I'm fighting Kal'tsit? Really?

It smelled burnt, with the unique stench of blood from charred meat fat.

Hinterlea's throat twitched slightly. She covered her mouth and nose with the back of her hand and followed the scent towards the lower ground.

Following this faintly discernible path, the Platinum-ranked leader of the Unarmored Alliance finally arrived at the door of an open banquet hall.

Then, she saw hell.

Dead body.

Charred, twisted, and overlapping corpses.

When a person's consciousness is still clear but their body can no longer move, they will release their inner desires without reservation, casting their gaze, senses, and everything else toward the open door that represents hope.

So when someone arrived, their desperate gazes finally met each other's eyes—even though Miss Kuranta wasn't ready.

She saw blood seeping into the carpet, embers of flame still churning within it, and the air filled with a nauseating stench of burning flesh, mixed with chunks of unburnt flesh, as if it were an altar left behind after a sacrificial ritual.

Without a word, Hintelia turned around and ran wildly toward the courtyard.

She needs air, otherwise her stomach will betray her first.

As she rushed to the center of the empty courtyard.

A gust of wind silently wrapped around her back.

--------

The door to the room was flung open with a bang.

The sound distracted Kuranta, who was aiming at the pool table, and he carelessly shot the white ball straight into the hole.

This caused his dyed hair and tail to droop limply, emitting a sorrowful sigh:

"Sigh, Platinum, I know it's not a good idea to wake you up from your vacation, but once you're done with your work, you can still enjoy your vacation—how about Sami? The luxury villas there are quite appealing."

"But how did things go before that?"

The blue-haired woman in the corner chuckled, broke off a blood-stained arrow, and threw it into the abandoned area.

The Blue Gold Society will personally take charge of the highest priority tasks, while the Platinum Society will assist the Blue Gold Society and also assign personnel to solve other problems for the board members.

For example, the reconnaissance mission we just discussed was a secondary objective.

No one truly believed that anyone in Kazimierz would be so audacious as to provoke the oldest families, nor did anyone think that the fire lit in the castle stemmed from genuine murderous intent and rage. While a member of the Overseer's Council was insignificant in the eyes of the Business Federation, they still had to maintain a semblance of respect on the surface.

The knights stationed there were first-tier warriors, whose strength was comparable to either of the two lapis lazuli warriors. While there were many ways to kill them, setting a fire in full view of everyone, awakening all the monsters inside? Shaming the oldest family?

Hey, if the Business Federation really had that kind of guts, these inverted triangles of the Unarmored Alliance wouldn't be gathered in this room.

The only remaining possibility is that they'll fight like dogs, leaving a mess behind.

Therefore, the two lapis lazuli knights' primary task was to investigate and summarize the activities of the other knight families that night—they had no idea how many valuable clues platinum could bring back.

"died."

Hinterlanda's statement was brief.

"...You weren't discovered by the Conqueror Knights? Not bad, you've improved, Little Platinum."

Qingjin Roy narrowed his eyes, remaining calm: "The board members probably don't care about this; it's just a few core members. Although it's unclear who was behind it, the mere fact that these few dead bodies reveal their private connections with the Supervisory Council... who would say anything about it? Are they going to bring this matter into the open?"

"Hmph." Another lapis lazuli, Monica, sneered: "Compared to the Unarmored Alliance, far more knights have died at the hands of knights. Don't worry about things that don't concern us; just report this matter normally."

"No."

Hinterlea shook her head, silently placing the bow on her back aside, and said, "Too many people died. People in armor were burned to the point of melting, and people in luxurious clothes were burned to ashes. I can't tell who is who. I only know that there were some in suits and some in armor."

"But basically, they're all dead."

……

The silence lasted for a long time.

This continued until their train of thought began to stall, and an unavoidable logical contradiction arose.

Because it makes no sense.

The most likely reason why those alliance members who went to the meeting died was because of the deliberate actions of the rival families, who used spies they had already planted to force the matter into the open.

The fact that the Unarmored Alliance was drawn there is the best explanation—some things, once weighed down, cannot be stopped.

But to go to this extent, to sever such a direct ties between people, cannot be explained by mere internal strife.

"Nothing happened when you came back?"

Roy's voice changed completely. He walked up behind Hinterlea, looked her up and down carefully, and then nodded to Monica in the corner.

There were no fluctuations in Originium Arts, nor were there any tracking devices. The Platinum rank must have reached a point where they hadn't been detected yet.

At the same time, the wind, imbued with the incantation, gently shifted its position on the ceiling, curling itself up.

"...Do you think someone deliberately let me leave?"

A bead of cold sweat trickled down Hinterlea's forehead—she frantically tried to recall what she had done on the way, the detours she had taken, and her movements while concealing herself in the crowd: "They think I'm valuable and need me to pass on this information, or more precisely, to get it to the ears of the Business Federation?"

"He's really quick-witted."

Roy muttered to himself, pacing back and forth. "But it makes no sense. It's a blatant conspiracy. The problem started the moment you appeared around the Brant family... It's a good thing you're so bold as to venture into the territory of a knightly family."

I really want to kill this bastard in front of me.

Hinterlea had mentally riddled the other party with bullets countless times—not only had she scouted the inside beforehand, but there wasn't a soul in sight or anyone trying to put out the fire. The way it burned and the smell made anyone who went in assume everyone inside was dead, especially since she was certainly confident in her speed.

"The business association's board of directors requires you to personally dictate the specific details, unlike usual. This is no longer a simple report."

Monique frowned and looked at Hinterlea.

She had no time to worry about anything else at the moment: "The news will spread quickly, and other people will arrive there soon. More importantly, the Supervisory Council will definitely cover up what happened inside."

The rest is self-explanatory; Cintraya understands.

"...So that intelligence is kept in the hands of only a few people, right?"

There's room for negotiation with the Supervisory Board; one director is enough.

Just as she had thought.

The phone on the table rang the next instant.

--------

In Kasimir, some say that doing something well in the workplace and gaining the appreciation of your superiors is a great opportunity that must be seized.

Hinterlea thought that statement was utterly absurd.

She never imagined that she would hear one of the three "Xuan Tie" speak again at such a particular time.

Even more outrageous was her destination—a place that was barely marked on any commercial map of Kazimierz, desolate and remote, not even frequented by regular routes, and only occasionally used by some resource mining companies for short-term ore processing.

The person she was to meet was the assistant to the chairman of Rose Newspaper Group.

She hadn't had direct contact with anyone in that position for a long time. Since giving up her status as a competitive knight and leaving the Rose Newspaper, she had tried to avoid any overlap with that part of her past relationship.

Although she said she had "left," her connection with Rose Newspapers was never completely severed; at least on the phone, she would occasionally have some contact with certain people.

So, after a whole night, when Hintraya set foot on this abandoned land, she silently made her way toward the distant mining area.

Stepping onto the ground where gravel and railway tracks intertwine, I restrained my movements and focused my attention on my surroundings.

Night fell over the lowlands, and the distant sky was tinged with a hazy glow by the neon lights of the mobile city-states. Here, however, all was silent. Even the distant wind turbines seemed to stand still, motionless on the barren land.

Keep moving forward, keep moving forward.

She finally saw a blurry figure.

A figure suspended in mid-air.

She thought that this might be some kind of strange show of force, or perhaps it was a demonstration of new equipment developed by Kazimierz Industries, or maybe he just liked to stand on high ground.

She moved closer and saw that the figure was breathing. But even though the person was breathing heavily, there seemed to be no sound in the air; even though the person was in the air, there was nothing supporting their body.

She thought to herself that she couldn't fool herself anymore.

"I haven't shot an arrow in a long time."

She heard a voice coming from behind her.

The silver Pegasus appeared beside her without her noticing, and all sounds, footsteps, and breaths seemed to vanish, not even a trace reaching her ears.

Out of the corner of Hinterea's eye, the silver pegasus quietly walked to her side, took the bow from behind her, and then took an arrow from the quiver and placed it on the string.

"I don't think the Platinum rank would miss on such a stationary target, would it?"

As he spoke softly, he raised his bow and aimed at the other man's forehead: "It's a pity that this skill is not suited to me. My level in this area has always been mediocre, better than a gun but worse than a sword."

As soon as he finished speaking, he shot the arrow in his hand directly into the sky, a hundred and eight thousand miles away from the target—it was as if he was going to shoot down a star.

Hinterlea's fingertips trembled slightly. She was about to speak, but before she could utter a word, the arrow paused slightly in mid-air.

As if adjusted to follow the wind, the arrow suddenly plummeted downwards.

——Pfft.

Blood splattered.

The arrow pierced the merchant's forehead with deadly precision, ending his life in a single breath with a cruel silence.

"That's why."

Gerald withdrew his gaze, his expression as gentle as ever, even carrying a hint of nonchalant regret. He simply smiled and handed the bow back to Hintleya: "I'm sorry, I haven't left you any way out, accomplice lady."

"If you push your prey too far, you never know what they might do. Besides, some of them are hiding in other places, and it would be really troublesome to find them one by one."

Hinterlea's breath hitched, and her fingers involuntarily tightened around the bowstring until her knuckles turned white.

My heart was pounding in my ears, as if I were trapped in a nightmare from which I could not escape.

“Kazimierz may not be very welcoming to you for a while,” Gerald continued, his tone gentle, seemingly oblivious to her stiffness. “But that’s alright. It doesn’t mean you’re out of options. You always have other choices.”

“I can listen to you for a while about the orders and instructions the Business Federation gave you. Then I’ll give you a break, unlike your bosses who make you do work you don’t really want to do during your vacation.”

"But now-"

Tianma casually took another arrow from her quiver, rubbed the shaft with her slender fingers, nocked it on the bowstring, and gently placed it in her palm.

“Let’s take it slow and aim carefully. At least you’re still a Platinum member of the Unarmored Alliance.”

His voice was very soft, almost a whisper in her ear.

Hinterlea's breathing became increasingly erratic, her pupils contracted, and her fingertips trembled uncontrollably.

But she didn't let go; her muscle memory reacted faster than her brain, and she obediently drew back the bowstring.

"Three, two, one, take a deep breath."

"Snapped."

Another arrow pierced the merchant's heart.

Chapter 3: We'll set off after dawn (4K8)

4:41 AM, Central Kazimierz, Great Knight's Street, June 16, 1097 Terra Calendar.

The candlelight flickered.

Viviana Droste, the "Candle Knight," had always had the habit of reading at night, but she had never before considered staying awake all night, not falling asleep until the next morning.

The neon lights of Kazimierz were too dazzling; even just lingering in the city would draw countless fans shining their blinding lights at her. So, the only thing she could do in the dead of night was to light a candle in her home, far from the city center, and let the flames obscure the darkness outside.

Today was slightly different. Through the window, she could see a roaring fire burning far away from his dwelling, even brighter than the candle in her hand. The noise outside grew louder, and the sound of the wind could be heard even from such a distance.

She should have gone to sleep by now, but a phone call woke her up from her exhaustion.

This communication terminal was the only modern object in the room, and it only alerted her at the moment she was supposed to transition from illusion to reality. But now, in the dead of night, it sent her a notification.

Rather than the waning enthusiasm after her long-awaited interest was interrupted, Viviana felt that other emotions were brewing in the air.

“…Please come to the Champions Wall, Ms. Viviana.”

She recognized the voice as belonging to Demian, the vice president of the Knights Guild and a member of the Supervisory Council.

An aging yet renowned knight, after a sudden retirement, returned to the Grand Knight's Domain to take up a clerical job, and being the descendant of a hero... this scenario is not surprising.

She knew that this was the result of the gradual fermentation of the night.

So the Candle Knight got up and headed toward the center of the Grand Knights' territory.