Chapter 1391.1 |
MacGuff, trembling with his head down, finally shed tears, overwhelmed with emotion and perhaps guilt.
Willow noticed the color of his soul stabilize. From what she could tell, his emotions were genuine. She couldn't dig any deeper, careful of the restrictions her father had told her about. She still felt a strange, aching sympathy.
‘I pretty much get the gist of the situation now.’
“I lost my wife early on… Yes… All I have left in my old age are my meager cooking skills and my son back in my hometown. I originally planned to bring him here, but he’s sickly and can’t handle long-distance travel or using a warp gate.”
Willow and Rinne simply listened to him in silence.
“After losing his mother, my son MacGuffin is my one and only treasure. I've tried my best to raise him into someone that would be able to keep his head high at all times.”
MacGuff had already lived there long before Heins Territory blew up with its development. In other words, he was just an ordinary cook, his family finances reflecting that meager status.
While he had finally reached a point in his career where he was receiving a decent salary now, it hadn't been for long.
Thud!
“I heard the news, Willow. Did you catch the culprit—oh?”
“Huh? Chef MacGuff?”
He was trembling on all fours with his head down.
Willow glared at him and spoke in a cold voice, “Chef MacGuff, keep going.”
“...Yes. I apologize.”
Aeonitia and Yuria hadn't heard the full story, initially puzzled, but nonetheless found seats and tuned in.
“Leaving my son... in my hometown and coming here, I really did everything I could to give him a good life. I wanted to be a proud father to him when I eventually went back.”
Willow glanced at Yuria, who simply shrugged. It didn’t seem like he was lying.
“We all know how hard you worked. That's not what I'm asking about right now.” She went straight to the point. “Why did you betray us?”
She had a rough idea, but it wasn’t something they could just ignore or gloss over.
“At first... it was just a letter asking how I was doing. It came from my younger brother, MacGuffen. Though he's a gambling addict, he wasn't wicked enough to use his own nephew for nefarious purposes.”
“Mr. MacGuff?”
“Yes, Yuria, Head of the Gourmet Research Society.”
“Can you stick to the point? I'm having a hard time controlling my emotions right now...” Although she was smiling faintly, there was a sharp, cold edge to her gaze.
It had likely been Yuria, not Davey or Willow, who trusted Chef MacGuff the most. After all, they had cooperated in the same industry for a long time.
“A letter came. It seemed MacGuffen had racked up a huge debt. For someone who took on temporary mercenary jobs with no proper career, it was beyond what could be afforded. When I contacted him out of concern, he said he could pay it off if he succeeded in a few big-time requests. But of course, that was a lie.”
He fiercely trembled. “Whether the loan shark put massive interest on it, or he simply didn't repay it, I don't know. But my brother, under extreme pressure... ultimately...”
Tears welling up, he slammed his head against the floor. “The loan shark company made him kidnap and hide my son... then contacted me. They told me that if I wanted to save my son, I had to steal one of Heins's technologies.”
“So, you stole a forbidden technology from my older brother? How did you manage that, Chef MacGuff?” Aeonitia asked, her voice filled with shock and fury.
“His Highness gave me access to the laboratory. Yes, His Highness trusted me, but I... took advantage of the territory's festival, bringing the scientists alcohol and meat that I had drugged with sleeping medications.”
In the confusion, he’d captured the magic circle formulas and blueprints on a video crystal and sent them off.
They had never thought MacGuff, who had been so loyal, would do such a thing. Neither did they think a mere chef, not a technician or researcher, would be the one to recognize the technology and leak it.
“You... You!” Aeonitia, furious, rushed forward and grabbed him by the collar. “How could you do that?! Davey trusted you, and everyone in the territory treated you like family! How could you?! Did you not know what would happen if that technology was carelessly leaked?! Huh?! HUH?!”
“I'm sorry...” he weakly muttered.
“Do you think an apology fixes it?! It could cause a huge war! Countless people could die!”
“Even so...! I had no choice. All I have left is my son. If I lose even MacGuffin... if he found out that his father abandoned him for lack of money, and that his father never came to rescue him? Only despair will be left for that child.”
He slumped weakly, sobbing uncontrollably. “I apologize! A thousand apologies wouldn't be enough. I originally intended to hand over my duties to my replacement and surrender myself directly to His Highness.”
Bang!
Clenching her teeth, Aeonitia shoved him away and seethed in anger. “Tsk!”
“Aunt Aeonitia, calm down first.”
“How could I calm down right now?! Your father didn't forbid that technology to be leaked simply because of greed! Even if they can't use it, simply mimicking it is enough for many nations to draw their swords and go to war for the technology!”
Even if they supported peace, no fool would refuse something that could instantly skyrocket their national power.
“I know. That's why Dad went out to recover all the leaked technology, right?”
Complete recovery may well have been impossible. Even so, he had stepped up to at least take care of everything that had been exposed on the surface.
“I'm truly disappointed, Chef MacGuff. You repaid such kindness with betrayal.”
“I’ll give you my life. But... please give me a little time... just until I can save my son,” he begged.
“What makes you think we can trust you and let you go?”
“I will definitely pay for my sins! If I had intended to run away, I wouldn't have come forward to say all this.”
What he was asking for was a temporary suspension of his punishment. Just until he could retrieve his kidnapped son.
“What should we do?” Yuria asked Willow with a smile. “Since you are the one in charge, please make a decision. Taking Chef MacGuff's life is easy, but...”
“Rinne, can you lock him up in the prison?”
“Order accepted.” Rinne dragged MacGuff away in handcuffs.
The group returned to their discussion.
“He's just a criminal, so what happens to his son shouldn't matter. At least, that's what conventional wisdom would tell us, but... it still leaves a bad taste in my mouth. Especially when considering everything he's done for Heins Territory over the years.”
“We have to consider the fact that he didn't betray us purely out of self-interest.”
That was what troubled Yuria, Willow, and Aeonitia.
Considering how devoted he was to his son, and the emotional turmoil he must’ve gone through, it was understandable for them to feel sorry for him. Yet they couldn't just let him go unpunished, either.
“Honestly, even without Willow coincidentally catching him lying, it wouldn't have been a perfect crime. If we had investigated a little more thoroughly for a few more days, we would've quickly come to the conclusion that Chef MacGuff was the culprit.”
In truth, his surrender hadn't meant much of a difference. Even if he hadn't spoken and instead gone into hiding, they would’ve found out he was the culprit eventually.
However, considering the extenuating circumstances and his having turned himself in despite knowing the punishment he’d face, one could argue they should show him leniency.
“Honestly... Chef MacGuff is just as loyal as Monmider. I was mad and lost my temper earlier, but it's true that his death would be a shame,” Aeonitia admitted, having had time to clear her head.
Yuria was similarly at a loss. “What should we do...”
“We can proceed with his punishment... but maybe we can also help his son a little?” Aeonita said before she looked at Willow. “I bet it’s an easy job for you to go take care of those loan sharks. If they kidnapped his son, they must still have him. Even if his brother is already dead, the son should still be alive.”
“I’ll go ahead and handle the rest of this off the books, then.”
Now that they had found the culprit, there was no need to stir up the atmosphere unnecessarily.
“We'll think more about Chef MacGuff's punishment later. For now, let's rescue his son. He's still someone who diligently worked in Heins Territory for years.”
“Help? If we look for a way, maybe...”
“No, I'll only take Rinne. It won't take long.”
“If something goes wrong, they might hurt his son.”
Willow had already made her decision. “I'll just have to be extra careful then.”
Aeonitia, dragging her small frame, looked up at her and slowly reached out to stroke her hair.
“My niece. You're so kind.”
“That's not it,” Willow stubbornly insisted. “To find the culprit behind this, we ultimately have to find his son as well.”
“True.”