Chapter 36

Episode 36. For Sephira (2)

Keter’s guess was accurate.

The Lunar Knight Order in the Archive supports Leganon.

His character, beliefs. And even…

‘His plans as well.’

Gant, the captain leading the 4th Division of the Lunar Knight Order, spoke with concern as Leganon’s closest confidant.

“Will the Lord be shaken by Keter’s disappearance? Catherine is a solid candidate for the Seven Stars, so of course, he will be furious. But Keter has only been with the family for two days. With no interaction, perhaps the grief will be less.”

Leganon nodded.

“Basil clearly separates public and private matters. Yet he forgave Keter for causing trouble and even assigned him a mission. It’s a more lenient treatment than even his own son. If Keter, whom he cherishes so much, goes missing, he will likely deploy the Lunar Knight Order to find him.”

“But he won’t find him. Keter has gone to a place where no one can find him.”

“It bothers me that we can’t send Catherine first, but Keter is just a clueless child. We shouldn’t involve him in our crisis.”

“Yes. He doesn’t know how terrifying noble society can be, acting recklessly. He doesn’t belong here.”

“In a way, Keter has helped us. The Baydant family has requested that we deal with Keter. We can demand more from them in return.”

The Baydant family, a spear-wielding house, aims to pull Sephira from its prestigious position and take its place.

Leganon made a secret pact with Baydant. He would make the Sephira family voluntarily give up its ‘prestigious’ name and recommend Baydant as the next prestigious family.

In return, Baydant agreed not to threaten the Sephira family’s survival.

Baydant had the power and political influence to do so.

“From Baydant’s perspective, they’ll think we’ve agreed to their request. But I’m not sure if the Beastmen under the elder have the strength to subdue the Mana Arrow shooter…”

Gant mentioned an unexpected name.

The Beastmen.

They are a rarer race than Elves and Dwarves. The fact that such a race was hiding in Sephira’s shadow was astonishing.

The Lilian Kingdom is extremely hostile to non-human races. Even Dwarves and Elves, who closely resemble humans, are not well-regarded, and Beastmen are treated as monsters.

In fact, the Beastman hiding in Leganon’s shadow was from the ‘Birang Tribe,’ one of the ‘Seven Evil Tribes’—the seven Beastman tribes that once attempted to assassinate the Emperor.

Capturing a Seven Evil Tribes member alive could fetch at least 1 million gold, their corpse 100,000 gold, and even reporting their whereabouts could earn 10,000 gold.

It was an astronomical sum. To the world, the Seven Evil Tribes were a stepping stone to reversing one’s fortunes.

But why was Sephira protecting the Birang Tribe? Even Basil didn’t know that a Seven Evil Tribes member was hiding in his domain.

This was all Leganon’s doing.

He had discovered a surviving Birang Tribe member by chance and helped them hide and survive.

Only Leganon and the 4th Division of the Lunar Knight Order knew of the Birang Tribe’s existence.

But Gant only knew of their existence; he had never met them and didn’t know their strength.

On the other hand, he knew the power of the Mana Arrow shooter, having seen Basil use it.

When Basil became the Mana Arrow shooter, he was invincible. A transcendent being, even godlike.

Of course, with Keter as the user, the power would be significantly reduced, but it was still the Mana Arrow shooter.

At Gant’s concern, Leganon smiled faintly and said, “No need to worry. I’ve seen their strength firsthand. Even if Keter becomes the Mana Arrow shooter, it won’t be a problem.”

“Yes, I trust you. If the elder is confident, it must be true.”

“Thank you. Without you, this plan would have been difficult to execute.”

“Not at all. It was an honor for me. You told me the plan first to save Sephira. Just thinking about it brings tears to my eyes.”

“Save your tears. We still have greater trials ahead.”

Suddenly, Gant knelt on one knee and spoke seriously.

“I hesitated then, but now I can say it clearly. The current Lord is wrong. He’s endangering everyone to save everyone. The entire 4th Division of the Lunar Knight Order, including me, fully agrees with the elder’s opinion. To gain something, we must give up something.”

At Gant’s resolve, Leganon stood up and placed a hand on his shoulder.

“Gant… I will prove you’re not wrong. Trust and follow me.”

“Yes! I will follow. To me, Elder Leganon is the true Lord of Sephira.”

It was rebellion.

Even though knights are human and can like or dislike someone, they should never betray their Lord, their reason for existence.

If they disagree, they should be prepared for exile and offer advice. Even if they don’t understand an order, they should trust and follow it. But now, Gant declared that the Lord was wrong and that he would support Elder Leganon.

Not just him, but the entire 4th Division of ten members.

Leganon suddenly remembered Keter’s words.

Had he betrayed for his daughter’s revenge?

Was his current action a betrayal of Sephira?

To this, Leganon could answer clearly.

No.

‘Basil’s neutral response will only bring ruin to Sephira.’

He had strongly advised against maintaining neutrality, but Basil didn’t listen.

Unable to let the family fall, Leganon began acting on his own to save the Sephira family.

In action alone, it could be called betrayal. He was acting against the Lord’s will.

‘If that’s betrayal, then call me a traitor.’

Olive always said she loved the Sephira family and asked her father to cherish it too.

Leganon wanted to keep his promise to his daughter, even if he was recorded as a traitor in history. So, he wanted to tell Keter:

‘I’m not betraying Sephira for revenge; I’m betraying for Sephira.’

He couldn’t bring himself to say it to Keter, but he said it to Gant instead.

“All of this is for Sephira.”

* * *

“Brother’s back.”

At Keter’s return, the two anxiously waiting people jumped up from their seats.

“What happened? Why did Elder Leganon call you?”

“Young master. You didn’t disrespect Elder Leganon, did you?”

Keter shrugged.

“He threatened me. Said if I didn’t leave the family, I’d die. So I told him, ‘You traitor! I’ll expose your dark secrets!’ and left.”

Keter answered both questions at once.

Keter had no reason to hide his relationship with Leganon. Pretending nothing happened and then saying ‘That guy did this!’ after the fact would be foolish.

‘Leganon, that old man must be pretty confident.’

Leganon’s coming out was an action that couldn’t be done without confidence and conviction. He wouldn’t think I’d keep my mouth shut.

Even though I told Luke and Jacques now, look at them. They’re looking at me with disbelief.

Luke sighed and said, “If you don’t want to tell us, fine. I’m just glad you’re back safely.”

Luke still didn’t believe Keter.

Meanwhile, Jacques muttered with a serious expression, “Did you really call him a traitor?”

“Father. If that were true, Keter wouldn’t have returned safely. It must be a joke.”

“I hope so… No matter how kind Elder Leganon is, the Lunar Knight Order is always by his side.”

At the mention of the Lunar Knight Order, Keter asked curiously, “Speaking of which, how many members are in the Lunar Knight Order?”

Luke answered, “There are six squads of ten members each. Captain Gant, who came to get you earlier, is the 4th Division captain.”

“Oh? So at least ten Lunar Knights are on Elder Leganon’s side.”

“The 4th Division is responsible for guarding the Archive… So they must be close to Elder Leganon.”

The idea of Leganon betraying was unimaginable to Luke. There were no signs of it.

Luke quickly changed the subject before Keter could start joking again.

“Since you’re back safely, we need to prepare for the mission. I’ll explain now, so listen carefully.”

“Okay. Let’s prepare.”

As soon as Keter arrived, he acted like he was about to leave, so Luke grabbed his arm.

“Where are you going right after arriving? You need to prepare with me. You’re a member of Sephira too. There will be days when you have solo missions. You need to know how to prepare. Father, I’ll go to the equipment warehouse with Keter.”

“Hmm. Be careful.”

“Huh? Of what?”

“…The young master’s pranks are a bit much.”

“Ah, my squadmates said the same. It’s fine.”

Luke didn’t want to make his father anxious.

His reputation in the family was already at rock bottom. As a knight, he had never truly excelled.

Though not related by blood, Jacques was more than a father to Luke. Currently, Luke was practically stripped of his knight qualifications.

Being a knight who can’t fight and not even fulfilling the role of a partner is no different from a parasite. It would be better to leave the family.

Keter, unaware of how cornered Luke was, said to Jacques, “Old man. The items confiscated when I arrived. Can I use them for the mission?”

“Ah, yes. You can.”

Keter didn’t come to Sephira empty-handed. He brought some equipment from Ruquer. However, most of it was confiscated during the inspection.

“Bring those to me.”

“Understood.”

“Wait a minute. I’ll go with Keter to get them. I need to know how to find them too.”

Luke stepped forward, but Jacques stopped him.

“No. I should have brought them before the young master mentioned it. This is my task, so don’t worry.”

After Jacques left the room, Keter pointed to the bathroom with his thumb and said, “I need to use the bathroom.”

“Wait. I’m 21. How old are you?”

“I’m definitely a year older than you.”

“What does that…?”

Before Luke could react, Keter went into the bathroom.

If Jacques had been there, he would have shaken his head. As someone who had fallen for the ‘bathroom’ trick before.

Left alone, Luke organized what he needed to tell Keter in his mind.

Ten minutes passed.

Luke muttered as he looked at the clock on the wall.

“Big business? Well, he did meet Elder Leganon, so he might be relaxing. I almost collapsed when I first met Elder Panir.”

Luke, with his unnecessary understanding, thought Keter might be late.

Twenty minutes later. Finally, the door opened.

Not the bathroom door, but the room door.

Jacques, carrying a wooden box in both hands, peeked his head out and said, “Luke, you haven’t left yet.”

“Ah, Keter said he was going to the bathroom. He’s a bit late. Give it to me.”

Luke, taking the box from Jacques, was surprised.

“What’s in here that it’s so heavy?”

“I thought my back would break.”

Thud!

The box should only contain Keter’s items.

Moreover, the box isn’t that big.

“This weight feels like it’s filled with iron ingots. Can I open it?”

“You’ll have to open it to organize it anyway.”

Jacques opened the box himself.

Creak.

What came out wasn’t much.

A pair of daggers and a bracelet—

And a belt with small pouches.

“Keter uses daggers, huh.”

Casually holding a dagger, Luke was startled.

“It’s incredibly heavy!”

The dagger was ridiculously heavy.

Of course, as a knight, Luke could lift it, but for a dagger to be this heavy was strange.

“Heavy? Let me see.”

As Jacques reached for the other dagger, Luke warned him.

“Father, be careful. It might be too heavy for a normal person to lift with one hand… Huh?”

Jacques lifted the dagger with ease, leaving Luke dumbfounded. Jacques was equally puzzled.

“Heavy? It feels too light, like there’s nothing in my hand.”

“Huh? Light? Oh, it really is light.”

“This one is really heavy, as you said. They look the same but weigh differently.”

“Why would he use such a heavy weapon? What about the rest?”

“The bracelet looks ordinary. The pouch… Hmm, it won’t open. There’s no lock.”

The bracelet was smooth and of normal weight. The pouch was intriguing, but it wouldn’t open.

Using force might break it, so Luke shook his head.

“I’ll have to ask Keter. As his partner, I should know about these things.”

“Hmm. He went to the bathroom, right?”

“Yes. It’s a bit rude, but with this much time passed, there’s no choice. I’ll have to hurry him.”

“Sigh, I’ve been had again.”

“Huh? What do you mean?”

“Knock on the door.”

Why is father like this? Luke, puzzled, knocked on the bathroom door and called for Keter.

“Keter, sorry, but are you almost done? How much longer do I have to wait?”

But there was no response from inside the bathroom.

Luke knocked harder this time. The bathroom was large, so if he was bathing, he might not hear.

“Keter!”

Just in case, he tried turning the handle, but it was locked from the inside.

Jacques, watching from behind, handed over a key and said, “Open it.”

“Huh? That’s a bit…”

“It’s fine. There’s no one inside.”

“Haha, that can’t be.”

Saying so, Luke took the key and unlocked the door. Inside the bathroom, as Jacques said, there was no one.

Instead, the window was wide open.

“……”

With nowhere else to hide in the bathroom, Luke silently approached the window and looked out.

Keter was nowhere to be seen.

“This is the third floor…”

Luke muttered a line he’d heard many times before.

“He’ll come back, right?”

But Keter didn’t return even after sunset.

Luke panicked, saying Keter had disappeared and they needed to find him immediately, but Jacques shook his head.

“He’ll show up.”

“But…”

“Go to sleep for now. If he doesn’t return by tomorrow morning, we’ll talk then.”

“Alright.”

And the next morning.

Keter was found breathing on his sofa.