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[Translator – Clara]

[Proofreader – Demon God]

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“I’m sorry.”

Those were the first words to escape from Rosalina’s lips.

It was her own doing—a tragedy unfolding from her unilateral actions, something no one had asked for.

It was all a consequence of ‘Rosalina’s actions.’

“I’m…I’m sorry.”

The girl was already not in her right mind.

With a body seemingly frozen in fear, Rosalina managed to move forward. Her disheveled hair covered most of her expression, but it was evident she was on the verge of tears.

Tot seemed equally frightened. Cold sweat poured down as he mustered the courage to call Rosalina’s name again. In response, she turned her head and offered a smile.

It was a forced smile.

Trying to smile while on the brink of tears made her lips quiver.

“Tott… I’m sorry. I never expected things to turn out like this. I clearly messed up this time. I did something wrong, and yet, why are others suffering the consequences? So, let’s apologize. No, I’ll apologize. I messed up. If I admit my mistake, the knight will surely forgive us.”

‘Stop spewing nonsense, idiot. That knight has no intention of showing any mercy.’

Tott wanted to shout anything, but he couldn’t muster the words. The overwhelming aura emanating from the knight felt like a crushing weight on Tott’s throat.

It was debilitating.

Reaching out was all he could do in his powerless state.

“The…the knight, and even our comrades… I messed up. It was me who stole. Others have nothing to do with this incident. I…I haven’t been here for long… So, please, just forgive us once.”

“Hah.”

Patrick’s response was cold. His emotions were so restrained that it was impossible to discern the meaning behind his sigh.

When Patrick turned to look at Devourer, who had slammed his head onto the dirty floor and remained in that position, Devourer spoke without changing his posture.

“This is insane.”

“That’s what he says.”

There was no need for further pleas or self-pity. With that brief exchange, it was already over.

Facing Patrick approaching Rosalina, the only thing Tott could do was walk forward and block their path.

He spread his hands to shield Rosalina from Patrick’s view as much as possible.

Simultaneously, he thought it was foolish to act and still considered himself stupid.

There’s a creature among birds that, when sensing danger, supposedly sticks its head into a hole. This situation of trying to shield Rosalina from the knight’s view felt exactly like that. There was no difference between Tott and a birdbrain.

Arrogant thoughts swirled through Tott’s mind. Like Rosalina, his lips trembled.

“If you come any closer, I’ll kill you.”

He even brandished a dagger in an attempt at a meaningless threat.

Rosalina bowed her head deeply. Taking something out of her pocket, she clutched it tightly in both hands, shaking. She seemed to be praying. Although she muttered something, it was impossible to make out the words.

Without taking many steps, Patrick approached Tott until he was right in front of him. The enormous shadow seemed ready to swallow Tott whole. Tott’s hands, holding the dagger, twitched.

For a moment, Patrick stood in front of Tott, gently raising his hands over Tott’s shoulders.

In that position, he pressed down ever so slightly—

“…!”

Tott sank down.

A shiver ran through him. Any resolve in the face of death was useless before the true terror of death. Tott’s gaze, now sitting down, was fixed on the ground. He couldn’t lift his head.

His instinct was telling him—If he raises his head, he will die.

Ignoring Tott, who was barely breathing, Patrick took another step forward and crouched down right in front of Rosalina. After silently observing Rosalina, who continued to pray, for a few seconds, Patrick finally brightened his gaze.

He reached out.The cold gauntlet, devoid of any warmth, touched the girl’s skin.

“…This.”

Opening the girl’s hand and taking the item she had clenched tightly—Patrick spoke.

“Where did you get this?”

—

Whether it was intentionally damaged or not, there were cut portions of a laurel leaf hanging upside down, and a black phoenix that seemed to be deliberately distorted.

The shapes were grotesque enough to be considered ominous, but it was clear. Based on the basic form it had, it was undoubtedly—

“It was a rosary.”

The item the girl had clutched while praying was a rosary.

Despite Patrick’s solemn tone, Devourer’s reaction was indifferent. It was a tea that could easily pass with just a few yawns.

“…So what?”

Devourer retorted with a voice full of annoyance.

Although Patrick spoke as if he had seen something terrifying, the existence of a rosary wasn’t something to be particularly concerned or amazed about.

Certainly, it has to be a religious item. Despite the immense suppression from the imperial authority, and instead of holding the rightful authority they should have, the Empire undeniably had religion.

Strangely, among those daring to challenge the Primordial Core, most were prepared for death. When sorting through the spoils of the deceased, religious items were frequently found.

Devourer had seen Rosaries a few times while Renee was categorizing the loot.

“So what? Boss, Look at the patterns. Torn laurel leaves or an inverted phoenix… compared to those, isn’t the rosary quite ominous? It’s like saying, ‘We are suspicious, please be suspicious of us.’ Turning the phoenix upside down is outright proclaiming an inverted cross. Moreover, you must have felt the mana emanating from the rosary, Boss.”

– Why do you know so much about that, Patrick?

Overlaying his thoughts onto Patrick’s sermon, Devourer looked up at the sky. The already purple-transformed sky was being painted over with bright colors. It was already morning, and the realization that there was more to do made Devourer feel on the verge of collapsing from exhaustion.

“…Mana can come out of an item. Suspecting every little thing is a sickness, Patrick.”

“It was a dense gray mana. Not your usual mana. It’s surveillance mana,” Patrick asserted.

“Aren’t you a knight…? How do you distinguish something like that?”

“If you don’t know magic just because you can’t use it, that’s a problem. You need to understand it to counter it. Especially magic related to tracking or surveillance, you should be aware of it for assassination preparedness at the very least. Boss, even if you get smacked around without knowing these things, it should be possible to survive if you’re tough enough.”

“Oh, yes. You’re quite impressive, Master.”

Patrick’s words weren’t wrong. When the human girl prayed, mana clearly flowed from the rosary. The color was gray. However, it was a negligible amount that didn’t warrant much attention.

Patrick’s voice gained strength as he stared at Devourer’s vacant face.

“Isn’t it strange? The rosary has not protective magic but surveillance magic. And it belonged to a poor girl who has nothing special, not a noble or a commoner.”

In this case, it’s more appropriate to see it as ‘among many rosaries with surveillance magic, one happened to be with the girl’ rather than ‘the girl had a rosary with surveillance magic because she’s special.’

In other words, the girl is likely one of many being observed.

“The residents of Hastin are under surveillance by someone.”

“…Is that so?”

“Moreover, this is an opportunity. Considering the state of the village, it’s natural for religion to emerge. But for the poor to have rosaries means there’s no class distinction in recruiting followers for the religion.”

A village heading towards despair.

And a subtly watchful religion even over the poor in such a village.

“Don’t you think a picture is forming? If we dig deep on this side, we can encounter various types of people, Boss. Understanding why they suffer and what causes it becomes easily accessible.”

‘Besides, there are a few more things I’m curious about.’

Until the girl took out the rosary, it showed no reaction. Mana flowed only after the girl began praying.

It means it operates only in specific situations. If we figure out those conditions, we might understand what the one who gave the rosary is plotting.

“Hastin isn’t just some magical city… Last time, it was a magic stone, and now it’s an item with magic. Is that it?”

It’s clearly a situation spiraling out of control.

After muttering, ‘Can’t we just leave Hastin be?’ while swallowing the words along with saliva, Devourer slapped Patrick on the shoulder. It was a gesture with a meaning like ‘I don’t know what it is, but I find it bothersome, so handle it yourself.’

“Then we’ll go in the direction of persuading the humans, so you need to cooperate, Boss.”

The sound of Patrick’s jaw grinding echoed loudly within the plate mail. He must be feeling exhilaration at approaching the truth.

“How are we going to persuade them?”Devourer, with his face buried in the ground again, asked casually. Patrick, who had risen from his seat, tapped the area around the helmet’s temple with his finger.

“I’ve come up with a fantastic method for that, Boss.”

—

* * *

“Apologies for earlier. We have our own circumstances, and the situation forced us to act aggressively. We have no intention of causing harm to any of you now, so you can rest assured.”

─This is quite impressive.

Devourer, who had been sprawled in the corner, muttered silently to himself as he listened to Patrick’s speech.

Without even greasing his lips, how can he spin lies so smoothly? Could that be considered one of the virtues of a knight?

“We are Shadow Knights affiliated with the Imperial direct covert organization, ‘Roano’s Mist.'”

Ignoring Devourer’s peculiar gaze, Patrick continued, gathering those who were in relatively good physical condition.

Patrick was skilled at reading people. He knew how to appease individuals who harbored hostility almost like a living enemy.

First, appeal to them as non-enemies as much as possible. Emphasize that it’s not beneficial to treat them as foes, mention the Imperial name to imprint that confronting them won’t lead to anything good, and stress being public servants to ease their guard.

“Shadow Knights… you mean?”

“Yes. There’s no need to accept it too heavily. It hasn’t been widely known externally. Even within the Imperial, not many are aware.”

Adding a sense of suspicion for legitimacy.

“It’s natural that you don’t know.”

Acknowledging ignorance.

“So, it would be great if you could keep this fact under wraps as much as possible.”

Add specific actions to enhance trust.

Whether it’s direct lineage to the imperial family, the mention of covert operations, or shadows, sprinkle sentences with seasonings that evoke a sense of secrecy.

It didn’t take long for the atmosphere in the back alley, filled with hostility and caution, to soften.

─The overwhelming force displays a humble and gentle attitude, revealing their circumstances.

Considering they currently don’t have the upper hand to do anything to them even if they don’t believe, how would they behave in such a situation?

The choice was already predetermined. The animosity of the humans gradually shifted into curiosity.

“First, regarding the situation earlier, there was a clear order not to leave traces about those who caused friction. We weren’t angered because of stealing. It was an unavoidable situation.”

After a while, one of the humans who had been listening spoke up.

“… You mentioned following orders, but why did you come to Hastin?”

“We came to rescue Hastin.”

“To rescue… What do you mean?”

“Yes. It’s difficult to explain exactly why we came in detail, but we received a report from our superiors to investigate as it seems there’s a problem in Hastin. Currently, we are trying to understand the situation.”

Coming to rescue Hastin is the truth. After repeating it several times, Hastin is a crucial entity for the Primordial Core.

“The reason we are making this request, even while violating such orders, is…”

Patrick continued his well-spoken words, engaging in a conversation where truth and falsehood intermingled.

The humans seemed to be drawn into Patrick’s words as if they were under some kind of influence. Amidst them, only two individuals named Tott and Daechang maintained unwavering eyes.

Thinking that the persuasion was more or less complete, Patrick, after a moment of pause, declared:

“Simply put, our ‘Roano’s Mist’ needs your information. We need to quickly understand the situation and identify the cause so that we can provide smooth material support and relief efforts in Hastin. How about it? Would you like to join us in restoring peace to Hastin?”

If using them is a way to be together, then it is a method. From that perspective, this statement was not entirely false.

“I want to become your allies.”

The following words, however, were a perfect lie.

The blue glow flickered coldly. Despite tilting the head slightly outside the helmet, no light leaked out.

Of course, Once the job was done, he planned to kill them all.

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[Translator – Clara]

[Proofreader – Demon God]

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