The Only Aura User In Magic World

Chapter 1153: Another City I Need to Investigate

"No, please! I was just acting tough! Just acting tough!" the Fake Emperor said.

That’s kind of obvious. So what does he want then?

"What do you mean by that? You want to go back to that city again?" Lynn asked.

"Yes!"

Huh? He wanted to be exiled there again?

"...Can someone explain what happened?" Lynn asked.

Maybe I should just go home instead of listening to this drama. But Celestine is gripping me real hard telling me to stay.

I shouldn’t have stayed. I hate it already.

Apparently, there are several cities in the desert. Far from any cities. They are cities for criminals. Cities for people who committed that didn’t deserve to be executed to be exiled to.

One of those cities was where this Fake Emperor was exiled to. Him and several other people who actually supported him.

Apparently, after a few years of being exiled, the Fake Emperor decided to give up on his goal to take the throne and live in that city well. In fact, he was in charge of that city since no one was. So it could be said that he’s the Lord of that city.

The people who were exiled gathered together and helped each other. Even though it was in a desert, it’s not like the Empire was cruel enough to throw them away to a place without any chance of making a living. So there’s actually an oasis and a bit of fertile land around there.

The Fake Emperor lived happily there. He even got married and had a kid. And he was actually a good lord for that place.

It’s just that a Stampede suddenly happened yesterday and they have been running with their horses trying to find help.

"Yesterday?" I asked.

"You know something about it, Roy?" Lynn asked me.

"Two days ago, I killed thirteen dragons. I don’t know if there were more but I left their corpses on the site so the dragons won’t attack nearby villages and cities. Maybe those monsters ran to the city because they were afraid," I said.

So it could be that it’s my fault. Well, does it matter?

Why is it that when we have to protect one place, we have to sacrifice another place? Maybe I should have gotten rid of all the monsters instead of selecting which one I need to kill.

"I see. Then it’s your fault," Lynn said.

"It’s not confirmed yet though. Maybe it’s unrelated," I said.

"Maybe. But I’m blaming you because it’s easier than thinking of other reason," Lynn said.

...Yeah, sure. I’m the one at fault.

"Whatever. So what do you want me to do?" I asked Lynn.

"Go there and check the place. Once you feel that it’s safe, take me there," Lynn said.

I see. But I think that’s not enough. I need more information.

But I don’t know what else to ask. So I need to improve my deduction skill to be a great detective. And the result of that is...

’Victoria, what should I ask the Fake Emperor and these people about?’

...Is to ask Victoria. She’s usually good at this.

’You’re asking me? Fine. So first, we need to see if Lynn sent some more people to exile after the Fake Emperor. It’s to see if there are new people coming into the city. If there are, it’s possible that they might be from the cult. Second, we need to know how the expert level mages become stronger. Do they somehow have a place to mine Magic Stones, or do they perhaps receive them from the new citizens,’ Victoria said.

Right. That’s what I should ask.

"Lynn, how many people have you sent to exile after the Fake Emperor?" I asked Lynn first because the Fake Emperor sure wouldn’t know about it.

"Claudia?"

Instead of answering, she asked Claudia. Well, Claudia is more reliable than Lynn. I thought that Lynn was smart today. Turns out she’s going to ask Claudia’s help.

"None so far. After that, we were focused on the cult more so we imprisoned criminals rather than exiling them," Claudia said.

"Huh? But they said that you sent them there after they insulted you," the Fake Emperor said.

"Then it’s clear. There’s a city, probably several of them, in the desert, where members of the cult are hiding. Once I go there, more people will die," I said.

"It’s good that you notice. Or maybe it’s Victoria. Whatever the case, we learned something good today," Lynn said.

Now that we know, I asked the Fake Emperor who is confused about the situation.

"So, how come someone from that city in the middle of a desert can reach expert level? Was there any place where you can mine the Magic Stones?" I asked.

"Yes, there are," the Fake Emperor said.

"Have you been there before or is it that the ones who got them were the people who entered the city after you settled there?" I asked again.

"That’s... what is this about again?"

His confusion clearly told us everything. Seems like even these people might not notice that they are already with the cult.

And it also means that there’s a base of the cult in the desert. We have to check them.

Now I feel glad that I created the Stampede. I wish it was me who did it. Though there might be some innocent people getting hurt as well.

"Hmm... Claudia, is there anything else I need to know before going there?" I asked.

"I thought that if what he said was true and he became a rather decent lord at least, we can somewhat put him in charge of a small city as long as he promises to not call himself the Emperor anymore. But there’s a chance that the good government he created was because of the influence of the cult. Tell us, is there any church built there?" Claudia asked.

"Umm... there is one church there where we worshipped the True God..."

"Alright, that’s it. We have people to kill. I’m leaving," I said.

"Wait, Roy! Just wait a moment!" Lynn said as she stopped me. Since Celestine has been gripping my wrist, I couldn’t force myself to leave.

"Fine, what?" I asked.

"Even if I hate him, he’s still my cousin. And that makes his family a member of the imperial family. At least don’t kill everyone. There might be some innocent people there," Lynn said.

"You think I can tell which one is which?" I asked.

"At least you can kidnap innocent people first and bring them here. We will see if they are related to the cult directly or not," Lynn said.

So now I have to kidnap innocent people. Well, I think I have done that many times before. I don’t remember.

The further I am from the time when I returned to the past, the more things I forget. I really need to get rid of the cult before I somehow lost all my memory. Though I doubt that will happen. But as a doctor, the chance is not zero. It’s still possible.

"Then I’ll go there first. For covert mission such as kidnapping people, I’ll do it tonight. I’ll mark that city first. How many cities are there?" I asked.

"There should be three cities. But it has been so long so things might have changed. If you’re not busy, until tonight, I want you to find how many cities or maybe villages there. There should be at least three places with oasis. I’ll show you the map," Claudia said as she showed me the map.

In the map, there’s nothing other than the desert. But it seems like they deliberately erased the oasis from the map so no one will go there.

"Before you go, can you send a centaur here for more investigation? Once we found something, we’ll contact you," Claudia said.

"Okay."

Then I knocked the five people out with sleeping gas before I called a centaur who will help with the interrogation. Claudia also called some master level mages to interrogate these five.

Once everyone is here, I woke them up again.

"Then I’ll be going now," I said.

I’ll try to get everything done by today so I can get my promotion tomorrow.

The guild leader said that I shouldn’t need to take any exam. So I should be able to reach S-rank right away. But I can’t really trust the guild, can I?

I summoned Ray and fly with him in the sky. When there’s no one who can detect us anymore, I opened a portal to the desert so we can go there faster.

"Cities where they exile people, huh? Won’t they be easily influenced by the cult’s ideology then?" I started a conversation with Victoria.

"Everyone could be influenced. Whether they are criminals or not, it doesn’t matter. The cult is just that dangerous," Victoria said.

She’s right. And that’s why we have to destroy them as soon as possible.

I thought we would find another base in Varadis first. But it turns out we found a base in Consenza.

Well, whatever. I just need to kill everyone related with the cult. That’s all.