Chapter 49
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Translator: Ace
Chapter: 49
Chapter Title: The Child Awakens
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Cloyang let go of her tension without a shred of doubt.
'Well, it'll work out somehow.'
With Ruyan watching over her, why would she worry about something as trivial as a chimera?
At that moment, Ruyan glanced back at her.
It was the same gaze as always, but for some reason, Cloyang could feel a warmth in it.
"Cloyang, could I ask you for a favor?"
"Sure. I'll do whatever I can."
It was a brief request, but Cloyang instantly understood what Ruyan meant.
Stepping forward without hesitation, she squeezed her sunken eyes shut and clasped her hands in front of her.
"O Almighty Goddess Bella, I beseech you. Relieve the suffering from your child. Recovery!"
A white glow extended from Cloyang's hands, enveloping the child and swirling around them.
Whoooong.
Then, a dramatic change occurred.
The child's pale face flushed red in an instant, and their faint breathing steadied into a calm rhythm.
Was such rapid recovery possible with just a basic healing spell?
And then...
Flash!
The child opened their eyes.
And sat up with a start.
The curtains were drawn tight, plunging the room into pitch-black darkness without even a sliver of light.
Viscount Piron Trvente sat alone in the gloom, anxiously gnawing at his nails.
'Julr! What the hell are you doing!'
The night before, he had received a report that the Alize Mercenary Corps had safely returned to the village.
A result completely at odds with the plan.
'They said they'd handle it as long as I sent them over!'
With Julr personally stepping in, the Alize Mercenary Corps' name should have vanished from the world.
She was a 6th Circle grand mage, after all.
So what had gone wrong?
How could the mercenaries have come back alive?
Something had clearly gone terribly awry.
'This is the second time already. If things keep up like this, who knows what those mercenaries might do!'
They probably wouldn't dare point a sword at a noble, but they weren't the type to just take it lying down either.
If they were that spineless, they never would have grown this strong in the first place.
'Hoo, suppressing them would cost the knights dearly.'
If the Alize Mercenary Corps turned hostile, it would become a major headache for him.
"Damn it! If you've botched the job, at least say something!"
Unable to hold back any longer, Viscount Piron slammed his fist on the desk and bellowed.
"What have you been doing all night!"
He had drawn all the curtains and sat alone in the dim room precisely to meet with Julr.
By blocking out all outside eyes like this, Julr would sense the signal like a ghost and come running.
But not this time.
He had waited all night, yet no contact came.
'She couldn't have been taken out, could she?'
Viscount Piron briefly imagined the worst before shaking his head violently.
No way.
Julr was a cunning and terrifying woman.
He couldn't even picture her going down.
'How long do I have to wait like this!'
Viscount Piron moistened his parched lips with saliva and brought his nails back to his mouth again.
Swish.
At that instant, he sensed a faint presence behind him.
His face lighting up, Viscount Piron shot to his feet and whirled around.
"You're finally..."
About to sternly berate her, he froze upon spotting the unfamiliar visitor.
The stealthy guest was not Julr.
"Who are you?"
An intruder? The man wore pitch-black armor without a hint of shine—a knight.
'No ordinary knight.'
An overwhelming aura emanated from him, one that dared not be approached.
Just the knight's gaze looking down silently made Viscount Piron's breath catch in his throat.
"I'm sorry we have to meet like this."
The knight removed his helmet and gauntlets, stepping closer.
"I am Cage, vice-commander of the Imperial 3rd Knight Order."
"The 3rd Knight Order?"
"That's right."
"I've never heard of such a knight order..."
Viscount Piron narrowed his eyes suspiciously, scanning Cage.
He was the lord governing the north's premier city, the most influential noble in the region.
Yet even he had never heard of the 3rd Knight Order.
"We're a knight order that doesn't operate publicly. I'm only introducing myself due to unavoidable circumstances, and it's best if you leave it at that."
Cage stated only facts—even that he couldn't elaborate.
But to Viscount Piron, it sounded overly suspicious.
"You expect me to believe that?"
"If you already knew about us, I wouldn't have come here so quietly."
That was true too.
Only a handful knew of the Black Lion Knights' existence.
To put it simply, only the top figures in each class ever heard the name.
The Black Lion approached such dignitaries in just two ways:
Openly seeking cooperation.
Or killing them.
They never slipped in secretly to talk like this.
"Words are cheap. Do you have anything to prove your identity?"
"Proof..."
Cage pondered briefly before sighing in resignation and pulling out an identification token.
He wondered if it was necessary, but he'd already come this far.
"I hope you won't commit the rudeness of gripping it with one hand."
"Let me see it first."
Daring to speak of 'rudeness' to the north's top lord!
Irritated, Viscount Piron snorted and snatched the token.
But his attitude shifted in the blink of an eye.
"Ah, forgive my impertinence!"
Viscount Piron reverently cupped the token with both hands.
A massive butterfly!
The dynamic wings bore a name no lowly viscount like him could dare mishandle.
-Leonard Histamin.
The founding hero said to have been kept closer than the first emperor's own right arm.
The empire's one and only duke, a living witness to over sixty years of history.
Prime Minister Leonard Duke!
No noble in the Sobles Empire was ignorant of that illustrious name.
'Could this token be fake?'
For a fleeting moment, an irreverent doubt crept in.
But Viscount Piron quickly dismissed it.
Forging such a token was too grand a scale.
What madman would counterfeit the Histamin family crest?
No one born in the empire would have the guts.
'The 3rd Knight Order. So it really exists?'
He'd initially dismissed it as nonsense, but now he had no choice but to believe.
How could he doubt a knight holding Leonard Duke's token?
"What brings you to me?"
"The criminal I'm pursuing is hiding here. The search might get a bit noisy, so I came to ask for your understanding in advance."
Even a low-ranking local lord would bristle at strangers rummaging through his home.
The cunning 'Great Sword' knew this and had deliberately holed up in a major city.
It disrupted the search but, more importantly, exploited a stage the Black Lions avoided.
'True, up until now.'
But the damage had grown too severe to ignore any longer.
The situation had changed.
'This time, I'll catch them for sure!'
Cage resolved to flush out the 'Great Sword' without fail.
Revealing his identity to a local lord like this was unprecedented, all for this reason.
But Cage's firm determination yielded an unexpected response.
"Is there no way I can assist?"
Viscount Piron caught a sweet scent in Cage's words.
'An affair personally overseen by Leonard Duke? If I rack up merits here...'
It was a golden chance for his status to skyrocket.
Even if he couldn't claim major credit, it was no losing bet.
Just catching the duke's eye would be profit enough.
"No help needed. Just keep rumors from spreading—tighten your lips."
"How could I stand idly by when such a distinguished guest visits this backwater?"
Viscount Piron's eyes gleamed visibly even in the dark room.
Seeing this, Cage gauged the man's greed and swallowed a sigh.
'Guess I have to toss him a bone.'
Left as is, the viscount would bungle into the search claiming to help.
Better to let him delude himself into thinking he was contributing.
"If you insist, I won't refuse. Provide a few ordinary soldiers' uniforms."
"Oh! If that's the plan, it might be wise to redirect the other search parties elsewhere for now."
Viscount Piron eagerly asserted his usefulness.
Cage nearly scoffed at the pathetic display but nodded stiffly.
"Good thinking."
"I'll prepare them right away."
His response brimmed with excitement.
Cage brushed it off and turned to leave abruptly.
His business was done.
But Viscount Piron's greed was just beginning.
"That said... if you told me who you're after, I might be of even greater help."
Cage's brow finally twitched.
This was getting annoying.
'Tch. Just shut up and do as you're told.'
Still, he had to endure.
Viscount Piron was a key northern noble.
His cooperation was essential to avoid complications during the mission.
"A master who wields the greatsword with skill. Likely someone with status to travel the continent freely."
Cage muttered as if to himself, expecting nothing.
But that one remark changed everything.
"If that's the case... I know someone. Fits perfectly."
Whoosh.
Cage's form, melting into the shadows, sharpened into focus in an instant.
His retreating steps had already turned back toward Viscount Piron.
"Speak. Who is it?"
Cage's gaze fixed straight on Viscount Piron was chillingly calm.
His flat, emotionless tone was eerily unsettling.
'Wh-what kind of eyes...'
Viscount Piron flinched inexplicably and averted his gaze, a face popping into mind.
'Alize! She matches the description spot on!'
Was Alize really the target? He couldn't be sure.
But facts didn't matter now.
'Doesn't look like he'll end this peacefully.'
If the imperial side deemed it this important, they'd spare no means.
Suspicion alone would warrant execution. And with the knight order's vice-commander personally involved, failure was impossible.
'What luck!'
He could eliminate the troublesome Alize and win imperial favor in one go.
'I can even squeeze payment from Julr for cleaning up her mess.'
Three birds with one stone.
And he wouldn't have to lift a finger—the knight before him would handle it all.
"There's a mercenary named Alize."
In the end, Viscount Piron spoke.