Chapter 145
Translator: Raizu
Editor: Shirayuki
Chapter 145 – Chief Inspector Marius Bertram’s Story
My name is Marius Bertram . Marius for short . Originally born as the second son to Count Bertram . After graduating from the Imperial Academy, I worked as an imperial inspector .
The number of illegal bribery, corruption and black market transactions between the aristocrats and the merchants that I had exposed were too many to tell .
No matter how clever they tried to hide their deeds in the document, I had put many of these criminals in jail .
Many criticized my unswerving method, verbally cursing me and became hostile to me . Some even resorted to heavy-handed means to stop me . But I marched on .
Those selfish merchants and corrupt aristocrats who’re afraid of me even gave me a nickname… the [Ice Dagger] .
They called me Ice Dagger due to how cold and precise my work was . Around this period a lot of people started hating me, alienating me .
It was also around this time that the aristocrats, officials and merchants who hated me started to join hands, opening the sluice gate of harassment to me .
Although the harassment sometimes interfered with my life, I still continued to work .
At some point, probably after I arrested a certain aristocrat, the hate changed into murderous intent . They started to openly aim for my life .
Later on, I heard that they also started targeting my family, the Bertram clan . These aristocrats had become desperate . In fact…their acts started to suffocate me .
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[Investigating Grants?]
[Umu . It’s an order . You can’t refuse it . ]
I received that order when I was still thinking about how to get myself out from all the harassments .
[Go alone to 『Grants』and investigate the situation . We need your report on the frontier territory . ]
[Hold on a second . I believe due to the low security level, reports regarding the situation in the frontier territory are supposedly handled by Redgear?]
[Fumu . Then are you not curious about the truth? I think you are the best person to do this . ]
My superior grinned then laughed .
[Therefore, your mission is to go to Redgear and secretly enter Grants to investigate the situation . ]
That was the beginning .
The Grants frontier was infamous for being shrouded in thick iron veil of unknown . Firstly, it was a special area with a certain degree of autonomy thanks to being a frontier territory . Secondly, it was known to be an area where magic beasts and barbarians run amok .
Many were sent to investigate the situation, but none of them returned . Not even the spy sent by the royal clan and higher ranked aristocrats were exempt from the same fate .
Therefore, the only way to gain information about Grants was from its surrounding areas: Redgear, Fran, and Brittany .
All of these areas saw an extreme growth in development during the recent years . This must’ve had something to do with the Schwarzer frontier territory was what they said .
That’s why, they’re itching to know…the true face of Grants .
There is one more reason why they specifically chose me . They wanted to get rid of me . And since it’s an order, I will have little to no way of refusing . It will also keep their hands clean .
[That is your mission . Go . ]
My superior didn’t give me any chance to say anything . So I could only nod .
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Entering Redgear from the direction of the Royal Capital, I rode a horse through the only road to Grants . There I found something weird .
[Strange… how come there’s no bandit nor magic beast attacking?]
While travelling along the highway, I did see some magic beasts passing by in the distance . There were also some human bones scattered away from the highway . However…
[It’s as if they’ve been instructed to stay away from the people travelling on the highway…?]
The magic beasts only took a glance at me before leaving as if uninterested . It was such a strange feeling . The doubt lingered through the whole journey, but in the end I finally succeeded in entering Heinz, the capital city of Grants frontier territory .
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I unintentionally exclaimed upon seeing the magnificent gate before me .
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[What is this… This city is…]
[Don’t you wanna know?]
[…!?]
Right after my unintentional exclamation, someone from behind me actually responded . And I was stunned upon finding out who that someone was .
[It’s been a while . Hey, Marius . ]
[You… Sir George Walter . ]
The man was one of my seniors back at the imperial academy, said to be the greatest talent in the history of the academy . And… .
[So it’s Marius-kun . You’re that one guy who ate together with George once before, right?]
[Sir Shion Tristan too!?]
If Sir George was the greatest talent, Sir Shion was the greatest genius to ever studied in the academy .
After studying under the great military master, Kasim, I heard Sir Shion wandered around the continent, showing off his military strategy wherever he went . But he never showed his face again at the academy .
[Why…why are the both of you here?]
[Well, we can talk about that slowly . But first, you need to do something first… don’t you?]
With that, they walked me through the magnificent gate .
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I was barraged by one surprise after another to even say anything .
The one place only known as the cursed land now had surpassed the Royal Capital…
Demi-humans and even demonkin all lived together with humans in peace .
After sightseeing around the city, I finally stopped by at the Schwarzer Frontier government office .
[Hi there, you must be Marius . I often heard Shion and the others mentioning your name . Nice to meet you . ]
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The man who stood before me and shaking my hand in a friendly manner right now was fairly young; A calm looking man in his twenties .
At glance he’s just like another young man one can see on the street . However…
(This man is…!?)
Huge . When I stood before him, his presence was overwhelmingly huge . This feelings,
(Is…is this how it feels like to stand before a Hero?)
Seeing me still stunned, the young man finally spoke .
[Alright then… I’ll get to the point . Are you intending to report everything you saw here to the capital?]
[…no, actually I will just say that everything on the already existing reports are correct . ]
[… . . oh? You will really do that?]
[Yes . Regarding the bad security, it’s true that magic beasts still wander around the highway, and there are indeed a lot of demi-humans and demonkins in here . The report wasn’t wrong . My lies will make no difference . As for budget and income, there is no way I could dig that up since this territory has its own autonomy . There’s nothing I can do if Your Excellency refuses . ]
[…fufu . Well, that is indeed the case . ]
[…pardon me for my rudeness . ]
[What is it?]
[What happened to all other investigators who came here before me?]
[… . . you really want to know?]
[Nobody came back after coming here . However, I noticed that safety is guaranteed as long as one stays on the highway . I just want to understand the reason behind this incongruity . ]
The young man went silent for a while, before suddenly smiling .
[The magic beasts from the Land of Demons have been ordered not to attack humans on the highway . They will also not attack children, even when the child strays from the road . ]
After taking a short pause, His Excellency continued .
[There are two reasons why someone got sent here . The first is to spy or investigate this land and the second is to get rid of that person . Am I correct?]
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I scowled at that guess . Because it’s very much correct on my part .
[These are what I said to the latter; ‘What if I offer you to work here instead of you continuing your work in the capital?’, and also, ‘Will you be willing to give your everything to help develop this land?’ . That’s how most of them ended up never returning back to the capital . ]
I was once again stunned . As it turned out, those people that had been reported dead are still alive and well .
[And the spies…?]
[They would leave on their own . But travelling back through the highway is a sure way to be captured by me . Meanwhile, travelling outside the highway… I don’t think even an S-rank adventurer could survive travelling alone on the wilderness of this area . ]
I see… no wonder the secret has been kept perfectly safe… I inwardly concluded .
There’s only one way from Grants to Redgear . Passing through there will make it easier to get caught . But leaving the road will make one the prey of the magic beasts . That’s how none of the spies managed to return .
[Now… it’s my turn . ]
The young man in front of me… The Lord of Frontier said after chuckling .
[This territory is still in the middle of developing . But… we’re currently facing a shortage of personnel . I could really use your help now . So, do you mind staying and working here?]
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And so, I’m now working as the chief inspector of the Schwarzer Frontier territory .
Of course, whatever I saw here couldn’t be known to the capital . His Excellency would secretly inform my family regarding my survival then stowed them away to Grants when things had calmed down .
The place is still developing . The population also kept rising . That’s when trouble will start brewing . Thus I need to read each document thoroughly, not allowing even the smallest fraud . This kind of thing is very important after all .
Now, not only am I proud but I also feel happy about my work .
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[Ice Dagger] Marius Bertram . He was feared for his icy calm personality and sharp attitude .
As the security chief inspector, his job was to crack down on injustice and crime . Soon, he became an indispensable person of Arestia .
For his achievements, he would later be known as one of the『Arestia’s Seven Wise Men』 .
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