Chapter 10
Wise was stunned by the scene before him. Harumasa's chest was pierced by a sword, blood once again spurted out, soaking his clothes and the bed sheet below. Before he could stab the short sword in his hand down, a magic circle appeared under his feet and a series of chains emerged from it, restraining him.
"Harumasa, you are under arrest for assassinating the prince, deceiving the royal family, and providing information to the enemy. You have the right to defend yourself, but any words you say can be used as evidence against you.", Lycaon entered, followed by Rina, high-ranking mages, and many elite soldiers of the royal family. In Lycaon's hand was a neck shackle, which he put around Harumasa's neck. It was something used to restrain people with magical powers like Harumasa, exactly like the one he wore before.
Before Wise could understand what was going on, Harumasa was taken away. He wanted to chase after him, but Rina stopped him. "Your Highness, please leave the rest to Lycaon. We promise to tell you the whole story after we get information from Harumasa. Now, please rest."
Rina bowed to Wise and quickly left. Corin stayed behind to replace Harumasa.
That night, Wise couldn't sleep.
.
"Harumasa, for the sake of you being raised by me, please tell me the truth before I use torture. You've seen it yourself, so you know how cruel the royal family's torture is." Lycaon stood in front of Harumasa, who was tied tightly to a chair, his head bowed. Harumasa was no longer wearing the full uniform of a high-ranking butler, but only a shirt, trousers, and shoes. His clothes were stained with blood and dirt, not as clean as usual.
"...If you had found me, wouldn't you have finished your investigation, Lycaon?" Harumasa didn't raise his head, he still gritted his teeth and endured the pain.
"Unfortunately, there's too little information about you. It could be said that almost nothing was found." Lycaon sighed, emphasizing once again, "It's information about you, Asaba Harumasa, not the child whose identity you're borrowing."
Harumasa frowned slightly, finding out his last name, it seemed like he had underestimated the person who provided information to Lycaon. He still didn't say anything, so Lycaon had no choice but to use torture to get information. Lycaon didn't do it himself, because he couldn't bear to do it to Harumasa, even though it was an order from the emperor. So he could only ask someone else to do it for him.
Lycaon still stood outside the cell, quietly listening to the screams coming from inside the cell. Harumasa himself knew that his body couldn't take the royal torture, but he still accepted Lycaon's use of it. The head butler stood there, occasionally twitching his ears because of the painful sounds inside. As the person who personally raised Harumasa, Lycaon couldn't believe the information he found. But the truth was already clear before his eyes, there was no way to deny it.
The thiren butler clenched his fists, intending to turn back into the cell to tell the torturer to stop, when he heard a weak, broken sound from inside.
"Alright... I'll say it..."
Harumasa still had his head down, his face was not clearly visible. The torturer stopped, bending down so that his ear was as close to Harumasa as possible, because his voice was currently very small and difficult to hear clearly if not close. Lycaon could not hear clearly what Harumasa said, but he saw the expression of the person standing next to him change from surprise to panic, as if he had heard something terrifying.
The torturer stood up straight, left the cell and walked closer to Lycaon.
"Albert, what did he say?", Lycaon looked at the person who had tortured Harumasa and asked. Albert was tall and strong, one of the elite soldiers of the royal family and often took on this role, so he was very experienced in judging whether others were lying or not. If Albert had finished questioning, then what Harumasa said must be the truth.
"Asaba Harumasa, the imperial scout of the Aku Empire, has received hundreds of medals for the best imperial scout and is the right-hand man of the current emperor of the empire.", Albert said clearly and distinctly, but if compared with the information that Lycaon knew, something was wrong.
"Wait, everyone in the imperial palace knows that Harumasa was raised by me, how could he be the right-hand man of the emperor of the Aku Empire?"
"That's the biggest problem. Ever since he was brought back to the palace by the prince, he has never left the borders of the Eridu Kingdom, and has never made a single contribution to the imperial family.", Albert became more tense, it was rare to see him have such an expression after interrogating someone, "Although his orphan status is fake, since he is actually an imperial person, his real identity is too absurd."
Lycaon frowned, then looked at Albert, "Did you ask Harumasa about the contradiction between those two identities?"
"Yes.", Albert nodded in confirmation, "But I find it hard to believe, although I knew in advance that the Aku Empire often researched all kinds of black magic, trying to manipulate space and time... But I didn't think they would succeed."
"Success?"
Albert pursed his lips slightly, then sighed, "Asaba Harumasa used magic to return his body to a young stage. Under the empire's arrangement, he assumed the identity of a child whose parents were killed in the Eridu Kingdom, and was personally arranged by the empire to be sent to the black market, becoming a slave."
Lycaon knew that Harumasa's identity was fake. But he didn't expect that even Harumasa being a slave was actually an arrangement. Only now did he realize something strange. Harumasa was a magical child with striking eyes, yet he had not been sold until he met Wise. There was no way the slave traders would be so careless, they always made sure that the royal family would not appear during the time the slave trade was taking place.
A scenario had been set up from that point on.
Lycaon had no doubts during the time he took care of Harumasa, because at that time, he was just a weak child with no one to rely on.
"The empire had been preparing for this day for so long? So Thatos, the butler who planned to assassinate the prince on the same day, was also from the empire?"
"Not really, that guy was Harumasa using mind manipulation magic. One of the forbidden magics in the Eridu Kingdom, but the most basic magic in the Aku Empire.", Albert sighed, feeling that this matter was more serious than he thought. If Harumasa was simply a spy sent over, then it would be fine to just deal with him normally, but if he was a veteran scout, the empire wouldn't let them deal with him so easily, "I'll write a detailed report and give it to you later. If you have anything to say to Harumasa now, you should hurry. I can see that he's very weak, he'll probably pass out in a while. Honestly, I've been too lenient." Lycaon nodded, stepping aside to let Albert leave. He took a deep breath, calming his emotions before opening the cell door to enter. The smell of blood immediately rushed into his nose, causing him to frown as he looked at the person in front of him. It seemed that Harumasa was still conscious. Lycaon approached, placed his right hand under Harumasa's chin, and gently lifted the other's face up.
Harumasa's face was covered in fresh blood, some of which were darker, seemingly dried. Those golden eyes looked straight into Lycaon's eyes, like a predator looking at its prey. Lycaon was startled for a moment, it was completely different from the way Harumasa looked at him yesterday. The carefree, bright, and mischievous teenager of the previous days was no longer there. The person in front of Lycaon was now the most elite scout of the Aku Empire.
"What a pity, I didn't even get to say goodbye to you in your old identity before I had to face you in your new identity...", Harumasa smiled so fakely that Lycaon felt uncomfortable.
"...all these years, were the words you said all lies?"
Harumasa was a little stunned for a moment, as if remembering what he had said, he then laughed, "Yeah, it's all lies. I prioritized completing the mission. After all, the empire offered a pretty generous reward and it was something I needed. Although I like Prince Wise and the others very much, I need that reward more."
Harumasa's way of speaking was also completely different from usual, although he was seriously injured, his way of speaking was filled with provocation, as if he was teasing the listener. In Lycaon's eyes, Harumasa was like a child at the age of being rebellious and mischievous. But the situation was much more serious than the word 'mischievous'.
"Assassinating the prince could result in the death penalty. Aren't you afraid?"
"Fear? What do I have to be afraid of? As a scout, fear is a superfluous emotion.", Harumasa still kept his mocking smile, turning his challenging eyes towards Lycaon, "Obviously, having any other emotions that affect the scouting is redundant."
Lycaon felt that continuing the conversation seemed pointless, Harumasa did nothing but challenge Lycaon. He looked at the other party, as if he could see through Harumasa's true mood right now.
"You feel guilty, right?"
Harumasa paused, then smiled as before, still filled with pretense, "I said, having any other emotions that affect the mission is redundant."
"I understand."
Lycaon let go of Harumasa's chin and he lowered his head again. The thiren butler left the cell, then ordered an elite guard to keep watch carefully.
When Lycaon had completely left the underground prison, the guard turned back to look at Harumasa.
"Asaba, I didn't expect you to fail this mission. The emperor's trust in you was in vain."