Chapter 68
Chapter 68
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Translator: Ebonarch
Chapter: 68
Chapter Title: Making a Double Agent (3)
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The Holy Knights Order had clearly been informed that the monsters were dormant.
So they had confidently deployed only a small elite force into Berryhill Forest.
"Dormant my ass...!!"
"Captain, we need to retreat! There are three Wendigos in the forest!!"
In reality, the woods were crawling with beasts that took dozens of knights just to hold off.
"Everyone, retreat! Reform your formation after shaking off the monsters!"
The Second Holy Knights Order Captain, Eleanor.
The red-haired woman shouted urgently.
Krrruk!!
Caaaw―――!!
However, those cries weren't just for human ears.
From the harpies blotting out the sky to the keen-eared owlbears.
Every creature began pursuing them like mad.
"Schwein, you bastard...! This report is completely off!"
"This isn't the time to worry about that, Captain! We've cleared a path—hurry and escape the forest!"
The endless dense northern woodlands stretched on.
But the real terror here wasn't the invisible exit.
"First Platoon's holy power has vanished...!"
"Second Platoon too...!"
"They were all taken out by a woman with long black hair."
"She cleaved dozens of massive trees in a single strike—we couldn't even touch her!"
Reports of missing subordinates echoed from all directions.
It was squeezing her throat tighter than any unseen path.
"This place is hell... I knew we shouldn't have come to Anje's territory!"
"A Wendigo's chasing from the rear! At least you, Captain... Kraaak!!"
Screams erupted from right behind her.
Eleanor clamped her lips shut and ran toward the distant light.
"Haa... Haa..."
The red-haired knight finally burst out of the forest.
She collapsed onto the ground, gasping for breath.
"I barely made it out."
She turned back to the dense woods she'd escaped alone.
'Did Schwein betray us? It feels like he fed us false intel to lure us into a trap.'
Eleanor's mind raced.
She decided to first calmly survey her escape point.
'A vegetable patch out here?'
One tidy garden stood in stark contrast to the monster-infested forest she'd just fled.
She cautiously walked the unnaturally peaceful land.
Then, she furrowed her brow at an incomprehensible sight.
In this dangerous area, an old man in a straw hat was serenely sowing seeds.
"Excuse me, sir...!! Are you a local resident?"
The man, bent over at the waist, looked up.
An astonishingly tall figure emerged, hard to believe belonged to an old man.
"That's right. What brings you here?"
"This is a dangerous place. All sorts of horrors lurk here—you need to evacuate..."
She was renowned among the Holy Knights for her kind heart.
Even in her own peril, she prioritized evacuating civilians.
"Horrors crawling around?"
"Yes, you must run—now."
Despite Eleanor's urgent pleas, the farmer remained utterly relaxed.
He even crossed his arms behind his back and gazed at the forest she'd fled.
"Is that so? Look closer—they're kinda cute, in their own way."
"Pardon...?"
The monsters that devoured her men were cute?
The red-haired knight stared in disbelief.
"I take walks in that forest all the time, and nothing's ever happened. I even leave snacks, and they eat 'em right up."
"Do the monsters... pick and choose their targets?"
Eleanor asked incredulously.
The plain farmer approached slowly as he replied.
"Exactly. If those guys came charging at you like that..."
The closer he got, the more oppressive the man's face seemed under his straw hat.
As if he were the godfather of some vast shadowy cabal.
"It looks like you're an enemy of our prison."
Prison.
That word drained the light from Eleanor's eyes.
"What?"
Only then did she notice the grand prison sprawling behind the garden.
Worn and dingy, yet exuding a sinister aura.
"Convenient that you came right to us. Saves my men the trouble."
Soon, knights in black uniforms appeared from afar in the garden.
Eleanor knew exactly who they were.
Leon Empire, Council Elite Guard Knights.
Leon Empire, Tax Agency Elite Guard Knights.
All upper-class Sword Experts.
Individuals rivaling Holy Knights captains emerged in this ridiculously rustic vegetable patch.
"Th-they're supposed to be the capital's top powerhouses..."
But the prison's defenders weren't just them.
"Haa... Sir, couldn't you have sent a few men to help?"
The Sword Sage of the East returned from the forest, yawning.
She dragged a pair of unconscious Holy Knights by the arms.
"Heh heh, sorry about that. But I caught the big boss, didn't I?"
The old man pointed at Eleanor like a fisherman proud of his prize catch.
Only then did the knight realize the old man was also a prisoner.
She frantically scanned for another escape route, but...
"We've got this side secured too. Now we can ask the Warden for extra rations, right?"
From the opposite direction approached powerhouses she knew all too well.
Fred and Nix, the Holy See's secret experiments.
"Haha... This has to be a joke."
The Second Holy Knights captain collapsed amid the encroaching shadows.
She squeezed her eyes shut in the face of approaching dread.
"Stay put a moment, little one. You'll feel better soon."
With the kindly old man's words, Eleanor lost consciousness.
She was soon dragged off somewhere.
Berryhill Prison, underground cells.
The temporarily shuttered facility was back in operation after a long hiatus.
Drip... Drip...
Water leaked from the ceiling.
The damp, gloomy atmosphere would depress even the stoutest soul.
"Ugh..."
"Stop... Please, someone turn off that singing..."
Holy Knights groaned from various cells.
Thankfully no fatalities, but they were all half out of their minds.
"...What happened."
Eleanor finally opened her eyes.
She realized she and a dozen subordinates were locked in the same cell.
'Thank goodness—they're just unconscious. They took our gear, but no signs of torture.'
The captain swallowed hard.
Why spare us?
Anje had once slain even the Three Great Holy Knights without hesitation using monsters.
What wind had blown to let us live?
'No way... They don't plan to make us do that, do they...?'
Cold sweat beaded on the red-haired knight's forehead.
A scene from a novel she'd recently read matched her situation too perfectly.
"Want to save your men? Then our captain needs to do a little work for us."
A sleazy noble blackmailing a knightess.
In the end, to save her subordinates, the knight served the lecherous man's whims.
The prison warden, Derek Minster, was infamous for his sleazy looks.
Even notorious Anje obeyed him meekly in captivity.
'Come to think of it, Anje's imprisoned underground too—where? Don't tell me she's being... trained...'
A huge fan of the rising author 'Eri,' her mind spiraled into delusions.
At that moment.
Creeeak―――.
Clicking heels echoed from afar.
Soon.
"......"
Eleanor was certain her fears were true.
"You all must be exhausted getting here."
Anje Renault, who defied even archbishops with her arrogance.
The woman like a blood-red full moon...
"No way, is that you, Anje...?"
Had appeared before them as a vulgar, lewd maid.
"Have you forgotten my face already? I guess I spoiled you all too much."
Her elegantly long hair was now twin tails like handlebars.
Her red dress had become a dizzying miniskirt, baring thighs as voluptuous as the goddess of the earth.
"I'm hurt. I told them to bring you alive."
Eleanor covered her mouth at Anje's drastic change.
"What happened to you? Why are you dressed like a vulgar servant?"
"Vulgar? I like this outfit."
"Don't lie. You're being deceived. What did the warden do to you?!"
"...?"
Anje tilted her head.
The Holy Knight before her seemed driven more by some weird emotion than fear.
"What do you mean, 'do to me'? Do I still look weak to you?"
"Then you submitted willingly? What kind of training did they put you through..."
Anje furrowed her brow at the bizarre questions.
"Did a monster hit her head or something?"
The white-haired maid crossed her arms alone.
As if she had no issues whatsoever.
"Unbelievable. Submit to who? I'm fine."
Soon, the underground corridor door opened again.
Anje's haughty gaze softened.
"Anje, checked their faces?"
And...
She wore a vulnerable expression she'd never shown the Holy See.
"Any familiar ones?"
"Yeah, Holy Knights who bound me before. That red-haired captain's an upper Sword Expert."
'???????'
Eleanor snorted at the red saintess's dreamy look.
Utter confusion at what she was seeing.
"Seeing them after so long is making me dizzy. My mana was already low."
No, what kind of man turns Anje into this?
The red-haired knight straightened up, glaring at the approaching black silhouette.
The moment she saw the face emerge from the shadows.
"Really? Sorry, for dredging up painful memories."
Her lips gaped at the scumbag noble's face—exactly like the illustration from her favorite novel.
'The demon of confinement and training...!!'
"Can I lean on you? Old memories are scary."
The twin-tailed maid—once a calamity, the red saintess.
She weakly leaned on a man far weaker than her.
"What did you do to the saintess, you...?"
"Oh, this? It's a form of 'punishment.'"
Punishment by turning her into a sex slave?
Typical Minster—caught using aphrodisiacs.
"Dirtier than the rumors. Anje might've been bad, but she wasn't lewd!!"
Her thighs trembled at the thought of suffering the same.
But.
"...?"
'What is this woman talking about?'
I couldn't fathom the furiously indignant knight's stance.
They attacked us—why were they outraged?
"Anje, stand behind me for a bit?"
"...Okay."
The white-haired maid softly pressed against my back.
Her arms soon wrapped around my waist.
But I was too focused on the prisoners to notice.
"You'll be interrogated by incoming Imperial Knights. Handed over to them."
"What do you plan to do to me before then?"
Agh, as if I'd do anything!!
"Haa... Warden Derek, staying down here is making me all fuzzy-headed."
"Yeah? Let's head up. Imperial Knights from the palace will arrive soon."
As we walked away, Eleanor cried out desperately.
"Wait!! Free Anje, you filthy Satan!!"
I ignored her and supported Anje.
By the time we reached the first floor.
I locked eyes with Myoran waiting in the hall.
With Anje in maid garb clinging tightly to me.
"......"
Myoran eyed Anje with narrowed gaze.
But the twin-tailed maid kept her innocent expression.
Those without holy power couldn't gauge her true state.
"Can you carry me to my cell?"
"That bad? Better call a healer."
"No, lying down a bit should fix it. My legs are just weak—stay with me."
"Got it."
As Anje passed Myoran, she flashed a chilling smile.
The 19-year-old girl caught it and widened her eyes.
"That bitch...?"
The fragile, protect-worthy woman—opposite of herself.
And the kindly warden aiding her.
The Sword Sage's eyes twitched beneath.
But she wasn't the only one deeply unsettled.
Northern palace, informed of the prison incident.
"Derek was involved in something like that?"
Even a woman with no reason to visit the frontier outpost was stirred.
"But there's a problem."
"What is it?"
An Imperial Knight stationed nearby whispered.
The moment Princess Camillia heard it.
Her blue eyes darkened completely.
"So, Derek's making his prisoners work as lewd maids?"
The Minster family, infamous for lust.
Even their youngest satisfying hidden desires.
"Interesting. Proposes to me, then pulls this behind my back."
The empire's dark lioness rose.
She reached out—distant grand Landruin flew to her hand.
"Should've never raised a snake outside, huh?"