Ah, this is refreshing.

That was what Cale thought as he walked at the very front, listening to the exchange between Head Steward Hitelis and the rookie knight, Rom.

Rom—the one from the Demon King’s side, the one carrying a divine relic of unknown identity—said,

“Head Steward, this is my first time at the old castle—I mean, Moraka Castle—and it looks incredibly sturdy! It feels like anything could happen inside and no one outside would ever know!”

What the hell are you doing inside Moraka Castle right now? Hurry up and spill it.

To that, Head Steward Hitelis—the one carrying a divine relic of the God of Chaos—answered,

“It is a place as sturdy as the long history it has accumulated. Even if it were attacked from outside, there would be no need to worry about it collapsing.”

This place is not so weak that it would show openings to outsiders like you. So shut up and watch yourself.

Cold blades crossed between them, each ready to strike the other at any moment.

Ah, this is fun.

Cale could not hide the pleased smile on his face as he watched the head steward and the rookie knight quietly take aim at each other on their own.

Just then—

“We have arrived.”

The head steward stopped walking and spoke.

“You may stay here.”

A small detached building for Cale’s group.

Head Steward Hitelis.

The rookie knight Rom.

Everyone looked at Clopeh Sekka.

“......”

Clopeh slowly examined the detached building.

Human, this annex is way too old!The building stood quite far from the main castle. 𝕗𝐫𝚎𝗲𝘄𝐞𝕓𝐧𝕠𝘃𝕖𝐥.𝐜𝚘𝚖

It did not look like a place meant for guests at all.

Anyone could see they were being treated like unwanted leftovers.

Or they want to keep us away from the main castle.

Cale measured the distance between the main castle and the detached building and read Young Master Jimon’s intent clearly enough. He wanted to keep Cale’s group as far from the main castle as possible.

Human, there are lots of hidden eyes watching us!Moraka Castle.

For Cale’s group, now that they had entered it, every direction held enemy eyes.

Above all—

“......”

“......”

the head steward and the rookie knight.

Both of them were watching Cale’s group.

In particular, they were watching Clopeh.

Cale’s gaze shifted to Clopeh.

“Head Steward.”

Clopeh opened his mouth.

And once every eye was on him—

“Will the food here be the same as in the main castle?”

At that, Cale barely managed to swallow back a grin.

Human, as expected, Clopeh Sekka really does know what matters!Raon voiced his wholehearted agreement.

“......”

Head Steward Hitelis hesitated for a moment.

And the rookie knight Rom looked at Clopeh for a second as if he had just seen something fascinating, then smoothed out his expression.

The head steward soon replied in a calm tone.

“Yes. The meals are the same.”

“I see. Then may we rest?”

“Yes.”

“When will we be able to meet Young Master Jimon?”

“I imagine he will summon you separately this evening.”

“I see.”

Clopeh responded placidly, then took hold of the annex door handle.

“We will rest on our own. There is no need for an interior guide.”

“Yes.”

Head Steward Hitelis nodded readily.

Then—

Creak.

Clopeh opened the door, did not so much as glance inside, and turned his head back toward the head steward.

“There are no eavesdropping devices inside, I hope?”

“!”

Hitelis froze and looked at Clopeh.

Smile.

Clopeh only showed her a soft smile.

And then he said to Hitelis,

“You are no longer needed, so you may go.”

It was a clear dismissal.

That too was delivered in an extremely gentle, mild tone.

“......”

Hitelis failed to answer at first. Then she gave a polite bow and withdrew first.

“If you need anything, please inform the person waiting outside. Then I will see you again later.”

After confirming that Hitelis had left, Clopeh looked toward the manager of the New Business Department.

“......”

Under that silent stare, the manager slowly opened his mouth.

“Mr. Kase?”

“We will use the second floor of the annex, so you may use the first floor.”

Drawing a line here as well, making it clear that they were not to come any /N_o_v_e_l_i_g_h_t/ closer, Clopeh opened the annex door fully and inspected the interior.

Then he looked toward Cale and the others.

“My siblings, it is clean inside. We may enter.”

With a bright smile, Clopeh gestured inward, and Cale stepped inside as if that were only natural, accepting his guidance.

Human, it may be old, but it’s been well maintained!Listening to Raon’s impression, Cale headed up to the second floor.

Glancing—

he flashed a kindly smile toward the rookie knight Rom, who was watching them from the first floor.

And the rookie knight Rom—or rather, Mol, leader of the Third Army—watched the five siblings in silence before turning his head away.

“......”

His gaze sank coldly.

Because the magic voice of the New Business Department manager had reached him.

He was quite a capable high-ranking mage. Because of that, he might have been one of Terosa’s trusted hands.

There is an eavesdropping device. At your nine o’clock.That direction was immediately visible the moment one opened the annex’s front door.

Kase, was it?

That man must have noticed the existence of this eavesdropping magic device and said those words to Head Steward Hitelis on purpose.

There are no eavesdropping devices inside, I hope?

Ha.

Mol barely held back a hollow laugh.

He’s not easy.

Moraka Castle, Young Master Jimon’s stronghold.

If the Order of the God of Chaos was truly here and doing something in this place, then yes, that would be troublesome enough.

But he was beginning to think that he absolutely could not afford to ignore this man called Kase while focusing on that.

The second brother may be airheaded, but the eldest is definitely different. Is that because he carries Count Lupe’s blood?

The expression of Mol, the Hand Behind the Back, turned cold.

Step.

From the second floor, Clopeh appeared again.

He looked straight at the manager of the New Business Department and spoke.

“Please remove every eavesdropping device.”

Then, as if it were nothing at all, he turned and went back into his room.

“!”

“......!”

The manager of the New Business Department and the middle-aged knight both went pale with shock.

Well, would you look at that?

The eyes of Mol, leader of the Third Army, flashed.

From the beginning, this man called Kase had known that the manager of the New Business Department was a mage.

So he knew everything and pretended not to?

Then, after checking how shabby the annex was and how far it stood from the main castle, he had leisurely and elegantly bared his edge.

No—

He was warning us.

Terosa.

And Young Master Jimon.

...As expected of the bloodline of Count Lupe, the great tycoon.

Mol clicked his tongue softly.

He was curious about what Young Master Jimon had done and wanted to find out as soon as possible.

But this man called Kase—

for some reason, Mol found himself wanting him as one of his own subordinates.

He’s thorough.

And yet he did not show his claws from the outset. He had flexibility, poise, and elegance in every move he made.

Mol preferred backstabbing that resembled a stage play to ugly, sordid treachery.

To him, Kase was an extremely interesting talent.

I want him.

Later, once he had watched more, it might not be a bad idea to try and bring him over to the Third Army.

The moment a crooked smile rose at the corner of Mol’s mouth—

“...I will remove them.”

The manager of the New Business Department, and a high-ranking mage, destroyed every eavesdropping device he had found.

*****

“All eavesdropping devices have been destroyed. We have confirmed that the manager of the New Business Department is a mage capable of destroying them.”

“Hm.”

Having confirmed the last piece of information gathered through the surveillance, Head Steward Hitelis lowered the report.

“...They are not easy opponents.”

The rookie knight Terosa had sent with them.

He too needed to be watched, but the demon called Kase himself was no ordinary problem either.

“Tell Young Master Jimon to meet Kase this evening.”

“Yes.”

“Tell him to focus first on hearing what they have to say.”

“Yes.”

Hitelis turned her eyes toward the window.

From this room, which had become the head steward’s chamber as of today, the detached building could be seen most clearly from the main castle.

All the eavesdropping devices were gone, which meant that now they could do nothing but watch from outside. Hitelis’s gaze fixed on the annex and cooled.

“...So they even removed the eavesdropping devices hidden by the greatest mage in our Order?”

The manager of the New Business Department was that strong a mage?

The mage currently at the Pope’s side had installed those magical eavesdropping devices. It was said that he had already reached the top tier.

“How can that even—”

Ah.

Hitelis shot to her feet.

She stepped closer to the window and stared at the annex.

“I will have to reconsider this.”

A demon so strong that even she could not judge his limits.

And alongside him, a demon mage who appeared to have reached the top tier.

Those people had come here in disguise.

With Kase at the front.

Were they really just Terosa’s subordinates?

Should she not be approaching this from an entirely different angle?

“...They are not Terosa’s subordinates.”

The ones who had slipped in here under Kase’s cover were not Terosa’s underlings.

It made more sense to view them as her superiors.

If so, who stood above Terosa?

And someone that strong would have to be—

“...the Eighth Army.”

The Demon King’s eight blades.

Only someone on the level of one of those eight demon commanders made sense.

“Ha.”

Yes.

Now it made sense.

“...How dare they—”

Fire kindled in Hitelis’s eyes.

The great work the Order of the God of Chaos would accomplish in the Demon World was just ahead.

And yet, as if to obstruct it, one of the Demon King’s blades had come here.

She still could not tell which of the eight it was.

But—

“Whoever it is, all they will do is return to the beginning.”

Death.

That was the only road that would be granted to them—the road back to the beginning.

“These bastards put a difficult pawn up front and stood behind it with a blade in hand.”

They would throw Kase forward to sow confusion, then strike at the Order of the God of Chaos from right behind him.

Hitelis opened her mouth toward the ceiling.

“Pass word to the Pope.”

The Demon King’s dogs.

Those bastards would not know what was happening here.

That was why they had come in disguise, to spy.

If so, she would gladly welcome those who had stepped into the tiger’s den.

“Tell him one of the Demon King’s eight dogs has arrived, and I request one highest-ranking holy knight.”

Straight to death.

And there was no reason to delay that death.

If they had come sniffing around, the answer was to erase them as quickly as possible.

“Tell him we will strike tomorrow night.”

A deep smile formed on Hitelis’s lips.

Then a subordinate’s voice came down from the ceiling.

“Captain, however, the Pope has ordered that the ones who went out to find the Wanderer be called back.”

Ah.

The Five Colored Blood hunters.

One of them, believed to be either the third Emperor or the first Emperor, had attacked this place. Then he had vanished after taking away the subordinate who had already been under pursuit.

Because of that incident, the Order had become even sharper, and the Pope had assigned one top-tier holy knight to Satun, the upper holy knight who claimed to have confronted the first Emperor at the time, and had entrusted him with the pursuit.

Satun has a good nose.

Especially for the scent of an enemy’s blood.

Satun, master of pursuit, had gone out with considerable forces and was combing the nearby area.

The Pope had ordered them called back.

“Understood. Tell the Pope I will make sure they all arrive by tomorrow.”

“Yes.”

Tomorrow night.

Since they would be dealing with one of the Demon King’s blades, it would be better to pull in as many forces as possible and wipe them out cleanly.

“...Rats in a bottle.”

Looking down at the annex, Hitelis’s smile deepened.

*****

Raon spun in the air, then spread his wings with a flourish.

“I also got rid of the eavesdropping devices the New Business Department manager didn’t find! Now we can talk comfortably!”

Naturally, the manager of the New Business Department had not managed to remove every eavesdropping device installed by a top-tier mage.

Raon had removed the rest.

“Raon-nim, thank you for informing us right away.”

And the one who had informed Clopeh about the eavesdropping devices in the first place had been Raon.

“Hehe. Clopeh Sekka! You’ve been doing great work lately! Extremely excellent!”

“Thank you, Raon-nim.”

Answering sincerely and respectfully, Clopeh brought over a cushion for Raon to sit on.

Then he poured lemon tea into Cale’s teacup and set down a bowl of cookies in front of him.

Crunch. Crunch.

Cale, naturally accepting Clopeh’s attendance, opened his mouth.

“That head steward from earlier. You know what she is, right?”

“Yes. She appears to be with the Order of the God of Chaos. And she looked strong.”

“Right. And the rookie knight too. You know, right?”

“He looked stronger than I am. Also, when I mentioned the eavesdropping devices earlier, the manager of the New Business Department watched his reaction. Judging from that, I do not think he is Terosa’s subordinate.”

“So who does he look like to you?”

“Most likely one of Terosa’s superiors—”

Pour.

As he topped off the tea, Clopeh calmly reported,

“—one of the generals of the Eighth Army.”

“Which one?”

“I have already identified the appearances of all of them. None matched. However, there is only one who would disguise himself that way.”

Cale tilted his eyes at Clopeh, clearly telling him to go on, and Clopeh immediately answered.

“The Hand Behind the Back, master of betrayal. I believe it is Mol.”

Cale nodded and said only one thing.

“Excellent.”

“Thank you.”

Clopeh was genuinely delighted. Then, looking at Sui Khan lying on the bed and eating apple pie, he spoke again.

“Since Sui Khan-nim does not appear to have been recognized either, it seems the tracker from that time is not among the forces watching us.”

“That’s right. He’s probably tearing through this whole area looking for the Wanderer.”

Cale glanced at Clopeh and tossed out a blunt remark.

“You’re planning to make those two fight, aren’t you?”

He was referring to Hitelis of the Order of the God of Chaos and Mol, leader of the Third Army.

Clopeh looked back at him as if the answer were obvious.

“Was that not what you wanted when you told him the gray sickness urban legend, Cale-nim?”

Wow.

Cale smiled sincerely and said,

“You really do work exactly the way I like.”

“...Thank you......!”

Clopeh beamed brightly, trying to steady the swell of emotion in his chest.

These days, he truly was happy.

“When we meet Young Master Jimon, I will learn more through him and try to shape the situation so that a fight breaks out as much as possible.”

“Right. Right.”

“And while they are fighting, I believe we can inspect the castle, look for Choi Jung Soo, and ruin whatever it is the enemies are trying to do.”

“Exactly. That’s what I’m thinking too.”

For the first time, looking at Clopeh, Cale felt genuine contentment.

“Here.”

He handed Clopeh a cookie.

Crunch. Crunch.

Watching Clopeh eat the cookie, Cale found him absurdly reassuring.

If I keep this guy by my side, I really think I could just live as a slacker.

Without realizing it, Cale imagined a happy future.

Watching him, Raon tilted his head and sent a magic voice message to On and Hong.

Our human and Clopeh are probably going to turn this castle into a huge battlefield together! We should protect our human and Sui Khan so they don’t get hurt!Meeeow!

Meeeow!

On and Hong nodded.

“Hm.”

And Sui Khan, feeling a chill of unknown origin, rubbed the back of his head.

It felt strangely similar to the feeling he used to get right before Choi Jung Soo and Kim Rok Soo caused some kind of catastrophe. Without realizing it, Team Leader Sui Khan grabbed the hilt at his side hard.

And three days later, Moraka Castle was completely shattered and collapsed into ruins.

No one had noticed that future yet.

*****

A few hours later, in the time between evening and night—

“Come in.”

Young Master Jimon looked down at Clopeh Sekka and Cale as they approached him, as if they were ridiculous.