Ch.53Shining Knight (11)

-BANG!

With that impact, the door easily burst open. It wasn’t difficult to break since it was of rather poor quality.

“Aaagh!”

A man standing right behind the door I broke fell down, entangled with the fragments of the shattered wooden door.

I quickly scan the room’s interior, starting with that man.

Roughly 10 people. All these people had been holding their breath at my arrival.

I felt I had come to the right place. Otherwise, they wouldn’t have needed to hold their breath, nor would so many people need to be gathered here.

I noticed several men beginning to draw daggers from their clothes at my appearance. Just as I was about to warn them to stop, a large man spoke up first.

“Don’t draw your swords!”

The strength in my hand gripping my sword handle loosened. Fortunately, the person who appeared to be the leader seemed reasonable.

“Don’t draw your swords.”

He repeated, calming his subordinates who had been about to get excited.

Once the room settled down, the large man walked up to me and asked.

“….I lack the education to recognize your lordship. Who are you?”

He asked carefully, keeping his posture low.

He certainly seemed to have the boldness and intelligence to lead an organization.

“My name is Caden Praester.”

At the word Praester, everyone flinched. Confused murmuring began.

“Quiet!”

He calmed his subordinates again, then lowered his posture and bowed his head.

“…It’s an honor to meet a Praester.”

“……”

“But… why would someone as distinguished as yourself come to a place like this…”

“What’s your name?”

“….Pardon? Ah… I apologize. My name is Miles. Again, I apologize for forgetting to introduce myself due to my lack of education. I truly apologize.”

“That’s fine. So, Miles. Do you really not know why I’ve come here?”

“…..”

“Don’t overthink it.”

“….I know why you’ve come.”

Miles immediately acknowledged my words and lowered his posture again. I was beginning to think he was quite reasonable to talk with.

“…Good. This will go quickly then. Miles, you’re making the right choice. Don’t hesitate and just spit it out. I won’t give you many chances.”

“…..I understand.”

“The targets you’ve been watching. Tell me everything.”

I needed to know if there was someone else I wasn’t aware of before stopping them.

“….Miss Daisy Hexter and a woman named Ewin.”

“…..”

Though I already knew, having it confirmed directly made my heart stir. A fiery anger ignited in my heart.

I wanted to cut down everyone here, but I knew it wasn’t as simple as that. These people had only been watching, they hadn’t committed wrongs deserving of death. And if they had been following orders with no choice, I hesitated even more to harm them. If I were to act, I should target the person who gave the orders, not those who merely obeyed them.

“…I’m truly sorry.”

Miles apologized again.

I nodded at his apology, somewhat quelling my anger. I sighed deeply, then asked.

Now for the important question.

“….Who gave the order?”

“……..”

At my question, the already quiet room seemed to grow even quieter. No one moved, breathed audibly, or even dared to roll their eyes.

As the room grew silent, I could hear my heartbeat growing louder.

There was tension from entering this criminal den alone, but more than that, it was tension about Asena. I wanted to trust her, but my suspicions kept pointing to her.

What would I do if Asena had given the order? The thought made me feel like everything was going dark. Perhaps this was why I had thought to come here in the first place.

Instead of leaving it to Smith to guard, or asking Asena directly, I came to ask the people who received the orders themselves.

So that no one would discover my shameful suspicion of not trusting my sister. So I could find the answer without revealing my doubts. So I could hear the definitive story.

“…….”

Even Miles couldn’t readily answer this question. He looked at me cautiously, then at his subordinates.

“Lord Caden…. asking me to inform on my superior in front of everyone… especially in front of my subordinates…”

“You still don’t understand how precarious your position is.”

“……”

Our gazes met. We stared at each other for a while before Miles lowered his eyes first. But his lips remained tightly closed.

I raised my hand.

“….Was it Asena?”

“….Pardon?”

“I’m asking if Asena Praester gave the order.”

“……..”

Miles blinked at me, seemingly surprised that I knew more information than he expected.

Then, as if he’d made a decision, he opened his mouth.

-..Thump…thump..

My heartbeat grew louder.

Please, not her. Let me be the trash for suspecting Asena.

“…………It wasn’t Lady Asena’s order. Well… originally we shouldn’t even know this fact, but… we were told to watch with the clear understanding that it wasn’t Lady Asena’s order…”

“…Phew……”

Like taking off heavy armor, the unpleasant feeling pressing on my chest seemed to lift all at once.

My breathing eased, and my face grew warm.

For a moment, my head spun. The tension released.

Indeed, I had been wrong to suspect her.

Miles, seeing my reaction, began to make excuses on his own.

“…But it was an order from someone high enough for us. Please understand that we had no choice but to follow.”

“……”

“Perhaps we overstepped. But… even so…”

“It was Shallon Payne’s order, wasn’t it?”

“…Y-yes. You knew everything.”

“Payne… dares to spy on the Praesters?”

After the wave of relief passed, an unpleasant feeling arose. The mental stress I had to endure because of Shallon was no small matter.

“L-Lord Caden, we weren’t directly watching you! Since Lady Asena has been keeping an eye on Ewin and Miss Daisy Hexter recently-“

“Even if it wasn’t me, you were watching my surroundings. You’re saying you started surveillance on your own because Asena was keeping an eye on those two, without any direct orders.”

“……That’s correct.”

I was concerned about Asena keeping an eye on Ewin, but not enough to be a problem. She probably just became curious after hearing from Kirsy about my orphanage sister.

Just because she paid attention doesn’t mean it’s a problem. The real issue is arbitrarily spying and trying to extract information.

I needed to have a talk with Shallon Payne. And depending on the situation, take appropriate measures.

“….Alright. That’s enough. I’ve asked everything I was curious about. Thank you for answering without evasion.”

“….Not at all. It was something I had to do.”

“Now that’s settled. From now on, don’t set foot near the Academy.”

“…..Pardon?”

“I’m uncomfortable. Bring me your organization’s ledger. I need to weed out all you rats.”

“…Lord Caden, that’s too…!”

“Miles. I’ve warned you several times. I hope you understand how precarious your situation is.”

I placed my hand on my sword handle.

Miles saw my gesture, dropped his placating expression, and slowly, very slowly raised his eyes to look at me.

It was a provocative look. His confidence that while he might yield to my status or the Praester name, he wouldn’t yield to force, was palpable.

“What’s with that look, Miles?”

“……..Lord Caden, more than half of our organization works at the Academy. If you tell everyone to leave, how are we supposed to make a living?”

“That’s not my problem. Did you think I would leave you alone when you affect me? I can’t tolerate even a single step of yours into my territory.”

“….You follow the Praester family motto well, I see.”

“….Because it’s our motto.”

The change in atmosphere at my demand that everyone leave the Academy wasn’t limited to Miles. There were probably people in this room who worked at the Academy too.

So they too began to change their attitude.

“….We only followed Lady Shallon Payne’s orders.”

“And that Shallon Payne follows the Praesters’ orders.”

“…..Did you come alone?”

“….What?”

In that moment, Miles began to assess my combat strength. No matter how foolish they were, they wouldn’t attack me. Of course, with nothing to lose, there’s no telling what they might do, but if they thought about it, they would know they shouldn’t attack me. I couldn’t understand what gave him the confidence to ask such a question.

Of course, it’s not that I had no chance of winning if they attacked.

There appeared to be about ten men. On my side, just me alone. There’s a difficult barrier to overcome with skill in a one-against-many fight.

So I began to sharpen my nerves as well. I came to talk, but I was prepared for this situation too. I had anticipated that such a moment might come. I had considered the fact that it could become very dangerous.

I lift my thumb from the scabbard, slightly drawing out the sword. The blue blade gleams as it reveals itself.

Cold air swirled around us. Miles seemed to be contemplating as he glared at me.

I said to him:

“…Miles. There’s no need to shed blood. I’ll overlook this disrespect, so hand over the ledger as I ordered, and make everyone who’s been in the Academy leave.”

“…….”

Miles stared at me for a long time, then closed his eyes and sighed.

“…..Alright. You there… bring the ledger.”

He finally took a step back. I didn’t know what thoughts had crossed his mind, but his choice prevented much bloodshed.

At that moment, a cat’s cry echoed.

-Meooow…

At that sound, everyone in the room froze.

As it grew quiet, the cat’s cry echoed again.

-Meooow…

It was coming from deep within the room, from behind another door. The sound grew louder and clearer. I could see Miles biting his lip from behind.

-Meooow…!

The more I listened, the more my suspicion turned to certainty.

This wasn’t a cat’s cry… it was a little girl’s crying.

Miles cleared his throat and repeated what he had said.

“..Ahem… You there! Bring the ledger, I said!”

“Miles.”

I called to him.

His eyes glanced at me once, and his expression gradually contorted.

“Damn it all… you’ve already made up your mind. Draw your swords!”

He was right. The moment I heard the girl’s cry, I had made up my mind. That’s what being a knight is all about.

-Shing!

I too smoothly drew my sword from its scabbard.