Richt, who climbed the stairs in one breath, let Saif take the lead and continued to run.

After the drunks and gamblers who had been following him looked like specks in the distance and they had reached a deserted area, only then did Richt stop.

“Go to the forest outside the gate. The leader will be there.”

“Oh, I see! I think I know where it is.”

Saif nodded hastily, panting for breath.

Were those people real monsters? Even though they each carried two people in their arms and ran at full speed, unlike Saif who was exhausted, the knights didn’t even break a sweat.

Richt tapped his colleague on the shoulder.

“Go with this friend and explain the situation and hand these people over to the captain.”

“Yes? Aren’t we going together?”

When the strange question came back, Richt answered firmly.

“I’ll catch as many of the runaways as possible and take them to the gambling house. You join the leader first.”

“Yes, I understand.”

Without saying a word, Richt turned around again and started walking back towards the casino.

As Saif was catching his breath and blankly watching his back, the knight who was left behind frowned and asked.

“What are you looking at?”

“No, when I see that, I think he is a very neat and tidy person…”

Saif trailed off.

What followed could easily be guessed without even having to hear it.

Why does he, who is more knightly than anyone else, keep falling apart when he is with that young, pale apprentice knight?

The two of them couldn’t help but feel uneasy as they recalled the sight of him throwing bottles of alcohol without hesitation with that trustworthy face.

It was the first time in his life that he felt defeated.

Even though he lived a rough life in a back alley, he never failed even once, and he lived his years believing without a doubt that it was all thanks to his own actions.

The second-in-command position at this casino was the culmination of everything Merlin had accomplished in his life.

But that shining name was completely trampled by the hands of crazy people.

Merlin gritted his teeth and glared at Arendt as if he was going to eat him at any moment.

“What the hell are you doing?”

“Me? I told you earlier. I’m a son of a bitch who came here to extort money from a criminal. Can’t you tell just by looking at me? That’s right. You have to be careful when you’re committing a scam.”

Arendt replied in a sly manner. Even from the perspective of the people on his side, he looked so annoying that they wanted to punch him.

“Damn you. A guy like that prepared fake money in advance and came here to fuck me over like this? Where were you sent from? Do you think I won’t know when you’re doing such a trick!”

So, it was easy to guess how much Merlin would be provoked without even needing to think about it.

“Why? Are there so many places who will do this to you? That’s right. People should live well.”

Arendt pretended to pick his ear.

“You’ve never thought about getting beaten up while doing business that makes enemies here and there? You’re more naive than you look, sir. If you’re prepared to hit others, shouldn’t you be willing to put your own head on the line?”

“You shameless brat… You’re ruining everything I’ve worked so hard to build up throughout my life! This is the end of your arrogant behavior. I’ll ruin everything for you even if it means risking everything!”

Merlin’s face was red with anger, and he looked like a mess.

His neat clothes were tossed around here and there, leaving no trace untouched, and his face, where he had been hit once by Arendt and once by someone’s elbow, was swollen and bloodshot.

Arendt no longer looked neat. He had thrown away his cumbersome outer garment, and his shirt sleeves were carelessly rolled up, showing no trace of aristocratic dignity.

His tightly tied hair was messy and tangled here and there.

“Ruin? That sounds good. But would that work? At that age, all you’ve done is clean after the higher-ups and become a manager at a casino that sucks the blood of innocent people.”

A bitter smile appeared on Arendt’s lips.

“How dare you destroy me over such a thing? It’s not even funny.”

“I don’t know where you’re from or what you’ve been doing, but I’m not the only one part of this. The Lord will not stay still!”

“If that guy sees the casino in this state before he ruins me, won’t he try to take your head first?”

Merlin’s face turned pale in an instant.

Arendt continued speaking clearly, looking straight at him.

“What, why did your expression change? Are you scared? Don’t worry. Whoever your superiors are, if they see you, they’ll catch you and hang you in the middle of the streets.”

The voice that had seemed to be just sarcastic gradually became colder and soon became freezing.

“You can look forward to it. That will be your seat.”

The chaotic lounge became as quiet as if frost had fallen, and only Arendt’s voice could be heard coldly.

It was a greater presence than when he beat up people and threw things, as if he was under the spotlight on a theater stage.

The people there stared blankly at Arendt, even forgetting to breathe.

‘Is that… intentional?’

Or is it real anger he’s showing?

Rider thought blankly.

Because he couldn’t read his mind, it was hard to tell if what Arendt was showing was real or if he was just making things up like he had been doing before.

But at least at this moment, there was one undeniable fact: everyone was overwhelmed by him.

Arendt’s characteristic arrogance did not fade just because he appeared to be closer to a thug than to a knight or a nobleman.

Golden eyes filled with cold anger slowly scanned the room.

The employees who had fled to the corner in the sudden fight, the mercenaries and Merlin who had been fighting, and even the knights on the same side all stared at the apprentice knight with their mouths hanging open.

“Hey bastard, set the mood.”

But that icy atmosphere was shattered by Arthur’s voice that suddenly popped out from one side. Arendt shrugged his shoulders as if nothing had happened.

“This is just for wasting time. If we keep fighting, we’ll lose energy.”

“Please, do it in moderation. If I try to accommodate your every move, I’ll end up with nothing.”

Arthur burst out in annoyance.

As the atmosphere relaxed, the customers who had been watching the situation took advantage of the gap and began to slowly move towards the exit.

“Hey, stop moving.”

But their steps stopped at Arthur’s voice that followed.

Arthur held up a bundle of documents he had hidden in his pocket and showed them to the people.

“I think it would be best to stay here if you want a chance to defend yourself. This looks like a list of people who frequented this place, right?”

“What…?”

Voices of bewilderment flowed out without exception.

Merlin recognized Arthur’s face a beat later.

“You… the one who was with that kid earlier…”

Now that he thought about it, there were quite a few people that guy brought in at first. But only three of them created this mess in the middle of the lounge.

What about the others then?

Only then did the other people standing behind Arthur come into view.

At first he thought they were guests, but upon closer inspection, he saw that some of them looked familiar. Merlin opened his mouth wide as he recognized Enoch’s face among them.

“You, you… you dare!”

“How dare I? Are you threatening me again? My sister left with the others. As for my father, he’s free to die or not.”

Enoch’s anger suddenly burst out, but he did not back down and just stared back.

Merlin, his fists clenched, tried to stride towards the child, but Arendt blocked his way.

“At your age, you’re taking children and old people hostage and locking them up. You’ve really lived a successful life, don’t you think?”

His handsome, smiling face was covered in a cold chill.

“Why? Are you going to hit me once? Hit me, although I think you understood the situation by now.”

That was right. Merlin was beginning to realize that he was completely trapped.

It was absurd that people with such abilities were caught and thrown in prison so easily.

Merlin barely managed to move his lips.

“Catch…”

“Catch and kill me? Is that possible?”

Arendt tilted his head.

“Behave yourself. If even one person moves, I’ll run away with that list. Are you confident you can catch us?”

The manager’s mouth snapped back shup.

The sound of teeth grinding escaped between his lips. His clenched fists also trembled.

The initiative in the situation was already in that kid’s hands.

The fact that no matter how much they struggled, the loser would just end up barking in an unsightly manner made it even harder for Merlin to bear.

The mercenaries also realized that the momentum had completely shifted to the other side and began to slowly back away. They were trying to escape before they got entangled in something more complicated.

But that attempt was soon interrupted by a cold voice.

“Didn’t you hear us telling you not to move?”

It was Richt.

He returned before anyone knew it, and was standing in front of the stairs leading to the ground, holding onto the back of the necks of the escapees.

Thud, thud.

Richt, who had roughly thrown the unconscious gamblers into the lounge, gave off a cold air as if he would never allow them to escape.

The terrified mercenary cried out in a fit of panic.

“Oh, we did nothing wrong! We were just doing what our employer told us to do!”

“It seems that the employer kidnapped helpless children and the elderly, imprisoned them in the basement, and forced them to borrow money at high interest.”

But that didn’t work.

Richt declared in a powerful voice, one word at a time.

“In the name of the Imperial Knights, all those involved in illegally exploiting the blood of the Imperial people will be held accountable.”

“Oh, the imperial family…?”

“…?!”

The name of the Imperial Knights rang out clearly in the cold silence of the gambling hall.

The managers, employees, mercenaries… and customers were all frozen in place.

Only after the words fell from Richt’s mouth did Merlin understand all of this from beginning to end.

The reason why they were so strong that it was hard to even understand, the reason why they were trying to ruin the casino so thoroughly, and even the reason why they hid their identities until now and were only now revealing them.

“Ah.”

A groan of terror escaped. The source was Merlin, who had collapsed on the floor. The sound of footsteps pouring down the stairs to the basement could be faintly heard.

It was the sound of Captain Laius rushing in with his men.

“Oh, why are the Imperial Knights here? The information blocking should have been perfect.”

“Why, why? It was your fault for getting caught by that crazy apprentice knight.”

Arthur grinned.

It didn’t take long for Merlin’s pained moans to turn into screams.