Chapter 259: The Knight Never Forgets His Grudge (2)

Pendragon was currently in a state of war. Countless terrorism committed by the cultists was quite devastating, and Pendragon suffered enormous damage as a result. Just recently, the Great Temple Collapsed while the Offen Family was partially destroyed, so all those in power now knew just how dangerous the cultists were.

…The funny thing was, no one knew the details of those extremely dangerous cultists.

The organization’s composition and numbers, the important executives, and the leaders who lead them.

Everyone was in the dark when it came to that.

The only thing that was known about the organization was the fact that they were originally a group of cultists called the [Blood Crusade] that had been trampled by the previous king. However, since the current organization had a completely different scale and composition from the ghosts that had already been swept away in the past, old information was of no help at all.

When it was known that there were some people in the Great Temple who maintained a connection with the Blood Crusade later on, the kingdom quickly investigated them. But even those people were nothing but hunting dogs as they were quickly thrown away by the organization.

Because of that, there was virtually no way to obtain information regarding the organization…

“-As you may have already guessed, the Blood Crusade is an organization maintained through secrecy There were many cases where even the members of the organization do not know who their superiors were. There are even ordinary merchants and nobles who help the Blood Crusade without knowing it.”

Even if the sky falls, there would still be some of them crawling from a hole and surviving.

The executives of the Organization who had been abandoned by the organization obediently spit out the information they knew.

It was very valuable information.

“So if you’re going to try catching the members of the organiztion in order to find out more about the organization, please wake up. There’s nothing you can get out of catching them.”

“Don’t worry. It’s something I came to know after wasting so much manpower and money.”

“S-so you’ve already try, huh…”

“If you’re curious about them, I’m willing to tell you.”

“…I’ll decline, because I think I already knew.”

“You’re smart.”

“Thanks for the compliment.”

The woman who was once called one of the Seven Apostles shrugged her shoulders lightly. But unlike her action, her face was stiff.

“However, even if it’s shrouded in secrecy, it can’t operate just by that. There must be some people who are like the leaders. Who are they?”

“…I was about to tell you about them.”

Overwhelmed by the opponent’s calm gaze, Dyna found herself shrinking again and moved the pieces on the chessboard placed on the table.

The three knights of the organization were,

Thud-!

“[The Brass Knight Order], they are the ones in charge of the organization’s military power. They are the ones who led the Demonic Humans research. By the way, I heard that the Half Demonic Human is their masterpiece. They have a leader called the ‘Chief’ and under him are the elites called the Brass Knights, but I don’t know exactly where they are. By the way, don’t ask why I don’t know. We are on bad terms with them as both of us could betray each other at any time, so we keep each other’s locations a secret.”

Thud-!

“[Torn Wings]. They are the brains of the organization. They are the ones who give the actual orders and plan things. They are mainly comprised of sorcerers and Dark Mage who have made contracts with demons of hell. They are also the one who told us the method of summoning the Ghost King and the hell monsters that we saw the other day. These guys are also more secretive than the Brass Knight Order. They seem to have some kind of magic or Mystic that allows them to share each other’s thoughts using special means. That’s why they are said to be hiding in various places in the organization while secretly plotting.”

Thud-!

“[The Black Apostles]. It’s the organization’s information gathering group. They are in charge of infiltrating enemy countries and assassinations. It was once known as the ‘Black Moon’ assassination organization, but in reality, it’s a training facility that trains warriors for the Blood Crusade through countless body modifications and illegal procedures. It means that they tried to train their forces in a different way than the Brass Knight Order. Well, before it could even operate properly, their true identity was discovered, and all the warriors they trained were scattered. But now, the members of the organization, led by the Apostles, were moving around a lot.”

Sigh.

Dyna let out a sigh as she finished her long speech.

Even though what she told to the woman in front of her meant that she had betrayed the organization, she somehow found it good to blow her frustration out like this.

“As you heard, it’s a dysfunctional organization. Only the leaders of each organization knew who the current leader the group was. The organizations were also on bad terms with each oter, and there’s a chance that they’ll fight each other and destroy themselves, but the leaders of each organization have considerable power and control, so they’re just maintaining that system.”

It was just like she said.

And it’s truly a miracle that such organiztion was still around.

“…But why are you still working in that kind of dysfunctional organization? From what I’ve heard, you weren’t poisoned or threatened, and you don’t seem like a cultist either.”

“…”

For the first time, Dyna couldn’t directly answer the question that the other person threw at her.

She remained silent for a long time, but the other person just leisurely drank her tea as if she was waiting for her to open her mouth.

When the teacup came back down to the table,

“…There are five main reasons. The salary is good, and those with families are given enough to live off of for the rest of their lives. They also provide various support. They teach those who want to become strong how to become strong, even if the methods were inhumane. Lastly, there’s no retaliation even if we betray them. That’s why I worked there. There’s no other reason.”

“…”

The one who spoke was the former 11th Apostle, the sorcerer Yan.

Unlike Dyna, who recalled her complicated past, it was a wise answer with an objective perspective that was typical of him.

And the other person who heard that answer of his…

“That sounds so ridiculous… If I don’t know better, I would think of it as a normal workplace, not a cultist organization.”

“It’s indeed a normal workplace. Many people are loyal to them because they take care of their families even if they die.”

“…There are many people who are loyal to them even though they commit such inhumane acts?”

“Let me ask you this, don’t the Great Temple, Pendragon, the Empire, and the Magic Tower also commit many inhumane acts?”

“Seems like I asked a stupid question.”

Yes, it was indeed a stupid question.

It was certainly true that their experiments were inhumane, but unfortunately, it was not something that a person in power like her could say.

The Great Temple alone killed innocent people for the purpose of hunting witches and heretics, while the Empire and the Magic Tower had been toying with the people of the Empire for hundreds of years…

“Oh, of course, these employee benefits only apply to ‘regular employees.’ For example, criminals in The Tunnel or Priests in the Great Temple are just disposables. They are worth less than these pawns.”

“…”

“Do you know? The one who led the Half Demonic Human project and the Mystic Extraction Project weren’t the three organizations but the Great Temple and The Magic Tower. They collaborated to kidnap slaves and orphans to experiment on them because they had the same interests. Well, since we shared that information to them, we are probably the same people as them in the end.”

“This kingdom was overflowing with beasts… no, walking monsters, haha…”

She laughed for the first time. However, it was a hollow laugh that came out because it was ridiculous. The more she heard the information that Yan spouted out, the more her head became dizzy.

Then, she, Isis, shook her head.

“Well, those beasts are gone anyway, so there’s no need to worry about them anymore.”

The Great Temple had collapsed, and the tunnel had also collapsed. In the case of the Magic Tower…

Didn’t I get information that the Mage race is drying up there?

It was said that the mage of the Magic Tower was dying every day, as if they were finally paying the price they had to pay for the hundreds of years of evil deeds they committed. In addition, it was also said that all mages in the Empire were forcibly driven out of their hometowns or, in extreme cases, sold into slavery just because they were mages.

Because of that, It’s possible that no mage would be able to set foot in the Empire for decades at least.

In the end, the Empire is collapsing…

It was said that the warlords and the viceroys which were spread across the Empire’s territory were finally rising up using the attack of the two knights on the Magic Tower as the start. Because of that, the Empire was falling apart piece by piece.

It was really ridiculous.

The Empire that once threatened Pendragon the most along with Britain was disappearing so meaninglessly.

One of Pendragon’s potential enemies had disappeared, and it seemed that it would take at least decades for the Empire to be unified again.

No, it took a little over 100 years for the empire to be established in the past, so it might take even longer.

It was a windfall for Pendragon. While the empire and the central continent were in chaos, the kingdom would be able to absorb the people who fled from the empire, and as the population increased, the chronic manpower problem of the Kingdom would naturally be resolved.

With no enemies, the Kingdom would continue to develop. Then…

It might suddenly collapse as well.

She calmly assessed the situation.

“The fact that the places where your organization’s malice spreads are collapsing one by one is scary…”

“But it wasn’t us who destroyed it but your knights?”

“Even so, those were places that had been touched by your organization. So, there’s no way Pendragon would be safe.”

“…I won’t deny it.”

Yan nodded honestly and inwardly admired her.

Is this the next monarch of Pendragon?

The woman called Isis never got excited. She listened to their stories calmly, and judged it from an objective perspective. She also didn’t look at the situation positively. On the contrary.

“The organization commits inhumane acts without hesitation, and while they seem to be indifferent to the means and methods, they spare no support for their people. The organization also joins forces while opposing each other to achieve the same goal. They are not completely crazy, nor completely evil, and even have a certain amount of goodness. How can there be such a weird organization…?”

“But it’s not a good organization either.”

“Do you think an organization that doesn’t spare itself in biological experiments and kidnappings could be called good?”

“…”

“What I’m trying to say is that the organization is weird. This is the first time I’m at a loss as to how to deal with something.”

“…”

“They don’t care about the means and methods to destroy us. That’s why it’s difficult to deal with them with normal standards. That is how it is….”

Isis showed her headache because her opponent never behaved according to common sense. Additionally, the current Pendragon was not fully unified either. The royal family and the great nobles were ignoring each other.

“…This is serious.”

“…”

“How about this, do you want to become my people?”

“??”

…So out of the blue?

Someone might wonder why she suddenly made this suggestion after grumbling about how serious the situation was, but from Isis’s point of view, she made an extremely practical judgment.

If her opponent didn’t act according to common sense, then she should act a little more unconventionally.

“You are working at the academy right now, aren’t you? Take off those clothes that don’t suit you. The best place to use you is none other than by my side. If you become my people, I will support you without hesitation, and I will give you twice the salary you want. Just tell me how much it is.”

“B-but… We are criminals?”

“This is a time of war. Rather than imprisoning talented people like you, i prefer to utilised people like you. Devote yourself to Pendragon for exactly 10 years. Then, I will guarantee your freedom.”

She also made a bold decision. Although accepting them would create a political weakness for her, it was something worth the risk.

But…

“I-in fact, we have already heard that offer from Galahad…”

“From Lionel’s side too…”

Bang-!

“Those unethical people!”

Her political enemies were of course different.

Why were these people so greedy when they already have so many talents?!

Isis found it so unfair.

At that time…

“But you have Number 8 under you.”

“?”

“The child who is called Lee Han now.”

“Hu…”

The moment she heard his name, a smile naturally appeared on Isis’ lips.

Even though just hearing his name made her uncomfortable, it was a name that made her feel much better.

“My proud step-brother.”

“…”

“I heard that the academy will be closed starting today, so what is he doing now? Is he training himself again?”

“You don’t know?”

“?”

“…What did he say again? He said he was going to hunt vampires with the Hao Clan’s Leader.”

“??”

“I think he was going to hunt Hansel, the Second Apostle. But, it seems like he’s about to destroy all the suspicious places at the same time… So I think the kingdom will be in turmoil for a while.”

“…That rude guy!”

Isis was furious.

“If he’s going to do something like that, he should ask me to join him!!!”

The crown princess was disappointed at the knight who was also her step brother who was hunting while ignoring her.

“…?”

Guild leader Simon felt a strange sense of foreboding.

I think this has happened before?

At that time…

“Thank you. As expected from Hao Clan. It’s been a while since I heard a Magic Freak’s cry. My stress just melted away.”

…That axe was aimed at him, right?

Well, fortunately, it seemed to be aimed at someone else this time.

Towards the human in front of him who was either a knight or a butcher, Simon asked a trivial question.

“Uh, I’ve been curious since a while ago, why do you call the guild Hao Clan?”

“Oh, it’s just a nickname. Don’t worry about it too much.”

“…Haha, I see.”

“Okay, so Hao Clan Leader,. Where is the next Magic Freak?”

“…If you say it like that, people will think I’m the mastermind behind this all, you know?”

“Clan Leader of Hao Clan was supposed to be that kind of person.”

“…”

Simon had felt this way for a while, but just what does this knight think of the guild?

We’re not bad guys…

The Leader of the Hao Clan, or rather, Simon, the guild leader, felt that many things had gone wrong since their disaster of first meeting.