“Kill you? What are you suddenly talking about?”
Caron shouted, pretending to be surprised.
But it didn’t work on Dwener.
“To think you’d consider killing me regardless of personal ties… This whole affair has convinced me. Choosing you as my partner was the best choice I ever made.”
Money, strength, power, honor.
The more you accumulate, the higher it places you.
The higher you climb, the more your view of the world changes. That much is only natural.
‘Just because it’s me doesn’t guarantee I’ll stay on the right path forever.’
And if he ever did stray onto the wrong path.
If the Evil-Slaying Group ever twisted into a group that existed only for his sake, there was someone who would cut off his head without hesitation.
“It’s a relief having you around. Don’t you think?”
“…”
“Well, the problem is you’re so terrifying all the time that it scares me, but still.”
“Don’t lie. If you were that kind of person, you could never have done something like this.”
If he were truly afraid of real lives being lost, he would have stopped after carefully picking a few people.
But Dwener didn’t.
He gambled with lives without hesitation and managed to persuade them all.
‘Because the biggest problem the Evil-Slaying Group has right now is lack of manpower.’
Dwener, Roy, Bernstein. Those three were the entirety of the Evil-Slaying Group.
And now he’d recruited nearly fifty people, and every one of them was a knight.
From Caron’s perspective, who was raising the second generation of rats, the combat rats, it was enough to make him twitch with frustration.
‘It’s something I could never have pulled off anyway… but it’s still a damn shame.’
If he’d known this was coming, he would’ve skimmed a few off the top from the start.
‘Still, the fact I managed to stick Ron with them is… something of a comfort, I guess.’
He’d learn a lot working alongside knights.
Maybe, surrounded by people with strict discipline, he’d grow out of that half-assed personality of his.
And if Ron said he wanted to become a member of the Evil-Slaying Group too?
“…”
Cold sweat beaded on Caron’s forehead. The possibility hadn’t even occurred to him.
As he wiped the sweat away with his right hand, the back of his hand caught his eye.
He couldn’t see it, but he could feel it.
The mysterious power dwelling there.
“Did you know there was a Mystery hidden in that fairy-tale book?”
“Not in the slightest. If I’d known, I’d have hogged it all for myself… what a shame. It’s not like I’ve never seen a Mystery before, but this is the first time I’ve ever held one in these hands!”
Dwener grumbled, and watching him, Caron understood.
‘This guy… he really means that, doesn’t he?’
Sometimes he acted like a dashing hero, and other times he behaved like a complete beggar.
Even the great Caron couldn’t make heads or tails of him.
With people like this, there were only two possibilities.
‘He’s either a genius or an idiot.’
Dwener smacked his lips like a fool as he stared at the back of his hand.
Caron frowned without realizing it and asked:
“Then why did you pull a stunt this absurd?”
He’d thought persuading the knights with words instead of threats was the condition to activate the Mystery. But apparently it wasn’t. Not only wasn’t it a condition, Dwener hadn’t even known it was a Mystery.
The outcome happened to be good, but if even one of them had left, Caron would have ended up killing every last one of them.
“Why would you place your faith in people who already threw away their own humanity?!”
Caron shouted before he realized it.
Dwener stared at him blankly for a moment, then turned his gaze away.
The carriage carrying the knights thundered along and soon disappeared from sight.
“I know very well that someone who has lost your trust once can never truly be trusted again.”
It takes an enormous amount of time and effort to rebuild trust.
Even once it’s restored, you still can’t call it complete.
‘Because someone who betrays you once is bound to betray you again.’
Once it starts to crack, there’s no fixing it.
That’s what trust is.
“So you wanted to give them a chance anyway… is that it?”
Dwener was a good man. From that angle, it might have been only natural to give them another chance.
But if this kept happening?
That would be the end. The world would learn that the leader of the Evil-Slaying Group was Dwener, and he’d vanish, his blood soaking into the execution grounds.
No matter how he looked at it, this decision had been wrong.
Caron opened his mouth to hammer that fact home when—
“Hmm? What are you talking about? I don’t trust them in the slightest.”
“Huh?”
Caron’s voice jumped an octave higher than usual.
That’s how shocked he was.
“I told you a moment ago, didn’t I? ‘Someone who loses your trust once can never be trusted.’ I know that fact very well.”
Caron had assumed he meant, “I know that, but I’ll still take them in.” Was that not what he meant?
“Then why did you accept them?”
“Because they’re perfect to use and throw away.”
They’re capable, they’re brave, and they’re marching forward, chasing a justice they once lost.
“There’s nothing easier to handle than people who believe they are justice itself.”
Caron was standing behind Dwener’s right shoulder, a little off to the side.
But he could see it clearly.
Dwener’s smile.
A chill ran down his spine—
Goosebumps erupted all over Caron’s body.
That’s right. Dwener didn’t think of them as comrades.
His words might have sounded pretty, but from the very beginning he’d only seen them as disposable pieces.
“Well, dying while fighting for justice isn’t such a bad end for them either, don’t you think?”
“…”
“Still, it seems someone out there wanted to give them one more chance.”
Dwener looked up at the sky.
Just who had given them the Mystery’s power?
The fairy-tale book Dwener had brought was just one that had been lying around somewhere in the village.
In the past, the local lord had mass-produced fairy-tale books to turn the territory into a tourist spot, so every household had at least one.
‘Out of hundreds of fairy-tale books, I just happened to pick the one imbued with a Mystery?’
Impossible. And once the Mystery had activated, Dwener understood.
No matter which book he’d picked up, the Mystery would have activated.
“It’s truly inexplicable… though I suppose that’s why they call it a Mystery.”
He watched the knights’ procession as they departed.
He didn’t know who had given them that chance. But that didn’t mean he’d look kindly on them.
They would have to work, to show, to prove themselves.
“All the more so, since they’ve been given that chance.”
“You’re harsh.”
“Caron, don’t fool yourself. We are an organization that exists to cut down evil. That means we have to be more petty and more vicious than anyone else—even toward our own allies.”
“…I’ll keep that in mind.”
Caron thought:
If Dwener ever stepped onto the path of evil, he might become a greater monster than anything else in this world.
“Ugh! Why is this place so damn far?!”
Thud!
Lowell kicked a pebble in front of her.
They’d been walking for three days now, and all she could see today was grass and sky.
And the same dirt country road stretching on and on.
“This is why I said we should take a carriage… Sleeping outdoors for three straight days? How is this any different from being a wild animal?”
“Wild animals walk on four legs. We only have to use two.”
“Oh yeah? Wow, thank you sooo much for enlightening me~!”
Knight Pleche quickly hopped back.
If he hadn’t, Lowell’s kick would have nailed him.
Just like the pebble that had gone flying a moment ago.
“What do you want me to do? Our funds are limited.”
“We’re short on funds? How recklessly did you spend money in the short time I wasn’t looking?”
“…That’s because of you, you know.”
Even if she’d been pushed out in the family’s internal rank war, the Lucid family was still a prestigious house.
Their allowance from home was by no means small.
The problem was…
“Why do you keep buying presents for your little sister that you never even give her?!”
That was it. Lowell’s spending habits were the issue.
Whenever they entered a new territory.
Whenever they passed through a village market.
Whenever they ran into a traveling merchant.
She even did it before they left a territory.
She never stopped shopping, saying everything was a gift for Rodelin.
At this point their Pocket Dimension pouch was crammed full of gifts meant for Rodelin.
The pouch had literally burst before from being overstuffed. That said it all.
“B-but I can give them to her now, okay? I’m going to give her everything I’ve saved up so far!”
“Sure. Assuming the clothes you bought ten years ago still fit.”
“They, they will fit! My Delin is adorable, okay?!”
She’d kept up this ridiculous ritual of buying gifts she never gave her for ten whole years.
And now we’re supposed to be glad she could finally give them to her?
No. It was the opposite.
‘She’ll spend even more now. Because now she can actually give them to her.’
Their finances were already on the verge of collapse. If it got any worse?
It would be catastrophic. Lowell would end up on the streets, and Pleche’s salary would vanish with her.
Her spending habits needed to change, starting now.
“Long-distance carriages are ridiculously expensive. We walk this much. Feel the value of money with your whole body and cut down on the luxury!”
“How is a gift for my little sister a luxury? It’s a necessity!”
“If that counts as a necessity, merchants in this world will never have to worry about money again.”
“If my legs fall off at this rate, are you going to take responsibility?”
“You’re seriously saying that in front of a guy who’s missing an arm?”
“You’re the knight! I’m the lord! Do as I say!”
Lowell and Pleche bickered back and forth for a good while.
Then both of their ears twitched at the same time.
Thud-thud-thud-thud…
It was the sound coming from far off. Judging by the rhythm, it was definitely a carriage.
“Let’s hitch a ride.”
“And if they say no?”
“We take it.”
“Wow, for once we’re on the same wavelength.”
Just as the two of them were about to change careers to carriage bandits, three carriages appeared ahead.
They were gaudy, ornate things that looked out of place on a dirt road.
“Looks like nobles?”
“Even better. If we only take one, they can’t complain too much, right?”
“…The more I think about it, the more I feel like I chose the wrong lord.”
Pleche narrowed his eyes, adjusting his focus.
He was trying to identify the family by the emblem on their flag.
And soon he saw it clearly.
A clenched fist. A banner emblazoned with the symbol of a straight punch.
“Huh? That’s…”
It was the crest of House Vyuern, rulers of the eastern lands known as the Golden Province.
It was also the family of Teron, currently a first-year at Annwood Academy.
Lowell’s lips curved into a crooked grin.
“You… don’t.”
“Don’t what?”
“Whatever you’re thinking right now.”
“You mean, taking their carriage?”
If that were all he was worried about, he wouldn’t even have brought it up.
Lowell planted herself in the middle of the road and let her aura flare. Maybe they felt that presence.
The carriages gradually slowed down and finally stopped a good distance away.
The doors of the front and rear carriages opened, and sturdy men stepped out.
It didn’t take them long to reach Lowell.
“Who the hell are you people?”
“What kind of attitude is that, pretending you don’t know? You know who I am.”
The knights frowned.
House Vyuern was one of the Eight Pillars that supported the Empire.
They employed capable people, so it was only natural that their knights knew who Lowell was.
“…May we ask why you are blocking the road?”
“Give me a ride.”
“Excuse me?”
“You heard me. Let us ride.”
“…That’s impossible.”
“Why? You got a duke in there or something?”
“…”
“Wait, seriously?”
Even Lowell hadn’t expected that.
She’d assumed at most it would be a duke’s wife or some retainer secretly using the duke’s carriage.
‘Duke Zeppelin is using a backwoods road like this?’
Someone of his station should have been using the main roads.
If he was taking a country shortcut like this, it meant the matter was that urgent.
“For such a lofty man to be taking a shortcut… Now I’m curious.”
“…Move aside, before we file a formal complaint with House Lucid.”
“Do as you like. I’ll do as I like too.”
“Y-you crazy lion…!”
While Lowell was squaring off against the knights, one of them circled around and quietly approached Pleche.
“Sir Pleche, a little help here.”
“I’m not Sir Pleche anymore. I’m with the carriage bandits now.”
“…At this point I almost wish that were true. Anyway, please help us. We’ll see you’re compensated.”
“I dunno… I’ll try, but my lord’s the type who stops listening to me once something catches her interest…”
Lowell, Pleche, and the knights were in a noisy standoff.
Then the door of the central carriage opened and someone stepped out.
A neatly dressed man exuding a mature, dignified charm.
But even that charm couldn’t hide his sharp, piercing eyes.
“It really is Duke Zeppelin. Hey, old man, long time no see. You been well?”
“…What do you want.”
“I just asked them for a ride and they said no. Can you scold your people for me?”
Duke Zeppelin looked over at the knights.
At that gaze, the knights lowered their heads.
“…Give up one carriage.”
“Knew it! Rich folks really are built different.”
Lowell trotted over and climbed into a carriage.
The knights nearly had a heart attack when they saw which carriage she chose—
Not the front or rear ones, but the central carriage: the duke’s own.
The duke’s gaze turned sharp, but Lowell just beamed at him.
“Even if you’re rich, you shouldn’t waste things. Let’s ride together. It’s not like we’re strangers.”
Lowell put on her brightest, friendliest act.
Duke Zeppelin, having met her a few times before, could tell.
Lowell was after something.
“Ah, so the rumors about House Vyuern’s income being down lately were true, huh? You must be really worried about wearing out your carriage wheels~.”
“…Move out.”
At Duke Zeppelin’s order, the knights quickly took their positions, and the carriages started moving again.
And so their uncomfortable journey together began.
–TL Notes–
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