Midnight in Valentine (3)

-Clank, clank, clank…

An underground prison located on the outskirts of the Failon Kingdom’s capital.

Amid the rows of cells stretching left and right, the sound of steady footsteps echoed softly.

Normally, suspects would be causing a commotion, demanding to be released, but at this moment, they were all as quiet as mice, like gentle lambs.

The reason was extremely simple, the logic of power.

Everyone present could feel it.

The aura of strength naturally emanating from the middle-aged man walking straight down the middle of the cells.

Before being human, instincts engraved in their genes as animals were shouting.

To be careful with their bodies, to preserve their lives.

The man’s name was Raymond Scabbard.

There were countless titles used to address him.

The 1st seat of the Kingdom’s Seven Swords. The leader of the Kingdom’s Seven Swords. The Knight Commander of Failon Kingdom. The strongest knight in the kingdom. The sword closest to the king. Second to none and above all. A man who reached the pinnacle of swordsmanship. The Iron Sword.

But most people called him this:

The Continent’s First Sword.

The world’s strongest knight.

“Really, if only it could be this quiet every day.”

Leaving the guard who muttered quietly behind him, Scabbard silently walked toward the deepest part of the prison.

“…What now.”

From the darkness behind bars that were twice as thick and heavy as those of other prisoners, specially made to confine a “knight.”

As if half-drunk with sleep, a relaxed, languid woman’s voice flowed out.

“Prisoner number 639. Rubila Kimbell.”

“Well, well, look who it is.”

With a giggling laugh, the woman behind the bars asked.

“Isn’t it the Commander?”

“It’s been a while.”

“What brings you here? So suddenly.”

“Release. Come out.”

-Haah.

A long, deep sigh leaked out.

“I told you. I won’t leave until I serve my full sentence.”

“Don’t be so stubbornly insistent.”

Toward Rubila, who was shaking her head, Scabbard spoke quietly.

“Indeed, private punishment of a serious criminal deserves criminal penalty. But as I’ve told you many times, your actions that day were considered mitigating circumstances because you acted as an official in the position of Kingdom’s Seven Swords.”

“That’s just an excuse. There’s no mitigation or whatever for smashing someone’s head while drunk.”

Rubila shook her head in all directions, half-drunk with sleep.

“How much of my sentence is left, guard? Three years?”

“…Y-yes! 1078 days left, ma’am.”

“That’s disgustingly long.”

Clicking her tongue with a ‘tsk’, Rubila waved her hand dismissively at Scabbard beyond the bars.

“You heard him? Go mind your business. I’m not leaving for the next 1078 days.”

“If that’s your will, it can’t be helped.”

Scabbard nodded. Looking directly at Rubila, who only then gave a slight smile, Scabbard extended both hands and grabbed the bars.

The bars were so thick that he couldn’t fully grip them with one hand.

Despite Scabbard’s hand size being somewhat larger than average.

Looking at him, Rubila smiled mockingly and said.

“Give it up, they’re special products that won’t bend even if dozens of war horses pull from both sides.”

“I’ll change my approach, Rubila.”

-CRACK-CRACK-CRACK!!!!!!

As the bars caved in from side to side, a tremendous noise reverberated throughout the prison.

“…”

Standing in the middle of the bars, now wide enough for at least five people to pass through comfortably, Lord Scabbard commanded quietly.

“Your method of sentence execution has just changed. Come out, Rubila.”

“…Huh, haha.”

“It’s time for some enjoyable unpaid labor.”

Rubila, who had burst into laughter with wide-open eyes as if in disbelief, asked.

“Fine, let me at least hear what this is all about that requires such measures.”

“Do I have an obligation to tell you?”

“I’m curious!”

“…”

“Damn it, alright. I got it, I’m asking you. Happy?”

Silently staring at Rubila, Scabbard answered with a voice mixed with a sigh.

“It’s Princess Evangeline’s summons.”

“…What?”

At Scabbard’s final words, Rubila’s expression changed completely.

The expression that had been mixed with some surprise and expectation soon changed to a grinning face.

“…You should have said so earlier.”

To state the obvious, there are rankings within the Kingdom’s Seven Swords.

The criterion for ranking is the individual knight’s strength.

There are clearly skill differences even within the Kingdom’s Seven Swords, and the gap between the 1st seat and the 7th seat is definitely not small, more significant than one might think.

And at the current point in time, the list of knights who have their names on the Kingdom’s Seven Swords is as follows:

1st seat. The undisputed strongest knight of Failon Kingdom. The Continent’s First Sword, Raymond Scabbard.

2nd seat, me. Princess Knight, Evangeline Failondia.

3rd seat. The only member of Kingdom’s Seven Swords from foreign origin. Full Moon Knight, Baek Jin-woon.

4th seat. Killed in action during the Human-Demon War, currently vacant. Former Iron Arm Knight, Nasisa Cornwall.

5th seat. Flame Knight, Rubila Kimbell.

6th seat. Originally Cornelio Difind held the 6th seat, but he was stripped of qualification and is now deceased. Currently, the former 7th seat Swift Sword Knight, Lord Daryl Bertrand, holds this position.

7th seat. As mentioned above, with former 7th seat Lord Daryl moving up to 6th seat, this position is currently vacant. Official selection is expected soon.

And according to Lord Scabbard, there are two Kingdom’s Seven Swords members who can come here right away to escort me.

5th seat Rubila Kimbell and 6th seat Lord Daryl Bertrand.

However, Lord Daryl is effectively unable to come, because he also serves as the Chief Butler of Failon Palace.

Plus, being somewhat elderly, it’s realistically burdensome for him to undertake a long-term trip staying away from home.

So in reality, 5th seat Rubila Kimbell is the only one who can serve as an escort for me and Delphina.

“…That’s what I don’t like.”

I muttered, shaking my head.

Rubila Kimbell.

She’s crazy, that’s why.

If there’s one fortunate thing, it’s that she’s crazy in a completely different way than Cornelio.

At least the probability of her crossing the line like Cornelio is extremely low… but in some sense, she’s an even more troublesome person than Cornelio.

Especially for me.

 

Because…

“Evangelin!!!!!”

As the door of the airship opened before it had completely landed, a shadow of a person jumped out from the height of a three-story building.

Each time she ran toward me, the loud shout from her mouth grew louder by the second.

“Our baby princess!”

“I’m not a baby.”

Avoiding her as she tried to throw herself at me, I retorted with a sulky voice.

“Besides, you’re not that much older than me.”

“How cold.”

Despite having planted her face on the ground because I avoided her, she stood up perfectly fine as if it didn’t hurt at all and then shouted loudly.

“Hello, Princess! It’s been a while!”

“Go back.”

“You’re so harsh, so cold!”

As if she couldn’t see my finger pointing at the airship, Rubila threw herself at me and started to act coquettishly with a flirtatious voice.

“How many years has it been, our adorable princess? Has it been a year since we saw each other face to face?”

“It’s been more than a year. You crawled into prison voluntarily right after returning from war, after you smashed someone’s head.”

I replied coldly.

“Ahaha, painful memories.”

“Anyway. Seeing that you’ve come all the way here, does that mean you’re done with that prisoner game?”

“It’s not a game. And…”

Rubila shook her head and grinned.

“Believe it or not, I’m on unpaid labor.”

“…Unpaid labor?”

“When I stubbornly refused to leave, Commander Scabbard told me to come out and consider it as unpaid labor…”

“Ahaha,” she laughed awkwardly while scratching the back of her head. Looking up at her, I let out a deep sigh.

“…Anyway!”

With a clap, Rubila opened her mouth again.

“What should I do now?”

“…Didn’t Lord Scabbard tell you anything?”

“No? He said there was nothing to tell a criminal on unpaid labor.”

“That man can be quite spiteful…”

“Um, excuse me…”

Next to me as I sighed, Delphina carefully opened her mouth.

“Princess, and Rubila… Lord?”

“Oh, who’s this? A face I haven’t seen before.”

“My friend.”

I answered briefly and pushed away Rubila as she approached Delphina.

“Stay away, don’t be a bad influence.”

“Don’t treat me like some kind of plague?!”

“Anyway, Delphina. What is it?”

“Don’t ignore me!”

Looking a bit flustered, Delphina said.

“Princess Yuriana sent a person… to us.”

“By person, you mean a shadow puppet, right?”

At my words, Delphina silently nodded. Rubila tilted her head and asked.

“Shadow puppet? What’s that?”

[This is what it means.]

“Eeeek!”

Seeing the pitch-black figure that appeared suddenly before her eyes, Rubila fell backward in shock.

“What is this!”

“Don’t worry. It’s weaker than you.”

“That’s not the issue…!”

As Rubila rubbed her sore backside and stood up, the shadow puppet looked around at us and said.

[Welcome, Princess Evangeline, Delphina, and Lord Rubila Kimbell. This is Yuriana von Valentine.]

The shadow puppet bowed deeply toward us and said.

[It’s sudden, but please follow me first. I will guide you to your destination.]