited.
'Does it like that I threw criminals in jail?'
The possibility was high.
Bitdori was angry when it faced the warlock, it found the criminals itself, and when Reinhardt beat them up, it even cheered from the side.
Naturally, since two of them had been thrown into prison, it had become a very good day for Bitdori.
“There's something we need to find.”
“Bbit?”
“Somehow, it seems to understand words better than before.”
“Bbiit! Bbit!”
“You understand? My words?”
“Bbit?”
Reinhardt nodded his head.
They couldn't communicate, but it seemed to understand the nuance roughly.
In fact, every time he went on patrol, Bitdori was playing the role of an excellent detector.
“Anyway, there's something to find, and what we need to find is…”
After pondering for a moment, Reinhardt described the 'sealing stone' using hand gestures.
The size of a fist.
Crimson in color.
Filled with evil energy, and hidden somewhere in this Serigel.
Surprisingly, Bitdori did not even blink, as if extremely focused, while Reinhardt was explaining.
As if it would not miss a single bit of the story it was hearing right now.
“……It's something like that. Understood?”
“Bbit!”
This answer seemed to mean that it understood.
The creature blinked its eyes for a moment, then began to pull on Reinhardt's hand with a struggle.
'This is.'
The same action as when it guided him to the warlock.
Reinhardt didn't think further and followed Bitdori, which was flying ahead.
The speed gradually increased.
At first, walking was enough, but from a certain point, it became a speed where Reinhardt also had to run at full power.
“There's Sir Reinhardt!”
“Sir Reinhardt!”
The hood of his robe was blown off by the wind. He heard the fierce reactions of the citizens, but Reinhardt had no time to respond to them.
After running through the streets and crossing the plaza, Bitdori's speed gradually decreased.
For some reason, it felt like he was heading to a more crowded place rather than a gloomy back alley.
Then, at some point.
Bitdori stopped abruptly and pointed forward with its short arm.
“Bbit! Bbiieeiit!”
It's right here, that was clearly the meaning.
At that, Reinhardt's mood became troubled.
'This is the City Hall.'
The Serigel City Hall.
The atmosphere was restless due to the many people coming and going for investigations and restoration.
To think that the sealing stone was here, where the warlock had made his hideout.
“Are you sure it's here?”
“Bbibibibit! Bbit!”
When he asked doubtfully, Bitdori shouted something even more passionately. It was like the birdsong he heard outside the window every morning.
“If you say so, I'll have to check.”
If it were true, that in itself would be a rather funny situation.
It was a situation where the saying 'it's darkest under the lamp' fit perfectly.
Had the warlock stayed here for so long just to find the sealing stone in the same building?
“You cannot enter right now. If you have business…”
To the guard blocking his entry, Reinhardt lifted his hood.
The guard flinched and stiffened.
“S-Sir Reinhardt! Nothing to report during my watch!”
“There is no need to report to me.”
“Ah, right, no, I'm sorry!”
“There is no need to be sorry either. Is it alright if I go in?”
“Yes, it's fine if it's you, Dame. We are prohibiting the entry of ordinary citizens on the mayor's orders!”
“Understood. Keep up the good work.”
“Yes, sir!”
Reinhardt climbed the high stairs.
Upon entering the city hall building, he saw an atmosphere even more chaotic than outside.
Clerics and mages seemed to be gathered and purifying the demonic energy.
Reinhardt pulled his robe back on. Fortunately, not many people saw Reinhardt, perhaps because everyone was preoccupied.
“Bbitbbit!”
Bitdori began to lead Reinhardt again.
The creature was moving forward step by step, like a search dog carefully sniffing for a scent.
“Bbit.”
Next, the third floor of the city hall building.
Bitdori pointed to a closed door with eyes full of conviction.
Nod.
Reinhardt took off his robe completely. The people around him flinched, but fortunately, there wasn't a very loud reaction.
Knock, knock-
Knocking lightly, Reinhardt opened his mouth.
“Excuse me.”
“Damn it, I told you not to come in the morning! Who are you!”
A rough voice returned from beyond the closed door. Reinhardt calmly revealed his identity.
“I am Reinhardt, a knight of the Taton Knights. I am here to confirm something.”
“……Who?”
“I said, Knight Reinhardt.”
Clatter.
Then a light commotion arose inside. Only after it became suspicious that a fight might have broken out did the door click open.
“Oh my, what brings the Sir Knight here?”
The eyes of the man who peeked his head out were dark.
At first glance, it looked like dark circles from fatigue, but Reinhardt's thoughts were different.
'Demonic energy addiction. Same state as Malcolm. No, this one is much worse.'
Reinhardt confirmed the man's slightly bluish lips and said with conviction.
“I will come in for a moment. There is something I need to confirm.”
“Ye-yes? You're coming in? You mean here?”
“Yes. Step aside.”
“Just a moment! What brings you here? The inside is very messy. I haven't been able to tidy up because I've been so busy lately… Oof!”
Reinhardt lightly pushed the man and opened the door.
It was a space that was neither too wide nor too narrow. On the desk was a nameplate with his position written on it.
'A tax collector.'
The man was a public official who collected taxes.
In this world, it was a position with considerable power.
Enough to accumulate immense wealth before retirement just by taking the appropriate bribes.
“Sir Knight!”
“Wait there. Do not move.”
“Even if you are a knight, you have no right to do this! The officials of the city hall and the knights have a relationship based on mutual respect…”
Reinhardt cleanly ignored the man's words and looked at Bitdori.
Bitdori was concentrating again. It was tilting its head and looking around here and there.
Then it flew off with a whoosh and pointed to a wall-mounted mirror.
“Bbit!”
The meaning was clear.
Thud.
As Reinhardt approached the mirror, the man let out a shrill scream.
“Sir Knight! W-wait, oh my!”
Reinhardt lightly extended his hand again.
Just with that, the man was pushed back with a whoosh and fell. It seemed he was out of shape.
Clatter.
When he removed the mirror, a crude safe embedded in the wall was revealed.
[Injustice has been detected.]
*The tax collector of Serigel possessed a secret safe. Check the contents and verify the tax collector's morality.
[Buff Applied: Justice x1]
[Base stats increase by 47.]
A message appeared at the right time.
The opponent was a tax collector, and the tax collectors here were a symbol of corruption.
In such a situation, a hidden safe was undeniable evidence of bribes.
“S-Sir Reinhardt. This is not a problem you should escalate this far. I am not the only one entangled in this matter.”
“Is that so?”
“Yes! Even for you, Sir, it will be difficult to handle. Really. It would be better for both you and me to wrap this up appropriately at this point…”
The tax collector, who was hastily persuading him, shut his mouth.
It was because Reinhardt was smiling broadly as if satisfied.
And the reason for the smile was simple.
[Additional injustice has been detected.]
*A superior officer is involved in the tax collector's deviation. Dig deep and correct everything.
[Buff Applied: Justice x2]
[Base stats increase by 94.]
A double stack of Justice.
Because a whopping 94 stats had been increased.
Creak! Craaack!
It was thanks to being able to pull open the steel safe with his hands.
“How…”
The tax collector's mouth fell open.
This was not something that could be done just by being a knight.
It would be a different story if he had cut it with a sword, but he had never heard of or seen such monstrous strength that could bend steel.
However.
'I knew it.'
Reinhardt already didn't care about the tax collector's reaction.
The same went for the gold coins and jewels that filled the safe.
What was important to the current Reinhardt was only the one sealing stone placed squarely in the center of the safe.
An ominous crimson color.
From the sealing stone, a faint smoke was slowly flowing out, as if it had been taken out of a cold freezer.
It was a phenomenon that occurred as the demonic energy, having condensed excessively, was leaking out little by little.
“Where did all this money come from?”
“Sir Reinhardt. I will give you everything. You can take all the jewels and gold coins there. I will also prepare a separate amount for you every month for your troubles!”
“Is that so?”
Reinhardt asked back in surprise.
Demonic energy addiction was not something that could be easily broken. The setting was that once addicted, one could never break free on their own.
“But please leave just that one jewel. You know, the big, red one? That's all I need. That thing can't even be sold!”
And the prediction was not wrong.
With an I-knew-it expression, Reinhardt shoved the sealing stone into his pocket.
After appropriately beating the pale-faced tax collector until he was unconscious, he went out into the hallway.
“You there, what is your position?”
“Yes? Ah, I am…”
Reinhardt grabbed a passing public official.
He checked his name and position and confirmed that he was a person in a reasonably high position.
“Please block anyone from entering this place. There are no exceptions. Anyone who enters will be judged as a person related to the tax collector's actions. Do you understand?”
The public official swallowed hard and confirmed the appearance of the unconscious and limp tax collector.
Then, he nodded his head vigorously, conveying the meaning that he would definitely follow Reinhardt's words.
“Yes, Sir Knight. I understand perfectly.”