NOVPUBAt the same time Terrina was holding a conversation with Ludger in the slums...
Casey, who had received the artifact from Terrina, returned to the rented house she lived in.
Truthfully, she wanted to keep talking with Terrina, but she had her own matters to attend to.
“Ugh. Casey, seriously, clean up your room! It’s like a pigsty!”
The house they were staying in was far too spacious for just Casey and Betty to use alone—but even so, it had only been a few weeks.
Thanks to Casey’s paranoid compulsion to hoard all kinds of things, the room had become so messy that it was hard to even find a place to step.
If she at least kept it organized, it might have been bearable, but even that was too much to ask. She just shoved everything wherever, making the place look more like a chaotic magical labyrinth.
“Okay, I said I’ll do it, didn’t I?”
“You always say that and never do it!”
Betty finally couldn’t take it anymore and began tidying up.
Of course, even if she cleaned it all now, it would be back to the way it was in just a week—but even knowing that, she couldn’t stop.
“Casey should be grateful to me. If it weren’t for me being the best partner ever, no one would have taken her in.”
Betty grumbled as she began sorting things out.
Casey ignored Betty’s words entirely and walked toward one side of the wall.
There, a map of the city of Rederbelk was pinned up.
Above the map were cut-out newspaper articles fastened with thumbtacks.
And trailing from those thumbtacks were countless strings.
Casey cut out an article from today’s paper related to Silver Sun and pinned it to a section of the map.
Then she connected a string to the slums and flicked it lightly with her finger.
As the string trembled, Casey crossed her arms and stared.
An intricate web of threads sprawled across the map like a spiderweb.
Amidst it, Casey seemed completely immersed in her own world, staring holes into the map.
‘There’s been a suspiciously high number of incidents in Rederbelk lately.’
Just last year, there hadn’t been any major problems in Rederbelk.
But starting this year, everything had changed.
The werewolf incident.
The completely burned-down abandoned factory.
The Kunst Auction House attack.
The resurrection of the beast from Jévaudan.
The emergence of the Black Dawn Society.
‘And now, this Silver Sun disappearance case.’
The slums were the most likely suspects.
It was said that the slums had undergone enormous changes recently.
Casey had only heard about it and hadn’t seen it herself—but rumors didn’t spread for no reason.
‘Terrina must have gone to check it out herself.’
Thinking of Terrina, Casey gently placed the artifact she’d brought on her desk.
With a clicking sound, the artifact split open, revealing the mana stone inside.
Casey glanced at the mana stone, then carefully took out the pristine white paper wrapped around it.
‘This is the key item connected to memory storming.’
It hadn’t been named yet, but she knew it wasn’t just any ordinary item.
‘To think they used bark from the Elventree, which only grows in the elves’ forest, to make something like this.’
The mages of the New Mage Tower—should she call them impressive, or reckless?
To even consider taking a tree from the forest of the elves, who love nature more than anyone else.
Still, it must have been that spirit of experimentation that created this new item.
From what she’d heard, they had made a deal with the elves who had begun accepting new technologies, so there was no problem.
‘If I use this, I should be able to read it.’
Casey studied the white paper for a while, then folded it carefully and slipped it into her pocket.
‘First, let’s get organized.’
Casey’s top priority was tracking the Black Dawn Society.
She had visited the site of Silver Sun’s disappearance hoping there might be a connection with the Black Dawn Society.
But the result was a bust.
The moment she saw the mansion, completely untouched and devoid of even a single trace, Casey realized—
—No matter what I do, I won’t find any clues.
Something close to a miracle had occurred, beyond what magic could accomplish.
Even for Casey, there was nothing she could do.
In conclusion, she couldn’t find any evidence tying it to the Black Dawn Society.
‘Then all that’s left is the information obtained from those I interrogated that day.’
The Black Dawn Society members captured on the final day of Seorn’s <Magic Festival>.
Thanks to a deal with Elisa, Casey had the opportunity to interrogate them personally.
Of course, interrogation didn’t always yield truthful results.
In fact, more often than not, there wasn’t much to gain at all.
‘Even low-level members of secret organizations tend to have iron wills—or madness, really.’
They weren’t quick to talk, and even when they did, it was all misinformation.
Most of what she managed to extract was practically useless.
‘Besides, physical torture isn’t my method.’
Still, Casey did extract information from them.
Her method was simple.
She just “asked questions.”
‘The act of conveying information isn’t limited to spoken language.’
Eyes, eye movements, breathing, micro-reactions—
Those subtle actions could be more than enough of an answer.
Unless one had received specialized training to handle such situations, it was impossible not to give something away.
In fact, the Black Dawn Society’s Third Orders had shown her plenty of the reactions she was looking for.
And for Casey, that was more than enough.
Next to the map of Rederbelk, she pinned up a new map on a blank section of the wall.
<Baltanung>
Compared to the metropolis of Rederbelk, it was smaller, but still a medium-sized neighboring city.
And—
‘A place connected to the Black Dawn Society.’
Suddenly, a feeling of unease crept up in Casey.
‘I really don’t like fighting mad dogs.’
Her resolve started to waver for a moment, but she thought of James Moriarty.
That man in a pristine suit, a black cloak fluttering behind his back.
‘I still have to do it.’
Hadn’t she come all this way to chase James Moriarty?
Now that she knew the Black Dawn Society was connected to him, she had even more reason to push forward.
She would need to look into a way to get to Baltanung soon.
* * *
Terrina held the man known as the “Owner” of the back alleys in surprisingly high regard.
A barren wasteland—
No, perhaps even worse: a slum.
Yet he had accomplished remarkable development in such a place.
It wasn’t just that he had a good business sense.
He knew about the Silver Sun’s disappearance, and had even known she was coming—he had sent someone to guide her in advance.
He clearly had a grasp on every minor piece of information circulating in the city.
There was no doubt he was someone to be cautious of.
‘That’s why I deliberately released killing intent to scare him.’
But the man before her had taken that killing intent head-on without even flinching.
From the naturalness of his reaction, it was clear he wasn’t faking it.
She wanted to ask him right away what his true identity was.
But to ask that now would be admitting defeat in this mental battle.
Based on their conversation so far, the man known as the Owner would surely either deflect or give an evasive answer.
‘No matter what, I still can’t believe it. Even regular knights freeze when hit with my killing intent.’
But this man had endured it.
‘He’s definitely not ordinary.’
It was no wonder he ruled as the master of the underworld.
Outstanding resourcefulness. Innate instincts. Complete indifference to killing intent.
‘The King of the Dark Alley, huh.’
If he were a criminal who had amassed wealth through illegal means, or had committed even a single misdeed, this would be easy.
She could’ve just drawn her sword and cut off a hand.
But according to the information from Enya, the business he ran was shockingly clean.
For a Nightcrawler Knight to suddenly appear and use violence against such a man?
Even the Nightcrawler Knights—despite their reputation for dirty tactics—would never act without just cause.
Doing so would only damage the name of the Nightcrawler Knights.
They had lines even they wouldn’t cross.
‘And he has so much local support. If I mess with him, everyone in this area could turn into enemies.’
If she provoked the Owner here, the entire slum would likely rise in rebellion.
These were people who had lived without hope.
And just as they were finally starting to live with dignity—if that was taken away from them?
Then one side would have to be completely erased.
Even the victor would walk away with nothing but wounds.
That had to be avoided.
“Have all your questions been answered?”
“Yes. I appreciate your cooperation.”
Terrina nodded and stood up from her seat.
With no more business to attend to, there was no need to stay.
“I won’t see you out.”
“I was going to say it wasn’t necessary anyway.”
They exchanged one last glance before parting ways—
And then it happened.
“Leader. You here? I wanted to ask you something real quick.”
With a creak, the firmly shut drawing room door opened—and Alex stepped in.
Even Ludger hadn’t expected his appearance.
“Alex?”
Enya, recognizing him, called out his name.
Without thinking much of it, Alex opened the door and stepped in—only to freeze when he saw Enya.
Ah, damn it.
Ludger realized he hadn’t had the chance to warn Alex in advance.
The visit had happened so suddenly that there had been no opportunity to say anything.
“Alex, right?”
“......”
“What are you doing here? You—didn’t you say you were going back to your hometown?”
Ludger exhaled a quiet sigh behind his mask.
Of all people, for a former lover—one who hadn’t parted on good terms—to meet like this in such a place...
* * *
Alex tried to slip away, as if avoiding the situation entirely, but Enya had no intention of letting him go.
She quickly followed him outside the building and blocked his way as he turned into an alley.
“Let’s talk.”
“I don’t have anything to say.”
“Why are you here? You told me you were going back home.”
Enya’s voice, sharp as she glared at him, made Alex fall silent.
He remembered clearly—before they had parted, he had said something like that.
Of course, it had been a lie.
A lie to forcibly push her away.
“It’s none of your business.”
All Alex could do was respond coldly. That was the only way he knew how to handle this.
“Wasn’t everything between us over a long time ago anyway?”
“......”
Enya bit her lip.
Her eyes, locked on him, glistened with moisture.
Seeing that made Alex’s chest ache.
‘You...’
Seeing Enya so close to tears stirred something deep inside him.
He knew what those eyes meant.
They were the same eyes he had once looked into more than anyone else’s.
‘You still haven’t forgotten me.’
She still held feelings for him.
She still remembered him—the one who had hurt her and walked away.
That made him both secretly happy and unbearably sad at the same time.
Because standing here now, he was about to hurt her again.
‘If I were to raise my hand now and wipe the tears from her eyes—’
Could they go back?
Back to that time, when they used to laugh together and dream of a future.
—No.
He stopped the hand that had begun to move.
Because over Enya’s face now, he saw the image of her crying and screaming in the past.
Alex gave a bitter smile to himself.
‘As if I have any right.’
He was the one who had hurt her. The one who had left.
The one who should beg for forgiveness—
And the one who had no right to receive it.
“If you’re done here, then why don’t you just go?”
Alex was surprised by how coldly the words came out of his own mouth.
At those words, Enya flinched slightly, then finally nodded.
“You haven’t changed at all, have you?”
Her voice, spoken as if holding something back, pierced right through Alex’s heart.
But he endured it with all his strength, showing nothing outwardly.
Seeing that, Enya’s eyes showed a flicker of disappointment.
Maybe... maybe she had hoped, just a little, that this man would feel sorry.
“Well. Sorry for interrupting. Take care.”
With that, Enya turned her back.
And Alex remembered this scene.
It was just like back then.
Only now, there was one difference.
This time, she didn’t cry.
‘You’ve gotten stronger.’
Unable to help himself, Alex reached a hand toward her back—
But it never touched her.
When Enya disappeared from view, Alex leaned against the wall of the building and slid down to the ground.
“Haha. I really am pathetic.”
To reach out like that after watching her walk away...
What kind of half-baked resolve was this? How could he even face the Leader after that?
He wanted nothing more than to run after her now, grab her hand, and tell her—
That all the things he’d said to hurt her back then were lies.
That the truth was, he still held her in his heart.
‘But like hell I can say that.’
She was a noble. He was a commoner.
Even if they had trained side ❀ Nоvеlігht ❀ (Don’t copy, read here) by side as cadets, they could never truly be together.
That’s just the kind of world this was.
So—
So something had to change.
That was the dream of the one who had once reached out a hand to the muddy, broken version of him.
Step.
He turned at the sound of approaching footsteps, and there stood Ludger, his mask removed.
Had he finished speaking with the Knight Commander of the Nightcrawler Knights?
“What’s this, Leader? Why’d you come all the way out here?”
“Sorry, Alex. I should’ve warned you in advance.”
“Forget it. I barged in without checking anything. You come out here to comfort me or something? Brought the whole crew with you too?”
At those words, the presence hiding nearby gave a start.
Soon after, several members of <Wells> emerged with awkward coughs.
Alex let out a hollow laugh at the sight.
“How many of you were there? Guess the whole neighborhood’s going to hear about this.”
“Well, it’s not something we could’ve kept hidden.”
Of all times, something like this had to happen when the Nightcrawler Knights were visiting.
Alex understood the situation, and hung his head.
“Pfft. Now that it’s out, there’s no hiding it.”
With a self-deprecating smile, Alex ran a hand through his hair.
Seridan, glancing over carefully, asked,
“That Nightcrawler Knight just now—she was your former lover?”
“Yeah. We were classmates. Comrades. She was also... my first love.”
“A comrade... then that means you too...”
Violetta caught on to something.
Alex shrugged.
“No point hiding it now. Yeah. I used to be a knight-in-training. To be precise, I was a cadet of the Imperial Academy.”
Hans’s eyes widened, something dawning on him.
“Wait—if you were a cadet in the Empire, then that means...”
“Yeah. I was a cadet at the Imperial Knight Academy—Noble Knights.”
And then, with a bitter tone, he added:
“To be exact, a dishonorably discharged one.”
