I'm the Villain, But the Heroines Keep Choosing Me-Chapter 98: Hidden Pieces

"Every location that received significant unexplained funds also experienced major demon attacks within six months," he said quietly. "The money was funding something. Preparation, maybe. Paying collaborators. Purchasing supplies or information."

"That’s our working theory," the Emperor confirmed. "Someone has been systematically organizing and funding demon incursions across the entire Empire. The question is who, and to what end."

"Could it be multiple someones?" Seria asked. "Different conspirators in each kingdom, working independently but toward similar goals?"

"Possible but unlikely," General Blackthorne said. "The coordination is too precise. The timing too synchronized. This bears the hallmarks of central command, not distributed cells."

"Which brings us back to the intelligence problem," Damien said. "Whoever is running this operation has access to empire-wide information. Military deployments, economic vulnerabilities, infrastructure locations, political tensions. That’s not information a minor noble or merchant could acquire. It requires systematic access to imperial intelligence networks."

The room went quiet.

"You’re suggesting the conspiracy includes someone with imperial security clearance," the Emperor said. Not a question.

"I’m suggesting it’s the only explanation that fits the evidence," Damien replied. "The demons couldn’t coordinate attacks this precisely without human assistance, and that assistance requires information only available to high-ranking officials."

"That’s a serious accusation," Archmage Lydia said.

"It’s a logical conclusion," Damien corrected. "Not an accusation yet. We don’t know who specifically. Just that someone with access exists."

The Emperor’s expression was unreadable. "Which is why I’m having you investigate rather than my normal intelligence apparatus. If there’s a traitor with imperial clearance, they’d hear about any official investigation immediately. But three unconventional operatives working outside standard channels – " He smiled slightly. " – that’s harder to predict and counter."

"So we’re bait as well as investigators," Seria observed.

"You’re whatever you need to be to succeed," the Emperor replied. "I’m giving you authority and resources. How you use them is your determination."

Damien studied the maps, the financial records, the compiled intelligence. Pieces of a massive puzzle, but the picture wasn’t clear yet.

"We need to narrow the suspect pool," he said. "Lady Cassandra, can you provide a list of every person who had access to the intelligence used in these attacks? General, the same for military deployment schedules that the demons seemed to know about. Henrik, anyone who could track gold flows the way you do."

"That’s still hundreds of people," Cassandra pointed out.

"Then we narrow it further. Cross-reference those lists – who appears on multiple? Who had access to information from different kingdoms? Who was in position eighteen months ago when this started, and remains in position now?"

"I can do that," Cassandra said, already making notes.

"While she’s working on suspects, we should investigate the attacks themselves more directly," Elara suggested. "Visit the sites, talk to survivors, look for evidence local investigators might have missed."

"The most recent attacks were yesterday," General Blackthorne said. "Three are within two days’ travel from the capital. You could examine them while the scenes are still fresh."

"We’ll do that," Damien decided. "Seria, you lead the tactical assessment of attack sites. Elara, talk to any Church officials who responded – they might have noticed magical or divine elements our military missed. I’ll coordinate with Lady Cassandra on the suspect analysis."

He looked at the Emperor. "We’ll need travel authorization, local authority to question witnesses, and access to any physical evidence that’s been preserved."

"You’ll have it all," the Emperor confirmed. "I’ll have documents prepared within the hour."

"Then we have our starting point," Damien said.

They spent the next two hours going through intelligence in detail. Cassandra walked them through demon encounter patterns, showing how attacks had evolved from random to coordinated.

Henrik explained the financial networks, the shell companies, the way money had moved through systems designed to hide its origin and destination. General Blackthorne provided military context – which attacks had successfully disrupted imperial operations, which had failed, and why.

By the time they finished, Damien’s head was spinning with information. But patterns were starting to emerge. Nothing concrete yet, but directions to investigate.

As they prepared to leave, the Emperor pulled Damien aside.

"A word, Lord Valcrest."

Damien nodded to Elara and Seria to wait, then followed the Emperor to a quieter corner of the war room.

"You handled that well," the Emperor said quietly. "Took command of the situation, organized resources, developed actionable strategy. Exactly what I hoped you’d do."

"Thank you, Your Majesty."

"But I need to be clear about something." The Emperor’s voice dropped further. "If you discover the conspiracy goes high enough – if it implicates members of my own court, generals, advisors – you come to me directly. Don’t try to handle it yourself. The political ramifications of accusing someone at that level require careful management."

"Understood."

"Do you?" The Emperor’s eyes were sharp. "Because I’ve read the reports from your kingdom. You have a habit of taking direct action rather than working through proper channels. That worked in a regional crisis. It could be catastrophic at an imperial scale."

Damien met his gaze steadily. "I won’t start an imperial incident without consulting you first. But if I’m in immediate danger because of imperial corruption, I will defend myself and my companions. Proper channels don’t matter if we’re dead."

The Emperor smiled slightly. "Fair. Just try to avoid creating bodies that require political cleanup."

"I’ll do my best."

"That’s all I ask." The Emperor’s expression shifted to something more serious. "One more thing. Your shadow magic – I’ve been briefed on it, but I want to hear directly from you. What exactly are you using, and how are you controlling it?"

This was the question Damien had been expecting since yesterday.

"Dark power," he said bluntly. "Channeled through what I would call an unconventional magic Core."

The Emperor studied him for a long moment, then nodded. "I appreciate the honesty."

Damien gave a final nod. "We won’t let you down."

He returned to where Elara and Seria waited, and together they left the war room.

"What did the Emperor want?" Elara asked as they walked through the palace corridors.

"To make sure I understand the political stakes," Damien replied. "And to ask about my shadow magic directly."

"What did you tell him?"

"The truth. Some of it, anyway."

"That’s good," Seria agreed. "Hopefully he remains with an open mind to it."

They exited the palace into afternoon sunlight. The Imperial Capital spread out before them, massive and complex and full of potential threats and allies in equal measure.

"So," Elara said, "we have attack sites to investigate, suspects to identify, and this empire-wide conspiracy to unravel. Where do we start?"

"With the closest attack site," Damien decided. "The weapons forge that was hit yesterday. It’s only a day’s ride from here, which means we can investigate and return quickly. If we find anything useful, we’ll know what to look for at the other sites."

"And if we don’t find anything?"

"Then we keep looking until we do." His voice was firm. "Whoever is orchestrating this made a mistake somewhere. They have to have. No operation this large is perfect. We just need to find the crack and exploit it."

They returned to their residence to prepare for travel. As they packed supplies and weapons, Damien reflected on how quickly their situation had escalated.

They’d been managing a regional demon threat.

Now they’re investigating an empire-wide conspiracy with imperial authority and resources.

The scale was daunting. The danger was real. The possibility of failure was even worse.