CH 53

Chapter 53: Shining Knight (11)

I leaned back and hit the door with all my weight.

-Bang!

The door burst open easily, seemingly because of its poor quality.

“Ugh!!”

A man standing right behind the door was tangled in the fragments of the broken wooden door and fell with a painful moan.

Removing my eyes from the fallen man, I quickly look inside the room.

There were about 10 people… most of them holding their breath at my appearance.

I decided I had come to the right place. Otherwise, they wouldn’t have had to hold their breath, and there wouldn’t have been a need for all these people to gather.

Several men shook the surprise they felt at my sudden appearance and began to pull out thire weapons. 

Just as I was about to stop them by warning them, a large man spoke before me.

“Don’t pull out your swords!”

Even my grip that was holding the handle of the sword lost some strength. 

Fortunately, the person who appeared to be the leader seemed to have some sense.

“Don’t pull out your sword.”

He repeated his words once more, calming his subordinates who were about to get ready for a fight.

As everyone calmed down, the large man walked up to me and asked;

“…without knowing, I will not be able to recognize the Sir. Who are you?”

With his posture lowered, he asked carefully.

He certainly seemed to have the ability and the brain to lead an organization.

“My name is Cayden Pryster.”

At the word 'Pryster', everyone present was startled. And a confused murmur flowed out of their mouth.

“Quiet!”

After calming down his men again, he lowered his posture and bowed his head.

“…So, you're a Pryster.”

“……”

“By the way…why is Sir visiting us in this way…?”

“What is your name?”

“….Yes? Ah… I’m sorry. My name is Miles. Again, I forgot to introduce this because I'm not well-learned. I apologize.”

“Okay. So Miles. You really don’t know why I came here.”

“…..”

“Are you sure?”

“…I know why Sir came.”

Miles agreed immediately and lowered his stance again. Certainly, it was a moment when I realized that he was a person with whom I could talk rationally.

“…Great. Then, it would end fast. Miles, you’re making the right choice. Don’t hesitate. Tell me what I want to know. I don't give many chances.”

“…..Yes?”

“The people you are monitoring... Spit it out.”

Maybe, it was all just a misunderstanding… I wanted to confirm before reaching a conclusion.

“…Daisy Hexter and a woman named Ewin.”

“…..”

I knew it already… But when I actually got it confirmed with my own ears, my rage soared; a wave of anger like a hot flame burned in my heart.

I wanted to hold everyone in this place accountable… but I knew it was not as easy as I thought. They were only monitoring, and they didn’t commit any wrongdoing that would cost them their lives. Also, if it was something they were forced to do after receiving an order, I was hesitant to touch them even more. If we were going to do it, we’d have to attack those who gave orders, not those who obeyed them.

“…I’m really sorry.”

Miles apologized, seeing my frosty expression.

At his apology, I nodded my head. 

To calm my anger. I took a deep breath and asked an important question.

“…who ordered it?”

“……”

My question seemed to make the already quiet room even quieter. No one moved, no one breathed loudly, and no one even rolled their eyes recklessly.

As the room got quieter, I started to hear my heartbeat clearly.

It may seem like it was because of the nervousness I felt on entering this crime den alone, but instead, it was because of Asena; I wanted to believe her, but my brain kept whispering nonsense.

If Asena ordered it, what should I do? It seemed that my eyes were getting dark. Maybe it was also because of that reason that I thought of an idea to come all the way here.

I didn’t entrust Smith to the guard or ask Asena, but I came to inquire directly from those who received orders. Because that way, I could find the answer to my filthy suspicion of not trusting my younger sister without anyone finding out.

“……”

Even Miles was not ready to answer this question. He looked at me, then he turned to his subordinates.

“Sir Cayden… to backstab my superiors in front of everyone… especially in front of my subordinates…”

“You still don’t understand how precarious of a situation you are in.”

“……”

His gaze met mine. For a while our wills fought, Miles averted his eyes first. But the mouth did not open easily.

I raised my hand.

“…was it Asena?”

“….Yes?”

“I mean, did Asena Pryster order it?”

“……”

Miles looked at me and blinked. I thought he was surprised that I knew more information than I thought.

Then he opened his mouth as if he had made a decision.

-…Thump…Thump…

My heartbeat only grew louder.

'Please don’t be her.' 

I wished I was just trash who doubted his younger sister.

“………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………… Okay…I shouldn’t have known about this in the first place…but my superior told me to keep in mind that it’s not Asena-sama’s order and do things carefully…”

“…Whew…”

As if taking off heavy armor, I had the illusion that I could hear the unpleasant sensations pressing on my chest vanishing all at once.

My breath was light and my face heated up.

For a moment, my head lowered and shoulders relaxed; Tension was released from my very being.

After all, Asena did not do it. She had still not gone so far where she couldn't be redeemed.

Miles began to make excuses on his own, as he saw my actions.

“…that…but for us, it was a command from our superior. Please understand that we had no choice but to follow.”

“……”

“Maybe we went our own way. But…but…”

“Isn’t that Sharon Payne’s order?”

“…that… yes. You know already.”

“Is Payne…recklessly monitoring Prysters?”

As the wave of relief passed, an unpleasant feeling arose. The mental stress I had to go through because of Sharon wasn’t the only issue.

“Cay...I wasn’t directly monitoring Cayden-sama! Because Asena-sama has recently been thinking about Ewin and Daisy Hexter-”

"Even if it wasn’t me, you were monitoring my surroundings. And even if Asena has both Daisy and Ewin in mind, didn't Sharon start monitoring them on her own? Without any orders."

“……you’re right.”

I was concerned that Asena had Ewin in mind, but it wasn’t to the point of being a problem; wouldn't she be curious about finding out about my orphan sister through Keirsey?

It shouldn’t be a problem just because she cared. It was more of a problem to spy on me and to dig up information.

I felt like I had to talk to Shalon Payne. In such cases, actions should be taken accordingly.

“…Yes. Okay. At this point, I've asked all the questions I had. Thank you for answering.”

“….No. It was something I had to do.”

“Haah. So, that’s what happened then… From now on, don’t even go to the academy.”

“…..Yes?”

“I don’t feel comfortable with you all around. All rats must leave the academy.”

“…Sir, that’s too…!”

“Miles. I’ve warned you many times. Do you want to know for yourself how precarious of a situation you are in?”

I put my hand on the handle of the sword and said.

Miles looked at my hand gestures, then relaxed and slowed down. Very slowly, he raised his eyes and looked at me.

It was a provocative look. If I threatened him with force, there was a sense of refusal to obey. 

“What are those eyes, Miles?”

“…Cayden, more than half of our organization works at the academy. If I tell them to leave, how will they live?”

“It’s not my job. Then, did you think that I would leave you guys to influence my surroundings? I cannot tolerate you even stepping into my realm.”

“…you seem to be following Pryster's ideologies well.”

“…because it’s our motto.”

It wasn’t just Miles but everyone's mood changed when I said they had to leave the academy. Perhaps because the people working at the academy were present in this room as well.

So they too gradually began to change the atmosphere.

“…we just followed the orders of Sharon Payne.”

“And that Sharon Payne obeys Pryster's orders.”

“…are you here alone?”

“….What?”

In an instant, Miles began to examine me. 

But why?

Even if they were reckless, they wouldn’t attack me. They should've known the consequences all too well.

But even if they attacked me, that didn’t mean there was no chance of winning.

About…there were about 10 men. But on my side I was alone. In one-to-many fights, some barriers were difficult to overcome with skills.

So I started to sharpen my nerves. I came to have a conversation, but I was prepared for this situation too. I'd assumed that it could be very dangerous.

Raising the thumb of the hand holding the scabbard, I gently pulled out the sword a little. A blue ray scattered as it emerged.

Cold air hovered around us. 

Miles looked at me and seemed to be pondering something.

“…Miles, I'll let this disrespect slide for once; bring out the ledger, and as I have ordered, tell all the bastards in the academy to leave.”

“……”

Miles looked at me for a while, then closed his eyes and sighed.

“…..All right. There you… bring the ledger.”

He eventually took a step back. 

I didn’t know what thoughts were going through his head, but his choice prevented a lot of blood from flowing.

At that instant, my thoughts were broken as the sound of a cat’s cry resounded.

– Whoa…

At that sound, everyone's nerves hardened and silence followed.

As it became so quiet, the cat’s cry resounded again.

– Aww…

It was a sound coming from the depths of the room, from another door. The sound grew louder and clearer. I could see Miles biting his lips from the back.

– Aww…!

The more I listened, the more my doubts grew.

This wasn’t a cat’s cry…it was a girl’s cry.

Miles repeated his words as he pointed to a man.

“..hmm… there you! Bring the ledger!”

“Miles.”

I called him.

His eyes glanced at me once, and his expression became increasingly distorted.

“Eh… you’ve already made up your mind. Pull out the weapons!!”

He was right. The moment I heard the girl's cry, I'd already made up my mind.

– Shreung!

In a single motion, the half-pulled sword swiftly came out of the scabbard.