/
“C-Commander!”
There wasn’t so much as a knock before the door slammed open. The knight who ran in received looks of shock from Knight Commander Rod and Valmont.
There was suddenly a flurry of activity outside the building—but more importantly, the intruding knight was Marlon, captain of the 4th Battalion, which had been sent after Joshua.
“What are you fussing about?” Rod, realizing the urgency of the situation, stood. “Did you catch the perpetrator?”
“It doesn't matter!”
“Huh?”
“The masked person was involved in the Third Prince’s disappearance!”
Knight Commander Rod and Valmont’s eyes grew big.
“Wh-Where are they now?”
“Count Sanders caught the criminal and is now in the Second Prince’s palace”
“Why is he at the Second Prince’s palace?”
“The murderer said that Fourth Prince Kaiser was the one who did it.”
Rod stiffened.
“I came straight here, but I just happened to see the 9th Battalion at the Fourth Prince’s palace…”
It was one surprise after another. Everyone was so confused that they could no longer hear each other talking behind their backs.
“Excuse me first, please.”
Valmont’s feet were moving as soon as he was ready.
“We have to go. Tell me the details on the way.”
Knight Commander Rod placed his sword on his side and prepared to leave.
“I think you have to go see for yourself… By the time we’re finally there, I think it’ll be done…”
“What will be done?”
“When we got to the scene, there was no body, but there was so much blood we could only assume that Count Joshua Sanders was already done with his job. The eerie thing was that the blood belonged to many, many people, but there was no one left there.”
“You said many people? Did the person have subordinates? ”
“I mean, if what I saw was right.”
Knight Commander Rod looked at him in disbelief.
“Are you sure about that? This is Arcadia, the heart of the Empire. That many people wouldn’t be able to bypass our surveillance system—” The Knight Commander abruptly stopped talking when a thought crossed his mind. The criminal was hiding right next to Rod and Rod never noticed until they moved. The crowd couldn’t account for that… That masked person was unbelievably good at hiding.
If there were dozens of assassins who were as good at stealth… No, that wasn’t even the worst part.
“In such a short time… Many were dead but there’s no trace of them left behind?” The Knight Commander voiced his confusion.
Joshua was ahead by five minutes at the most. That meant that in those 5 minutes, he took care of all the apparently upper-class assassins without leaving behind a single body.
As expected of him…
“Haah.”
The Knight Commander’s eyes flashed. He let out a long sigh and set his jaw as he brushed his thoughts away.
“That aside, are you saying that the masked person gave up their story?”
“Well… Count Sanders whispered something in their ear, but it was too quiet for me to hear.”
“He knows something.”
Marlon nodded.
“Yes, whatever he told them made them tell the truth…”
“What's going on with the other knights?”
“You didn’t hear that either? We can’t do anything until His Majesty gives us orders.”
“Hmm…” The Knight Commander quietly eyed the Second Prince’s distant palace. “In the end, I guess I have no choice but to go see for myself.”
“Yes.”
“Let’s hurry.”
At last, the Knight Commander kicked the dirt and took off as hard as he could toward the Second Prince’s palace.
---
Cain stood in front of the Second Prince’s palace and looked around at the imperial knights standing in a circle around him.
“Master, do you have a plan? …Master?” he called again, but no one answered.
Cain gave Joshua a sad look. His master had his arms crossed and simply stared at the Second Prince’s palace. He’d been like that since he shouted for the Prince to come out.
“Damn it. If I knew that this would happen, I would've stabbed everyone I saw before…”
Not long ago, this man protected the Imperial Family. Now he was pointing his blade at them. How the tables turn!
Without a word of reply from his master, Cain had no choice but to suffer in silence. Joshua paid no attention to his servant’s suffering—his thoughts were fully occupied with one thought.
The problem was the talk they had right before they went to the Imperial Palace. In fact, he wouldn't have been working so hard if it weren't for that. Thinking about that conversation brought a deep sadness to his eyes.
Evangeline slowly opened her eyes.
“Ugh.”
She took a deep breath. The face she was afraid would show up in her dreams was still right in front of her face.
“Joshua… Sanders…”
“Tell me…”
“W-What do you mean…?”
Joshua leaned into Evangeline’s ear.
“Tell me where the body of Kasselon III is…”
Evangeline gaped at him.
“You must have a little kid, right? Evan, was it? The child you had with Galahad.”
Joshua’s low voice made Evangeline shake all over like she'd been hit by lightning.
“How do you— This is impossible.”
How on earth did this man know her secret?
When she heard his voice again, it sounded like a reaper from hell.
“If you don't tell... I'll find him and I'll rip him to pieces with my own hands.”
Evangeline was already scared, but that threat broke her. Even if her child was marked as a low blood, he was her everything.
“Pr-Promise me…”
“I swear I won’t lay a hand on your child.”
“I… I don’t even know the exact place…”
Joshua's eyes darkened.
A quick look at tinyurl.com/2p9emv8w will leave you more fulfilled.
“B-But!” Evangeline hurriedly shouted, gesticulating anxiously.
She couldn’t remember a time when she’d felt a fear like this.
[I want to tell you something.]
‘Duke Altsma?’
Joshua looked to the side, taking his eyes off of Evangeline, who was beginning to hyperventilate. His Death Knight was calling for him.
[I’ve heard about the place before… but there is something that bothers me about this.]
‘What is it?’
[It has something to do with the person who made me like this.]
Joshua's eyes widened slightly. His guess was Berber and Evergrant. The Black Knight had his full attention.
[He made more Death Knights than just me.]
‘What does that mean?’
[I was with another Death Knight right before you went to the castle and fought the knights of the Hubalt Empire.]
‘Two… Death Knights?’
It was a big surprise. Even making one Death Knight was hard—two was a feat to be proud of.
[I didn't have time to worry about it at the time because my ego, although it could think for itself like it does now, was weak. Even after I was reborn, I couldn't guess what it was. Based on what I know, his swordsmanship alone suggested he was related to the royal family of Avalon, but…]
‘Doesn’t anything come to mind?’
The Black Knight nodded.
[I heard that a Death Knight can be contracted within a hundred days of dying. Even then, the chances of success drop as time goes on. However, during that time, I don't remember anyone dying with an A-class body and soul who was related to the royal family of Avalon.]
‘But how?’
[There was one thing he said that stood out to me.]
Bright red light shot out of both of the Death Knight’s eyes.
[Blue Wolf of Swallow, come here…]
Duke Altsma was also called the “Blue Wolf” while he was alive.
[The incomparable light of Avalon will fall into our hand… It won't be long before Heimdall's great will spreads throughout the Empire.]
As the former Duke spoke, Joshua became as still as a stone statue.
The incomparable light of Avalon—all clues pointed to Joshua and Babel.
[We knew that the princes of Avalon are very talented, but I can’t believe that someone could reach A-Class before turning twenty… Of course, since I saw you, I've changed my mind about everything.]
Joshua nodded.
‘It would make sense for Prince Kasselon to be A-Class… He has great potential.’
[What do you mean?]
Joshua lowered his eyes. At some point, he’d acquired some strange ideas about the other world.
Asmodeus, the mighty 32nd ranked demon, had an ability which, with his contractor, Berber, could have made it happen. That terrible ability granted great power in exchange for burning away the last of the recipient’s lifespan. And if the Death Knight’s contract was made in that state...
Joshua's eyes lit up for a moment.
‘Where do we go?’
[All I could remember was that it was a secret room somewhere underground in the Imperial Palace, and that it was connected to an underground passage on the edge of the city.]
‘I think I have a good idea.’
It was a place he had frequented in his past life.
After Kaiser finally had all of the real power of the Empire under his control, he hid his palace, and the creation of this hidden place, from the eyes of the Imperial Knights with Evergrant’s help.
Kaiser’s palace. The Fourth Prince’s palace.
‘After all, there's probably only one way to go unless you know where the passage is.’
People were pouring out of the palace, with many knights following them. Joshua’s stony face finally broke into a wide smile when he saw the blonde man leading the crowd.
“Kaiser.”
Joshua clenched his fists as tight as he could. He wouldn't bend over anymore.
The die had been cast—they would be enemies from now on.