Ch.52Shining Knight (10)

Hearing the commotion from my struggle with the man, Ewin comes running over.

She seems to have noticed my physical altercation from a distance.

“B-Brother…! What is this…?”

“Stay back, Ewin!”

I extend one hand toward her, blocking her approach.

Ewin freezes in place at my gesture.

“…I’m sorry. It looks like we won’t be able to talk today.”

“M-Mr. Smith…?”

Ewin asks, looking at the man I’ve subdued.

“Ewin, I know this situation is confusing, but don’t feel sorry for this guy. He’s been spying on you.”

“…R-Really? Is that true, Mr. Smith?”

“…Urgh! Please spare me… I was wrong…”

“Quiet. I told you to answer my questions properly if you want to live.”

“Huff… huff…!”

The man pinned beneath me made labored breathing sounds, but I paid no attention.

“…Ewin, I’ll explain the details later. You should head back quickly today.”

“…W-Where to?”

“To your lodging, of course.”

“…My lodging is outside the Academy…”

“…Oh.”

I blinked at Ewin’s response.

I’m not sure why I thought her lodging would be nearby, like the twins’ dormitory.

It suddenly hits me how vulnerable she is if she’s being targeted too.

But first Daisy, and now Ewin? I couldn’t miss the connection between these two.

I was the common factor. They were monitoring people who moved around me.

I could feel my heart burning black with anger.

The person behind this was increasingly narrowing down to Asena.

No one else would have reason to monitor people around me.

After some consideration, I stand up. I pull up the man I had pinned down and twist both his arms behind his back.

“Ewin, come with me. I’ll escort you home. I need to go outside the Academy anyway.”

I begin walking toward the stables, ignoring the man who continues to groan in pain despite being on his feet.

****

Ewin remained silent beside me.

She seemed unable to speak, probably because this awkward situation came before we’d even fully broken the ice between us.

I start feeling sorry. That she has to go through this experience because of her connection to me. So in my heart, I decided to put an end to this matter today. I didn’t want these people disrupting my surroundings anymore.

Sometimes action is better than thought, it seems.

Before this incident, I was at a loss about how to solve the problem, but now that I’m moving, things are becoming clearer.

As Lord Hoslow said, knights speak with their swords. I have no talent for solving problems with words. I need to act.

We encountered no one on the way to the stables. That was fortunate. If this really was related to Asena… I’d have to deal with it, but I didn’t want things to escalate.

But at the stables, we met someone.

It was Judy.

She was stroking her white horse, Goldie, and feeding it an apple.

I didn’t want even her to see this situation, but we’d come too far to turn back.

Judy turned her head at our approach. After seeing me, the man I’d subdued named Smith, and Ewin, her mouth opened slightly.

“…Caden… what is this…?”

“Judy. I don’t have time to explain. We’ll talk later. Do you have any rope?”

“…Rope?”

“To tie this guy up.”

This might be the first time she’s seen me act so roughly, but perhaps due to her trust in me, she brought me a thick rope from inside the stable that they used for the horses.

“…Who is he?”

She asks.

I answer while tying Smith’s hands, who was still crying out in pain.

“Someone who’s been monitoring people around me recently.”

“…Huh?”

“He seems to be part of some organization. Whatever it is… I need to resolve this today.”

After tying his hands and feet, I connect him to the reins of my horse, “Rush.”

“…Resolve? What do you mean by resolve, Caden? Where are you going?”

“I’m just taking action. I realized thinking about it won’t give me answers.”

I pull Rush out of his stall. My black horse spits once at Smith, then passes him and stops beside me.

I chuckle at Rush’s behavior, then mount him. I extend my hand to Ewin.

“Come on, Ewin. Get on.”

But it wasn’t Ewin who took my hand. It was Judy, who still hadn’t received an answer.

“Caden. I asked where you’re going.”

“…..”

Perhaps it’s because Judy was born in the cold north. The hand holding mine felt remarkably warm.

I looked at Judy holding my hand for a moment, then slowly said:

“First, I’m taking Ewin home.”

“Ewin?”

Judy turns to look at Ewin.

“My orphanage sister. I met her recently. This guy was monitoring both Ewin and Daisy. He’s not the only one. There are quite a few, I just caught this one.”

“Fine about your sister, but where are you taking this guy? Shouldn’t you hand him over to the guards?”

“I told you I’m going to resolve this. Giving him to the guards won’t solve anything. Not just for Ewin… I need to clear this up before Daisy gets attacked again.”

I shook my hand free from Judy’s grip.

I extended my hand to Ewin again.

But once more, Judy persistently grabbed my hand.

“I’m coming with you.”

“…What?”

“When you say ‘resolve,’ you mean you’re going to their headquarters, right? You’re going to root them out. That’s dangerous.”

“Judy, this is my business.”

“It’s related to what happened with Shallon Payne a few days ago, isn’t it?”

“…..”

“If something happens to you because of what I said, how much guilt would I feel?”

“…..”

“Caden. You’re the one who said we’re friends. I didn’t want to be friends with you, but you persistently approached me. Now that we’re friends, why won’t you let me act like one?”

Judy reaches out to open Goldie’s stall. With a nod of her head, her white horse naturally comes out and stops beside her.

Judy mounts her horse and extends her hand to Ewin, just as I had done.

“You’re busy with that guy. I’ll take care of your… sister. Get on, please.”

“……”

Ewin glanced at me briefly, then took Judy’s hand and mounted her horse.

“You there. Lead us to your headquarters.”

Judy commanded Smith with the same firmness I had used. I looked at her and said:

“….Thank you.”

I thanked her because I knew she wouldn’t turn back no matter how much I tried to persuade her.

In the end, we left the Academy with a sword each.

****

After safely delivering Ewin home, we dismounted and pressured Smith. He was still pleading and crying.

“Please spare me… if I go back like this, I’ll die…”

“You’ll die even if you stop walking now. Don’t you understand your life means little to me?”

I verbally whipped him, ignoring his pleas. Of course… I don’t actually value Smith’s life as little as a fly’s. I wanted to resolve this without bloodshed if possible, though I wasn’t sure if that was feasible…

It was becoming difficult to keep twisting Smith’s arm as we walked. The further we walked, the more his feet began to drag on the ground. It was clear he didn’t want to go.

Finally, I made an offer.

“I’ll let you go if you just lead us close enough.”

“…P-Pardon?”

“I’ll release you. Just guide us there.”

Since Smith’s life wasn’t my objective anyway, finding their headquarters was more important to me.

At my words, Smith wiped his tears and began walking with renewed strength.

Soon we entered a dark alley.

Judy watched my back. Honestly, it felt reassuring. It suddenly felt like a blessing that my first friend was someone like her.

“I-It’s over there.”

Smith stops walking, pointing to a door visible in the distance. I tried to push him further, but he planted his feet firmly on the ground and wouldn’t move, ending up on his knees. He refused to go any closer.

“Y-You said you’d let me go if I brought you here…”

“……”

I looked between him and the door, then said to Judy:

“…Judy. Keep an eye on this guy.”

“What?”

“I’ll go check if he’s lying. That might not be their headquarters.”

“You’re going alone?”

“I’ll be fine. Losing this guy would be worse. If we lose him, we lose our lead…”

I handed Judy the rope that had been binding Smith, then patted her shoulder.

“I’m not here to fight. I just want to confirm a few things… and tell them to stop.”

“Caden, if you really don’t understand the danger here—”

“I do. That’s why I’m going alone. You’ve helped me enough already. This is my problem now. Wait here.”

“Cade—”

Judy called after me, but I turned away.

I slowly approached the door. With each step, the surrounding light diminished.

As I told Judy, I didn’t come here to fight. I came to talk and warn them.

I reached the door Smith had pointed to and knocked.

-Knock knock knock.

“…..”

There was no response. Even after waiting, nothing happened.

I turned my head to look at Smith. He was kneeling far away, covering his face. Like someone who didn’t want his identity revealed.

Looking at him, I thought he probably hadn’t given us false directions. So… did they already know I was coming? Or was there something wrong with how I knocked?

I put my ear to the wooden door.

“…..”

As I stood there with my eyes closed, I faintly heard a sound.

‘Shh…!’

The moment I heard that sound, I pulled my body back, then threw my full weight against the door.

-BANG!