Chapter 33

The day after the Sealed Knights arrived in the capital city of Alta, Shu and Iris were walking down the main street. Since Alta is basically a tourist destination, there’s plenty to see just by walking around. For example, there are stalls like food stands, terraced cafes, and street performers to be found.

"It smells delicious."

"That’s the smell of the skewers we had last time. The spicy sauce was really good."

"Let’s get some!"

"Sure."

Shu headed towards the stall. Iris naturally linked arms with Shu and walked with him to the stall. When they reached the stall, the owner greeted them cheerfully.

"Welcome!"

"Two meat skewers."

"Sure thing. Twenty Magi."

"Here you go."

Shu handed over the bill, and in return, received the skewers. They left the stall, and on the way, Shu threw one of the skewers into Iris’s mouth.

"Mmm!?"

"Ah, it’s still as delicious as ever."

"That’s mean!"

"Isn’t it delicious?"

"Of course, it’s ten times more delicious! I got to eat it!"

Iris chewed happily, looking very content.

"Still... it seems the Holy Knights are around."

"Yes."

"One behind us. Don’t turn around."

Shu, with a skewer in his mouth, used his magic sense to lock onto the Holy Knight. Then, he released his right hand from the skewer and began to clench it as if crushing something. He closed his palm quickly.

"‘Death’"

He felt someone fall behind him.

"Ah! Ah! What’s happening! What’s happening!?"

"The Holy Knight has fallen! Quick, get help!"

"Is there no mage? It’s a dark mage!"

Such cries came from behind him. However, Shu glanced back and continued walking down the main street.

◆◆◆

The main street during the day. Celster arrived at the spot where a Holy Knight had suddenly collapsed. One of his subordinates from the Sealed Knights had been killed. The expression on his face was very bitter.

"This is the fifth one..."

"Deputy Leader."

"Yes, I know. Let’s give him a proper funeral."

Celster covered the dead subordinate with a white cloth. On the day he spoke with Shu, four of his subordinates were killed. And today, it was the fifth.

"Leader... it’s definitely that person. We should kill him immediately!"

"Is there any evidence of a spell being used?"

"Not even a trace of magic."

"Even a trace of magic?"

"Yes."

Shu’s death magic steals energy as magic power, leaving no trace of magic. This puzzled Celster.

"No trace of magic... what could this mean..."

He suspected that Shu might be the Dark King, who is even more powerful than imagined. The ability to kill someone without leaving a trace of magic is unbelievable.

It is already known that the Dark King can instantly kill someone with magic. When the Dark King Arklight appeared to execute the witch Iris, he instantly killed the Holy Knights. This information has been relayed to the Holy Kingdom of Grinia, where the power of the Dark King is well understood.

From this information, Celster was convinced that Shu was the Dark King Arklight.

The ability to instantly kill someone is not something that just anyone has.

"I can’t stand it anymore, Leader!"

"I understand. I want to attack Shu as well. But are you planning to fight in the middle of the city?"

"Well, that’s..."

"They have the advantage from the start. They know we can’t attack them in the city, so they walk around boldly. And they kill my subordinates without a care."

Celster spoke with regret.

Even if they were to attack, they would need to lure them to a different location. They would also need to present evidence and evacuate the residents to secure an attack site.

This was what Celster had in mind.

"We need to launch that plan as soon as possible."

"Yes, we are preparing."

"How are the other dark organizations?"

"They have been lying low, but with the suspicious deaths of four Holy Knights, they are showing signs of becoming more active. And with today’s incident... it’s getting even more..."

"Where should we pay particular attention?"

"Red Claw. They have a lot of magical armor users, so there might be direct casualties. And a little bit with Fire Grass."

The dark organization Red Claw.

It has assassins and many illegal magical armor users. The senators of the Republic of Elise often request assassinations from Red Claw. Incidentally, the dark organization Fire Grass is also an organization skilled in assassinations and has a bad relationship with Red Claw.

Red Claw had been holding back on assassination requests due to the arrival of the Sealed Knights, but with the suspicious deaths of four Holy Knights, they are regaining their activity.

In other words, assassinations are about to become rampant.

"Perfect. Do you understand the procedure? I’m counting on you."

"Understood."

The deputy leader bowed deeply with a meaningful smile.

◆◆◆

The capital city of Alta in the Republic of Elise. A large building on the main street is the headquarters of the dark organization Red Claw. Despite being a dark organization, it is not located in a slum. As a large organization, it has roots in Elise under the guise of a trading company.

"Hey, look at all these requests piling up?"

The man who said this and threw the documents he was holding had long, messy hair, was tall and thin, and had bloodshot eyes.

"Well, the troublesome Holy Knights were around, so the requests were held back... it can’t be helped, right?"

"Shut up... don’t be scared of those guys."

"No, I am scared. They are S-rank magical armor users. Those Holy Knights."

"What?"

"Isn’t it scary? Boss."

The man with the messy hair was the boss of Red Claw.

The man sitting at the desk, doing paperwork, was his assistant. He looked like a young boy with a healthy complexion, but he was not that young. Otherwise, he wouldn’t be able to be the assistant to the boss of a major dark organization like Red Claw.

"Thanks to me running the organization, the boss can act freely. You should be grateful."

"Shut up. I’m at the top of Red Claw, and I’m satisfied as long as I can kill. I don’t want to take on the hassle."

"That’s just a failure—"

"Did you say something?"

"No, the boss is the best."

"Hahaha! Right?"

The boss of Red Claw laughed crudely.

Just then, a knock was heard, and the door opened, and a man entered the room.

"Excuse me, Boss is here, right?"

"What? You? Did you bring a request?"

"Well, in a way, yes."

"What’s with that vague answer? Show it."

The man who entered handed the request to the boss. Despite his rough appearance, the boss could read the text clearly. After reading it, he smiled savagely.

"Interesting... this is good. The best."

"I thought the boss would say that."

The man shrugged.

Then he asked.

"What are we going to do?"

"We’ll handle it well. This is a chance. It would be crazy to let it go."

The boss threw the request to the assistant, who was doing paperwork. It flew through the air and landed neatly on the desk. The assistant picked it up and started reading.

"Hmm, what’s this?"

The assistant frowned as he read the request.

Because it was not a request for Red Claw.

"Is this a mistake? This is a request for Fire Grass."

"Ah, but it’s a chance, right? Normally, information about requests to dark organizations doesn’t go to other organizations. It’s confidential."

"Yes. If we act on it, we can deal a devastating blow to Fire Grass. Given the nature of the request."

The assistant placed the request on the desk and asked the man who brought it.

"Where did you get this information?"

"The intelligence officer worked hard. I don’t know the details of the intelligence methods. They have special connections and techniques that they don’t even reveal to their comrades."

"Should we verify it just in case?"

"Ah, I’ve already done that. That’s why I brought it."

"Great job."

The request on the desk read:

"Request to assassinate Holy Knights during a large-scale monster extermination mission."

The Holy Knights were going to perform a monster extermination demonstration outside of Alta, and the request was to assassinate them during this mission. The client was likely a senator connected to a dark organization, but the details were not specified.

With the suspicious deaths of Holy Knights in broad daylight, public distrust of the Holy Knights was spreading. To counter this, they were going to take on a monster extermination mission.

According to the information, Celster Altrain would not be participating in this mission.

It was a perfect opportunity.

For the senators who considered the Holy Knights a hindrance to eliminating dark organizations. And for Fire Grass, who wanted to kill Holy Knights and gain a reputation in the underworld.

"Boss, give us orders."

"Sure, we’ll interfere with their mission. The glory of destroying the Holy Knights will be ours! And we’ll deal a fatal blow to Fire Grass."

The boss smiled arrogantly.

◆◆◆

At the same time, a meeting was being held in a bar slightly off the main street of Alta. The room was specially soundproofed and had perfect countermeasures against eavesdropping.

Four people were gathered around a round table. In front of them were glasses filled with very expensive alcohol.

"Look at this. What do you think?"

"Is it a trap?"

"It’s been verified. Besides, it’s a chance."

The prepared documents contained very interesting information.

"The Holy Knights are planning a large-scale monster extermination mission around Alta. Fire Grass is planning to assassinate them. Red Claw is planning to interfere with Fire Grass’s mission and gain the reputation of eliminating the Holy Knights. Isn’t this good information?"

"Red Claw won’t expect us to interfere further."

"This is a win for us, the Lotus Flower..."

They smiled suspiciously.

Three of them turned to the fourth, waiting for his words.

"Hehehe... As the boss of the Lotus Flower, I order you to interfere with their mission. We have a large share in the drug trade, but this will allow us to enter the assassination market. Let’s do it!"

The four of them clinked their glasses in a toast to their bright future.