Wizard starting from shoeing donkeys

Magis walked into the interrogation room, only to see a middle-aged man with disheveled hair, wearing a tattered gray linen coat, emanating a strange odor, shackled to the interrogation chair.

Upon seeing Magis and his companion enter, the man's eyes revealed terror, and his legs tightened even more, as if this man named Ville was particularly afraid of someone like Magis dressed in a prison guard's uniform.

Magis examined the man for a moment, noting numerous whip marks and small burns all over his body, it seemed his subordinates had left quite an impression with their methods of punishment.

However...

This was good!

The man's psychological defenses were on the verge of collapse, and coaxing some words out of him should be very simple, and it would be easy to discern truth from falsehood.

Magis showed a radiant smile and said, "Don't be afraid, Ville, just repeat to me what you said before."

"This... My lord, then do you guarantee my release? The other lord just now said he can't decide that; only you can make that decision," Ville said with fear, glancing at the insignia on Magis's uniform, knowing that he was speaking with the one in charge.

"That will require your full cooperation. Believe me, if what you say is true, then releasing you would be a very easy task for me," Magis said.

The deep tone of Magis's voice and his slow speech inexplicably created a sense of trust in Ville's heart.

But in fact, this was a psychological suggestion, making Ville feel as if he had grasped a life-saving straw!

He quickly began to speak:

"That day, I was looking for suitable targets to rob near the abandoned mine, when by chance I saw several people moving a lot of stuff out of the woods onto two wagons, with a luxurious carriage at the front of them."

"Wait!" Magis interrupted.

"Why go to the area around the abandoned mine? You should be aware of whose turf that is, right?"

"It's a new bandit group, rumored to be powerful. The boss told us not to provoke them, but we haven't had any 'business' for a long time, so I trespassed a little, just a bit," Ville explained.

Magis nodded upon hearing Ville's explanation, it sounded reasonable with no obvious points of suspicion.

He then gestured for Ville to continue.

"This made me very happy! At the time, I thought it must be some noble hiding their riches here, and I was going to make a fortune," Ville went on.

"So, after they left, I followed their tracks to the vicinity of the abandoned mine. At first, I hesitated, not daring to get close since it was another group's territory."

"But then I noticed something was off. It seemed like the place had been abandoned, so I moved in and realized that the group there must have been wiped out..."

After Ville finished his story, Magis pondered for a while and asked, "Do you remember anything about those people, or do you recognize them?"

"I've never seen them before, but the young knight leading them had a distinctive look with a hammer and a greatsword on his back," Ville gestured, making a crossing motion with his hands.

Magis nodded, his confidant had already told him about this, it was highly likely the newly elevated Baron, Rein.

"By the way, you just mentioned that in front of the wagons, there was a luxurious carriage, is that correct?" Magis seemed to recall something and asked again.

"Yes, my lord," Ville nodded.

"Was there any distinctive feature or pattern on that luxurious carriage?"

"Uh... there was a crest on the carriage, and although it was a bit far, I have good eyesight and could make it out—it seemed to be a kite shield, and on the shield was a flower resembling a rose."

Upon hearing this, Magis immediately beckoned and whispered to his confidant, "Have you found out which noble family in Meist County City bears that crest?"

"My lord, I just looked it up; it's the crest of the Crowley family," the confidant whispered back.

"The Crowley family?" Magis's eyes narrowed in contemplation; he seemed unfamiliar with the family.

Seeing Magis's expression, the confidant knew his lord might not recall the family and reminded him softly, "Do you forget? That beautiful lady, Jennifer."

A gleam flickered in Magis's eyes as he exclaimed, "Her! That gorgeous widow?"

Immediately, Magis remembered the stunning lady he had seen at the ball, who had even caught his own attention.

Didn't Alonso suppress her family harshly? How could they have the strength to attack his organization's stronghold?

Magis asked again, "Have you checked, who has the Crowley family been seen with recently, or who have they grown close to?"

"Well... it is still being investigated, but it's known that the Crowley family has been quite close with Rein; about two months ago, he became the Crowley family's Guardian Knight."

"And now that Rein has become a Baron, the servants and guards of his new manor all come from the Crowley family."

"As for other information, it's still being looked into... it won't be so fast..."

"This is enough!" Magis's face grew stern. Continue reading on empire

Various signs indicated that this newly minted Baron Rein was behind the eradication of the stronghold.

Although he didn't yet know how the other party managed it—since even with the Crowley family involved, they still lacked sufficient strength—having a lead was good.

With more time, they should be able to get to the bottom of it.

Since the interrogation was over, Magis planned to return to his office as Alonso was still waiting for his reply.