Chapter 71
Chapter 71
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 70
Chapter Title: Phantom Thief Dauphin (14) - Plausible Excuses
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"From now on, the guard unit is pulling out of the Dauphin extermination operation."
At the order from Guard Captain Bover, the platoon leaders of Levruk couldn't hide their bewilderment.
"Pulling out? Are you telling us not to catch Dauphin?"
"We've been the ones fighting Dauphin up until now!"
Bover's eyes narrowed at the platoon leaders' objections.
Ever since arriving in Levruk, he hadn't been in a good mood. He was supposed to be back home issuing orders to company commanders, yet here he was, dragged all the way to fill in for some incompetent company commander's empty spot. It clearly grated on him.
So, without beating around the bush, he stated it bluntly.
"It's Knight Commander Sarunos's orders. He said you're just a hindrance anyway, so get out of the way entirely. Do I need to explain further?"
"……."
The platoon leaders' mouths snapped shut.
The knight commander represented the knight order. The guard captain represented the guard unit.
Though both oversaw their respective groups, the knight order—dominated by nobles—and the guard unit—made up mostly of commoners—held vastly different prestige.
Bover, as battalion commander, was no doubt unhappy with the guards being sidelined entirely, but with a direct order from the knight commander—not even a regular knight—he had no choice but to comply.
As everyone fell silent, only Dahlia quietly raised her hand.
The battalion commander reacted.
"What?"
"If the knights are handling security alone, you'll be short on manpower."
"His 'targets' are down to fewer than fifty now, aren't they? We've got exactly a hundred regular knights in the area. Assign two per target for round-the-clock protection—that should suffice."
"It's not enough."
"...What?"
"I'm saying one knight can't stop him. And with that setup, the gaps between knights will be wide, delaying any external support. Instead of waiting for him right next to the protectees, you need constant scouting and vigilance to detect Dauphin before he reaches them and call for backup."
"Hold on, hold on."
Bover cut Dahlia off, irritation twisting his face in clear confusion.
"Do you know what it takes for a squire in the Sarunos Knight Order to become a full knight?"
"Not exactly."
"There are various requirements, but the key one is this: draw out sword aura. In other words, every single one of them is a Rank 4 powerhouse."
Rank 4 talents were rare.
Even a lord in Birka with a fairly large domain—worthy of being called a city—counted himself lucky to have one as a hidden ace. The Adventurer's Guild, scraping together talents across the kingdom, had only around fifty true Rank 4s, excluding adventurer ranks.
In that light, the Sarunos Knight Order—dispatching not even all its members (though over half), but a whopping hundred Rank 4s—rightfully boasted as Birka's strongest armed force.
"You're saying those powerhouses will lose to a mere thief? That they can't even hold out until reinforcements arrive?"
"Dauphin excels at ambushes and deception. If he strikes first at a psychological blind spot, even the finest knight can't bring half their skill to bear and could fall just like that."
Dahlia took a breath, trying to persuade the battalion commander logically.
The problem was, logic didn't guarantee a listener.
Sure enough, the commander waved her off irritably, cutting her short.
"Enough. It's already decided—no whining. If you stir up trouble, I'll treat it as insubordination and punish you on the spot."
With the commander showing zero interest in continuing, Dahlia sighed inwardly.
Maybe she was worrying over nothing.
No matter what, Birka's strongest knight order wouldn't fall so easily.
Meanwhile, at the Sarunos Knight Order that very hour.
"Honestly, is this worth all of us rushing over like this?"
"The guards are incompetent—that's no secret. But hey, beats daily training. Call it a field trip."
"Tch, I thought we'd finally get to swing our swords properly. But against one thief? Should've been a bandit gang of a few hundred for some real action."
Though they honed their skills daily under the earl's support, chances to unleash that power were few and far between.
War? Sarunos was in fierce rivalry with Redbell, but they wouldn't recklessly send knights into open conflict. Not unless pushed.
Public order? That menial work was for guards, not knight orders. Why use a cattle butcher's blade on a lowly chicken?
A decent-sized bandit group might warrant consideration, but bandits had survival instincts too—they steered clear of Earl Sarunos's territory. With Birka's overall security in shambles, plenty of easier pickings elsewhere.
Escort duty? Few dared target Kingdom's top powerbroker and Rank 4 knight Sarunos himself, but even for assassination threats, mobilizing the entire three-digit knight order was overkill. Not low priority—just manpower excess.
Thus, many in the Sarunos Knight Order quietly hoped for a major battle or chance at glory.
The earl treated knights generously—no complaints there—but youthful vigor and ambition for feats were another matter.
And this mission? Frankly, boring as hell.
What excitement could there be in a hundred knights mobbing one thief?
"Still, they say he's pretty skilled. Might be fun to fight."
"Skilled or not, if he's trading blows evenly with a guard, it's obvious."
"Yeah, fair point."
Of course, these were the cream of Sarunos's elite crop.
Lack of enthusiasm aside, they were diligent with their assigned duty.
With top kingdom knights on full-time, round-the-clock protection, the targeted nobles expressed great satisfaction.
"Having knights around feels worlds safer! I've been sleepless every night till now."
"Haha, rest easy, Baron. As long as I'm by your side, no thief will dare approach."
"I'm thrilled, but aren't you in a bind? If he gets spooked and doesn't show, you can't catch him."
"Oh, good point!"
"Hahaha!"
Knights, nobles, commoners—all doubted the Sarunos Knight Order could fail.
How could proper knights lose to a thief even guards had repelled?
"...This is weird. Why does the stage feel easier after advancing? Why sideline the competent guards? Some high-level trap I missed?"
[So, give up?]
"Not a chance—phantom thief's pride on the line! If they challenge me like this, I'll hit back harder!"
About three days later.
Six remaining targets were kidnapped by Dauphin, displayed in a human pyramid. Their knight escorts were found unconscious in alleys by passersby.
The city erupted in chaos.
People have expectations.
A cheap meal from a shabby shop tasting bad barely angers anyone.
But a pricey dish from a top restaurant being awful? Outrage.
The Sarunos Knight Order's situation fit perfectly.
Kingdom's strongest force.
Minimum Rank 4 powerhouses.
Symbol of Earl Sarunos's might.
All the hype built sky-high expectations for greatness, but their results were disastrously poor.
As if fueled by the initial six simultaneous hits, Dauphin struck nearly daily, succeeding each time.
The first could be blamed on carelessness.
The second on inexperience.
By the third—toying with them—excuses ran dry.
Or rather, no one would listen anymore.
"Guards at least put up a fight. These guys are just getting steamrolled."
"They bragged about coming because guards couldn't handle it, but they're the ones botching the real job."
"Punished the guard captain half to death for 'failure,' but get off scot-free themselves. Unbelievable."
People didn't say it openly to knights' faces.
But sidelong glances and distant whispers made their fallen status in Levruk painfully clear.
"Idiotic fools...!!"
The knight commander raged.
Partly at the thief rampaging right on cue, partly at subordinates' pathetic showing.
He didn't expect miracles.
Just alert him if Dauphin came, and hold out till he arrived.
Was that so hard?
Subordinates' excuses varied wildly.
A hand from the water yanked them in; a wall turned into a person; slashed what seemed the thief, but it was a doll.
"Even a mere guard platoon leader managed it, yet my expensively trained men can't."
At the commander's lament, the vice-commander responded.
"On that note, I've uncovered something suspicious."
"Suspicious?"
"Yes. That 8th Platoon Leader who clashed fiercely with Dauphin before we arrived? She's none other than the daughter of 'Arc's Rebel.'"
Arc's Rebel.
The name sharpened the commander's gaze.
"Is that true? That man's daughter is here playing guard? How?"
"There was a royal decree pardoning rebels and associates if the traitor ended his life without resistance. She dodged execution, wandered, and settled here."
"Even so, taking the blood of a man who brainwashed peasants to turn swords on nobles into the guard? Did she hide her identity?"
"No, she confessed it herself upon joining. Older nobles eyed her warily until recently."
"Naturally. The real question is how she served openly. Who approved that idiot?"
"Uh, records say the earl happened to visit Levruk then and found it amusing, so he permitted it..."
"...Hmph. Ahem! As expected of the earl. Truly merciful."
The commander pretended his curse never happened; the vice didn't call him on it.
"So, is that guard someone the earl takes special interest in?"
"No. Early on, suspicions led to open exclusion, but years passed with no word or orders from him."
Given Earl Sarunos's preference for impulse over schemes, he might've simply forgotten her.
Grasping the situation, the commander smirked oddly.
"Quite the coincidence. Daughter of a rebel spouting peasant rights nonsense, swords at nobles' throats. And a thief rampaging for the lowly."
"Wouldn't be odd if that thief, tied to the Arc incident, honors loyalty to the rebel leader's daughter by funneling her glory."
"Terrifying. A guard meant to uphold order colluding with a thief terrorizing citizens."
It was pure conspiracy, zero evidence.
They didn't care.
To shield the proud Sarunos Knight Order from 'worse than a guard' scorn, Dahlia had to be a traitor aiding the thief for her 'honor.'
"We should contact the earl. If no special instructions for that soldier, time for the 'proper response.'"
Authority by force crumbles without fear.
To maintain it, one innocent guard's injustice meant nothing.