Before long, the full extent of Brett’s group and their actions was revealed.
Just as the Knights had deduced, Brett held a deep grudge against the Order.
After being kicked out of the Knights and cast out by his family, he barely made a living as a mercenary mage.
One day, consumed by resentment over his situation, he ended up blaming the Knights for everything.
In order to expose the incompetence of the Knights—who enjoyed overwhelming support from the empire’s citizens—Brett went into action and happened to come across a plant called Puro.
When it flashed through his mind that if Puro could amplify a mage’s power, it might also work on monsters, he immediately headed to the northern regions.
There, he conducted monster evolution experiments to verify if his plan was feasible.
After obtaining the results he wanted, Brett came straight to the capital.
He believed that to deal the heaviest blow to the Knights, he had to target their headquarters.
To ensure stable cultivation of Puro and to secure funds for his crimes, Brett contacted the Loqua Merchant Guild, which was famous in the black market.
He successfully formed an alliance with them by convincing them that if his plan succeeded, the value of mercenary mages would rise and the black market would see more customers.
The black market officials involved were also arrested by the Knights.
The investigation revealed one more unexpected fact.
The evolved monster that Ruite had encountered at his very first field assignment after joining the Knights was actually the first subject Brett had evolved with Puro after arriving in the capital.
At that time, the research department naturally didn’t expect that someone would artificially evolve a monster.
Since no Puro was found in its body, they had no choice but to process it as a typical case of monster evolution.
When Chester learned this, he lost his reason and lunged at Brett.
This was because Ruite’s life had been in serious danger at that scene.
Fortunately, Toby and Morgan held him back, preventing the situation from escalating further.
Isaac was a mercenary mage who had belonged to Brett’s gang.
He was originally a mage with poor skills who suffered from financial difficulties, which was when Brett made him an offer: if Isaac helped with the plan, Brett would share the Puro.
Once he learned it was a grass that amplified magic power, Isaac joined the plan.
However, as time passed, Brett only worked him hard and showed no sign of giving him any Puro.
Eventually, Isaac stole some Puro powder in secret and ran away.
That was how he ended up in the black market where Ruite and Chester had gone undercover.
Anyway, after all the interrogations were over, Brett’s group and Isaac were held by the Knights before being handed over to the Imperial Ministry of Justice.
This was so they could stand formal trial.
In the process, the inner details naturally became known to the public.
The citizens of the empire were horrified by the criminals who tried to threaten their safety by evolving monsters, and at the same time, they expressed even greater gratitude and trust toward the Knights who stopped them.
Those who had shown distrust toward the Knights fell silent.
Above all, as it became known that Chester was the one who led the resolution of this incident, people unanimously praised the second son of the Callaway family.
They said that thanks to him, they were able to return to a safe life.
“Ha, I knew it. I believed Captain Chester would be able to pull it off.”
Hale let out a refreshing laugh and even clapped for Chester, who was standing in front of him.
It was the moment the Commander’s expression regained its usual boisterousness after not smiling once since the incident began.
“I was able to solve it because the other members helped. It would have been impossible for me alone.”
This wasn’t just him acting humble.
It was undoubtedly an incident that could never have been solved alone.
Because members of the combat division, including Morgan and Toby, as well as Ruite and Cedric, all did their part, they were able to achieve this result.
Just then, Chester felt a heavy gaze. Hale was staring intently at him with his chin resting on his hand. The gaze was so persistent that Chester couldn’t help but ask, “Why…?”
“I just feel like the Captain has changed a lot.”
“Me?”
“Yes. I remember exactly what kind of look you had in your eyes when you first joined the Knights.”
Chester was someone who showed a burning desire to rise to the top at any cost, and he didn’t view others as people to rely on or cooperate with.
But now, he was sincerely acknowledging that it was possible because of his colleagues.
“Um… Commander, if it isn’t a problem, there is one thing I would like to ask.”
Hale gestured for him to say anything.
“Why did you entrust this task to me?”
At the time, Hale had said he assigned it to Chester because he thought he could handle it well, but Chester felt like there might be another reason.
“Hmm… In my eyes, Chester, it always felt like there was a wall in front of you. As a knight and a mage, you grew quickly with your competence and outstanding grades, but you couldn’t seem to jump over that specific wall.”
Hale’s calm voice spread through the room.
“So, I wanted to give you an opportunity. Whether you broke that wall down or jumped over it, I wanted you to keep moving forward without hesitating.”
Chester’s eyes wavered slightly.
“…I didn’t know you were watching me that closely.”
“Haha, all the members are like children to me.”
Chester left Hale with a word of thanks and stepped out of the main building.
Warm sunlight poured down heavily inside the Knight’s headquarters, which was returning to its daily routine.
His heart felt light. It wasn’t just because a big case was solved.
He simply felt good without a single worry holding him back.
Chester turned back toward the main building and went back inside.
As he was climbing the stairs to go to the research department office, he happened to run into Cedric coming down.
Cedric greeted Chester naturally and then made a low sound as if he remembered something.
“Are you going to see Ruite?”
Cedric whispered on purpose.
“Yes.”
“Ruite doesn’t have work today, so he’s probably at the dormitory. Vice Commander Vilter told him to get some good rest today since he worked so hard during the incident.”
He almost made a trip for nothing.
“Thanks for telling me.”
“Don’t mention it.”
Chester headed to the dormitory, leaving behind Cedric, who wore an amused smile.
He knocked on Ruite’s door, but it didn’t open immediately.
The moment he raised his hand to knock again, the door opened slowly.
“Who… Oh, Chester.”
“Were you sleeping?”
Ruite nodded with a half-asleep face.
His hair was sticking out in all directions because he had been sleeping deeply, and he couldn’t even open his eyes properly.
While he looked truly lovely like that, a thought suddenly occurred to Chester.
“Ruite, I’ve told you over and over, please check who is knocking before you open the door.”
If the person who came to see Ruite just now wasn’t him but someone else, wouldn’t this defenseless and cute appearance have been exposed?
If that became a reason for some random person to develop feelings for Ruite, that would be a real disaster.
“You nag too much. Who was the one that woke me up from a sweet sleep…?”
Ruite scratched his head and turned around to go into the room.
After checking the hallway thoroughly to see if anyone was there, Chester closed the door and followed closely behind Ruite.
“How is this nagging? It’s important.”
“Even my mother doesn’t nag as much as you.”
Ruite went back to his bed and lay down.
Chester also naturally sat on the edge of the bed and stared at the face with eyes closed tight as if still sleepy.
“I just don’t want to show that cute side of yours to others. If you don’t like it, then don’t be so cute.”
Chester lightly pinched Ruite’s cheek.
Perhaps because he had been sleeping in the room, his warm body temperature felt nice against Chester’s hand.
“…I don’t even have the energy to respond to those cringy words anymore. Anyway, did the meeting with the Commander go well?”
Ruite shook his head but opened his closed eyes again.
It seemed he had woken up a little.
“Yes.”
“What did he say?”
“Just… I guess you could say I’ve come to respect the Commander more.”
“Oh, sounds like you had quite a cool conversation.”
Chester kept fiddling with Ruite’s cheek while talking.
Then, he suddenly applied force and pinched the cheek.
“Ow! Why did you pinch me all of a sudden?”
Ruite sat up abruptly, seemingly startled.
“Don’t change the subject. Did you understand what I said earlier? Check the person before opening the door. I’m telling you to ask ‘Who is it?’ first.”
“Sigh.”
Ruite let out a tired sigh at the conversation that still hadn’t ended.
Then, as if he had a good idea, he got off the bed and headed to his desk.
While Ruite opened the desk drawer and rummaged through it, Chester was busy nagging about whether he heard him and how he needed to be more cautious.
“Ah, found it.”
Ruite, who lightly ignored the nagging, walked over to Chester with something in his hand.
“Here.”
Ruite suddenly held out his fist.
Chester tilted his head and reached his hand out.
Soon, he felt a cold sensation on his palm.
What Ruite handed him was a room key.
“The spare key to my room.”
“…”
“Stop the nagging. From now on, if you’re coming in, don’t knock—just open the door and come in.”
Chester’s eyes, which had been sharp with the worry that Ruite might open the door for just anyone, softened instantly.
He looked at the key in his hand very preciously.
“Are you really giving this to me?”
“Why not? We’re going to get married. So don’t be so noisy. I’m going back to sleep.”
Ruite lay back down on the bed as if collapsing.
Chester carefully put the key into his uniform as if it were some kind of treasure.
Then, he lay down next to Ruite and hugged him tightly.
“I’ll give you the key to my room later, too.”
“Do whatever you want.”
Ruite spoke as if it were no big deal and turned toward Chester.
Then, digging into Chester’s embrace, he fell back into a deep sleep.
