In the quiet darkness, Count Luktis opened his eyes.

Outside the window, the night was still pitch black, but his internal clock had precisely announced the arrival of morning.

He felt no fatigue; his condition was perfect. The deep sleep from the previous night had left him feeling refreshed.

Was this a duel…?

Having woken up in the middle of the battle, the Count was confused. However, he saw this as a perfect opportunity to assess the skill of the mage knight.

After all, he had long coveted Karon.

A mere puppet with only loyalty didn’t deserve to stand by the Princess.

The Count’s sharp gaze observed the battle, but soon his eyes widened in disbelief.

Had the severed arm been reattached…?

Unbelievable events unfolded one after another, causing his drunken haze to vanish.

Count Luktis was well-versed in Eastern martial arts.

It was then that he realized the mage knight’s opponent was Calcas, the infamous criminal from the Eastern Kingdom. He also came to understand how perilous his own situation was, but…

Strangely, he felt no fear.

It wasn’t Calcas, the infamous "maiden hunter," that frightened him, but the mage knight who could reattach severed limbs at will!

He wasn’t just a monster; he was a real monster.

Luktis trembled.

Were all Winterwolf knights like this?

"……!!"

At that moment, Calcas fled the shop.

"Calcas! To insult the sacredness of the duel with such cowardice!"

The Count was disgusted by Calcas’s desperate escape. Suddenly, he became intensely curious about Karon’s reaction.

"……."

Karon silently walked outside the shop.

Then, crouching down, he jumped into the air like a bolt of lightning.

"……!!"

The strong wind blew so fiercely that the Count’s hair fluttered like a flag. The shadow reflected by the moon was already crossing the sky.

Boom──!!

The sudden surge of power caused the lights in the shop to shake.

Calcas, realizing that his escape route was blocked by Karon, panicked and tried to change direction, but Karon quietly drew his sword.

"……!!"

And then, with no warning at all, as though the process of cutting had been skipped, Calcas, who had been fleeing toward the horizon, was split in half and collapsed.

……

A deathly silence settled in.

Under the pouring moonlight, Karon quietly sheathed his sword.

The scene was like…

"Swordmaster…!"

"……?"

Startled by the sudden voice, the Count twisted his neck.

"Swordmaster!"

The pink-haired knight who had been with them at the tavern stood there, as if in a trance. The Count was taken aback.

The knight’s lower half, exposed to the open air, revealed a grotesque sight that should never have been shown.

"……Do you usually not wear underwear?"

"Uh, where did my pants go?"

The Count, overwhelmed by the series of shocks, felt faint.

The chaos from the previous night led to a thorough investigation by Winterwolf, following the tavern owner’s request for compensation.

The rumor that the Eastern Kingdom had attempted to assassinate the Imperial Ambassador had already spread widely.

Had that incident escalated, it could have sparked a war between the Empire and the Eastern Kingdom.

"The time has come to call you Colonel Karon? That’s an unprecedented rapid promotion in Arendel!"

Horace, the commander of the knights, awarded Karon a one-rank promotion for his exemplary success in Winterwolf's operation.

"At this rate, you could leave Sharon’s squad and take command!"

"Haha! Is that so?"

"Haha! It’s true!"

"Hahaha!"

"Hahaha!"

…And so, Karon, having received the Peace Medal, was so happy that he started pulling at his own hair. His emotional speech marked the apparent end of the incident.

"Sharon. I smell blood."

"……."

Horace muttered as he looked at Sharon, who had quietly entered the room.

"You’ve stopped even pretending to hide it, haven’t you?"

Sharon’s face was in perfect condition, an odd sight for someone who had partied the night before. In fact, she looked more relaxed than usual.

Horace narrowed his eyes.

"Calcas, the top warrior of the Eastern Kingdom. That monster was targeting the Imperial Ambassador. Coincidentally, he attacked the tavern while you were absent."

"Karon did a great job handling it."

"…You haven’t changed a bit, even after becoming an adult."

Sharon smiled and laughed, acting as if nothing had happened, but Horace was not disappointed. Disappointment could only come from having expectations.

"A woman’s corpse was found in the nearby forest. Investigations revealed she was an accomplice of Calcas, a black magician."

"Is that so?"

"The murderer killed her brutally."

Horace had already visited the horrific scene.

Having carefully examined the remains, Horace noticed that the killer had not simply killed the black magician instantly.

The killer had first severed the witch’s limbs, then skewered them on a stick, presenting the remains for the black magician to see.

The black magician must have died still overwhelmed by fear. The killer, it seemed, had taken great pleasure in watching her suffer.

"I understand the sentiment, but didn’t you think about the method?"

If the black magician was conspiring with the Eastern Kingdom, this wasn’t a simple matter.

If there was such a clear skill gap, they could have captured her alive and extracted information. There was no need to indulge in such depravity.

"It’s true that Karon is handsome."

"……?"

"Don’t you think so too, Commander?"

As Sharon continued to joke, Horace clicked his tongue. He had no intention of playing into her tricks. She was determined to continue her dark humor.

"You're quite the troublemaker."

In the end, Horace had no choice but to let himself be taken in by Sharon’s antics. He couldn’t afford to criticize her. After all, she was an essential part of Winterwolf.

Past, present, and future.

Sharon would continue to fight fiercely, even wearing the clothes of the dead, until her last breath…

"I’m thinking of retiring soon."

"That’s quite an unexpected confession."

"Unexpected? Everyone gets old and senile eventually."

"……."

"Before it’s too late, I need to pass on my position to a younger person. You’ll understand once you get older. There’s nothing more agonizing than the humiliation of getting old."

"Oh, yes."

"You should take over as commander of the knights."

For a moment, Sharon’s eyes sparkled.

Horace’s position was one of great authority in Winterwolf, responsible for all military decisions, holding the highest rank among all knights.

This was the Knight Lord position.

The person holding this role had the final say on all requests from the military units entering the knights and could even take command in the event of a commander’s death. It was a crucial position, essentially the Duke's right-hand man!

"Ah, so all those times you were pretending to be indifferent were just for show."

Horace, however, was convinced that Sharon would accept this offer. After all, the Knight Lord position was extremely influential, and anyone would find it hard to refuse.

"Not interested."

"What…?"

"Why do you want me to do these things?"

"This has already been approved by the Duke. Follow orders without complaints!"

"Ugh, I don’t want to. Why are you making me do this?"

"Come on, you—!"

Soon Sharon spotted Karon and her eyes sparkled.

She rushed toward him, linking her arm through his and walking side by side.

"My little brother~ Want to have a drink later?"

"……Yes. I think I need one."

"Why the long face? Who’s been bothering my little brother?"

Horace watched them walk away with a sigh.

"I want to retire already…"

…But this was to be expected. Sharon was like the wind, impossible to catch. She had been this way since she was a girl. Even knowing how it would end, he couldn’t help but let her roam freely.

The opportunity is still there.

Horace did not give up on his retirement dream.

Sharon had already begun to change. Ever since Karon joined Winterwolf, Sharon’s dominance had been noticeably reduced.

She might refuse the position now, but someday she might change her mind…

"Well, if I retire, what would I even do?"

Horace decided to give the next generation a little more time to prepare. All he needed to do was to keep reviewing the tactics from his office, offering the wisdom accumulated over the years to his juniors.

I’m a little bit awesome.

So, Horace returned to his office and began working through the pile of paperwork.

"……Who would be good as the guard personnel?"

Before long, the Imperial Ambassador’s return was nearing.

"Hey, Karon. Why the long face?"

"Oh, brother. It’s nothing."

"What's going on? Tell me, I’ll listen."

Since the Calcas incident, Count Luktis had avoided making eye contact with me. Every time our paths crossed, he turned away with an embarrassed expression.

This old man…!

No matter how much I tried to talk to him, Count Luktis only sent me strange glances without a word.

Damn it.

His time had mercilessly passed by.

In a last-ditch effort, I volunteered to accompany him on his return journey to the Eastern Kingdom.

After stopping the Eastern Kingdom’s plot, I had enough reason and justification, and more importantly, I couldn’t just let the golden opportunity slip away.

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