Chapter 216

“…Ugh?”

Faris flinched back in surprise.

From the open door, a plume of smoke and a murky scent, almost violent in nature, assailed them.

It was akin to the explosive burst of smoke when opening the door of a burning building.

Startled, Faris sniffed the air a few times, and his expression hardened.

“This smell…”

Sweet and bitter.

Like chocolate.

Like a bad deed.

Like a demon’s whisper.

Like…

“A drug…?”

I walked into the dark and gloomy drug den.

It felt less like entering a room and more like entering a dungeon.

“Matthew…? Cadet Matthew, are you in here…?”

Faris looked around the room with a face of disbelief.

He saw the bulging bedspread.

It was trembling violently, like a vibrating cell phone.

It was impossible not to know that it was Matthew, hiding under the covers.

“Matthew…?”

Crinkle.

Something was stepped on.

Faris, startled by Matthew’s condition, finally looked down as if he hadn’t noticed before.

It was a paper wrapper.

On the white paper, a fairytale-style angel holding a red heart cookie was smiling.

The wrappers led to the bed, one by one, like a trail of sweets in a fairytale.

The scattered wrappers under the bed came into view.

Not just one or two, but well over a hundred of them.

Faris' breathing became ragged.

His heart rate quickened.

Blood coursed through his heart and spread throughout his body more rapidly.

He could feel his body temperature rising.

“This is…, ah…!”

“Angel Medic.”

I stood beside Faris.

“Cadet Martin, this…, do you know what this is?”

“Yes. I hear it’s a panacea that’s been popular among young nobles lately. It’s the cash cow that feeds the underworld… a drug.”

“…!”

Gritting his teeth, Faris strode towards the bed.

Stepping on the Angel Medic wrappers, he reached the bed and threw back the covers.

I silently closed Matthew’s door.

“Matthew!”

Matthew, who had been hiding under the bedspread, was revealed.

His gaze turned towards us.

Hollow eyes and sunken cheeks.

Dark circles and flaky, white skin.

Around his mouth, a mixture of drug powder and saliva had hardened.

His hair, once like fresh blades of grass, was now withered as if it had rotted and died.

He looked so different from the last time I had seen him.

So different that you could say he was another person.

When Matthew saw us, his eyes, nose, and mouth widened as if they would tear, and he screamed.

“Kuaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaah—!”

Teacher Faris silently reached out and stuck his hand into Matthew’s mouth.

Then, with his other hand, he suppressed his struggles.

“Ugh-ruh-uh-uh-uh-uk!”

Matthew, his mouth blocked by a hand, made grotesque noises.

Teacher Faris' expression as he looked down at him was one of devastation.

And… it filled with rage.

He fixed his gaze on Matthew’s hollow eyes and spoke.

“Thank you. If it weren’t for Cadet Martin, Leader Willow would have had to see this herself.”

“I thought it was necessary.”

“Yes…”

The grotesque sounds Matthew made echoed endlessly.

“…Cadet Martin. I… know you’re a Peacemaker.”

“…”

“I also know that you and Cadet Anette have taken control of the slums.”

“…”

“Tell me. What… what in the world is going on?”

* * *

The scenery passed by outside the train window.

If you were to ask if it was so fast that it was a blur, usually that would be true, but I could see it clearly.

‘Matthew.’

He was the first person to speak to me in the early days of my possession of Martin, the one who said we should get along.

If you asked if he was a friend… I suppose you could call him a friend.

Not a grand relationship like with Elisha, but the kind of… friend that kids this age define as someone in the same class you can greet and have small talk with when you run into them.

‘Drugs, huh.’

It was a frustrating situation.

“Master, here’s some lime tea to calm your stomach.”

“Ah, right.”

Lilac, sitting in the seat across from me, handed me the tea with a bright smile that blew away all worries.

‘It must have been obvious.’

The reason Lilac was suddenly here was thanks to Teacher Faris.

After hearing my explanation, he explained the situation to Willow and said he would look for traces of the drug smugglers, telling me to return first.

After agreeing, I came to the platform to find Lilac waiting for me.

She said she had received a message from the Academy to meet me.

Thanks to her, I was able to change from my cadet uniform to my regular uniform.

‘This is much appreciated.’

Principal Lukfels, who cared deeply for his cadets, must have been concerned for me after witnessing the drug situation.

My mind wasn't so weak as to be fazed by something like drugs.

But.

‘Thank you so much!’

Teacher Faris?

I didn’t dislike him.

But a train trip with Lilac was a different story.

It was more than welcome.

So much so that I would have wanted to beg for it.

On top of that, today was Christmas Eve.

A meaningful day.

[Woof!]

Sebastian leaped up and pushed his face towards the lime tea Lilac had given me.

I managed to stop him just in time as he was about to flick his tongue out.

“You, you rascal…, this is mine!”

[Grrrrr…!]

“Puhuhut.”

Lilac laughed at the little skit between me and Sebastian.

Then she took a rawhide chew from her backpack and waved it.

“Sebastian, here’s a chew.”

[Woof~!]

Sebastian leaped and landed in Lilac’s arms.

As he chewed on the rawhide, my expression hardened slightly.

‘You lucky bastard…!’

Did they say the hunter and the hound of Ulvhadin resemble each other?

Sebastian and I had similar tastes and behaviors.

The difference would be that I often wore a mask, while Sebastian revealed his true feelings.

I hated to admit it, but it meant that a personality with the same temperament as Sebastian was hidden within me.

I usually denied it all.

‘I want to do that too, but I can’t…!’

That, I admit….

- Wild Instinct (Master) suggests you go to the restroom.

‘Tsk.’

I sighed deeply and stood up from my seat.

I took off my robe and the uniform jacket symbolizing the Ulvhadin family and placed them on the seat.

“I’m going to the restroom.”

“Ah, yes. Go ahead.”

Lilac, who was playing with Sebastian, bid me farewell.

I headed to the mana train’s restroom.

It was empty, so I went in.

I turned my head and saw a mirror.

I saw my face.

Now that Lilac and Sebastian were gone, my expression was frighteningly stiff.

‘Drugs.’

My mood.

‘It might be a trivial matter with no connection to the apocalypse. It might be the crazy act of a bold drug dealer taking advantage of the continent’s chaos, but.’

It was dirty.

‘I will… definitely catch them.’

It was at that moment.

‘This smell…?!’

It was faint, but I could feel it.

The scent of Angel Medic.

‘Look at this.’

That Wild Instinct fellow, it was doing its job for once.

The restroom was filled with all sorts of disgusting filth smells.

At the same time, it was filled with the scent of soap and toothpaste.

And with an air freshener added to the mix, it was practically a three-way battle.

My sense of smell accurately pinpointed it amidst all that.

‘It’s here.’

The floor tile under the toilet.

A faint scent of Angel Medic was wafting from there.

‘It seems they couldn’t hold it in and used it here.’

Good.

Because I… didn't think I could hold it in either.

‘Considering the scent still lingers despite being a minuscule amount…, it hasn’t been long.’

I left the restroom and looked at the cars to the left and right.

There were a lot of people.

‘One of them is here. An Angel Medic user. No one looks mentally unstable, so if I find them, I can investigate.’

There were over 20 cars, and it was a luxury train with up to three floors.

Checking every single person here would be next to impossible.

But I had to find them.

‘If they’re not just a buyer, they must be a distributor.’

I will find them for sure.

‘I’m not used to using my sense of smell.’

It wasn't often used in combat.

Unlike sight or hearing.

But I knew a creature that had a very good sense of smell.

When I returned to my seat, Lilac welcomed me.

“Welcome back, Master.”

“I’m back.”

I looked intently at Sebastian, who was sitting on her lap, chewing on a rawhide.

“Sebastian, it’s hunting time.”

[….]

Sebastian threw the rawhide he was chewing onto the table and stood up.

Lilac’s eyes also calmed down.

“Master, will you need my support fire?”

“I’d prefer if a fight didn’t break out inside the car if possible.”

I put on the coat I had taken off and pulled up my robe.

“I’ll patrol the inside of the cars with Sebastian, so I need you to remain as backup to block any potential escape.”

As I spoke, I tapped the pure white bracelet on my right wrist, the Peacemaker bracelet with communication capabilities.

“Yes. Understood, Master. I wish you success.”

Lilac held the ends of her skirt and bowed her head slightly.

“Sebastian.”

From the magic pouch in my coat, I took out a white paper wrapper.

A drawing of a fairytale-style angel offering a heart.

It was the packaging for Angel Medic.

As I held it up to his nose, Sebastian sniffed and memorized the scent.

“Track.”

Sebastian immediately started to cross the car.

‘There are a total of 20 cars on the mana train. Excluding the engine room, the passenger cars have 3 floors.’

It was comparable to a decent-sized mansion, but this time, the player wasn't me, but Sebastian.

It’s a well-known fact that a dog’s sense of smell is superior to a human’s.

Depending on the breed, it can be at least 50 times to as much as 100 million times better.

A well-trained drug-sniffing dog is said to be able to detect the scent of drugs or explosives from several kilometers away.

‘Shall we see what Sebastian can do?’

I had never trained him to sniff out drugs.

But Sebastian was my soul companion.

He also received the effects of Wild Instinct.

[Woof!]

Sebastian dashed forward, went up the stairs, and arrived at the second-floor cabin.

“Huh?”

“It’s a dog.”

The security knights leaning against the entrance of the second-floor cabin stood up and stopped Sebastian.

When they saw me following behind.

“Are you the owner? You need to manage your pet properly. From the second floor onwards are the VIP rooms.”

Tsk, I knew this would happen.

I looked around.

Honestly, I couldn't see anything with the naked eye.

I usually would have stopped here to avoid drawing attention, but.

- Wild Instinct (Master) warns you. You must search.

I immediately took out my Cadet Handbook and showed it to them.

“I am a cadet from Imperium Academy. There are traces of a drug smuggler on the train, and I intend to search for them.”

A cadet from Imperium Academy.

An elite from the top 0.001%.

They were practically the next generation of leaders who would lead the continent in the future.

The security knights seemed greatly surprised by my identity, but.

“…That alone is not sufficient. Although the mana train is managed by the Imperium Empire, the right to investigate is based on international law related to continental public property and cannot be exercised without proper authorization according to the regulations of the Humanity Alliance.”

These security knights were good at their job.

Just as sentries in the army were given great authority, the power of security knights, though it might seem like a menial job, was also significant.

But right now, it was just annoying.

- Know-It-All (Master) comes up with 74 simple ways to ditch the security knights.

There were ways that made me think, ‘Oh, this is possible too,’ but I was able to confirm a very easy and simple method.

“If you report it through the official procedure, we will find…”

Cutting off the security knight, I reached out and lifted the hem of my robe.

The Ulvhadin uniform underneath was revealed.

From my magic pouch, I took out a long shotgun.

A shotgun of high pride, engraved with a hunting dog that made one tremble just by looking at it.

“…I am the Patriarch of Ulvhadin. Step aside.”

If they were going to block me according to the law, then I would make them step aside according to the law.

“According to the Humanity Alliance regulations, nobles of count rank or higher should have the right to exercise investigative authority on the spot.”

My succession as patriarch hadn't been made public, but that didn't matter.

It wasn't a person who proved the patriarch.

It was the object that symbolized the family.

“Count Ulvhadin, the terror of the frontier…”

The security knight looked at the shotgun with trembling eyes and then changed his gloves.

He placed his white cotton-gloved hand respectfully on the shotgun and infused it with mana, and the fierce aura of the hunting dog pressed down on the security knight.

“It’s genuine…! I didn’t recognize you. If there’s anything I can do to help…”

“No.”

Holding the shotgun, I gestured to Sebastian with my eyes.

Following the advancing Sebastian, I left a final word.

“I’ll handle it myself.”