Upon arriving at the magic tower, Jonny first underwent a mana examination. This was because the most typical symptom of black magic was the blackening of one’s mana.

While waiting for the examination results, Arasila sat across from him in the interrogation room.

“Sir Jonny Pattinson, is it true that you used black magic?”

“No. I am a proud and confident knight. Why would I resort to black magic!”

Jonny protested as if he had been wronged.

He was a person who took great pride in being a knight.

He had never even thought of learning the simplest magic in his entire life, so why would he use black magic?

“Who on earth made such a false accusation against me? Let me meet that person!”

“That’s impossible. The accusation was made anonymously.”

“Then someone must have slandered me.”

“Nothing is certain yet. What were you doing on the night of April 2nd last year?”

“…Why are you asking that?”

Jonny’s face suddenly stiffened subtly as he quietly searched his memory. Arasila didn’t miss that fleeting moment and captured it.

“The accusation stated that you used black magic that day. Tell me what you were doing then.”

Jonny licked his dry lips with his tongue and shook his head.

“I don’t remember. It’s been over a year already. Do you remember every single thing from last year, madam?”

“Of course not. But it would be best for you to try and remember, sir. It will be troublesome if you can’t prove your alibi at the time.”

At Arasila’s dry advice, Jonny pressed his lips tightly together.

His hand hidden under the table began to nervously tap his nails.

“…I don’t know. I can’t remember.”

After a long while, Jonny opened his mouth and gave the same answer as before. Arasila also didn’t urge him any further to try and recall.

Because she didn’t know if he truly couldn’t remember, or if he remembered something but couldn’t say it.

Instead, she stood up and said,

“From now on, you will remain in the magic tower’s underground prison and be investigated until the suspicions are cleared, sir.”

“What? I’m not a criminal, where is there such a law!”

“Unfortunately, it exists in the law of the Setron Empire.”

Due to concerns of destroying evidence, it was the rule to detain those suspected of using black magic in the magic tower, so there was no choice even if it was unjust.

“Instead, I’ll specially let you stay in the cleanest room.”

“…”

Leaving the dumbfounded Jonny sitting there, Arasila closed the interrogation room door and came out.

When she returned to the research lab, Rudy, who had been waiting with the examination results, approached.

“The examination results show that no mana was detected from Sir Pattinson at all. It seems he was born without any mana.”

“Is that so?”

Arasila wasn’t surprised, as if she had expected it to some extent.

Most knights had no mana. Having no mana, they hadn’t aspired to learn magic and instead learned the sword.

However, one of the reasons black magic was dangerous was because even ordinary people without mana could use it.

Black magic rituals could arbitrarily infuse black mana into anyone to enable them to use magic as long as they paid the corresponding price.

The longer and more frequently it was used, that black mana would accumulate in the body and leave traces.

But if Jonny Pattinson had only used black magic once that day, quite a long time had passed so the traces of mana may have all evaporated.

Suddenly noticing with a side glance that one of her junior’s seats was empty, Arasila spoke.

“Sally isn’t here yet?”

“No, I think she’s busy tracking down the anonymous accuser.”

Arasila had instructed Rudy, one of her two juniors, to assist her, and told Sally to find out about the anonymous accuser.

Respecting the person’s intent to remain anonymous was not an option as the black magic accusation was too big of an incident. They had to identify everyone involved.

“Rudy, prepare to send investigation request notices to all members of the Red Stallion Knights.”

“Yes, senior.”

As Rudy returned to his seat, Arasila sat back in her chair lost in thought.

She was very curious as to who had accused Jonny Pattinson and for what purpose, while designating her as the investigator.

As Arasila entered the front door, she discovered Demian leaning against the stair railing and stopped in her tracks.

It seemed he had definitely been waiting for her, as Demian strode over.

“Let’s talk for a moment.”

“Go ahead.”

“I heard the person who accused Jonny was anonymous. Only the date was specific, but no other detailed circumstances were written.”

Demian spoke very naturally of information that hadn’t even been released to the outside yet.

It was proof that he hadn’t been idle while his subordinate was taken away either.

“Such anonymous accusations have significantly low credibility. And the credibility of the magic tower that arrested Jonny based solely on that accusation is also low.”

At his words hinting at criticism of the magic tower, Arasila narrowed her eyes.

“Release Jonny. We will determine whether he used black magic through an internal investigation by the knights.”

“No. The magic tower only arrested Sir Pattinson according to the law, and in the first place, it’s us who manages black magic. What do knights know that they’re saying they’ll investigate black magic?”

“Then what do magicians know about knights that they’re investigating Jonny?”

An uncomfortable silence flowed between Demian and Arasila, more so than ever before.

This place was the Vandermir residence where the two lived as a married couple, but currently recognizing each other as a magician and a knight, there was a sharp atmosphere.

“Please transfer the investigation to the knights.”

“I said no.”

“Then we will formally protest this matter to the imperial family.”

Demian wasn’t trying to unconditionally take his subordinate’s side claiming he was innocent either.

He simply felt it was unjust for a knight under his command to be detained and investigated by the magic tower without proper evidence.

“Don’t make this matter complicated, Demian.”

“Would you say the same if your colleague was accused without basis and taken to the knights?”

“…”

Arasila was at a loss for words. In fact, if their positions were reversed, she definitely would not have stayed still either.

Thinking of Sally or Rudy being taken away like that and imprisoned… her blood boiled.

“Alright. Then let’s do this.”

Arasila raised both hands. If the other side came at her with determination, it would be troublesome for her side too.

“What do you mean?”

“I’ll share the investigation process with you. Without suspicion, transparently disclose it.”

Demian considered whether that would be better than fighting over the investigation rights.

He came to the conclusion that it wasn’t too bad.

In reality, it wasn’t easy to take the black magic case away from the magic tower, and while doing so, only his subordinate would suffer more.

“Fine.”

“But Demian, you mustn’t conduct a separate investigation like today either.”

If confusion arose from the Red Stallion Knights secretly investigating the magic tower, it would be a headache.

Arasila wanted to preemptively block such a thing from happening. Demian nodded with a dissatisfied expression.

Arasila immediately shared the contents of today’s interrogation with Jonny and the mana examination results. Her personality was such that she kept her word as much as possible, so there truly wasn’t a shred of falsehood.

“Do you happen to know what Sir Pattinson was doing at that time?”

“I don’t know about that, but last April was when the knights were stationed at the border.”

At that time, the Red Stallion Knights had been stationed at the border since the beginning of the year, supporting the war of their allied nation, the Carter Kingdom.

Since the Carter Kingdom was a country adjacent to the southern border of the Setron Empire, they were dispatched by imperial order with the purpose of aiding their ally and preventing the damage of war from reaching the empire.

Jonny was also a member of the Red Stallion Knights at the time, so he would have gone to the border with them.

‘…Why couldn’t Sir Pattinson tell me this fact?’

The experience of being enlisted for war was not something easily forgotten, so the probability of Jonny not remembering it was slim.

Yet it was somewhat strange that he couldn’t even say the words “I was at the border then”.

“What are the investigation plans going forward?”

Demian asked Arasila, who was lost in thought with an uneasy expression.

“Ah, we’ll call the people from the Red Stallion Knights and conduct simple interrogations. And when my junior finds out the identity of the anonymous accuser, I plan to meet them.”

“I see.”

“By the way, the contents I’m telling you should only be known by you, Demian. Don’t leak any information you hear from me to your subordinates.”

Arasila warned sternly because they might try to coordinate their statements in advance to hide testimony unfavorable to Jonny.

Knights were famous for their strong collective sense of belonging and unusual camaraderie, so caution was needed.

Even if it was someone who had harmed others, if they were an outstanding knight in their eyes, many would take their side.

In that sense, Arasila sharing the investigation process with Demian was already a significant concession.

“I understand, so please conduct the investigation properly.”

“We’ll do very well as long as the knights don’t interfere.”

Even after compromising to a certain extent, the power struggle didn’t cease.

The two turned around curtly and went their separate ways.

The Red Stallion Knights arrived at the magic tower to be investigated as references.

In a way, it was a spectacle to see knights bustling about in a space only frequented by magicians.

Arasila deliberately divided them into sections, had the knights wait individually, and prevented them from talking to each other.

Then she called them one by one for interrogation.

The knights generally had poor attitudes and their eyes were full of defiance. It felt as if she had become an academy instructor in charge of pubescent boys.

Arasila asked two questions in common to every knight she faced.

“What kind of person is Sir Jonny Pattinson?”

And,

“Is there anyone who has a grudge against Sir Pattinson?”

Black magic was an evil magic premised on harming someone.

Especially in the case of an ordinary person like Jonny Pattinson resorting to black magic, it was usually because they hated or despised someone and wanted to curse them.

So if he had a bad personality or held a grudge against someone, he could have sufficiently dabbled in black magic.

But surprisingly, the knights gave similar answers.

To the first question, they unanimously praised him as a “naive, loyal, and good person”, and to the second question, they all shook their heads.

It seemed Jonny Pattinson had a very good reputation among his colleagues.

‘With this, objective testimony will be impossible.’

Arasila was suspicious that the Red Stallion Knights had exhibited the knights’ unique habit of “protecting their own”.

She looked at the knight entering the interrogation room with a displeased expression. He was someone who was said to be close with Jonny Pattinson.

Perhaps because of that, his posture was noticeably poor and his tone was rough.

“Sir Hopper, what kind of person is Sir Jonny Pattinson?”

“He’s a foolishly kind and loyal guy. To the point he won’t even go near drinking parties with women because he has a fiancée.”

From Arasila’s perspective, that was too obvious, so she nodded without much impression.

“Is there anyone who has a grudge against Sir Pattinson?”

“No one. An excellent knight like Jonny is bound to receive only trust and respect. Ah, unless it’s magicians who are jealous of outstanding knights, who knows.”

The knight added smugly.

“Could it be that some female magician like Lexi Ryterson slandered Jonny?”

The knight seemed to have forgotten that the Arasila in front of him was his superior’s wife, and also a female magician.

Arasila looked at him expressionlessly and leaned back.

“Sir Hopper.”

“Yes.”

“If you’re stupid, isn’t it better to just shut your mouth?”