Until now, I'd never had to face a knight. Red Lotus was a group of fallen ones, and though some of them could turn into knights, I hadn't seen a thing because of my fight with Dersia. I knew they were strong, and I had even seen Linmel's ability to make her movements disappear mid-motion, but...
Now that we were playing this human game of chess in the same space, filled to the brim with hostility, I knew for sure. We weren't the same kind of human.
"What in the world is this..."
I frowned, repeatedly losing and regaining sight of Hyeon-cheong's movements. For every one hallway I passed through, that man walked through twenty. He wasn't even running.
He would take a single step and disappear, only to arrive in the next hallway. It was a method of movement that could only be called teleportation. Naturally, at this rate, he would find me in under a minute, even while searching thoroughly.
Then he would threaten me to open the workshop. I ran, creating indirect interference.
Clatter!
Anticipating Hyeon-cheong's path, I knocked over all the flowerpots decorating the windows in the vicinity.
[Huh? Why did the flowerpots fall...?]
[What a mess! Hurry up and sweep it!]
Maids who had heard the shattering sound rushed over with brooms and dustpans and began to sweep up the glass shards and soil. As they were mopping, Hyeon-cheong arrived at the scene. The maids, seeing the Divine Punishment Knight, turned pale and bowed their heads repeatedly.
[We-we're sorry!]
[It is fine. Did you knock them over?]
[Well, when we arrived...]
[Hmm.]
Hyeon-cheong glanced down the hall for a moment, then turned around.
[Ah, weren't you planning on passing through?]
[I was. Until a moment ago.]
Hyeon-cheong gave up on the space beyond the flowerpots without a second thought. To put it simply, I had lost the psychological battle. Of course, I hadn't thought the fallen flowerpots would stop him; I had essentially advertised, 'I'm here.
I knocked over all the flowerpots because I was running in a hurry.' But upon seeing it, he had judged it to be fabricated evidence. To be precise, he thought I wasn't foolish enough to leave something like that behind.
Recognition from an enemy is a pleasant thing. I, too, acknowledged Hyeon-cheong and locked the door of a room far away from him. -Click.
[... Hmm.]
A room.
I locked the keyhole of a small drawer inside a storeroom several meters away. Of course, a normal person wouldn't be able to hear it. Not even if their ear was pressed right against the door.
But Hyeon-cheong stopped in his tracks, turned back to that exact room, and opened the door. Then he took a key from his pocket and opened the drawer. Naturally, nothing came out of the drawer.
Hyeon-cheong exited the room without any change in expression. The time spent was only a few seconds, not very significant. So now, I would make it significant. -Click. -Click. -Click.
[...]
I turned the handles of all the rooms around Hyeon-cheong simultaneously. This time, I could clearly see Hyeon-cheong's brow slowly furrowing. It felt a bit too obvious, but at this close range, it was something even 1-Star magic could accomplish.
He couldn't put me on trial with this as evidence. While Hyeon-cheong was opening every room one by one with a key, I arrived at the annex where the maids were. It seemed to be a dormitory exclusively for them.
"Pant, pant..."
I thought I had built up enough stamina during my training with Dersia, but running while performing such precise control was enough to make me want to vomit. I leaned against the wall, breathing raggedly, then roughly pushed my hair back and opened the door to enter.
"Yes, that's right. The princess has been lately..."
"Really? Is it true?"
"I'm telling you, it's true."
I already knew from my Tide Sense, but befitting the Imperial Palace, the welfare for the maids seemed quite good, creating a relaxed atmosphere. When I confidently opened the door, no one even looked this way. But after a few steps, their eyes naturally gathered on me, as a boy was in a space meant only for women.
"... Oh my, what's this? A boy came in?"
"Is he a son of a noble you know?"
"No. I don't know anyone like him among the young masters I know..."
Most of them seemed more curious than wary. I had entered a forbidden area for men, but they didn't seem to consider a boy barely over ten years old as a man. I thought for a moment, then just went for it.
"I've come looking for my mother."
"Huh, your mother...?"
"What... is this about?"
"Is your mother here?"
In an instant, the maids' expressions turned serious. For women who spent nearly their entire lives entangled with nobles, a child of unknown identity usually meant one thing. Of course, pointing someone out directly here would mean the end of a maid's career.
I spoke as gently and indirectly as I could.
"I heard there is someone here who knows my mother. I would like to speak with them."
I raised a finger and pointed to one person. The maids parted like a wave. I looked at her bewildered expression and murmured.
"Ms. Arillen."
"What..."
"Could we have a more detailed conversation?"
I calmly met her gaze. To be honest, she didn't resemble them at all. If not for the shared name and the fact that she limped, I would never have known.
But the fact that I knew was what mattered.
"I'm asking for a favor."
I bowed my head politely and threatened her. It was a literal threat. By saying this much, she must have known that I knew the whole story.
She knew better than I did what would happen if she refused, what would occur if the fact that a maid was having an affair with a noble was revealed. Even with my head bowed, I could scan her face with Tide Sense.
She maintained a surprisingly calm expression, but she couldn't hide the pounding of her heart that had just begun.
"... I, I understand. I don't know what this is about, but if it's something I know, I'll cooperate. But right now-" "Now."
"Pardon...?"
"Right now, you must come with me and hear my explanation."
I murmured, clenching my teeth. Hyeon-cheong had already opened all the rooms I'd set up, and my condition was extremely poor. This was the extent of my Tide Sense after taking two pills.
Without them, my brain might have melted. It also meant that I should never use the Deep Sea's power without the pills from now on. It was a disgusting thought, but the medicine from Red Lotus had been a great help.
I hope these aren't some kind of human pills made by killing children. Hoping they weren't, I stared at Arillen, and she flinched and nodded.
"O-okay. Then to my room..."
"That won't do either."
I shook my head again. If we talked here, Hyeon-cheong would surely find us.
"You'll have to come with me to a place where we can have a nice, quiet chat. I will guide you."
"No, child. That's not possible."
The maids who had been listening nearby tried to stop me with incredulous expressions.
"We don't know what's going on, but Arillen has a bad leg..."
"I know."
Snap.
I snapped my fingers. Stars appeared in my eyes, and the chair Arillen was sitting on floated into the air.
"We'll go like this."
"...!"
Magic, the proof of blue blood. The maids instantly moved away from me. At the same time, they looked at Arillen with fearful eyes, as if they had realized what she had done.
I was in a hurry to leave when one maid cautiously approached and knelt.
"What is it?"
"Y-young master..."
It was the title I hated hearing the most in the world. As I stood there with a slightly sulky expression, she trembled but pleaded for mercy.
"Wh-what do you plan to do with... Arillen?"
Her eyes held a hint of determination. Since I was short on time, I answered vaguely.
"This woman had an affair with my dad and gave birth to a child, and now she's saying she wants to register the child on the family record, so I'm not here to kill her."
"I just have some questions I genuinely want to ask. Please don't misunderstand."
"... Pardon?"
"It may be hard to believe, but it's the truth. Once I've heard what I need to hear, I'll put her in a carriage and send her back carefully, so please don't worry unnecessarily."
"This person has absolutely no connection to any nobles. In the first place, I'm not a noble either."
At this point, I had done all I could. Carrying Arillen, I passed the slightly dazed maids, left the dormitory, and asked bluntly.
"Is there a back door or something?"
"Ah, yes..."
Looks like I won't have to climb the wall. As I left the Imperial Palace through the back door Arillen showed me, the snow-covered capital immediately came into view. A boy mage with a floating chair was bound to attract attention, so I immediately ducked into an alleyway.
After that, I ran without rest.
"W-wait...!"
"Keep your mouth shut, you'll bite your tongue."
Turn, turn, and turn again. It probably wouldn't be much help, but I occasionally left dummy footprints, trying my best to erase my tracks. Only when I reached the very end of an alleyway—a corner with nowhere else to go—did I stop and lower the chair.
I met the gaze of Arillen, who was nervously gripping the armrests of the chair so tightly that her veins were showing, as I carved into the adjacent wall with wind.
"Sorry it's not a cafe with a nice atmosphere."
"... Earlier, you said you wouldn't kill me."
Arillen was breathing heavily, but she was definitely glaring at me. I had no intention of dragging this out either.
"Greg, Ren. Do you know these names?"
"...!"
I didn't even need to check her heartbeat with Tide Sense to know. That's how clearly the change in her emotions showed on her face. It was as good as a confession, so I kept my explanation to a minimum.
"It seems you know. Then do you also know where those children are and what they are doing now?"
"I don't know."
Arillen shook her head as if she had no idea.
"And, if it's about that, you've made a mistake."
"What do you mean?"
"I have no relationship with those children."
"Hmm."
I looked at Arillen. Her expression wasn't exactly defiant, but she seemed confident in her words. Was she this type of person?
"I don't know who hired you, but please send me back. I have nothing more to say."
"Is that so? The orphanage records say otherwise."
Arillen's expression hardened slightly.
Just slightly.
Her face turned displeased again as she retorted.
"Yes, I did some volunteer work at the orphanage. But is that a crime? I didn't just help those children. In the first place, no matter how much you dig..."
Watching her make excuses, I conceded.
"Hearing you say it, that does make sense."
"... You should know—what?"
My nod made her expression turn strange.
"I made a mistake. It's a bit much to connect you to them just because you volunteered at an orphanage."
"Ah, yes."
"I apologize for the trouble. I will send you back now."
"...??"
I wasn't just saying it. I truly judged that there was no other way but to take her back and tell Ren I was sorry for not being able to find her. But not even thirty seconds after I started walking, Arillen, who was being carried behind me, spoke up.
"E-excuse me~" "Yes. Do you have a question?"
"Well, um, I really have no connection to them, but since we were at the same orphanage... I do know them, you see?"
"I suppose so."
"So, um... I wanted to ask why you're looking for those children."
"They both fell. Greg was crushed to death by the burden while trying to help his sister escape from a knight, and Ren will soon burn to death from the world."
"... What???"
Arillen shrieked in a much higher tone.
"W-wait a minute. What are you saying? Is this some kind of cruel joke?"
"It is not. Those children received a terrible gift because one of their parents was a mage. They became mages."
"...!"
"And they faced many difficulties growing up in the orphanage."
"Unlike the other children who held onto the meaningless yet firm hope that their parents would one day come for them, perhaps it was because that hope was trampled before their very eyes... Yes. Both of them fell."
I said, turning around. Arillen's eyes were trembling ceaselessly.
"... Where are the children—no, where is Ren now?"
"I have no reason to tell you."
"W-why!"
"You're not related, are you?"
"Ugh...! That's..."
As Arillen bit her lip, I replied coldly.
"And even if you were related, I wouldn't want to let you meet. Isn't it better to not be rejected, at least in the end?"
"... I'm not... related."
"Yes. I know."
It was the expected answer. I had no intention of denying that her own safety was more important than that of a child on the verge of death. As I walked on, respecting that, Arillen added.
"It's true. You probably... think I'm their mother, right?"
"That's what I heard."
"I'm not. This, I can say with all my heart."
"...?"
Arillen swallowed dryly and looked at me pleadingly.
"They are not children I birthed from my own womb, but I know who their real mother is."
I met her gaze for a moment before asking.
"Who is it?"
"Kadlen. A maid, like me."
"Then where is she? Can I meet her if I go back to the Imperial Palace now?"
"No." Arillen lowered her head with a sad expression.
"She died a long time ago."
"... Pardon?"
"It was a tragic end. She wasn't satisfied with a one-night stand; she truly believed they loved each other."
"Even when told that the best possible future was being assassinated by that noble's wife, she was a foolish woman who was fired from her position as a maid to give birth to those two."
Arillen, who had begun her confession, didn't seem to be lying. So, if that was true, "You're really not their mother?"
"Yes. A truly, foolish woman..."
Greg and Ren had made a huge misunderstanding. Arillen, still with her head down, continued to speak. Transparent tears dripped onto her skirt.
"Kadlen was my closest friend. At first, we became close for the trivial reason that our names were similar, but after that, we became so close that such things didn't matter."
"I helped her a lot, thinking it would be hard for a woman to survive alone after giving birth. But Kadlen, far from taking care of the children, only went to see that noble."
"Was she murdered?"
"I wish that had been the case. That man was neither vicious enough to kill the woman who bore his children, nor was he bold enough to take her in."
"He was a small, small man. He refused her, and refused her again, until he made Kadlen choose to end her own life."
"I couldn't choose. How was I supposed to treat the children who were a mix of the blood of that hateful man and my beloved friend...?"
"Is that why you sent them to the orphanage?"
"Yes. I tried to forget them, but I found myself visiting. Every time I saw the father's face, every time I saw the mother's face, I didn't know what to do. Then, finally, I made a decision-" Arillen, with a trembling hand, lifted the pendant she was wearing and broke it open.
Inside was a faded document.
"I received it that night. If I had just signed this, I would have become those children's mother. But, Greg misheard and-" "Hmm."
I could guess the rest of the story without hearing it. I looked at the weeping Arillen and muttered.
"Honestly, I'm not sure if you have the right to hate that noble."
"... What did you say?"
She raised her head. A clear anger was present in her reddened eyes. Like I care, I thought, scoffing as I replied.
"Neither vicious enough to kill the woman who bore his children, nor bold enough to take her in. Isn't that what you're saying about yourself?"
"Pardon...?"
"Hate them as the children of the enemy who killed your friend, or love them as the last proof of your beloved friend. If you had just chosen one, those two would never have fallen."
"... Wh-what do you mean by that?"
"The heart-realm breaking isn't something that happens easily. Even Red Lotus, who take breaking arms and legs as a given, find it difficult."
Why did Wihwa make his targets dream happy dreams? To create a fall. Not to drag them from the ground to the underground, but to drop them from the sky to the ground.
"Because you loved them, you made them think of you as their mother, regardless of who their real mother was, and they rose to the heavens."
"Because they found out you weren't their real mother, they realized they had been abandoned twice, and they fell to the earth."
"... I-I had no intention of—" "Yes, you probably didn't know they were mages."
"You probably only recently heard about the fallen ones and their conditions. So frankly, you've done little wrong. It was bad luck. You can let it go as just that. But~" I asked, carving into the surrounding stone wall.
"Can you really let it go like that?"
Arillen, who had been about to say something, hung her head low and mumbled through her tears.
"... I want to see them."
"And do what when you see them?"
"A-apologize..."
I frowned at the sight of Arillen clenching her teeth. Naive, unable to even understand her own emotions properly. Personally, regardless of good or evil, she was the type I disliked.
But what could I do? The client wishes it.
Click.
I inserted a key into the newly created door.
"This is-" "Do as you please from here on."
I glanced at Arillen tentatively reaching for the door, then turned my head away. It would be a lie to say I wasn't curious about their reunion, but this was not the time to be concerned with such things.
"Hoo..."
It's not working, as expected. Sensing a certain knight who had seen through all my decoys and was approaching in a straight line, I managed a weary smile. A knight who kills mages.
A Divine Punishment Knight who kills such knights. An elite among them, a talent chosen to hunt down the dangerous ones known as the fallen. It was necessary to confirm the skill level of such a potential enemy.
"Shall we give it a go~" It's terrifyingly dangerous, but I have to enter a Deep Fusion state.
Even then, victory is not guaranteed against this opponent. Just as I was thinking that.
"You foolish little brat, what do you think you're doing?"
"...!"
Thump.
A hand touched the nape of my neck. Goosebumps instantly broke out all over my body. My Tide Sense was spread out as sensitively as possible.
But even now, with this unknown assailant's hand on my neck, I couldn't feel anything. Within my Tide Sense, there was nothing behind me. In the only situation where my senses had ever preceded my Tide Sense, I couldn't even breathe.
Then, the hand began to knead my shoulder roughly.
"Ack, aack."
"So tense. Why is a little runt like you so scared of everything?"
"... B-Brimdal?"
I looked up at the tall dwarf with a dumbfounded expression. It wasn't an unknown assailant. ... Just an assailant.