I held my pounding head.
As my thoughts scattered around, I had arrived at the imperial palace before I realized.
After showing my knight badge and entrusting my horse to the guard, I headed to the Diamond Knight commander’s office, guided by an attendant.
‘As expected, knights belonging to a more important faction are definitely treated differently no matter what.’
The facility for the Diamond Knights, not only has a huge building but also an outdoor training ground for training.
When I arrived at the Commander’s office on the third floor, I was further impressed. I felt like I was standing at the entrance to the Chairman’s office that I saw in some dramas in my past life.
‘And here I have to share the same desk as other members, let alone having my own office as the Captain.’
Seeing all the extravagant decorations around, I felt a little melancholy about my situation. Although I was the head of a knight order, I had no benefits other than receiving a small allowance.
Grumbling to myself, I somehow managed my facial expression before knocking on the Commander’s office.
After all, whether I was in a bad mood or not, I couldn’t show a dissatisfied expression to my boss.
As I slowly knocked on the door of the Commander’s office, a deep male voice reverberated through the door.
“Who is it?”
“This is Clara Weyburn, Captain of the Ruby Knights.”
“Oh, it’s Sir Clara. Please wait a moment.”
Perhaps there was a guest, I could hear the sound of Geloic, the Commander of both the Diamond Knights and General Knights, sending his guest to the VIP room next door.
I thought he would ask me to come back later because of the guest, but unexpectedly, Commander Geloic let me in right away.
“Pardon my intrusion.”
“Welcome.”
Commander Geloic was a man in his mid-50s with a strict-looking appearance.
Although we both held the title ‘Captain’, he was not someone I could compete with on the same level.
[T/N: ‘단장’ means both Captain and Commander. However, I will be using Captain for Clara to indicate her lower authority.]
He was a man of great standing who started out as a commoner knight and earned the title of Count on his own.
Since he was in charge of all the knights there, his authority was equivalent to a distant superior.
“It’s been a while. Isn’t this the first time you came here since you became the Captain?”
“Yes. I apologize for not being able to visit you often, Chief Commander.”
Although that was what I said, I wasn’t the least bit apologetic. Thinking about the times when I had been working under this man, I was so relieved after being appointed as the Captain of the Ruby Knights because I would not see his face often.
“Oh, yes. I was very disappointed.”
“…I, I apologize.”
What? Could it be that you threw the Heilbroner bomb in our direction because I didn’t show up to greet you?
“If you don’t sharpen your swordsmanship every once in a while, it will turn rusty. Please visit whenever you have time.”
“…Yes.”
Although outwardly I showed an obedient expression, inwardly, I cursed. For your information, Commander Geloic is my swordsmanship teacher… It’s surprising, but anyway, when I still wasn’t appointed as the Captain of the Ruby Knights, he would sometimes look at my sword skills.
Could it be he didn’t know he was accumulating resentment towards him instead of respect because he didn’t know how to treat his students and came off as harsh to me?
‘I don’t believe I have been that kind of good disciple who likes to be rolled around…’
I shed tears inside as I heard Commander Geloic once again directing his private lessons.
“Moreover, the appearance of Heilbroner isn’t something that just emerged. For that purpose, I would like to help you with your swordsmanship.”
‘I want to live without that help, just chasing after drunk people…’
“…yes. Thank you for always taking care of me.”
“That’s because you’re the disciple I care a lot about.”
‘Is that so…?’
I got to the point with bleary eyes.
“However, this is an official letter saying that we are receiving work related to Heilbroner….”
“Oh, yes. You must be here to know about Heilbroner-related information sent by the Security Forces.”
“Yes.”
“It was gathered by a subordinate knight. He should be at the training grounds now. You can stop by and know the information in detail later.”
“All right.”
“Well, good luck with that. I wish you the best of luck.”
“….”
‘Wait, that’s it?’
According to the original storyline, the assignment of catching the Phantom Thief that should have been handled by the Diamond Knights. However, it was assigned to our knights.
I still couldn’t comprehend the reason as to why it was different from the original storyline. However, looking at the situation, I could roughly guess the reason.
‘I guess they want us to check the water before letting the elite Diamond Knights take over the job!’
First, the Ruby Knights would follow Heilbroner and collect information.
I guessed the intention was to get the information from the Ruby Knights then transfer the baton over to the Diamond Knights and then proudly arrest Heilbroner.
Until then, it might have been their intention to shift the pointing fingers of the citizens to our knights for being incompetent.
With this strategy, it was like taking over a nuclear mine job where you’re gonna profit even if you don’t do anything.
Taking on this task would inevitably increase the overall workload for the Ruby Knights.
Even if we couldn’t apprehend him, we would have to pretend to chase him until the official letter of stopping the chase was sent.
Not to mention, I would also have to handle countless paperwork before and after the incident.
Just imagining it was already making my head spin. However, there was a method to accommodate the increased workload, wasn’t there?
Lowering the quivering corners of my mouth, I spoke kindly for the first time in a while.
“Um, Chief Commander.”
“Do you have any questions?”
“I think this is a very important task for our knights.”
“Yes, I guess so.”
“Then, since that’s the case… Wouldn’t it be difficult to hire more manpower with a low budget to fulfil the task?”
“… hmm. It would. I didn’t think of that.”
‘Think about that first!’
“As you know, the number of members of our knights has been reduced from the originally 7 to 4 including the Administrator..…”
“Right….”
Commander Geloic stroked his chin and nodded before replying half-heartedly.
“I’ll think about it.”
“….”
‘This guy is really….’
In such an occupation, saying ‘I’ll think about it’ is equivalent to ‘It’s not worth considering.’
In other words, he was indirectly commanding me that you must take care of everything on your own without any additional budget or manpower.
As if he could read my silent anguish from my expression, he asked me again.
“Was…Would the pressure be a bit too much? If it seems difficult to you, I might consider handing it over to the Emerald Knights.”
“….”
Although he said he would transfer the case over to the Emerald Knights, would they accept this unless they are crazy?
Eventually, after hanging the case here and there for a while, he would settle the matter to the Ruby Knights again, under the direct authority of the imperial family.
‘Oi Mr., this is a bomb that I will have to deal with anyway, so it would be better to just accept it obediently.’
It was better to graciously accept it now than to be forced later for turning it down.
I knew that if I got picked on by that nasty fellow, I would end up in a situation I would dislike very much.
If I accept the task graciously now, they may supplement me with extra manpower or budget later for accepting it without a fuss.
‘Yes, although he’s mean and insensitive, let’s at least score some points for now.’
Reaching to a conclusion, I quickly announced, raising my voice a little.
“No, Chief Commander Geloic! I promise to do my best if you leave the task to me!”
“…Huu, is that so?”
“Yep! I have always regarded Heilbroner, the nasty criminal who disturbs the peace of the citizens, as a thorn in my eyes! Shouldn’t we put a leash on that guy and set an example to the citizens that the laws of the Leuke Empire are strict?”
“Oh-hoo….”
Commander Geloic applauded my eloquent speech with a moved face.
“Really, I’ve found the right person to deal with the job. I’m sure the higher-ups will be glad to hear it.”
“No, please don’t overpraise me. I will do my best, even if it is not enough.”
“Hmm, okay. It’s good you’re motivated. Since you will be seeing each other often from now on, it would be nice to greet the guest here now before leaving.”
“Greet the guest?”
“Yes. You can meet the guest in the VIP room next door for a while… Follow me.”
Nodding my head obediently, I got up, and followed him to the VIP room.
However…
As soon as I faced the nobleman who was looking at me with a mocking smile, my whole body froze.
“Now, say hello. The Young Duke, Ludger Kassen.”
“….”
The nasty criminal who disturbs the peace of citizens.
The guy who needs to be put on a leash and set an example.
The person, whom I had just cursed with my heated eloquence, was sitting elegantly on the sofa in the VIP room.
‘Wh…Why are you here!?’
I barely held back from screaming that.
As I remained frozen, Commander Geloic misunderstood the reason for my unresponsive attitude and began to tease me with laughter.
“Haha. Our Young Duke has an outstanding appearance. Could it be you’re so excited to meet him that you’ve frozen from shock, Sir Clara?”
‘Isn’t that it?!’
But how can you complain about what your boss and heavenly teacher says? I rather bowed my head and apologized.
“I-I apologize. I will correct my behaviors.”
“It’s okay. Rather than that, it’s better to greet each other.”
I swallowed my dry saliva and turned to Ludger again.
“…Pleasure to meet you. My name is Clara Weyburn, Captain of the Ruby Knights.”
“Pleasure is all mine. I’m Ludger Kassen.”
After shaking hands lightly, I swallowed the admiration that was about to leak.
‘…He is truly damn handsome.’
The neatly combed silver hair looked as if it had been crafted with moonlight.
The sharp bridge of the nose that looks like it was cut from diamond. Not to mention his light green eyes, which were as pretty as spring buds.
‘After all, he has to be handsome enough to be the sub-male lead.’
I’ve seen his face a few times in newspapers, but I thought the photos didn’t fully represent the real person.
However, it wasn’t his face which was the problem.
‘He caught me swearing at him in public that’s also in broad daylight. Won’t he come for revenge later?’
Moreover, the fact that I would be in charge of chasing Heilbroner has also been revealed to him, hasn’t it?
Agonizing if I would be held accountable, I couldn’t help but worry about the things that were more important.
“Duke Kassen is working at the imperial palace. The imperial relics and cultural treasures are also under the jurisdiction of the Young Duke.”
‘I know. I read it in the original.’
“That insolent Heilbroner has been tinkering with the imperial treasures recently. Therefore, you must report things to the Young Duke more often because of this.”
“…Yeah. We will be seeing each other often from now on.”
When I nodded again with bleak eyes, Ludger, who was staring at me with a faint smile as if measuring me, opened his mouth.
“It seems like Sir has a very strong antipathy toward Heilbroner. May I know if there is any specific reason?”
“….”
