The guard captain immediately understood, breaking into a broad smile.

“Oh! I remember, of course I remember~! Don’t worry—I know exactly what to do next.”

The guard captain actually had personal ties with the criminal organization members, colluding with them openly. Miko was completely dumbfounded.

“Y-You—”

“Ahem!”

The guard captain cleared his throat and said solemnly:

“Arrest these thieves!”

“Yes, sir!”

The guards were already accustomed to this—even part of the profit network themselves. They immediately surrounded Miko and the others.

“You scoundrels——!”

Miko was furious, gripping her weapon tightly.

“Aunt Clea, stay behind us. Miko, get ready to fight our way out!”

Arthur said coldly as well.

Clea nodded, quickly hiding behind Miko and Arthur.

“Dare to resist?! We’re the guards of Langard! Do you know the consequences of resisting us?!”

“Hmph! What consequences? Come and find out if I’m afraid!”

Miko retorted fearlessly.

“Rebellion! Pure rebellion!”

The guard captain flew into a rage.

“Execute these thugs on the spot!”

At the order, the guards were about to attack.

“Storm Surge!”

Boom——!

Miko unleashed a Rank 3 Magic spell, sending the guards flying to the ground.

“W-What——!?”

The guard captain was shocked, but his usual arrogance prevented him from realizing the severity of the situation.

“You thugs! Let me tell you—don’t be arrogant! This is Langard, the imperial capital! You dare to cause trouble here—you’re dead meat!”

The guards, recovering from the sudden attack, climbed back up, their faces livid with anger. It was clear they wouldn’t let this go.

As for the organization members, they stood by and watched, showing no intention of intervening.

Just then.

The sound of countless armor clinking rapidly approached.

“What? What’s going on?!”

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The guard captain turned around and froze—at the end of the street stood a large group of fully armed knights.

The guards, who had been furious a moment earlier, instantly lost their momentum, staring nervously at the knights.

The organization members, who had been planning to watch the show, panicked and tried to slip away—but they were too slow.

“Surround them all——!!!”

The vice-commander of the knight order, leading the group, waved his hand and issued the order.

Dozens of Swiftbeasts scattered, and over a hundred knights completely surrounded the abandoned church.

The organization members attempting to flee were immediately captured by the knights.

The vice-commander rode a Swiftbeast and slowly approached the crowd.

His cold gaze swept over everyone.

The guard captain trembled under his stare.

“K-Knight Order… w-what are you doing here?”

The vice-commander glanced at him coldly: “Since when do you get to question the Garrison Knight Order’s business?!”

“Eek——! D-Don’t dare, sir!”

Sweating profusely from fear, the guard captain bowed his head and apologized immediately.

The Garrison Knight Order was directly under the imperial royal family, taking orders only from the emperor. They didn’t answer to anyone else—he, a lowly guard captain, couldn’t afford to offend them.

“We received reports that a group of criminals is kidnapping students from Manacos.”

The vice-commander’s gaze drifted to the newly captured men.

“You——explain what’s happening here!”

“M-Me… me?”

The guard captain pointed to himself, but only met the vice-commander’s icy stare.

“I-It’s…”

He lowered his head, his eyes darting as he thought.

Suddenly, he pointed directly at Arthur and the others.

“I-It’s them! These are the thieves! I was just about to arrest them when y-you arrived, sir!”

“You’re lying——!”

Miko retorted angrily.

The vice-commander glanced at Miko, then turned back to the guard captain—his gaze even colder than before.

“Dare you deceive me?”

“Huh? Miko!”

At that moment, a voice came from behind the vice-commander.

Then Alicia, still wearing her evening gown, appeared in front of everyone, accompanied by Martina.

“Alicia?! “

Seeing Alicia with the knight order, Miko immediately realized this was the knight order Hulim had mentioned.

“Thank goodness! So you’ve already been rescued, Miko!”

Alicia’s face lit up with joy, but as she scanned the crowd, she didn’t see Hulim.

“Wait—where’s Hulim? Where is she?”

Alicia’s sudden appearance and her conversation with Miko left the guard captain frozen in shock. He knew only one thing—he was in deep trouble……

“Hulim’s still underground. She and Arthur rescued us together, but there are many more captured students down there. Alicia, tell the knight order to go rescue them quickly!”

“I understand!”

Alicia turned to the vice-commander.

“Vice-Commander.”

“At your service, Her Royal Highness!”

The vice-commander nodded, then waved his hand.

“Arrest all these criminals and the guards!”

“Yes, sir!!!”

The guard captain panicked.

“Wait! What are you doing?! You can’t arrest us—we’re guards! Members of the City Guard!”

“Hmph! You still remember you’re guards? Colluding with criminal organizations as a guard—that alone is a felony! Tie them all up and take them back to headquarters later!”

Following orders, the knights quickly bound everyone.

“Wait, Alicia—one more thing!”

Miko shouted loudly.

She pointed to one of the bound organization members.

“This man said they’re connected to the City Guard Commander! That commander needs to be arrested too!”

“What?”

Alicia’s expression turned serious.

“Miko, is this true?!”

“Mm-hmm!”

Miko nodded vigorously.

“It’s true, Your Royal Highness. We can all testify.”

Arthur and Clea chimed in from the side.

“……I can testify too.”

At that moment, a voice came from inside the abandoned church.

Hulim walked out.

“Hulim!”

Miko rushed over immediately.

“You’re back! Did you encounter any danger?”

“Don’t worry, I’m fine. There’s no more danger underground.”

As she spoke, Hulim took out a document book and looked at Alicia.

“Alicia, I found this in a room downstairs. It contains evidence.”

A knight quickly took the document book and handed it to Alicia. She flipped through it, with the vice-commander looking over her shoulder.

As Alicia continued reading, both their brows furrowed deeper and deeper.

After a while, Alicia closed the document book and turned to the vice-commander.

“Vice-Commander?”

The vice-commander nodded.

“Rest assured, Your Highness—the Garrison Knight Order will not let a single criminal escape!”

“Men——!”

At the vice-commander’s order.

The knight order split into two groups, heading in different directions.

A small group returned to headquarters to call for reinforcements, while the majority rushed straight to Count Balt’s residence.

Source: Webnovel.com, updated by NovelKeep