An unknown Rose Knight whom I didn’t even know the name of.

She disappeared before I could even grab her after I finished my questions, as if she were a ghost.

As expected, I couldn’t get any answer this time either.

But....

Thump—

The warrior’s heart instinctively senses danger and starts pounding fiercely.

Is this guess true?

Or am I wrong?

Right now, I can’t tell.

However, there’s a big question about the royal family’s plan to completely wipe out Viphron.

‘Noark.’

Does Noark know about this plan?

Judging by how no significant troops were placed along the walls connected to Viphron,

They must know something...

‘What exactly are both sides aiming for?’

My head feels like it’s about to explode.

One thought after another keeps coming without rest.

And how much time has passed?

“Hah...”

I don’t know.

I thought maybe some brilliant idea would suddenly come to me if I kept at it.

Whoosh—!

I soon turned my back to the fiercely blowing night wind and descended from the city wall.

Unfortunately, the time I was given wasn’t much.

That’s because the time the Rose Knight told me was running out.

‘12 hours...’

Does this even make sense?

After the dawn and past noon, one city district will explode.

Ah, well, the explosion is still just my guess.

Thunk.

Because time was short, I descended the wall somewhat, then jumped down from a suitable height.

Kraaang—!

The landing made a rather loud noise, but...

‘Well, everyone has to get up anyway.’

What else could I do when the landlord tells you to leave the room?

Better get out quickly.

Taking everything I needed.

No matter how much I thought about it, there was something hidden in Viphron that I didn’t know.

But....

‘Let’s give up here.’

After days of investigation, there was zero meaningful result.

If I had somehow discovered something inside, the story would be different, but in the current state, there was no choice.

Leave Viphron as ordered by the royal family.

However, there was one problem here too.

[A strange question. They never gave permission to enter the residential area in the first place.]

The Rose Knight who brought the king’s message said:

Only those from District 7 were allowed to evacuate, and the residents of Viphron could not be taken out.

In other words, this city—already abandoned once—is about to be abandoned to us again...

‘This is easy. This problem.’

Finding a solution wasn’t difficult.

So....

“Bo, boss? What brings you here at this hour...?”

After descending from the city wall, I went straight to Jingkasar’s house and said.

“Gather all the residents of Viphron immediately. Not a single one missing.”

“Huh...?”

“There’s no time, so I’ll explain everything once everyone’s gathered. Hurry up and gather them. Also tell them not to take anything unnecessary.”

They probably didn’t understand my words but could tell I was serious.

“...We have to leave?”

“Yes.”

“I’ll gather them quickly! H-How much time do we have?”

“Before 9 a.m. But the sooner the better. I’ll gather our people, so you just gather the residents from Viphron.”

“Yes!”

Jingkasar, woken abruptly, said he understood when I told him the exact time, threw on his coat, and rushed out breathlessly.

And then....

“A Rose Knight came to you?”

“Yes. They said they would open the District 4 checkpoint around noon and told us to get out quickly.”

“Anything else?”

“Oh, they also said the residents of Viphron cannot be brought out.”

“......I don’t think you just said ‘okay’ to that with your personality?”

“No, I just said okay.”

“......?”

“Don’t worry. There’s a way.”

After sharing the conversation with my comrades, I asked to gather the explorers from District 7.

And how much time passed?

At the Dimensional Plaza, the agreed meeting place, explorers and Viphron residents started to gather one by one.

“I... I came because it’s urgent...”

“Does anyone know what’s going on?”

“Peljain said we have to leave immediately...”

Because we hadn’t gotten a proper explanation yet, the plaza where people gathered became chaotic.

Instead of calming and explaining to them, I proceeded with preparations that had to be done before noon.

Better to solve the cause than waste time sympathizing and worrying, right?

“Paper! Gather all clean sheets of paper!”

“Everyone who can write, gather!”

Anyway, since there was much to prepare, I wasn’t enough alone—I gathered whoever I could and put them to work.

Ah, of course, since writing was a prerequisite, Ainard was excluded...

“Ainard! Didn’t you say you’ve been learning to write for three years?”

“Ha, haha! Misha! There’s no end to learning!”

Ainard still can only read.

Honestly, I don’t understand why he can read but can’t write.

Anyway.

One hour, two hours, three hours...

The tight time passed quickly, and by dawn, everyone in the city had gathered in the plaza.

So....

“Everyone, gather! The Baron has something to say!”

Now it was time to explain the current situation to everyone.

Actually, I could have told them earlier...

But there was no need to repeat the same thing twice.

“Ahem.”

Without preparing a podium, I grew in size using [Giant Form] and looked down at the crowd of over a thousand.

And then....

“I won’t say much! The royal family contacted us last night!”

I started with the core to raise attention.

“Oooooh!”

“The royal family contacted us!”

“Does this mean we can get out now?”

As expected, the crowd reacted strongly.

But the strange thing is, after giving so many speeches like this, it became too easy to lead the crowd to the reaction I wanted.

‘...I wonder if others do this too?’

I don’t know, but for now, I had to focus on the speech.

“That’s right! The royal family said they would open the District 4 checkpoint so we can get out of the city!”

Since I said all the main points...

“Ooooooh!”

“We’re saved—!”

“But!”

Time for a twist.

Usually, hearing bad news first makes good news sound better.

“Damn it, the royal family said not everyone can go together.”

The plaza fell silent for a moment at my words, cutting through the cheers.

“......?”

Thousands of faces filled with doubt and confusion.

One Viphron resident locked eyes with me and asked.

“Not everyone can go together...? What does that mean?”

“Exactly. The royal family said they would only accept those from District 7.”

“T-Then, does that mean we’re an exception?”

“Yes. They said the residents of Viphron cannot be brought out.”

At least in this moment, name tags weren’t necessary.

Just by looking at the dense crowd’s expressions, you could tell who were Viphron residents and who were from District 7.

“......!!!”

The Viphron residents’ eyes widened at my definite answer, which was practically a death sentence.

“......”

The District 7 explorers didn’t know how to react; their expressions speechless. The mood clearly split between joy and sorrow.

Amid that atmosphere,

“Then! Then why did you call us here!!”

Someone in the crowd shouted angrily.

“If you’re just going to abandon us! Why call us here!”

The tone had lost all politeness.

Well, I couldn’t blame them.

People driven to the edge of a cliff naturally react that way.

Yeah, so...

“Well, I intend to take you with us.”

I said with a grin, as if it was all a joke, and the man who was shouting looked dumbfounded.

“......Huh?”

“Are you deaf?”

“N-No, that’s not it... The royal family clearly said they wouldn’t accept us...”

Ah, that.

Surely it was hard for them to understand.

Breaking the royal family’s word in this bizarre city was an utterly absurd thing to do.

Viphron’s residents had personally lived through what happens when you defy the royal family.

“That’s right. And I said I’m going to take you all with me.”

“...B-But! Aren’t you a baron?”

“Baron? That’s true. But what exactly do you want to say?”

At my question, the man looked up at me.

And then....

“Why...?”

The man asked me with trembling eyes.

“Why /N_o_v_e_l_i_g_h_t/ are you going so far for us?”

Ironically,

It was a question I had asked myself as well.

What I’m doing now is definitely not something the royal family will look kindly on...

And it will make it harder for me to gain standing in noble society later.

So why did I make this decision?

Why was I able to end my doubts so easily?

Thinking about it, the answer was simple.

“Because I just wanted to.”

“Huh...?”

“Why can’t I?”

“No, no, I didn’t mean that...”

“Anyway, that’s all for now. To leave on time, prepare and follow instructions to fill out the papers! That’s it!”

I ended the announcement there, and the residents sequentially signed documents under my comrades’ guidance.

And when it was all over,

‘That was close.’

The promised time arrived, and the checkpoint’s doors opened.

Creak—!

The long-closed checkpoint doors slowly opened with a stiff noise.

Gulp—!

The crowd gathered in front of the checkpoint swallowed nervously and focused their attention.

And amidst this,

Clank, clank.

Knights bearing the royal crest on their chests marched out with the clang of metal, forming a line at the checkpoint entrance, creating a path.

As if waiting for someone to follow.

“Sh-She’s coming...!”

Indeed, a whisper echoed as a woman appeared passing through the checkpoint between the knights.

Step, step.

The woman wore the same knight uniform as the others.

But it was obvious at a glance that it was a disguise.

After all, it was the Rose Knight I had seen yesterday.

“A person...”

The woman slowly scanned the crowd gathered in front of the checkpoint and stopped her gaze on me.

“More people than expected?”

Her eyes conveyed a meaning like ‘What trick is this?’

But there was no reason for me to be intimidated.

Well, I wasn’t breaking any laws.

“Why are there so many people? Is there a problem?”

At my cheeky question, the woman shook her head expressionlessly.

“No.”

“......”

“There’s no way anyone without permission will cross this gate anyway.”

Though unexpected, she said it calmly and without excitement, which was rather chilling.

I guess these women aren’t easy to underestimate.

Ah, but that last statement was exactly what I had led her to say.

“Then that’s good. No one without permission will cross this gate anyway.”

I grinned and asked, and this time the woman furrowed her brow, genuinely puzzled.

“What do you mean, Baron?”

Instead of answering, I took out one of the prepared documents and showed it to her, and the woman’s tone faltered.

“This is...”

Heh heh, she didn’t expect this—.

“What is this?”

Ah, she didn’t yet understand what this document meant.

Well, if I hadn’t listened to all the rumors and investigated Viphron, I would never have come up with this solution.

Besides the qualification to leave at age fourteen, there was exactly one other way for Viphron natives to obtain entry permits.

Smirk.

I explained the meaning of the document to the woman without hiding my victor’s smile.

“An employment contract.”

“Employment contract...?”

“Simply put, it means they have now become vassals of our Yandel family.”

Oh, and by the way, there’s no salary.