After a series of reports, Cantares rubbed his temples, wiped his face, and let out a deep sigh.

Arendt waited quietly for him to gather his thoughts.

After a long time, Cantares finally opened his mouth.

“Ruins? In the ‘garden’?”

“Yes, from what I’ve heard, it seems like the relics are only a small part of what was discovered in the ‘garden,’ but it does seem to be true that a magic book from Hero Khan’s era was discovered.”

Arendt answered immediately as if he had been waiting for that question.

Only then did Cantares come to his senses and let out a groan.

“This is beyond imagination. If it’s an ancient magic book… then it wouldn’t be strange at all if research into the creation of ghouls was conducted as Jen said.”

“They succeeded in fusing magic powers, but I guess they reached their limit there. That’s why they seduced Count Stadler.”

Up to this point, it was an easily predictable scenario.

“The original owner of that land may have been killed by those guys. I heard he died suddenly.”

“It’s quite possible, and the problem is that the ancient technology may have fallen into their hands. They’d have had plenty of time to dig while we were looking for their traces.”

“Oh, so you finally admit that it was a dud?”

“What an annoying kid. He won’t give you a single word.”

Cantares glared at him, grumbling annoyedly.

“At first, I was going to focus on getting the Count involved in the group and extracting information… but I don’t think we have time to be that relaxed. What do you think?”

“I think this might be a pretty good opportunity.”

Arendt shrugged.

“Opportunity?”

“I don’t know what they’re hiding, but we have to steal it by any means necessary. Whether it’s the ancient magic book or the gold ‘garden’, we have to make it ours. If we do that, their power will naturally weaken.”

Cantares’ eyes sparkled with interest.

“Not suppression, not occupation, but plunder?”

“As expected, you understand very well.”

Arendt chuckled.

It was not a statement that he would punish evildoers in the name of God, nor was it a statement that he would eliminate those who threatened the Imperial family as a duty of a knight.

It means that only profit was considered.

It wasn’t knightly, but it was very Arendt-like.

Cantares burst into laughter.

“It won’t be that easy. We don’t even know how many troops they have.”

“But there is no other way. As Your Highness just said, we don’t have much time.”

Quite some time had passed since the ‘garden’ changed hands.

It was a time when it was safe to say that the rebels had already obtained most of what they wanted. The only area they had not yet reached was the area that required Count Stadler’s research.

If it fell into their hands by then, it was obvious what would happen next.

“If it’s something that needs to be controlled anyway, then it’s better to get it in our hands and use it.”

“Yes.”

Arendt nodded slightly.

“What are you going to do? If you just tell me to stay quiet, I won’t bother to show off.”

“Don’t make me laugh. Are you the kind of person who would just sit there and do whatever I tell you to do?”

Cantares, who had his chin raised, waved his hand.

“When will the Count go into the garden?”

“Tomorrow.”

“He acts quick. What about you?”

“I can move at any time.”

Arendt, who had said that, stared at Cantares with eyes that seemed to ask, “What should I do now?”

There was only one answer that Cantares could give.

“What about the plan? You must have something in mind.”

“Is there a plan? First, Senior Arthur, Senior Richt, and I plan to chase after them.”

Arendt responded as if he had been waiting for his question.

“We plan to go first, assess the situation, and then join up with the Third Knights who will follow later.”

“Okay, I will allow it. You can go. Command will be delegated to Captain Laius, and any arbitrary action will also be permitted.”

“Thanks.”

Cantares, who was glaring at Arendt with a sour look, sighed deeply and added one more sentence.

“Don’t cause any trouble. Please.”

Arendt simply shrugged.

The next day, before the sun had even risen, Arendt, Arthur, and Richt quietly left the dormitory and headed toward the stables.

Their appearance, with their robes and swords completely covered, looked more like travelers who could be found anywhere in the empire than knights.

Richt asked Arendt.

“Where’s Count Stadler?”

“I got a call about 30 minutes ago saying that he and Marquis Grieg were leaving. I think it would be a good idea for us to get moving as well.”

“What about the map?”

“I packed it.”

Arthur also answered plainly. It was a map that Cantares had personally handed over, showing the location of the garden in detail.

Richt nodded slightly.

“Okay, let’s go.”

Early in the morning, before the imperial day had even begun, the three knights set out quietly.

After leaving the Imperial City, they took a shortcut to escape the Imperial Capital.

Whoosh, whoosh.

The wind blew fiercely against the knights’ faces as their horses galloped.

As the sun was rising dimly, they left the city behind and crossed the plains shrouded in pre-dawn shadow.

‘It’s about time for them to show up.’

Arendt brushed back his disheveled hair and looked straight ahead.

After a while, the knights’ eyes, trained as they could be, caught something.

“Look over there. It’s Marquis Grieg’s carriage.”

Arthur seemed to have discovered the same thing.

The hand mirror that Count Stadler had hung on his suitcase reflected the sunlight that was just beginning to rise.

It was the perfect time for them to hide in the darkness as they rode their horses, as dawn was breaking.

The knights slowly slowed down.

Richt squinted his eyes and checked the area around the carriage.

“That’s the Marquis’ carriage. There are five escorts.”

“Are they Marquis Grieg’s knights?”

“No, judging by their attire, they seem to be mercenaries.”

After assessing the situation, Richt gave instructions.

“Let’s follow. Be careful not to get caught.”

Marquis Grieg continued his forced march without even getting out of his carriage once, as if he was in a hurry. The journey continued until the sun rose high in the sky.

Arthur checked the map while chewing on dry biscuits.

“If we continue like this, it seems almost certain that they will reach the place where construction is underway in the ‘garden’.”

“It doesn’t look like they’re going to go anywhere else.”

Arendt also answered calmly while munching on biscuits on horseback.

Richt took his gaze away from the carriage and looked at the two people with complicated eyes.

There was no rule against filling their stomachs while on a mission, but it was disheartening to see them munching on dry biscuits side by side while carrying out secret orders.

Arendt, well, he was originally that kind of guy, but Arthur was becoming more and more like that damn guy, and Richt was becoming increasingly uneasy.

“Why are you like that? Would you like me to take one out for you too?”

It was truly regrettable that those odd words came from Arthur and not Arendt.

Richt let out a short sigh and urged them on.

“Let’s move. We’ll miss them if we keep doing this.”

“Yes.”

The two men put the remaining biscuits in their mouths at once and held the reins tightly.

After that, only boring movements continued.

Marquis Grieg urged his carriage on without stopping at any town, only taking short breaks every now and then.

Soon the group entered a wasteland.

The rough land, devoid of trees and grass, was simply desolate, with only the occasional stray monster wandering about.

“If it was broad daylight, they would have been quite difficult to follow.”

“I know.”

Just when it seemed absurd to build a huge garden in such a place, the knights were able to encounter a vast construction site.

“Hah…”

Arthur was the first to burst out in laughter. Richt and Arendt felt the same way, so they didn’t really criticize him.

Arendt muttered with a weary face.

“Isn’t that bigger than a garden that originates in nature?”

“I guess so, given the scale.”

The garden, created out of nowhere in the empty wasteland, looked strange, like a mirage of an oasis in the middle of a desert.

The workers were working hard, sweating profusely at this very moment. The dry ground they dug up was covered with gravel and new soil for plants to grow.

In the area where basic maintenance was completed, trees had already been planted and statues of Luce and the hero Khan had been erected. However, perhaps because the site was so vast, it seemed that less than half of the area was finished.

Arthur made a weary voice.

“I think it’ll be quite something to see when it’s finished. If it’s done properly, that is. I wonder if that’s why it didn’t raise any suspicions…”

Bang, bang!

The noise of construction work erupting from all over the place was deafening.

It was a completely understandable sight to see Marquis Grieg pouring out all the wealth he had amassed, even using aliases, and trying to scrape together money from other nobles.

Arendt, who had been frowning and looking around, pointed to the corner of the construction site.

“The carriage is over there.”

“Let’s go and see.”

They approached the carriage, making no sound and hiding their bodies.

Marquis Grieg and Count Stadler had already disembarked and were nowhere to be seen. Only a coachman remained, smoking a cigarette in boredom.

Richt looked carefully at the floor and discovered footprints leading from the carriage to the opposite side of the construction site.

“This way.”

With Richt in the lead, they followed the footsteps. And soon after, the three of them stopped walking as if they were in unison.

At first glance, there stood a tall, unremarkable cabin.

If that were all there was, they would have thought it was just a break room for the workers to take a short break, but then they noticed that Marquis Grieg’s guards were surrounding the cabin and guarding it.

Richt nodded to the two men.

The three moved quickly.

Richt approached them quietly and hit the mercenary hard on the back of the neck.

“Ugh…!”

Another mercenary, who noticed them late, tried to draw his sword, but was instantly subdued by Arthur who approached from behind.

In the meantime, Richt had knocked down another man, and Arendt, approaching from a different direction, had already silently taken down two men.

Arendt, who shook his hands, straightened his disheveled robe.

“I don’t feel any movement at all?”

“Let’s go in.”

The door was locked from the inside.

Thud, thud! Arthur kicked the door a few times, and with a loud bang, the lock shattered into pieces, and the door opened feebly.

The interior was decorated like an ordinary lounge, just like what was seen from the outside.

Richt frowned.

“There’s no one here.”

“Then there must be a secret passage somewhere.”

Arendt stepped forward and immediately kicked away the carpet on the floor. Then, a large door with a handle facing the ceiling appeared.

“It’s always obvious where the secret passage is hidden.”

He pulled hard on the handle and the door opened easily without any noise. Then a staircase leading down to the basement was revealed.

Whew.

A cool breeze came up the stairs, which seemed to extend quite deep.

Boom, bang!

The faint sound of a construction site could be heard from afar.

“Then shall we go and see the true nature of the gold garden?”

After a brief silence, Arendt blurted out, seemingly cheerfully.

His golden eyes, staring at the dark staircase, seemed to be genuinely enjoying the situation. Thanks to this, Arthur couldn’t help but shake off the tension that was creeping up on him and burst out in laughter.

“You’re having fun right now? You really are a crazy bastard.”

“There’s no time for small talk. Let’s go.”

Richt gave a short reprimand and took a step forward toward the stairs.

Arendt shrugged and followed along obediently.

Finally, as Arthur stepped onto the stairs, the door slid shut as if someone had pulled it closed.

The deserted cabin fell into silence again.