Jeremiah replied to assure his brother about his decision.
"[Alright! I will send a subordinate right now to persuade him to stop. At best I will owe him a favor in return.]"
"[I am afraid that won't work. It was Constable Adam who had been offended. Given his personality only someone of similar realm could possibly make him take their words seriously.]"
"[Then I can only make a trip personally. Little brother, you better treat me to some delicacies after having made me clean up your subordinate's mess like this!]"
"[Hahaha! Of course! Us brothers haven't gotten together for a meal in weeks despite being in the same town. We should have a good talk with some good food on the side.]"
"[Yeah. I will go ahead then. Leave this matter to me.]"
Jeremiah chuckled slightly as he reminisced about their childhood. Though his father remarried quickly and a younger brother suddenly appeared in his life less than a year later, their sibling relationship always had been harmonious.
It seemed that it was indeed his oversight to neglect his younger brother for work after coming to this town.
On the side of the officers.
Russell glanced at Adam who was leading their group and couldn't help but feel tricky. Others might not know but at least he knew the true identity this Constable was hiding.
He was hoping for either Walter or Jose to be the replacement. At least he could somewhat guess their possible actions after arriving at the base of that escort agency. Adam however could act unexpectedly due to his hidden identity. As for why he was so concerned about it?
A great opportunity was hidden inside that base, and he wanted it for himself!
Because he knew the hidden story from Luka's perspective after completing the final progressional stage of Eye of Inquiry on his corpse Russell now had most of the answers for this dismembered body case.
Only thing that he was very curious to know was why so many dark mages gathered around his corpse earlier.
Anyways, for that opportunity it was best if he could get it discreetly and if not then he would naturally not contend for it with this hidden agent. Life was still more precious than any coveted treasure.
As their group of four saw the entrance of Pegasus Wings Escort Agency a streak of magical light suddenly appeared from the distance and slowly landed before them, blocking the way.
Russell narrowed his eyes as he saw the information of the newcomer.
"Constable Adam, why should you make things difficult for my brother like this? Please head back. I am willing to owe you a favor in the future. The incident his subordinate had caused, it's better we all forget it to maintain our dignity, no?"
Mayor Jeremiah's voice came first before the magical light transformation even dissipated.
His navy blue robe unique to those from civil administration fluttered with the winds as he stepped in front of Adam, his eyes seemingly carrying a warning.
"Huh? What incident?"
Adam asked in puzzlement. Why did this guy suddenly start talking nonsense as soon as he arrived?
Jeremiah's eyes were filled with shock. He looked at the other three young mages behind him and gestured with his eyes if he really wanted him to say it in front of them so openly.
"What? Just say it. I have lived my whole life with my head held high and my shadow never crooked. What incident could I possibly have to hide in front of others to even discuss it?"
"You… unbelievable! Truly I have never seen such a shameless fellow like you. Alas! Considering that you're from a prominent family in the prefecture I was worrying about your reputation but it seems that my concerns were needless."
"Stop dawdling! Just say what you have to say otherwise move! You're obstructing the investigation procedures of the police department. Aren't you worried a single bit about your political career for rashly meddling in police affairs?"
"Heh! What police affairs? Constable Adam, it was well-known in this town how upright your character was but it seems such reputation was clearly nonsense! Just to satisfy your lust you still want to threaten me by touting words like 'police affairs' and 'investigation procedures'!"
"Do you think I don't have any backing in the prefecture so you can casually fob me off by saying nonsense!? Then I can only say that you're gravely mistaken. House Brown is not to be easily trifled with."
Hearing his non stop barrage Adam was extremely speechless. He also understood by now that he was either deliberately stalling for time or genuinely had some kind of misunderstanding about him.
No matter what was the case he must enter that agency first!
"Move aside, this is the last warning!"
He shook his hand and a wand fell to his palm from the sleeve pocket. Ether from the ether reserve in his body was already circulating regardless of Jeremiah's choice. It was clear that he was about to unleash a spell.
"You! How dare you point your wand at me!? I am the Mayor of this—Woah!"
Boom!
He hastily rolled away to escape the spell hurling at him. A beam of violet light nearly four feet wide released from his wand, barely missing Jeremiah, and blasted the agency's entrance.
Adam transformed into a magical light and charged headlong. The three mages behind him were pulled up by an irresistible force and were dragged behind him, a spherical white light shield protecting them from any harm.
"How dare… how could you…."
Jeremiah was still in disbelief at the sheer disregard and contempt he was just subjected to. He hastily stood up and took out his wand but he could no longer see the four officers.
Fearing any potential harm to his brother he anxiously sped up, transforming into a magical light. What audacity was this to attack the Mayor? He will personally visit the courthouse later and let the King's Judge uphold justice for him!
He will also mobilize all of his connections and ask his family's help to deal with this madman! He must be removed from his position in this town and recalled to receive the strictest disciplinary punishment from the police headquarters in the prefecture.
If not for the fact that he was from a prominent family then Jeremiah would have made him completely unable to enter the kingdom's officialdom ever again. After he was pushed to become a civilian mage then he would have hundred and ten ways to make him die a painful death!
Agent Adam didn't know the venom Jeremiah was harboring and even if he knew he would just scoff at it as some ramblings of a weakling! Though his arcana attainment was lower than him, his combat power was far greater. He could easily defeat four of him in a group fight easily.
So what if he acted arrogantly? A prodigy like him had the capital to do so!
He used his Heart Mirror to sweep through the entire base. All things within the line of sight or hidden behind a wall weren't spared from his extrasensory perception. Even things ten feet under the ground was within the capability of scrutiny under the power of his Heart Mirror.
When one breakthroughs to the realm of Adept Mage they universally awaken this innate ability.
It can not only be used for extrasensory perception, see-through obstacles, observe fine details, initiate telepathy with those in your perception, determine others arcana realm, and exert true telekinesis instead of the rudimentary form at Novice Mage realm but also can be used for psychic attacks albeit relatively simpler ones.
The greater one's mental power the more this Heart Mirror can show its profundity.
Adam's expression changed drastically after seeing the result of his search!
There were so many hidden bases dug underground. He also found a few rooms full of wands, magic scrolls, arcane artifacts, magical materials, and valuable monster parts.
Some places even had a mini-field array obstructing his search scope, he was a Three Symbols Valiant Mage so anything that could block had to be at least of Third Rank.
He also found several people with clear black magic ether signatures sauntering about. Both arcane mage and those scums were working hand in hand moving things in crates into the far deeper underground tunnels.
His Heart Mirror's reach also had its limit so he couldn't see the scene behind the dark tunnels but it didn't take much for him to guess their destinations.
Adam's face darkened, "Smuggling Den? Hmph! This place is filled with gutter rats. No wonder it reeks so bad!"
Without letting them react to his violent intrusion he waved his wand and rings of white halo fell from the sky as if it was raining. Those light rings fell upon everyone who were out in the open, their hands were clamped by a light ring at the waist completely sealing their mobility.
They struggled but soon realized in horror that ether reserve in their body couldn't be mobilized and this light ring was draining their stamina rapidly making them dizzy from utter exhaustion.
Light rings that hadn't found their target entered the buildings, underground bases, and at the entrance of those tunnels.
Adam threw out a signal flare as he dragged the three rookies behind him into entering one of the tunnels with him after confirming the highest concentration of ether among them.
A loud shattering sound reverberated throughout the town and a black and white flower bloomed on the sky, expanding in size as time passed.
The signal flare he threw out was different from the one Russell used previously. It was for seeking joint reinforcement from both of the armed institutions. It can only be used when the matter was big enough to affect the entire local settlement.
As for Jeremiah who stood dumbfounded at the sight of his good brother's deeds he ignored him. People from the police department and military garrison would handle the rest of the matters.
He had already figured out that this guy was just an unsuspecting pawn thrown out to stall for time after being duped by some excuses.
The true mastermind, Jason Brown, must be apprehended before he could escape!
Russell looked around in shock at the sheer quantity of goods gathered inside the rooms of this tunnel. Though he knew the situation from Luka's perspective, those were all words written on the illusory page.
Only by seeing it personally could he truly feel shock at the amount of wealth this smuggling den handled daily. His late mentor's inheritance which made him wealthy overnight was not worth mentioning anymore in front of such a big scene.
"Goodness! So Luka worked for a smuggling den? He must have been killed in such a cruel way to serve as a warning for others from not repeating whatever mistake he had committed."
Lucia, on the other hand, was more focused on analyzing the motives behind the victim's murder. Allison also chipped in her deduction, "That imposter who pretended to be his neighbor could also be somewhat guessed from this. Jason had suspicions about Luka but he wasn't completely sure so he placed one of his lackeys to sound out the information?"
Russell nodded as he filled in the blanks to help them complete the sequence of events,
"It should be somewhat like this. It's purely my guesswork by the way after compiling all the information we have collected and the possible actions of a typical smuggling den's leader."
"The argument the landlord heard that night must be because Luka had said something shocking to Jason's lackey who was in disguise thus making them extremely agitated."
"After gaining Luka's trust by pretending to be his neighbor for so many days that person probably didn't expect to hear whatever was said that night. Jason then realized something was amiss when his lackey didn't contact him as scheduled so he proactively caught Luka first leading to his subsequent torture and death."
"Not having found that imposter's location Jason resorted to making an example out of a 'traitor' to keep his subordinates in check thus the dismembered body we found. It was just a pity that he miscalculated and instead got his traces exposed leading to this raid operation."
Hearing this reasonable deduction Adam who was charging ahead couldn't help but glance back at him in surprise.
This kid is actually quite capable in criminal investigation. It seems his talent was being wasted by staying at the police department.
If he could transfer him to the Flowing Tide Pavilion then not only that corrupt guy would lose a capable subordinate in the future but after he becomes full-fledged he could also make him repay the favor when needed for helping him in the past in getting the treatment of a genius.
He thought for a second and decided to deal with it in a couple of days.