Book 4: Chapter 53 |
With the war over, there was no need to worry about ambushes along the road, nor any need to take long detours. Traveling straight across the continent, Leon and his group returned to the Empire in less than ten days.
By the time they arrived, night had already fallen. Leon declined the welcome banquet everyone had prepared for him and instead just ate a simple meal with Rebecca and the others.
He never liked that kind of atmosphere anyway. Eating and chatting with old teammates made him feel far more at ease.
“I noticed when I entered the Upper City earlier that almost all the streets have been repaired,” Leon said sincerely, holding a can of beef. “Your efficiency is impressive, Nacho.”
“Considering the Upper City is the Empire’s main economic exchange district,” Nacho replied dryly, “the kick you delivered back then didn’t just kill the Primordial Nightmare—it nearly kicked the Empire’s entire financial chain into collapse. If we hadn’t handled the aftermath quickly, you wouldn’t even be eating canned beef right now. You’d be living on cold noodles.”
Leon squinted and gave a bitter smile. “You’re still just as sharp-tongued.”
Nacho snorted, then extended his hand. “Welcome back. With your help, we’ll definitely uncover the Empire’s remnants faster.”
Leon set down the can and slapped Nacho’s palm. “You’ve all worked hard these past days. Any progress interrogating those ministers who colluded with Kant?”
Nacho thought for a moment. “There is progress. Just… not the kind we expected.”
“You’ll understand once you see it yourself tomorrow.”
Before the sentence had even finished, Leon sprang to his feet. “Why wait until tomorrow? Let’s go now.”
Nacho blinked. “But you, Rebecca, and Martin have been traveling nonstop for over a week. You haven’t rested properly at all. No matter how urgent it is, one night won’t make a difference.”
This time, Rebecca answered instead.
The unhinged girl slowly stood up, wearing an I-know-everything expression. “Nacho, you still don’t understand the captain. Whatever you do, never let him see even a hint of a problem. The moment he does, he’ll solve it at top speed.”
Nacho raised an eyebrow. “Why’s that? I never heard that the Dragon-Slaying Army’s leader was this decisive.”
Back during the Dragon-Slaying Army era, most of the rumors Nacho heard were things like: this legendary dragon slayer killed some Dragon King yesterday, killed another today, and planned to kill yet another tomorrow.
“Well~ back then it was about ending the war as fast as possible. As for now…” Rebecca leaned in beside the captain, one hand on her hip, the other elbowing Leon lightly in the chest as she grinned mischievously. “Now it’s obviously so he can hurry home to his wife.”
A certain married man exclaimed, “How dare you speak the truth so openly!”
…
Late at night, Imperial Prison.
Leon, Nacho, Rebecca, and Martin headed to the prison’s special detention zone.
“During Kant’s dark reign, this place was specifically used to hold the Empire’s so-called ‘important figures,’” Nacho explained as they walked down the corridor.
“Important figures?” Leon asked. “They even got special treatment?”
Nacho nodded. “In reality, most of those famous people locked up here were nothing more than high-level scapegoats.”
Leon understood exactly what “scapegoat” meant.
During the Silver Dragon Campaign, he had been ambushed by a traitor. The Empire assumed he was dead and publicly declared that he was the war criminal responsible for the defeat.
That was the first—and only—time Leon had taken the fall for the Empire.
But…
“High-level… scapegoats?” Leon frowned. “There are different tiers to taking the blame now?”
“Of course,” Nacho said.
“You know that during Kant’s rule, the Empire was riddled with dirty dealings and illegal trades. Once those gutter-level crimes were exposed, the Empire’s standard solution was to find some unlucky bastard to take the fall.”
“But when the situation escalated and an ordinary scapegoat couldn’t calm public outrage, they’d push out a well-known big shot instead—to take the blame and draw all the fire.”
“Most people don’t actually care about the truth. They only care about who gets punished—how high-ranking, how powerful.”
“And you can’t really blame the public for that. All information back then was tightly controlled by the Empire. People couldn’t break through that thick information barrier to think independently. There was no helping it.”
“Back to the point,” Nacho said, casually patting the wall of the special detention zone. “This place used to be a luxury apartment for those high-level scapegoats. Looks ordinary from the outside, but they were never mistreated.”
After hearing the explanation, Leon nodded thoughtfully. “You really know the Empire’s inner workings. But I remember you were also part of the Dragon-Slaying Army—you shouldn’t have been involved with prison affairs, right?”
Nacho gave a bitter shrug. “My father was once one of the Empire’s scapegoats.”
“…I’m sorry.”
Leon remembered now. Nacho had once told him that his father had been framed for corruption. The Empire promised that if Nacho completed his missions, his father would be released.
In the end, his father knew too much about the Empire’s secrets and was silenced in prison.
That was why Nacho, having glimpsed the Empire’s rot and filth, chose to follow Leon instead.
At least under General Leon, people didn’t just lose their heads for no reason.
“After Kant fell, we locked all those colluding ministers in here for easier interrogation,” Rebecca said. “But they don’t get the old treatment anymore. One room, a pile of weeds. That’s it.”
Leon stopped and nodded seriously. “Good. That’s exactly the treatment prisoners deserve.”
Now someone might ask:
General Leon, how do you know so much about prisoner treatment?
And the only one who could answer that question is his beloved wife—currently far away.
“Leon… Leon!”
A prisoner in one of the cells seemed to hear their conversation and rushed to the door, shouting through the narrow food slot.
“Leon Karsmode! I’m innocent! Tell them to release me! I never colluded with that bastard Kant!”
That single cry set off the others.
“K-Karsmode! Please tell these ignorant youngsters the truth—I was framed too!”
“Me too! I never trafficked people! Those kids… those kids volunteered!”
“I’m innocent as well! Those women seduced me! I was forced!”
“……”
The more Leon listened, the more absurd it became.
He frowned. “Have these people lost their minds?”
“Weeks of nonstop interrogation will dull and confuse anyone’s brain,” Nacho said. “That’s exactly what we want. Otherwise, every last one of them would still be stubbornly tight-lipped.”
“No wrongful arrests, right?” Leon asked.
“You can rest assured—absolutely none,” Nacho replied, pointing at the cells. “Embezzlement, trafficking, sexual coercion, drug dealing… whatever flashy crime you can think of, you’ll find it here.”
Leon nodded. “Good.”
After a pause, he asked, “So the ‘special progress’ you mentioned earlier—what exactly was that?”
Nacho didn’t answer immediately. Instead, he led Leon to the innermost cell.
Through a one-way magical barrier, they could clearly see inside.
On a pile of dry weeds sat a dejected old man.
He was shirtless. Though clearly advanced in age, his build was well-proportioned. A heavy air of decay clung to him, yet beneath that weakened body, a faint, restless vitality still pulsed.
Leon noticed something was off at a glance.
And he immediately recognized who the man was.
“Foel Rast,” Leon said. “The former commander of the Dragon-Slaying Army during the previous king’s reign.”
Nacho let out a heavy breath and spoke slowly.
“More than twenty years ago… the newspapers published reports of his death.”
…
Footnotes:
- ti zui yangLiteral meaning: “scapegoat.” Refers to someone deliberately blamed to shield those truly responsible, especially in political or institutional cover-ups.
- du sheLiterally “poison tongue.” Describes someone who speaks sharply, sarcastically, or with biting humor.
- feng piSlang meaning “unhinged” or “crazy in an intense way,” often used affectionately for someone wild or fearless.
- xiang jie le shen yangFigurative expression meaning to “lose one’s mind” or become mentally unstable due to stress or pressure.
- bei guoLiterally “to carry the pot.” Internet slang meaning to take the blame for something one didn’t do.