“It’s a parasite,” Keane announced after hearing the news. “I can’t believe I didn’t realize it sooner. More than that, it seems to be able to control its host’s body. That would explain the insane behavior reported, and then the fatigue.”

“I thought you said there wasn’t anything like this in the medical records,” I brought up.

“That is because I didn’t think of it before. The original parasite is fairly harmless, and only harms people with strong magical powers. That is why magic eel has not become that widespread. However, if the parasite was magically enhanced by someone intentionally it could be used in all sorts of ways. One of the symptoms is that the parasite temporarily takes control of someone’s actions, however, in the usual case it takes so much effort that the parasite dies immediately after doing so.”

“What do you think their intentions are?” I asked.

“It is hard to say. Just the way it is now, it could completely ruin someone’s reputation and brand them as insane, but they might be aiming for something worse,” Keane answered with a frown, “The worst-case scenario I can think of is mind control.”

“If that succeeded what would the side effects be?” I questioned.

“Parasites, by nature, are not good for the body,” Keane explained, “If they remain in the brain for too long it could cause some serious brain damage. This is without knowing the side effects of enhancement. If the enhancement makes them more poisonous, they could end up killing their host, and… you get the idea.”

I nodded. “So the tears showed me this so I could prevent a major incident,” I concluded, “I am thankful, but I wish I was given more information. It will be difficult to put a stop to this kind of research completely if it is ever revealed to the public.”

“I definitely think this should be classified,” Keane agreed, “It has too much potential to be weaponized. It will be a lot easier to deal with this if it really is the work of Gaia or some other enemy of Tethia.”

“You’re right. I didn’t consider the option that this could be the work of a researcher who has no specific ill intent towards us,” I muttered, “In that case punishing them and keeping them silent will be a real hassle.”

“You could just kill them,” Storm butted in. He had been silent so far. “My apologies. You work for the government. You could just make them mysteriously disappear.”

“Normally I wouldn’t agree with you, but if it will stop this from erupting..,” Keane began and then cut himself off, “It isn’t really my decision.”

“Where is Alvis?” I asked.

“He is still in the fishing town. We were looking at magic eels when he suddenly wandered off. He told me to come back without him,” Keane answered, “I have a good guess as to why now.”

“Even if he finds where the parasites are being enhanced, it might take a while to find out who is behind it,” I sighed.

“Alvis might surprise you,” Storm said, “If he's anything like the person he reminds me of, he is more resourceful than he seems.”

As if on cue, Alvis returned just them. “Discussing anything interesting?” he asked.

“Did you hear about the case with the lord’s son?” Keane asked.

“In passing,” Alvis replied, “I already know what happened as well. Evil is deeply rooted in Lion Seaport.”

“What did you find out?” I asked.

You could be reading stolen content. Head to Royal Road for the genuine story.

“The entire lord’s family is being held hostage by their servants. One wrong move and an incident like today happens. I have confirmed that the head butler is an assassin from the remnants of Gaia.”

“So they are ignoring Prince Lann in favor of us?” I asked, “Or did Prince Lann send him?”

“I haven’t found any evidence on that, but I doubt Lann would have made a deal that the assassin would have accepted,” Alvis explained, “Right now we are going to have to focus on finding the rest of the moles in Lion Seaport.”

“It is hard to move without evidence,” I agreed, “I will notify my team to keep a watch on the servants of the lord’s house. Any other prime suspects?”

Alvis smiled. “I think you should know by now.”

“You think I should investigate the Cano family?” I guessed.

“Even if they have nothing to do with this, they are clearly doing business with dirty money. If we want Lion Seaport to recover they have to go,” Alvis stated, “We can’t go easy on them just because they are related to Alois by blood.”

“Alois wouldn’t like that,” I agreed, “but if we get rid of the Cano family there will be a gaping hole in the system of power. If we don’t appoint someone in their stead it might end even worse than the current situation.”

“True,” Alvis agreed, “I look forward to seeing how this game turns out. I think our first move is to convince the investigative team to temporarily ban magic eels until this case is solved.”

“It would stop the parasite from spreading, but there are bound to be protests,” I muttered, “Usually a prince would deal with this sort of thing after the princess finishes the investigation behind the scenes but we don’t have time for that.”

“Perhaps not, but we should still report this to the capital,” Keane pointed out.

“I will write the report,” I replied, a stress headache already coming on, “Alvis, you have a way to send this instantly, right?”

“I do,” Alvis affirmed.

I headed back to my room and started working on my report, with growing evidence coming in from my team who were out investigating. By the time my report was finished it was clear that the Cano family was far from innocent, and the situation in Lion Seaport was worse than we had first anticipated. I felt apologetic towards the lord and his family who had to live like prisoners for so long, but they would have to wait a little bit longer.

I gave Alvis the report as soon as I finished it and he sent it straight to King Nero. After that I went to rest in my room to think things over.

The door opened with a bang in the middle of the night, waking me instantly. I had a hand on my knife and almost threw it at the intruder before recognizing Alois.

“Let me attack them!” he demanded, “I can’t stand this any longer!”

I slowly sat up. “Slow down. Attack who?”

“Them. My, no, the Cano family.”

“We can’t recklessly attack them yet. It will give the real perpetrators a warning to hide all the evidence,” I told him, still groggy, “You aren’t usually out of sorts like this. What is going on?”

Alois paused. “Do you mind if I cast a privacy spell?” he asked, “The explanation involves some touchy subjects and deep secrets of mine.”

“I don’t mind, but are you certain you want to tell me?” I asked.

“I think it might be a relief to tell someone else,” Alois decided, “Caleb already knows.”

I nodded and allowed Alois to cast the privacy spell. It was an upgraded form of the soundproofing spell. It would also make it so anyone who happened to be looking would be unable to see whatever the caster did not want them to see. It wasn’t like it could hide everything, though.

“Hold on,” I realized, “Is Storm around? He might be keeping an eye on me as my bodyguard.”

“It’s probably fine if he hears. I think he might already know,” Alvis admitted.

“If you are sure,”

Alois nodded and took a deep breath. “My story is rather cliche and not unusual. I was raised as a tool instead of a human. My job was to do everything perfectly to ensure my parents’ wealth and popularity. However, when I ran away to become a headmaster candidate I think I become something even less than a tool to them.”

“What do you mean?” I asked.

“You remember the mysterious appearance of my eyepatch right?” he prompted, continuing when I nodded. “I was called home for an emergency, and I went like a fool, forgetting what my family was like. My father took my down to a secret warehouse and told me the forbidden artifact they had been hiding there for generations had suddenly gone out of control. My family’s magic is not very strong compared to mine, so once again I did not think too much of it.”

I felt my breath catch as a dark mood filled the room.

“Well, forbidden artifacts are forbidden for a reason,” Alois said and reached for his eyepatch. I felt a powerful magic release as he unfastened.

In the place of his missing eye was a deep blue and purple sphere, like a captured nebula. Alois was still standing right next to the door but I felt a strong pull from the mysterious sphere, as well as a sudden foreboding.

“Alois, what is that?” I asked, unable to keep the horror from my voice.

A bitter smile crossed his face. “This is the Raven’s Eye, an artifact that personifies greed itself. It is said that it can consume anything. I am not even sure how I came back alive. I should have disappeared into the Eye’s depths but instead I became its host.”

I swallowed the words of comfort that I wanted to tell him. That wasn’t what he needed right now. He needed to finish his story, and then… I wasn’t sure what would happen then.

“After I made it out of there alive, the first thing my father said was to hand over the artifact now that I had successfully tamed it,” Alois continued, “In other words, I was little more than a sacrifice. I still don’t know what he planned to do with it, but I believe the Cano family is just as dangerous as whatever mastermind is behind the parasites.”

“I have no intention of letting them go,” I promised Alois, “I never did.”

Alois was silent for a while before answering. “Thank you.”