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The founding emperor of the Empire, Philion Grand Emperor, left these words after ending the chaotic era following the fall of the Third Empire.

“The capital must always be situated at the foot of a mountain and by the water.”

At that time, the emperor’s ministers did not understand what he meant, but nonetheless, following Philion Grand Emperor’s strong assertion, the location of the Capital City was decided to be a prime site, with the Uros Mountain Range to the north and the Tethys River to the south.

To the south of the Tethys River flows Sangria.

In Capital City District 20, the Port District.

Amidst the dark night, unilluminated even by the moonlight due to the overcast clouds, only one old warehouse stood among the lined buildings by the coast, its paint peeling and its iron corroded, exuding an eerie atmosphere as it flickered with dim light.

Inside the warehouse, which oddly resonated with life despite the late hour, the stench of sweaty bodies and rotten water filled the air as several men drank cheap liquor and passed the time with card games.

Among them was Jack, known as “Flatnose,” who had once been a dock worker but lost his job due to a shoulder injury and now worked at the bottom of the organization, sharing silly jokes with his companions while playing cards.

“Do you know what I just heard?”

“What?”

Jack chuckled as he shuffled the cards on the wooden table.

“They kidnapped a dwarf earlier today. That guy screamed like a pig! ‘No! Don’t do this!’ …With all that hair, if you only heard his voice, you’d think he was a girl.”

A muscular, bald man named Walter, known as “Iron Jaw,” tilted his beer mug and replied.

“Honestly, if you strip him down, he might as well be a girl. You can’t tell the difference between a male and female in that dirt bug race.”

Another man scoffed, his tone dripping with disdain.

“Those filthy immigrants should be grateful to be alive.”

At that, all the men gathered in the warehouse chuckled in agreement.

Listening to their conversation, one might think they were a deeply rooted racist group, but in reality, Jack had no particular animosity towards other races until he joined this organization. He had merely been living like trash day by day after losing his job until he overheard some drunken fool in a tavern ranting about how the other races were stealing jobs, which stirred his feelings.

Eventually, he found himself among like-minded individuals in this warehouse.

People usually prefer to blame others for their unfortunate circumstances. If they can convince themselves that it’s not their incompetence but the other races’ fault, it gives them some peace of mind.

Most people gathered here had similar reasons for coming together. It wasn’t that they genuinely hated other races; it was merely that they were people who needed an outlet for their frustrations amid life’s struggles, finding a convenient excuse to rally against other races.

As the night deepened and they exchanged silly, lowbrow jokes, a bird flew in through a slightly opened window. Recognizing it as Zegler, Jack spat on the floor and said.

“What’s this? Did the letter arrive already?”

“I thought he said he’d keep quiet for a while.”

Sitting closest to Zegler, Jack checked what Zegler had in his mouth. Usually, Zegler would bring letters, but strangely this time, what he had was not a letter.

It was an empty envelope, with nothing inside.

“Uh?”

Jack felt a chill creep down his neck upon seeing the empty envelope.

However, Jack’s drunken mind couldn’t immediately grasp what it meant, and he just stared blankly at the white envelope.

Boom-!! The wall of the warehouse exploded.

“Gaaah!!”

“What the hell!!”

With the sudden explosion, the wall crumbled, and dust and debris filled the warehouse. The men inside coughed as the muddy dust swirled around.

Amidst the chaos, a man slowly rose to his feet from the dust in the warehouse.

Jack doubted his own eyes as the man moved as if he had just landed and was getting up slowly.

Could it be that this man broke in purely through physical prowess, without any magic or explosives?

The man surveyed the warehouse with an expressionless face and calmly began to speak.

“I finally found it.”

As if he had been searching for this place, Walter, still coughing, shouted with a twisted face.

“Who the hell are you?! Don’t tell me you’re from the Gendarmerie!”

“No.”

The cold gaze of the man scanning each member of the organization froze the surrounding air.

Jack also felt the chill at the nape of his neck intensify.

“Even worse.”

“What are you standing around for! Everyone, attack!”

Walter, thrusting his fist like a log, called out excitedly. The other members of the organization screamed and rushed at the man, brandishing their weapons.

In response, the man threw out a punch. There were no special techniques or skills—just a fast and powerful strike, and its linear trajectory moved too quickly to be followed by the eye.

Jack gaped in horror as he witnessed Walter’s bear-like figure soar into the air from just one hit.

*

Amidst the uproar, a carriage came to a rapid stop in the Port District.

Captain Hermann, disembarking from the carriage, shook his head in disbelief at the commotion echoing from within the warehouse.

“Oh boy, they already started.”

To trace the Zegler scroll received from Leonard, a capable wizard was needed.

However, in a hurry, Ion found it tedious to search for a wizard, opting for a simpler solution—summoning Zegler and chasing after him.

As Ion darted through the rooftops faster than a horse, Captain Hermann couldn’t believe his eyes at the sight of what sounded like a Sword Master.

In any case, thanks to Ion’s tracking magic sent his way, Captain Hermann arrived with a few trustworthy subordinates, but despite having a carriage, they couldn’t keep up with Ion’s speed.

Fortunately or unfortunately, due to the nature of “The Future of the Empire,” the Zegler scroll didn’t fly straight to the hideout at once. One by one, he took out their men, obtaining new Zegler scrolls until he finally found a location that could truly be called the hideout.

Thus, Captain Hermann also managed to arrive at the Port District without being too late.

“You idiots! Get it right! If you screw this up, my head is on the line!”

“Yes, Captain!”

The Capital City of Sangria was managed by the Capital City Gendarmerie, and no other military organizations were allowed to interfere with law enforcement, but a few exceptions existed, namely the Philion Imperial Academy’s Garrison.

The only justification for the Garrison to act was in cases concerning the safety of the students.

However, as it was not a situation requiring formal meetings and discussions at the academy level, but rather operating under the direction of one instructor and the garrison captain, the potential for issues later was very high.

Nevertheless, Captain Hermann had no time to spare. If he did nothing now, he would be implicated in the treason of his subordinate, so it was a matter of ‘do or die’—he had to make some move to survive.

“Gwahh!!”

Just then, a scruffily dressed man stumbled out from inside the warehouse, screaming in terror. He looked as if he was desperately fleeing from something inside.

“A monster! Help me! Save me!”

“Wha? You? Get back in there! You’re not going in?!”

Captain Hermann struck the man’s head hard with the scabbard. As a garrison captain, he had enough skill to easily subdue a thug or two.

However, the man appeared relieved to be caught by the gendarmerie rather than facing the monster inside.

Seeing that, Captain Hermann grew exceedingly curious about what was happening inside the warehouse.

Yet, thinking he couldn’t let a single one of these guys slip away if he wanted to save his own skin, he stood firm.

“Gaaah-!!”

“Ah! Help me!!”

No, it wasn’t that the horrific screams coming from inside the warehouse deterred him from entering.

*

“Hmmm….”

I knocked down all the members of the organization in the warehouse and looked around.

Up till now, Zegler had only led me to places with one or two members of the organization, and even then, we had to move several times because they knew nothing.

After repeating that, I finally found this warehouse. The atmosphere seemed to suggest that something was hidden, but in reality, it didn’t differ much from an ordinary warehouse except for the large space and the higher number of people.

Was it just a place where some members of the organization were gathered? That couldn’t be true.

I lightly lifted my foot and stomped the ground.

I adjusted my force to make the sound and vibration spread as wide and loudly as possible without damaging the floor, and I could feel something beneath the building—a vacant space.

So there was a basement. But I couldn’t see any entrance.

I grabbed the collar of a particularly flat-nosed guy among the fallen members. He moaned in pain, but his consciousness was still intact.

“Where’s the basement entrance?”

“Th-there… over there…”

He rolled on the ground, producing a deflated sound as some of his teeth cracked, pointing with his trembling finger toward the ground.

When I peeled away the carpet from where he pointed, there indeed was a basement iron door leading down. However, naturally, the door was locked.

Compared to the old warehouse building, the iron door appeared uncharacteristically clean and new. It was as if the warehouse was just decoration, and this interior was the real deal. It wouldn’t open through regular means, of course.

“How do you unlock this?”

“I—I don’t know… Only… he knows… Only he knows…”

I see…

I set the flat-nosed guy down and stood before the basement entrance.

I wasn’t sure whether this door was locked with magic or required a key, but it didn’t matter.

I slammed my fist down on the floor with all my strength.

Bam-!!

Breaking the door was the solution.

 

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