I hadn’t slept well.
Though many things had happened since arriving at the Squaret Duchy, I had always managed to sleep deeply.
All because of the situation with Barbara that the old man had told me about.
She was locked up in prison.
Not just any ordinary prison, but in the Fortress of Tefalo.
The Fortress of Tefalo was the worst prison that existed in the world.
It was located on a small island, reachable only after a week-long voyage by galleon from the ice-free northernmost port of the Kingdom of Ragna.
The island, formed by volcanic eruptions, was mostly made of basalt rock, so no crops could grow there.
It was neither suitable for farmland nor habitable by humans or even animals. The tyrant who ruled Ragna 170 years ago thought it would be a good place to build a prison.
He exiled countless loyal subjects who resisted him to that place.
Four floors underground, twelve floors above ground.
Within that tower focused solely on confining and tormenting people, prisoners usually rotted away without even the chance of an escape in death.
And Barbara was locked up there.
I recalled Barbara’s image again.
About 155 centimeters tall, petite, with wavy blonde hair.
She looked every bit the well-raised noble child, yet she had committed a bomb attack and ended up imprisoned…
Huff. My heart wouldn’t calm down.
Was it because of me that she committed the attack?
It sounded like the kind of delusions a pubescent boy might have, but there was a possibility.
Barbara was truly a close friend of mine.
But was our relationship really enough for her to storm the empire and drop bombs in the palace gardens?
When I asked myself that, I shook my head.
While I was buried deep in the Akashic Record, something must have happened.
When I have time, I should go to the Kingdom of Ragna to figure out the situation.
Or perhaps the Head Maid could provide some information if I asked.
But for now, there was something more important.
No matter how tired I was, I had work to do.
I slowly drew out Hellfire.
“Brunello. You were too greedy, weren’t you.”
“Ah, you’ve arrived. And the Count as well.”
Albert, the Squaret Duke, and I arrived early in the morning at Sir Brunello’s residence.
Had he already anticipated this?
There was no sign of Brunello’s family or servants inside.
Not a single presence.
It wasn’t just people.
Furniture, decorations—
Everything needed to make a house was gone.
Only one thing remained.
An old chair sat abandoned in the center of the empty room.
Brunello greeted us while seated in that chair.
“Did you evacuate everyone after organizing your assets?”
The Squaret Duke asked.
Brunello shook his head.
“I’m not shameless enough to seek wealth for my family in a situation like this. I gave the estate’s assets to the servants as their severance pay. The retainers left with only the bare minimum for relocation.”
“And you stayed behind.”
“I must pay the price.”
He answered with as calm a voice as possible, but it was clear he was tense.
“What will happen to me?”
“You’ll be stripped of your mana hall and sent to work at the iron mine in the Hesedia territory. I hope you won’t resist.”
“I see…”
Sir Brunello bit his lower lip hard but made no move to resist.
We were the same people who had fought alongside Lumpen Hound that night.
So we knew each other’s skills well.
I’m sorry to say this, but Brunello was the weakest among us.
Albert had awakened with my help, and I had reached nearly the highest level thanks to the Akashic Record.
“Albert.”
The Squaret Duke called.
Albert drew his sword and silently strode toward Sir Brunello.
Brunello grew pale and didn’t know what to do as Albert approached.
Sweating profusely, he fidgeted anxiously.
He could no longer pretend to be composed in the face of impending punishment.
Or perhaps he never intended to surrender quietly.
In an instant, a line of light shot from Brunello’s body toward Albert.
Quickly, Brunello pulled a hidden dagger from behind his back, but at the same moment, his right arm was severed.
“Ugh, ughhhhh!”
Sir Brunello clutched his bleeding shoulder and looked back.
There stood Alice, with a calm expression, brushing off droplets of blood as if it was a bother.
This morning, I had asked her to come along just in case.
Even Lumpen Hound, an Intermediate Swordmaster, had been fooled by her stealth.
It was only natural that Brunello, a Sword Expert High Grade, didn’t notice her.
“W-what is this—”
Before Brunello could speak, Albert smoothly swung his sword.
One strike.
With a soft thud, Brunello’s head fell to the floor.
The hollow end of a knight famed throughout the Delphi Kingdom and protector of the Squaret Duchy.
“Too greedy till the end. A moment to cherish life was not yours, sir.”
The old man stared fixedly at Brunello’s face, now rolling at his feet.
He bent down and gently closed the eyes that Brunello had not sensed.
“Albert.”
“Yes.”
“Let it be known that Sir Brunello took his own life in shame. Bury the body properly.”
“Yes, sir.”
“And Alice, wasn’t it?”
“Sir… Miss…”
Alice seemed burdened by the title of “Sir,” shaking her head with a look of annoyance.
“Yes, Miss Alice. Thank you. Everyone, let’s go.”
The Squaret Duke slowly walked toward the exit.
For some reason, his retreating figure seemed small.
I glanced back at Albert to see his expression.
Was he looking at the body to gather his thoughts before disposing of it?
He didn’t turn once until we left, maintaining only his back.
Their backs shared a similar texture.
Everything.
The Squaret Duke returned to his residence and announced sweeping changes with a proclamation.
[The distinction between the First Order of Knights and the Second Order of Knights shall be abolished, and all knights will be unified under the name of the Squaret Knights. The captain of this order will be Sir Albert.]
This notice meant more than just reorganizing the knights.
It was a formal recall of Albert, who had been in seclusion after the Library Incident, entrusting him with the military strength of the Squaret Duchy.
What made the civil officers even more nervous was the second proclamation.
[The Strategic Planning Office shall be disbanded.]
Those words stirred the civil officers instantly.
[All work records and documents from the past ten years will be reexamined.
Testimonies from field personnel will be cross-checked with documents.
If even minor errors are found, individual interviews will be held to determine responsibility.
Those judged to have caused significant damage to the territory will have their land and property confiscated.
Those who believe their mistakes are grave must pack up and leave within 24 hours of this proclamation. They will be allowed to keep a minimal portion of their property.]
The library was the pride of the Squaret Duchy, and the Strategic Planning Office was its heart and brain.
From administration to strategy, it was the symbolic place of the Duchy—but it was now to be shut down.
People were in an uproar.
So much so that retainers had begun protesting fearlessly in front of the Duke’s office.
Hearing the commotion, I rushed to the office.
Around thirty retainers gathered there, most of those who had worked for the Squaret Duchy, shouting loudly.
“Your Grace! How can you discard those of us who have devoted ourselves to the Squaret Duchy like trash!”
“This is unacceptable! What wrong have we done? Isn’t this all due to the incompetence of the knights who have wasted all the money!”
“Has Your Grace also bowed to military force? This is an outrage against knowledge!”
Civil officers shouted back from every direction.
It was natural—they were about to be cast out and ruined overnight.
But to me, it looked like nothing but their own fault.
Pathetic.
Where was the old man?
I tiptoed to peek and saw him silently enduring the officers’ protests, sitting quietly in his chair.
Huh.
I thought our eyes met just now.
What was certain was that, after I arrived, the old man stood up and slowly surveyed the crowd.
When the Duke stood, the noise gradually quieted.
Once the uproar fully settled, the Duke spoke.
“While I was away, I heard the territory had become a complete mess. I am deeply disappointed.”
Is this what a person looks like when they are furiously angry?
His voice was low, like a beast growling.
His gaze was as cold and sharp as a knight’s blade.
So the old man hadn’t been sitting idly after all.
He had been holding back the fury boiling inside him.
“But I have given up on those thoughts.”
The Duke began pacing slowly.
“Upon reflection, the most disappointing person was me.”
The old man started walking outside the office, and those around him parted to give way.
“Isn’t it laughable? The finest talents gathered from the Delphi Kingdom couldn’t unite under the name of the Squaret Duchy, instead only protecting their own interests.”
At the center of it all—
“How could they do that unless they underestimated me, the lord of this territory!”
The Duke roared.
“Do you know why I pardoned the parasites who sucked dry my territory’s funds? Because I trusted you! Believed you could reflect on your mistakes and improve! But those wretched fools didn’t cause accidents in front of my eyes—they were tearing my land apart piece by piece.”
The air around him shifted.
The Duke’s words clearly indicted the civil officers.
No fool could have missed it.
“I tried to bear all this as my own failure, but now it’s no longer possible.
The library, once the pride of the Squaret Duchy, has fallen.
The territory, cradle of knowledge, will die unless we appoint civil officers from the Academy and start anew.
The reborn Squaret Duchy will be different.”
The Duke’s voice grew firmer as he came to stand before me.
“I will wipe it all away.
As the proclamation stated, I will personally evaluate the merits and demerits of all retainers.”
“Your Grace!”
“Silence!”
Just as the retainers tried to shout back, the Squaret Duke’s roar cut them off.
I wasn’t the only one who noticed the Duke had looked at me earlier.
His gaze was blazing directly at me.
“There is a way for you to keep your position regardless of your performance.
Follow Count Raward, who stands right here.”
All eyes instantly turned to me.
“Soon, a large-scale monster extermination will be carried out in the Helpion Duchy.
It will require many personnel.
Anyone dispatched there for one year will not be held accountable for any crimes.”
“Sent to a land crawling with monsters!”
“You intend to kill us!”
“That place is a savage land with not even basic facilities!”
Of course, if they agreed obediently to such an order, they wouldn’t be the fools they were.
Knights who complained about doing nothing were cowards terrified of standing in the middle of the battlefield.
Seeing their contradictory behavior, the Squaret Duke said nothing more and waved his hand.
“Tsk tsk, the message has been conveyed well enough. Now disperse.
Knights! Clear them out.”
Perhaps I had been too absorbed in the old man’s speech.
I hadn’t even noticed the knights had lined up outside the civil officers and were now forcibly dispersing the retainers.
Amidst the uproar, the old man asked me calmly.
“Come.
It seems the time has come to discuss your reward.”