Chapter 193: The End of Summer, the Start of Autumn
Armand looked at the dagger stuck in the body. As he expected, it was just a plain iron knife without any fancy decorations. Not much different from the cheap ones sold at street stalls.
“Little one, are you okay?”
He walked over to the terrified Rachel and picked up his sword from the ground.
“…Ah… yeah.”
Rachel took a moment to catch her breath and stood up. She instinctively reached out her hand toward Armand’s.
Even though Rachel had already died once and had seen many people die inside the “House of Nightingales,” she still trembled in fear when that dagger nearly stabbed her between the eyes.
Armand let her hold onto one of his fingers while he took a light-blue crystal from his pocket. He rubbed it between his fingers, and a voice came from the other end. A distorted but clearly annoyed voice belonging to Carle.
【—Where did you go again instead of working?】
The crystal couldn’t show Carle’s face, but just from his tired voice, Armand could imagine his irritated expression.
“I was working,” Armand said with a grin. “Doing something important, actually. Almost came back with an achievement.”
【Hmm? What’d you catch this time?】
“Something… complicated. Just send the cleanup team. Book Market, north corner alley.”
【……】
There was a short pause from Carle, then the sound of papers flipping could be heard on his end.
【Five minutes.】
“I’ll explain everything at the knight’s headquarters later. For now, I’m taking Rachel home.”
【Got it.】
The message ended quickly. As the last word was spoken, the blue crystal dimmed, and its color became cloudy. It looked like it was close to running out of “uses.”
Compared to the Second Prince’s disposable leaf-shaped communication tools, the Knight Order’s crystals were much more durable. Armand, being someone who liked handling things himself, was very careful with them. He usually didn’t need to replace his crystal more than once every six months.
But unlike the prince’s smart devices, the knights’ crystals weren’t very advanced. There was one main crystal in the captain’s office, and the others, like the one in Armand’s hand, could only connect to it or others within a certain range. You couldn’t freely call whoever you wanted.
It was like an “internal line” that needed regular maintenance.
After putting the crystal away, Armand picked Rachel up into his arms. He let her rest her head on his shoulder and gently patted her back to calm her down.
Five minutes passed faster than Rachel expected. As she leaned against Armand and walked out of the dark alley, they were greeted by the cleanup team.
Their uniforms didn’t look much different from regular knights, but there was one small detail, besides the swords at their waists, some of them were carrying large sacks on their backs. What those were for… wasn’t exactly clear.
Meanwhile, on a raised platform in the distance, a person wearing a dark gray cloak sat casually on a railing. It looked dangerous, but they swung their legs playfully, tapping the metal bars with their heels.
“Phew… haha, you really knew what was coming,” said the old woman, gasping as she climbed up the last step of the platform. “Just from looking at that man, you knew trouble was coming. Following you… I guess that saved my life.”
The old lady was no hidden master, just someone with a slightly stronger body than most. When she saw the mysterious “buyer” leave without a word, she knew things had gone bad. So while Armand was focused on Rachel, she slipped out through another exit and followed the buyer here.
“Oh? So you’re grateful to me, then?”
The “buyer” slightly turned their head and glanced at her.
Because of the cloak, the old woman couldn’t tell if they were male or female. Even their figure was too unclear to guess.
But no matter the gender, this person was clearly dangerous.
Just chasing them up here had already worn the old woman out. Her old body couldn’t handle climbing like this trained young person could.
But since someone important had asked her a question, she had no choice but to answer. She’d just been trying to flatter them a moment ago, now she had to respond properly.
“Haha, of course!” The old lady wiped the sweat from her face and forced a smile. “Of course I’m very grateful to you!”
“Oh, really~” A light laugh followed, but it sounded a little creepy.
She stood up and calmly balanced herself on the edge of the platform’s railing. Then, she pulled back the hood of her cloak, revealing her face clearly in front of the old woman.
She was a girl with short reddish-brown hair, cut evenly just to her shoulders. Her bangs had been carefully styled and slightly covered her eyes, but they didn’t hide the sharp look in her purplish-red eyes.
The old woman had sharp eyes. She was good at judging people’s value from small details. Just at a glance, she could tell the girl’s natural hair color wasn’t red-brown. There were still some dark blue roots that hadn’t been dyed.
“Granny,” the girl said softly.
She took off her cloak and stored it in an alchemical seal on her left side. The old woman could now see the girl’s clean and efficient outfit, a dark uniform jacket and matching pants. Her voice was sweet, and her face had a cute charm. But her clothes made her look much more mature and professional, almost like she was copying someone else’s style.
“Ah, yes, miss! Do you have orders for me?” the old woman asked eagerly.
“Nothing much. I was just thinking… since you ran into him today, even if he didn’t catch you, your face will be on wanted posters everywhere pretty soon.”
“Huh? T-That’s...” The old woman immediately looked nervous. “What should I do, my lady?”
“That’s easy.”
The girl smiled as she jumped down from the railing and walked toward her.
“Th-that’s wonderful, my lady! Please—”
Before she could finish her sentence, she went quiet.
A flash of cold light passed, and her headless body fell to the ground.
“Heh heh~”
The girl leaned against the railing, holding both a bloody dagger and the old woman’s head in her hands.
Blood soaked through her white gloves and dyed her gray sleeves red.
“There. All done.”
She gently petted the old woman’s head, listening to the thick drops of blood dripping between her fingers.
Her pale face was now covered in blood, making her look terrifying. But her expression remained sweet and innocent, like a child happily dreaming.
“How did I do?”
She lifted the severed head toward the sky, showing it off to the birds flying above like it was a piece of art.
“Ah… if it were you…”
“...You would definitely praise me, wouldn’t you… But where have you gone?”
She whispered a name as she held the head.
The name of the person she admired.
Someone she worshipped obsessively.
She admired his coldness, his decisiveness, and even the calm way he acted while covered in blood.
It was something she could never become, that’s why she longed for it so much. To her, that strong person was like a god. Even though they were both from the “House of Nightingales,” she saw him as her most precious family.
Even if he never noticed her, her heart burned with admiration for him.
That ruthless man, who cared nothing for life or death, who killed so easily—
“Fur… Furst Talia…”
She whispered the true name, one even he had long forgotten and abandoned.
“My god… my icy ‘Red Crow’… where are you now?”
Still holding the old woman’s head, she danced a beautiful waltz around the body on the platform. Blood splattered everywhere, staining her clothes.
But she didn’t care.
She believed her idol, the “Red Crow”, would’ve done the same.
Far away, Evelia didn’t notice this crazy girl at all. Or maybe it was because, ever since her time in the “House of Nightingales,” she had always been alone.
Even if that girl suddenly showed up in front of her, Evelia would probably look confused and say, “Who are you?”
Right now, Evelia was quietly standing under a tree, waiting for Armand to find Rachel and return with her to the estate.
She looked up at the tree that gave her shade. A leaf slowly drifted down and landed on her unmoving head.
She watched it for a moment, then looked down, letting the leaf fall to the ground.
“Looks like… autumn is coming…”
Yes, the weather was starting to turn cold.
(End of Volume Two)