A dark alley in Lindebrugne.
Lindebrugne is a tourist town and full of beautiful architecture, but not all neighborhoods were built equally.
Where the light is strong, the shadows are also strong.
While it didn't compare to Leathervelk, Lindebrugne had its share of back alleys.
Leo wandered down one of them and stopped in front of a ramshackle house.
"Whoo."
Taking a deep breath, he knocked on the door, as a reaction came as if the people inside had been waiting.
A small sliding window above the metal door opened, revealing a pair of human eyes. They looked around, and then their gaze fell downward to find Leo.
The sliding window closed and then the door opened wide.
"You're a little late."
It was a man in plain pants and a cotton shirt.
He looked like an ordinary laborer you'd see anywhere, but the sharp edge that emanated from him was far from ordinary.
Karl, an intelligence officer with the Liberation Army, looked at Leo and jerked his chin.
"Are you going to come inside and talk?"
"I'm busy, just do it here."
Leo's blunt response had many implications. From the part about not entering the house, Leo was clearly drawing a line in the sand.
Carl frowned at the answer.
"I thought you had ears to listen."
"You think I don't know that you made sure there was no one around here?"
"That was some time ago. The eyes of the Imperials have been very sharp lately and today……."
"I know. The Nightcrawler Knights and the Cold Steel Knights showed up."
Among them, the Nightcrawler Knights were a symbol of fear for the Liberation Army, which was undermining the Empire.
"Yeah. It's a dangerous situation that could come back to bite you in the ass."
"You know that, which is why you've called me here, because I'm the only one of you who infiltrated Theon as a student, so you're confident I won't be caught."
"……."
Carl's lips twitched at Leo's words because he hadn't said anything wrong.
"We're just wasting time arguing here. If you want to get this over with, just tell me what you want."
"……What are the routes of the students?"
"What's the point of knowing that?"
"The plan will go ahead as scheduled."
"What?"
Leo raised his eyebrows.
"Are you crazy? I can't believe we're proceeding with the plan in this situation."
"Crazy? No, it's a noble act."
"A noble act? There's nothing noble about running up with a bomb and blowing yourself up."
"If we can take out one dictator with our lives, we can make life easier for many of our countrymen."
"You think the world runs on such easy math?"
Leo glared at him, but Karl's expression didn't change, knowing that he was being sincere.
Leo's head was already aching. He realized that no amount of convincing was going to work.
"……There are Nightcrawlers and Cold Steel Knights everywhere right now, and you're going to force your way in when it's hard enough to hide and plan for the future?"
"That's why now is the time. They'll want us to take care of ourselves and hide, but they'll panic if we do the opposite."
"We're dealing with men who are members of the Empire's Three Knight Orders, an elite force. Do you really think they're going to be surprised by that? Get a grip."
Leo had to stop this madness. To be honest, Leo didn't really care if a few Liberators died. There was no camaraderie in being semi-forced to wear a Liberator badge. But if they went ahead with their plan, Leo would be blindsided.
There are knights everywhere, and they want to carry out terrorist attacks?
Of course, the damage would be much less than they had planned. But it wouldn't be entirely without consequences.
And if Aidan, Tessie, or Iona were among the dead Leo would never forgive himself but he couldn't appeal for friendship so that they won't attack his friends here.
Part of his nature prevented him from doing so, but a large part of it was because the person in front of him was someone who couldn't be persuaded by such things.
"In addition, students are with the mentors now."
"Mentors are the perfect target."
"You don't know what you're talking about. The mentors are sixth-rank wizards, and this is the largest group of sixth-rank wizards ever assembled. Each one of them is a Lexer-rank mage, the equivalent of a strategic weapon. You're not going to tell me you don't know their power, are you?"
"……."
For the first time, Karl remained silent instead of refuting Leo's words. No matter how noble it was to fight with one's will, the presence of a sixth-rank wizard was out of the norm.
Leo decided it was time to push.
"With their [Fire Silence], the explosives you have will be completely useless. It's like trying to hit a boulder with an egg. So for now, just do nothing……."
"No, I insist."
Leo frowned at Karl's adamant tone.
"What the hell did you listen to me for?"
"I heard you but it's not my call to make in the first place. It's already been decided from above that we're going ahead with it, so you'll have to cooperate."
"What? Don't be ridiculous! You think I'm going to go along with that?"
"I think you should, for your family's sake."
"……."
Leo's mouth dropped open at Karl's words.
"I know you've been uncooperative with us but you should know that your family's safety depends on it."
Leo gritted his teeth and glared at Karl but Karl showed no remorse or guilt toward Leo. He even seemed to take a certain amount of pride in his actions, as if he'd done what had to be done.
"How could you……jump into a fire pit like that in the first place?"
"We have the strength and ability to do so."
"These……."
Crazy, he was about to say but Leo suddenly sensed something and shut his mouth.
"Anyway, that's the end of the story. The operation will proceed as planned, so spit out the information."
"I don't know all the routes of the people who have already scattered."
Leo said, citing practical limitations. It was a ploy to stall for time.
Karl, who couldn't have known better, smirked at him.
"Leo, did you really think we had anything to go on besides the information you were giving us?"
"What?"
"I'm saying you weren't our primary source to begin with."
Leo's eyes widened at the words.
"Of course, you're excellent as an intelligence agent, but we don't completely trust you to say something that you can't say properly."
"You……!"
"Well, if you want to report it, you can but I'm not sure they'll believe you. They'd probably think you were in cahoots with us."
Karl said that and chuckled.
"Besides, I can't guarantee your family's safety, so you'll have to go along with it, even if you don't want to, won't you?"
"……."
"Well, then, go away. I'll make sure you know what happens if you try to get your way."
With that, Karl slammed the door.
Left alone Leo stared at the door in disbelief then turned to leave with stumbling steps.
Leo's mind raced.
'If I don't do what they say, my family is in danger. But if I stay, I'm risking my life and the lives of my friends.'
'The Liberation Army may be hate-crazed, but they're not the kind of people to rush into something they know can't be done. There must be something I don't know about, judging by their confident reaction.'
Leo realized that he was an outcast, belonging nowhere, not to Theon, not to the Liberation Army, not to anyone.
He realized that he was like a floating object on the water, helpless. Powerless to move of his own volition he could only go with the flow and be swept along.
'I am…….'
As he walked Leo stopped in his tracks when he saw who stood before him.
"……Leo."
"Aidan?"
Leo was about to ask what was going on, but the look on Aidan's face left him speechless. There was no smile on his friend's usually innocently smiling face. Instead, there was a gaze of shock and concern directed at him.
Leo realized that Aidan has found out who he is.
* * *
"So what are you going to do from here, senior?"
"Don't even get me started on the seniority thing."
Rudger said with a stern look at Passius for calling him such an odd title.
Passius nodded in understanding.
After leaving the imperial palace, the two walked down the street, chatting.
"Ha ha. I'm sorry but I couldn't resist being curious since you're my predecessor."
"It's interesting to see a……royal guard doing the dirty work."
The Royal Guards are usually driven by loyalty, but they also have the honor of being knights. Their skill with a sword was important, but so was their chivalry.
This is why Trina Ryanhowl turned down a spot in the Royal Guard, even though she had the skills to make it.
As the head of the Nightcrawler Knights she had done things unbecoming of a knight.
She didn't want the mud to tarnish the name of the Royal Guards but had no idea that a Royal Guard was the shadow dagger of the First Princess.
The other knights would be horrified if they knew.
"That's why I'm keeping it a secret. Only the Princess and I know about it."
"I see, now I understand."
"Aren't we on the same boat anyway? And since you were a dagger before I don't think it's strange to call you senior."
"Well, I hope you don't call me senior, just call me like before."
"Oh, the shy type?"
"……."
"Okay, that's enough jokes."
Rudger, who was staring at him in disbelief, shook his head at the sight.
"So, Mr. Rudger, what are you going to do now, go straight underground?"
"I don't like to stir up hornets' nests. Unless we know what they've got down there, if we go in first, we'll be the only ones with blood on our hands."
"That's true."
"We'll just have to wait. My men are searching the underground."
"Are you sure about that? We don't know what's down there, and I don't think sending your men will put my mind at ease."
"Yes, if they were ordinary people."
With that word, Rudger revealed the competence of his men and his firm trust in them.
When he said so, Passius did not dig deeper.
"Then are you going to stay still for now?"
"……."
The question made Rudger stare at him and Passius smiled awkwardly.
"Haha. Did I say something wrong?"
"I wish you'd stop blabbing about things you know nothing about."
"Oh, no."
Passius shrugged at the thought of being caught.
"To give the answer that Sir Passius wishes, I intend to go around the capital for now. I'm sure the places they'll be looking for are where the students hang out, so if we start there and work our way around the perimeter, we'll catch something."
"I agree. They won't all be underground; there'll still be people delivering news somewhere in the city."
"Yeah. But with the Nightcrawler Knights and the Cold Steel Knights out in force, they'll be moving as carefully as possible."
"Then they'll be hard to find."
"If they're being as cautious as possible, we'll just have to look as hard as we can."
It was easier said than done, but when Rudger said it like that, Passius felt a strange sense of trust.
'Hmmm. So the Princess wasn't wrong about him after all.'
Seven years ago, Passius had not been a Royal Guard. He had his talents, but he had his moments of complacency but then he heard of the coup and realized that the Empire he was protecting was in danger.
The Guardian Knights were shocked that they did not know anything even though the crisis of the country was just around the corner.
And what's even more surprising is that it was Eileen, the First Princess, who solved this coup, not the incompetent emperor of the time.
A beautiful but slender woman without her own support base escaped the imperial family and traveled outside to save the Empire from danger.
At that moment, Passius decided to pledge allegiance to Eileen von Exilion.
After such efforts, he was able to rise to the position of Royal Guard and became the right arm of the First Princess.
Eileen also gave him trust, so she told him the truth of the day about the man who helped her solve the coup, a man who could have gotten all the glory, but instead faded into the shadows.
And now Passius was walking down the street with the man he'd only heard stories about.
Rudger suddenly stopped in his tracks, causing him to reflexively stop as well.
"What's going on Mr. Rudger?"
Passius asked, but Rudger did not answer. He just stared straight ahead, wordlessly, until Passius, curious, turned his head to the direction of that gaze.
He could see a group of students and a mentor walking toward them from the opposite street.
Casey Selmore stopped in her tracks when she spotted Rudger standing across the street and there was a violent swirl of complex emotions in her expression.