Ch 7

A dinner banquet was held at a noble’s mansion in Saxony, a satellite city a distance away from the capital. Despite there being a dinner hall with dozens of people, there was no food on the table yet. The guests could have chatted until the food was served, but it was dead silent. Usually, these people would be noisy in any situation, but their anticipation left them in stiff silence. Finally, the most senior of those present, a middle-aged man, spoke up.

"Diesel is not here yet?" he asked one of the servants impatiently.

The servant shook his head nervously. Everyone present were accomplices to the kidnapping.

"Perhaps he failed?" said someone else in the crowd.

"Don't say such a terrible thing! Don't you know that if we miss this opportunity, we may never have another chance?!" the man in the head seat yelled angrily.

The mansion was one of Ramnusia's secluded residences, and was also supposed to be the final stop for Diesel and the six-horse carriage. Those gathered had set up several dinner halls to deceive any unexpected followers. And, even if the knights managed to track them down here, they could not be forcibly searched without justification. If the knights were truthful and forcibly searched the mansion, it would function as a good political cause to attack the imperial family. This was because the crown prince would not be there.

"I know. It's just because he is behind schedule." the person replied uneasily.

"That's true, but if Diesel failed and decides to open his mouth..." someone else muttered.

The man at the head seat sighed. "Don't worry about that. Adrasteia said she cast strong mental protection magic on all of our operatives in the capital. She said that even if one is caught and the rebellion fails, they won’t ever get our information through torture or hypnosis magic."

All those seated felt relieved. Adrasteia, the head of Ramnusia, was known for having assassinated the Blood Emperor despite the security and magic protection of the palace. They believed even William, who was called the White Devil of the Butterfly tribe, would not easily be able to breach the mental protection magic.

"Anyway, the fact that he is late definitely worries me. But we can't send people to rescue him, so let's just start the dinner as scheduled. Being together too late without dinner can raise suspicions too."

The servant got up to leave the dinner hall to bring food.

Baaang-!

But suddenly, all the windows of the dinner hall shattered, and a group of armored figures surrounded the flustered guests. Then a loud voice echoed through from outside.

"Hahahahaha! I am~! The Knight of Justice~! Great~! Knight of the Sun~! I’m fighting off evil again today~!”

A man in red armor stepped through a window frame and landed at the table in the center of the dinner hall, singing loudly and off key.

"Today also~! We execute justice according to the boss's orders~!"

When the red-armored man finished his messy tune, the man in the head seat jumped up and shouted, "You bastard! Are you a knight of the imperial court?"

He regretted his actions the moment he spoke. Asking if the man was an imperial knight was tantamount to confessing that they had done something to garner the attention of the imperial court. However, the man was not there on behalf of the empire. It remained to be seen whether that was lucky or unlucky for Ramnusia.

The man laughed loudly. "Hahaha! I'm not from the imperial court! I only follow the orders of the boss! You can call me Gwalchmai!"

"B-boss? Who's your boss?!"

Gwalchmai smiled so cheerily that it would make anybody feel better, but no one could see it through his helmet's face cover.

"As a knight, I want to fight fair and square by shouting the name of the master of my sword. But unfortunately, I am not allowed to speak the name of my boss. I was only ordered to tie up and interrogate!"

"W-wait!"

Gwalchmai pulled out his sword and surrounded it with a bright red aura that burned like the sun. Some of the rebels in the dinner hall rushed forward to stop him, but Gwalchmai shook them off and raised his sword high above his head.

"Now! Soldiers! It's finally time for us to execute Boss’s first order! Tie up those evil doers! If they resist, it's okay to cut off one or two arms!"

The dragon tooth soldiers rushed in with their swords drawn in perfect order. Some of the rebels at the dinner hall were outstanding in martial arts, but they were helplessly overpowered by the dragon tooth soldiers made to stall time against Doomstone.

Gwalchmai scoffed and turned towards another soldier, Lionel. "How boring. I wonder if there’s anyone who will put up a decent fight where the other guys went."

Lionel popped out of Gwalchmai’s shadow and answered, "Other places will be no different. By the way, you're still being too talkative."

"Hey, don't be like that. Boss just said we can’t leak any information that’ll lead to him being caught. And they won't even be able to remember us anyway."

"…Yes, you’re right. I shouldn’t have said anything."

Lionel sighed quietly and stood in front of the man at the head of the table

"Don't resist. The more you resist, the more you will suffer from the irreversible scars on your mind."

Lionel took out a necklace with a small pendant from his pocket and swung it rhythmically in front of the man. He struggled against the magic for a moment, but he soon relaxed with a blank stare, as if possessed.

"Tell me everything you know." whispered Lionel.

* * *

Milpia was in awe as she organized the files she bought through Caradoc. They were full of information on the executives and participants of the case, as well as organizational maps that were yet to be identified by the Big Mama Information Agency. Of course, the current location of the crown prince was the most valuable among the purchased information. It was almost impossible for even them to gather information so quickly and accurately right away. She wondered how on earth it was possible to collect such information. Perhaps Denburg didn't even need to use the information agency.

"If it will take time for additional information to come in, do you mind if I serve other customers in the meantime?"

She had been informed that an official of the White Deer Knights had come to buy information. Caradoc nodded willingly.

"Of course. Putting value in information isn’t something that only the director can do."

Milpia swallowed dryly at his very relaxed answer. She was proud of the fact that she was used to dealing with people through all kinds of hardships, but just standing in front of this man made her feel like her energy was being drained. She couldn’t decide whether to see him as a veteran with a spirit that never wavered, or a silver tongued devil that seduced travelers and corrupted them. It was creepy to feel that she was being played even through a simple conversation without realizing it. She also felt he was going easy on her somehow, which hurt her pride. Even though he was just a hateful messenger sent on an errand by her cousin, she still didn’t want to negotiate with him. Milpia gave thanks and slipped in a proposal.

"Oh, what are your thoughts on working at the Big Mama Information Agency? We're ready to accept talent like you with the best treatment at any time."

She did not want to face him as an opponent, but he would be perfectly reliable as her subordinate.

Caradoc replied leisurely. “Is this something that would be okay for my employer to hear?”

Milpia broke out into cold sweat at his reply. She could see a clear picture of what would happen in the future. She imagined Denburg accusing her of trying to take away his subordinates then doubling, maybe tripling the cost of the information. If things went even worse, she could see him trying to poach the talent from her information agency as revenge. He was trying his hand at being a civil servant, which didn’t suit him at all, but what if he took this opportunity to start his own information agency, drawing talent away from hers? At best, there’d be an extreme shortage of talent at the agency, and at worst, her agency might be totally swallowed up by his. She was confident that wouldn’t happen as long as she and Talaria were there, but her opponent was Denburg Blade. Although he seemed calm right now, he was like a disaster personified, who's next actions couldn’t be predicted once he started causing trouble.

"Ohohoho, it's just a joke I like to make when I see a coveted talent. You don’t have to take it to heart." Milpia laughed it off and left her seat casually, carefully escaping.

Caradoc smiled lightly, thinking that she was a pretty clever girl.

* * *

The crown prince suddenly regained consciousness with a feeling of coolness on his head.

"Ugh…!"

He struggled to get up, rubbing his face against the bottom of a shallow box covered with small coal grains and powder. The kidnappers had knocked him out and left him in the attic in the box they had put him in. Perhaps because of the drugs that put him to sleep, the crown prince was unable to properly move for a while, but soon he was able to check his condition. His hands and feet were tightly tied with ropes, and his mouth was gagged so that he could not scream. Fortunately, he did not feel any pain, so he judged that he had not been harmed.

"Uhuk…!"

The crown prince sneezed because of the dust entering his nose, but managed to silence the sound and look around. The inside of the attic was dark, but he could make out his surroundings thanks to the magic lights entering through the attic skylight. [1] Unfortunately, the size of the skylight was only about the size of a head, making it impossible to escape through. The attic was not very large, with only a few wooden storage boxes strewn about. The only door that allowed access to the attic was a small wooden door on the floor. Thinking about how to escape or announce his location to the outside world, he felt something rustling right next to him.

"Huh?!"

When the crown prince noticed it was a person, he thought it was a corpse. In surprise, he almost fell over along with the whole box, but managed to recover just in time. Looking more closely, he saw the person’s chest move steadily. They were still alive. He looked carefully at their face. He saw who it was, and would have shouted his name right away if he wasn’t gagged.

"Ugh…! Where is this?"

Unlike the crown prince, this person was not gagged. It was the civil servant, Den.

1. It seems he is still in the box, but the box is open so he can see his surroundings in the attic. ☜

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