Vesna's Knightly Oath
Vesna demonstrated the knight's oath before the noble and the black-haired one. I watched countless people stagger and fall, crushed beneath the sheer weight of her presence.
“To think we would actually witness a knight’s oath.”
“Gulp… I feel like I might wet myself any second…”
Isabella’s subordinates all took a hesitant step back. It was clear proof of just how highly they regarded Vesna’s power.
Her loyalty is truly remarkable.
While reading the contract, I had noticed it referenced Count Kidichi rather than Isabella. From that moment, Vesna’s behavior grew bold. She performed the knight’s oath without hesitation and swung her blade with fierce resolve. The instant she sensed even the slightest insult to her master, she was ready to stake everything. She truly deserved to be called the Count’s knight.
“If you have any complaints, I will answer them with my sword.”
“N-no complaints at all!”
“Who would dare harbor dissatisfaction toward the knight!”
Those who had seen the knight’s oath seemed to wipe their own thoughts clean. The display was that overwhelming. Everyone present confirmed that the saying—one knight equals a thousand soldiers—was no exaggeration.
“There are still remnants inside.”
“All who have raised their blades against the will of the nobility will be captured.”
“Yes!”
Vesna took the lead, and a large group followed in her wake. Not only Vera and Isabella’s subordinates, but even those who had tried to block her moments earlier joined the march.
The place we reached was an information agency with a signboard displaying a severed ear. This was the heart of the Ear organization, the focal point of all their power.
“Traitors, listen well! If you wish to avoid bloodshed, come out and surrender immediately!”
At Vesna’s powerful shout, the ear hanging from the signboard dropped to the ground. Her voice carried an unyielding conviction. The belief that she would never submit radiated from her like heat. It emboldened our allies and filled the enemy with fear. This was what it meant for a single knight to dominate an entire battlefield.
—Clunk… Creeeeak…
The door to the information agency opened, and its members began to emerge one by one.
“W-we didn’t do anything wrong.”
“We were only following orders…”
“Please, just spare us…”
The women who stepped out showed no trace of combat ability. They were clearly only tasked with handling information.
“Your crimes will be judged personally by Baroness Isabella, rightful owner of this territory.”
“Hic…”
“Understood…”
We detained every one of them. Yet the most critical figure—the boss who should have been inside the agency—was nowhere to be found.
“Rather underwhelming for an organization with the Ear’s reputation.”
“Hmm… It seems the rest have already fled.”
“There shouldn’t have been time for that…”
All stairways and passages had been secured. The girl who tried to escape through the general store had probably reacted the fastest.
“Hey! Where is your boss!”
Isabella’s subordinates approached the women who had exited the building.
“We really don’t know…!”
“We were only ordered to defend this place to the end.”
“They all left! It wasn’t long ago…”
They waved their hands desperately, insisting they had no idea.
“Then she must still be somewhere in this underground network…”
“Hiding like a little rat, I suppose.”
The underground passage was long if it was long, short if it was short. I hadn’t seen any obvious hiding spots on our way here.
“This is my area of expertise.”
Syucali stepped forward with confidence.
“Can you track her?”
“Yes, Master.”
Being a rogue gave her a natural edge in pursuit. Since she had built her reputation as a C-rank adventurer primarily through tracking requests, I felt comfortable trusting her here.
“Just follow these footprints. Ah?”
“Is there a problem?”
“It’s a classic thief tactic. They deliberately gathered people to obscure their own tracks.”
“I see.”
As Syucali pointed out, there were additional footprints mixed with those of the women who had exited the building. But because we had arrived so quickly, the tracks were muddled and impossible to follow clearly.
“So that’s why they used the crowd to buy time.”
“She must have known she would fail.”
“Exactly. The goal was to gather people to conceal their escape route.”
They had definitely slipped away during the brief moment Vesna had paused.
“She couldn’t have gone far. We were blocking the gambling den…”
“Then we just need to search thoroughly between the gambling den and this building.”
“That’s right! As expected, you really do have the instincts of a thief~”
We bound the women from the information agency and turned back. The building itself was already empty, so we only needed to examine the area between the two structures Syucali had mentioned.
“Those worthless bitches. They saved only themselves and abandoned everyone else.”
“In the end, the Ear isn’t much different from common bandits.”
“True. If they were true nobles, they would have faced us head-on in a fair fight.”
The Ear was already finished. The moment Baroness Isabella appeared, they chose to grab whatever they could and flee or hide. It proved they were never meant to become a truly powerful organization. At the same time, it highlighted just how capable Witch Myu truly was. She had taken this disorganized rabble, shaped them into a major information network, and developed the village to this degree. The witches hadn’t toppled the black-haired royalty and seized their position for nothing.
“Mmm~ They went this way?”
Syucali’s eyes swept across the countless overlapping footprints.
“Weren’t they impossible to see?”
“They’re hard to see, but I can still find them~ Looking at the size, the scattered pattern, and the reverse direction, these shoe prints probably belong to the boss.”
As expected from someone who specialized in tracking requests. To pick out a single set of prints amid that chaos was impressive.
“Well done.”
I extended my hand and helped her to her feet.
“They walked straight down the central passage… exited here… then stuck close to the left wall the entire way.”
“Understood.”
As Syucali followed the tracks, everyone moved behind her—including upper-rank knight Vesna.
“The footprints end here.”
“Looks like there’s a secret passage.”
—Step, step…
“As expected of a witch’s follower. They do love their games of hide-and-seek.”
Vesna stepped forward and drew her sword. Syucali and I moved aside as she swung.
—Whirr… Slice!
She cut through the wall where the footprints stopped as easily as slicing tofu, revealing the hidden passage.
“There was another path in the underground network…!”
“This is unbelievable…”
“Ugh… They threw us to the wolves and ran.”
When the secret passage appeared, even those who had still held some faith in the Ear looked bitterly disappointed. This was likely the moment suspicion became cold certainty.
“We will pursue the criminals who insulted the nobility to the bitter end.”
“Yes, Knight!”
We raced down the secret passage. We had no idea where it led, but we eventually reached its end.
“Master, this is a villa.”
“…So it was here after all.”
Eos, who could perceive spaces, spoke first. The end of the secret passage opened into the witch’s villa.
“This settles it.”
—Shing!
“The Ear must face judgment.”
Vesna drew her sword and climbed the stairs, revealing the villa’s basement.
“Witch followers are inside the villa! Capture them all!”
“Let’s go!”
“Seize the witch’s followers!”
With a thunderous battle cry, we surged upward.
“You’re late?”
“Huh?”
“Oh dear…”
“Baroness?”
The one waiting for us was Isabella. Beside her stood Vesta, along with several Ear members collapsed on the floor, drooling from the effects of sorcery.
“It seems the Baroness anticipated this.”
“I figured that if you stirred that side, they would come running here.”
Isabella answered Vesna’s words with absolute confidence. Everything had unfolded exactly as she predicted. Now that I thought about it, I remembered what Vesta had said when we crossed paths in the inn corridor. The information about extracting the red ratman’s soul from the villa and transferring it into a man’s body. I had asked if that wouldn’t be dangerous. Vesta had replied that they were actually counting on it.
“You set the trap perfectly.”
“I assumed that if the witch and the Ear were connected, there would be at least one secret passage leading to the villa.”
Isabella looked down at Juri, the Ear’s bodyguard, who was pressing her forehead to the floor.
“So she was the boss.”
“It seems Kang Seo-ja already knew?”
“I wasn’t certain, but I had my suspicions.”
The Ear had been operating under the witch’s orders. That meant the people gathered here would be those who followed instructions well. The clever ones had probably been dealt with by Myu. What remained were obedient types like Juri.
The reason I began suspecting Juri was her reaction when I demanded an artifact as compensation. I had told her that obtaining an artifact capable of breaking the seal would take considerable time. She had responded as if she were the one in charge. The attitude of casually promising to provide such a rare and valuable item immediately. That was when I first wondered if she might be the boss.
“What a shame.”
“Urgh…!”
Juri clenched both fists tightly in humiliation at the sound of my voice.
The Ear organization, which had gripped power over the farming village, collapsed today. Baroness Isabella filled the resulting void and became its new ruler.
“They were witch followers?”
“I heard they deliberately lured monsters in…”
“Disgusting. They turned people into monsters!”
“Are those things even human?”
“Crazy bitches!”
“Filthy dogs!”
A burning stake had been erected in the village square. The bodies of the organization members and their executives hung from it, screaming.
“I will never again allow this village to act according to the witch’s will.”
With Isabella’s speech, the flames roared upward.
“Kyaaaaack!!”
“Save meee!!”
Every last member of the Ear was consumed by fire while the crowd hurled curses and objects at them. I could feel Isabella’s authority rising with the flames. The next time she visited, she would no longer be treated as a mere merchant but honored as a baroness.
After finishing her address, Isabella walked toward me with Paula.
“It’s finished.”
“We should return to Cashu Village soon.”
“So you intend to make Cashu the central hub.”
“Yes. It’s the first village where I began my life as a merchant.”
Baroness Isabella seemed determined to govern the Tygon Territory with Forest Village Cashu as its heart.
“Thanks to you, we were able to clean up Kron Village—the biggest problem.”
“It was nothing.”
“It was everything. Things went so smoothly because you prepared the witch in such an entertaining way.”
“You were the one who took advantage of the situation, Isabella.”
“Hehe… And knowing that, you still let Vesta slip out of the villa, didn’t you?”
“I expected Vesna, but I didn’t anticipate you would come as well, Isabella.”
“Hehe~ You always act like you don’t know anything, but it’s honestly so cute I could die~”
Isabella smiled at me. I averted my eyes from that smile. My gaze landed on Juri, who stood beside Vesta with a gloomy expression.
“Juri will prove useful.”
“After hearing you speak, I realized I do need an informant working under me. We still have to handle the remaining Ear remnants in other villages.”
“She’s good at carrying out orders. Of course, you’ll need to offer her some carrots as well.”
“Should I send you to her at night?”
“…As you command.”
“Hehe, I’m only joking. Why would I give you to her? You’re mine.”
Baroness Isabella patted my back affectionately before walking away.
“We will prepare through tomorrow and depart for the forest village.”
“Understood.”
Paula followed after her mistress with those final words. Once the two had moved off, I turned my head toward the distant spot where Syucali and Vera were chatting noisily.