[The Ferwin Knights Entrusted with Imperial Safety: Where Are They Now?]
Under that headline, the article was filled primarily with criticisms of the Knights.
As he read the newspaper, a smile gradually crept onto the reader’s lips.
“Look at this. The reaction is growing steadily. These days, even if you go out to the plaza, everyone is trembling with anxiety.”
“Exactly what I said. The atmosphere where people unconditionally rely on the Knights will shift completely. By the way, Brett, how did you come up with such a plan?”
A man with dark brown hair folded the newspaper in half and placed it on the table.
“The era where mercenary mages can no longer be ignored is coming soon. Is the Puro cultivation going stably?”
“Of course. Don’t worry about that. Thanks to the support from the merchant guild you connected us with, our cultivation volume is increasing significantly.”
“Now it’s time to expand further. Since we let things explode in the capital, we’ll aim for the magic beasts inhabiting the remaining West, East, and South. If that happens, the backlash from the citizens toward the Knights will grow even larger.”
“But… Brett, is it really okay? Since we’ve run wild in the capital like this, the Knights must be watching closely…”
One colleague voiced their concern.
At the worried remark about what would happen if their tail was stepped on, Brett simply laughed.
“The Knights are likely too busy subjugating the evolved beasts right now. Of course, they must have felt something was strange, but reaching us won’t be that easy. After all, Puro is a plant buried in history. But your point is valid, so let’s keep a low profile before we move to other regions.”
The other colleagues nodded at Brett’s words.
They all wore triumphant expressions.
“By the way, any word from Isaac? That bastard’s whereabouts suddenly became a mystery.”
“Why bother? He’s a guy with a heart the size of a bean; he probably ran away because he was scared. He was a bit strange from the start.”
Brett listened thoughtfully to his colleagues’ words before slowly speaking.
“Still, try to track him. It’ll be troublesome if that bastard happens to catch the Knights’ eye.”
As soon as Brett finished speaking, thump, thump—the sound of knocking echoed inside.
The mercenaries gathered in the room, including Brett, exchanged glances.
“Was someone supposed to come?”
“Ah, now that you mention it, wasn’t someone from the merchant guild supposed to come today?”
“Go check it out.”
“Got it.”
At Brett’s instruction, one colleague stood up and went out into the hallway.
He walked through the dark corridor, lighting the way with a candle.
Reaching the door, a knock was heard again as if they had been waiting.
“Who is it?”
“I was sent by the Loqua Merchant Guild.”
The Loqua Merchant Guild was currently a black-market-related guild with close ties to Brett’s gang.
As expected, it seemed a person from the guild had arrived.
However, the man about to open the door paused and stared at the door with a keen gaze.
“By the way, the night is exceptionally dark today.”
“…”
The mercenary man waited after saying that.
This was a kind of password.
If the person gave a normal answer like “Is that so?” without the essential word, it meant they were not an insider.
“…I noticed the waning moon was hidden and couldn’t be seen today.”
The tense man slumped his shoulders and smirked.
The condition for this password was to mention the waxing moon on odd-numbered dates and the waning moon on even-numbered dates.
The man slowly opened the door. His face, which had been leisurely welcoming the guest to enter, froze instantly in a split second.
“I-I’m sorry it turned out like this…”
The state of the person who knocked was unusual.
Not only was the corner of his mouth slightly burst, but he was also trembling with anxiety.
Moreover, his words were strange.
Before the mercenary who opened the door could sense something and shout, a hand suddenly reached in from behind, covered his mouth, and subdued him in one breath.
“Mmph…!”
The man let out a small groan at the force clamping his mouth and tried to grasp the situation quickly.
Someone had invaded the hideout.
But who?
There shouldn’t be a way for anyone to find this place so easily.
Just then, moonlight leaked through the gap in the open door. In the light, the opponent’s face was faintly visible.
“…”
The mercenary man gasped.
Darker eyes beneath pitch-black hair.
He suddenly recalled the list Brett had shown him of people to watch out for within the Knights.
It was definitely the person on that list. The Captain of the Ferwin Knights and a Class 2 Mage, Chester Callaway.
The man’s pupils shook helplessly at the appearance of the Knights.
Just then, sparks of electricity began to crackle from Chester’s hand covering his mouth.
Feeling the stinging pain, the man slowly shook his head with a face drenched in fear.
“Where is Brett?”
Chester asked quietly.
The man raised his hand into the air and pointed to the inner room.
While his hand trembled pitifully, Chester struck his neck briefly, knocking him unconscious.
Chester silenced his footsteps, erased all traces of his presence, and stood before the room the man had pointed to.
Boosting his detection to the maximum, he felt the mana of mages inside the room.
There were about five people inside.
After finishing the headcount, Chester signaled instructions to Morgan and Toby, who were waiting near the door.
As soon as the two moved to lead the ordinary members, Chester opened the door and entered.
“Hey, why are you so late… huh?”
The mercenaries, who naturally thought it was their colleague returning from greeting the guest, widened their eyes as they saw Chester intruding so casually this far inside.
Because of his too-natural movement, everyone froze.
It was because they couldn’t process exactly what was happening in an instant.
“It’s the Knights!”
Brett, who was the first to finish analyzing the situation, suddenly shouted.
Only then did everyone regain their senses and prepare to flee quickly.
Perhaps they had designed it this way when setting up the hideout, but there were two doors in the corner of the room.
At a glance, they were difficult to distinguish because they were the exact same color as the wallpaper.
Brett and the other mercenaries, who were trying to escape through the two doors and the window, moved vigorously, but stopped after taking a single step.
“You’d better not move.”
“…”
“Unless you want your throats pierced.”
Spears surrounded by blue electricity erupted from the floor, accurately aiming at the throats of Brett and the four mercenary men.
“Don’t even think you can run away.”
Chester walked slowly and threw open the two doors they had tried to use for escape.
The mercenary men let out a groan of despair.
The outside was already swarming with knights.
The members led by Morgan had perfectly deployed a perimeter.
“For your information, the estate you were managing in the back has already been seized as well.”
Before officially raiding this place, Chester’s group had discovered a location protected by mana through their surrounding investigation.
And they had just sent Toby as the person in charge of that area.
“Was the Puro being cultivated there?”
Chester stood before Brett.
“Damn it, how on earth…”
The veins on Brett’s forehead stood out.
Hearing the question, Chester let out a sigh of disbelief.
“Brett, didn’t you underestimate the capabilities of the organization you once belonged to too much? Did you truly think the Knights were a place that would fall for the tricks of criminals like you?”
Brett bit his lip hard. The part where his teeth touched turned white.
“Why do you turn that arrow toward an innocent target when you were kicked out due to your own lack of ability?”
“What do you know! Just because you’re a Ferwin Knight, do you think you’ve become something? What’s so great about a measly Knight title! It’s an organization that should disappear. An organization that couldn’t recognize a talented person and unfairly kicked them out—what? Protecting the Empire? Everyone is being deceived!”
Chester stared at Brett with a gaze full of insignificance.
The Knights had an excellent eye for recognizing talented people.
And the same went for recognizing those who tainted the organization or lacked the qualifications of a knight.
When Chester just stared without saying a word, Brett grit his teeth harder.
Though Chester said nothing, his gaze seemed to say: ‘You know it’s just a self-justification to make yourself feel better.’
“Save the rest of your story for when we get to the Knights.”
When Chester signaled, Morgan and the members entered and subdued the remaining four mercenaries.
Brett huffed in anger, glaring at Chester’s back.
“Chester Callaway, right? Your name.”
Chester stopped his footsteps and cast his gaze toward Brett.
“Since you’re so sure I’m the culprit, you must have investigated me quite hard. Then you’d know, right? That I was cast out not just by the Knights, but by my family as well.”
“What are you trying to say?”
“I know quite a bit about you, too. Since I’m a fellow mage and was once from a noble family. Maybe that’s why I felt a strange sense of kinship with you.”
Chester furrowed his brows.
“The tragic second son who is overshadowed by a genius older brother and never even acknowledged by the father who sired him.”
“…”
“Actually, Chester. I’m just like you.”
Brett had already lost his composure.
His bloodshot eyes showed that he was extremely agitated.
