Chapter 102: The Knights (3)

What should I call this…….

Whether I should say it was as expected, or just a coincidence, the Griffin Knights were looking for me.

But why?

There was a suspicion that the commander of the Griffin Knights was Knight Commander, but even so, it was clearly strange for Knight Commander to suddenly single me out.

‘Did they find out about me? But how?’

The first thing that came to mind was, as expected, the rumor about the Mage of Thunder spreading in Winter Castle.

In fact, just like the precedent with Anonymous999 in the past, the rumor about the Mage of Thunder spreading in Winter Castle was sufficient grounds to suspect the Mage of Thunder of being a player.

‘Damn commander.’

Of course, even if Edric hadn’t stepped up, the story about me would have eventually spread throughout Winter Castle by word of mouth, but the timing would have been delayed much more.

Since the situation was as it was, it would be a lie to say I didn’t feel any resentment towards Edric.

‘Anyway, that is that…….’

First, I needed to know the exact reason why they were looking for me.

Even if they had determined I was a player, that alone wasn’t a reason to seek me out.

“Why are the Griffin Knights looking for me?”

“Ah, my explanation was lacking. They said they want to ask a few questions to the personnel who went out to investigate the Demonic Realm this time.”

It seemed that since I was the one who informed Winter Castle about the appearance of the King of the Demonic Realm, they had something to investigate regarding that.

Well, I’d have to go see for myself to know their true intentions.

“Should I go right now?”

“That’s right. The Griffin Knights are probably staying inside the main castle right now.”

“I understand.”

As expected of one of the Empire’s foremost knight orders, they were being treated as esteemed guests in Winter Castle, staying inside the main castle no less.

Considering that the Pegasus Merchant Guild, which had visited Winter Castle before, had also received VIP treatment yet set up a separate camp, I could guess the level of treatment the Griffin Knights were receiving.

‘Well, in the case of the Pegasus Merchant Guild, they set up camp to do business, though.’

In any case, the main castle held a special meaning within Winter Castle, to the extent that even I had only been there a few times.

Putting everything else aside, the Lord of the castle, the Margrave, personally resided in the main castle.

Should I call it the heart of Winter Castle?

When I arrived at the main castle, the main castle guard looked at me and spoke with surprise.

“You are the Mage of Thunder. What brings you to the main castle?”

“I heard the Griffin Knights were looking for me.”

“Aah, they said they had something to investigate, this must be it. Please go in. The Griffin Knights are currently staying on the 2nd floor.”

Perhaps thanks to my reputation in Winter Castle, entry itself wasn’t very difficult.

I had wondered why Edric didn’t give me a separate entry pass or permit, but it seemed he knew I could enter from the start.

I did wonder if entry to the place where the Lord himself resides could be this lax, but to reach the main castle in the first place, one had to pass through the countless outer castles within Winter Castle, so perhaps the security had become lax as a result.

Should I call it an absolute faith that no external enemy could reach it.

After going up to the 2nd floor of the main castle and passing down a long hallway, a man who looked like a knight blocked my path.

Just from the aura he faintly exuded, he was a strong individual of at least level 5.

He was clearly a member of the Griffin Knights.

“Soldier, what business do you have here? This is currently where the Griffin Knights are staying. If you are lost, turn back.”

I’ve come to the right place, buddy.

“I am Vell Blackwood of the 4th Special Task Force. I heard the Griffin Knights were looking for me.”

“The 4th Special Task Force? Aah, so it was that. Follow me this way.”

Following the knight, I reached the end of the hallway, where there was a firmly closed door.

As befitted esteemed guests of Winter Castle, it seemed they were provided with a separate office in addition to lodging.

Knock knock-

“Commander, the special task force soldier you were looking for has arrived.”

“Come in.”

As I opened the door and stepped inside, I couldn’t help but be slightly flustered by the unexpected sight.

Platinum blonde wavy hair shining in the sunlight pouring in from the window.

An expression that looked somewhat tired amidst her elegant features.

The griffin crest engraved on the uniform.

What all that information indicated was clear.

‘A woman?’

The commander of the Griffin Knights being a woman wasn’t that peculiar, but for me, who had been inwardly suspecting the Griffin Knights’ commander to be Knight Commander, it was extremely unexpected.

That was inevitable, as anyone on the Anonymous Bulletin Board who knew even a little about Knight Commander wouldn’t think Knight Commander was a woman.

In the first place, wasn’t the title the bulletin board users used to call Knight Commander big brother?

Of course, it wasn’t confirmed yet that the commander of the Griffin Knights was Knight Commander, so I needed to talk to her first.

The real reason the commander of the Griffin Knights called me would naturally become clear after that.

“I am Vell Blackwood of the 4th Special Task Force. I heard you were looking for me.”

“Aah, have a seat here. I called you because I have a few things to ask, so don’t feel burdened.”

The commander of the Griffin Knights said, gently setting down the document she had been examining.

“I’m Yuliana. I’m serving as the commander of the Griffin Knights. As you may have already heard, I have a few things to ask about what happened in the Demonic Realm. Is now a good time?”

“Yes. It’s fine. I will answer what I know.”

“Good. If we were at the Knight’s quarters, I’d offer you tea, but unfortunately, we are guests here ourselves. Please understand.”

“Please don’t worry about it.”

The commander of the Griffin Knights, Yuliana.

I couldn’t tell if this woman was Knight Commander or not, but I absolutely couldn’t make any mistakes in the conversation from now on.

If I carelessly exposed any clue that I was a player, I didn’t know what might happen.

It wasn’t that something would necessarily happen just because I was found out as a player, but it was still better to be careful.

“I heard you were dispatched to the Demonic Realm this time.”

“Yes, well, something like that.”

To be precise, I had taken leave and headed to the temporary warehouse in the Demonic Realm, but there seemed to be no need to mention facts I wasn’t asked about.

Thinking about it objectively, the story of a Winter Castle soldier taking leave to head to the Demonic Realm alone was very strange.

That strangeness would only add to the suspicion that I was a player.

“I heard you know about the process of how the King of the Demonic Realm awakened. What exactly was that process?”

I had already told Edric about that, so there was no need to hide it.

Yuliana was probably asking me about it for the sake of cross-verification of the information.

“While wandering the Demonic Realm, I happened to find the sleeping King of the Demonic Realm. I tried to leave the place cautiously, but someone intentionally woke the King of the Demonic Realm.”

Yuliana’s face hardened.

“Intentionally, you say?”

“Yes.”

“It seems I’ll have to hear the details about that part. Are there any clues as to who that person was?”

From here, I just had to relay the same information I had given to Edric.

“Their faces and appearance were completely hidden. But they used the Magic of the Celestial Sound.”

“The Mage of the Celestial Sound. And?”

“They used a musical instrument when waking the King of theDemonic Realm. I suspect they used it as some sort of medium to amplify the Magic of the Celestial Sound.”

Yuliana’s expression became incomparably more serious than before.

“With a musical instrument, they woke him?”

“Yes. That’s correct.”

And from that reaction, I was convinced that Yuliana knew about the Twilight Troupe.

Otherwise, there was no reason for her to react so strongly to the word ‘musical instrument’.

I still couldn’t be sure if Yuliana was Knight Commander, but the possibility of her being a player was very high.

As I was observing Yuliana, she nodded slightly.

“Thank you for cooperating with the investigation. It seems the person you saw was likely a member of the Twilight Troupe.”

I never thought Yuliana would mention the name of the Twilight Troupe herself.

She might have been testing me, or had other intentions, so I was as cautious as possible.

That was also why I didn’t mix in clumsy lies, but rather concealed the falsehood within the truth.

“As expected. In fact, our special task force was also suspecting that the Twilight Troupe might be behind this incident.”

“Oh? Do you already know about the Twilight Troupe?”

“I don’t know the specifics. But I heard a few things from our special task force commander; that there’s a puppet group targeting Winter Castle recently.”

“I see…….”

Yuliana’s voice became somewhat peculiar.

“Thank you for cooperating with the investigation. It was very helpful. You may leave now. Ah, if I have more questions, it would be alright to call for you again then, wouldn’t it?”

Yuliana spoke as if asking, but naturally, there was no way I had the right to refuse.

“Of course.”

“Go safely.”

Fortunately, it seemed the worst-case scenario I had worried about hadn’t happened.

Yes, for now.

‘I’ll have to wait and see for now.’

If the worst-case scenario did happen, I too would have to make a choice.

***

After the guest left, Royer, who had been waiting in front of the temporary office, stepped inside.

Yuliana’s smooth brow furrowed as she watched Royer’s slick manner, entering the office so naturally.

“Knocking before entering, do you not know it?”

“The door was open?”

Yuliana’s voice turned icy.

“It means show some courtesy. How many times do I have to say the same thing?”

“So picky.”

“You’re getting a pay cut next month.”

The reason for disciplinary action is insubordination.

“Wait, a pay cut for just this!”

“Two months.”

“I apologize, Commander. I will make sure it never happens again.”

“Seeing your sincerity, I’ll reduce it to one month.”

“No, that’s!”

“Two months?”

“……”

A brief, trivial conversation passed, and Royer spoke.

“So, was the awakening of the King of the Demonic Realm really the Twilight Troupe’s doing?”

Yuliana nodded.

“Circumstantially, it’s right to see it that way. Madmen who handle musical instruments aren’t exactly common.”

“Tsk. This is annoying. We have enough to worry about, and now the Twilight Troupe is on top of it…….”

Royer scratched his head hard.

Originally, the Twilight Troupe was a group that operated in very small numbers, but recently, they had been rapidly expanding their power and influence.

To the point where they could no longer be ignored.

If the Twilight Troupe’s original policy was to move secretly as a small elite group and hatch some kind of conspiracy, now they were expanding their power by accepting all sorts of riffraff as members.

“They should just stick to doing their usual weird stuff, why are they targeting the Empire…….”

In any case, that wasn’t the only matter the Griffin Knights had to deal with, so Yuliana immediately moved on to the next topic.

“How is the investigation into the disappearance incident in Hekar coming along?”

The incident where an entire village in Hekar, in the southern region of the Empire, had vanished.

At first, it was thought to have been attacked by demonic beasts, but it was a bizarre incident where no traces of battle or any corpses were found, so the Griffin Knights took charge of the case directly.

“Haven’t figured it out yet. But according to a witness who was nearby, they heard musical instruments playing in the village in the middle of the night.”

“Musical instruments?”

“Yeah, looking at the recent movements of those Twilight Troupe bastards, doesn’t it smell extremely fishy? Above all, you know it too, Commander?”

Royer added.

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