"...Seems like you have too much free time,"
Updated from freewёbnoνel.com.
After a beat of silence, Theo’s voice carried a faint chill. Calon flinched visibly. That was one of Theo's bad habits, something Luke had noticed for a while now. When Theo was displeased, he didn’t express it bluntly; instead, he would say something indirectly, making others uncomfortable.
Luke might no longer be a soldier or Theo’s subordinate, but the man standing next to him wasn’t in the same position. Hearing something along the lines of, ‘Aren’t you slacking off instead of working?’ from a superior was bound to make anyone’s stomach churn.
“My apologies. I’ll head in now.”
Calon straightened up, putting on a disciplined posture, and entered the interrogation room. Luke could sympathize with Calon’s feelings. When someone who was usually kind and approachable suddenly radiated a cold aura, it was naturally terrifying. There’s a saying: a person who is sweet for 364 days and explodes with anger on one is scarier than someone who’s mad all year round.
“Hm.”
Under normal circumstances, Luke would have pointed that out with a sharp remark. But instead, he awkwardly cleared his throat and walked past Theo into the room. The words from earlier in the hallway still lingered in his mind, making him uncomfortable. Ignoring Theo’s gaze that followed him, Luke stepped forward.
Once Luke entered, the door closed behind him. As expected, the interior of the interrogation room was dimly lit. Without the small lamp on the table, it would have been impossible to see anything, as though the darkness itself would swallow them whole.
Sitting in front of the lamp was someone Luke vaguely recognized: the summoner. On closer inspection, the table held more than just the lamp. Inside a small, square cage made of iron bars was a furry monster, trembling.
Thinking that all the key players were gathered here, Luke moved to his seat. The summoner and the creature both reacted the same way upon noticing him—they recoiled, their eyes darting around nervously, filled with panic.
“What the hell?”
Luke’s words came out sharp, filled with irritation. The summoner let out a small squeak, retreating even further. Both Calon and Theo exchanged puzzled glances, looking between Luke and the summoner.
To the summoner, Luke appeared as nothing short of a murderer. Fear often imprints deeply in the human body, and once embedded, it remains difficult to shake off, prompting immediate reactions to the source of that fear.
The last fight the summoner had before being captured was against Luke. Even in a moment where one of his arms had become useless, Luke had relentlessly pursued him with wild, bloodshot eyes. The madness in Luke’s expression back then had surpassed mere determination—it had been sheer ferocity, as though he would chase the summoner to the ends of hell. That terror had seared itself into the summoner’s very being.
“Damn, you’re really scared, huh?”
Luke seemed to realize this, chuckling quietly. The furry creature trembling alongside the summoner didn’t sit well with him, but he let it slide for now.
“Well, you get it now, don’t you?”
Dragging a chair with a loud screech, Luke sat across from the summoner.
“If I wanted to, I could do anything to you.”
“Hick...”
“So you’d better cooperate and answer the questions truthfully. No lies, not a single one.”
Theo let out a small sigh but didn’t stop Luke’s threatening tone. Instead, he silently took his seat beside Luke. Calon positioned himself behind the summoner, ready to intervene if necessary. Though the summoner’s movements and magic were restricted, Calon’s presence ensured there would be no sudden tricks.
“I’m not a patient man,” Luke said, reaching out with his left hand to grab the summoner’s cuffed wrist. The clinking of the metal cuffs echoed as the summoner’s arm trembled violently.
“I’m holding myself back so hard from smashing your hand into pieces. So do me a favor and cooperate, yeah?”
His lips curled into a smile, but his words carried a sinister edge. The summoner, as though hypnotized, nodded frantically. In the dim light, Luke thought he saw tears welling in the summoner’s eyes.
“Commander,” Calon called softly, handing Theo a folder he had been holding. It contained basic information about the summoner—name, age, and other details gathered before the interrogation began.
The summoner’s name was Benji, and he was male. At first, Luke didn’t think much of the document, but his eyes widened as he skimmed the details.
“Seventeen years old?”
It was surprising to learn the summoner wasn’t even an adult yet. Now that Luke thought about it, with the lamp’s light illuminating only half of his face, Benji did look somewhat youthful.
“At seventeen, shouldn’t you be eating meals your mom cooked and doing coloring books? What the hell are you doing committing crimes?”
“Luke, were you doing that at seventeen?”
“This isn’t about me!”
Luke shot back at Theo’s out-of-the-blue question. Behind them, Calon flinched slightly but remained silent.
“I’ll ask you about that later,” Theo said calmly.
“What? No, wait—what the hell does that even mean?”
“Benji.”
Ignoring Luke’s protests, Theo turned his attention back to the summoner. At the sound of his name, Benji hesitated before slowly raising his head. Up close, he truly did look like just a frightened child.
“I’ll be direct. Are you a member of ‘Nox’?”
The question startled not only Benji but also Luke and Calon. Both turned to Theo with wide-eyed expressions.
“Theo, hold up. Nox? Isn’t that just a fairy tale?”
There was a story every mage knew.
A long time ago, when magic first emerged in the world and mages began to harness its power, they were heralded as saviors and champions of justice. But over time, some began to misuse their power for selfish and destructive purposes. These individuals called themselves Nox.
As more joined the ranks of this dark organization, the world plunged into chaos. War and suffering spread until a powerful mage appeared, vanquishing the members of Nox and purging all unholy magic from the world. It was a tale often dismissed as nothing more than a legend.
Some mages believed the story to be true, while others saw it as a fabricated moral lesson meant to discourage the misuse of magic.
“In our current era, where magic has reached new heights, users of unholy magic are rare. But they’re not nonexistent. You know that, Luke.”
“Yeah, but...”
Luke had encountered users of unholy magic during his time in the military. There had been incidents where people cursed their enemies or organized small groups to control black markets.
Moreover, Luke knew better than anyone that the boy in front of him had used unholy magic to summon and control creatures—a fact that had cost Luke the full use of his right hand.
“But to connect that to Nox? Isn’t that a bit far-fetched?”
“Nox” was a group whose very existence was uncertain.
“I don’t think they’re the same Nox from the story,” Theo clarified. “But it’s undeniable that these individuals are operating as an organized group.”
The summoner captured at Memvern, the one now sitting in front of them—Benji had referred to the Memvern summoner as a “comrade.”
“But Commander, there have been other cases where users of unholy magic worked together, haven’t there?”
“Yes. But all they did was harm a few people or play around in the black market. Getting involved in a large-scale conflict between nations, like at Memvern, is on a completely different level.”
For Nox to be involved in such a significant event was unprecedented. According to the story, the members of Nox had also been adept at sowing discord between nations.
“There’s another reason I’m suspicious,” Theo added.
“What is it?”
“Summoning magic,” Theo replied, tapping the table. Benji remained silent, his lips pressed tightly together.
“What about summoning magic?”
It was an obscure form of magic, but not inherently unusual.
“There’s a theory that summoning magic was created by Nox.”
“...What?”
“To be precise, summoning magic is said to have been developed using unholy magic as its foundation.”
Luke’s jaw dropped. The origins of a technique or magic weren’t usually considered important in practice. It was like wearing beautiful clothes or eating delicious food without questioning their creation.
“Wow, Theo, you really know some strange stuff.”
Luke’s genuine amazement made Theo’s eyebrow twitch slightly.
“Not really. I just read about it in a book I found interesting back when I was a cadet.”
Theo had always been an anomaly, Luke thought, recalling how he’d spent his cadet days buried in obscure books at the library while others went out to relax after exams.
“It does seem like too many coincidences align,” Calon remarked, nodding in agreement.
Luke’s gaze naturally returned to Benji, who remained tight-lipped. Now that he knew the boy’s age, he felt a twinge of guilt about pressing him too hard.
“My... my comrades...”
At that moment, Benji spoke for the first time.