In the dungeon below the temple where the royal knights were located, Heimos, who had not fallen asleep in the middle of the night, was thinking about something while bowing his head and suddenly frowned.
Immediately afterwards, he sneezed heavily.
strangeness.
You have the flu
But don't you feel that way
Heimos thought strangely, rubbing his nose.
He had no idea that Garlan, who had woken up from a dream with a blushing face and scolded him for being a rogue, was now angrily wrapping himself in a quilt, even burying his head in it, forming a round ball on the bed.
The boy who had wrapped himself up in the quilt was sulking and prayed not to have this dream again, and finally fell asleep again.
The long golden hair spread out on the snow-white bed, and the soft moonlight fell on the boy's still childish sleeping face like fine silver.
In the courtyard outside, the stone statue of the star goddess Isdar, bathed in starlight, still stands quietly above the fountain.
The faint sound of splashing water was hidden in the warm night wind blowing past.
…
On the second day, the weather in the king city of Aaron Landis was always sunny, and the light shone on the earth.
The King City, which had been quiet all night, had already become bustling at this moment, and there were loud voices everywhere.
Early in the morning, Garland took Kaihos to the gate of the temple where the Royal Knights were stationed.
Just when he arrived, the knight commander who received him last time was leading a group of knights, wearing red armor and wearing a sword on his waist, it seemed that he was going to the palace of King Camos.
One of their most important tasks is to guard the palace of King Camos and the treasure house in the inner courtyard of the palace.
When he saw Garland, the knight commander turned around and asked his subordinates to stand in place, and then stepped forward to bow slightly to Garland.
Just like last time, it was still an expressionless face.
Garlan raised his head slightly and asked the knight commander to straighten up.
"Prince Garland, do you want to see Prince Heimos?"
The knight commander came to a conclusion on his own.
"Please wait a moment, I will arrange a colleague to take you in."
Garland shook his head.
He said: "No, I am not here to see Heimos this time, but to see your head of the Sarge."
The Royal Knights are independent of all armies, and their number fluctuates around one hundred.
The supreme commander is called the head of the regiment.
Under the commander, there are four to five subordinate knight commanders.
The knight commander was silent for a while, then nodded.
"I see, please wait."
He turned around and said a few words to a knight behind him. Then, the knight led the team to perform the mission, and he took Garlan into the gate of the temple.
In the main hall of the temple, stood two huge statues.
Shamash, the sun god, and Nanna, the night god.
The knights of the Royal Knights worship both of these two main gods enshrined by the royal family of Aaron Landis.
The temple as a whole is made of white stone, and the overall appearance is simple and elegant, and the age seems to be quite long, with traces left by the knights of the past dynasties.
There is nothing luxurious in the interior, and there are very few decorations, giving people a simple and heavy feeling, and some indifference.
The knight commander led Garlan through the hall and came to a spacious room.
"Please wait here."
he said, then turned and left.
Garlan sat down and surveyed the room a little.
This is supposed to be the living room, but aside from the dark and heavy curtains, and the dark wooden long table and chairs, there are almost no decorations.
The large wooden lattice windows were open, and looking out the window, there were almost no flowers and plants in the courtyard, but lush evergreen trees. He also saw a knight in inner armor sweeping leaves in the courtyard.
"Cajus."
"Yes."
The blond knight standing behind Garlan smiled and lowered his head in response.
"Speaking of which, since we came in, it seems that we haven't seen a servant?"
"Yes, Your Highness, the Royal Knights do not use any maids and attendants, except that the food is delivered by special people, other things, whether it is daily life or cleaning, including feeding horses, maintaining armor and weapons, etc., they all You have to do it yourself to hone yourself.”
"...how does it feel like they live like ascetic monks..."
Garlan couldn't help but muttered softly.
"what did you say?"
"Well, I'm just saying, they're pretty strict with themselves."
Garland hurried over.
In Aaronlandis, there is no such thing as an ascetic.
"Yes, the members of the Royal Knights have always been extremely self-disciplined. They are not tempted by any outside world and stick to themselves, so as to ensure that their loyalty to the royal family will not be shaken by anything."
Just as Garlan and Kaihos were talking, someone walked into the parlour.
It was a burly and powerful middle-aged man with a square face and a straight nose, wide eyebrows and broad face, and a rather tough outline, giving him the handsomeness of an adult man.
He has short curly black-brown hair and a light stubble around his mouth, and he is quite tall.
The commander of the Royal Knights, the head Sage.
When he walked in front of Garlan, there were two knight commanders behind him.
The knight commander who brought Garlan in has disappeared. Perhaps after reporting to the captain, he went straight to fulfill his mission.
The head of Sarge glanced at Gallan expressionlessly, bowed slightly and saluted, almost exactly the same attitude as the knight commander just now, showing no emotion.
"Prince of Garland."
After a little bow and salute, Sage raised his head.
"Excuse me, what do you have to do with me?"
He said straight to the point.
"If you want me to release Prince Heimos, I'm sorry, I can't agree, and I have to wait for King Camos to come back and give me an order to release him."
As soon as he opened his mouth in an indifferent tone, he pointed directly at the core and blocked the words.
The head of Sage, who has never communicated with anyone for a long time, is like this no matter who he talks to, even King Camos is no exception. At most, he will have a little more respect.
Garlan sat on the seat and looked up at the head of the Sage who was standing in front of him.
"What if I had to make you release Heimos now?"
"Prince Gallan, you do not have the power to make me obey."
The head of the Sage Pavilion pushed back unceremoniously.
Garlan thought for a while, then asked, "Can I see the remains of those two knights?"
"Please forgive me for refusing, Your Highness, even if you have a noble status, you are not qualified to desecrate the remains of my subordinates at will."
The head of Sage replied with a cold tone.
"I didn't mean that, I just wanted to find out the real murderer who killed them."
This time, Sage didn't even bother to say anything, just glanced at Garlan.
And the two knight commanders who followed behind Sarge also pursed their lips or frowned.
The meaning in that glance, as well as the facial movements of the two knight commanders, made Garlan understand the attitude of the captain, or the entire knight order, towards him.
Although the royal knights have never shaken their emotions due to foreign objects, they are still angry about the murder of their companions who have been in and out with them for many years.
Therefore, they are quite resistant to wanting to help the 'murderer' in their eyes to exonerate themselves.
It is only because they are princes that they maintain their superficial respect.
For these people who have already identified the 'fact' in their hearts, it is of no use to continue talking.
Because they don't believe in themselves at all.
… no solution anymore.
Garland sighed inwardly.
Then, he turned back and glanced at Kaijos behind him.
Receiving Gallan's signal, Kaihos nodded slightly.
Garlan turned his head, put his hand on the armrest of the seat, and stood up, as if to get up and leave.
Naturally, the leader of Sarge, who thought that Prince Garlan had understood his attitude and planned to leave, took a step back and gave way to the road in front of Garlan.
As soon as Sage stepped aside, the two knight commanders behind him were naturally exposed.
When they saw the head of the regiment take a step back, they also followed.
However, when they had just lifted one foot and had not had time to take a step back, suddenly, the blond knight who had been standing quietly behind the prince since he came in here suddenly leaned over and charged towards them.
It was as fast as a gust of wind.
In just a blink of an eye, Kaihos had already rushed in front of the two of them and attacked them directly.
The two knights raised their hands to fight back in shock.
However, their combat effectiveness was much worse than that of Kaihos, Kaihos took advantage of the unexpected, almost when they hadn't reacted, Kaihos twisted the arm of a knight commander, As soon as he tried his best, he slammed it onto the stone ground with a thud.
Immediately afterwards, he turned around and kicked the other knight commander's chest heavily, kicking him to the point of groaning and staggering back.
Before the knight commander could stand firm, Kaihos had already dodged behind him, raised his hand and hit him hard on the back of the neck, knocking him down to the ground at once.
In less than a minute, the two knight commanders were brought down to the ground by Cayhoes.
Anger suddenly appeared on the face of the head of the Sage.
"Prince Garland, what do you mean!"
he asked angrily.
"Means nothing."
Garlan said, with a swish, he drew a sharp dagger from his waist.
He stretched out his hand and pointed the dagger downwards, pointing at the knight commander controlled by Kaihos.
Under the glare of the head of Sage, Garlan just put the tip of the dagger against the forehead of the knight commander, and smiled slightly at Sage.
"Head of the Sage."
He smiled and said, "Do you think I'll kill your subordinates?"
The knight commander who was caught by Kaihos with one hand blushed with anger, disregarding the dagger pointed at his head, and tried hard to break free, but Kaihos turned his hand and knelt on the ground.
"Don't do such a stupid thing, Prince Garlan."
Sage's head sank deeply.
"We are not enemies. You don't need to do such a thing. You should know that hurting a royal knight is not a trivial matter. Even if you are deeply favored by King Camos, you will get yourself into big trouble."
As if listening to the words of the head of the Sage, Garlan pondered for a while.
Then, he smiled at Sage again.
"Then, if I quit now, there shouldn't be any big trouble, right?"
Facing this little prince who seemed to be playing childishly, Sage was even a little helpless at the moment.
He nodded and said, "Yes, Your Highness, as long as you don't hurt them, I won't even report this to King Camos."
The boy nodded.
He looked at the head of Sage with a smile, and took the dagger back.
He said, "All right, Cujoss."
After receiving the order, Kaihos immediately released his hand and returned behind Garlan.
The knight commander who was pressed by Kaihos for a long time stood up and glared at Kaihos, but the head of the Sage did not give an order, he could only retreat behind Sage and stood silently.
Sage's thick eyebrows were already wrinkled, and in his straight mind, he couldn't understand what Gallan's purpose was.
Is it to give a disgrace to the royal knights who neglected themselves and did not listen to their own words
"Head of the Sage."
Playing with the sharp dagger in his hand, Garland said, "So, do you still think Heimos is the murderer of your subordinates?"
"… What's the meaning?"
"My guardian knight easily brought down these two subordinates of yours."
Garlan's words made the faces of the two knight commanders look unsightly.
"He can control these two Knight Commanders alone, Captain Sarge, you should see that this is still Cayhooth's hand, and he is fully capable of knocking these two Knight Commanders unconscious."
Sage's face also sank.
But he also knew in his heart that the members of the Royal Knights were selected based on complete loyalty to the royal family, not force.
Therefore, the strength of the royal knights is not comparable to that of the guard knights who fought with King Camos. Not even the average knight of the guard, let alone the famous 'Knight of the Sun'.
Therefore, even if he was a little unhappy with Prince Garlan's words, he didn't say anything, it was a tacit consent.
"That is to say, Kaihos can completely subdue them without harming them."
Put the dagger back into the scabbard at the waist.
Garlan raised his head, his eyes fixed on Sage.
He said, "Captain Sarge, I don't know if you've heard that Heimos's force is not inferior to Kaijos at all."
Sage was stunned for a moment, and then his face changed, apparently finally understanding the meaning of Garlan's words.
Kaijos can subdue the two knight commanders without hurting them.
The knight commander is definitely stronger than the ordinary royal knight.
And Prince Heimos, whose force value is not inferior to Kaihos, wants to stun the two knights without disturbing them, it is even easier.
"Captain Sage, you just said it yourself, even if I am a prince, I will be in big trouble if I hurt or even kill the royal knight."
"You said just now that I shouldn't do such a stupid thing."
The young prince looked at Sage calmly and spoke clearly.
"And Heimos's purpose is just to get the military talisman. Since he can easily subdue the two royal knights, why bother to kill them and get himself into such a big trouble?"
He asked, "Do you think...he could be that stupid?"
Sage fell silent.
The two knight commanders behind him also showed thoughtful expressions.
"Head Sage, I know that you cherish your subordinates very much. Now, only by finding out the real murderer can their souls rest in peace."
Garlan looked directly at him and said, "I promise you here, I will give you an explanation as soon as possible, so please release Heimos first and let him return to the palace to recover. The injury on his hand It’s not light, if you don’t cultivate well, I’m worried that it will lead to serious consequences. Also, you can send a team of knights to the palace to guard him.”
It was a huge room, but it was extremely quiet.
The head of the Sage has been silent, although he already vaguely felt that Gallan was right, but...
After a long silence, he still shook his head.
"Prince, perhaps you are right, but this is not the law."
He shook his head and said, insisting.
"I must get a warrant from King Camos to release Prince Heimos."
"Head of the Sage..."
"I'm sorry, but I have to play by the rules."
Sage said decisively, still the same attitude of stone.
Tsk, this dead-headed head of the group.
Garlan muttered in his heart and sighed.
no solution anymore.
He thought so, and drew the dagger out again.
Sage said solemnly without blinking his eyes: "I may not be the opponent of Lord Kaihos, but even if you persecute me with your life, I will... Prince?!!"
The face of the head of Sage, who was originally serious, suddenly changed, revealing a look of shock.
Because he watched helplessly as the sharp dagger was held in Gallan's hand, dropped, and landed on Garlan's own forearm.
The blade was extremely sharp, and as soon as it was pressed, it cut a shallow slit on Garlan's forearm, and a little blood seeped out.
"Because you were arguing with the head of the Sage, you moved your hands in excitement, and then the head of the Sage accidentally hurt me in the chaos."
"Prince Garland, you—"
Facing Sago's shocked and angry look, Garlan showed him a smile as bright as the sun in the sky.
"Come on, Captain Sarge, do you choose to send a knight to send Heimos back to his palace to keep him there... Or do you choose now to let me put more strength to give myself a scar, and then wait for the king to return. Report to him, saying that you accidentally hurt me?"
"You... Prince, do you know what you are doing?"
Sage's chest was tight with anger.
"What am I doing? I'm framing you~~"
The golden eyes blinked, and Garlan said innocently and confidently, smiling brightly at Sage.
"How is it? Is it fun?"
Sage: "..."
What about the wise prince in the rumor? ! !