98. joint investigation (2)

The knight recommended by Leon Benning was still covered in his helmet. Seeing him not even raising his visor, the commander of the escort knight who had been silent next to him spoke in a low voice as if threatening the knight.

“… How can I face His Majesty, but it is disrespectful not to show your face?”

The knight who stepped forward answered the words of the escort knight commander.

“God’s face is ugly, and I dare not reveal it to Your Majesty. I will gladly accept the punishment, so please forgive me.”

The voice that flowed through the slit of the helmet belonged to a beautiful woman. His voice roared in silence, confined to the helmet’s steel walls. The calm demeanor and the sudden flow of a woman’s voice made the commander of the escort knight’s expression unusually change. However, even so, the heart of the knight commander was not shaken. The commander of the escort knight listened in a lower voice, as if a wild beast was growling, arguing for the knight’s fault.

“Even if your face is ugly, it is disrespectful not to show it to His Majesty. Will you willingly expose your face in response to the penalty of impiety, or will you obediently take off the helmet with your own hands?”

The commander of the escort knights was ready to leave immediately. When the king let out a sigh and raised his right hand, the commander of the escort knights lost momentum and stepped back.

“Stop it, Hugo. Jim doesn’t want to talk about small problems when the big ones are right in front of him. What that knight looks like and what his name is are not so important right now.”

“Haona, Your Majesty… .”

“My knight has committed disrespect. Answer me like that. I apologize, Your Majesty.”

It was Count Benning who cut off his words in the middle. When the count appeared rather low-key, the commander of the escort knights frowned. The Count turned his head back and looked at his knight.

“Adeline, take off your helmet.”

The knight’s shoulders twitched. The count’s eyes continued to stare at the knight sharply and coolly. The knight could not overcome the count’s gaze and slowly raised his hand and took it to his own helmet.

Click.

When the helmet came off and the face of the knight named Adeline was revealed, the knights could not hide their surprised faces. The king raised his eyebrows, and the commander of the escort knights clicked his tongue slightly.

His long, straight hair down to his back was a very dark blue. It was the deepest color of the night sky before dawn, where traces of blue can be glimpsed if you look closely. The delicate lips and nose of the small face were visible. It was a face that couldn’t be called ugly at all, even with empty words, but there was another reason why the knights couldn’t hide their astonishment.

“… You are blind.”

His eyes were wrapped in a black cloth under his forehead. When Maxim looked at the eyes covered by the cloth, he realized why he hadn’t noticed the knight’s gaze. In the first place, since you can’t see, how can there be such a thing as a line of sight?

“It’s unfortunate that he’s blind, but how could he mobilize such a person to investigate the Mage Tower?”

Denis said next to Maxim.

“I don’t think that if you can’t see, your warrior’s skills will also decline. However, how would you mobilize the blind to entrust the mission of ‘investigation’? Please bring another knight.”

The Count raised an eyebrow.

“Instead of going blind, Adeline has a much better sense of mana than others. To the extent that it is much more helpful in the investigation of the Magic Tower than most people. Would you like to try it?”

“… no.”

It was the King’s side who would lose even if the dispute was prolonged. The time that could be spent on weakening Benning’s power cannot be wasted arguing like this.

“Good judgment, Sir Dennis.”

The Count seemed to be waiting for the King’s word to come next. The king was still looking at the knight Adeline and the count disapprovingly. chance. Only those words lingered in the King’s head.

“This is how the personnel of the special investigation personnel should be. My three knights and the count, one knight you recommended and two inspectors from the Ministry of Finance. The investigation team is led… , Count Benning, as you take charge.”

It was the count who voluntarily participated in the investigation in return for presenting the investigation of the Mage Tower and providing information about the corruption of the Mage Tower. The king lamented in his heart that he had to swallow it even though he knew it was poison.

“Yes. God thinks it’s good too.”

The king closed his eyes and tapped the armrest of his chair. A man dreaming of a usurper sits in front. They hid each other’s knives behind each other’s backs and tried to cut the ropes off the wooden bridge.

“Just don’t break up. Count, it’s fine to leave. The activities of the investigative team enable us to formulate an operational outline and act immediately tomorrow, as soon as the day dawns, and the problem with this is… .”

The king looked at the count with sharp eyes. The Count maintained a relaxed attitude and lowered his head.

“Yes, I will let God take care of it.”

At that time, Maxim could see that the Count’s gaze was flying towards him again. An overly blatant gaze to deliberately pretend not to notice. Maxim tried to shake off the ominous feeling that was creeping up on him.

“Let’s go, Adeline.”

The count bowed politely to the king and took his knights with a dignified attitude to Daejeon. The count’s presence moved away along the central hallway.

—

“Wouldn’t that be dangerous?”

“The Mage Tower was too messy this time.”

Leon Benning replied to the other knight of the family who had followed Adeline behind him. Those steps were heading towards the palace of the second prince. Adeline did not pay attention to the conversation between the count and the knight, but only followed them.

“I supported them with research expenses and tolerated whatever they did, but to dare to shake the center of the world is crossing the line.”

The article asked carefully in a voice of concern.

“If anything, this investigation… ?”

“Partly as a warning, but also as an investigation, really. I’ll have to figure out what’s going on behind the scenes this time. It is also necessary to make it clear who is above and who is below.”

While trying to carry on the succession, something troublesome happened. Leon Benning expressed his irritation in a low voice.

“If the King’s side even notices something suspicious… ”

“I didn’t bring it as a decoration for ‘that thing’.”

Leon Benning’s eyes glanced at Adeline, the ‘puppet’ following him.

“Are you okay? Are you revealing your hand too early… .”

“This job has to be successful. It is on a different level from planting people in the east and then getting their tails caught.”

Leon Benning dismissed the knight’s concerns and continued on his way. I intended to move slowly, but it seemed too late.

“It is time to start acting.”

Although it was quiet, it moved forward with a strong will. War clouds were swirling around Daejeon.

—

As soon as the door to the office was closed, Dennis’ face contorted.

“Damn you bastard.”

“Dennis, I told you to refrain from vulgar words in Your Majesty’s safety.”

As if he didn’t understand Dennis’ feelings when he was swearing at him, the words of the escort commander’s words were not so harsh.

“I apologize.”

“never mind. Right now, more than that, I have something to discuss with the Lords.”

The king’s face looked much more wrinkled than usual. As if the meeting was very tiring, there was a heavy shadow under his frown. The king raised his gaze towards the knights.

“Do you guys have anything to say about this investigation? If so, tell me without hesitation.”

Maxim glared at the spot where the Count had disappeared. He remembered the look in his eyes as he looked at himself lying in bed 3, no, 4 years ago. Inorganic, a gaze that seemed to cling to the skin. If it’s the count, if it’s that meticulous and naive person.

“There are two things I can point out.”

“two?”

As Maxim stretched out his index and middle fingers and cut off his haste, the eyes of the king and knights focused on him.

“One is the possibility that this investigation is just for show. Even if you have a ledger that can serve as direct evidence, in the end you can conclude innocently on the line of the count who oversees all operations.”

The king nodded slowly.

“It was a possibility Jim was also considering. It is possible that it is a plan to prevent further interference with the Mage Tower by conducting a pre-show investigation before a bigger crime is discovered and investigated.”

“… Haona, for that reason, the timing of the investigation is strange. Even though I’ve been watching the Mage Tower’s movements, I’ve never expressed any particular doubts.”

“If so, what about the second?”

When the king asked, Maxim took a deep breath and closed his middle finger.

“Maybe Benning is really trying to keep the Mage Tower in check.”

“… Is it an internal bond?”

The King immediately drew a conclusion. Maxim nodded.

“Even though Beninga has maintained an alliance with the Mage Tower for a long time, it is not likely that he has perfectly placed the Mage Tower under my control. Perhaps, an unexpected conflict broke out between the count and the mage tower, and he might be trying to send a warning to the mage tower.”

The king let out a sigh.

“Yes, maybe the count might want to take this opportunity to put the mage tower under Benning’s feet. That would be much more of a headache.”

Dennis asked, questioning on his face.

“With us, would that be possible?”

“yes. Your involvement in this investigation must be a big stumbling block to Benning. So, there is something I want to ask you guys.”

The king’s voice was firmer than ever.

“Please, be careful. Fortunately, in this investigation, Benning’s magical powers may reach out and try to harm you. I don’t think you will be easily defeated, but your opponents are wizards. It’s something you don’t know what variables might be.”

Charlotte frowned.

“… Perhaps, it means that it may be a plan to reduce His Majesty’s power by harming us.”

The king nodded and agreed.

“So, if you feel even the slightest bit strange, stop the investigation right away and return. It’s a king’s order, so don’t even think about violating it.”

Maxim, Dennis and Charlotte knelt at the same time.

“I will keep that in mind.”

“A mere act of revealing the secrets of the Magic Tower cannot be compared with your lives. That you live and stand by my side is the highest loyalty you can give me.”

It’s enough to lose my people once that day.

The king muttered one last time and bit the knights.

—

After Dennis and Charlotte left, the king left Maxim and the commander of the escort knights to deliver secret orders.

“The people of the Marquis will arrive tomorrow. Fortunately, the schedule didn’t seem to be that long.”

The king said with a tone of relief that there was no gap in protecting the surroundings of the first prince.

“There will be no problems with returning immediately.”

“Jim is surprised that Louis seems to be quite interested in the sword. If only I had known that you had talent as a swordsmanship teacher, I would have hired you as a teacher long ago. From what I’ve heard, their skills are improving quite a bit.”

Maxim shook his head, showing humility.

“I don’t have any qualifications for martial arts. I believe that the process was only necessary for the person to develop interest.”

“It must be because you taught me so well. If it’s okay, I’d like you to watch swordsmanship with not only the first prince, but also Michelle and the first princess whenever you have time.”

As for not mentioning the second prince, Maxim did not ask. The King was too weak, too far gone, to be a father to them again. Maxim meekly accepted the king’s request.

“It is an honour. I will gladly take it.”

Perhaps he had a lot of thoughts, the king paused and resumed the conversation.

“… yes. Let’s move on to the next topic for now.”

The king turned his eyes to the desk littered with meeting materials. Above the data, there were a lot of useless stories about the Mage Tower.

“Black magic.”

Maxim nodded. On the day of the battle with the Behemoth, the magic used by the wizards he fought with was clearly close to black magic.

“Securing the evidence that they are researching black magic is probably the best income you can get from this investigation.”

Maxim nodded stiffly.

“Yes. As for black magic, the person who has mastered the magic itself can be sufficient evidence, so I believe that if we can target and capture one specific black magician, His Majesty will be able to achieve what he wants.”

Upon hearing Maxim’s reply, the king lowered his eyebrows in apologetic manner.

“Jim is a hypocrite. I gave orders to my other knights to spare their lives, and yet they gave you this secret order.”

“It is enough that you give permission to search for my former colleague who has disappeared. Please do not worry. To Your Majesty, I am an outsider and a mercenary. It is nothing more than a hand that is meant to be used freely.”

Maxim resolutely listened to the king.

“Even so, he is still a knight belonging to my knights. How could I not feel uncomfortable?”

“I swear by my sword, nothing that your Majesty fears will happen.”

The king looked into Maxim’s eyes. Fueled by an unconcealable vengeance, her golden eyes were burning with fighting spirit.

“If you are looking for clues about an old colleague, what would you like to do?”

Maxim’s shoulders trembled. You seem to be a fairly important person. The king blinked intrigued at the seldom agitated Maxim.

Christine.

A fire broke out in Maxim’s heart when he remembered the name. The intent to kill did not appear on the outside, and a sword that Maxim sharpened inside suppressed the murderous intent and flame.

‘senior… .’

‘Cry… Don’t… .’

That pale hand, the cold touch of her cheek, the green eyes that were empty. Brilliant blonde hair like the rain-soaked sun. The pain of that day when the rain clouds covered the sky.

“If you permit me, I would like to go rescue her.”

allow? No, even if the king doesn’t allow it, Maxim’s sword will go to rescue his former comrades, slicing through those who stand in his way.

At those words, which were practically sentenced, the commander of the escort knights hardened his expression uncomfortably, and the king’s eyes lit up. The silence was long. The king gave an answer to Maxim, who was waiting for his words.

“It’s okay.”

In response to the king’s answer, Maxim bowed his head deeply.

“God will reward Your Majesty’s generosity like the sea with a dog.”

“You know that. You should not forget that going to rescue your comrades must also be supported by the results of your investigation.”

The king looked at Maxim looking down at the floor. Benning moved and showed his hand. It wasn’t long before the bloody winds blew in Daejeon. The eerie silence of the palace was the night before the storm.