“What’s that? A magic tool?”

The clock Paris took out didn’t look ordinary at all. Beyond its expensive appearance, it was also radiating a significant amount of mana.

I thought it might be a self-defense item, but he only pressed a button on it.

“…W-Why isn’t it working?”

With a face full of despair and confusion, Paris frantically pressed the button over and over. It seemed to be more of a communication device to summon his subordinates rather than a defensive tool.

“No one’s coming. They’re all dead.”

“That’s impossible! What kind of trick did you pull?!”

“A trick? They attacked, so I killed them.”

“Lies!”

It’s not like he could believe it, but explaining it all to him would’ve been tedious.

Of course, Dia Rose was one of Abrarum’s major sources of funding, so its treatment within the organization would naturally have been different.

Among the people I dealt with earlier, there were former A-rank adventurers and criminals of comparable strength. Honestly, they were fairly tough opponents. I nearly wet myself at one point.

“That’s absurd! Are you saying you’re some kind of ‘hero’?”

“I do something similar.”

That’s partly why I had to return home once a year. It wasn’t a lie, though I had no intention of explaining since he wouldn’t believe it anyway.

Even as he shouted, Paris’s eyes darted around quickly, his brain clearly spinning. I could practically hear the gears grinding.

He was probably thinking something like this:

‘The information that the empress chose that guy as a pawn for the marriage defense and to serve as a scapegoat was wrong. That man was the empress’s hidden sword from the start. His debauched lifestyle, which seemed like nothing but the habits of a wealthy fool, was actually to lower the guard of those targeting him—or those who might target him in the future. That’s the only way to explain this situation!’

…Too bad. He’s completely wrong. The first part’s a joke, and the second part is just as laughable.

I never needed nor thought to lower anyone’s guard. I was just enjoying myself while investigating.

Abrarum was an organization so large and powerful that even Marianne couldn’t deal with it easily. With the countless problems left behind by the previous emperor and the aftermath of her rebellion, she had no available forces to spare—especially now.

That’s why I came here. To handle Hound work and, while I was at it, to support my struggling wife.

“Fine. I’ll surrender.”

After concluding things on his own, Paris raised both hands to signal his surrender.

It was obvious what guys like him were thinking. As long as they were alive, they’d always have countless ways to escape.

Indeed, many of the empire’s officials had been influenced by Abrarum. Bribed and corrupted, they turned imperial law into nothing but decoration.

Sure, Paris might suffer significant damage if the records and documents he possessed came to light, but that was still better than dying. He likely planned to exact revenge on me later.

So soft. If this had been when I first arrived in the capital, I might’ve thought he was mocking me.

“Gah?!”

I grabbed Paris by the neck and lifted him up. His eyes, wide with disbelief, stared at me as though demanding an explanation.

I kindly provided it.

“Sorry, but I’m not into complicated stuff. The only thing I’m good at is tossing garbage into the trash. The smarter people can worry about sorting and recycling.”

“Guh, wait…!”

Crack.

With a slight application of force, Paris’s neck snapped, and he died instantly. I casually tossed his lifeless body aside and turned my gaze toward the darkness.

“Come out.”

From the shadows, a figure emerged. Removing a hound-shaped mask, Haria appeared, looking extremely tense as she stared at me.

“Relax. I’m not angry that you followed me. I told you I was aware of the surveillance.”

After reassuring her in my usual tone, I grabbed a box of cigarettes from the late Paris’s desk.

Nice quality. Bad guys always have the good stuff.

I took out a cigarette, placed it in my mouth, and lit it.

“Wow, this is top-notch. Tastes great.”

Unfortunately, there was only one left in the pack. I rifled through the desk to find more, but Haria, struggling to comprehend the situation, finally spoke up.

“…Did you come to Dia Rose planning to do this from the start?”

“Yeah. Though I’ll admit, I did enjoy myself for a few days since the treatment was nice.”

Sadly, it really was the last cigarette.

While I savored the taste, Haria, still looking baffled, asked another question.

“You definitely consumed Teal Miracle. How are you still fine? Did you take an antidote in advance after obtaining information?”

“No way. I’d barely been in the capital. How would I have access to the inner workings of the empire’s largest crime syndicate?”

While it wasn’t impossible to gather information from outside the organization, collecting intel on the inside was beyond me. I only assumed they’d use drugs to control me, and my guess turned out to be correct. That’s all.

As I explained this with a scoff, Haria fell silent. I decided to extend some further kindness as her superior.

“And as for why Teal Miracle didn’t work on me, there’s no real reason. I just built up a tolerance from using it too much.”

“What? That makes no sense! Do you even understand what Teal Miracle is?”

Of course, I do. That’s why I’m saying this.

“Are you mocking me right now?”

“Nah. You’re not even fun to tease. Anyway, the thing you call Teal Miracle was originally used by elf assassins.”

In the Meyer Kingdom, we didn’t know its exact name. We just referred to it as ‘ground-up toadskin from the Hell Marshlands.’ Elf assassins loved using it as a tool.

One of their go-to tactics involved pretending to offer surrender or goodwill to their enemies and poisoning their food with the stuff. After that, they’d simply butcher their drugged victims. It was such a common tactic that it hardly worked on Meyer Kingdom soldiers anymore.

“I did get hit by it once, but the effect didn’t last long. Since it felt good, I ended up using it occasionally whenever I came across it. Eventually, I built up a tolerance.”

“That’s impossible…!”

It was the first time I’d seen Haria so agitated. I was starting to get a better sense of how Teal Miracle was viewed on the continent.

“For the record, there’s also an antidote for it.”

“Is that true?!”

I hadn’t meant to say this, but it counts as support for my wife’s empire. Plus, it would benefit the Meyer Kingdom, so it was fine.

“Well, calling it an antidote is a bit much. It’s just an old trick the ancestors of the Meyer Kingdom used when fighting non-humans.”

“What is it, then?”

“You just boil sunrise sprout into tea and drink it. It cures addiction, withdrawal symptoms, and all the side effects.”

Hearing my explanation, Haria looked utterly stunned. Why was she so surprised? Maybe it sounded too simple to be real?

But then, she asked something unexpected.

“Is it hard to find?”

“Huh? You don’t have it here? In the Meyer Kingdom, it’s practically a weed… Ah, so that’s why they turned it into a drug.”

Sunrise sprout was incredibly common in the Meyer Kingdom. Though ordinary, it was still medicinal and often used to treat colds. I drank it all the time as a kid—mostly on the battlefield.

“So…”

“Send a message to the Meyer Kingdom. They’ll send enough to treat the entire empire.”

I regretted not being able to see my father’s and siblings’ faces when they received that request. They were going to be so baffled.

As I finished explaining to Haria, the Hounds finally arrived, all wearing their canine masks like her.

They arrived sooner than expected.

“This is…”

“What on earth…”

“What happened?”

They hadn’t wanted me dead, but they must’ve assumed I was. Instead, they arrived to find the place in shambles, the combatants slaughtered, and the manager dead.

They must’ve been shocked. Still, I didn’t want to explain everything twice.

“Haria will explain the details when you get back to the headquarters. I’m taking a shower.”

As I walked past the Hounds, I remembered something and turned back to them.

“See that? Your captain’s not dead. So stop worrying.”

After Isaac left to take a shower, the Hounds stared blankly at Haria.

Sighing, she said, “I’ll explain everything back at the base. For now, let’s collect the evidence of illegal activity lying around here. We can’t let the city guards take credit for the captain’s work.”

None of the Hounds were too slow to notice the change in how she referred to him.

Without a word, they immediately began moving. As Haria organized her thoughts to prepare an explanation, she subconsciously turned to look in the direction Isaac had disappeared.

Even though he was no longer visible, she stood there for a moment, staring.

Late at night, Marianne Blata, the Empress of the Blata Empire, sat in her study, staring at a report.

She wasn’t reading it. She had already read it once. Normally, she never revisited reports, but this time, for some reason, she couldn’t take her eyes off it.

It was a report from the Hounds, detailing how her husband, Isaac, had single-handedly destroyed Dia Rose, one of Abrarum’s biggest funding sources.

The process itself was simple. While there had been some investigation, in the end, it was brute strength that tore the place apart.

The fact that he did it alone was undeniably impressive. Very much so.

But what really caught Marianne’s attention was another part of the report.

Since it was a Hound report, Isaac’s signature was, of course, included. Though Haria wrote the report, the final approval fell to the captain.

It wasn’t unusual. It wasn’t strange. And yet, it was strange.

Marianne found herself staring at the reason Isaac had written for his actions.

In that section, only a single word was written:

‘Support.’