Drug Eradication

It was the sight of a darkened dockside. And through this darkness came vehicles, arriving slowly. As soon as they halted, the waiting personnel began to move quickly.

They emerged between the warehouses on the dockside, showing no gaps in their vigilance as they took defensive positions. All of them held pistols in their hands.

Following the movements of those maintaining vigilance, someone opened the car door slowly, and stepping out from one of the cars was Ian, dressed neatly in a suit.

“Welcome, Your Majesty.”

“Viscount Rubingston, have they already arrived?”

“Yes, they have arrived and are waiting.”

Since one could not dare keep the king waiting, the two bosses of the organizations had arrived beforehand to wait. Ian nodded, understanding, and began to walk in the direction led by the viscount. While guiding him, the viscount spoke apologetically.

“The facilities around here are not very good, and I worried they might discomfort Your Majesty.”

“It is fine. Even if not often, I have been in places like this several times before.”

Before becoming king, he had worked in places like old ships. He had experience traveling around, so there was nothing about the environment that bothered him. From the start, he had not been someone who was properly treated as a prince, so there was no need to be treated so reverently now.

‘Their loyalty is a bit excessive.’

Ian thought that as their loyalty grew too strong, there were times they treated him far too excessively. It wasn’t bad, but he felt he needed to temper their overprotective tendencies a little.

As he walked quietly, he saw figures waiting at the entrance of what looked like a warehouse. They bowed their heads and immediately opened the door. Upon entering the entrance, there was a single light shining near the center.

Two people were seated there. Naturally, those present there did not see Ian entering. But they seemed to hear the approaching footsteps, as they flinched.

As Ian approached, thinking both looked tense, Viscount Rubingston stopped at a spot still out of the light and spoke in a low, commanding voice toward the two bosses.

“The Honored One has arrived. Kneel at once.”

“Ah, yes.”

“Ah, understood.”

They looked like men in their mid-to-late forties, one fat and one skinny. Both hurriedly knelt. They knew that the voice belonged to none other than the head of the secret police, the Mauter.

To them, the head of the Mauter was like the Grim Reaper. If he wanted, he could fabricate nonexistent crimes and arrest them. Their faces were full of tension. At the same time, they inwardly wondered who exactly this “Honored One” was.

‘If the head of the Mauter speaks like this, he must be someone very high up. But why would someone like that summon me and this guy?’

‘Who on earth is it? If he is called “honored” by that man, he must be high-ranking, but he can’t be royalty… maybe a duke?’

Neither of them imagined that the king himself had come. No, at first they considered it, but it was inconceivable that someone like him would come to a place like this. As they knelt with their faces to the ground, Ian slowly stepped forward.

Viscount Rubingston tried to stop him, as if it could be dangerous, but Ian shook his head indicating it was fine and moved forward until he stood under the light. Naturally, the Mauter agents nearby stood ready to shoot at the slightest suspicious move.

Feeling the sharp killing intent from around them, the two bosses could only gulp. Into their ears soon came the voice of a young man.

“Raise your heads.”

“C-can we really?”

“I give you permission.”

“Then we will raise them.”

They carefully raised their heads, and upon seeing what was revealed, they froze blankly for a moment. Then their expressions started to twist, their eyes widening until terrified voices burst out.

“Y-Your Majesty?!”

“Truly… is it really the King!?”

“That’s right. I am the king of this country. Seeing you like this is a pleasure.”

When Ian pointed to himself and said that, their minds spun frantically: How should they conduct themselves? They could not make even the smallest mistake. If they upset the king, their organizations could be wiped out overnight.

‘Ugh, so the honored one is truly the King?! How do I even speak?!’

‘If I say even one wrong word, everything I have will vanish. Why didn’t the head of the Mauter tell us it was the King?!’

They could only cast a resentful glance at Viscount Rubingston. Of course, he was also terrifying, so they dared not glare openly. At that moment, Ian’s voice reached their ears.

“Judging by your reaction, you had no idea I would be coming here.”

“T-that is correct. We had no idea.”

“We were merely told an Honored One wished to meet us.”

“For safety reasons, I did not inform them in advance,” said Viscount Rubingston from the side.

Ian nodded in understanding. If he had announced beforehand that the king was coming, the area would have been flooded with far stricter security and many more people. Thinking of that, he felt it was better left unsaid.

‘So these two are the bosses of Basilisk and Medusa.’

They might be feared crime bosses by commoners, but in Ian’s eyes, they were nothing more than trash to be eliminated at any moment. Of course, he also intended to make use of them as needed while keeping them in place.

“I believe I’ve introduced myself enough. State your names.”

“My name is Kvas.”

“This humble one is Robero.”

The fat man was Kvas, boss of the Basilisk organization. The skinny one was Robero, boss of the Medusa group. Ian looked at them and nodded.

“You must be wondering why I summoned you here to meet me like this.”

At these words, they nodded repeatedly. They had no idea why the revered king would call underground figures like them directly. Seeing their expressions, Ian stated the reason.

“The reason I summoned you is to eradicate all narcotics circulating in this country.”

Flinch. Both men trembled. At the mention of drugs, they could not help but feel alarm. Controlling two major organizations that all but dominated the capital, they were involved in narcotics, one of their main sources of income.

‘Eradicate narcotics?’

‘That means he’s telling us to get out of the drug business. What do we do?’

Hearing the king say this directly threw them into dismay, but at the same time, they thought they should first get through this situation. The fact that the king himself met them likely meant he truly intended to crack down on drugs.

That implied a sweeping anti-narcotics campaign was coming. Once back, they planned to hide all their drug-related operations. Outwardly, they would pretend to obey the king while secretly planning to keep their business alive.

Of course, they intended to resume after some time had passed.

‘The king won’t stay focused on drugs forever.’

‘This has happened before, but they never stopped distribution completely. Think of it as a passing storm.’

As the two bosses entertained such thoughts, Ian spoke in a tone of grave concern.

“In my view, narcotics are an evil. They devastate people’s lives and even diminish the nation’s wealth. Am I wrong?”

“Of course not. They are truly, truly wicked things.”

“To think Your Majesty has resolved so, then narcotics will surely be eradicated.”

“I like what you’re saying. With your help, I plan to cut off the distribution of narcotics nationwide, starting here in the capital.”

“Ohh, that is an excellent idea.”

“We will actively help. The ideal that Your Majesty wishes to achieve will surely come to pass.”

Seeing the two pledge to help, Ian could only scoff inwardly. He had already gathered information on them through Viscount Rubingston. He knew that all narcotics in the capital were distributed through their organizations.

He intended to sever narcotics distribution in the capital through them and then move on to stop distribution nationwide. Ultimately, he planned to block all foreign trafficking routes as well.

‘Well then, shall we begin?’

Zzrrr—

In that instant, his Mental Manipulation ability manifested. Having used it often, it had developed nearly as much as his telekinesis. He could see the two men’s eyes glaze over momentarily before returning to normal. Ian then spoke softly to them.

“Coordinate closely with Viscount Rubingston here and work together to eradicate all narcotics in the capital.”

“We obey Your Majesty’s command.”

“Narcotics are an evil that must be wiped from the world. We will eradicate them without fail.”

Though their answers sounded similar to before, their hearts had completely changed. Their thoughts and reason remained intact, but deep in their hearts now lay disgust and contempt for narcotics. They themselves didn’t know why they felt this way.

‘My Mental Manipulation has become more natural.’

Because the manipulation reached deep beneath the surface of their minds, it was much more natural and powerful. He thought inwardly that, since it awakened later than his telekinesis, this Mental Manipulation might actually be the greater ability.

“Well, that concludes our talk. Let us meet again next time.”

“Of course. We look forward to meeting again.”

“We will surely succeed in carrying out Your Majesty’s command.”

Their eyes shone brightly as they spoke, and even Viscount Rubingston watching thought it only natural. For someone once full of doubt and suspicion, such loyal devotion to the king now seemed natural. In truth, it was a loyalty that had taken root far deeper than before.

Of course, to meet the king, have a brief talk, and immediately obey his orders did not look strange at all. Seeing this, Ian decided staying here any longer would only waste time.

“Let us return now.”

“Yes, let us go.”

Turning, Ian stepped out of the warehouse, and soon Viscount Rubingston and the agents also disappeared. With the sound of engines outside and the vehicles growing distant, it was clear the king had departed.

“…..”

“……”

The two remained silent, listening, then soon exchanged glances. Their emotions were clearly full of strong hostility. They were rivals, after all, not on friendly terms enough to meet like this.

Yet their feelings were now bound to the existence called Ian.

“Since it is a command from His Majesty, naturally we must obey.”

“Of course. Just don’t get in my way.”

“You don’t get in my way. Since His Majesty wishes to eradicate narcotics, your drug operations will only get in the way.”

“Hmph! It’s your operations that are the obstacle. Once I get back, I’ll eliminate them immediately!”

With those words, they stood and turned away. In this way, the two organizations dividing the capital began simultaneously implementing bans on narcotics. Naturally, many of their members were thrown into confusion.

Since drugs were a major source of funds, there were attempts to dissuade or argue. But the bosses’ will was unshakable. With their active drive to cut off narcotics, the capital suddenly became a place where it was extremely hard to obtain drugs.

People tried to endure with what they had on hand, but with supply lines into the capital cut off, there was no way to get more. As a result, many experienced withdrawal symptoms. This revealed how widely narcotics had spread, as people across the city suffered withdrawal.

Among them were quite a few nobles. Naturally, they tried to pull strings to obtain drugs, but were soon blocked or stopped. The king himself had declared narcotics an evil. From now on, anyone distributing, possessing, or consuming drugs would be severely punished without exception.

The fact that the king himself was eradicating narcotics drew praise from many. For those who never used drugs, this was only natural. But for those who did, it was like being struck by a bolt from the blue.

They tried desperately to obtain drugs by any means. Because of this situation, movements arose outside the capital to bring in narcotics for distribution.