Chapter 139: Red Riding Hood (3)

Amunson—no, Owl Number 18—burned with the desire to take revenge on Simon, and sat on a rock, gazing at the moon suspended in the sky.

In Joachim, he was considered a respectable swordsman.

But outside of it, things were different.

In the allied army, he realized he was just one among many knights.

The days fighting the orcs still terrified him, even in memory.

They were monsters much stronger than humans, wielding massive metal clubs. The idea of facing them head-on had never even crossed Amunson’s mind.

He only managed to avoid them as much as possible, and sometimes, when several gathered together, they could take one down.

So, when the allied army finally defeated Okua, Amunson didn’t feel triumph, but relief.

He hadn’t been one of the heroes of that victory. He was just another soldier, content to have survived. The truth was that the allied army had been led to victory by a handful of geniuses.

Perhaps that’s why he so badly wanted to win his duel with Simon in Valshard. He didn’t want to keep carrying that sense of powerlessness.

But he lost again.

At first, he thought Simon had been a coward. Faking an injury to deceive him… that went against the knight’s code.

But then he understood. In the end, a knight is someone who must fight in war. A cowardly victory is better than an honorable defeat.

Next time, he would get his revenge on Simon. With that thought in mind, he reached out toward the moon.

“What are you doing?”

Suddenly, someone approached.

It was Instructor Number 2—no, Gonte Merchin.

“Instructor.”

“I’m not an instructor anymore. I took off the hat.”

“Yes, Sir Gonte…”

“Call me big brother.”

“Yes, big brother.”

“The moon’s big tonight.”

Outside of training, they usually spoke more casually. Though Gonte often rambled about the past, he was a good knight.

Gonte also looked up at the moon and gave Amunson a few pats on the shoulder.

“Training’s tough, huh?”

“No, not at all.”

“Glad to hear it.”

“Brother.”

“Hmm?”

“I think I understand now why you brought us here.”

“And why do you think that is?”

“Joachim is weak.”

Gonte looked at him. Amunson continued speaking.

“It’s the truth.”

He remembered the moment they arrived in Briol.

The knights of Joachim had been demoralized from the beginning. That was the problem. Even if Briol was famous as the land of knights, they should have had the courage to face them.

But before even fighting, their shoulders were already slumped, intimidated. Back then, they couldn’t be called real knights.

“But that’s going to change.”

Gonte smiled at his words.

“Yes, it must change. Joachim has to change.”

“At first, coming to another country for training felt humiliating. But now I understand why we had to come.”

After enduring the grueling training under the red-hooded instructors, Amunson realized what Joachim had been lacking.

“It’s a truly well-designed training.”

What impressed him most was how Instructor Number 1 structured the training.

They were taught to use bows, disarm traps, ambush enemies. At first it was annoying, but over time, he understood.

To protect Joachim, that was more important than just swinging a sword awkwardly.

“Joachim is a weak country. That’s why we need a method that suits us.”

Amunson clenched his fists.

“If this were the old Joachim, the moment someone threatened us, we’d already be trembling.”

“That’s a little…”

“No, I know it well. But now, it’ll be different.”

He had rolled across the ground. Without knowing why, he just kept rolling and training.

And then, something began to boil inside him.

“Whether it’s the Empire or any other country, if they dare to touch Joachim, we won’t let them off easy. Even if we can’t win, we’ll tear off a leg with rage and determination.”

“Amunson…”

Gonte opened his mouth. For a moment, he couldn’t say anything, but finally spoke in a trembling voice.

“That’s it.”

“Pardon?”

“That’s Joachim.”

He looked on the verge of tears.

“The truth is, Joachim has never been strong. I talk about the past all the time, but even back then, we weren’t anything special.”

“Brother…”

“But we had fighting spirit.”

Gonte looked up at the sky, as if reminiscing.

“We were born and raised in the Alloy mountain range. We have to defend our land ourselves. No one else will fight for us…”

“Brother…”

“I guess I sound like an old man preaching. And you wouldn’t be wrong.”

“That’s not it.”

“But if there’s one thing this old man knows better than you young folks, it’s this—the weak can never protect peace. Never forget how cruel the victor can be to the vanquished.”

“Yes.”

“Peace has lasted too long.”

Gonte was, before being a knight, a noble with a lot of experience.

He couldn’t pinpoint it exactly, but he felt an ominous current stirring across the continent. That’s why he entrusted his order of knights to the third prince of Briol.

He knew from the moment he met him.

Yuri had something.

He shone.

And Gonte thought that if he stayed close to someone who radiated light, he could ward off the darkness creeping in from beyond.

It was just a hunch.

“Maybe it’s just a feeling. But look. Now that I’ve come to Briol, I know I wasn’t wrong.”

He pointed toward the training facilities beside the camp.

“They’re training us to fight in the mountains, they’re teaching us the necessary techniques, and they’re restoring that fighting spirit Joachim had forgotten.”

“Yes.”

“Even I, born and raised in Joachim, never imagined such training. The third prince of Briol isn’t just anyone.”

“I agree.”

His swordsmanship was like his father’s, he had natural leadership, and he could see problems and find the right solutions.

Yuri Briol had something different.

“Let’s do our best.”

“Yes, brother.”

“For now, I’m your kind older brother, but tomorrow I’ll be Instructor Number 2 again. Don’t expect me to go easy on you.”

“Yes.”

“You don’t seem too scared.”

“That’s because Instructor Number 3 scares me more.”

“Hmm…”

Gonte and Amunson gave each other pats on the shoulder.

The bright moonlight bathed them both.

***

Even after Yuri left the imperial capital, his name continued to echo. Magazines kept publishing articles about him, and even a book had been released about the allied army, centered around his figure.

Moreover, a drug rehabilitation clinic using Yuri as its image had generated unprecedented income for the temple.

“Pff…”

However, Vlad couldn’t feel entirely pleased.

“It’s strange.”

He was speaking with the Black Knight in his office.

“There are so many citizens receiving rehabilitation, yet nothing is changing.”

“That means the drug is still flowing freely.”

“It may be good from the temple’s point of view, but…”

Vlad slammed the table. Under his fingers was a report on the spread of drugs throughout the empire.

“I don’t know what to do.”

“Can’t you just expand the clinics?”

“That won’t be enough. This isn’t something we can handle alone. For the drug to be spreading this fast…”

He had an ominous premonition, the source of which he couldn’t identify. At first, he had only thought of increasing the temple’s influence through rehabilitation clinics for high society members.

But the situation had worsened. The drugs that began circulating in the imperial capital spread across the empire. He was beginning to fear for the nation’s very foundations.

“I’m starting to think there’s something—or someone—behind this.”

“What do you mean…?”

“Someone is trying to shake the very foundations of the empire.”

And it wasn’t just about the drugs.

The magazines published increasingly sensational articles, society was dividing into opposing factions, materialism overflowed with luxury and pleasure, and the gap between rich and poor widened like never before.

All of this was happening at breakneck speed.

“It’s too fast.”

What worried Vlad the most was the speed.

Social change is a natural phenomenon. Side effects have always existed.

But the empire was transforming too rapidly. At that pace, what he saw wasn’t evolution—it was decay.

“Then who would be capable of…?”

The Black Knight posed the question, but Vlad couldn’t answer right away.

If there was anyone with the power to change the empire, it could only be one person.

But why would that person want to destroy it? The emperor wasn’t a madman.

“I don’t know.”

He had no proof—only suspicions. That’s why he held back. It wasn’t something to say lightly.

Vlad leaned forward.

“Black Knight… I hate to ask this, but I’d like to request a favor…”

“Vlad.”

The Black Knight interrupted him.

“You’ve said enough already. I’m not so foolish as to not understand it.”

“Knight…”

“I’ll look into it.”

Vlad could only bow his head.

“Thank you.”

“No need to thank me. I swore loyalty to His Majesty. So worrying about him is part of my duty.”

He stroked his mask.

“Listening to you, I’m starting to get worried too. I wonder what’s happening in the empire…”

They both fell silent for a moment.

Vlad spoke again.

“And besides… the allied army’s war only ended recently, but I’ve heard they’re already training troops again.”

“How do you know that?”

“I have eyes and ears too.”

“It’s just regular training.”

“If that’s so, I’m glad…”

Vlad sighed.

That ominous feeling had started when the empire summoned the allied army.

From the moment they mobilized troops under the excuse of eradicating orcs, Vlad began to suspect the palace’s true intentions.

Though there were countries whose borders were threatened by orcs, that wasn’t the empire’s problem. The empire had never been kind enough to worry about other nations.

“Don’t worry so much, Vlad. God will take care of the empire.”

“Yes.”

Vlad managed a smile. Sometimes, it seemed that masked knight had more faith than he did.

The Black Knight spoke again.

“If we’ve been given a trial, then God must have also prepared the tool to overcome it…”

***

Yuri was sitting in a chair, eating an apple.

Suddenly, his body wobbled.

“What is this?”

Yuri adjusted his red hood and looked down.

“Why is the chair moving so much?”

“Sorry!”

“Owl number 18. Are you rebelling?”

“No, sir!”

“It’s not because of what happened earlier, right? Holding a grudge?”

“No, sir!”

At that moment, Yuri was sitting on the “human chair” built by Owl number 18, Amunson. He bounced on top of him, laughing.

“Is this all a chair from Joachim has to offer?”

“Ugh… no, sir!”

“Was that sound something breaking?”

“No, sir!”

After teasing Amunson for a while, Yuri finally got off his back.

“Well, I’ll leave it at that.”

“Thank you…”

Amunson sighed in relief, but his body tensed when he saw small shoes approaching.

“What is it, Instructor Number 3?”

“A visitor has arrived.”

“Really?”

Instructor Number 3, the most ruthless toward the owls, had appeared. Although she had an adorable appearance, her heart was that of a viper.

Once she began punishing, she wouldn’t stop until someone hit the ground.

Instructor Number 1 was the better option. But then Yuri dashed Amunson’s hopes.

“Then I’ll go take care of some things. Instructor Number 3 will handle the boys for me.”

“Understood.”

Yuri patted the desperate Amunson on the back. Instructor Number 3 immediately began her work.

“Owl number 18, what are you doing?”

“N-nothing.”

“I asked what you were doing. What’s with that ‘nothing’?”

“Sorry!”

“If you’re sorry, then answer immediately what you’re doing…”

As Yuri admired her scolding skills, he walked away toward the edge of the training ground. From there, he could view the entire training scene.

“Excellent.”

The knights of Joachim were becoming a truly well-trained guerrilla unit.

If they returned to Joachim, any enemy entering the Alloy mountain range would be annihilated before knowing what hit them.

“How did you end up wearing a red hood?”

“Eh?”

The visitor was Guillermo, vice president of the Elaine Guild.

“What’s going on?”

“Prince, the president has finally returned.”

“Oh, really?”

“She managed to close a major deal. The goods she’s bringing aren’t ordinary.”

“That’s typical of Elaine.”

Yuri smiled.

“She actually did it…”

As soon as they finished with Okua, Elaine headed East. Without a second of hesitation. She had a great spirit of adventure.

“So, when is she arriving?”

“She’s not coming.”

“What?”

“She went straight to the Empire.”

“To the Empire?”

“She asked me to apologize on her behalf. The goods were so good, she couldn’t wait. It looks like she plans to flood the Empire and rake in as much money as possible.”

“That’s a smart move…”

Undoubtedly, the richest place on the continent was the Empire. No matter what she brought from the East, she could sell it there at whatever price she wanted.

But something about it unsettled Yuri.

“The Empire…”

“Is something wrong?”

“It’s nothing.”

“It’s not like it’s the first time the president goes to the Empire. She’ll manage.”

“I suppose so…”

What worried him was Yekaterina.

She loved new things. If she found out Elaine had brought goods from the East, she’d probably summon her right away.

And that was the problem.

Knowing both of their personalities, he doubted it would end well.

“Well, it’s not really something I need to worry about.”

Yuri shrugged.