Reason and emotion often come into conflict.
Knowing something with your head and truly feeling it in your heart are two separate matters.
The Black Knight was no exception.
‘…Is this young man really from the Spider Society?’
At first, he'd dismissed him.
Then he'd doubted him.
After that, regardless of the evidence, he'd simply refused to believe.
Because there was no possible way that some young bastard who made and sold noodles could belong to that ‘Spider Society.’
Even now, it was the same.
His mind already knew because he'd seen the proof.
His heart simply refused to follow.
“Sit….”
Only after witnessing the young man treat the mighty Count Hamuan like a child did the Black Knight finally realize.
‘Ahh.’
A shudder ran through him.
The natural way he spoke down to the Count.
The natural look in his eyes.
The air of someone who had stood above countless others and ruled over them as their superior.
No amateur could possibly imitate something like that merely by trying.
The Spider Society!
That young man truly belonged to the Spider Society!
‘I withdraw all suspicion toward Ermasa.’
He firmly resolved within himself.
‘From this moment on, Lord Ermasa and I are allies.’
At the same time, the expressions of two people subtly changed.
‘How dare that bastard?’
One was Makion, the Count's Director of Intelligence.
His entire face twisted into a scowl.
‘…Well now. This is becoming interesting.’
The other was a handsome attendant stationed there to pour wine for them.
He smiled.
EP5 ― Somehow, a Big Shot (2)
Anyone would be dumbfounded when faced with an absurd situation.
For a moment, silence spread through the chamber.
The powerful figures gathered there first began watching each other's reactions.
From the young man called Spider Society—
to the Count.
Then from the Count—
back to the young man.
Someone twitched as though about to speak.
To someone else, that felt like an opportunity slipping away.
“…How dare you!!”
The moment one man shouted as though having a fit, the Count's retainers began speaking one after another.
“What outrageous insolence!”
“Arrogant bastard!”
“Get your ass out of that seat at once!”
But Ermasa didn't listen.
He ignored them as though he couldn't even hear them and looked only at the Count.
One arm rested weakly beneath his chin.
His expression was steeped in boredom.
The people who had been shouting instead began to feel awkward.
Their gazes turned toward Count Hamuan.
“Sir.”
Hamuan smiled faintly.
His expression was gentle, yet overflowing with charisma.
“I defeated my brothers and became Count at an early age. I was so preoccupied with that alone that my learning of the wider world is rather lacking.”
Several people broke into cold sweat.
Hamuan had defeated 4 brothers.
He had been the youngest of 5 siblings and had become Count after killing all 4 of his elder brothers.
“No matter who sits in that chair, I find it frustrating that I cannot make heads or tails of who they are. So I shall ask. Who are you, sir?”
Everyone focused on Ermasa's answer.
He opened his mouth languidly.
“I am qualified to sit here. There is no cause for concern.”
“Are you truly from the Spider Society? I would like something a little more specific.”
“If I answered, is there anyone here who would understand what I said? If I put a lie into my mouth, is there anyone here capable of discerning it?”
“…….”
“Then what meaning is there in demanding an answer that none of you can distinguish as true or false?”
Several powerful figures bristled at those words.
“You bastard! Your insolence goes too far!”
“Are you mocking the great House of Count Hamuan?”
“Correct your attitude at once and show our lord proper respect!”
SHING!
One of them even drew the sword at his waist.
Ermasa didn't so much as react.
Hamuan stopped them.
“Sit down for now. This is no time for squabbling. Attendant, pour the tea.”
“Y-Yes, sir….”
Once the Count sat down, a handsome attendant filled the cups with tea.
In the meantime, the conference began.
“We are currently at a disadvantage.”
A magic-tool map unfolded.
“Count Eisenberg of the south is attacking the north with no fewer than 4 elite organizations and 3 Enemies of the State at the forefront. As a result, 72% of our territory has been lost.”
The northern and southern territories were divided into red and blue.
The red representing the south covered far more of the map.
“Our immediate problem is here.”
The adjutant pointed at a gorge on the map.
A narrow and dangerous passage between two steep mountains.
“This is the only supply route to Hakatan Fortress, but northern forces are currently surrounding this area…….”
The report continued.
“No. The chances of scouts discovering us there are….”
“This isn't some street brawl between gangsters. If our supply route is severed, we'll be finished in a pitched battle….”
“Ah, but if it's an urban area, we could send our Regional Public Enemy, ‘Butcher’….”
Various arguments were added one after another.
Meanwhile, several people glanced at Ermasa.
Ermasa studied the state of the war with a solemn expression.
He'd been silent for some time now.
As expected of the great Spider Society, was he devising some stratagem to overturn this disadvantage?
‘I'm fucked….’
He wasn't!
‘I don't understand a damn thing they're saying.’
The moment specialized military terminology began appearing, Samael became as mute as though he'd swallowed honey.
It didn't matter that he'd placed first in the open recruitment exam or earned full marks in the mock-warfare subject.
Knowledge in books and reality were different.
When it came to reading the complex flow of a real war and responding to it, there was no way he could compete with people who'd been doing this for years.
And if he got cocky and butted in, embarrassment would be the least of his problems.
‘I should just keep my mouth shut….’
Samael firmly resolved.
But naturally, no one in the conference room knew what he was thinking.
“Why does the Elder of the Spider Society have no opinion?”
A graying old man addressed Samael.
It was Makion, the Count's Director of Intelligence.
Naturally, everyone's gaze turned toward Ermasa.
“…About what?”
“We have been discussing tactics and engagements for quite some time. I merely wondered why you remain so silent.”
The old man, Director of Intelligence Makion, narrowed his eyes.
“You are sitting in too fine a seat to remain a mere spectator, are you not?”
If one wished to sit upon a throne, one had to bear the weight of the crown.
The same principle applied here.
If he'd taken the seat of honor, then he should fulfill the responsibilities that came with it.
That was what Makion was saying.
“I saw no reason to add anything.”
“And why is that?”
“…….”
Ermasa remained silent.
To Makion, that was an opportunity.
“What is the matter? You look as though you haven't understood a thing.”
“That is enough.”
The Black Knight frowned and cut in.
As though warning him not to become insolent.
“Then by all means, continue watching.”
Makion smiled and ended the provocation at an appropriate point.
‘A green brat like that, dealing in intelligence?’
He laughed inwardly.
The Spider Society.
The Spider Society….
That damned Spider Society!
It was an organization he'd heard countless stories about since his youth.
When Makion became the most highly regarded intelligence man in the County, ambition had stirred in him too.
Perhaps that famous Spider Society would call for him as well.
But the Spider Society never did.
‘How dare they ignore me?’
That was what he'd thought at first.
Later, his thinking changed.
‘Could it be that there is no such organization at all?’
There was no known method for joining the Spider Society.
And so Makion began doubting them.
Perhaps they were an organization with no actual substance?
After all, he was an old man with ears open in every direction.
He had spent his entire life gathering and compiling countless pieces of intelligence.
Yet no direct trace of the Spider Society had ever appeared.
Only when some extraordinary result was achieved would rumors emerge afterward claiming that it had been a decision of the Spider Society…….
But in that case, couldn't anyone simply attach the Spider Society's name to a fortunate result?
‘The Spider Society does not exist.’
That was Makion's conclusion.
‘The Spider Society is merely a mystery manufactured to preserve the Republic of Eden's authority.’
But Makion didn't know.
The qualification for entering the Spider Society—
was possessing enough intelligence-gathering ability to discover the qualification for entering the Spider Society.
In any case.
He'd heard that Ermasa had deciphered a cipher on the spot.
And supposedly, the result had been identical to their own decryption.
Dozens of elite intelligence officers had spent thousands of gold and stayed awake for several nights to crack that cipher.
And this bastard supposedly deciphered it while sitting there?
‘Ridiculous! I don't know what trick he used to fool that rigid Black Knight bastard, but….’
Makion intended to expose the man's true face and hold him accountable for daring to insult the Count.
And before long, his opportunity arrived.
“Would you take a look at this?”
Near the end of the conference, Makion produced an encoded document.
It was a coded document obtained during the recent fighting against the south, containing operational orders for an important figure on the southern side.
However—
‘No…. Adjutant Makion…?’
‘That document can't be decrypted….’
The other intelligence officers looked flustered when they saw it.
As with the previous cipher, their Intelligence Department had thrown itself at that document in an attempt to decipher it.
They had failed.
Why?
Because it was a document that could not be deciphered.
‘He's asking him to decrypt that?’
‘What an obvious test….’
Such things were called ‘decoy documents.’
An intelligence department had finite resources.
So one could make a meaningless document look important, feed it to the enemy, and waste the intelligence department's time and energy.
The intelligence officers present all knew that.
Yet every one of them remained silent.
“This document appears essential to operations against the southern left wing…. But we were utterly unable to decipher it. May we ask the Elder to decrypt it for us?”
Ermasa accepted the document.
Then he slowly examined it.
‘Got you, bastard.’
If he pretended to understand it, he was finished.
Because as a decoy document, it would remain impossible to decipher even after the war ended.
On the other hand, if he admitted he didn't know, he was finished as well.
That would prove his incompetence.
‘Now what can you possibly do?’
A smile appeared on Makion's lips.
Immediately afterward—
“…….”
Ermasa's pupils expanded.
The atmosphere flipped.
Beneath the hood.
Behind the glasses.
Only barely visible—
his eyes changed.
The boredom that had filled them moments before vanished.
Anger surged into his gaze.
The officers narrowed their eyes as they watched his face.
Even the Count did the same.
“Why are you….”
The Black Knight was about to ask the question on everyone's mind when—
“There is a spy among us.”
“Pardon?”
“This document contains classified intelligence concerning an operation to dismantle our leadership. The south has been preparing for this war for a very long time. It seems they planted people throughout the north long ago. There was even one close to the Count.”
“Close to the Count?”
What kind of absurd statement was that?
Everyone was flustered.
Only Count Hamuan remained calm as he asked,
“Who is it?”
Then Ermasa stood.
Leaning on his cane.
His low, penetrating gaze moved across the assembled officers.
Within that barely visible gaze beneath his hood—
someone thought they saw an illusion.
As though Ermasa's left pupil were expanding and contracting…….
At last—
Ermasa stared straight at one man.
“It is you.”
The man he pointed out—was Adjutant Makion.
“What!! What utter nonsense!!”
Makion sprang to his feet as though having a fit.
It was absurd.
So this was the conclusion that supposedly brilliant Spider Society bastard had come up with?
He was simply branding the man who opposed him as the enemy?
It was nothing more than the desperate flailing of a cornered rat!
Because Makion wasn't a spy!
“You bastard!! You dare suspect me, a man who has devoted more than 10 years to His Excellency the Count!? Absurd! Now reveal that loathsome fa—!”
Makion froze in the middle of his shouting.
The Black Knight had lunged forward in an instant and thrust his sword.
THUD―!
A heavy impact.
The sword pierced a skull.
Not Makion's.
It belonged to the Intelligence Department's Bureau Chief standing behind him.
“Ugh! Bureau Chief Hinten!”
“H-Hinten…!!”
The moment he turned around, old Makion collapsed into his chair.
A dagger was clutched in intelligence officer Hinten's hand.
There was blood on its tip.
And that blood……
had come from none other than the back of Makion's neck.
“…….”
As Makion faltered, unable to understand what had happened, he noticed something held in Hinten's left hand.
A square, glowing object.
That was…….
……a signal device?
Ermasa urgently shouted.
“His position!!”
He raised his cane and pointed at the spy, growling.
“What is his position!!”
He was completely different from the composed figure of moments before.
His voice was savagely rough.
The force of it left everyone both confused and startled.
Makion was the first to recover his composure.
Even with his hair turned white, he too was an old man who had walked battlefields.
He hurriedly answered.
“The G-Guard…! He is Captain of the Guard!”
Makion himself recoiled at the words he'd just spoken.
The man who commanded the shields closest to the Count—
was a traitor!
What did that mean?
Oh, no!
Ermasa looked out the window and shouted.
“Everyone!! Get under the table!! Now―!!”
Immediately afterward—
WHOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOSH――
Something enormous came flying in from beyond the window.
CRAAAAAAASH—!!
It smashed straight through the conference room.