Knox's Darkest Secret
After the night shift ended, Senior Bono asked as I headed somewhere other than the dormitory.
“Rookie, where are you going?”
“I have somewhere to stop by before I sleep.”
“Really? Whatever it is, finish it quickly and get some rest. I heard you were seriously ill.”
“Yes, I will. Thank you for your hard work, Senior Bono.”
“Yeah, sure.”
I stood there a moment to confirm that Senior Bono was heading toward the dormitory, then started walking.
It was an unfamiliar path I had never taken in the past year, when my life consisted of traveling only between the outpost and the dormitory.
“East, right?”
After walking quite a distance along the winding path beside the castle wall, a tall tower came into view, just as the seniors had described.
“It’s completely overrun with crows.”
On every branch of the towering trees, pitch-black crows sat in rows, watching me.
I hated their bright yellow eyes staring down at me as if they could actually think, despite being birds.
They reminded me of Killion Knox.
“Aren’t you all nocturnal? It’s morning now—you should be sleeping. Why are you still out here?”
The crows merely tilted their heads at my complaint, staying perched.
…Of course a crow wouldn’t actually answer.
“To think I’ve reached the point of talking to birds now.”
Shaking my head, I continued toward the tower until a gentle hill appeared.
They must have built the tower on the hill to make it easier for the messenger crows to find.
But a man was walking down the path from above.
It was still before work hours, so he must have come to send a message early in the morning.
He probably wrote a letter to his lover or something.
The memory of Senior Bono laughing at me last night as if I were a child made me frown.
In that moment, as I brushed past the man on the narrow path—
Clink.
Huh?
The familiar sound made me stop and turn around.
Could it be someone I knew?
But it was definitely a stranger.
The man must have been quick on his feet; he was already far in the distance.
“It was definitely a sound I’ve heard before.”
Contrary to my expectation that a place teeming with crows would be dirty and smelly, the Crow Tower was surprisingly clean and quiet.
If not for the unusually high ceiling and the occasional black feathers scattered about, I might have believed it was a small library.
Isn’t it narrower than it looked from outside?
Thinking it seemed a little strange, I stepped farther inside. Behind a wide counter, a woman who had been busily writing something looked up with a bright smile.
“Welcome. Are you here to use the messenger crow service?”
“Ah, yes. How much does it cost?”
“Oh my, you must be new.”
How could she tell?
It had already been about a year since I joined Knox, but perhaps my clothes looked brand new?
As I checked my uniform—dotted with white ash from sitting by the campfire all night—the Crow Tower staff apologized.
“I’m sorry if that came across as rude.”
“It’s not that. I’m not exactly new, but this is my first time using the messenger crow.”
“I see. We don’t charge any separate fees to Knox members.”
“Aha.”
So that’s where my rookie vibe had shown itself.
Still, the fact that it was free was quite surprising.
“What about long distances?”
“The same applies to long distances.”
“That’s excellent welfare.”
“However, you should keep in mind that it takes a little longer than ordinary messenger crows.”
“It takes longer?”
When I tilted my head, the staff member gave a kind smile.
“Our crows can only fly as far as the small Crow Towers scattered across each region. From there to the recipient’s home, another method is used. Also, because we bundle multiple letters and send them together, even if you leave your message with us today, it may take some time before the crow actually departs.”
After her simple explanation, she wrinkled her nose playfully and added,
“It’s all for the sake of cost efficiency.”
“Since it’s free, I don’t mind.”
It was a perfectly reasonable and valid reason.
“Of course, if you’re lucky, it might arrive faster than expected. If you tell me the name of the region you’re sending to, I can let you know when it will depart.”
“Um. That’s…”
I had come on impulse because I sensed there was something here, but now I had no actual destination for the crow.
I briefly considered writing any random address, but then a suitable candidate occurred to me.
“Is it possible to send to countries other than the empire?”
“Other… countries?”
The staff member paused, as if sending letters abroad was uncommon, but she quickly recovered her smile and answered.
“Of course. However, as I mentioned, it may take quite a long time.”
“Time doesn’t matter.”
“Then the destination is…”
“The Crollin Kingdom.”
“That is rather far.”
She nodded.
“But I didn’t prepare the letter in advance.”
“That happens when you’re in a rush! Paper and pens are prepared over there, so please use them freely.”
On the large table the staff member indicated, high-quality paper and a quill pen had been laid out.
I took a seat in a chair tucked in the corner, thought for a moment, and began to write.
To my dear Clara,
How have you been?
I’ve been doing well, so please don’t worry too much.
It’s already been a full year since I entered Knox and have been frantically adjusting.
I’m sorry for contacting you so late.
The new job is fine.
The seniors treat me well, and lately I’ve been sleeping soundly at night.
How about you?
Are the flowers in the greenhouse blooming beautifully again this year?
If you have time, please write back.
I’ll be waiting.
Hoping you weren’t too startled by the sudden letter,
Lunelk Ains.
P.S. Thanks to you, I was able to finish that long-pending task.
If it was that woman, she would immediately know who had sent it.
I blew gently to dry the ink, folded the letter, and slipped it into an envelope.
“Now, where can I find a seal…”
Beside the provided stationery and envelopes, a stamp bearing the Knox insignia had been thoughtfully prepared.
But what caught my eye was the candle placed next to it.
The candle had been lit so that wax could be dripped at any time, and it stubbornly refused to go out despite the occasional breeze.
Each time the flame flickered unsteadily, a faint white haze shimmered around the wick.
“Haha.”
Chuckling softly, I picked up the candle, tilted it over the envelope, and a heavy drop of dark green wax fell with a solid plop.
I pressed the old stamp firmly into it, then lifted it away. A clear Knox insignia emerged—complete with a crow, beak wide open.
“So that’s what it meant.”
I handed the perfectly sealed letter to the Crow Tower staff member.
“Please take good care of it. It’s very precious to me.”
“Of course! I’ll make sure it’s delivered safely—”
Unfortunately, I didn’t have time to listen to the rest of her polite reply.
There was one last thing I needed to confirm.
The Day of Earth—the final day of the deadline Killion Knox had set.
Even after night had fallen and the time for night duty to begin had passed, Senior Jake never came looking for me.
I had already used the stomachache excuse; I wanted to ask what pretext he had used to pull me from my shift this time.
I didn’t wait any longer and left the dormitory immediately.
The hallway was so quiet that the daytime bustle felt like a lie. When I reached the third floor of the main building, just as I expected, all the guards and knights had been cleared away and the office door stood wide open.
It was a scene that perfectly reproduced that night, as if mocking me.
“You’re here.”
Killion Knox, standing alone by the office window, spoke before I had even crossed the threshold.
“I didn’t want to be kidnapped again.”
At my reply, something like a smile flickered across Killion Knox’s eyes.
“You’ve been running around busily for five days. It must have been entertaining.”
He had given me an impossible mission, staked my life on it, and now he was asking if it had been fun?
As expected, Killion Knox was a bastard.
“It was… fun. All thanks to Your Grace the Duke.”
Apparently surprised by my answer, one of Killion Knox’s thick eyebrows rose.
He shouldn’t be shocked yet.
The last time I had stood in this spot, my heart had pounded with fear and rage. Today, it raced with anticipation.
The anticipation of soon seeing that arrogant monster’s face freeze in shock.
“I was quite bored, actually. I even regretted giving you a full five days.”
Killion Knox’s golden eyes gleamed with cruelty.
“So I hope the answer my member brings entertains me. If it proves disappointing—”
A large, pale hand lifted a glass containing a massive chunk of ice.
“I can simply find another form of amusement.”
Whether the member would be able to enjoy it was another question, of course.
A chill ran down my spine at the blatant killing intent he radiated.
It felt as if invisible blades were pricking my skin.
Yet the fact that it wasn’t outright murderous intent yet—only hovering around my neck like a cat toying with its prey—made it even more vicious.
“Then shall we hear it now?”
Killion Knox asked, tilting the transparent glass to his lips.
Beyond it, the smile on those smooth lips was clearly one of mockery.
No matter what answer left my mouth, he intended to kill me.
In that case, the only way for me to survive was to expose what he—and Knox—had kept so carefully hidden.
The real secret they had never anticipated would be revealed.
“The darkest secret of Knox is the Crows.”
Clink.
The ice collided with the glass in his frozen hand.
“It’s the Crows.”