Chapter 76: Chapter 76

"My friend who was captured in Memvern... what happened to him?"

"After the war with Memvern ended, he was immediately imprisoned in the war criminal detention center."

"Does that mean he's alive?"

Benji’s head shot up at Theo’s words, his surprise evident. He must have assumed his friend had been executed the moment he was caught.

"Of course, the death penalty has been issued, but he's still alive. I requested that the execution date be postponed."

This was news to Luke as well. At the time, he had been under disciplinary action for joining the war unauthorized, keeping a low profile and excluded from any meetings. As such, he hadn’t been privy to the resolution of the case. Moreover, with Veil announcing his resignation as commander and plans for a successor, Luke hadn’t paid much attention to the matter.

"Why is that? He was a key figure in inciting the war."

"Back then, I had an unsettling feeling, and I thought further investigation was necessary, but…" Theo trailed off for a moment. "He was young. A year younger than you."

Wait—a year younger? Luke’s expression grew serious as he recalled the events of that time. Now that he thought about it, the boy’s face had indeed seemed youthful.

That meant the boy was only sixteen. A mix of conflicting emotions surged through Luke—guilt for having pursued the sixteen-year-old so ruthlessly, and disbelief at his own desperation in fighting someone so young.

"Luke? Are you alright?" Theo’s tone shifted to concern as he noticed Luke pressing his forehead with one hand.

"No... I just feel a bit pathetic all of a sudden..." Luke muttered weakly. "Don’t mind me, just keep talking."

"He's alive…" Benji murmured.

"Yes. At the time, I thought it was too soon to kill him outright, so I requested a postponement. Looking back, it seems that was the right decision," Theo replied, his gaze fixed on Benji.

During the Eastern War, it had initially seemed like Memvern had simply hired summoners to escalate the conflict. Of course, Theo had been shocked by the summoner’s young age, but with the war ending in the Empire’s favor, the captured summoner’s execution had seemed inevitable, regardless of their motivations. The royal court, too, showed little interest in probing the matter further.

The atmosphere at the time was celebratory—victory in the war and the peace treaty with Memvern had turned the Empire into a jubilant festival. There was an unspoken understanding that no one wanted to disrupt the positive momentum. As a result, Theo had refrained from pursuing a deeper investigation, content with merely delaying the execution.

A brief silence filled the room. Benji alternated between lowering his head and staring into space before closing his eyes, as though sensing something. The three men in the interrogation room remained still, instinctively aware that this was not the moment to provoke him.

"If I tell you everything… will you kill me and my friend in the prison too?" Benji finally asked, his voice trembling.

Luke and Calon both turned their gazes to Theo. Only he, as the supreme commander, had the authority to provide a meaningful answer.

The sixteen-year-old boy captured during the Memvern war had already been sentenced to death. Benji’s own crimes and intentions remained unclear, but the fact that he had taken lives made this a serious case. Even Luke, who wasn’t one to dwell on moral quandaries, understood that the Empire could not afford leniency toward those who posed a threat to its security, regardless of their age.

Furthermore, even if Benji held crucial information, the military’s power meant they could extract it through coercion if necessary.

Yet Luke wasn’t particularly worried.

"If you cooperate, your life will be spared," Theo said evenly.

Luke had expected no less.

“…….”

Hearing Theo’s response, Benji hesitated further. He seemed to be weighing whether Theo’s promise to spare his life was genuine, his eyes darting nervously as he gauged the atmosphere. Theo and the others didn’t pressure him, allowing him the time to think. After a long pause, his lips slowly parted.

“Nox... I’m not sure if it’s the same organization from the stories you’re talking about, but the place I belong to is definitely called Nox.”

Benji finally spoke, his voice cautious.

“They take in war orphans—children who’ve lost their parents, been cast into chaos, and abandoned by their countries. They teach them magic.”

He explained that Nox functioned like an orphanage, taking in children on the brink of survival, providing them with food, shelter, and care. The orphanage was called Nox.

“Wait a second,” Luke interrupted, something catching his attention. “They teach magic? But magic aptitude is innate. It’s not something you can just teach someone who doesn’t already have the ability.”

This was a common understanding—magic was a blend of natural talent and effort. No matter how hard someone tried, if they were born without the capacity to harness mana, they could never become a mage.

“...”

Benji’s face darkened at Luke’s remark.

“What if... they forcibly inject mana into the body to make it possible?”

The tension in the room escalated sharply. Benji unconsciously touched one side of his face, the part darkened by blackened veins. The idea of injecting mana into another person was unheard of.

“The leader of Nox brings in children, gains their trust, and then injects them with his mana—specifically, unholy mana—so they can use magic, like this summoning magic.”@@novelbin@@

The process of forcibly infusing unholy mana into children sounded eerily like human experimentation.

“Forcing mana into someone’s body... and unholy mana at that? I don’t even want to imagine it, but if that’s possible, there’s no way a child’s body could handle it,” Theo said, his expression hardening.

“It’s like...” Benji began hesitantly, “walking in the rain with an umbrella. No matter how careful you are, some part of you always gets wet. You think you’re protected, but then you realize parts of you are soaked without even noticing.”

“So, from the moment they bring children into the orphanage, they gradually inject small amounts of mana to prevent rejection?” Theo clarified.

Benji nodded. His weak gesture seemed to scream that there had never been any choice for him or the others. Luke clenched his teeth in frustration.

“Even so, some kids died. I’d wake up to find the body of a friend who had gone to sleep beside me completely blackened... It happened a lot.”

Benji stared into the air, his face shadowed by memories. Whether it was the dim lighting or his expression, Luke thought he looked particularly haunted in that moment.

Theo rubbed his forehead. Crimes were inherently wrong, but exploiting innocent children, using them as tools, was a depravity of the highest order.

“The ones who didn’t die and fully adapted to the injected mana followed the leader’s orders. He would take on jobs, paid handsomely, and use us to carry them out.”

The pieces began to fall into place. The leader of the organization bearing the name Nox had been gathering vulnerable children, breaking down their defenses with care and protection, only to mold them into disposable pawns. It explained Memvern’s actions as well—their weak military wouldn’t have dared to provoke the Empire unless they had the summoners’ power to rely on.

“What was your task? Why did you come to the Empire?” Theo asked.

Benji glanced at the caged furry creature on the table.

“This monster is a low-tier, non-aggressive type, but it’s specialized for reconnaissance. My mission was to enter the Empire and release these reconnaissance monsters across various locations. But to maintain control over them, I needed mana. So I lured innocent people, drained their energy, and left them to die.”

For a child’s scheme, it was horrifyingly cruel. Luke suspected it wasn’t an idea Benji had come up with alone—it was likely taught by the so-called leader.

“What was the goal of all this?” Theo pressed.

“...To gather information on the Empire’s terrain and secrets—especially military secrets. To avoid detection, I posed as a smuggler,” Benji admitted.

The weight of his words settled heavily over the room. All three men fell silent, digesting the implications. It wasn’t just terrain—it was the Empire’s military secrets that someone was after.

Knowing the layout of a nation was one thing, but targeting its military infrastructure was a direct threat to its sovereignty. In a continent where wars never truly ceased, the most powerful nations were those with robust military forces, and the Empire was no exception.

In other words, someone was aiming a blade directly at the heart of the Empire’s military might.

“You said the leader of Nox accepts requests and assigns them to his subordinates?” Theo’s voice was sharper now.

“Yes.”

Luke glanced at Theo’s side profile. His eyebrows were furrowed deeper than usual, betraying his agitation. If what Benji said was true, this could escalate into a significant national issue. And as the commander responsible for the military, Theo carried the weight of that threat directly on his shoulders.

Even as a retired soldier, now a mere civilian, Luke found the revelation staggering. It must have been immeasurably worse for Theo.

What had started as a seemingly small matter—finding a furry monster—had snowballed into a crisis of monumental scale. Luke sighed, glancing at his injured hand.

“Then who requested Nox to steal the Empire’s military secrets?” Theo’s eyes gleamed with a sharp intensity as he posed the question.

Benji tensed under the pressure of Theo’s gaze but eventually began to speak.