Fortunately, I'd kept quiet even when I was alone.
Ever since becoming conscious of Parthenon being in the room next door, I'd even rested quietly.
I hadn't said anything that could've been picked up by the listening device.
‘That's really fortunate, but….’
My thoughts branched out in several directions.
I realized many things from the expressions and postures of the 4 knights.
First, the 2 in front of me had lowered their stances, their hands lingering near their waists.
So they could draw their swords easily.
By contrast, the 2 beside the Count stood relaxed.
At that moment, an invisible line formed.
A line separating those who knew the Count's intentions from those who didn't.
“Elder?”
Hamuan called me again.
“Count Hamuan. Lend me Knight Kalipto for a moment.”
The knight beside the Count snapped to attention in surprise.
He was one of the knights who didn't know the Count's intentions.
“There was a gift I intended to give the Count after my address. I forgot to retrieve it.”
The Count thought briefly before answering.
“Is there really any need for you to go personally? That place is dangerous now. We can simply send Kalipto alone.”
He didn't want to let me go.
I'd have to persuade him.
“It is important. I must go personally. I ask this of you.”
I didn't speak at length.
“…Very well. But Kalipto alone leaves me uneasy about your protection. I shall have Knight Badrei accompany you.”
But the Count didn't back down easily either.
He attached one knight who knew his intentions.
“I shall escort you.”
The man named Badrei moved right up beside me.
Escaping was now impossible.
As I headed toward the military parade grounds with the 2 knights, I thought.
When did he begin envying me?
When I sat in the seat of honor at our first meeting?
When more and more people began seeking me instead of the Count?
Or perhaps….
‘No. The reason doesn't matter. What matters is finding a way to escape….’
…I couldn't think of one.
Just now, the Count had looked down at my ankle.
Only for a moment.
But he'd clearly acknowledged it.
The fact that I was someone incapable of running away.
“We must hurry. There isn't much time.”
When I slowed down, the Count's knight Badrei urged me on.
“Is your life what's at stake?”
“Pardon? No.”
“Then why are you rushing me?”
Badrei lowered his head tensely.
“My apologies. I was thoughtlessly impatient.”
For now, reprimanding Badrei bought me a little more time.
Time to think.
And after thinking for quite a while, I lowered my head, concealed my face beneath my hood, and bit my lip.
Damn it.
There was nothing I could do on my own initiative…….
That was when it happened.
“There you are, Elder. I was worried when I saw you were no longer in your seat.”
Parthenon found me inside the military parade grounds.
My eyes widened.
It was still too early to despair.
“You're late, Black Knight. What happened to your horse?”
“Someone appears to have cut its reins and attacked it. Apparently, they did not realize my horse, ‘Black Sun,’ is a trained warhorse (軍馬).”
“Then?”
“Judging by the blood on its hooves, whoever tried that little trick seems to have been kicked by its hind legs…. I calmed it down for now.”
The horse was fine!
I saw a tiny spark of hope.
The only escape route I had left was Parthenon.
His true intentions were suspicious in their own way.
But regardless of that suspicion, there was no doubt that his guiding principle was ‘protecting me.’
“Parthenon.”
“Yes.”
“…….”
As I opened my mouth, I thought.
There were 2 problems I needed to solve.
Somehow, I needed to get away from the Count.
I had to watch what I said. The Count was still listening to me. The moment he realized I'd discovered the listening device, he would act without considering the consequences.
“Someone at this military parade is targeting me.”
“Someone is targeting you, Elder? Who dares?”
“I don't know yet. It isn't an individual, but an organization. I suspect this isn't simply one person's deviation.”
While speaking, I lifted my head slightly beneath the hood and moved my eyes toward the left.
“…There must be someone who ordered it. Beyond that, my wisdom fails me.”
With my gaze, I indicated the Count's knight Badrei.
From an angle Badrei himself couldn't see.
“…….”
About 2 seconds of silence passed.
I prayed inwardly.
Please let Parthenon understand.
Please.
But without even looking in that direction, Parthenon tilted his head and asked me,
“Even you do not know who is targeting you, Elder?”
“Regrettably, I have no idea.”
“Understood. Whoever they are, they're arrogant bastards. To dare target you in the heart of the north's celebration…. I shall be even more vigilant.”
Then he strode over and placed himself in front of me, showing me his back.
Ah, damn it.
I completely despaired inside.
Apparently, Parthenon, my only hope, hadn't understood my signal.
What the hell is wrong with you?
You were so quick on the uptake when you were trying to fuck me over!
“First, I shall escort you to the carriage, Elder.”
That was when Badrei cut in.
“Wait, Black Knight. We are currently on our way to retrieve a gift the Elder prepared.”
“That is why I said we should go.”
Huh?
Something about the Black Knight's words was slightly strange.
Before long, we left the military parade grounds and turned into a narrow alley.
Then the Black Knight asked Badrei,
“By the way, Badrei.”
“What?”
“You never liked me very much, did you?”
Badrei frowned.
“What are you talking about?”
“Why, you once insulted me by saying that a man who betrayed one master could surely betray a second. At His Excellency the Count's birthday celebration. You said it straight to my face. I was so offended that I ended up punching you.”
Badrei's face twisted sharply.
“Black Knight. Can you not distinguish public matters from private ones? What are you talking about in front of the Elder?!”
“Ahh, regrettable. But if not now, I may never get another chance to offer my apple-ogies.”
“Apology? What the fuck are you—”
Parthenon took something from his pocket and tossed it backward toward Badrei.
In a gentle arc.
Easy to catch.
A red fruit.
An apple.
“What the hell is thi—”
Badrei frowned, but still raised his head and lifted a hand to catch it.
The longsword 「Black Moon」 swept across Badrei's neck.
SLASH―!
Parthenon had spun around and ambushed him.
A lightning-fast strike.
Half his neck was carved open.
“……!!”
Immediately afterward, fragments of Magical Power scattered from Parthenon's entire body.
It meant he'd just used an ability to perform that surprise attack!
Even so, Badrei didn't die immediately.
He dropped to his knees, clutching his neck.
Blood poured through the gaps between his fingers.
“P-Parthenon! Badrei!!”
Knight Kalipto, who had followed us, recoiled in horror.
Parthenon looked down at the kneeling Badrei and spoke.
“You were right.”
“The first betrayal is the hard one.”
Then he raised his beloved sword, 「Black Moon」, high.
“The second―”
CRUNCH!
***
Count Hamuan was a murderer.
He committed his first murder at around 12 years old.
His victim was the younger of his elder brothers, who was always taking his toys.
He was a nasty bastard.
Whenever Hamuan bought a toy, his brother always coveted it.
At first, he'd ask to borrow it several times.
Later, he'd simply borrow things and stop giving them back.
Hamuan protested, but he was weaker and always ended up being beaten.
The previous Count had 5 sons and 6 daughters and had no interest in children's quarrels.
Something black began piling up inside young Hamuan's heart.
Then, in the spring when he was 12, something happened.
A transforming dinosaur toy Hamuan had purchased with 2 years of saved allowance was stolen.
The next day, his elder brother was showing off an identical toy to the children of several knights.
Feeling wronged, Hamuan asked him.
Wasn't that mine?
The answer was a hand across his cheek.
SMACK!
“Does every toy in the world belong to you?”
His brother said.
Hamuan didn't cry.
He needed revenge.
When his brother was alone.
But his brother was always surrounded by people, so getting him alone wasn't easy.
Then Hamuan thought—
call him somewhere privately.
‘Brother. I'm sorry for always talking back to you….’
‘I prepared a present for you.’
‘Would you come over here?’
He called his brother to the top of a staircase, charged him with his whole body, and pushed.
His brother tumbled down.
His head struck an edge.
Without even screaming, he began bleeding heavily.
Young Hamuan panicked and approached him.
He hadn't meant to go that far.
“Call Father.”
That was what his brother said.
Hamuan nodded.
Then he thought.
‘…….’
But wait.
Did he really need to call Father?
‘…….’
Why?
If his brother survived, he'd only steal his things again.
‘…….’
So Hamuan crouched beside his brother and watched him.
He watched the twitching hand.
I watched the blood spread.
I watched the breathing slowly fade.
And so his brother died.
After slipping on the stairs all by himself.
Several days later, something astonishing happened to Hamuan.
‘This was the playroom your brother used. Now it all belongs to you.’
Eliminating a competitor brought a reward.
Count Hamuan's magic-powered van.
He was sitting there blankly remembering the past when—
“……?”
The Count's relaxed expression suddenly hardened.
“Everyone, get into the carriage.”
He called to the knights standing outside.
“The carriage, Your Excellency?”
“Get in! Now! Parthenon has betrayed me!”
“……!!”
The 4 knights entered the van in shock.
The Count's face normally held a placid smile.
Now it was savage like a starving beast.
“What is the matter, Your Excellency? Betrayed you?”
“Exactly as I said. That bastard betrayed me and killed Badrei and Kalipto!”
Anger surged onto the knights' faces.
“I shall return to the military parade and find him myself.”
Rainbreaker, Knight Commander of the Blue Count, spoke.
He was a knight who had reached the ‘Realm of Limits,’ and in the eyes of the public, he was vastly stronger than the Black Knight.
He was also Hamuan's pride.
The strongest sword he possessed.
“No. You stay here too. They've already left the military parade grounds anyway.”
Information was pouring into the Count's ears in real time.
After listening, the Count shouted,
“Go to Heyday Plain! Follow the main road!”
“Yes!”
The driver started the van.
“Piece of vermin….”
Count Hamuan muttered with his entire face twisted.
“He dares betray his master yet again. This is why human bastards can never be fixed once they've gone rotten.”
“Parthenon betrayed Your Excellency?”
“How dare he…!”
“What exactly did he do?”
At the knights' questions, Hamuan sighed.
“He ran off with the Elder.”
“Why the hell would that bastard….”
Rainbreaker frowned as well.
Why?
Hamuan had an idea.
“Elder Ermasa. It seems that the Spider Society piece of vermin has become the Black Knight's new master.”
Yes.
The way Parthenon had been abnormally protective of him had bothered Hamuan from the beginning.
Still, he'd thought it was fine.
If they wanted to lick and suck each other inside the palm of his hand, what did it matter?
But then—
Count Hamuan clenched his jaw.
GRIND!
When he'd first obtained Ermasa, he'd been pleased.
At first, he'd wondered whether the man could truly be genuine.
Later, he'd been delighted to have gained such a valuable card.
But when Director of Intelligence Makion began struggling before him, Hamuan started feeling that something was going wrong.
‘Count, what kind of man is Elder Ermasa?’
‘Ahh, I envy you. To have obtained someone like Elder Ermasa.’
‘How fortunate you are, Count. Nothing but a smooth road remains ahead now that he is with you!’
Eventually, wherever he went, he no longer heard stories about himself.
He had commanded.
He had earned the victories.
Yet everyone's attention went only to Ermasa.
That was when the Count's eyes slowly began to turn.
It was being stolen from him.
All of his glory—
by Ermasa!
‘Damn it!’
Today, at the military parade, it had become unmistakable.
CLAP CLAP CLAP CLAP!
When Hamuan entered, the Northern Alliance merely applauded.
But when Ermasa appeared—
‘Ermasa! Ermasa!’
‘Ermasa! Ermasa!’
‘Ermasa! Ermasa!’
They had chanted his name like lunatics.
‘Damn it! Who was the one who recruited and deployed that bastard in the first place?!’
To be sure, Ermasa truly was a monster.
Several days earlier, Hamuan had given him a listening device in the hope of discovering some weakness.
Even that had yielded nothing.
What the hell did those Spider Society people think about in their daily lives?
The bastard barely said anything even when alone.
‘Damn it. What kind of bastard is he….’
Hamuan wanted him gone.
He couldn't let anyone else have him.
The greater Ermasa became, the more it proved that Hamuan himself was insignificant.
But he couldn't simply remove Ermasa either.
If he carelessly eliminated a man who had become this popular throughout the Alliance, there would inevitably be backlash.
‘That bastard Parthenon is irritating too.’
And even if Hamuan accepted the backlash, there was another problem.
Parthenon would desperately protect him.
Whatever he chose, he would only be cutting away his own flesh.
‘There has to be some way….’
Then a good plan occurred to him.
‘The military parade…!’
It was a truly marvelous plan.
If the problem was Ermasa dying while under Hamuan's control—then why not have him die in front of everyone?
Then Hamuan wouldn't be the one who killed him.
‘If he gives an address, he will probably be separated from Parthenon as well.’
One arrow was enough.
With a single arrow, that crippled bastard would die.
From what Hamuan had learned during their hunt together, crippled Ermasa was hopeless at physical activity.
All he needed to do was hire one sniper whose life was already ruined, have him kill Ermasa, and then kill himself.
‘After I shoot, you want me to shout, “For the glory of the South”?’
‘Please.’
‘Understood. Then please look after my family….’
‘Leave them to me.’
Up to that point, everything had gone smoothly.
Then the military parade began.
But suddenly, Ermasa seemed to notice something and started spouting nonsense about someone targeting him.
Hamuan wondered whether he'd been discovered.
But it was fine.
Hamuan was meticulous, and he'd prepared a second plan for exactly such a possibility.
‘It cannot be helped. Then if someone is targeting you, there is no reason to remain here any longer. Why not evacuate early?’
And so he tried to guide Ermasa into the new plan.
Then the situation overturned yet again.
And now—
“Drive faster! Hurry!”
“Yes!”
That was when a strange conversation began sounding inside his ear.
― Do you know why I abducted you, Ermasa?
The Count's eyes widened.
What did that mean?
The Black Knight had abducted him?
This was another new development.
And welcome news as well.
If Parthenon wasn't making Ermasa his new master, then the two would come into conflict.
Eliminating them would become easier.
Or so he thought.
Then the Black Knight scratched straight across the Count's insides with a single sentence.
― Because you are better than the Count.
The Count's expression froze.