“That’s cool. A guy called a knight is attacking from behind,” Arendt straightened up and blurted out.

In the few brief exchanges of combat, his once neat appearance had become tattered.

Arthur snapped at him, frowning, “You led me to do that, you punk.”

“Who said anything bad? I said it was cool.”

Arendt spoke wryly, but if Arthur had not acted according to Arendt’s intention at that moment, things would not have been resolved so easily.

‘That was possible because he was a flexible guy.’

If it were any other knight, it would have been unthinkable.

After dealing with the others, it was obvious that he would immediately return and shout at Bethel, saying: “I’ll deal with you!”

That’s the kind of people knights were originally.

There was no better way to deal with Bethel, who was adept at hiding his body and had a force that was difficult to handle when faced head-on.

Until his death, Bethel probably thought Arendt would engage him in a one-on-one duel, but the reality was far from that.

Arthur felt a little uneasy when he remembered that fact, but soon he managed to banish the thoughts by swinging his bloody sword several times. That strategy also saved his own life.

“So how did you really get here? I didn’t tell anyone.”

“What if I followed you? Are you going to tell the captain?”

“You really are saying…”

“Let’s just skip over the little things.”

His eyes turned to Bethel, who lay on the floor. The pungent smell of blood penetrated the cold dawn air.

Arendt naturally suppressed his disgust and approached the body.

Arthur just quietly watched Arendt’s actions with a slight frown.

After a while, Arendt removed a thick ring from Bethel’s finger.

“What is that?”

“It’s loot.”

“…”

This guy, is he really any good as a knight?

Arthur felt the distracting thoughts he had tried so hard to banish return, and they were even more intense than before.

But whether Arthur did anything or not, Arendt put the ring in his pocket and then approached the still unconscious men.

“There won’t be much use in dragging these guys to the castle. They’ll probably be in a similar state to the guys who broke into the East Safe.”

“Then should we let them go?”

“There’s no point in putting those who talk nonsense on the gallows. Killing them here and now would only make my dreams miserable… Ah, I found it.”

Arendt took something else out of one man’s pocket.

It was a small key.

Arthur reacted when he saw it.

“Oh, that.”

“Do you know what the key unlocks?”

Arendt got up and threw the key to Arthur. Arthur caught it absentmindedly.

“Let’s go. I got beaten up so badly, so I have to get something out of it.”

“…Now that I think about it, you were just watching me get beaten earlier, right?”

“I was trying to intervene at the right time. I was also trying to figure out the enemy’s movements. I was getting hit really well, wasn’t I? I thought I was really going to die. Senior, you’re a good fighter.”

Arthur’s fist clenched as he held the key. Then, at the perfect moment, Arendt tilted his head.

“Why? You wouldn’t… hit me? After I saved your life? For that simple reason?”

The round eyes sparkled innocently.

The clean and harmless face matched Arendt’s beautiful face very well. It was an appearance that would make someone who did not know the circumstances exclaim in admiration.

But unfortunately for Arthur, the urge to hit him only grew stronger.

Even if he knew that fact, Arendt wouldn’t have felt much regret, because his intention was precisely to piss Arthur off.

A muffled sound escaped Arthur’s lips.

“No. Ah…”

Arendt glanced at Arthur and burst out laughing. He walked ahead, walking past Arthur, who was trembling and clenching his fists.

Arthur followed behind, muttering something.

His whole body ached, and smelling so much blood for the first time made him feel sick, but he didn’t feel too bad.

He took the time to rewrite the part of the story that he disliked the most.

The person who should have died on this spot was grumbling and trudging along behind him, and he succeeded in eliminating in advance the guy who would bother them quite a bit in the future.

At this point, it wasn’t a bad start.

The full moon was shining brightly.

They soon returned to the spot where the fight had first started.

Arthur counted the doors one by one and found the house in front of which the men were gathered.

“There won’t be any more people, right?”

“Maybe. From what I know…”

Arendt spoke calmly, again overtaking Arthur, who was whispering nervously.

Arthur stared blankly at him and suddenly realized that his hands were empty. The key he had been holding just now was now in Arendt’s hand.

“It’s probably a place used as a temporary gathering place or warehouse. There’s probably no one there right now.”

Arendt responded by throwing the key in his hand into the air and catching it again, then carelessly walking to the door, putting the key in and turning it.

Click.

They heard the lock unlock without much resistance.

As Arendt said, there was no sign of anything happening inside.

Arthur, who had come closer without him noticing, pushed Arendt away and grabbed the doorknob.

The door opened slowly and a room shrouded in darkness was revealed.

Arthur found a lantern near the front door and turned it on.

There was a round table and chair in the middle of a fairly large house. There was a rug on the floor, and it seemed to have been used just recently, as there wasn’t much dust on it.

“Hey…”

A sigh of exclamation escaped Arthur’s lips.

Arendt followed Arthur’s gaze. All sorts of weapons hanging on the wall gleamed ominously in the light of the lamp.

Swords, spears, shields, and various other hidden weapons were displayed in a state where they looked like they could be used at any moment.

‘It looks like a stage prop room.’

Arendt had a strange idea.

It felt strange to know that this wasn’t some stage prop, but an object actually used to kill people.

Arendt walked closer to the wall and examined the weapons closely.

“I guess I can sell them. They were probably made so that they could take it out and join the battle right away in case of an emergency.”

“You already have so much money, how can you make such a joke?”

Arendt couldn’t immediately think of something to say in response, because it was something he had never heard before in his life, but soon he blurted out, “The more money the better, right? Anyway, it doesn’t seem like there’s anything special about them…”

Arendt, who was taking a step forward, suddenly turned his gaze downward, and after a moment, his eyebrows furrowed slightly.

“Senior.”

“Hmm?”

“What kind of picture is this?”

Arendt’s eyes were fixed on the table in the middle of the room.

Arthur shined the lantern towards the table.

It was only then that Arthur noticed that there was a mysterious drawing carved on the table.

“This…”

Arendt traced the outline with his hand. Just like the stained glass of a cathedral, the dizzying curves intertwined to create a single picture.

It looked like three swords piercing one heart, with two snakes riding on them.

It may have been artistic, but it wasn’t a particularly pleasant image to look at.

Arthur frowned slightly, as if he was thinking the same thing.

“Is this some kind of sign they use?”

“It’s a sign…”

Arendt muttered along with his words.

The shape before his eyes looked more like a pattern than a picture. It was something he had never seen described in the novel.

‘By the way, have their identities ever been revealed?’

It was a problem he had not cared about until now.

They started a civil war, and even some nobles joined them. However, in the novel, they were simply called ‘rebels’, and no proper name or symbol was ever given to them.

It was Arthur who woke Arendt up from his momentary reverie.

“I should report this to the captain.”

“I know, right.”

Arendt examined the pattern carefully for the last time before taking his eyes off it.

The two searched the entire house, but found no trace of other secret passages or spaces.

They finally stopped searching just before dawn.

“Should we leave it as it is for now? They’ll probably know right away that Bethel died, but they wouldn’t know that we’ve been rummaging through this house.”

“What? What are you going to do with it if you leave it behind?”

“There’s bound to be at least one guy who comes looking for it. Then, we’ll catch them and beat them up.”

“…”

Arthur’s eyes turned towards Arendt, filled with distress.

Arendt looked him straight in the eye.

“What?”

“…nothing.”

It was definitely a good idea, but really, is it okay for a knight to be like this?

The mean words that came out of that clean-cut mouth kept confusing Arthur.

Arendt shrugged.

“It would be hard for the seniors who think they can die honorably if they get captured to come up with such an idea. Let’s go before the sun rises. If we start walking around like this in the morning, we’ll be the first to get arrested.”

Arendt left the place first with light steps.

Arthur had no choice but to sigh deeply and follow his arrogant junior.

“…”

Laius, who was facing Arthur and Arendt, seemed to be at a loss for words for a moment. Arthur slowly avoided Laius’ gaze, which stared at them with absurdity.

It was clearly he who had called Arthur the night before and sent him out alone secretly.

Arthur was anxious because his return was later than expected, and it was only when dawn broke that he and Arendt entered the gate together.

Both of them were in terrible shape.

The robe he had worn was torn in places, had scratches from having been hit by someone, and his hair was covered in dirt.

Laius asked, trying to remain calm.

“… a fight?”

It was just one phrase without a proper subject, but it was enough to convey the meaning.

Arthur opened his mouth, clarifying the situation.

“There was an unexpected fight. I fought, but it wasn’t a fistfight with this son of a bitch next to me.”

“You’re being too harsh when you call the person who saved your life a son of a bitch.”

“…”

“Isn’t there a role model for knights? Wow, even death is immortal.”

Arendt, who had been expressing admiration, placed one hand on his chest with an extremely serious expression on his face.

“I won’t do as you wish, even if it means giving up my life!”

“Shut up. Please.”

Arthur’s clenched fists trembled.

As the two men’s argument seemed to be going to go on for a long time, Laius quickly intervened.

“Just report it first. I’ll make a decision later.”

Arthur glanced at Arendt for a moment, then groaned and told Laius what had happened the night before.

By the time the report was over, Laius’s expression was hard.

He felt a headache coming on, so he rubbed his temples and then sighed deeply.

“An unknown pattern… I’ll look into it. I’ll have to send someone else to collect the bodies, and, Arendt.”

A deep voice called out to Arendt. Arendt raised his head and looked straight at Laius.

At that shameless attitude, Laius spoke a little more coldly.

“Disobeying orders will result in immediate punishment. Unauthorized absences are also included. You wouldn’t have forgotten that, would you?”

“I am…”

“Captain.”

Arendt was about to say that he had done nothing wrong, but Arthur suddenly interrupted and he was unable to finish his story.

“It was my fault. It’s true that I came back alive thanks to this guy, so I will take responsibility.”

Arthur looked quite anxious as he spoke like that.

Arendt blinked and looked back and forth between Laius and Arthur.

Laius didn’t answer for a while. He just looked down at the two with cold, unreadable eyes.

And after a while, a sigh slowly escaped his mouth.

“Yeah, you both had a hard time.”

Pat.

Without warning, Laius’s hand went up and touched each person’s head once.

This time, he meant to leave it at that.

Arthur’s face, which had been blank for a moment, broke into a bright smile.

Laius left the office first to take care of some business, leaving the two behind.