Chapter 72

Chapter 72

Efforts would never betray you. Standing in front of the mirror in the shower room, Hizen looked quite satisfied. It was worth having practiced greeting by waving in front of the mirror all night.

He stared at the man in the mirror. His sharp eyes and cynical lips seemed to have become more delicate.

His heart was itching and he was feeling happy. It was no exaggeration to think that he had a heart disease these days.

‘I wish tomorrow would come soon…’

Hizen came out of the shower room, calming his shaky breath. At that time, he met with the knights who were chatting in front of the door.

Their faces turned white as they recalled Hizen, who was usually scarier than a tiger. Just eat quietly at the dining room and be quiet in the shower room. This was Hizen’s principle.

As soon as the knights tried to apologize, Hizen passed by. They opened their mouths as he was just walking by, and was like surronded by a halo.

What kind of situation was this? The knights tried to wake up from their dreams by pinching each other’s cheeks.

“There’s something.”

“Surprise!”

They took a step back because of Taker’s sudden appearance. Taker’s gray eyes, hidden in the shower room, were shining sharply.

Today, the Commander was really weird. He had looked at himself in the mirror and smiled like a fool, without even noticing his presence.

Taker rubbed his chin, smoothed by his shaving. Then the new members could not stand it anymore and urged him.

“Sir Taker, what do you mean?”

“Let’s find out. But you guys, haven’t you noticed anything suspicious about the Commander-nim lately? Tell me if you have.”

Taker and the knights thought deeply. They tried to find a clue about the sudden change in the perfect Commander. Since Hizen was a subject of respect and attention from the knights, the chatter never stopped.

Hizen returned to the Commander’s office and sat down on his old chair. The squeaky noise was as sweet as playing the piano, and the annoying documents on the desk were as cute as a pile of macarons.

As expected, increasing the morale was important for knights. Full of energy after meeting Leasis, he showed tremendous efficiency.

The pen danced on the document at a speed that was hard to keep up. At that time, someone knocked on the door of the Commander’s office.

“Come on in.”

Hizen said, signing the document. However, his pen stopped as he noticed the unusual steps that did not belong to a member of his division.

“…Your Grace?”

When he raised his head, he saw Nathan with a white face.

*

Late at night, Max headed to the palace kitchen to collect the knights’ late-night snacks. The imperial servants said they would help, but he wanted to bring it himself.

Max, who had recently returned from his vacation, was nicer to the knights. He was still upset after having deceived Hizen and the members and cooperated with Elnos. Perhaps it was his way of apologizing.

When he opened the kitchen door, he saw a cart piled up like a mountain. However, one side was subtly lacking in bread. It was like someone had touched it.

“Huh? You’re the bread delivery man.”

Max’s back hardened by the low sound from the side. As he turned his head slowly, he saw a familiar figure. It was Blix, the boy wearing a black cape.

“I’m glad you got here. I was going to go find you.”

Blix was crouching on the kitchen floor, covered with his cape and eating bread.

But Max’s face turned white. He tried to hold his nausea at the fishy smell entering his nose at every breath.

There was a lot of blood on the kitchen floor, and his cloak smelled disgusting. Do you still have an appetite even after doing that?

Blix hurriedly finished the bread as if he had starved for a few days. As a result, the knights’ snacks disappeared in the blink of an eye. He even licked the crumbs on his hands as if he was not satisfied with the pile of bread.

Max walked to the freezer, recalling his youngest brother, who was particularly gluttonous.

While eating bread, Blix kept his eyes and ears alert. If you run away, I’ll have to cut your throat.

But contrary to his expectations, Max came back. His hands were full of milk and cheese. Blix smiled happily and mumbled through the bread.

“Huh? Are you giving this to me?”

“Eat.”

“Thank you.”

Blix drank the milk Max gave him at once. As expected, the Harknon Empire had developed a lot of food and drinks. He wanted to sit down and continue like this. The milk that was drunk smoothly ran out in an instant.

Blix wiped his mouth roughly with his sleeve and spoke in a voice full of affection.

“You’re a bit like Hellhard… No, Leasis.”

Max asked, sitting slightly on the counter in front of Blix.

“Are you close to Miss Leasis?”

“Of course. I’m her teacher.”

“Miss Leasis’ teacher is Sir Neren.”

“He’s dead now.”

Max trembled, feeling some unknown chill. Maybe it was because of the night breeze coming in from the slightly open door. Blix’s breathing felt unusually cold.

Blix slowly removed the hood of his cape. Then Max saw a boy with green hair messed up with blood.

Blix smiled with only one corner of his mouth. He looked like Elnos.

Finally, the puzzle in his head was solved. Max spoke with the confidence he just found.

“Second Prince Blixrond.”

“Oh. I really like you.”

He felt the darkness before his eyes. As Max shivered, Blix reached out and patted him on the shoulder.

“Don’t worry. I came to kill you, but I’ll hold it in.”

As Blix gobbled up the cheese on the floor, Max could not say anything. This was because all his nerves were paralyzed by Blix’s pressure.

Blix spoke in a soft voice.

“Don’t tell the Count about me. Otherwise, I will have no choice but to kill you.”

He actually came to kill. Blix hated the traitors and had no intention of leaving Max alone.

He could not let him go like this. Slowly rising up, Blix said, licking the cheese off his hands.

“Come out in front of the Imperial Palace tomorrow at night.”

“What…”

“I need to find someone, and I think you will help me.”

With a dangerous smile, Blix stretched out. The move was the same as what Leasis had showed not long ago at the 1st Division of Imperial Knights.

Looking closely, Blix went to the wall of the palace kitchen and murmured something. A huge vine popped out of his hand and he disappeared in an instant.

Max, who looked at the scene as if possessed by a ghost, woke up. He sighed as he looked at the blood on the floor and the missing bread.

“Commander-nim, I’m sorry. This… This is the last time.”

With a forced smile, Max headed to the Commander’s office. But there was already a guest inside.

What kind of urgent matter would have made Nathan come here himself? Max looked at Hizen with worried eyes and bowed his head.

“I see Your Grace.”

“Sir Max. You’re going through a lot.”

The usual straight face of Nathan was haggard, and his voice was full of fatigue.

The sight increased Max’s anxiety. He was also a workaholic like Hizen, so he was not someone who would leave his office easily. Then there must be an urgent matter.

“Then… I’ll see you next time.”

After a brief greeting, Nathan left the Commander’s office. When the door closed, Max approached Hizen as he had waited.

“Commander-nim, what’s going on?”

“…”

“Commander-nim?”

Hizen’s face under the moonlight looked exceptionally sharp. He silently packed two swords under his desk.

He did not say anything until he reached the door. Hizen grabbed the doorknob and whispered.

“I’ll be back before tomorrow at midnight at the latest.”

* *

Leasis headed to the palace kitchen at dawn. She was able to enter freely thanks to her friendship with the imperial cooks.

I’ll give the Count-nim a macaron as a gift! She opened the kitchen door with excitement. She did not mind sleeping less if it was to think about Hizen receiving macarons.

Leasis stood at the counter with both hands packed with ingredients. But there was a disgusting smell on the tip of her nose. It was worse than the smell of blood.

Leasis searched in her memories, recalling the past. A long time ago, the rotten orphanage where she used to live had had a similar smell. And then, a child’s body had been found on the floor of the orphanage. A child who had been killed by the director’s assault.

‘Then there’s a dead body here, too… No. No way.’

Leasis shook her head. It was unthinkable to have a body found in the Imperial Palace, and this was the kitchen. Was it perhaps possible to have such a bloody smell when working with meat?

Leasis focused on making the macarons. She did not even notice that someone was watching her.

Because of the rain, all the training schedules were changed to indoor training. Leasis put the macarons in pretty wrapping paper in her indoor training locker.

“Hey, Leasis. Good morning.”

“Good morning, Onjet-nim.”

When Onjet raised his hand, Leasis gave him a high five.

Clap.

Onjet grinned at the pleasant sound. Recently, the two people had gotten closer rapidly. After Furgin’s explosive confession, Onjet had apologized, and she had accepted it gladly.

After abandoning his prejudice, Onjet liked Leasis quite a bit. He did not have a sister, but he thought it would be nice to have one smart like her.

Thanks to that, the two got along quite well, and were often sent to the same missions. And it was like that today.

Karma assigned dozens of members, including Onjet, Furgin and Leasis, to a new mission called ‘Capital Patrol’.

But the knights could not understand the mission. Wasn’t the capital patrol only done by the Capital Defense Knights?

Karma’s mind looking at them was also complicated. He described recent murders that had stained the capital with blood.

All the victims were merchants who worked late at night, with occasional witnesses.

What was unusual was the cruel killing method, as all the bodies had their neck cut off. The murderer’s skills were so special that the Capital Defense Knights could not catch him.

The knights’ expressions got tense when they heard about the mission that was more dangerous than expected. Karma spoke in a strong voice.

“Protect the safety of the people on the honor of the 1st Division of Imperial Knights.”

“Yes!”

Leasis answered more vigorously than anyone else.