While Ben focused on growing the Finis, Ricardo mobilized the knights to search the laboratories they had found so far once again.
Sure enough, the same plants Ben had described were planted near the laboratories, and they were even trampled and crushed as if someone had deliberately tried to erase the traces.
Just in case, he took some samples and checked if they matched the plant Ben was growing, and confirmed that both were indeed Finis.
He was momentarily puzzled by how everything fit together so perfectly, but Ricardo didn't suspect it any further.
Just as Theodore had encountered a divine beast in the forest, there was no reason why such luck couldn't come to him as well.
However, if he had thought about it a little more, Ricardo would have felt the doubt as well. About the contradiction that the imperial mages had never been able to track down the demonic energy generated by the experiments anywhere, and that there was information passed down by word of mouth among the black mages who had no exchange with each other and had never even conducted joint research properly.
They focused their search on Finis in the area near where the chimera was discovered, where life reactions were the least, and were able to find several laboratories, but most of them were either temporary laboratories or already closed.
There were more abandoned laboratories than he had thought, so the time it took was getting longer and longer.
Because they didn't know when and where black magicians and chimeras would appear, they couldn't divide the troops into several groups, so the time was bound to be even longer.
Ricardo, judging that he couldn't delay any longer without any results, eventually decided to divide the search party into several groups.
The captain of the Imperial Guards expressed a cautious opinion, but he had to find the black magicians as soon as possible, so he had no choice but to follow.
Ricardo divided the search party, which had originally consisted of only two groups, into eight groups instead, and hired a large number of mercenaries to fill the missing numbers.
No matter how many mercenaries there were, they couldn't be compared to knights, but he thought it was enough manpower since it was a simple search rather than a direct confrontation. But he soon realized that it was a wrong decision.
Before long, a report came in that one of the eight search parties had been completely annihilated. Ricardo, along with the other knights, rushed to the scene and groaned at the remaining carnage.
The bodies scattered here and there were poisoned by demonic energy and their entire bodies were dyed black, and there were few who had all their limbs intact.
"What on earth..."
While the captain of the Imperial Guards looked around in shock, Ricardo had no choice but to admit that the series of events was his own mistake.
"...Collect the bodies of the dead and hand them over to their families. The compensation money too..."
Suddenly feeling a sense of unease, Ricardo cut off his words and scanned his surroundings. Strangely, he felt that the number of people was not right.
He couldn't have not known since he had directly instructed the mercenaries to be hired and assigned to the search party. Ricardo, trying to shake off the ominous thought, ordered.
"Captain, check the identities of the bodies right now. It seems like someone is missing."
"Understood."
After roughly checking based on the identification tags or faces they had, it turned out that the bodies of the knights belonging to the search party were missing.
Only mercenaries were here. The reason was not difficult to guess. The black magicians goal from the beginning was the bodies of the knights.
They had succeeded in human experimentation and created chimeras, but their durability was weak.
This was due to the characteristics of the human body, so they tried various methods such as strengthening and casting magic, but it was not resolved.
So they changed their perspective and decided to use the bodies of even stronger humans as materials.
First, they created a plant called Finis, leaked information to one of the assistants they had recently brought in, and deliberately left him behind while moving the laboratory.
If the assistant was brought in by a forced contract, he would surely tell the knights all the information he knew.
Then, they created a lot of laboratories like traps and waited until the troops were split up, and then attacked and annihilated only one of the split search parties all at once, and then took the bodies of the knights.
Ricardo, having deduced that far, sighed. In the end, this all meant that it was all a trap.
Ricardo, who had unknowingly supplied the materials for human experimentation, gnashed his teeth.
The Captain of the Imperial Guards was so bewildered that he didn't even seem to notice that the First Prince, who seemed like he would never utter a harsh word, had cursed.
The captain of the Imperial Guards, who had grasped the situation like Ricardo, said urgently.
"We must report to His Majesty."
Ricardo didn't answer. The Captain of the Imperial Guards, noticing his intentions, called out as if urging him, but nothing changed.
"Your Highness!"
"...Ben, take care of him first. I was too naive. And, don't report it."
"What do you mean...!"
"It's not too late yet. It would be difficult to move those bodies all at once, so there must be traces left. Let's search a little more."
Just as the captain of the Imperial Guards was about to say something, Ricardo turned to him with a cold look in his eyes.
"That's an order."
He had not received a decree to report on the progress separately, and Ricardo was strictly the one with the right to investigate this case. The Captain of the Imperial Guards had no choice but to follow his opinion.
***
I was having a leisurely lunch with Theo when Theo received a call from the Emperor. Unbelievably, it was an invitation to tea time. Theo, the person in question, chuckled nonchalantly at my shocked face.
"Tea time? A tea time? Is he going senile—oh, wait, sorry. My mistake...”
I was so startled that I accidentally insulted his father, and I quickly covered my mouth in horror. I worried I’d gone too far since he is his father after all, but Teo just burst into a hearty laugh, seemingly not offended at all.
"I, I was so surprised..."
"It's okay. There were many times when I had a hard time understanding His Majesty's actions, but thinking he's senile makes a lot of sense."
This is a big deal. He's going to tease me with that for days. I don't know if I should be glad he's not offended...
Theo laughed for a long time before finally straightening up. Then, he explained that it was just called tea time, but in fact, when the Emperor roughly ordered someone to be summoned, the chief of Head Chamberlain or the Knight Commander would go to the person and indirectly tell them that the Emperor had invited them to tea time. Well, I couldn't imagine that person suddenly calling to have tea and a conversation.
"So, only Theo is going to this 'tea time'?"
"The Empress and the First Prince are coming too, I hear."
"Ack, then I have to go too! What should I do? Can I go with you without saying anything?"
Of course, the Emperor I've seen so far probably wouldn't care if I went or if Orca went, but I was worried that something might happen.
Just in case, I should think of about five plausible excuses. And about five implausible excuses too...
"But why is he suddenly calling everyone? Could it be something related to human experimentation?"
"It'll be one of two things. Either the First Prince succeeded, or he failed."
But what was strange was that there was no sign of that at all. If the result had come out, whether he succeeded or failed, the entire imperial palace would have been in an uproar. Ariel, who I'm lightly exchanging letters with now, would have definitely mentioned it too.
I pondered alone and then gave up thinking. Well, I'll know when I go.
When the time came, I was guided by the head chamberlain to the banquet hall where the imperial dinner was held. It was really just called tea time, and it was extremely insincere. Should I be thankful that they even brought out tea as a formality... However, this time, the Emperor was the first to arrive and sit down, and even the Empress looked puzzled.
The Emperor wasn't the type to be very polite either, so Theo lightly bowed to him and sat down, and I also watched and quietly stuck my butt next to him. Okay, I have a total of ten excuses, so try to find fault with me!
Contrary to what I had firmly decided, the Emperor just glanced at me and didn't say anything. There are good things about being indifferent too. It's a bit of a waste of the excuses I prepared...
"Your Majesty, what is the reason for calling us?"
"I'll talk when the First Prince comes."
The Empress, who had been observing the atmosphere for a while, couldn't read anything from the Emperor's poker face, so she turned her gaze to the door as if waiting for Ricardo.
A little later, Ricardo, who seemed to have rushed, straightened his clothes and finally sat down. Seeing the slight anxiety on his face, it seemed that things hadn't been resolved well, whatever it was.
"First Prince, you'll admit failure, right."
As expected. But there wasn't a deadline, so why suddenly? Did something happen? Theo, who hadn't received any reports from Orca, also had a puzzled expression, and so did the Empress.
"Ah, not yet. I'm tracking down the traces now...!"
"Instead of hunting them down, you even kindly provided the materials for human experimentation yourself, what more are you going to do."
Judging from the Emperor's words, something must have gone wrong, and Ricardo must have hidden it on his own accord.
The fact that the Emperor knew that meant that the Emperor's intelligence was that great... It was also proof that he didn't intend to leave this matter entirely to the princes, as Theo had said.
"I entrust the right to investigate to the Second Prince."
Ricardo tried to say something more, but the Emperor cut him off as if it wasn't worth listening to anymore.
"My patience has done its part just by letting your stubbornness of hiding it without reporting it even though such a thing happened pass. So I won't accept any more rebuttals."
At the firm declaration, Ricardo bit his lip and forced himself to nod. I felt like something was missing... The Empress, who should have said something to defend Ricardo, had been silent all along. It seemed like her thoughts were elsewhere.
The Emperor looked at Theo one last time and said.
"Those guys have already succeeded in human experimentation, and now they even have excellent materials. It would be good to deal with them quickly because I don't know what they'll do. I'll take the investigation data later."
"Yes."
The Emperor left his seat right after hearing the answer, and the Empress left her seat first, leaving Ricardo in his seat for the first time. She didn't seem angry, and it seemed like she had something urgent to do.
I didn't want to provoke Ricardo, who looked frustrated, so Theo and I also left the banquet hall.
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