An inexplicable sense of guilt crept over me, but I pushed it aside. After all, a knight who wields a sword cannot possibly wear a ring.
After wrapping the ring in a handkerchief, I placed it in a box where I kept my accessories and closed the drawer. In that moment, it felt as though I had finally removed all the remnants of unreality from my space.
Now, it was time to immerse myself in the real world.
* * *
A few days later.
On my way to work in the morning, I received a call from the Duke of Kassen’s residence. They informed me that the draft contract had been completed, and asked me to review it and sign it at my convenience.
‘Would today be okay?’
After all, there wasn’t anything major to deal with nowadays, and I had already cleared most of the backlog of work with overtime yesterday, so I had some free time today.
Soon, the season for work collaboration regarding the Lunar New Year would be upon us… but for now, there were no issues. I replied that I would visit the Duke’s residence this evening and went to work without giving it much thought.
However…
As soon as I entered the small office, Lan burst in, rushing towards me, with her pale face.
“Captain!”
“What is it, Sir Lan?”
“Huff… a warning letter has arrived from Heilbronner.”
“Oh, is that all?”
Since I had heard from Ludger that a warning letter would be coming, I didn’t think much of it at first.
However, after hearing Lan’s next words, I knew my days of relaxing had vanished.
“But… it says Heilbronner is predicting a terrorist attack!”
“… What?”
“Here, look……”
She handed me a copy of the warning letter. Today, Lan had arrived at work early, intending to check some things in advance.
However, as soon as she arrived, she received an urgent call from the Knights Templar, telling her to collect this warning letter from city hall. She had just returned from there.
‘…. The warning letter didn’t come directly to our knights’ office?’
Something felt off. I skimmed through the copy of the warning letter Lan handed to me.
[April 9th, 10 PM.
I will destroy the Silver Magnolia Branch at the Lunar New Year Festival.]
A chill ran down my spine.
The Silver Magnolia Branch.
It was the very sacred artifact that I was desperately trying to protect in order to prevent the bad ending route of the original story. And now, the thief Heilbronner had declared his intention to destroy it.
“The Silver Magnolia Branch… is that it?”
“Yes. The city hall is linking the contents of the letter to…. the recent demonic creature appearance incident.”
“Yeah, that makes sense. If he’s aiming to touch the Silver Magnolia Branch, it would lead to that….”
The Lunar New Year Festival was the main celebration of the capital, Melshas City. It signified the end of winter and the arrival of spring, bringing vitality back to the world, and welcoming the new spring.
The Silver Magnolia Branch was also a symbolic item representing the Lunar New Year Festival, a sculpture made of silver modeled after a magnolia branch with blossoms.
Of course, it was a sacred artifact, but generally, this wasn’t widely known. To most, it was simply regarded as an ancient relic.
However, the problem was that around two hundred years ago, this relic had been the centerpiece of a major calamity.
A criminal, seeking to destroy the Silver Magnolia Branch, symbolizing the prosperity of the Royal Family, had plotted to harm the Emperor who was attending the festival.
This criminal was a mage, who summoned demonic creatures into the capital to ruin the event.
And among the demonic creatures he lured into the capital was Orthros… the two-headed serpent lion that I had recently defeated.
Fortunately, at the time, the knights managed to prevent the Silver Magnolia Branch from being destroyed, and the culprit ended up taking his own life after being cornered, bringing the incident to a close.
The problem lay in the present.
The ominous message about wanting to destroy the Silver Magnolia Branch, coupled with the recent appearance of Orthros.
Anyone with knowledge of history would fear another terrorist attack.
Even as I calculated the details in my head, confusion clouded my mind.
‘Why would Ludger do this….?’
It was only recently that Ludger had told me he would be sending a warning letter. He had also confirmed that the letter would be regarding a significant matter.
There was no clear evidence to disprove the idea that…. this terrorist attack could indeed be Ludger’s doing.
But…
‘He promised me.’
“I hope that belief of yours….. wouldn’t change in the future. Please don’t use your abilities for evil.”
“I promise I wouldn’t. You don’t have to worry. Ever.”
I knew it better. He was the villain. A person I couldn’t fully trust. That’s why I had been cautious all along.
Ludger might have deceived me with sweet words, and in reality, he might have been scheming to carry out this enormous act of terrorism.
Yet, a part of me still wanted to believe.
This letter wasn’t about terrorism….
There had to be some other ‘purpose’ behind it.
If not…..
Could it be a case of unfortunate timing or impersonation?
My faith and doubt regarding Ludger clashed within me.
But, regardless of which it was, what I needed to do was clear.
“Has there been any instructions for our order? Any countermeasure meetings?”
“The Mayor is in disarray because of the sudden terror threat. She’s ordered us to wait for further contact after the higher-level discussions.”
“… I see.”
I bit my lip. Before figuring out Ludger’s true intentions, it seemed like my first concern should be whether our order could handle this crisis properly.
What was initially a simple warning of theft had now escalated into a full-blown terrorist threat.
* * *
The city hall was in chaos, as if a bomb had been dropped, stirring up a hornet’s nest.
The Lunar New Year Festival was an event that had been held smoothly every year, and preparations had been going just fine.
Although there had been a disturbance recently due to the incident of a demonic creature’s appearance, it had passed without any casualties, and the external repercussions were contained.
Afterward, a thorough inspection of the capital showed no further trace of demonic creatures.
At first, there were concerns about further crimes due to the hypothesis that it might have been the work of a sorcerer, but as no evidence surfaced, the tension quickly died down.
The social gathering was held near the underground waterways, so the consensus was that the demonic creature had likely come from there and had fled since then.
In such a situation, the sudden intrusion of the thief Heilbronner was a major blow to the city hall, which was responsible for the event. It was a hard hit to their plans.
“Ha… just what I needed in my final years as mayor.”
A middle-aged woman with sharp features and graying hair leaned back in her chair and let out a long sigh.
Her name was Angela, the Mayor of Melshas.
Melshas City was the capital of the Leuke Empire and directly governed by the Royal Family. Unlike territories ruled by nobles with fiefs, it had a different nature and required its own administrative system to be established.
However, the Royal Family held a noble position overseeing the entire empire.
Thus, Melshas City established an administrative system centered around a Mayor appointed by the Royal Family, with the city hall handling its governance.
The position of the Mayor of Melshas City, passed down through generations, was considered relatively high-ranking, but in reality, it was more of a ceremonial role for a noble who was close to retirement.
Mayor Angela’s simple dream was to finish her term this year and retire to live a carefree life.
But then came the unexpected terror threat.
The Vice Minister of the Imperial Household, who had rushed to the city hall upon receiving the news, comforted her while still saying what needed to be said.
“You must be incredibly stressed, Mayor. The Royal Family shares your concerns.”
“…..”
“We plan to respond by ensuring that members of the Royal Family are not exposed at the event during the festival. However, we cannot cancel a historic festival like this.”
“…Right, I believe that’s the correct decision.”
“What’s more important, though, is what will happen with the civilian casualties. It would be fortunate if Heilbronner just destroys the Silver Magnolia Branch and disappears, but….”
Angela casted a glance towards Gustav, the head of the Sapphire Knights.
The Sapphire Knights, in place of the disorganized Diamond Knights, was in charge of the overall security for this year’s Lunar New Year Festival, which was why their representative, Gustav, was attending the meeting.
True to his trustworthy appearance, Gustav wore a serious expression and slowly began to speak.
“The recent appearance of the demonic creature, Orthros, is highly likely to be connected to this incident. This is clearly an act of terrorism and an attempt to overthrow the state.”
“I agree with the Vice Captain’s opinion. It seems that Heilbronner, whom we had thought of as just a petty criminal, has finally revealed his true nature!”
One of the elders attending the meeting grumbled and nodded in agreement with Gustav’s opinion.
The meeting room quickly buzzed with condemnation of Heilbronner, who had pretended to be a knight of justice all this time.
“Silence.”
Mayor Angela silenced the room with a commanding voice. Then, she turned to Geloic, the Commander of Knight Templar, and asked,
“So, what are the security measures?”
“We plan to control the civilians attending the festival as much as possible and work closely with the Sapphire Knights to establish a system. Additionally… since Heilbronner is involved in this, I intend to discuss the areas of responsibility with the Ruby Knights, who are in charge of this….”
At that moment, Gustav raised his hand. Angela nodded and gave him permission to speak.
“With all due respect, the Ruby Knights are under-equipped to handle this situation. Thief Heilbronner has surpassed the realm of petty crime.”
“…True.”
“In such a situation, I have doubts about whether the Ruby Knights, with their limited manpower, will be able to handle the task.”
