“When all is lost and the future is already set in stone, some people become talkative all of a sudden. Maybe they wished to know how they failed, as they would not be able to be at peace otherwise.” - Haerkul of Clan Poisonrot, investigator constable from Elmaiya.

By sunrise, most of the business in the Baron’s manor was pretty much done. The Baron’s whole family, along with any high-ranking official likely complicit in either crime, had been apprehended and gathered, as they would be transported to the capital for further investigation and judgment, where necessary. All sorts of evidence had been collected and prepared for transportation as well.

It was a good thing that Oleg had decisively confiscated the carriages in the Baron’s manor, as even with the additional carriages, it would still be a rather tight fit to lug around all the prisoners. None of them cared all that much, though, and other than the Baron’s family and the man himself, who were placed in one of the larger carriages, the rest were simply crammed where they might fit.

Considering that the journey to the Imperial Capital would take weeks, it was not going to be a comfortable ride for them, but they were already better off than most prisoners would have been.

When the soldiers under Oleg led the Baron towards the carriage his family was already seated in, the Baron looked at him with unwillingness in his eyes, and asked for one last boon before he would be carted off like a common criminal.

“Pray tell, Erstgertsog Veros, how did I give myself away?” asked the Baron with eyes full of doubt and uncertainty. “I am certain that I have covered my tracks in an impeccable manner, and my… associates should not be foolish enough to let things slip either, so I beseech you this boon. Tell me where I have made a mistake?”

“Honestly? You likely didn’t,” admitted Oleg with a shrug of his shoulders. “I didn’t even have an inkling about all the drugs and smuggling operations you got going on until we found the account books in your room, really. The same applies to your perverse experiments. It was honestly a matter of sheer happenstance that I got wind of it.”

“Whatever do you mean?” asked the Baron, uncomprehending of the situation.

“Tell me, Baron, do you recognize these two women?” asked Oleg, as Aideen and Celia removed the veiled cloak that they had hidden their identities with. The Baron took a close look at the two but only had a look of confusion on his face, as if he did not understand what Oleg was driving at. That earned him a scowl from the Erstgertsog.

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“Figures that you wouldn’t even know the faces of people you tried to have killed, I guess…” said Oleg with a sigh. “What about her, then. Surely you remember her face, at least, no?” he continued, as Kino similarly removed her veil and cloak and bared her face for everyone to see.

The Baron’s face paled even further as he gasped aloud in utter shock upon seeing her face. For a while he stammered, lost for words, while looking to Aideen like someone on the verge of having a massive stroke or heart attack. It was only after a few minutes that the Baron managed to calm down enough to finaly say something intelligible.

“How!?” he yelled in complete surprise.

“I can kinda get how you must feel right now,” noted Oleg with a scoff as he shook his head at the Baron’s reaction. “After all, it’s not everyday that a crime gets exposed because one of the victims rose as an unliving and gets to tell on you, isn’t it? Like I said, it’s truly a case of massive happenstance, of unlikely events aligning with one another, really. Maybe the Deities themselves loathed what you did and wanted you to fail.”

“I-” the Baron tried to interject, but was at a loss for words, before the man deflated, as if he had lost all will to live in an instant. He remained silent even as the soldiers half-dragged him into the carriage and deposited him next to the rest of his family, and was unreactive even to their prodding and questions. Oleg saw it all happen and just shook his head.

“Always the case with those types, unable to accept that even their best-laid plans were fallible to the whims of fortune,” commented Oleg once the Baron had been locked up inside the carriage. He still looked rather displeased, probably because he failed to discover so much illegal activity happening right next to his own territory, but he looked as if some weight had been lifted off his shoulder.

“What do you think would happen to them?” asked Aideen in turn.

“It depends on Her Imperial Majesty, but my bet is that the Baron and the officials who were complicit would likely be made examples of,” said Oleg after some thought. “His family, if they proved innocent of complicity with the crimes, might get off lightly with their assets confiscated and exile, but the rest would likely be sent to the mines for the rest of their lives.”

“Rather fitting, I guess,” noted Aideen. While Elmaiya in general forbade personal and commercial usage of slavery, the practice itself was still in use as punishment. Criminals of particularly severe crimes generally received a punishment that consisted of years of hard labor in the mines, effectively enslaving them for the duration.

“Aunt… there’s another problem we have to address on this matter,” said Oleg all of a sudden. “What should we do about her?” he asked, his eyes glancing at Kino who was looking at the carriages together with Celia some distance away.

“I’m not certain either, but the girl could use a place where she could catch up on the life and education she missed out on over all those years,” replied Aideen. “I’ll likely need to have a chat with Lucea about her, and ask the girl what she thinks as well, before we can decide. It wouldn’t be fair for us to decide without asking her, after all.”