Let’s see—one, two, three, four, five, six...

‘Seventeen.’

A special forces unit belonging to the Noarque, consisting of 17 members.

Of those, I only knew the names and faces of three, but thanks to those three, I could gauge the level of the remaining fourteen.

Actually, I didn’t even need to know three.

The deputy chief of Orculis.

Maan, Roland Banonzant.

Just knowing that bastard was the commander was enough to predict the level of the other members.

Each one was an elite of the Noarque, capable of taking on a hundred men alone.

Naturally, if they clashed here with a bang, we’d have no chance.

Unless I had all our clan members with me.

Among the current group, the only reliable comrade was Raven at best.

Moreover, five out of the twenty were special operatives specialized in ‘exploration,’ rather than fighting.

But...

Thump thump.

Despite all that, the reason I didn’t immediately think to run was very simple.

Think about it.

It had already been quite some time since we entered the Marquis’s estate.

‘By now, they should be coming soon...’

As I watched the corpse collector being handcuffed, that thought crossed my mind silently.

“Bjorn Yandel...! You damned bastard...!”

The moment he glared at me with hatred-filled eyes.

Was he trying to curse me to prove his innocence?

Maybe, so I didn’t react much even when a double curse flew at me suddenly.

“One day, I’ll gouge out your eyeballs with my own hands, chew them up, grind up your guts and throw them as food for goblins! And then spray preservatives so they never rot—”

“I understand. So you’re saying there’s [N O V E L I G H T] more work for us on your side.”

“...Huh?”

“Did you hear that, Banonzant? As you just saw, the corpse collector was not colluding with me, Bjorn Yandel. He’s truly innocent. So release him.”

Of course, the deputy chief didn’t release him after hearing my words.

He probably didn’t fall completely for my trick, but as the commander, he wanted to block any variables just in case.

And the result was—

“Th-th-th-th...!!”

The corpse collector trembled as if suffering from some speech impediment and could barely finish a sentence.

At that moment—

Tatatatat—!

From outside the door came the distinct sound of armed troops rushing busily.

“This is... becoming troublesome, deputy chief.”

The bespectacled man who seemed smart muttered, and the deputy chief stared at me.

“...So it was a stall tactic.”

But Banonzant’s eyes showed no particular emotion.

No frustration, no annoyance, no surprise.

He was just staring at me.

At first, I couldn’t tell what the dry gaze meant, but soon I realized.

‘Curiosity.’

Pure data gathering before sizing me up.

Indeed, his later reactions suggested he had gathered some data on me.

“A truly troublesome opponent.”

“...”

“Release Abet Nekrapeto.”

“...Yes?”

“There are no more variables.”

Though no explanation was given, the bespectacled man obeyed the order without question.

As if he had absolute trust in the deputy chief’s judgment.

“I told you, I’m not involved!”

The corpse collector, freed from his comrades’ grip, vented his injustice.

Did he feel better now that he was free?

“Hah... Really! To be manipulated by the tongue of such a barbarian... I just can’t understand it!”

His flustered, formerly vanished refined speech style had returned.

Seeing him like that, I wanted to give him a light tap on the head right away but—

Kwang—!

The previously closed door was violently pushed open, and a white-haired knight entered, leading his subordinates.

“Enough, Baron Yandel! The Supreme Commander has ordered your dismissal and punishment for overstepping—”

Like a police officer with a warrant, the knight entered shouting as soon as he came in.

But after checking the room’s situation, his face stiffened.

“...Huh?”

Looking at his somewhat dazed expression, I couldn’t help but wonder.

“Why on earth are they here...?”

I must have had that same expression earlier.

The Noarque special forces unit, who couldn’t be found anywhere, was discovered inside the Marquis’s estate.

And here I was, facing off against them while being accused of ‘overstepping.’

‘Well, there’ll be no punishment now that we have results.’

It was like catching a rat while backing away, but the world only cares about results.

So now, the only problem left was to sweep these bastards away along with the knights here...

“Long time no see, Morgan Karitumore.”

“You are... Maan?”

Apparently the deputy chief and the knight knew each other, and the surrounding people murmured at the name the deputy chief spoke.

“Karitumore...”

“The Second Royal Knight Commander...?”

“Is that the famous ‘King’s Knight’...?”

Since he was sent by the Marquis to get me, I expected no small fry but a real heavy hitter.

‘Morgan Karitumore.’

Known as the ‘King’s Knight,’ former personal guard and right hand to the Reformer King.

After the Reformer King fell ill and retired due to political reasons, he recently took over as head of the Second Royal Knights, which had been vacant...

“...Pisit, what a rare sight.”

Everyone’s surprise at his arrival was understandable.

Though Banonzant was a big deal too, he wasn’t in the same league name-wise.

Before retirement, ninety out of a hundred city people considered this man the strongest.

“Maan, Banonzant. Your presence here means... Baron Yandel really succeeded in his mission.”

“Uh...”

“...So it is.”

“I heard you recklessly stormed into the Marquis’s estate, but that wasn’t the case. I thought it strange for someone like you to act that way.”

“...”

“How did you manage that? Even the Royal Intelligence couldn’t grasp the information.”

“The secret is... reasonable deduction and suspicion.”

“Ha ha, so you can’t reveal your sources?”

“Uh...”

“...”

Feeling the pressure from the gaze of a very capable senior, I just kept quiet.

Half the battle is won when you do that.

“Anyway, the situation is urgent, so we’ll talk later. After capturing all these insolent rebels.”

“I’ll help too.”

With that, the King’s Knight—or rather, to keep it simple...

‘Glad he’s not the Holy Knight.’

The old knight drew his sword, and I prepared for battle as well.

Our forces were overwhelmingly superior in number, and the terrain favored us.

The Marquis’s office had no windows.

‘Probably to prevent external intrusion.’

His mansion was also famous for its durability.

Built in exactly the same way as the King’s residence.

The exterior walls weren’t made of ordinary materials, and countless spells were layered on them so thickly that it was said to hold out for at least a minute even if the world ended...

“Lay down your weapons and beg for mercy.”

The only exit door was blocked by the King’s Knight.

“This is your only choice today.”

Banonzant showed no reaction as he watched the old knight point his sword with dignity.

He simply said quietly:

“Fine. We surrender.”

...Huh?

“...What did you say?”

The King’s Knight asked again, surprised, as if he thought he misheard.

The deputy chief replied expressionlessly:

“I said we surrender.”

...An entirely unexpected development.

Orculis’s special forces surely infiltrated here with some purpose.

But they surrendered so meekly?

Not fighting to the death even in the final moments?

Anyone could tell something was suspicious and unpleasant.

That’s why the King’s Knight personally led the operation, arresting them thoroughly.

But...

“...”

“...”

They truly made no resistance until the very end and were quietly arrested, ending the situation.

“...You’ve done great work, Baron. Congratulations.”

“We also worked hard, so please tell the Marquis...”

The men the Marquis had assigned were puzzled but happy about the situation.

Maybe to dispel hidden anxiety behind their joy, they tried to spin hopeful scenarios.

“At first, I wondered why they acted that way, but thinking about it, it was a natural response.”

“Yes, with the King’s Knight personally arriving, what else could they do?”

“They must have decided there was no choice but to surrender.”

Well, sure, it was a disadvantageous situation for them.

But I couldn’t believe it.

This time it wasn’t just a hunch—I had grounds.

‘No one... not a single one resisted? That’s nonsense.’

After the deputy chief declared surrender, no one objected.

Not the corpse collector, nor the Witch of Screams.

Not even the bespectacled man who looked like a faithful right hand, or the other members.

You’d expect at least one to say:

‘Deputy chief! What do you mean surrender?! Let’s fight to the end!’

‘If we’re captured like this, we’ll just be tortured to death!’

‘I’d rather die fighting!’

Some would show such reactions, but there was absolutely none.

Unless they had planned and discussed this beforehand.

‘...There’s definitely something going on.’

The problem was I had no idea what that was, and there was nothing I could do for now.

“...Karitumore, what will you do with them?”

“That’s outside your mission, but since you played a big role capturing them, I’ll answer you. They’ll be transferred to the royal palace. Then imprisoned and interrogated by intelligence agents to extract everything they know.”

Yeah, that’s how it was going to be...

“...Can’t we just kill them all right here?”

I raised the possibility that they might have surrendered on purpose, but the King’s Knight didn’t even acknowledge it.

More precisely, he listened and rejected it.

“I understand your point. But we are at war, and to win this war, we need the information they have.”

“So you mean there’s no justification.”

“Exactly. Who would take responsibility if we killed those who already surrendered and were captured?”

“...”

“Please understand that responsibility cannot be taken on mere intuition.”

The King’s Knight firmly refused my demand.

But maybe feeling uneasy, he personally checked the prisoners’ restraints multiple times, even doing unpleasant work.

And after some time—

“We will now transfer them to the royal palace. Since these are highly important figures, anyone showing negligence before the mission is complete will be severely punished.”

Then he led them out to the garden and loaded the Noarque one by one onto special prisoner transport carriages, which had been prearranged.

But... what was this?

“Bjorn, your son Bjorn.”

The deputy chief, tied up and dragged into the carriage by knights, spoke to me.

“See you next time.”

With those words came a meaningful smile.

No one would mistake that for the face of a man going to die, and that gave me certainty.

I’d regret letting him go like this.

“...Split?”

I uttered in disbelief, and the deputy chief fixed me with his unpleasant glare.

“Is that so? Would I harm you? Someone like you with so much to lose?”

“...”

“You’re more rational than you look. And dealing with such people isn’t very difficult—”

I cut him off with a short reply.

“Yes.”

“...?”

But he didn’t understand what I meant by ‘yes.’

Maybe he had a suspicion?

“Was that a threat?”

The deputy chief asked, eyes full of ‘curiosity,’ and I answered—

Using both the hammer in my hand and my mouth at the same time—

“Yes.”

Krajak—!!!

This would surely cause trouble later.

Krajak—!!!

But better to leave some aftereffects than none.

If I missed this chance, I doubted there’d be another.

So...

Krajak! Krajak! Krajak!

Was his name ‘Maan’?

I couldn’t have mistaken the man more.