“Huh?”
When Aten asked back, Frondier smiled vaguely.
“Rather than knowing, I met them. The people of the Shadow Unit.”
Frondier thought of Laurie.
Of course, when he saved the Shadow Unit people in front of the Fragment, they promised to pretend they hadn’t seen each other, but Laurie was different.
Laurie was someone who had infiltrated the Yeranhes barracks long before that.
‘From what I saw, she didn’t seem to agree with turning people into weapons.’
Right before Frondier saved the Shadow Unit people, Laurie gave up her own life and used her power to save more people.
The reason why Laurie was working for the Shadow Unit was obvious.
But turning humans into weapons, even to drive out the monsters outside, was way over the line.
‘The Empire’s Shadow Unit is huge. Laurie was used as a discard back then, so her position probably isn’t that high yet. Laurie probably won’t agree with the Shadow Unit’s Mana Injection Project.’
Then conversely, Laurie is highly likely to cooperate with Frondier now.
Since she’s a member of the Shadow Unit, she could give Frondier meaningful information.
The problem is where and how to meet her.
“Mr. Eden Hamelot’s explanation makes sense, but it’s not inevitable,” Philly said.
“There are no inconsistencies in the information, but moving according to Mr. Eden’s explanation to find the meeting place relies too much on luck. It’s also a gamble with quite low odds. Nevertheless, Mr. Eden found the meeting place in one try and deployed a large number of people there as if he was certain of it.”
Philly spoke as if she was piercing through Frondier’s eyes.
It was as if she was looking into Frondier’s mind, but there was no need for that.
“Besides, it’s subtly different from the explanation I heard last time. It’s been modified. When I pointed that out, Mr. Eden’s eyes, the way he looked…”
“I was there,” Frondier answered readily.
There was no need for Philly to pierce through Frondier’s mind.
“I provided Eden with the information.”
Frondier had intended to be honest from the beginning.
At Frondier’s words, Philly opened her eyes wide in surprise for a moment, but soon grinned.
“Where did you get that information?”
“Angus, the leader of the research institute, spilled the beans.”
Of course, in reality, he found out through the Analysis skill, but the result was the same.
Philly said, “…Angus was detained and underwent considerable interrogation by the police, but he didn’t answer any questions and just rambled nonsense all day long.”
“Is that so?”
“He wouldn’t open his mouth with some half-assed torture, would he?”
There was nothing to say to that.
Since there was nothing to say, Frondier simply answered, “But I made him open it.”
Gulp, Aten, who was listening, swallowed hard. She was imagining the most brutal torture she could think of.
Philly asked, “Then do you know why I’m bringing up the Shadow Unit?”
“…Yes.”
The Analysis skill that Frondier possesses cannot pick and choose the information it can obtain.
When using the Analysis skill, it is impossible to want to know only his name or only his family relationships.
Even Frondier himself cannot predict what category the information from the Analysis skill falls into.
The biggest reason why Frondier obtained useful information through analysis in the Mana Injection incident was because he poured in a tremendous amount of Mana with the intention of uncovering the enemy’s bottom line.
Therefore, naturally, Frondier knows.
“The Shadow Unit was behind the Mana Injection Project.”
At Frondier’s words, Aten held her breath.
From here on, it really wasn’t something to talk about carelessly anywhere.
Of course, the place where Philly was receiving guests was thoroughly protected with soundproofing and security magic, but Aten couldn’t help but feel a shiver down her spine.
‘Not the entire Shadow Unit, but…’
Frondier knows not only that the Shadow Unit did it but also who did it.
But it’s too difficult to explain how he found out even that.
Philly nodded.
“Yes. The problem is that the Shadow Unit is on the Empire’s side. And I am the Empress of the Empire.”
“It must be painful to punish them.”
This time, Philly shook her head.
“It means it’s a loss to overturn everything.”
“…Indeed, I see.”
Frondier understood what Philly meant.
“Then, you want to weed out only the minimum number of people who led the Mana Injection. Is that what you mean?”
“Yes. I’ve been letting them be lately, and it seems they’ve crossed the line. That’s why they’re even thinking of coming up with such a plan. I hope this will be a good example.”
Philly said that she didn’t like the fact that they even thought of sacrificing citizens more than the fact that they carried out the plan.
So that they wouldn’t even think of such a thing in the future.
So that they wouldn’t dare to even conceive, let alone execute.
“The Empire’s Shadow Unit is a double-edged sword. They are non-existent from the perspective of those outside the Empire, so they don’t need to worry about the means and methods. They have the freedom to do anything, and at the same time, they don’t take responsibility for it. Instead, they have another price to pay. What is it?”
“Because they are non-existent, no one cares even if they die.”
Philly smiled in satisfaction at Frondier’s answer.
“Frondier, will you help me? I’ll compensate you sufficiently.”
[Sub-quest has been created]
[Sub-quest: Weeding Out]
• Description: The group that planned the Mana Injection belongs to the Shadow Unit. Eliminate them as per Philly’s order.
• Objective: Eliminate the ringleaders and collaborators of the project.
• Reward: Separate payment depending on the quest performance. Reward decreases if some ringleaders or collaborators are missed or other members of the Shadow Unit are eliminated, failure if someone who is not a member of the Shadow Unit is killed.
• Failure results in losing Philly’s trust.
It’s been a long time since a quest like this appeared.
‘When I was running around trying to solve the Mana Injection Project at first, no quest appeared.’
Frondier smiled wryly.
Actually, he knew why the quest didn’t appear. It wasn’t his time to step in.
At that time, it was a joint operation, so even the Imperial Palace and Constel were involved, and the research institute would have been discovered eventually even without Frondier.
Attacking Eden and his colleagues and capturing Angus from the research institute were solely Frondier’s own actions. It was a move completely unrelated to the quest.
But this time, it was a proper quest. Frondier felt like things were finally going right for once.
“Alright.”
“Yes, yes. As expected, I like how straightforward Frondier is.”
“However, there is something I want to ask Your Majesty.”
“I don’t like the title.”
“…How did Your Majesty know that the Shadow Unit was behind this incident…”
“I can’t hear you well. It’s strange. Maybe I can’t hear you because it doesn’t seem like you’re calling me.”
Philly closed her eyes with her head tilted. It seemed like she wouldn’t even listen if he didn’t change the title. She probably wouldn’t even respond.
“…Philly.”
Frondier hesitated and said, having no other choice.
Aten, who couldn’t believe it, turned to Frondier with wide eyes.
“…Frondier, even if you don’t know your place, that’s…”
“Sorry. It’s my karma.”
Regarding this title, Frondier had almost nothing to say in his defense.