I’m Looking for the Male Lead for the Ending - Chapter 75

Chapter 38.2

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“I thought this would be resolved quickly, but it’s taking longer than I expected. Now it’s becoming a bigger problem.”

Ban muttered as he entered the makeshift barracks, brushing the dust off his clothes. As he glanced around the inside of the tent, he frowned when he didn’t see Lev and spoke up.

“It seems Lev is once again staying by the corpse without even eating.”

“Judging by your face, something’s bothering you.”

At Estieren’s words, Ban sighed deeply and sat down.

Honestly, looking back on the incident, it felt like it would be easier to find something that wasn’t suspicious than to figure out exactly what was wrong.

Estieren turned to Ban, who was shaking his head, and asked.

“Have you confirmed his identity?”

“Ah, yes. It seems he’s probably from the Principality of Efren, just like we suspected.”

“Someone from Efren came all the way out here?”

“Yes. A resident from the principality who was staying at a tavern near the border forest says he knows the man’s identity, so he’s being questioned right now.”

“….”

“If he’s telling the truth, the man’s name is Jen, and he’s one of the merchants who came to Arbonis from Efren for trade.”

A slight furrow appeared on Estieren’s brow as he listened to the report. Ban, glancing at him cautiously, hesitated before continuing.

“And it seems he was killed while harvesting Philoia.”

“….”

“Of course, we’ll need to investigate whether this was something the deceased planned on his own, or if it was part of the Duke’s plan.”

At that, Estieren’s expression hardened. He spoke in a low voice.

“Send some of the Order’s members to infiltrate the black market starting today.”

“The black market?”

“Yeah, I’ve heard that since the Duke entered Arbonis, someone using the alias ‘Grinner’ has been selling Philoia on the black market.”

“…The timing is too coincidental.”

“Of course, since it’s an alias, there’s also the possibility they could have changed it.”

“Got it. I’ll take care of it.”

Ban was about to get up in a hurry when Estieren caught his arm and spoke again.

“Remember, if you come across someone named Grinner in the black market, you must capture him alive, no matter what.”

“Yes, of course…”

“Oh, you’re all here.”

Ban, who had been responding to Estieren, turned around at the voice from behind. Lev, looking worn out after the past few days, stumbled into the barracks with a big yawn.

“What on earth have you been up to to end up looking like that?”

“I haven’t had time to eat properly, let alone wash up. Anyway, I just wrapped up everything that had been piling up.”

“Piling up?”

“Something like that.”

Lev responded indifferently to Ban’s reproach, scratching the tangled mess at the back of his head as he spoke.

“By the way, I overheard what you were saying in the barracks. To figure out if the Duchy of Efren was involved in harvesting Philoia, wouldn’t it be best to give that citizen from the tavern a truth serum?”

“Truth serum?”

“I thought that might be the quickest way.”

At Lev’s suggestion, Ban’s face lit up, and he nodded eagerly. Meanwhile, Estieren let out a shallow sigh as he watched the two of them.

“If you do that, it’ll be easy for the witnesses to come forward once the incident unfolds.”

His sharp remark hit the mark, leaving the two of them speechless. Then, he glanced at Lev with a hint of disappointment and asked.

“Have you uncovered anything from the magic investigation?”

Lev awkwardly rubbed his chin in response to the question. After hesitating, as if unsure how to explain, he finally seemed to resolve himself and began speaking.

“We confirmed that two different types of magic are intertwined, but we still don’t know who they belong to.”

“What does that mean?”

“It means the magic left on the body isn’t from the Master of the Magic Tower, at least.”

Lev looked somewhat relieved. Although he had confidently insisted it wasn’t the case, it was clear he had been nervous, wondering if this incident had anything to do with the Master of the Magic Tower.

He scratched his head before adding, looking toward Estieren.

“Also, one of the two types of magic seems to be from a monster.”

“A monster?”

Estieren’s eyes narrowed at the unexpected revelation, while Lev rubbed his tired eyes and spoke again.

“However, from all the monsters I’ve encountered, none of them used magic like the one left on the corpse.”

“….”

“So, if we’re going to figure out which monster’s magic this is, it seems we’ll need to head back to the Magic Tower and check the magic stones where they store the monsters’ magic.”

At his words, even Ban, who usually didn’t get along with Lev, looked troubled. With a concerned expression, he turned to him and asked.

“Do you really need to go?”

“Yes, there are a few things I’d like to confirm.”

“You really need to take better care of yourself while working…”

“What is it that you need to confirm?”

Lev turned his head toward Estieren’s question, cutting off Ban’s nagging. After a brief pause, Lev, who had been looking at his master, hesitated before responding.

“…I’ll let you know after I’ve looked into it further.”

There was something about his demeanor as he spoke that felt a little different from usual. Estieren, who had been quietly observing, eventually spoke up in a calm tone.

“How much time will it take to get to the Magic Tower?”

When Estieren gave his permission without asking further questions, Lev responded with a mischievous smile.

“Honestly, I’d like to ask for a month, but considering the situation, I’ll be back within two weeks.”

“Ten days.”

“Yes?”

“I’ll give you ten days. Make sure to check everything and return by then.”

As Estieren shrugged, his words left Lev speechless. He twitched his lips before letting out a hollow laugh.

At that, Ban shook his head in sympathy.

For the first time, he felt sorry for the guy who only talks but never does anything¹.

¹ [ The phrase 입만 산 literally translates to ‘only the mouth is bought,’ meaning the person is only capable of talking, but there is nothing substantial behind their words. ] ↩