Laharl

Ishgar Magic Council.

A special organization that maintains order in the magical world of the Ishgar continent, equipped with investigative teams and a violent action force tasked with capture missions, with branches spread across various nations, not subject to local government oversight.

This behemoth spanning the entire continent is governed by a decision-making body composed of one Chief Councilor and nine Councilors, and controls the "Ultra-Destructive Mage Strategic Weapon"—"Etherion"—capable of annihilating a country in an instant.

Several hundred years had passed since the Council last deployed "Etherion." Due to its excessive destructiveness, the Council's high-ranking members decided not to activate it lightly, instead keeping it as a deterrent.

As the upper echelon of power, the Councilors only needed to handle major decisions, leaving execution and minor incidents to the Council's middle management.

Laharl was one such busy middle manager.

As the Captain-General of the Violent Action Force, tasked with "punishing rogue guilds" and "hunting down dark guilds," Laharl slept only four hours a day, spending the rest of his time buried in heavy work.

Just today, a weary Laharl received a report uploaded from the Lupinus branch:

Joel, a director of the "Black Bird Consortium," had surrendered to the Magic Council, claiming he was coerced by the Black Magic Priest "Puppeteer Kura," forced to provide substantial funds to the Dark Magic Cult and repeatedly commit major commercial fraud.

A consortium was nothing, but when it involved a blood-soaked Black Priest and his infamous Dark Magic Cult behind him, this intelligence warranted attention.

Laharl had no choice but to abandon his already meager rest time, force himself to stay alert, and travel through the night to personally head to Lupinus to handle the matter.

The action force was well-equipped. When Laharl's team arrived at the southern outskirts of Lupinus City, it was barely 11 PM.

The Magic Council branch chief and the local mayor were already waiting outside the Black Bird headquarters.

"Captain-General, I didn't expect you to come in person."

The branch chief looked at his superior with some surprise, but then relaxed. Laharl had a good reputation among the Council's middle and lower ranks—diligent, hardworking, and caring toward his subordinates.

There were currently only eight Councilors, and both inside and outside the Council, it was widely believed that Laharl had a strong chance of filling the last vacant seat this year.

Laharl had no mind for small talk with his subordinate; his focus was entirely on the work. "Where is the Puppeteer?"

Hearing this, the mayor recalled a terrifying scene and immediately ran aside to retch in disgust.

The branch chief's expression also turned unpleasant.

This gave Laharl a bad feeling. Whenever a Black Priest appeared, it always meant a massacre, a blood sacrifice to their faith in the "Black Mage."

Thinking of the surrender report, could that consortium's director be...

The branch chief saw at a glance that Laharl had misunderstood—he'd had the same thought when he first received Joel's surrender call.

"Captain-General, don't misunderstand. Puppeteer Kura did leave us a big mess, but not what you're imagining."

With a look that was hard to describe, the branch chief invited Laharl to enter and see for himself.

The action force quickly moved through the path between black buildings and stopped in front of an oval high-rise.

On the ground and the surfaces of nearby buildings, shattered chunks of flesh mixed with pools of blood were splattered everywhere.

Even the action force, veterans of hunting dark guilds, had never seen such a bloody scene. A few members with weaker stomachs bolted from the hellish site and vomited against the wall.

The branch chief was used to it; if his stomach hadn't already been empty from earlier heaving, he'd have joined them.

"Captain-General, this mess on the ground... is Puppeteer Kura, one of the Black Magic Priests."

"According to the mage who defeated him, Kura was trying to escape by turning into threads when his magic hit him. The 'Puppet Control Thread' failed, and Kura's body, transformed into threads, shattered on the spot."

Laharl nodded. After a brief mental analysis, he accepted this explanation.

Kura was such a dangerous evil mage that the Council had naturally put a bounty on him. In one siege, Kura had easily escaped a tight encirclement by turning into threads, foiling what had been the best chance to capture him.

Unexpectedly, Kura had died by his own life-saving skill.

A pity he died like this—there was no way to get the location of the Dark Magic Cult's main base from him.

Still, no further casualties was a good thing.

"Take me to meet the mage who defeated Kura."

Hearing Laharl's words, the branch chief's expression turned odd, but he complied, leading Laharl up to the top-floor luxury office of the oval high-rise.

Inside the office were only two people: a flustered, sleazy-looking middle-aged man frantically flipping through documents, and a clean-cut youth reading a book.

"Lord Laharl! I want to surrender! Arrest me, please!" Before Laharl could speak, Joel, who had been organizing years of evidence of his own financial fraud, latched onto Laharl's leg, crying and wailing as if seeing a savior.

Knowing Laharl had no patience for this, the branch chief promptly dragged Joel out of the office and closed the door behind him.

"What a racket. A grown man with no sense of shame, don't you think, Mr. Laharl of the Council?" Noah set down the shocking photo collection he'd found in the office and smiled at Laharl, whose name he'd just learned.

With only the two of them left in the office, Laharl got straight to the point. "Joel's claim of being 'coerced' is false. The Black Bird was always a tool for funneling funds into the Dark Magic Cult."

"You're the one who made him say that. Why?"

Given his position, Laharl's experience was considerable.

The moment he laid eyes on Joel, instinct and experience told Laharl it wasn't "coercion"—Joel had definitely been "willing" to make money for the Dark Magic Cult.

Noah didn't deny it. Instead, he asked how long Joel's surrender would put him in prison and what would happen to the money from his new frauds.

Channeling funds to dark forces was a serious crime. Laharl's answer was that Joel would serve 20 years; if it was later discovered he was a Dark Magic Cult member, those 20 years would become life without parole.

But the verdict for financial fraud wasn't under the Council's jurisdiction. Still, Laharl said he would urge the Kingdom of Fiore—King Doma was a just king, and with the Council's face involved, no one would be foolish enough to reach for the victims' funds.

Looking at Noah, Laharl said, "May I ask your name?"

"Easy enough. Today, I'm called Nexus."

Noah certainly wouldn't give his real name—who knew how tight-lipped the Magic Council was? If trouble followed him back to the guild, that wouldn't be good.

"Today, is it..."

Laharl gave a meaningful smile and didn't press further.

"Then, on behalf of the Magic Council, I'd like to express our gratitude to Mr. Nexus for your contributions in combating the forces of darkness."

Noah waved a hand, having already resolved President Rena's problem at its source. Naturally, the two million Rena had used to help Noah infiltrate Black Bird now belonged to him.

Once he returned and turned in the mission, he'd pocket another three million. The head of a commercial guild was practically a hidden tycoon.

Tossing the steamy photo book onto the table, Noah bid Laharl farewell.

Staring at the door that opened and closed again, Laharl muttered to himself, "Nexus... your face resembles someone's. What relation could you two be?"

Turning to look at the list of his own crimes Joel had compiled, Laharl's gaze was instead drawn to the photo book Noah had left behind.

Glancing left and right, seeing no one around, Laharl snatched it up at lightning speed and tucked it into his robes.