Wizard: I Add Points and Hunt Monsters

’Or, were there some secrets involved that forced him to do it?’

’Also, according to the letter, it was the Glory Society that orchestrated the forbidden item incident seventeen years ago, and the main culprit was the Ernst Clan...’

Wei’en remembered Lisi mentioning that in a forbidden item incident over a decade ago, the Secret Investigation Department had lost more than half its members. Comparing that with the letter, it wasn’t hard to deduce the connection between the Ernst Clan and the Secret Investigation Department.

’Is Director Ales’s death related to this?’

’And that so-called Glory Society...’

’What a total mess!’

Wei’en felt the matter was growing increasingly complex and bizarre, causing him no end of headaches.

’I’m just an ”ordinary” Wizard Apprentice, a low-level Intelligence Officer, an entry-level Investigator... Is it really a good thing to know this much inside information?’

’Besides, I hate those bastards who love to scheme. Can’t we just settle things with a straight-up fight?’

’Take the Joker, for example. He was a bit unhinged, sure, but he never bothered with convoluted plots. He’d just summon an Abyssal Creature that looked absolutely terrifying... so much better.’

But as much as he hated it, Wei’en wasn’t one to gamble with his life. If he didn’t figure out what these people were after...

BANG.

Just then, the office door was flung open from the outside.

Marco and Lydia burst in, covered in sweat. ”Wei’en, has Director Ales fallen?!”

Wei’en glanced up at them and calmly put away the parchment on his desk before nodding. ”I heard when I returned to the Department this morning.”

He’d had limited contact with Director Ales, so it was hard for him to show any grief.

Especially not after he had killed hundreds of parasites the night before...

”Is it true?”

”It seems so...”

”How is that possible?” Marco muttered in disbelief, running a hand through his long, red hair and messing it up. ”The Director was so strong. How could he have fallen?”

Wei’en said nothing, instead observing Lydia discreetly. ’Is the young lady of the Ernst Clan involved in this?’

’It doesn’t look like she’s happy about the news, though.’

”Marco, calm down,” Lydia said comfortingly, taking his hand. ”There’s been no official announcement about the Director’s death yet. We should wait...”

”No. I have to go find out for myself.”

Before she could finish, Marco shook off her hand, turned, and left the office.

Lydia watched him leave, a disappointed look on her face. ”I didn’t realize he was so attached to the Secret Investigation Department...”

Hearing this, Wei’en retorted, ”And why shouldn’t he be?”

”Hm? It’s not about whether he should or shouldn’t be...” Lydia paused, seemingly surprised by his question. ”You know Marco and I are both from noble families, right?”

”Yes.”

”There has always been... a misunderstanding between the nobility and the Secret Investigation Department. My family warned me before I started. They said working here was fine, but I shouldn’t get too close to anyone, especially not the faction led by Director Ales.”

”A misunderstanding?”

A smile touched Wei’en’s lips as he feigned curiosity. ”Lydia, could you tell me about it, if it’s not too much trouble?”

”Of course.”

Lydia agreed readily, not seeming to think it was some unspeakable secret. She even took a box of snacks out and offered some to Wei’en and Tina.

”To be honest, I don’t know the exact details myself. I just heard that when I was very little, a great calamity struck the city-state.”

”Many people died, including a number of nobles and members of the Secret Investigation Department. Afterward, once the calamity was dealt with, rumors started to spread through the city-state...”

At this, Lydia paused, leaning in conspiratorially. ”The rumors claimed that the Secret Investigation Department caused the calamity.”

’Caused by the Secret Investigation Department?’

Wei’en blinked, the smile on his face growing a little wider.

’If I hadn’t read Clelia’s letter, I might have actually believed her.’

”They say that back then, Deputy Director Ales, who was in charge of the Combat Department, was receiving a forbidden item when it suddenly went out of control. In a very short time, it killed several high-ranking members of the Secret Investigation Department, including the former Director.”

Lydia whispered while nibbling on a snack, ”So, a lot of people suspect that Ales orchestrated the whole thing to become the Director of the Secret Investigation Department.”

’So this is the ”truth” according to the nobles...’

Wei’en asked, intrigued, ”And then?”

”After that, um...” Lydia took a moment to recall. ”I remember my grandfather saying that afterward, the whole city-state, including the Council, began to suppress the Secret Investigation Department.”

”Suppress?”

”So I’ve heard. Plus, Director Ales himself acted differently from everyone else.”

”Was it that he hated the churches?” Wei’en recalled the rumors he’d heard about Ales. Other than his dislike for the churches, there didn’t seem to be much else said about him.

”It’s more than that.”

Lydia started counting on her fingers. ”As soon as he became Director, he purged many of the Department’s old-timers. They were all followers of the Dawn and Storm Church.”

”At the same time, he won over some of the noble clans, like the Montoyas and the Nascimentos, and recruited members of their families to work for the Secret Investigation Department.”

”Furthermore, the Secret Investigation Department’s jurisdiction didn’t originally cover the Natali District, but the Director specifically started accepting commissions from the various noble families there.”

”In my grandfather’s words, Director Ales was sowing discord among the noble families.”

’Sowing discord...’

Wei’en watched her with a pensive expression. ’I doubt it’s that simple.’

’But that’s just my guess.’

He only knew that the Montoya and Nascimento Clans were the families Lisi and Marco belonged to.