Chapter 63
Commander Ingrid paced anxiously inside the tent.
Just then, the crystal ball flickered.
The Commander received the communication through the crystal ball.
“So. What happened?”
The other side reported on Zeke’s detention situation.
“Feinan rejected Draker’s proposal?”
The Commander’s expression brightened.
With the Black demon having fled, Zeke alone lacked evidence to report anything to the Delpoa higher-ups.
He could protest to Delpoa through Draker, but without evidence, it was impossible to prove there was something between himself and the Black demon.
Additionally, the higher-ups wanted to maintain this unit continuously.
For Ingrid, this was an advantageous position to accumulate both money and career experience that he didn’t want to lose.
‘Just one more year and I can move up to central. With a bit more luck, I could even run for Magic Tower Lord candidate.’
Ingrid was already imagining his rosy future upon hearing that Feinan rejected Zeke’s proposal.
While he was lost in imagination, his deputy entered the tent.
“Commander. How shall we proceed with attacking the fortress?”
He asked while putting away the crystal ball.
“Fire off some flashy spells and then withdraw.”
Since his deputy was also involved in this collusion, he left the tent immediately without questioning the commander’s orders.
Ingrid smiled as he prepared for battle.
‘Depending on the situation, I should tell the Black demon to come back. Tell him to hold out until this year and move somewhere else next year.’
A long tail was easier to catch.
After this incident, it could become more dangerous.
He planned to end it once he gained the career experience he needed.
As ordered to his deputy, Ingrid organized the mage unit and led them up toward the fortress.
He planned to launch some flashy spells at the fortress, unleash attacks from above, then pretend to lose and retreat back to the garrison.
‘We’ll let Jorge take the blame.’
After taking position at the usual spot, Ingrid ordered the mage unit to use magic.
Whoosh!
Boom!Boom! Boom!
Bang! Bang! Bang!
Flashy and loud spells flew toward the fortress.
However, He cleverly directed the attacks to avoid causing direct damage to the fortress.
After some attacks landed, Ingrid ordered his troops.
“Fall back!”
This was when the fortress should counterattack.
But unlike usual, no arrows or rocks flew from inside.
‘What’s going on?’
Ingrid was confused by the lack of response from the fortress.
That’s when it happened.
The fortress’s main gate opened.
“Co-Commander.”
His startled deputy called out to him.
Someone emerged from the main gate.
Ingrid’s eyes widened.
“Y-You!”
Surprisingly, Zeke was riding out on horseback at the front.
Behind him were his companions and even Feinan.
Ingrid stuttered while pointing at Feinan.
“Fe-Feinan! How did you…? I-I thought…!”
Zeke cut off his words.
“What, surprised because it’s different from what you overheard?”
Ingrid was speechless.
Zeke already knew they were monitoring and eavesdropping on their quarters.
So when he spoke with Feinan, he used a magic scroll to prevent eavesdropping.
Upon realizing Ingrid and the mage unit’s corruption, Feinan immediately decided to cooperate with Zeke.
“If that happens, Professor, it will be difficult for you to build your career in Delpoa anymore.”
“Better to give up than build a shameful career.”
Despite his seemingly weak impression, Feinan was a person of firm principles and conviction.
Anticipating the eavesdropping, he pretended to reject Zeke’s proposal and immediately reported this corruption to the higher-ups.
Soon someone appeared behind Feinan.
Ingrid turned pale seeing the emblem on their robes.
‘Scales and Swors. The-The Inspection Unit…!’
Unlike the Southern Continent, Delpoa wasn’t entirely corrupted by bribery and misconduct.
This was possible because of the existence of a powerful inspection agency.
Delpoa’s Inspection Unit was famous for their strict investigations and punishments.
The head of the Inspection Unit stepped forward and arrested Ingrid.
“Ingrid Hacksen. You are under arrest for collusion and communication with continental public enemies, and corruption crimes.”
Magic control handcuffs were placed on Ingrid and the mage corps’ mages.
He shouted at the Inspection Unit Commander.
“Th-This is slander! I never communicated with them!”
The Inspection Unit head glared at him with sharp eyes.
“We’ve already secured all evidence of internal collusion within the fortress. Don’t bother trying to deny it.”
Realizing he was completely cornered, Ingrid screamed in rage.
“Damn it! You think I’ll die alone if I’m caught? Do you know how many higher-ups are connected to me? When I open my mouth, everyone gets hurt! All of Delpoa will be in chaos!”
That’s when it happened.
Zeke approached Ingrid and struck him across the face.
“Kuhek!”
With Zeke’s strike, the inside of Ingrid’s mouth was completely torn.
He spat out several teeth along with blood and screamed.
“Y-you bastard!”
Zeke looked down at Ingrid with cold eyes and said.
“Not just you, but all the other trash connected to you will be going down one by one. You have many connections? Go ahead and use them all. I am a direct blood relative of Draker and a pure-blooded Awakened, and the only successor to Duke Draker, the former Black Knight. It would be interesting to bet on who has more connections.”
At Zeke’s words, Ingrid’s face turned pale blue.
He had just realized who he had provoked.
Ingrid collapsed to his knees before Zeke and began begging.
“I-I’m sorry! I… was wrong! Please! F-forgive me…!”
Zeke glared at Ingrid and said.
“Don’t ask me for forgiveness. Beg it from the knights who died meaninglessly because of you, you piece of trash.”
In the end, Ingrid was dragged away by the Inspection Corps with a dazed expression.
The Inspection Corps commander came to Andrei and expressed his gratitude.
“We will send an official letter of thanks to both House Draker and Valhalla for their assistance.”
“Thank you for Delpoa’s quick response that allowed us to resolve this smoothly.”
The Inspection Corps transported the captured Black demon corps and mages from the fortress and cleared the scene.
As they watched this, someone approached Zeke.
“Sir Knight.”
It was Jorge and the 8th Knight Division members.
They were excluded from investigation based on Zeke’s testimony that they were unrelated to the corruption.
However, without the 8th Magic Division, the knight division attached to it couldn’t exist either.
Because of this, unless another magic division took them in, the 8th Knight Division would have to be disbanded.
But no place would accept a knight division branded as traitors to their former magic division.
Zeke looked at Jorge and said.
“Do you regret it, Jorge?”
Unlike before, it was clearly informal speech, but Jorge accepted it naturally and scratched the back of his head as he spoke.
“There’s nothing to regret. I’m just sorry to our colleagues who died unjustly. For having such an inadequate commander…”
Finally, at Jorge’s choked words, the other knights sniffled tears.
They all looked rough enough to put bandits to shame, but they were quite emotional.
Watching them, Zeke said to Jorge.
“If you’re all willing, I’d like to recommend a new job.”
Jorge was startled at those words.
“A-a new job, sir?”
Zeke pulled out a contract from his chest.
Jorge’s mouth gaped open as he received the contract.
“S-sir Knight. This… these conditions are too good. Isn’t there… a mistake in the units?”
“You’ll need at least this much to work with me.”
“W-work with you, sir?”
“Yes. I recently established a company. I’d like you to work as the guard unit there.”
“G-good heavens. You mean you’ll employ our entire knight division?”
“Why, don’t you like it?”
Jorge shook his head repeatedly.
“How could we not! What are you all waiting for, pay respects to our lord!”
Jorge and the knight division members all knelt and bowed to Zeke at once.
Zeke clicked his tongue and said to Jorge.
“Well, it won’t all be good times when you get there. There’s a scary instructor.”
Zeke was planning to send them south for a while to be trained by Simon.
And have them guard the newly built factory while they’re at it.
After settling the 8th Knight Division’s situation, Zeke said to Feinan.
“Please come to Atlas as soon as Delpoa’s matters are settled. We have many things to do together going forward.”
Feinan nodded.
“Understood, Master.”
Zeke and Feinan, who had moved from a professor-student relationship to a master-servant relationship.
Zeke finished up the business in Delpoa and returned to Atlas with his companions.
Since the special graduation mission had taken an unexpected turn, it was impossible to know what evaluation would come.
* * *
Thud!
In a certain location in Midland, people wearing black uniforms were gathered.
Their uniforms were the same as Draker’s, but they had two pairs of black wings instead of the dragon-slaying badge.
These people were of Drakers but not Drakers.
And yet, they were the ones who embodied the essence of the Draker name the most—the Draker Black corps members.
The Black corps commander sat at the round table, with deputy commanders seated to his right and left.
All the key personnel of Black corps were present at the meeting.
The Black corps commander, with his fierce appearance lacking hair and eyebrows, fiddled with the black gloves of the pure-blooded Awakened on his hands and said.
“Sorry for calling everyone here when you’re busy.”
Baron Draker.
The Black corps Commander was the only person in the Black corps who was permitted to use Draker’s name.
He spoke to the Black corps executives.
“I trust you’ll handle the minor issues well on your own, so let’s address only the biggest problem.”
The Black corps Commander’s gaze changed.
“The southern continent has been quite turbulent lately.”
The Left Wing Leader beside him responded.
“Commander. They’re just gangsters selling drugs. You needn’t worry too much.”
In the Black corps, the Left Wing was mainly deployed for combat situations.
Given their combat power, the cartels were merely insignificant gangsters.
The Right Wing Leader then spoke up.
“The Southern Cartel has grown rapidly in a short time. Don Juan of the Mekein Cartel, for instance, has amassed enormous wealth by controlling the entire south and monopolizing the production, manufacturing, and distribution of soma. They’re not an opponent to be taken lightly.”
Unlike the Left Wing, the Right Wing handled espionage, intelligence gathering, and analysis.
The Black corps Commander then spoke.
“Don Juan is dead.”
All the commanders were shocked by this statement.
It was inconceivable that none of the Black corps members, who held all continental intelligence, knew this fact.
The Right Wing Leader calmly said.
“Commander. We understand that Don Juan is currently in hiding from Favela Cartel’s offensive.”
The Black corps Commander slowly spoke.
“After Don Juan disappeared, the Mekein Cartel was torn into several pieces. Favela, who is at war with them, is in a similar state with most of their bosses dead. Isn’t it strange that Don Juan hasn’t shown himself despite this situation?”
The Right Wing Leader fell silent at the commander’s words.
In truth, they hadn’t thought deeply about the Southern Cartel situation and had simply assumed Don Juan was hiding.
When the Commander placed his hand on the table, a magical image appeared in the air.
“This footage was taken a month ago from the Favela side.”
The footage showed figures wearing black masks.
He advanced to the next image.
“This was taken from the Mekein side.”
Similarly, it showed photographs of masked individuals.
The Black corps Commander spread his hands, and multiple photos of masked figures were arranged in sequence.
Pointing to the screen, he said,
“That figure in the middle. That person moved between Mekein and Favela, bringing down both cartels. Yet no one has identified who they are.”
The Black corps Commander looked at the footage with sharp eyes and said,
“As of this moment, we find this person. We need to know their identity. Why they targeted the major southern cartels. Everything.”
As soon as he finished speaking, the Black corps members in the room stood up.
The Draker Black corps, the continent’s most powerful intelligence agency.
They had begun tracking Zeke.
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