After Lea’s tears had run their course, we set off to find the others.
The dead were a tragedy, but standing around weeping wouldn’t bring them back. The living had to keep living, didn’t they? First, we needed to save those we still could.
With that resolution fixed in my mind, we started walking.
That’s when Lea gave a wet sniffle.
I might not have been able to comfort her properly, but I could offer a small gesture. I pulled a handkerchief from my coat and handed it to her.
“Use this.”
“Thank you.”
Honk—
I hadn’t quite expected her to blow her nose into it.
I’ll need to buy a new one when we get back.
I declined when Lea tried to return the handkerchief. “Keep it.”
“Thank you.”
Silence settled between us again.
Knights attacked us intermittently along the way, but most were mid-level Aura Experts at best. A single arrow dealt with each of them.
“I’ve been wondering…” Lea began as we walked.
She fidgeted with her fingers—a sure sign she had something on her mind.
“That ring. What is it?”
Ring? Ah, she meant this one. I glanced down at the Dark Relic the Grand Duke had given me. It could supposedly save the wearer’s life once—quite a valuable piece.
I’d never had occasion to use it, but the Grand Duke wouldn’t lie about something like this. After all, it had originally been intended for his daughter. He wouldn’t have carelessly examined such a gift.
The problem was that revealing it as a Dark Relic would draw unwanted attention.
No point stirring up unnecessary trouble.
The Grand Duke claimed it was bestowed by the Emperor, but I wasn’t an imperial recipient, was I?
Passing down imperial gifts to family members wasn’t illegal, but it still made me uncomfortable. It was for good reason that I’d removed the ring when meeting the Emperor.
Getting questioned about it would be a nightmare.
Even if it was Lea asking, I couldn’t reveal this was a Dark Relic. So I deflected. “It’s nothing.”
“Nothing, is it.”
“That’s right.” I gazed toward the distant mountains.
Nothing, indeed. Even I thought it was a ridiculous answer, but what choice did I have? To explain without mentioning it was a Dark Relic, I’d have to say something like, “His Grace gave me this ring. I treasure it dearly.”
Wouldn’t that sound rather strange?
So I swallowed my words.
Fortunately, Lea didn’t press the matter further, though I sensed misunderstandings piling up.
Can’t be helped, I suppose.
I quickened my pace just as knights from the Elder Council came running out to block our path. The awkward atmosphere vanished instantly.
“There they are!” a knight shouted.
Judging by his isolation, he was probably a scout.
“How fortunate.”
“Fortunate? What’s fortun—gack!”
“Quiet. We can’t have others coming.” I grabbed him by the throat. All our previous encounters had involved groups, leaving no time for interrogation. This time would be different.
Squeeze.
“You bastard!” The knight struggled against my grip.
“I’ve lost count of how many times I’ve heard that.”
CRACK—!
“AAAHHH!”
I broke his arm with my elbow. “Time’s short, so answer quickly.”
“Ghhh! You—”
The knight glared with bloodshot eyes, writhing in pain. I ignored his agony and continued.
“Where did you come from? There are too many of you to be just the old man’s knights from the Elder Council.”
“Go to hell.”
“Not inclined to answer, I see. Next question. Where is the High Elder now? I need to catch the head to end this tragedy.”
Ptui—!
He spat in my face, a bloody smile spreading across his features.
I maintained my expressionless mask and reached into my coat for my handkerchief.
Ah, I gave it to Lea.
As I searched, Lea pulled out a handkerchief and wiped my face.
“Looking for this?” That was the one she’d blown her nose with.
“Thank you.” I expressed my gratitude despite the circumstances. I couldn’t complain when she meant well.
…She had meant well, right?
She’s seemed oddly out of sorts since the ring came up.
I studied Lea’s complexion. Seeing her bright smile, I must have been worrying over nothing.
Reassured, I looked back at the knight. “I’ll ask again. Where is the High Elder? Think carefully.”
“You should think carefully! Everything was over the moment Master stepped in!”
The knight gasped and cackled. To still be laughing in that state—he must be quite the piece of work.
I suppose there’s no choice but this method, bothersome as it is.
A technique I’d been reluctant to use because it required so much talking.
I let out a faint breath and spoke to the knight.
* * *
The knight caught in Louis’s grip continued cackling as he glared up at him.
His arm hung useless and his throat was being squeezed, yet laughter still spilled out. To think they’d try to make him talk with just this level of pain—it was so absurd that he couldn’t help but laugh.
Reinforcements will be here soon!
Once that happened, these brats would be easy enough to handle. He’d heard something about keeping the youngest daughter of House Praha alive, but that was a problem for later. First he’d teach them some manners.
The brat would die first, naturally.
Hehe.
The knight let another bloody smile slip.
That’s when Louis muttered quietly, “From now on, you don’t need to answer what I say.”
No need to answer?
What’s his game?
The knight sent a puzzled look while feeling the pressure on his throat. “What are you plotting?”
“Plotting? Nothing so grand. From now on, I plan to do all the talking myself.”
“What?”
But Louis Berg didn’t bother replying, simply beginning to speak.
“Who is your master?”
The knight looked at Louis Berg with utter disbelief. Did he really think he would answer that? The grip was even loosening slightly, and the question was idiotic drivel.
How could someone like this be the Duke’s headache? It made no sense.
Stupid moron.
But such contempt didn’t last long.
“Master, you said? Then you’re not one of the High Elder’s knights. He’d never have his subordinates use such a title.”
“I would never say such—”
“Your heartbeat changed. Seems I’m right. Then who could it be? Dragunov? Demonkin? Fersian? Holy Order? Artezia? Ah, Artezia it is. Let’s move on to the next question.”
Without hearing any answers, Louis Berg began extracting information from the knight in a monotone voice.
“What’s the highest level among the knights who came here?”
“What’s Artezia’s reason for interfering in this matter?”
“Where is the High Elder currently located?”
All open-ended questions, yet he didn’t listen for answers. He simply asked questions and nodded to himself.
Bewilderment crept into the knight’s eyes. Was such a thing even possible? If getting information was this easy, who would bother struggling for it?
The knight bit his lip hard, unable to believe the situation.
Rather than endure this, he should bite his tongue and kill himself.
The knight steeled himself and opened his mouth wide. Just as he was about to bite down—
Smack!
A large hand thrust into his mouth.
“You can’t die yet. I still have many questions. Now, let’s move to the next question—”
Louis Berg spoke in that eerily monotone voice while blocking the knight’s mouth.
The knight could neither close his mouth nor die, only trembling as he stared at Louis Berg.
That thing was no man. It was a nightmare wrapped in flesh—a creature that could see straight into your soul.
The knight wondered when this bizarre interrogation would end and let out a muffled scream.
Of course, that cry never echoed forth.
* * *
SNAP!
After extracting all the information, I broke the knight’s neck and stood up. Having sat for dozens of minutes, my body felt stiff.
Mmph—
I stretched and approached Lea.
“All finished?” she asked. Her armor was splattered with red bloodstains.
“You seem to be finished as well.”
“This much isn’t even a warm-up, you know?” Lea replied with a chuckle. Around her lay countless corpses—the comrades the recently deceased knight had called.
“So where did they say the High Elder is?”
“Fighting the Acting Head, apparently. The location is one of the paths leading to the Demonic Realm.”
“If he’s picking a fight with my sister, his head will fly off in an instant. Pretty brave of him,” Lea muttered while wiping blood from her face. A faint chill lingered on her sword—it seemed her Aura manifestation was progressing.
Lingering effects of Demonic energy, it seems.
Having once stepped on the threshold of Master level, crossing over shouldn’t be much trouble. Especially for someone with Lea’s talent.
One month. A new Master would probably be born within that time frame.
Impressive, how misfortune transformed into fortune…
But I cut the thought short and turned back to Lea. “He doesn’t seem particularly brave. From what I heard, he’s fighting alongside knights brought in from Artezia.”
“Artezia?”
“That’s right. The High Elder has drawn in House Artezia. Duke Artezia accepted the deal.”
They were absolutely mad to interfere in another family’s civil war. Well, that’s probably why they sent them disguised as mercenaries.
“Moreover, Mark Leian came from Artezia.”
“Mark Leian... you mean the Cruel Knight?”
I slowly nodded.
Mark Leian was a knight who had reached the level of Aura Master, known for his brutal fighting style. It was no surprise they called him the Cruel Knight—supposedly, even crying children fell silent at the sound of his name.
Nevertheless...
“Ugh, why did it have to be such a terrible matchup?” Lea gave a dry laugh, not a hint of worry in her voice.
Before my regression and even now, the Cruel Knight had always been beaten like a dog by Lin Praha.
Without fail.