I couldn't move my eyes away from the abominable liquid eating through the wooden floor. I don't remember such a freaky reaction happening by using null dust in pretty much anything. All that should've happened would be the removal of all mana that was in the golden rice, which can only mean one thing…

 

This liquid is the form of the rice without mana.

 

*Bang*

 

A bunch of guards violently opened the inn's door and started to surround the place. Oh wait, they are surrounding me!

 

"We have been ordered to apprehend the one who used evil magic in this establishment. Please cooperate and follow us for questioning."

 

"Hey, hold on a moment! Do you know who I am? I am Max Phoenix, the third son of Duke Magnus. Who dares to arrest me?"

 

The guard who was about to tackle me hesitated after realizing the situation. He turned back and started to quietly discuss something with another guard, then approached me again.

 

"I apologize for the trouble, but the town mayor requests for your presence immediately. I hope it won't trouble you too much."

 

His tone was flipped completely as he sounded a lot less harsh with his words. I hoped he would just leave me alone, though I guess, as a guard, he can't ignore his orders. This is actually convenient; I can face the mastermind who manages the production of the atrocious magic rice.

 

"Alright, lead the way. Alice, you can stay behind while I deal with this."

 

The girl held onto my shirt and showed a rebellious expression. Oh, do whatever you want. It's not as if her presence will ruin my plan to shut down this magical operation. Honestly, calling it magical makes me want to puke since it's so horrible.

 

We followed the guard while his comrades were trying to defuse the panicking crowd. Now that I think about it, it's eerie how those guards acted so quickly and effectively to take control of this incident. This must've not been the first time they had to deal with someone who exposed the rice.

 

"Umm, brother?"

 

"Yes Alice?"

 

"Did you really use evil magic to turn the rice into… that."

 

What's she talking about? Alice is the last person who'd believe something like that when she knows I'm a manaphobe unable to use magic at all. She looks serious, too.

 

"Ewwww. Don't look at me like that, Alice. You should know better than anyone in the whole world that I'll never use magic. I just sprinkled null dust on the rice. Besides, all magic is evil when you think about it."

 

"Eh? What do you mean by-"

 

"Ahem, I apologize for interrupting your conversation, but we have reached Baron Eni Mateph's estate, the mayor of Teff. He should be waiting for you in the reception room."

 

Let's not waste any more time, I'll make sure to show that Eni guy why using magic to grow rice is going to be his doom. I opened the door while preparing the most arrogant pose I have to scare the mayor into submission.

 

"Welcome to my humble abode, Max Phoenix. I see you also brought your sister as well. Come, have a seat!"

 

I was about to go on a tirade about the golden rice, only to be taken aback by how the old man acted so friendly. His white mustache was magnificent, too.

 

"I am so ashamed to bring you here on such short notice with little preparations. I hope this tea could sooth your anger for my careless mistake."

 

"Keep it short, old man. It's already late and my sister is too tired from the journey coming here."

 

Alice gave me a frown, probably due to my attitude. Nonetheless, I pay her no heed as I'm not planning to become Eni's buddy.

 

"Oh, then there's no need to tire yourself anymore! I just wanted to know what happened from your perspective. I'm sure the report accusing you of using evil magic is complete nonsense. Unfortunately, this incident is serious enough to force me to bring you here now."

 

"P-Please don't mind my brother! You see, we were attacked by bandits on the way here, so he is a little agitated from the experience."

 

Alice is trying hard to keep the conversation in a friendly direction. It's a shame that I've already decided to raise hell in this place.

 

"You want to know what happened? Don't make me laugh, you already know what happened."

 

Eni looked confused with a troubled expression. I focused my eyes for any signs of nervousness. He'll surely crack under pressure.

 

"'Golden rice' is what you call it, right? Don't even bother trying to lie to me. I already found out the truth about it and the reason why you are feeding it to the masses."

 

I don't actually know exactly why he's selling this poison to people, but this bluff should corner him a bit. His hands are shaking a little after all. Ah! He moved them under the table. How sneaky.

 

"I, umm… What truth could you be pointing at? I mean, forgive me for asking, but shouldn't you already know that the miraculous effect of the rice isn't real? It's no secret, so no need to be standoffish, young man."

 

"Of course I didn't mean the scam you've spread around to increase sales. I meant the real form of the monstrosity you have oh so carefully packaged using magic."

 

My grin grew wider as I knew the man was surely stumped by how I forcefully revealed his secret right in his face. There were probably others like me who found out, yet all of them were disposed of by him. Sadly for him, I'm not just some nobody he can quietly take care of.

 

The man was shaking out of fear, surely because he knew how bad of a situation he's in right now. Eni stood up from his seat then moved towards me, surely he didn't have good intentions. I silently grasped my pistol and waited for him to make his move.

 

"I-I truly apologize if I had offended you in any way! P-Please have the heart to forgive this foolish old man who cannot comprehend your anger!"

 

A scene of an elderly man groveling in front of me followed. I… I don't understand, why is he doing this? Shouldn't he say 'you know too much' then attack me?

 

"Wah! Brother, how could you be so cruel as to force Baron Eni down like that! Please stand up. You don't have to do this."

 

Alice swiftly helped the man stand back up while her face was beet-red out of embarrassment and anger. Hey, don't look at me like that. He's the bad guy, not me!

 

"Hey Alice, you shouldn't be so close to-"

 

"We are going back to the inn, brother! We are also going to leave tomorrow, so don't cause any more trouble for the Baron."

 

How could I be lectured by my own younger sister- Ouch! Hey, you are pulling too hard!

 

Alice forcefully dragged me away then headed towards our inn, which was a lot quieter now that it is almost midnight. She pushed me into my room and closed the door on me before locking it with the only key we have. I'm now essentially imprisoned within the room until Alice decides to free me.

 

Since I was already exhausted from today's events, I decided to plop on the bed and get some rest. I wanted to go back and investigate the bandits, though I bet the 'dragon lord' guy has already cleaned up the scene, so going there might be a waste of time. Oh well, let's look at the bright side of things, I've prevented Alice from eating the mutated poison rice. I'll take that as a win.

 

The next morning, Alice thankfully unlocked the door to let me out. What surprised me was that she wasn't alone since a familiar maid who should've been waiting back in the capital is standing next to Alice.

 

"Young master, I am happy to see you again. I came here to bring you back to Osmium at once."

 

"Huh? Sisley, weren't we allowed to freely travel for three months? It's only been around a month since we left the mansion!"

 

"I apologize, young master. However, Master Magnus has returned and given the order to bring you back as soon as possible."

 

Magnus is back!? Finally! It's been, like, two years since he disappeared, which made me think that he's gone forever. Now I can tell him about how Hunter acted out of line this one time years ago. Surely Magnus will see how incompetent the beast man is and punish him accordingly. At least he should be removed from acting as the vice-leader of my regiment.

 

"By the way, young master, since Master Magnus is back, you can finally officially take over the knight order. What would you like to call it?"

 

"Anti-magic Division."

 

I have thought about it for such a long time, so now I can have it the way I want it to be. No more hunting petty monsters, because now I'll act upon my greatest goal!

 

"Umm… Young master… Forgive me for asking this, but isn't 300 soldiers too little a division?"

 

"Yeah brother, and calling it 'Anti-magic' feels so lazy. Did you even take a moment to think about it?"

 

These women truly don't understand my superior naming sense. It might not be a division now, but I'm going to expand it until it becomes one. Furthermore, what's wrong with 'Anti-magic'? The title perfectly fits the purpose of my knight order, so no need to give such harsh criticism on it. I'll seriously cry.

 

"For now, please pack up and follow me to the carriage."

 

I already had everything on me, which is why we were able to leave in a matter of minutes. I feel like we should be refunded the other two days we paid for, but it would look petty for someone as rich as me to demand a couple of copper coins back. I begrudgingly entered the luxurious carriage while thinking about the waste of money.

 

Two weeks have passed since first riding the carriage. It was really boring because we went through the same path we came from, so no new sights for me to admire during those weeks. Alice was the exact opposite, being excited to meet our father who was out for a long while and she wanted to talk about all kinds of adventures she had. I wish I had even a miniscule portion of her mentality to relieve me from this boredom.

 

"Ah! I can see our house in the distance! Brother, we are really back home!"

 

Great, now I can say goodbye to road trips for the foreseeable future. I also missed Fort Erosion, which has been operating under the temporary leadership of Martin. I wonder how well things were going in my absence. At least there should be no magic going on behind my back.

 

The carriage stopped in front of the gate, where we got off and were met by the rest of the family.

 

"Mama! I missed you so much!"

 

"I also missed you so much, my dear. I missed you so so much!"

 

Such a warm reunion between a mother and her daughter truly is a beautiful sight. I look at Magnus, who stood next to the crying Sarah, and… He gave me a nod of acknowledgement. Seriously? He disappeared for 2 years and that's all he does for a reunion? Alex was also silently staring on the side looking more depressed than usual. Poor guy must've had a hard time as the one who'll inherit Magnus's position.

 

"Hey, young cub! Long time no see! Did you enjoy the adventuring life?"

 

Hunter, the lazy bastard wolf man, was the only one to actually welcome me back with a smile while waving his hand. I'm so gonna get him in trouble.

 

"You don't seem very happy to see me. Don't worry, I made sure to take care of your knight order while you were on vacation."

 

"What did you just say?"

 

No No No No. You're saying that Hunter had essentially free reign over my regiment while I was away? Oh, please tell me that he didn't change anything major.

 

"You see, the knight order was being inactive, so I decided to make use of them. Hear me out here, and you better believe what I say, your soldiers helped in suppressing a Soul Corruption case!"

 

Oh, that actually sounds amazing! Maybe I judged him a bit too hard…

 

"I had to change some stuff, though. The 'Chargers' were at high risk of injury, so I decided to equip them with emergency teleportation crystals-"

 

"YOU BAAAASSSSTAAAAAARRRRRRDDDD