Looking at her, Kasim nodded.
“I think that is most likely the case. To be honest, I don’t know in detail what he has in mind, but I imagine the situation will proceed roughly like this: he will completely conceal the fact that you informed him, and instead accuse you of being one of their party and have you brought to trial. If that happens, the credit for arresting the black mage will go to one person alone—the very person you reported to.”
“H-how could that be…? That makes no sense.”
“It does. Was there anyone else present when you made your report? A clerk from City Hall, perhaps, or a notary?”
Yuliana shook her head.
“N-no. It was only me and Mitchell.”
“Then the situation is clear. In all likelihood, the man who received your report will try to keep all the credit for himself. And since you were not a third party but part of the same group, it will be all the easier for him to fabricate the matter…”
When Kasim finished speaking, the color drained from Yuliana’s face until it turned ashen. She had never dreamed things would grow this serious. The thought that she had acted rashly burrowed into her mind until she felt as if she might truly go mad.
Only now did it occur to her that, ever since leaving Carsel, not a single thing she had stubbornly insisted on had gone properly. She had been nothing but a frog in a well. Tears flowed before she knew it. Sobbing, Yuliana barely managed to force out a word of apology.
“I-I’m sorry. Hic…”
“This isn’t a problem that ends with an apology. Given our circumstances, all we can do now is fervently hope that the black mage did not commit any evil deeds in Sevain.”
“Sniff… hic…”
Yuliana continued to sob, her eyes swollen red. Perhaps feeling a little pity for her, Kasim spoke in a somewhat softened tone.
“There is only one thing I can do for you.”
Yuliana lifted her head weakly. Kasim shook his head and continued.
“If you are brought to trial, testify like this: say that before you were arrested, you had already terminated your contract with our mercenary band. If you do, you should receive a relatively light punishment. Of course, from this moment on, forget the fact that you reported us. If you try to bring it up, you may only suffer even greater hardship…”
Yuliana’s eyes widened.
“Th-then what will happen to you?”
“What else? We can only leave it to luck… If, by any chance, the black mage committed serious crimes such as killing many people or conducting experiments on living bodies, then all of us will have to rot in prison for the rest of our lives. Most likely, that is what will happen.”
“But there’s a chance it won’t, isn’t there?”
Kasim smiled bitterly and shook his head.
“Don’t you know, after what that man did to you? He is the sort who will pin crimes on the black mage by any means necessary. If there are no crimes, he will invent some and charge him with them. Only then will his own merits rise.”
“H-how could…”
Having experienced the harsh ways of the outside world, Yuliana’s mouth fell open. Mitchell, too, could not close his gaping mouth. The people here were far too much for those who had lived in simple, honest Carsel. Only after a long while did Yuliana speak in a voice so faint it was almost swallowed.
“Th-then will you deny that the black mage was a member of the mercenary band as well?”
Kasim shook his head with a firm expression.
“We cannot do that. We have already accepted him as a comrade. That means we cannot deny him now. That is what comrades are. Good and bad, hardship and suffering and joy—comrades share all of it. If someone is a being you can swallow when sweet and spit out when bitter, then they were never a comrade to begin with.”
After finishing, Kasim looked around at the mercenaries under his command with a troubled expression.
“If any of you wish to be spared punishment, then during the interrogation later, testify that you had already left the mercenary band. I will acknowledge it. If our testimonies match, it should have some effect. You may not be able to avoid punishment entirely, but you should be able to receive a relatively light sentence. Do you understand?”
There was a slight murmur, but no agitation at all. After briefly looking into one another’s eyes, the mercenaries seemed to make their decision and nodded. Patterson spoke on their behalf.
“You know there isn’t anyone like that among us, Captain.”
“In the worst case, you may rot in prison for the rest of your lives. So think carefully before deciding.”
But not a single one of the mercenaries stepped forward. Each of them merely closed his eyes with a firm expression and leaned back against the wall. They looked as though they would willingly accept whatever blocked their path, even if it was death. Watching them, Kasim proudly straightened his chest and looked at Yuliana.
“At the very least, it seems the men I lead know what comradeship means. Though that will be made certain during the interrogation.”
Yuliana and Mitchell lowered their heads deeply with sorrowful expressions. Their hearts were far too different from those of the men before them, they who had sold out a comrade. Until now, they had never even considered that the word comrade could carry such meaning.
Silence continued after that. Kasim closed his mouth, and Mitchell and Yuliana also remained silent. Only the mercenaries stared up at the ceiling with complicated gazes, waiting for the preliminary interrogation to begin…
“Hmm! Name: Kasim. Currently thirty-two years old, captain of an independent mercenary band…”
Before the prisoners trussed up like strings of dried fish, Bertek read from the booklet in his hand. It was Kasim’s mercenary booklet, issued by the Mercenary Guild. At present, all the mercenaries’ booklets were in Bertek’s possession. Not only their booklets, but all their belongings, including their weapons, had been confiscated.
“There is still time before Sword Master Sir Wilkerson and the knights under his command arrive…”
Until the convoy that would transport the black mage arrived, Bertek had decided to conduct an interrogation, even if only a preliminary one. For that purpose, Bertek had summoned all ten or so paladins belonging to Dontrel, and they were guarding the place like an iron wall. There was no need whatsoever to worry about the prisoners escaping.
Their crimes and punishments would be decided at trial anyway, but Bertek’s intention was to secure even a little more testimony unfavorable to the prisoners. For that purpose, he had gathered all the prisoners in the interrogation room.
Of course, Mitchell and Yuliana were no exception. The two sat with their heads bowed deeply, not daring to utter a word. Watching Yuliana closely, Bertek slowly let a smile form.
“I hope she is a quick-witted woman.”
Quickly setting the thought aside, Bertek looked at Kasim. The contents written in the booklet were already entirely in his head.
“You worked with the Thunderbird Mercenary Band for a little over ten years, then founded an independent mercenary band four months ago and struck out on your own. You have an interesting record. Being in a large mercenary band would have paid a hundred times better.”
“Every person has his own thoughts. I don’t believe you need to ask about that.”
Kasim’s answer was extremely curt. Judging from the situation Yuliana was in, he had already grasped something of the other man’s character, so there was no reason for his words to be gentle. There was nothing to be gained by provoking the other man’s temper, but he simply could not bring himself to speak politely. Bertek, however, did not seem particularly concerned by Kasim’s reaction. From the look of it, he seemed to regard the mercenaries as nothing more than tools for his own advancement.
“Then shall we begin by having you face him?”
Looking at Kasim, who sat silently, Bertek clapped his hands.
Clap, clap.
At the signal, one knight pulled aside the curtain hanging against one wall. Behind it appeared a person tied up like a cocoon. It was Damon. His entire body had been bound tightly, and a gag was stuffed into his mouth. With five or six bracelets dangling from each arm and his body tied to a chair in the middle of a magic circle, the sight of him was bizarre beyond description.
When they saw him, the expressions of those in the room diverged. The mercenaries’ faces filled with dejection and despair, while Bertek’s face, by contrast, was suffused with delight. As if they could not even bring themselves to look at his face, Mitchell and Yuliana did not raise their heads at all. With a triumphant expression, Bertek looked back and forth between the mercenaries’ faces and Damon’s.
“In the end…”
Seeing the black mage bound without a single opening, despair flashed across Kasim’s face. In truth, he had placed a sliver of hope in the black mage. He had expected that a black mage of such ability would not be defeated so easily. But when he saw the black mage’s condition, that hope was shattered in vain. Now he and the mercenaries under him had no choice but to wait helplessly to be transported and put on trial.
“Was my judgment truly the right thing to do?”
Kasim had already resolved to acknowledge the black mage as a comrade even if it meant accepting punishment. But now that he was facing a life-or-death crisis, it was impossible for him to feel no conflict at all.
Looking at the situation, it was an unchanging fact that they would be brought to trial and punished, and if they did not acknowledge the black mage as a comrade, there was at least some possibility that their punishment would be reduced. But that was something that did not suit Kasim’s nature in the least.
He had always emphasized comradeship to an extreme degree and prided himself on being a man, so abandoning a comrade just because he was in danger was certainly not something Kasim could stomach. Moreover, there was one more thing that complicated Kasim’s thoughts.
He had suspected as much from the fact that Yuliana had been arrested, but the mage interrogating them was, at a glance, the sort of person obsessed with advancement. One could tell simply from his manner of questioning.
In other words, he was the kind who believed it did not matter if he trampled everything around him for the sake of his own success. Mitchell was a similar type, but in degree, he did not seem fit to reach even the mage’s feet. They had truly been caught by a nasty bastard.
Inwardly, Kasim clenched his teeth hard.
“This is truly troublesome.”
Even if they denied the fact that they had accepted the black mage into the mercenary band, it did not seem likely to work very well. It was a truth throughout the ages that capturing an entire group brought far greater merit than capturing just one person. Therefore, it seemed clear that the man would try to entangle them as accomplices by any means necessary. In such a situation, Kasim’s course of action could only be set. In the end, he let out a long sigh.
“There is nothing for it. We are already in the same boat. I would rather choose to uphold loyalty.”
Having made up his mind, Kasim lifted his head. Bertek’s gleaming eyes were already fixed on him, but Kasim met his gaze head-on, as though refusing to lose.
“Then I shall begin the interrogation.”
Looking at the mercenary captain who dared glare at him without fear, Bertek spoke leisurely. The other man’s attitude was somewhat insolent, but it did not matter. He had already firmly decided to drive all of the mercenaries into court as accomplices. It was a little pitiful that they would rot in prison for life, but for the sake of his own advancement, it could not be helped. Having organized the questions in his mind, Bertek extended a finger and pointed at Damon.
“That man is the notorious black mage of Sevain. Our nation’s intelligence bureau has already begun an investigation into him, so his crimes will be revealed before long. Therefore, I hope all of you will respond to the interrogation sincerely and earnestly. Only then will leniency be granted within the bounds of the law.”
Bertek stopped speaking and looked at Kasim.
“First, I will ask you, the captain. Is that man a member of your mercenary band?”
In Bertek’s mind, a rebuttal had already been prepared in case the other man denied it. Even among sharp-minded mages, Bertek was particularly brilliant, and he also possessed the eloquence to bind an opponent so tightly that they could not move an inch. However, his expectations missed the mark completely.
“That is correct. He is indeed a member of the Kasim Mercenary Band. To be exact, I personally accepted him into our mercenary band twelve days ago.”
At the unexpected response, Bertek was stunned for a moment. In such cases, prisoners usually denied any related facts. One could call it the common reaction of people driven into a desperate corner. If it meant their crimes could be reduced even slightly, most prisoners did not hesitate to sell out their comrades. Yet here, a man who broke common sense had appeared. As if to confirm it, Bertek asked again.
“Are you certain?”
“I am.”
“Because of your confession, a heavy sentence may be demanded. Even so, do you have no intention of changing your decision?”
Perhaps because it would be a waste not to use the rebuttal he had prepared, Bertek asked repeatedly. But Kasim’s answer contained not the slightest hesitation.
“No matter what anyone says, he is a member of the mercenary band. If he has committed a crime, then as captain, I will naturally pay the price alongside him.”
At the unexpected reaction, Bertek shook his head.
“An interesting fellow. Then let us see what the others say.”
This time, the interrogation began with the mercenaries under Kasim’s command.
“Now I will ask you.”
Questions were hurled at them, asking whether the black mage was their comrade and whether he was indeed a member of the Kasim Mercenary Band. But the result was no different from Kasim’s.