C187: King of the Dark Path (2)
Rudger was asleep, but his senses were much sharper than usual. It should be said that it is the price of borrowing the power of the goddess and a little grace.
Contact with God also had some influence on Rudger too.
He could see the energy that a person has and could also sense the size of their souls or their power like a white fire burning in the dark.
His body was asleep, but his mind was watching the flame of the soul.
The flame of an ordinary man was like a small candle.
In the case of those who are superior and called geniuses by the world, it's the size of a torch.
And for those who are geniuses beyond geniuses it's like a bonfire that's much bigger than all the other flames and in the distance such a bonfire was approaching the slums along with four torches.
The moment he saw them Rudger opened his eyes.
* * *
At first, the members did not immediately understand what Rudger meant when he said guests are ing.
"What are you doing? We'll have visitors soon. Get ready to greet them."
But when Rudger urged them, they started moving.
Rudger immediately disguised himself.
Hans, who still didn't understand the situation, soon opened his eyes to the information that a mouse approached and handed over.
"Brother, how did you know the Nightcrawler Knights were ing?"
"I just felt it."
It sounded like an excuse, but he meant it.
He closed his eyes and slept deeply and opened his eyes because he felt that way vaguely.
"Then wouldn't it be better to hide? I think it's dangerous to do something that might get us caught for no reason."
"It doesn't matter if you meet them with the title "Owner" instead of me, but you'll be caught immediately so it's better if I e forward myself. Tell the others to not stop them and treat them with utmost respect."
"Okay."
Rudger immediately grabbed his overcoat and put it on.
* * *
"This is a slum?"
One of the Nightcrawler Knights looked at the surrounding landscape and muttered in disbelief.
The other knights as well as Trina Ryanhowl felt the same way.
"It's pletely different from when we saw it that day. I'd believe it if someone told me that this is a different place."
There was no place where filth overflowed anymore and the vagrants that squatted helplessly and begged were gone too.
The roads were well paved and there were new buildings constructed too while the smell of delicious food was felt from all over the place and the kids were playing happily.
It was much more colorful than the general mercial area to the point where it could even be called a busy street.
Enya, who saw the process, opened her mouth.
"As you can see, the slums are changing rapidly. It's still happening in real time."
"This is all the result of the Owner."
"Yes."
At this point, she wanted to meet that unusual person and needed to know what kind of ideas he had and what his tendencies were.
There is nothing more dangerous to the nation than a villain with great ability and the Nightcrawler Knights exist to prevent that.
As she was walking down the street like that, someone blocked Trina's way from the front.
Trina and other Knights stopped.
"It's an honor to meet the Nightcrawler Knights of the Empire. I'm Violetta, your guide."
Violetta, dressed in neat clothes greeted them politely.
Trina stared at Violetta intrigued by the fact that she already knew they were ing.
"You know us."
"The Owner told me to serve you with all my heart."
When the name came out, the knights exchanged eyes and Enya whispered carefully to Trina.
"Leader, isn't it a trap? I think he knew in advance that we're ing."
"No."
Trina replied sternly. If this was a trap they wouldn't have sent a guide. Rather, it was more of a challenge.
The Nightcrawler Knights, notorious in the Empire? So what?
The Owner proudly declared that they could e if they wanted to e because he had nothing to hide.
"All right, I'll follow you."
Violetta took the lead with Trina's permission, followed by other Nightcrawler Knights.
At first, the knights were suspicious, but when Trina, the leader, showed posure and followed her calmly. Of course, they still kept their guard up because they didn't know when an incident would suddenly happen.
"More than that, is this a slum?"
Trina was in awe of the new street.
This place was abandoned by the city so it won't be strange no matter what happens but miraculously in just a few months it became unrecognizable.
'I can't believe this is possible.'
Eventually, Trina couldn't help but open her mouth.
"The Owner must be quite a man of ability."
"Yes, he is."
Violetta replied with a gentle smile.
"It's all thanks to the owner's grace that we were able to change like this. If it weren't for him, we'd still have to live abandoned by the city and country."
Violetta's words had thorns.
She said in a roundabout way, 'You abandoned us, but he didn't forsake and led us all the way here.'
In a way, it was more of an insult to the state, but Trina wasn't as angry as other tight-knit bureaucrats and aristocrats. Such a provocation could only be seen as cute in her line of work.
Even so, Trina responded lightly because she didn't intend to just accept the provocation.
"That's fascinating. We're here to catch a man who's a danger to the state."
At that moment, Violetta, who was at the forefront, stopped walking and slowly looked back.
"Of course. There must be a reason why Nightcrawler Knights came all the way to this edge. I just want you to know this."
Violetta was still smiling, but her eyes shone faintly.
"The moment you try to touch the Owner, we'll all fight with our lives."
It was not a mere verbal warning and silence fell on the noisy street.
"Captain."
"Well."
The store owner preparing to open the store, the woman drying the blanket outside the window, and the children playing with toys were staring at them with a dry and hostile gaze.
What is felt in their eyes is a determined will. If anything happened to the Owner, they were determined to attack them even if they died.
'It's like I'm in the mouth of a giant beast.'
Trina decided to step back for now.
"I'll take a closer look."
If she had been a proud ordinary knight, she would have drawn her sword in a fit of rage, but Trina was different. On the contrary, she even had a bit of respect for the one who brought the abandoned area to this point on his own.
"I'm glad you understand. I'll guide you again."
Violetta started moving again. The people who were watching them also went back to their daily lives as if nothing happened.
That subtle sense of disparity gave the Nightcrawler Knight goosebumps.
"Here it is."
They arrived at an ordinary three-story mansion that was not much different from other houses.
The Owner of the back world is staying in a place like this?
Unlike the suspicious knights, Trina followed Violetta inside without hesitation.
Violetta knocked on the door of the reception room on the first floor to announce the arrival of the guests.
"Owner. I brought our guests."
"Come in."
Violetta opened the door and entered when permission was given from the inside as Trina immediately examined the structure of the room.
'There is no place for someone to hide and launch a surprise attack and there is no secret space. Is it literally a place to greet guests?'
Her eyes were last directed at the Owner waiting for them in the center of the room.
'That's him.'
The owner was sitting on the sofa. He was wearing a suit that didn't look expensive but wasn't cheap either and a big hat on his head along with a white mask worn on his face.
"It's nice to meet the Nightcrawler Knights. I'm an undeservedly called Owner."
"Trina Ryanhowl."
"Oh, you were a noble. Have a seat."
"I will."
Trina did not refuse and sat across from Owner. Her action was relentless and even imposing.
The four knights, including Enya, lined up behind Trina.
"Violetta."
"Yes, Owner."
"You did a great job bringing the guests. You can go out now."
"Yes, sir."
When Violetta closed the door and left, there was silence in the guest room.
The first person to speak was Trina.
"You don't need your subordinates?"
"Our people are very busy. The slums have changed a lot pared to before, but there are still many things to be fixed. We can't waste our time doing this."
'He doesn't mean to bow down unlike others.'
Against the Nightcrawler Knights, also called the Empire Nightmare? What a man of great ambition, even his polite way of speaking in a subtle twist.
'This man is extraordinary. If I let my guard down, I will be swayed.'
Trina immediately raised her assessment of the Owner.
"Knights, you should go out too."
"What? Leader……."
"It's an order. Rest in moderation nearby."
The members couldn't refuse Trina's order and the members left the room, but Enya remained adamant.
"Enya."
"I'm sorry, but I can't get out of here because I'm your aide."
"I see. You'll gladly allow at least one person, right?"
The owner nodded at Trina's playful question.
"I don't care."
"Is that so? I'd like to ask you one more question. Do you have to keep wearing that mask?"
Trina's gaze shone sharply. It was like trying to recognize the face hidden in the mask.
"Or is there a reason why you have to hide your face?"
"You must have been offended that I faced you with a mask on."
"That's not how you should treat your guests."
"Well, this is a mask to be considerate of you."
Owner said so and only slightly lifted up the bottom of the mask. A hideous burn was seen inside.
He immediately put the mask back, but Enya and Trina, who have good eyes, saw it.
"Please understand that I have to wear a mask like this because of severe burns."
Of course, Rudger's burned skin was a fake made by Seridan but it was so sophisticated that they wouldn't notice it was fake unless they touched it.
Trina felt a little unfortable, but she didn't argue any more.
"First of all, let me ask you a question. What's your name? You're too petent to suddenly appear out of thin air."
"You mean my name?"
"I can't just call you Owner forever."
"I see."
Owner, no, Rudger naturally spoke the pre-prepared name.
"I'm Oliver, who was born here in the past."
"Anything to prove your identity?"
"Sadly, there isn't. There is no way that a person born in a slum would have such a thing."
"Were you from here?"
"My mother died soon after I was born, and I have been living in a workhouse since I was a child. Then, when I got older, I went abroad to earn money, and my business was successful to some extent, so I came back to my hometown. I had a twisted life, but now I am living well. Are your questions answered?"
"Not yet."
Trina opened her eyes sharply at the words.
"Let's get down to business for now."
"Yes."
"Silver Sun disappeared last night."
Trina said so and looked at Rudger's reaction.
"Did you e here because of something related to Silver Sun?"
Rudger, who had guessed the reason, naturally replied.
"Yes, we know the news that Silver Sun has disappeared. By the way, did you e to see me because I'm the most likely suspect?"
"I heard that Silver Sun recently played a trick against your slum."
"Yeah. That hurt many people and caused quite a lot of damage."
They came openly, so he didn't hide it.
"Don't tell me you think we did that, right? People from the slums like us?"
"I have a hunch."
"It's just a hunch. You don't even know how many people have grudges against Silver Sun in the first place."
In fact, Trina has found the culprit but Rudger was confident he wouldn't be caught.
Trina knew there was nothing more she could get from asking.
'But it's strangely frustrating.'
She kept having the feeling that the man named the Owner in front of her eyes was suspicious.
'She's still a sharp woman.'
Come to think of it, it was the same then. Even when he robbed a noble's house to raise funds, Trina followed him without a clue. She is a nuisance with a sense of a beast.
'And to that extent, it must mean that my actions in this area were unusual.'
It is doubtful that the dying streets have been pletely transformed into new ones but Trina couldn't stop.
"Silver Sun are bad guys anyway. It's nice if they disappeared, but I don't know why the Nightcrawler Knights came all this way to persecute me."
When Rudger poked her sore spot, Trina wrinkled her nose.
The Nightcrawler Knights are called nightmares by criminals, but the basis of all that action is based on the belief that justice is enforced.
Silver Sun is an evil organization that persecutes people, extorts money from them, and bribes politicians. They are loach-like people who turn puddles into muddy water.
This is what Rudger asked.
– Why do those who enforce justice protect the wicked?
It touched Trina Ryanhowl's pride.
"That's definitely true. I can't deny that."
Surprisingly, Trina neatly accepted Rudger's point.
"But I hope you know that. If we had really suspected you, there would have already been blood on the sword."
At the same time, the inside of the drawing room was filled with muddy flesh.
Trina Ryanhowl is the Nightrawler's Knight Commander and one of the few master-class knights in the Empire. Her life was enough to make even average knights suffer a nervous breakdown or pass out with bubbles the moment they encounter it.
She would be considerate of him, but it was also a warning to him not to cross the line any further.
'He's a suspicious man, but he's from the underworld.'
It will be necessary to properly imprint who is above but wasn't the man named Owner naturally nodding his head even after receiving that?
At that action, Trina's eyes shook slightly. It was the same for Enya, who was watching the situation from behind.
'My life…He endured it?'