SBTMK Chapter 6

Knights who had not received formal investiture had no names, and were called "test subjects" or "Ruels."

This mission to capture Flora had deployed not only full knights but Ruels as well. Of them, only three Ruels had survived—yet they felt no grief for their fallen comrades. One needed only to look at Ruel 84, who had hauled Flora onto his back and was smiling his broad, untroubled smile.

Their eyes held nothing but the glory that lay ahead.

They had captured Flora—the legendary one who had escaped from Meryn Castle—alive. An enormous reward would follow.

Induction into Cenkan's knighthood. Names—they would be granted names.

And—

'We can finally escape those terrible experiments…'

Ruel 88 and Ruel 90, following behind Ruel 84, appeared equally pleased.

"Stop. You there."

They had not gone far down the mountain when someone stepped into their path.

Expensive clothing, torn. A cloth bound around what appeared to be an injured thigh. And a face of extraordinary good looks.

"What is this?"

Ruel 84 lowered his voice and regarded the man with suspicion.

"Leave the woman."

The woman—did he mean Flora? He said it just like that, plainly, with that easy, wide smile on his face, and Ruel 84's anger spiked.

'What kind of crazy bastard is this?'

How exactly did he imagine he was going to get them to leave after everything it had taken to capture her? Was this a joke?

"Who the hell are you? Get lost."

"Now, now. Listen here. This is my land. Why are you trying to take something from my land without permission? I won't allow so much as a pebble to be removed. I'm telling you nicely—leave her."

The mountain's owner, apparently. It was beyond absurd.

"If you don't move, we'll kill you."

"And if you won't hand her over quietly, the same applies to you."

To the Ruels, the man looked like nothing more than an ant—the kind that would die without so much as a squeak if they stepped on it. His provocation warranted nothing but a contemptuous snort.

He was clearly a man of wealth. Killing him and taking his expensive belongings as souvenirs would do nicely enough as keepsakes.

"I'll grind you into the ground."

Ruel 84 flung Flora carelessly off his back and onto the ground. The man's expression went cold at the sight of it.

'Oh?'

Ruel 84 laughed.

"Ah, I can tell from your reaction. So you've been sleeping with this wench here, haven't you? She betrayed us, ran away, and this is what she ended up doing—warming a man's bed… Filthy woman."

At Ruel 84's provocation, the man's eyes grew steadily colder.

"Why are you chasing Flora?"

There was a weight in the lowered voice that was difficult to account for.

"So she gave you her name, did she. How much do you know about us?"

"Regrettably, nothing at all. Would you care to tell me directly? I have quite a few questions."

"Why waste breath on someone who's about to die? Save your mouth the trouble. Just be grateful you get to die at the hands of this future hero."

The Ruels drew their weapons. The man standing before them did not so much as shift into a defensive stance.

"Ugh!"

Arrogant—that was what Ruel 84 had been thinking, in that instant. Then came the faint cries, and the allies standing behind Ruel 84 crumpled to the ground.

"What?!"

He spun to check. Men had appeared from nowhere and were encircling them completely.

He had brought more people. There had been no sound, no trace—Ruel 84 hadn't sensed any of them.

'I underestimated him.'

Tension seized Ruel 84's eyes. He was still nothing more than an unnamed test subject, without a full knight's experience to draw on.

But he could feel in every part of his body that the people before him were not ordinary.

"Underhanded cowards!"

Ruel 84 spat the words, and the man let out a short, dry laugh.

"You bring dozens of men into someone else's territory just to capture one woman—and you want to speak of being underhanded."

"…"

"Tell me where you came from. I'll spare your life for that much."

The man's voice had dropped to something cold, and it sent a chill running down Ruel 84's spine. A pressure he couldn't name pressed over his whole body.

It was nothing like the man who had first stepped into their path. They had taken him for nothing more than a wealthy landowner. That assessment had been terribly wrong.

"Or how you crossed the magic barrier. Even that?"

Ruel 84 twisted his lips up into a sneer to cover the fear.

He kept his mouth shut. The man glanced toward the figures standing behind him.

Ruel 84 braced to fight the moment the attack came—and his legs gave out beneath him.

"…Ugh."

"You don't value your own life at all, do you. I'm growing increasingly curious about who is behind this."

Cough. The metallic taste of blood flooded his mouth as his vision blurred.

The attack had been so swift that Ruel 84 didn't even register he'd been struck until he was already crumpled on the ground, coughing blood.

He managed to raise his head at the last moment and look at the man.

Cold. An emotionless gaze in which not a trace of mercy could be found.

That was the last thing his eyes saw.

"Are you all right, Your Majesty?"

"I'm fine."

With Ruel 84 dead, Simen appeared to lose interest. He turned away and walked toward Flora, who lay collapsed and still. He lifted her into his arms.

"Your Majesty, allow me—!"

"It's fine. Erne, follow me alone. The rest of you—sweep the area for any others."

"Yes, Your Majesty."

"The anomalies that have been appearing in the barrier—these people may be the cause. Their expressions changed when I asked about it. Check whether any of them are carrying magical tools."

"Yes."

"I'd love to have them dissected, but I can hardly ask the mages to do it. Eden would be horrified, wouldn't he?"

At Simen's casually brutal remark, Erne, standing nearby, offered a look of quiet agreement.

Some specific face—the expression it would make—came to mind, and Simen smiled, small and brief.

"Once the search is complete, dispose of the bodies so that no one will find them. Unnecessary rumors would be inconvenient."

"Understood."

"And tell the idiots searching for me at the base of the mountain that I've gone ahead back to the palace."

Simen's gaze came to rest on Flora in his arms.

Her small face had eyes, nose, and lips gathered in it so prettily.

Her silver hair lay disheveled and tossed by the wind—and even so, to Simen's eyes, it gleamed as though it held stars within it.

What had happened to her, to leave her chased so relentlessly?

That she had not answered him had only made her more interesting to him.

"…Was it because of this woman."

An unidentified corpse. And the mysterious presences that had been crossing the magic barrier again and again.

The woman who had become their target.

'There's something here.'

At the hypothesis that clicked perfectly into place, Simen's expression grew a shade colder.

"WHY! There's still no news? WHY?"

Ayden paced circles inside the laboratory. He couldn't hold still for even a moment—tearing at his own hair, striking his own cheek.

"Flora! WHY!"

He gnawed his nails and paced the room endlessly, the portrait of a man coming apart—but time passed, and the news he was waiting for did not come.

'Just hold on a little longer. A little more. Just a little more…!'

Ayden suddenly broke into giggling laughter.

"Flora! You're mine. You're meant to come back. In the end."

He was calling Flora's name in a voice soaked through with madness when something went crack—something shattering.

Ayden's expression went entirely rigid as he turned to look at his desk.

"Im—impossible… No!"

All the knights and Ruels were dead.

"Why?"

The magical tool that had indicated whether his knights were alive lay shattered in pieces. Ayden struck his own cheek, unable to believe it.

This time had been perfect. He hadn't let emotion cloud him; he had known exactly where she was hiding, and he had still prepared the capture with care. He had sent more knights than usual, precisely for this reason—

Had he still underestimated her after all?

Ayden was sinking into his chair with despair written across his face when the door opened without a knock. Ayden's mood was already thoroughly foul, and he decided then that whoever had walked in needed to die—he took the small knife from his desk in hand.

"Oh? Planning to kill me?"

The first thing his eyes caught was clothing that left a pair of well-built arms openly on display. Then red hair. Sharp, cutting eyes. A long scar running down one cheek.

The knife slipped from Ayden's fingers. He drew in a sharp breath.

Skin bronzed as though by the sun—and against it, pale brown eyes that seemed strangely out of place.

As a child, Ayden had thought they looked like the eyes of a predator.

"Ayden."

The overwhelming pressure that emanated from that massive frame had always made Ayden submit. Then, as a child, and now.

From the very first moment he had ever seen him, Ayden had recognized this man as someone he must blindly obey. That hadn't changed.

The single being to whom Ayden—called the mad dog—submitted.

Laviu Obelia. King of Cenkan.

Ayden threw himself flat on the floor.

"…Your Highness."

"Rise. Ayden."

At Laviu's command, Ayden rose hesitantly. Laviu stepped forward until he was standing very close.

With a height and build that exceeded Ayden's by at least two handspans, a shadow fell down across Ayden's face.

"Were you just trying to kill me?"

"How could I… dare… Your Highness…"

"I've heard that dogs sometimes scratch their owners."

Laviu seized Ayden by the throat where he stood, powerless.

The neck that filled one hand looked as though it could be snapped with barely any pressure at all.

"Flora?"

"Ugh—I, I am doing my utmost to find her."

An unsatisfactory answer.

Laviu gritted his teeth and shoved Ayden without mercy.

Bang. Ayden's back struck the edge of the desk, and a small, involuntary groan escaped him.

"This is not doing your utmost. If you had done your utmost, Flora would be here right now. Wouldn't she?"

Laviu's voice was calm. The anger threaded through it made Ayden afraid.

Ayden nodded vigorously.

"Ayden. There is nothing you cannot do. I never faulted you for killing like a madman, and I placed wealth equal to my own into the hands of a wretched creature who was starving to death. What was the reason?"

'Because I am a loyal dog. And because I am Cenkan's greatest alchemist.'

He had heard it until the words were embedded in his bones. Now they felt tattooed on his brain.

Ayden murmured it in a voice that barely reached the air. Laviu patted his head as though he had done well.

"Flora is just as precious an asset to Cenkan as you are, Ayden. You understand this well."

"…Yes. Your Highness."

"Don't disappoint me further. Ayden."

Realizing Laviu's voice had softened, Ayden nodded with trembling lips. He straightened his skewed glasses and looked up at Laviu.

Tears had gathered in Ayden's eyes without him noticing.

It looked exactly like a dog desperate for its owner's praise.

"I trust you'll manage it. Bring Flora back."

"…"

"Let's meet next time with good news."

Laviu cupped Ayden's chin lightly in his hand, released it, and smiled—faint and unhurried. At that smile, the tears pooling in Ayden's eyes fell.